The Descendants Review

By now, you’ll know all about George Clooney’s performance in The Descendants.  He’s won a Golden Globe, and he’s been nominated for an Oscar too.  He’s received pretty much every plaudit you can get, with phrases like ‘performance of his career’ tossed out in almost every review.  And it’s fair to say that the praise is well earned.  He is terrific as Matt King, a man whose life is turned upside down after his wife is critically injured in a water-skiing accident.

But Clooney’s is not the only great performance in the film.  Shailene Woodley is also excellent as his teenage daughter Alex, and she could find herself quickly becoming a star, in a similar way to Anna Kendrick after she co-starred with Clooney in Up In The Air.  While there’s no doubt that this is Clooney’s film, the rest of the cast is strong too, helped greatly by a quality script.  The Descendants is nominally a comedy, but it’s not a laughfest, with most of the jokes being of the clever variety, rather than slapstick.

Matt King works as a lawyer, but is the sole trustee of a family trust that is trying to decide what to do with an expansive area of land in Kauai.  The family seem close to agreeing on the best deal when the accident happens.  This leaves Matt having to come to terms with the realities of his life, with two young and troubled daughters to look after while his wife is in a coma.  After discovering his wife was having an affair, he bonds with his children (Amara Miller as his younger daughter Scottie also gives a good performance) and Alex’s rather dopey friend Sid.

The film is directed by Alexander Payne, his first film since 2004’s Oscar winning Sideways, and he also worked on the script which had originally been written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.  The humour and style of the film will be familiar to anyone who has seen any of Payne’s previous films, with normal people finding themselves or finding a new perspective on life.  His directing is unspectacular and unobtrusive, with the camera just there as the characters interact with one another.  There’s no big acting in the film, just real people in real situations.

Overall, The Descendants is a clever and mature movie.  George Clooney does indeed give a terrific performance, the script is strong and it is well directed.  You won’t be rolling in the aisles at this comedy, but there is plenty to enjoy about it and it is one of the first great movies of 2012.

Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy – Episode 1

As one half of The Mighty Boosh, Noel Fielding has enjoyed great success.  He and fellow Boosh mastermind Julian Barratt created a weird world filled with unusual characters, songs and languages.  They successfully made the transition from cult stage show to hit TV show, and have sold out live shows around the UK.  But the Boosh have been away for a few years now, and it seems like Barratt and Fielding may have drifted apart, with Fielding enjoying life on the party scene while Barratt lives a quiet life with partner Julia Davis.

Since appearing together in The Bunny And The Bull in 2010, the pair have gone their separate ways, and Fielding has been a team captain on the BBC’s Never Mind The Buzzcocks since 2009.  But now Fielding has gone to E4 and the results are Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy.

It’s safe to say that Luxury Comedy is out there.  Fielding has created a host of colourful and bizarre characters, and the look of the show is just as bewildering.  It has a random, scattershot feel, with Boosh alumni Mike Fielding (Noel’s brother, who played Naboo) and Rich Fulcher (who played Bob Fossil), appearing in various guises.  Like the Boosh, Luxury Comedy has music and animation, but it lacks the cohesive narrative that was a strong point of The Mighty Boosh.  Without Barratt, who wrote the music for The Mighty Boosh, Noel has teamed up with Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno, and Pizzorno’s music is one of the few things that differentiates Luxury Comedy from Fielding’s previous work.

It’s often difficult to judge comedy shows on their first episode.  Fielding’s work is well known for being random and surreal, and Luxury Comedy is very much the same.  There aren’t many big laughs in the first episode, and most of the characters he’s created for the show feel like they could have been tossed aside during the writing stage of The Mighty Boosh.  Luxury Comedy is not going to win Fielding any new fans, and anyone watching the show without knowing about his previous work will likely have been left confused and unsure about exactly what has just happened.

It may be the case that Luxury Comedy just has too many ideas, too many things going on for it to be coherent and consistently funny.  Fielding isn’t pushing himself too hard with his new show, there’s not a lot that stands out as being markedly different from his previous work.  But while the Boosh are away, you certainly won’t see anything quite like Luxury Comedy anywhere else.

