So yeah, there's a lot of Sherlock just floating about and now that I've reviewed both of the relevant entities, I thought I'd do some comparing. Why are we so fascinated with this one fictional character and his mythos? Why is there still such a prevelance for stories featuring him, even though they're far, far removed from the works of Arthur Conan Doyle? To be honest, I have no idea, really. But perhaps I can have a stab at it. I do like to think I know a thing or two about a thing or two.
For those who read my short-lived Televisual blog, I tried to think about crime fiction and why it intrigues us. It is basically seeing the darkness that is within all of us realised. Sherlock Holmes is, of course, the very definition of crime fiction, using a private 'consulting detective' to do the cases that the police just can't solve themselves. Because of his maverick genius and difficult to deal with manner, he is both respected and ignored by his collegues, with one notable exception.
Watson is Holmes' only real friend, and even then that friendship can be quite easily stretched. Watson is a very typical device as an audience surrogate, he is new to Sherlock's world so we can see everything quite neatly through his eyes, rather than the more confusing and jumbled world of Sherlock himelf. It's an enduring set of stories that haven't quite left the public interest, especially since they're now in the public domain and quite free to molest to our own purposes.
So, to compare the two versions of Sherlock I've just seen and talked about. Who does what better? Let's think...
Sherlock himself: The BBC
Dr. John Watson: The BBC
Irene Adler: The BBC
Professor Moriarty: Hollywood
Misplaced Grandeur: Hollywood
Fight Sequences: Hollywood
(Discombobulate)
Myecroft Holmes: The BBC
Use of Forensics: The BBC
Detective Lestrade: Hollywood
Unreal Cleverness:The BBC
Watson's Love Life: Hollywood
I mean, these are just my personal opinions, so I shall agree that many people wouldn't agree. I think the tally there puts the BBC ahead by one, which seems about right. Even though it's set modern day, I think the anarchoristic soul of the work is best represented by Moffat, Cumberbatch and Freeman, while Ritchie, Downy Jr. and Law are there for the big explosions, the stupid fun and the swish sword fighting that Hollywood is so very set up for. Moriarty's plot in the BBC version was stupendously awesome, but the actual part was nothing compared to the Hollywood version, despite that particular plot not being up to much.
It's kind of a good thing that we have both, really. I watched the last episode of the BBC version on January the 15th (my birthday), a mere few hours after leaving the cinema to see Game of Shadows, so I had the benefit of being able to look at them next to each other, as it were, and compare what I could. Be glad we have both. I'm not sure anyone will ever hit Sherlock Holmes spot on, and I'm not sure that anyone ever should. For something that hasn't left the public eye for so long, we should never stop changing him or moulding him, each time crying out that this one is the most faithful adaptation.
After all, he's the most portrayed character in screen history, he's bound to have been through a few facelifts.
INSIDE MEN
So yeah, despite the fact that I've just been rambling about one of the best shows the BBC has done in a long time, Inside Men is undoubtably one of the best shows the BBC has done in a long time. The whole thing, from start to finish, was a masterpiece of cunning, power, crime, violence, greed and self.
I don't think I've ever seen a more powerful piece of character transformation, or a more detailed and rigorous plot that seems so firmly entrenched in its own structure that the characters blend seemlessly into the whole as if they were just along for the ride in their own lives. Which they kind of were.
It centres around a Bristol based Counting House, a warehouse that spends its time counting money for banks, bookies and cash machines. It's employees are tempted every day, because every day they have to look at stacks of more money than they will ever earn in their lifetime. And so what does that temptation do?
To be honest, if I were Securicore or some company like that, with armoured vans and more CCTV than a prison, then I'd ban my staff from ever watching this show. It was dark, gritty, detailed and had all the right elements of a true masterpiece. I simply cannot rate this show highly enough. Buy it on DVD. Now. Right now.
Next up: WARHORSE
Monday, 30 January 2012
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Aaaand We're Crazy
So yeah, you'd think that in the middle of moving house, my brother dropping out of university, complications in my rather unexistant love life and still trying to find time to catch up on sleep, that I'd pick a better time than to try and start my own business. But no, here I am, not thinking things through.
You see, I've been running the Corn Exchange cafe for about five months now, which includes the whirlwind of chaos that was Panto season. I never thought I was doing a particularly excellent job as supervisor, but everyone above me seemed happy enough with it. I was just getting on with my job, but then it changed.
