Without A Clue

It is no secret that the story of Sherlock Holmes has been the object of a myriad of adaptions, reimaginings, and parodies, and in the latter category Without A Clue is definitely one of the best.

           

If you aren't familiar with the movie, let me give you a brief summary:
This is your classical Sherlock Holmes, but with one major difference: Doctor Watson is actually the brains behind it all, and Holmes merely an actor paid to play the role. Watson, very tired of being completely overlooked, decides to fire Holmes and start on his own, but a case of some stolen printing plates that may have national consequences, needs Sherlock Holmes and no one else, so Watson reluctantly decides to take on one last case with Sherlock Holmes.

Does the concept sound hilarious? It is!
And as the roles of Holmes and Watson are taken on by Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley nothing stands in the way of a great movie.

            

I was actually introduced to this movie prior to seeing any "real" adaptions of Sherlock Holmes and it has always been a favourite of mine. 

What makes it truly great isn't just the superb acting but the many funny dialogues, which are very quotable.

           

Sherlock Holmes: What are you doing?
Doctor Watson: Thinking.
Sherlock Holmes: Right. I'm going to think too.
(long pause)
What shall we think about Watson?

Or there's the scene where Holmes is shown a drowned corpse to search for clues.
Sherlock Holmes (poking man with stick): It is my opinion...that he is dead.
Onlookers: Genius!

             

Sherlock Holmes: I'm reminded of the curious case of the Manchurian Mambo.
Dr Watson: I believe that is the Manchurian Mamba
Sherlock Holmes: Mambo, mamba. What's the difference.
Dr Watson: Well, very little, except that one is a deadly poisonous snake while the other is a rather festive Caribbean dance.
Sherlock Holmes (at conclusion of story): As the snake struck at me, I danced out of the way. If it hadn't been for my flawless footwork, I'd be standing here a dead man today.

Apart from these scenes there are plenty of delightful conversations between Holmes and Watson simply overflowing with sarcastic remarks.

          

As for content, there are 2 scenes where the villain kills someone with a knife, but no blood is shown. There is a scene where a man spies on a woman undressing, but she discovers him quickly, and lastly there are a few scenes with a man cross dressing as a woman.

So, as a conclusion: this is a light and extremely funny movie that I am sure you will enjoy if you like Sherlock Holmes.

Inkling Explorations And Roses

                  

It's June, which means a new Inkling Explorations theme.

It's a good one this time!!
The theme is: Roses in books or films.

As Heidi herself mentions, the Anne Of Green Gables series mentions roses quite a lot, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the scene I've chosen comes from one of those books.

More precisely, it comes from Anne's House Of Dreams, and it's the scene where Owen Ford proposes to Leslie.

                  

"This house was builded and consecrated by love," said Owen. "Such houses, MUST exert an influence over those who live in them. And this garden—it is over sixty years old and the history of a thousand hopes and joys is written in its blossoms. Some of those flowers were actually set out by the schoolmaster's bride, and she has been dead for thirty years. Yet they bloom on every summer. Look at those red roses, Leslie—how they queen it over everything else!"

"I love the red roses," said Leslie. "Anne likes the pink ones best, and Gilbert likes the white. But I want the crimson ones. They satisfy some craving in me as no other flower does."

"These roses are very late—they bloom after all the others have gone—and they hold all the warmth and soul of the summer come to fruition," said Owen, plucking some of the glowing, half-opened buds.

"The rose is the flower of love—the world has acclaimed it so for centuries. The pink roses are love hopeful and expectant—the white roses are love dead or forsaken—but the red roses—ah, Leslie, what are the red roses?"

"Love triumphant," said Leslie in a low voice.

"Yes—love triumphant and perfect. Leslie, you know—you understand. I have loved you from the first. And I KNOW you love me—I don't need to ask you. But I want to hear you say it—my darling—my darling!"

Leslie said something in a very low and tremulous voice. Their hands and lips met; it was life's supreme moment for them and as they stood there in the old garden, with its many years of love and delight and sorrow and glory, he crowned her shining hair with the red, red rose of a love triumphant.

Isn't it a sweet scene? Apart from the whole proposal part, I remember that 14 year old me was thrilled to learn about the language of roses, when I read this for the first time.

Would you like to read about more rose related scenes?
Then be sure to pop over at Heidi's blog and read the other participants' entries.

