More Than Just Elementary

I’ve been a huge fan of Robert Downey, Jr. for years. He always seemed to be a guy who didn’t take himself too seriously but was also a stunningly good actor. I thought he was brilliant in Heart & Souls, but even more so when he got his Academy Award nomination in Chaplin. He overcame addictions to be a humorous yet charming lawyer Larry Paul on Ally McBeal and completed his comeback from the brink with lead roles in the hilarious Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the awesome double dip of Iron Man and Tropic Thunder.

When I first heard that Downey had been cast to take on the iconic role of Sir Arthur Conan Doye’s famous detective Sherlock Holmes, I think I might have lost my mind for a few seconds. After all, Downey already proved he could provide an excellent English accent in Chaplin, and I thought he had the perfect energy and weirdness necessary to portray the quirky Holmes. Partnering him with the equally brilliant Jude Law as his own Dr. John Watson and having the film directed by Guy Ritchie only made me want to watch this film more.

In Victorian England, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson prevent a ritual sacrifice being conducted by parliament member Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). When Blackwood is sentenced to be hanged, he promises Holmes that he shall return from the grave and cause even more havoc in London. With no new cases to solve and Watson moving out of their flat on 221B Baker Street, Holmes falls into depression and even bets on himself in boxing matches. When Blackwood’s crypt mysteriously opens, Scotland Yard enlists Holmes and Watson to help them prevent a panic and to stop Blackwood. With the aid of Holmes’ old flame Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), they uncover a plot to cause terror and overthrow governments on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the first few minutes of Sherlock Holmes, we immediately see that this isn’t your dad (or even your granddad’s) version of the character. By taking the audience into how Holmes thinks, analyzes situations, and comes up with solutions, director Ritchie also gives us a new way to appreciate the detective’s mind at work. Downey doesn’t don the famous deerstalker hat of Holmes, nor does he say “Elementary, my dear Watson,” but that does not take away from the fact that he is the most “fun” Sherlock Holmes on film ever. Yes, he seems to be playing an English version of his Tony Stark alter ego from Iron Man, so what? The reason why he’s such an effective Holmes is because of the energy that only Downey could bring to the character and I, for one, loved it.

The chemistry between Downey and Law was crucial to make this movie work and luckily, they do have great chemistry together. Law’s Watson isn’t some bumbling oaf. Rather, he is a former soldier, respected physician, and can defend himself in a scrap. In that sense, he is Holmes’ equal and complements the detective quite well. Law doesn’t steal scenes from Downey (even though a star of his magnitude could if he wanted to) and that preserves the integrity of the title character.

Strong has a (pardon the pun) strong resemblance to Andy Garcia, but that doesn’t take away from his menacing performance as Blackwood. The dark features and the deep voice add to his creepiness. I’ve heard complaints that there are parts of the film that drag or get boring, and I noticed where one might say that. However, I also thought those parts were needed in order to explain Blackwood’s background and what his motivation was for going down that path. The glimpses into England during the reign of Queen Victoria were also entertaining since it doesn’t gloss over the grimy state of the nation while also showing the construction of the famous Tower Bridge. If I had one criticism of the movie, it’s that McAdams’ Adler was underutilized and certainly could have done more with Downey and Law. Yes, she’s definitely eye candy, but McAdams is also a good actress and Ritchie should have remembered that.

I felt that Sherlock Holmes was a fun film and definitely brought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creations into the 21st century. The roughhousing and explosions may not have been part of the original stories, but the team of Ritchie, Downey, and Law make it work in the end. I can’t wait for the sequel.

A Rivalry for the Ages

I started watching NBA basketball in earnest back in 1987. In the NBA Finals, I saw Earvin “Magic” Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers launch a hookshot over the Boston Celtics led by Larry Bird. From then on, I was addicted to the NBA and became a diehard fan of Magic and the Lakers. I couldn’t stand Bird or the Celtics. They were too white, too green, too un-LA. The Lakers, on the other hand, played uptempo basketball, had Magic leading the fastbreak, and finishers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Byron Scott to highlight their “Showtime” style of play.