I was told that I couldn't do the rota next time because it wasn't "what my boss wanted" when I showed her the end result. Pretty sure she gave me the job in the first place, pretty sure that if she'd wanted something in particular from it, she should tell me in the first place, so that I don't get it wrong.
So because of this, I decided that I was going to look into how to take on the cafe myself, since they were advertising for a franchise to run the place. Getting a franchise in would essentially put me out of my shiny new promotion and cut down my hours to about 10 a week. So I figure, why not do this for myself?
My team consists of me, my friend Kerry from Rios and Tim, who's been working on the cafe with me. So we've been putting together our business plan, discussing finances and figuring out what hours we can all do and what products we'd try to sell, what our menu would be... it's all so very grown up and responsible that I'm kind of unsure what I'm doing here, but it all seems like everyone thinks I'm good for the job... not least of which is my Dad. When we were moving into the flat, he said he would support the business financially with a several grand loan. That's actually the scariest part of it all, my Dad is willing to bankroll us. Jeez.
So yeah, crazy. Very crazy.
SHERLOCK (BBC)
Well, I don't think there's been a more keenly discussed BBC series in the last two years. With the rise of Steven Moffat into being the BBC's Golden Boy, Sherlock and Doctor Who are probably some of the most demanded TV in the UK. That and Misfits. But yes, Sherlock. Taking the classic stories of Conan Doyle and modernising them into 2012, making Watson's journal into his blog, making Sherlock's opium habit into nicotene patches, it's all just so slick and random, so fun and insane, that it works so brilliantly well.
So far, we've had 6 episodes on Sherlock, each of them is an hour and a half long, making each one a television movie in its own right. I mean, I was a bit off with the format to start with, then I watched the first episode last year and Holy Christ does any of that not matter. Not only does Benedict Cumberbatch simply dominate the screen, but the writing is tight, smart and leaves the viewer feeling deeply impressed and satisfied. Like, needing a cigarette afterwards satisfied.
At least that's what I thought for the first four hours and twenty minutes. Then, ten minutes from the end of the first season, 'Jim Moriarty' played by Andrew Scott. And it was downhill from there. I don't quite know what Moffat and Gatiss were playing at when they created this version of Professor Moriarty, but it can go fuck itself in the ear. I don't think I'd ever been more disappointed by in a TV show than that exact moment. It depresses and saddens me to think that they went with this irritating sap.
The second season that we've just had was amazing. We kept wet cloth over there to a minimum for the first two episodes. Scandal in Belgravia was smooth, sophisticated and brilliantly executed, Hounds of Baskerville was daring and weird, but it was probably the best you could do with that particular story. Then there was the Reichenbach Fall and the return of Moriarty. It was probably the best that Scott's Moriarty had ever been, and it did the series a favour when it came to the final confrontation.
In the end, this is a great show with one major drawback. Can I still love it? Yes. Can I still recommend it? Yes. But you didn't need me to tell you that. It's still worth watching, no matter what they do that's unconventional and off the wall.
Next up: Inside Men (more BBC)
You see, I've been running the Corn Exchange cafe for about five months now, which includes the whirlwind of chaos that was Panto season. I never thought I was doing a particularly excellent job as supervisor, but everyone above me seemed happy enough with it. I was just getting on with my job, but then it changed.
I was told that I couldn't do the rota next time because it wasn't "what my boss wanted" when I showed her the end result. Pretty sure she gave me the job in the first place, pretty sure that if she'd wanted something in particular from it, she should tell me in the first place, so that I don't get it wrong.
So because of this, I decided that I was going to look into how to take on the cafe myself, since they were advertising for a franchise to run the place. Getting a franchise in would essentially put me out of my shiny new promotion and cut down my hours to about 10 a week. So I figure, why not do this for myself?
My team consists of me, my friend Kerry from Rios and Tim, who's been working on the cafe with me. So we've been putting together our business plan, discussing finances and figuring out what hours we can all do and what products we'd try to sell, what our menu would be... it's all so very grown up and responsible that I'm kind of unsure what I'm doing here, but it all seems like everyone thinks I'm good for the job... not least of which is my Dad. When we were moving into the flat, he said he would support the business financially with a several grand loan. That's actually the scariest part of it all, my Dad is willing to bankroll us. Jeez.
So yeah, crazy. Very crazy.