Haywire Review

Steven Soderbergh is a director that likes to keep himself busy.  Since his debut movie, sex, lies, and videotape won the Palme D’Or in 1989, he’s never had a gap of more than two years between movies.  He has been extraordinarily prolific, and he always appears keen to try everything.  He’s worked in many different genres, and seems to find it as easy to work on expensive blockbusters as he does on small indie movies.  In keeping with the frenetic pace at which he has maintained throughout his career, Haywire has been released just three months after his previous film Contagion hit cinemas.

While Contagion was a relatively big budget movie with a shoot that took place over several months, Haywire is a much smaller movie, one that took less than two months to shoot.  It is the story of Mallory, a covert operative who does the jobs governments cannot, and what happens to her after she is betrayed by the company she works for.  Like many of Soderbergh’s recent movies, it features an all star cast, with Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Bill Paxton starring alongside Gina Carano, an MMA fighter and former American Gladiator, taking on her first lead role in a movie.

Under any other circumstances, an action movie featuring an MMA fighter would go straight to DVD, and probably have a cameo by 50 Cent or Danny Dyer.  But with Soderbergh directing, and a script written by Lem Dobbs (who has previously worked with Soderbergh on Kafka and The Limey, as well as writing the script for Dark City), it gets a big cinematic release.  Certainly without the involvement of those two, the cast would be nowhere near as strong and Carano would be working alongside unknowns and has beens.  But she holds her own amongst such a recognisable cast, giving a decent acting performance while handling the fighting and action sequences more easily.

In a smart move, Dobbs has written a script that is far from complicated.  In the wake of the Bourne movies, any number of bad imitations have appeared, with plots nowhere near as clever as they’d like to be (I’m looking at you Unknown), but Haywire is a relatively straightforward tale of someone being double crossed and seeking revenge.  The action is well conceived, and stylishly shot by Soderbergh.  The score is written by another Soderbergh regular, David Holmes.  Holmes contributed the cool sounding soundtracks to the Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13, and similarly delivers here.  It is not a typical high tempo action movie score, but more loose and funky sounding than you’d expect from music soundtracking people getting their heads kicked in.

Haywire is a very simple, straightforward action movie.  At just over 90 minutes, there’s no filler, with a quick pace as Mallory seeks revenge on the people who betrayed her.  The movie is very much a vehicle for Carano, with the rest of the cast mainly in supporting roles, rather than taking screen time away from her.  She is convincing as Mallory, and certainly appears capable of carving out a career in film if she chooses to move on from professional fighting.  Strong leading roles for females in movies are hard to come by though, even more so in action movies, but Steven Soderbergh has given her a platform to show what she can do, and Haywire is a very good start.

Goon Review

I can’t claim to be an expert on ice hockey.  I understand the concept, but I have no idea about what positions there are to play, what shifts are, and what is legal and not legal for a player to do.  What I do know about it, and this is based entirely on the NHL games from the Sega Megadrive days, is that fighting is encouraged.

And that’s pretty much the whole plot of Goon.  Starring Seann William Scott, Goon is the tale of Doug Glatt (Scott) a man without a purpose in life, but who happens to be extremely good at punching people in the face.  As the manager of a local hockey team tells him, he’s been ‘touched by the fist of God’.  After he destroys an angry player in the stands, he’s offered a place on the team, taking the role of the goon, a player whose only purpose is to protect the stars, and beat the crap out of the opposing team’s players.  He’s then offered the chance to move up to the hockey’s minor leagues, where he is asked to protect a star player who has gone off the rails after a big hit from legendary goon Ross Rhena (played by Liev Schreiber).

The player in question is Xavier Laflamme, a player once destined for superstardom, but lost his way spectacularly after Rhena’s hit in his first season.  He’s a disillusioned, disinterested player for the very bad Hamilton Highlanders, a rag-tag collection of has beens and no-hopers, who are on a long losing streak when Doug arrives.

