Our sister was the big Wilson Phillips fan—she had their albums (cassettes!). And then we saw Bridesmaids, where they have a very important role. So we’re watching them tonight at SM Arena. The last concert we saw with our sister was Ricky Martin at PICC. That was so long ago, he was still officially heterosexual.
Benedict Cumberbatch at Martin Freeman bilang Sherlock Holmes at John Watson sa seryeng pantelebisyon ng BBC.
Rebyu ng House of Silk ni Anthony Horowitz
Sinulat ni turmukoy
Utang ko kay Dr. Watson, Conan Doyle, at Sherlock Holmes ang hilig sa pagbabasa. Una kong dinampot ang libro dahil sa rekomendasyon ng aking Practical Arts teacher. Kailangan daw lohikal mag-isip, at kung magbabasa na rin lamang, Sherlock Holmes na ang basahin; ‘wag na ang mga walang kwentang Mills and Boon na bitbit noon ng mga kaklase ko. Exciting pa ang Sherlock, sabi ni titser.
Totoo naman. Nang una kong nabasa ang A Study in Scarlet, yun na, kinailangan ko nang magsubi ng sampumpiso araw-araw upang mabili ang dalawang volume ng Complete Sherlock Holmes (nakita ko nuong nakaraang Sabado na pareho pa rin ang pabalat ng dalawang libro—yaon pa ring black & white na picture ng karwahe).
Laking surpresa ko nang makita ko ang librong ito na may imprimatur ng estate ni Conan Doyle. Una kong naisip (bilang alipin ng korporasyon) kung magkano kaya ang royalty na hiningi ng pamilya ni Conan Doyle. Pero ganunpaman, matapang pa rin ang kahit sinong awtor na magtutuloy ng serye, kaya dapat subukang basahin.
Sinimulan ang libro sa pamamagitan ng isang preface ni Watson. Kunwari’y isa itong lumang manuscript na ibinilin niyang hindi dapat buksan nang makailang ilang daang taon pagkatapos nilang pumanaw. Anya, sensitibo ang laman ng kwento, at posibleng makapagpaguho ng mga ginagalang na institusyon.
Robert Downey Jr bilang Sherlock Holmes at Jude Law bilang John Watson sa pelikula ni Guy Ritchie.
Ang kaso ay nagsimula sa isang takot na negosyante na nasangkot sa isang krimen sa Amerika. Bahag ang buntot ng nagpapatulong kay Holmes, dahil may tumitiktik sa kanya. Pagkatapos, bumuhol na ito sa isang posibleng expert assassin, mga batang palasig, bahay-ampunan, patayan, korupsyon, pagkakakulong kay Holmes, away-asawa-at-biyenan, prostitusyon, opium, karnabal, at ilang conspiracies. Loaded at kung saan-saan napunta talaga.
Nasa libro rin sina Lestrade, Mycroft, at Baker Street Irregulars (Mga Batang Langaw)—na sinubukang pumukaw ng drama—pero, sa huli, andyan man silang lahat, artipisyal lang ang naging dating. Ilang mga pinagtagning problema na nagsayang ng ilang pahina dahil hindi iyon nakaangkla sa pinakampuno ng dalawang kaso. Kaburyon din ang halos buong gitna ng libro, sinubukan pa kasing maglahad nang mahahabang paglalarawan ng setting. Hindi na rin siguro dapat ipinilit isiksik pa si Moriarty dahil wala rin siyang partisipasyon sa krimen. Nandoon ang mga dictum tulad ng “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,” pero parang out of context pa ang pagkakasingit.
Pagkatapos magbasa ng isang istorya ni Watson, wari’y napakaismarte mo na at kababasa lang ng teksbuk ng investigative science. Susubukan mo pang mag-obserba ng mga tao at tukuyin ang trabaho nya. At i-deduce, ika nga, ang mga problema sa motibasyon ng mga sangkot sa isyu. Hindi gaano nakaka-engganyong ganito ang House of Silk. Hindi singhusay ang pagkakalatag ng deduction sa dulo ng istorya, na para lang “tara na, tapusin na natin ito.” Bagama’t ang pagtatapos ay may konting aksyon, inimadyin lang siguro ng awtor na may tsansa ang librong isapelikula kaya dapat may ganire.
Sana pinaikli nang sing-ikli ng normal na kwentong Holmes. Pati ang pagkakasama ng isang kontemporaryong problema ay mukhang di na kailangan. Mas maigi sana kung isang simpleng murder na lang? Wala na rin dapat ang drama-drama sa isang napatay na kakampi (sa ngalan ng imbestigasyon), dahil di rin naman naiayos ang empathy ni Holmes sa isang namatay.