SHERLOCK (BBC)
Well, I don't think there's been a more keenly discussed BBC series in the last two years. With the rise of Steven Moffat into being the BBC's Golden Boy, Sherlock and Doctor Who are probably some of the most demanded TV in the UK. That and Misfits. But yes, Sherlock. Taking the classic stories of Conan Doyle and modernising them into 2012, making Watson's journal into his blog, making Sherlock's opium habit into nicotene patches, it's all just so slick and random, so fun and insane, that it works so brilliantly well.
So far, we've had 6 episodes on Sherlock, each of them is an hour and a half long, making each one a television movie in its own right. I mean, I was a bit off with the format to start with, then I watched the first episode last year and Holy Christ does any of that not matter. Not only does Benedict Cumberbatch simply dominate the screen, but the writing is tight, smart and leaves the viewer feeling deeply impressed and satisfied. Like, needing a cigarette afterwards satisfied.
At least that's what I thought for the first four hours and twenty minutes. Then, ten minutes from the end of the first season, 'Jim Moriarty' played by Andrew Scott. And it was downhill from there. I don't quite know what Moffat and Gatiss were playing at when they created this version of Professor Moriarty, but it can go fuck itself in the ear. I don't think I'd ever been more disappointed by in a TV show than that exact moment. It depresses and saddens me to think that they went with this irritating sap.
The second season that we've just had was amazing. We kept wet cloth over there to a minimum for the first two episodes. Scandal in Belgravia was smooth, sophisticated and brilliantly executed, Hounds of Baskerville was daring and weird, but it was probably the best you could do with that particular story. Then there was the Reichenbach Fall and the return of Moriarty. It was probably the best that Scott's Moriarty had ever been, and it did the series a favour when it came to the final confrontation.
In the end, this is a great show with one major drawback. Can I still love it? Yes. Can I still recommend it? Yes. But you didn't need me to tell you that. It's still worth watching, no matter what they do that's unconventional and off the wall.
Next up: Inside Men (more BBC)
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Busy Frickin' Month
I'm moving house today. I'm considering starting my own business next week. I've just aged. I'm still trying to recover from the lack of sleep I endured over Panto season. I still despise Christmas. I'm single once again.
Kinda feels like I escaped from the frying pan of December (what with the constant working and little sleeping, everything else that I've moaned about before) and have stumbled and fallen into the open flame of January.
It just feels like all the pressures and strains that I wanted rid of at the end of last month haven't let me go, they just want to keep biting at me, keep me stressed and keep me sleepless. I'm not sure what I'm doing with myself.
I think I'm muddling along, but something in the back of my mind keeps telling me that I'm missing something, that I've forgotten something important but I just can't remember what it is. I want to not feel like this, but I can't help it.
Roll on sodding February.
SHERLOCK HOLMES:
A GAME OF SHADOWS.
If there's a poll out there for what stereotypical words can be tagged onto a movie title, I bet you 'Shadows' is in the top 5. Anyway, this was a slightly inferior follow-up to a highly entertaining first installment. If the first one was an 8 out of 10, this was a 7. Firstly, the relationship between Holmes and Watson that made the first film feel so fresh was lacking in this one, it felt forced and ingenuine, which was a great pity considering how much it made the first film.
Secondly, the action sequences were way over the top. They were overblown and dynamic in the first one, but in this they needed a serious turning down. If they'd just reigned themselves in a little bit more, then we'd have a decent film on our hands, but the fights were often jarring and difficult to follow. Thirdly, was Noomi Rapace actually necessary? The whole brother-plastic-surgery plot was sheer rubbish, did they actually need that final element just to justify her presence?
That being said, this film does do some things very well, namely it's two villains.
Paul Anderson is a little known TV Actor who said about nine words in this film, but he had a commanding presence as Colonel Sebastian Moran (I was impressed that the film even contained the character, to be honest) and served as an excellent opposite to Watson. The main hat goes off to, however, Jared Harris as Professor James Moriarty. I mean seriously, how long have I had to wait for someone like this to play the role, eh? Too long have I had to put up with mediocre portrayals of this man.
But no longer, Jared Harris was, and let me say this as clearly as possible:
AWE
SOME
as Moriarty. He suited the part down to a T and he played with the right amount of gusto.