Goon is co-written by Jay Baruchel (who plays Ryan, Doug’s best friend, and who happens to be the worst thing in the movie) and Evan Goldberg, who co-wrote Superbad and Pineapple Express with Seth Rogen.  It is based on the story of Doug Smith, a man who really did make it into professional hockey through his ability to hit people very hard with his hands.  Although it is a comedy, it has a surprising amount of heart, as Scott’s Doug is a very nice, but rather dumb, guy who really believes in the idea of a team, and what it means to be a good team-mate.  Seann William Scott is a master of deadpan comedy, delivering some of the movie’s best lines with a straight face, and gives a strong performance as a man who finally finds a purpose in his life.  Liev Schreiber doesn’t have much to do as a grizzled veteran, realising his career is almost over, but determined to go out with a bang, rather than a whimper, but clearly enjoys being a bit of a jerk.

Goon is not going to win any awards, but it’s very funny, and also convincing as a sports movie.  Seann William Scott gives one of his best performances, and lazier reviewers than me would call it a ‘Knock-out Smash!’…..luckily I’m not lazy, so I’ll just call it a surprisingly good sports comedy, that is well worth checking out.

Sherlock – The Reichenbach Fall

You can’t help but be disappointed that both series of Sherlock to date have consisted of just three episodes.  They’ve been of such a high quality, that you’re left wanting more.  But it would be unfair on everyone involved to complain.  Each episode is 90 minutes long, with a beginning, a middle and an end.  They could have been split into smaller episodes, stretching out over three or four weeks, but that would be a lot less satisfying, and leave the writers having to create cliff-hangers from stories that really don’t have any.

So now we come to the third and final episode of series 2 of Sherlock, and Sherlock’s nemesis Moriarty is back.  His name has always been in the air when Sherlock has solved a case, but before now, the pair have only briefly come face-to-face, with Moriarty holding the upper hand following that exchange.

As we know, he promised Sherlock that he would burn him, and now is that time.  The episode begins with Moriarty getting himself arrested on purpose.  He wants to be put on trial after breaking in to a case containing the crown jewels, while simultaneously opening the vault at the Bank of England, and opening the doors to the cells at Pentonville Prison.  Sherlock is called to give evidence in the trial, but can’t help but be himself, belittling the lawyers, and reading the jury.  He gets jailed for contempt of court, and is at home when Moriarty walks free.

Sherlock knows this is going to happen, and he also knows that Moriarty is coming to see him.  When Moriarty arrives, the two spar with each other, but Moriarty is confident he has the upper hand.  His arrest was an advert for what he does, allowing people around the world to see what he is capable of.  Moriarty tells Sherlock that there is a ‘final problem’ coming, and that Sherlock is set for a fall.

There’s little doubt that Moriarty represents Sherlock’s ultimate test.  Andrew Scott is superb as Sherlock’s greatest challenge, a dangerous and reckless foe, but at the same time, entirely in control of his actions and the game he is playing with Sherlock.  He’s been the man behind everything Sherlock has worked on, always edging him towards what may or may not be their final confrontation.   Moriarty’s quest is to discredit Sherlock, to make the world believe that he is a fraud, and he’s carefully planned out a series of events that will lead people to question if Sherlock really is who he appears to be.

The Reichenbach Fall is an excellent end to the second series.  Moriarty is a true test for Sherlock, never allowing Sherlock to get the upper hand, and making everyone, from John Watson to Inspector Lestrade, question their allegiances to Sherlock.

Sherlock is brilliant television.  The writing is excellent, the cast is superb, and the direction and production value gives it a very cinematic feel.  There may only have been three episodes in series two, but they’ve all been excellent.  What happens next is anyone’s guess.

War Horse Review

War Horse is an adaptation of Michael Murpurgo’s 1982 children’s novel about a horse which develops a bond with a boy that survives through both becoming involved in World War I.  It has already been adapted for the stage, with a critically acclaimed play garnering particular praise for extraordinary puppetry work to bring the horse to life on stage.  In Steven Spielberg’s movie, he uses real horses to tell the tale, as Joey, the titular horse, travels from Devon to join the front line of battle in France, going through several handlers as the war unfolds.