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

This is a long awaited post!

I recall wanting to write about this movie almost from my very first day of blogging - and now, 2 and a half years later it is finally happening: my incoherent and fangirly review of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers!!

I recently rewatched the movie for the first time in a while, and as it thoroughly reminded me why this is my favourite musical of all time, that was the final push I needed to write this.

                                    

But first, let us have a summary: In 1850's Oregon, Adam Pontipee decides he wants a wife, so he goes to town one day to find one. To everyone's surprise he meets Millie who agrees to marry him at once and goes off with him to his remote farm.

When they arrive she is very surprised to find Adam has six brothers that he forgot to mention she is also supposed to take care off. After she has gotten over the shock, she decides to help finding them girls of their own. It works only all too well, for suddenly they are all pining away for their girls that they can't visit due to the remoteness of the farm.

To cheer them up Adam suggests that they take inspiration from the ancient Romans and simply kidnap the girls away...

                  

If you haven't picked this up from the context yet, let me tell you one thing before we go any further: in my subjective and very biased opinion Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is the ultimate movie musical of all time!

And what made watching it even better this time, was that I was watching it with a friend who had never seen it before (but she had listened to me ramble about it for years), so not only was I reacquainting myself with all my favourite moments, I was watching it through her eyes too as a first timer!

It is truly one of a few movies where I enjoy every single minute of it!

                  

But why this movie in particular? I will tell you why!

Firstly, the songs! There are 8 original songs which are all brilliant! Not a single miss! That is quite a feat in itself! And none of the songs slow the plot down.
From the funny and catchy "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" to the melancholy "Lonesome Polecat" the songs cover quite the spectrum of emotions. But my all time favourite song of them all will always be the beautiful and dreamy "June Bride."

                 

Secondly, it doesn't have any of that drawn-out-ness that some musicals of this period had. For instance it only has one long dance sequence, but even then that involves a lot of laughs and is in no way boring.

Thirdly it actually has a lot of plot and a lot of humour.

These three facts also means that this is the ideal movie to watch with ones who aren't musical enthusiasts, as they will probably like it too.

Furthermore, the movie has a long list of great characters, who in no small way contributes to the many funny moments and conversations.

The Pontipee brothers in particular bring a lot of laughs.

From Adam, who very sagely explains that being in love is just like having the measles, to Benjamin who thinks offering chewing tobacco is a good way to open a conversation with girls, to Frank who starts a fight every time someone says his real name (it's Frankincense, because his mom couldn't find any F names in the bible).

And then there's Gideon, who is so sweet and adorable, and who I always had a soft spot for.

                  

As for content, I don't really recall any. Some might find the whole ordeal of the men kidnapping the girls a disturbing concept, but to them I will say: the movie obviously doesn't take itself very seriously, so neither should you. And in the movie they were also thoroughly chastised for it.

                   

What more can I say?
All over it's just a wonderful movie!

April & May Period Drama Challenge Tag

            

1. What period dramas did you view in April/May?

I watched Great Expectations, Les Miserables, Doctor Thorne, Into The White and probably a few more that I can't recall right now.


2.Do you prefer to watch period dramas that have a happy ending or a bittersweet ending?

Happy endings, no doubt!
I can appreciate bittersweet endings but the endings might be the factor that decides if a movie becomes a favourite.


3. What media forms do you prefer to use when watching period dramas (i.e. purchased DVD's, rented/borrowed DVD's, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu)?

I don't particularly care as long as I get to watch the movie.


4. Which period drama character's wardrobe would you like to own?

How to choose....I think I would love to own the wardrobe of any Jane Austen character. But Emmas wardrobe in the 2009 version is as near perfection as one can get.


5. What period dramas are you looking forward to viewing in June 2016?

I can hardly decide, mainly because the list is so long.
Due to a clearance sale at the biggest movie store in town, I've aquired a bunch of new period dramas that needs watching, among others the 3 Sissi movies and 4 Sharpe movies. And I still really want to watch The Paradise.


As the Period Drama Challenge is nearing its end and I have only reviewed 3 movies out of 10, I'll just let you know that June is gonna be a very period drama heavy month, mainly consisting of reviews.
So consider yourself warned:)

On a completely different note: I got a new header!

After seeing so many summer themed blogs I was inspired to do the same.
Do you like the result?