This wasn't a perfect movie and it could have been better considering the first one that it didn't quite live up to, the whole story didn't really come together until the third act and the lead characters were off, but it's villians make up for it and the simplicity of Moriarty's scheme is, quite frankly, commending its audience for their patience and understanding. I'd still recommend it, but only if you were a fan of the previous one (which, incidently, you don't have to have seen to view this one).
Next time: SHERLOCK (the BBC version).
Kinda feels like I escaped from the frying pan of December (what with the constant working and little sleeping, everything else that I've moaned about before) and have stumbled and fallen into the open flame of January.
It just feels like all the pressures and strains that I wanted rid of at the end of last month haven't let me go, they just want to keep biting at me, keep me stressed and keep me sleepless. I'm not sure what I'm doing with myself.
I think I'm muddling along, but something in the back of my mind keeps telling me that I'm missing something, that I've forgotten something important but I just can't remember what it is. I want to not feel like this, but I can't help it.
Roll on sodding February.
SHERLOCK HOLMES:
A GAME OF SHADOWS.
If there's a poll out there for what stereotypical words can be tagged onto a movie title, I bet you 'Shadows' is in the top 5. Anyway, this was a slightly inferior follow-up to a highly entertaining first installment. If the first one was an 8 out of 10, this was a 7. Firstly, the relationship between Holmes and Watson that made the first film feel so fresh was lacking in this one, it felt forced and ingenuine, which was a great pity considering how much it made the first film.
Secondly, the action sequences were way over the top. They were overblown and dynamic in the first one, but in this they needed a serious turning down. If they'd just reigned themselves in a little bit more, then we'd have a decent film on our hands, but the fights were often jarring and difficult to follow. Thirdly, was Noomi Rapace actually necessary? The whole brother-plastic-surgery plot was sheer rubbish, did they actually need that final element just to justify her presence?
That being said, this film does do some things very well, namely it's two villains.
Paul Anderson is a little known TV Actor who said about nine words in this film, but he had a commanding presence as Colonel Sebastian Moran (I was impressed that the film even contained the character, to be honest) and served as an excellent opposite to Watson. The main hat goes off to, however, Jared Harris as Professor James Moriarty. I mean seriously, how long have I had to wait for someone like this to play the role, eh? Too long have I had to put up with mediocre portrayals of this man.
But no longer, Jared Harris was, and let me say this as clearly as possible:
AWE
SOME
as Moriarty. He suited the part down to a T and he played with the right amount of gusto.
This wasn't a perfect movie and it could have been better considering the first one that it didn't quite live up to, the whole story didn't really come together until the third act and the lead characters were off, but it's villians make up for it and the simplicity of Moriarty's scheme is, quite frankly, commending its audience for their patience and understanding. I'd still recommend it, but only if you were a fan of the previous one (which, incidently, you don't have to have seen to view this one).
Next time: SHERLOCK (the BBC version).
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Films of 2011
Well, I probably should have done this post sooner, but hey, I was recovering from Panto season and trying to avoid my inevitable ageing tomorrow. So... what did I see in 2011?
Well, back in January I started off with Love and Other Drugs, which seemed like fun but was quickly overshadowed by the powerful hitters of last year's Oscar season. 127 Hours, Black Swan and The King's Speech were all immensely powerful films. 127 Hours is probably one of the most visceral experiences I've ever had in a cinema, Black Swan was hideous and beautiful for exactly the same reasons and the King's Speech... well, it spoke for itself in terms we can't compete with. Then I saw the remake of the Mechanic. Yeah... that sucked.
February brought the fantastic True Grit to start off with, which was kind of the tail end of Oscar season, then I went to see Pointless being filmed and that was the first time I did a review on something that wasn't a movie (and was within licking distance of Alexander Armstrong). Then I saw Paul with my brother, Rabbit Hole at work and the truly abysmal Drive Angry to round out the month. In March I started out with Rango (fun), then the Adjustment Bureau (dull) and then... then there was IRONCLAD. The truest of MAN FILMS.
I also saw the US Military blandness that was Battle Los Angeles and then the extremely pretentious Biutiful. Sci-fi was continually let down in April by Source Code, but then Killing Bono proved to be both funny and informative. Sammy's Adventures: A Turtle's Tale was pretty rubbish, then Your Higness was... well, average. Then Thor. Thor was awesome. May began with Hanna and it was... it wasn't what it could have been. The schlock fest of Priest was good and tacky, then Attack the Block, which was surprisingly good.