Joey’s story is, frankly, unbelievable nonsense.  After being bought by Ted Naracott (Peter Mullan, doing a laughably bad Scottish Devonshire accent), Joey is trained by his son Albert.  Ted can’t afford to pay his rent, and needs Joey to plough a stony, barren field so he can grow turnips to pay his landlord.  Joey is not a working horse, but somehow Albert manages to make him into one, and miraculously, the field is ploughed allowing Ted to grow turnips after all.  When a storm washes away the turnips, he is forced to sell Joey to the army, as World War I begins.  Albert is devastated, but Captain Nicholls (Tom Hiddlestone), who takes Joey as his own horse, promises to look after him.  After a failed attack on a German camp, Joey ends up in the hands of the Germans, saved from death by two young soldiers who look after him and another horse (who apparently has become great pals with Joey).  Suffice to say that they are not the last two people to claim ownership of Joey.  To reveal more would spoil the film, but it’s safe to say that anyone who comes into contact with Joey seems to endure a large amount of bad luck and misfortune.

Spielberg has of course handled war before.  He’s previously directed four movies set during World War II, as well as being a producer on Band of Brothers and The Pacific.  But World War I is very much background noise behind this absurd tale of Joey the wonder horse.  Although Joey ends up working for both sides (and even goes a bit neutral while living with a French family), there is relatively little fighting in the movie, with most of the action taking place before or after battles.

While it’s safe to say that I didn’t enjoy War Horse, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it is a badly made movie.  Spielberg of course knows how to make movies, and the direction in War Horse is fine, with a few trademark moves from Spielberg, with cleverly worked transitions between scenes.  The acting for the most part is fine too, although no-one in the cast really stands out.  War Horse is really a series of interludes, which means that most of the characters appear in the film for only a small amount of time, with only newcomer Jeremy Irvine getting the most to do as Albert.

But overall, War Horse is superficial fluff.  It is overly sentimental, trying to tug on heartstrings, but ultimately becoming a bit sickly.  It will inevitably receive a bundle of Oscar nominations, but it is a long way from being one of Spielberg’s greatest movies.

Margin Call Review

As everyone probably knows by now, the people in power on Wall Street or any other financial hotspot around the world are not to be trusted.  They take gambles with other people’s money, spending recklessly, always chasing more, more, more.  And another thing everyone knows is that when the shit hits the fan in the world of finance, the numbers get really big, really fast.

In Margin Call, the shit does indeed hit the fan.  On a day when human resources are making mass layoffs at an investment bank, the sacking of Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci) will trigger a series of events with potentially dire consequences for the company involved.  As Dale is leaving the building, he hands a memory stick to Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), warning him to be careful with the information contained on it.  After working late that night, Peter looks at the data on the stick, and is shocked with what he finds.  He calls his friend Seth (Penn Badgley), and senior salesman Will Emerson (Paul Bettany) back to the office to look over the numbers, and all three realise that the data shows that the company is working with numbers that don’t add up, and one step in the wrong direction could bring it to its knees.  This revelation will take things right to the top, and force the men in charge to make decisions that will lead to more people losing their jobs, and the reputation of the company taking a massively negative hit.

First-time writer/director J.C. Chandor has assembled an excellent case, with Kevin Spacy, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore and Simon Baker also on board.  He’s produced a tight script too, finding drama and tension in what could be very dry and complex subject matter.  Every cast member gets their chance to shine, and all of them give strong performances, making Margin Call a greatly enjoyable movie to watch.  The direction is unfussy, which gives the film a style that in some ways renders it timeless.  As the man in charge, Jon Tuld (Irons) explains to Spacey’s character Sam Rogers, the financial crisis they face has been faced before, as he reels off year after year when the money men lost control and everyone suffered.  This film is set in the recent past, but could have been set in the 80s, the 20s or any other time when the bottom collapsed out of finance.

If I was to get pretentious about Margin Call, I’d call it a proper movie.  There’s no flashy editing, over-the-top acting or action, and there’s certainly no CGI or 3D.  Instead it is a well acted, well directed and well written drama, portraying events that could in theory be happening every day in the current financial climate.

10 Bands Making Long Overdue Comebacks In 2012

Some bands just can’t stop making music.  There are many who will release a new album every 18 months or so, and sometimes every year.  But there are a lot of bands who take their time making each record, who may have other things to do once they’ve finished promoting and touring an album.  In 2012, it seems like there are a lot of acts set to make come backs after extended periods away from the spotlight.  Here’s 10 that I am particularly excited about.