Basil Rathbone bilang Sherlock Holmes at Nigel Bruce bilang John Watson sa 14 pelikula na ginawa noong 1930s at 40s.
Ang maganda sa libro marahil ay ang paggaya sa estilong luma ni Conan Doyle. Natatandaan ko nang sinubukan kong gamitin ang “superficial, commonplace, trivial,” noon sa isang book report, aba pinatawag ako ng English teacher, sa suspetsa na kinopya ko ang buong book report sa isang compilation ng mga book report (yaong sikat noon na sinulat ng mag-asawa). Bagama’t di pa perpekto, pwede na rin ang attempt ni Horowitz sa aspetong ito.
Nasa House of Silk din ang man-love. Meron pang dayalog na: “I take it you will join me? Of course, Holmes. I would like nothing better.” Hehe.
Naalala ko tuloy na mahusay na sequel ni Guy Ritchie. Kapag tuturuan ko na ang anak ko sa panonood ng pelikula, itururo ko ang mukha ni Jude Law nuong nalaglag sa falls si Rober Downey (bilang Sherlock): pagkagitla, denial, kalmang pagkatuliro, pagkaiyak. Mga limang segundo ang eksena, pero oks na yon, pwede nang ituro at sabihin—“Yan, anak ang akting.”
Kung nanaisin pa uling gumawa nang isa pang libro sa serye, sana’y ibigay ang timon kay Michael Chabon. Mahusay magsulat ng genre fiction ang awtor na ito. O kaya magbasa na lang ng John LeCarre (Our Game, Smiley Novels, Absolute Friends, A Most Wanted Man)… talagang relevant ang mga issue sa mga libro niya.
Game of Thrones report from io9: The show has reportedly started casting extras for the notorious Red Wedding sequence. Specifically, the show is looking for male cellists and male amputees who are comfortable wearing prosthetics that suggest their legs were only just cut off. Here’s the casting call.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….
In other news: former Miss Philippines Dindi Gallardo sues Dark Knight creator Frank Miller and his girlfriend for hostile work environment. The suit alleges that Kimberly Cox yelled at Gallardo, threw phones and chairs at her, smeared human feces on her workspace, and left dirty underwear and a used sanitary napkin by her desk. Holy crap, Batman.
Thanks to Chus for the alert.
Ted is the first feature film by Seth Macfarlane, who also does the voice of the teddy bear, which is why he sounds like Peter Griffin from Family Guy. Ted is a masterpiece! 5 stars! The talking, walking, farting teddy bear really is alive, so this is not a psychotic-with-imaginary-friend comedy.
We are warned about the crudeness, profanity and drug use (all of them Ted’s), but not about the possible trauma of seeing someone part with his favorite toy/best friend. No, Marky Mark! (We’ll never stop calling him that). Don’t let Ted go!! The world is full of girls but there is only one sentient teddy bear!!!
Liam Neeson stars in Taken 2. Is that his light saber stuck in his waistband?
In the first Taken, Liam Neeson kills every Albanian in Paris in order to rescue his daughter. In Taken 2 the Albanians want revenge so they follow him to Istanbul where he’s on vacation with his ex-wife and (that same) daughter.
This has to be the most unfortunate family in current movies, or at least Luc Besson productions co-starring Maggie Grace and set in different international locations. Why is Neeson’s character even allowed to travel when you know he’s going to lay waste to every city he sets foot on?
Taken 2 is a fun, fast 90 minutes, Liam Neeson (We refused to watch The Grey because we were sure he would kill some wolves) is always watchable and even his daughter is much less annoying. We like how Neeson’s character is not just badass but well-acquainted with the laws of physics. He doesn’t need the cavalry to come save him and he certainly doesn’t need GPS—he can pinpoint locations using home-made protractors and grenades. Yay, Doppler effect! Istanbul looks wonderful, we have to go.
Why isn’t there an Evian ad with Liam Neeson in it? We’ve all been wink-wink-nudge-nudging about it for years and the brand hasn’t taken advantage of this association. All you need is a bunch of people sipping from Evian liter bottles and Liam Neeson walking past them. Do it! Don’t forget our royalties.
Fantastic Four cover from marvel.com.
Stan Lee came into the office a few days a week, and still looked at the covers. But when he wasn’t blinking his eyes at balance sheets and charts and annual reports, signing off on thousand-dollar merchandise licensing deals for Marvel characters, or getting called into meetings with Cadence chief Sheldon Feinberg, he was speaking at college campuses, or meeting with producers, hoping to get Spider-Man and the Hulk on the big screen. It wasn’t long before he grew tired of all the boardroom stuffiness and realized he didn’t want to remain president.
Read an excerpt from Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>More