June. Summer was in full swing and the blockbusters were rolling out. X-Men First Class was third class at best, then Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides takes up more space as a title than any film this long and dragging has a right to. Then Senna. Oh Senna. So July. First off there was the unspeakable filth of Michael Bay, is anyone surprised that there'll be a fourth one? Then there was Green Lantern. Or How To Learn Casting, as it should be called. A couple of French films followed, Potiche and the Princess of Montpensier.
Then there was a blockbuster to actually redeem all the blockbusters that actually sucked so far this year. You know what that? That was frickin' Captain America: First Avenger. When I was in Switzerland I had the privilige of being in the HR Giger Museum, displaying his weird and disturbing artwork. Next up was the hit-and-miss Super 8 and then the disappointing remake of Conan the Barbarian, which rounded out August. September began with Beginners and Poetry on the same day, neither of which were very easy to get on with.
Bobby Fischer against the World was a very interesting documentary and then I got to see a true and absolute classic on the big screen. Jurassic Park. I need say no more. Jane Eyre rounded out the month and that was an adaptation I was very happy to see. Another adaptation I was happy to see just after that in October was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it was brilliant. Then the Deep Blue Sea, give that one a miss, then I got to see another classic, Kind Hearts and Coronets, which was amazing.
I next saw the Smurfs (why did I do this?), then Beautiful Lies, which was a typically good French entry, I then returned to talk about a TV series with the suitably impressed The Fades. November began with We Need To Talk About Kevin (do I hear an Oscar nod?). The Ides of March followed, then with the Awakening just after. The Adventures of Tintin: Secrets of the Unicorn was not as bad as it should have been, then the Greatest Movie Ever Sold was an amusing look into movie advertising. And so finally December.
The awkward and painful adaptation of Wuthering Heights started us off, then the off-beat comedy We Have A Pope. Finally I spoke about Young James Herriot, a BBC show that I liked, but didn't utilise all of its potential. Then there was The Thing. And that was that. That was my year in reviews. So what do I walk about at the end of this year, what do I take away and who did I like the best and worst? Well then, guess it's time to talk about my top and bottom five movies of 2011 (although I'll count anything I reviewed).
So... the worst 5.
5 - Wuthering Heights
4 - Drive Angry
3 - Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides
2 - Green Lantern
1 - Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon
And the best 5...
5 - Captain America: First Avenger
4 - Jurassic Park (yeah, I know)
3 - The King's Speech
2 - 127 Hours
1 - Senna
I mean, was there any real doubt?
HUGO.
Kind of an odd one, but definately worth a watch. I did enjoy it, but I felt that the elements of the film were a bit mashed together. It starts as a semi-typical children story about a boy living in a clock in the middle of a busy Paris train station (all very fairy tale). He makes a friend and tries to rebuild a robot (?!) that his father had helped him find. Then he angers the local toy seller and becomes indentured to him.
Of course, the grumpy old toyseller becomes the main focus for the film, not our main Hugo anymore, because this toyseller (played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley) is in fact George Milies, an early French cinema pioneer and a real historical character. So that's where the confusion comes in, because it starts off as a boy living in a clock and then ends up as a biopic about a man that most people have never even heard of.
Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed this film, it was a little long for it's content, but I was impressed with how reverent the story was of it's focus, bringing the classic movies of Milies into the public knowledge once again. He was referred to as a 'Cinemagician' in his time and I certainly appreciate him getting some credit, seventy four years after his decline and death. Also, hats off to Sacha Baron Cohen for his part.
Not so sure about Chloe 'Hit Girl' Moretz, however, she wasn't so hot in this one.
Next up: Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows.
Well, back in January I started off with Love and Other Drugs, which seemed like fun but was quickly overshadowed by the powerful hitters of last year's Oscar season. 127 Hours, Black Swan and The King's Speech were all immensely powerful films. 127 Hours is probably one of the most visceral experiences I've ever had in a cinema, Black Swan was hideous and beautiful for exactly the same reasons and the King's Speech... well, it spoke for itself in terms we can't compete with. Then I saw the remake of the Mechanic. Yeah... that sucked.