Muse:  In 2011, Muse seemed like a band that were moving on.  Headlining the Reading and Leeds festivals by playing their 2001 album Origin of Symmetry in full, they suggested that it would be the last time they played some of those songs live.  In a Kerrang Interview, bass player Chris Wolstenholme said that the new album would be ‘radically different’, with the band ‘drawing a line under a certain period’ of their career.  Matt Bellamy said that the new album would be a ‘christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey, with some ambient rebellious dubstep and face melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia’, which sound amazing, but seems at least a little bit unlikely.  Whatever the album finally sounds like, there will be big riffs and vocal histrionics, comparisons with Queen and blistering live shows.

Tool:  To say that Tool are a band that are prolific would in fact be a terrible lie.  They formed in 1990, but have released just three albums since their debut, Undertow, in 1993.  Their last album was 2006’s 10,000 Days, but it seems that their 5^th album will be released in May this year.  Tool have a reputation for making massive sounding albums, with long tracks and heavy riffs.  Maynard James Keenan’s voice is one of the most distinctive in metal, and compliments the music in a way that few others can match.  They don’t sound like anyone else, and their album artwork and overall attitude sets them apart too.  There will be many metal albums released in 2012, but Tool’s will probably tower over the rest.

The Prodigy:  If Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned was something of a disappointment, 2009’s Invaders Must Die was a spectacular return to form for The Prodigy.  Liam Howlett went old-school, with a sound more like their debut album than anything they’d released since.  They toured the album throughout 2010, and last year released World’s On Fire, a new live album.  They also debuted two new songs at their final show of the year, and have promised new tracks when they headline this year’s Download Festival.

Franz Ferdinand:  It’s almost three years since Franz Ferdinand released their third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.  It was something of a departure for them, with lead single Ulysses being a darker, more brooding track than the kind of art-punk music that made them famous.  They gave a brilliant headline performance at Glastonbury in 2009, but have been relatively quiet for the last two years, contributing a new track to the soundtrack for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, and releasing a covers EP last year.  They’ve been deliberately secretive about work on their fourth album, but its due this year and it will be interesting to see what new directions they explore.

Queens Of The Stone Age:  Queens of the Stone Age are perhaps one of the last real rock ‘n’ roll bands.  The kind of band that will show up in your town, play a great show, steal your beer and your girlfriend, kick your ass and make you thank them for it.  They haven’t released anything new for a long time though, with leader Joshua Homme forming Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones, and various other members doing their own thing, although they have reunited to perform their classic album Rated R and celebrate its 10^th anniversary, as well as playing shows to promote the re-release of their debut album.  They have been in the studio recently though, and it seems like 2012 will be the year when you’ll be thanking them for ruining your life all over again.

The Stone Roses:  They said it would never happen, and for the longest time it seemed like it never would.  The Stone Roses had begun imploding shortly after the release of their second album, and they crumbled meekly at the Reading festival in 1996, apparently never to be seen again.  Reni disappeared altogether, John Squire released a couple of solo albums and worked on his art, while Mani joined Primal Scream, making a few brilliant albums, and Ian Brown enjoyed a successful solo career.  But in 2011, the impossible happened, and they reformed to great excitement.  There will be triumphant return shows in 2012, but they’ve also promised new music.  It’s hard to know if they should return to the sound of their classic debut album, or move in a new direction, but it will be interesting to see if their next release can come close to matching what came before.

Black Star:  Mos Def and Talib Kweli are two of the best rappers alive.  You might know Mos Def better because of his acting career, with roles in movies like 16 Blocks and Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, but he and Kweli have released a string of brilliant solo albums, rapping about really things rather than women, guns, and partying.  They released an album together under the name of Black Star in 1998 to critical acclaim.  They’ve been releasing albums separately ever since, but new tracks Fix Up, and You Already Knew were released on iTunes in November, and a new album is due for this year.  It’s probably optimistic to hope that real hip hop acts like Black Star will save people from listening to pretend hip-hop like Black Eyed Peas, but I can but dream.

Spiritualized:  Spiritualized have always existed in their own little bubble.  The brainchild of Jason Pierce (aka J. Spaceman), Spiritualized appeared from the ashes of his previous band Spacemen 3 with Lazer Guided Melodies in 1992.  There’s been another 5 albums since then, with an ever rotating line-up, but the highlight of their career was undoubtedly 1997’s Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.  It is a string-drenched epic masterpiece, and it stands out as a unique album released in a year when Britpop was on its last legs.  The band performed the full album at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2009, and Pierce has been working on a new album for the last two years.  It is called Sweet Heart Sweet Light and will be released in March.

Air:  Air are French duo Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, and they have been working together since 1995.  Their debut album Moon Safari was lumped in that ugly genre known as ‘chill out’ but it was so much more than that.  But since then, they’ve never been afraid to try out new things, and their music has constantly evolved through the five albums they’ve released since.  It’s been almost three years since they released Love 2, but they are back in 2012 with a new album entitled Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon). They have composed the score for a restore and hand coloured version of the classic 1902 Georges Méliès film of the same name.  A digital version of the album along with the restored movie is set for release some time this year, and will likely mark a new chapter in Air’s musical journey.

Deltron Event II: In 2000, an album called Deltron 3030 was released.  Described as a ‘rap opera concept album, set in a dystopian year 3030’, it was a collaboration between Dan The Automator, Kid Koala and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and featured a host of guest stars, including Damon Albarn, Sean Lennon and Prince Paul.  It is a hip hop masterclass, with brilliant production from Automator and Kid Koala, and a great vocal narrative from rapper Del.  The sequel has been a long time coming, with work starting as far back as 2006.  A mooted 2007 release never happened, and there have been conflicting stories from the three key players about its progress in the years since.  But momentum seems to be building, with Kid Koala and Dan The Automator both apparently confirming its completion in late 2011.  A release date has yet to be announced, but it could be one of the hip hop events of the year if it finally does see the light of day in 2012.

Sherlock – The Hounds Of Baskerville

The Hound of the Baskervilles may or may not be the best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, but it’s certainly the one that has been adapted the most.  There have been more than 20 adaptations of it in film and for television, and now the BBC’s new take on Holmes, Sherlock, is giving it a go.  Written by co-creator Mark Gatiss, and retitled The Hounds of Baskerville, the action still takes place in Dartmoor, with strange activities at a military base drawing Sherlock and John Watson to investigate.

At 221b Baker Street, Sherlock is bored and antsy, trying to quit smoking and lashing out at Mrs. Hudson and Watson as a result.  He is interrupted by a potential client, Henry.  Henry is from Dartmoor, and claims to have seen his father killed by a creature when he was a child.  Holmes is initially sceptical and dismissive of Henry, but changes his mind when Henry tells him that he recently saw the ‘footprints of a gigantic hound’.  So Sherlock and John head down to Devon to investigate, although both are sceptical about there really being a hound at all.

After listening to a local who claims to have seen the hound, they visit the Baskerville military chemical and biological research centre. They bluff their way inside, because Sherlock ‘acquired’ an ID card from his brother, Mycroft.  It also gives John the chance to pull rank on a young corporal, something he greatly enjoys.  They meet Dr. Franklyn (Clive Mantle, recognisable from Casualty and Holby City) and Dr. Stapleton (Amelia Bullmore, who you may know from I’m Alan Partridge), but learn little about what is really going on before their time runs out and the ID they used is flagged up.  Major Barrymore, the man in charge of the centre wants to know what is going on, but the pair are saved by Franklyn, who insists Sherlock is indeed Mycroft.  Dr. Franklyn escorts them out, and informs them that he was a friend of Henry’s father.

They visit Henry Knight at his home.  He explains that he has visions of the words ‘liberty’ and ‘in’ but doesn’t understand what they mean.  Sherlock suggests they take Henry back out onto the moors at night, trying to trigger more memories.  While out there, Watson splits from the others, and hears howling.  Sherlock and Henry visit a spot known as Dewer’s Hollow, and they both see the hound, although Sherlock refuses to admit it.  Later, Holmes admits to John that he DID in fact see the hound.