February brought the fantastic True Grit to start off with, which was kind of the tail end of Oscar season, then I went to see Pointless being filmed and that was the first time I did a review on something that wasn't a movie (and was within licking distance of Alexander Armstrong). Then I saw Paul with my brother, Rabbit Hole at work and the truly abysmal Drive Angry to round out the month. In March I started out with Rango (fun), then the Adjustment Bureau (dull) and then... then there was IRONCLAD. The truest of MAN FILMS.
I also saw the US Military blandness that was Battle Los Angeles and then the extremely pretentious Biutiful. Sci-fi was continually let down in April by Source Code, but then Killing Bono proved to be both funny and informative. Sammy's Adventures: A Turtle's Tale was pretty rubbish, then Your Higness was... well, average. Then Thor. Thor was awesome. May began with Hanna and it was... it wasn't what it could have been. The schlock fest of Priest was good and tacky, then Attack the Block, which was surprisingly good.
June. Summer was in full swing and the blockbusters were rolling out. X-Men First Class was third class at best, then Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides takes up more space as a title than any film this long and dragging has a right to. Then Senna. Oh Senna. So July. First off there was the unspeakable filth of Michael Bay, is anyone surprised that there'll be a fourth one? Then there was Green Lantern. Or How To Learn Casting, as it should be called. A couple of French films followed, Potiche and the Princess of Montpensier.
Then there was a blockbuster to actually redeem all the blockbusters that actually sucked so far this year. You know what that? That was frickin' Captain America: First Avenger. When I was in Switzerland I had the privilige of being in the HR Giger Museum, displaying his weird and disturbing artwork. Next up was the hit-and-miss Super 8 and then the disappointing remake of Conan the Barbarian, which rounded out August. September began with Beginners and Poetry on the same day, neither of which were very easy to get on with.
Bobby Fischer against the World was a very interesting documentary and then I got to see a true and absolute classic on the big screen. Jurassic Park. I need say no more. Jane Eyre rounded out the month and that was an adaptation I was very happy to see. Another adaptation I was happy to see just after that in October was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it was brilliant. Then the Deep Blue Sea, give that one a miss, then I got to see another classic, Kind Hearts and Coronets, which was amazing.
I next saw the Smurfs (why did I do this?), then Beautiful Lies, which was a typically good French entry, I then returned to talk about a TV series with the suitably impressed The Fades. November began with We Need To Talk About Kevin (do I hear an Oscar nod?). The Ides of March followed, then with the Awakening just after. The Adventures of Tintin: Secrets of the Unicorn was not as bad as it should have been, then the Greatest Movie Ever Sold was an amusing look into movie advertising. And so finally December.
The awkward and painful adaptation of Wuthering Heights started us off, then the off-beat comedy We Have A Pope. Finally I spoke about Young James Herriot, a BBC show that I liked, but didn't utilise all of its potential. Then there was The Thing. And that was that. That was my year in reviews. So what do I walk about at the end of this year, what do I take away and who did I like the best and worst? Well then, guess it's time to talk about my top and bottom five movies of 2011 (although I'll count anything I reviewed).
So... the worst 5.
5 - Wuthering Heights
4 - Drive Angry
3 - Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides
2 - Green Lantern
1 - Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon
And the best 5...
5 - Captain America: First Avenger
4 - Jurassic Park (yeah, I know)
3 - The King's Speech
2 - 127 Hours
1 - Senna
I mean, was there any real doubt?
HUGO.
Kind of an odd one, but definately worth a watch. I did enjoy it, but I felt that the elements of the film were a bit mashed together. It starts as a semi-typical children story about a boy living in a clock in the middle of a busy Paris train station (all very fairy tale). He makes a friend and tries to rebuild a robot (?!) that his father had helped him find. Then he angers the local toy seller and becomes indentured to him.
Of course, the grumpy old toyseller becomes the main focus for the film, not our main Hugo anymore, because this toyseller (played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley) is in fact George Milies, an early French cinema pioneer and a real historical character. So that's where the confusion comes in, because it starts off as a boy living in a clock and then ends up as a biopic about a man that most people have never even heard of.
Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed this film, it was a little long for it's content, but I was impressed with how reverent the story was of it's focus, bringing the classic movies of Milies into the public knowledge once again. He was referred to as a 'Cinemagician' in his time and I certainly appreciate him getting some credit, seventy four years after his decline and death. Also, hats off to Sacha Baron Cohen for his part.
Not so sure about Chloe 'Hit Girl' Moretz, however, she wasn't so hot in this one.
Next up: Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows.
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