This revelation has John doubting him, and even Sherlock doubts himself, as he worries that emotions are getting the better of him.  Lastrade arrives, having been sent down to check up on the pair by Mycroft.  He speaks to the owners of a vegetarian restaurant, who have recently ordered a large amount of meat, and the pair admit to courting business by keeping a dog in a cave on the moor, which they couldn’t control and had put down.  Lastrade is not convinced that this explains everything, and neither are Holmes or Watson.

The beauty of the cases in the Sherlock series is that they are complex and don’t give the viewer too many clues as to what is really going on.  The Hounds of Baskerville is the same, with many false leads and dead ends that keep Sherlock and Watson, and the viewers, guessing about who is responsible for what is happening, and just what exactly is happening.  Sherlock is of course portrayed as a genius detective, there is enough to each tale to tax his mind while still allowing him to show his skills as he pushes himself to solve the puzzles.

This episode is probably the darkest yet, and certainly has more scares and psychological terror than previously seen.  The Hounds of Baskerville takes Conan Doyle’s original story in a new direction, and successfully makes it a modern adventure, one that really tests Sherlock’s mind.  It’s another strong episode, and I’m already disappointed that there is just one more in the series.  This episode teases the return of Moriarty, and it seems certain that the final episode, The Reichenbach Fall will be an explosive one.

The Curious Case Of The Naked Lady And The Television

The first episode in a new series of Sherlock was transmitted by the BBC on January 1^st.  90 minutes long, it began at 8:10.  It was the continuation of a critically acclaimed series, and was called A Scandal in Belgravia, an adaptation of an original Arthur Conan Doyle story called A Scandal in Bohemia.  Sherlock and Watson are asked to recover compromising photographs of a young royal from a dominatrix called Irene Adler.

This, apparently, represented something of a problem for certain members of the public.  Or at least, that is what the Daily Mail claimed.  When Holmes and Watson visit Ms. Adler, she surprised Sherlock by introducing herself to him while completely nude.  Most men would welcome such an introduction, but it throws Sherlock off his guard, and he finds himself unable to read Adler like he can anyone else.  But there was a further problem.  Here was a naked dominatrix, lounging around in a chair like nothing was out of the ordinary, but it wasn’t even 9pm!  As the Mail helpfully pointed out, it was only 8:35pm when Lara Pulver (playing Adler) appeared on screen wearing nothing more than a knowing smile.

The paper ran a story to publicise the public’s apparent outrage, with three quotes, apparently from Twitter, included:

One wrote on Twitter: ‘Dominatrix?! Watershed anyone? My ten-year-old was watching that.’

Another said: ‘I don’t think the storyline in Sherlock is pre-watershed suitable.’

A third asked: ‘How was Sherlock on pre-watershed with that slut walking round with no clothes on for most of it?!’

Let’s address a few of those points shall we?

Firstly, while Adler is indeed a dominatrix, by the time this is announced, the episode had already shown Sherlock firing a gun at a wall INSIDE 221b Baker Street because he was bored, and a murder.  It seems that guns and violence are fine for a ten year old.

Secondly, the storyline for A Scandal in Belgravia was hardly shocking.  Yes, there were guns, murder and crime, but there was no bad language, graphic violence or anything else that would normally only be shown after 9pm.

Finally, Pulver appears naked in one scene, showing none of her ‘rude’ bits, for just a few minutes, before Sherlock offers her his coat.  To call her a slut also seems rather harsh.  She’s certainly been ‘friendly’ with more than one person, but she’s a woman in control of herself, and fiercely intelligent, as well as beautiful.

The reality is that the nudity in Sherlock was brief and used as an important plot point.  In Conan Doyle’s story, Adler is very much a match for Holmes, someone he admires and recognises as being an intellectual match for him.  In Sherlock, Adler uses her lack of clothing to gain an advantage over Sherlock.  She has something he wants, and she’ll do anything to make sure he doesn’t get it.  It is just one example of how clever she is, and there are several more, fully clothed, moments like it in the episode.

But of course, the Daily Mail would never let something like context get in the way of a good bit of hysteria.  The irony is that despite their faux outrage over the whole thing, they printed a still of the offending scene in their story, and literally anyone of any age can pick up the Daily Mail and have a flick through it.

Thankfully, most people will understand the logic behind that scene, and will continue to watch Sherlock.  They should, as it is one of the best television shows the BBC has produced in a long time.