When I borrowed the book When the Game Was Ours, I felt like I was being handed the keys to how Magic’s and Bird’s brains worked. The old archrivals came together to write this book (with sportswriter Jackie MacMullan) in order to clarify some things that had been written about them and to set the record straight on others. It was a relationship that I thought began when they first clashed in the NCAA Basketball Finals in 1979. I was surprised to learn that they were previously teammates the previous year at a World Invitational Tournament. After that, with Bird’s Indiana State team on one side and Magic’s Michigan State squad on the other, the greatest rivalry in basketball history was born.

When the Game Was Ours chronicles the lives of two men who, on the outside, looked like polar opposites. Larry Bird was white, a self-confessed “hick”, wasn’t very fast, and kept to himself. Earvin Johnson, Jr. was black, grew up outside Detroit, and had a magnetic personality. But these two shared such a love for basketball, enjoyed making their teammates better, and absolutely hated losing so badly that they ended up being good friends once they let their guard down. So intense was their rivalry that both admitted that one of the first things they did when they woke up was to check the box scores to see how the other did. Both grew up relatively poor but were drafted by the two premiere franchises in the NBA and immediately brought them back to prominence. They are credited as the men who supposedly "saved the NBA" although neither would claim so lofty a title.

The insights shared by each superstar help make this book the enjoyable read that it was. From their recollections of specific games or even specific plays, it’s clear that they lived through those moments and cherished the highs that only competing against the best could give. On the flipside, they also recall the most painful defeats, and still relive the mistakes that could have swung a series in their favor. Elite athletes like Johnson, Bird and Michael Jordan are all ruthless competitors, unusually driven, and hate losing at anything, and this book only helps to cement those stories.

It truly is amazing to see how each looked at the other as their ultimate measuring stick, how each was so committed to beating the other man that they devoted more time to practices and workouts so that they wouldn’t be outdone by their rival. When the rivalry did begin to thaw and a friendship began to bloom, it’s heartwarming to know that their similarities eventually allowed both to appreciate how special their place in basketball history had become. It even got to the point that when Magic found out that he was HIV-positive, Larry was one of the first people he called. Bird’s reaction, feeling like he was punched in the gut, reflected his own concern for the man who he had wanted to beat more than any other.

Their eventual final teaming as Olympic teammates for the original Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics also allowed them to build closer relationships with peers. Bird became inseparable from Patrick Ewing, while Magic and Jordan presided over the greatest basketball game that was never caught on tape. Their individual enshrinements into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and their lives after the NBA have only made their bond stronger as, to this day, both claim that people often ask them where the other is. These two guys are why I got into basketball in the first place. This book just helps crystallize why I still love the game so dearly.

The Next Step for Movies?

What is left to be said about Avatar? It seems everyone who’s seen it has already been blown away by it’s stunning graphics, the special effects, and the advances that director James Cameron has made in 3D animation. My voice would be that of just another fanboy who worships at Cameron’s feet. Still, I’d like to try and give my take on this movie and why I think it’s one of the best science-fiction films I’ve seen from the past decade.

In the year 2154, humans have left Earth and have begun exploring space. On the moon Pandora, the RDA corporation wants to mine the mineral called unobtainium but this has brought them in direct conflict with Pandora’s natives, the blue-skinned, nature-worshipping Na’vi. The humans can only move around Pandora’s toxic atmosphere either in machines or in “avatars”, human Na’vi hybrids controlled by genetically matched humans. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic former marine who volunteers to replace his twin brother who was trained to operate an avatar but was killed prior to departure for Pandora. Though Jake works under the supervision of Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), he actually reports to Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) a military man who wants to know how to get rid of the Na’vi and get all the unobtainium possible.

Jake’s avatar gets lost on Pandora but is rescued by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a female Na’vi who learned English through Augustine’s efforts. Brought back to the holy Hometree, Neytiri’s parents are the Omaticaya tribal chief Eytucan (Wes Studi) and the priestess Mo’at (CCH Pounder). Directed by Mo’at to teach Jake in the ways of the Omaticaya, Neytiri shows the human the bond that the Na’vi have with Pandora’s animals, plants, and the mother goddess Eywa. Jake then finds himself torn between his duty and his growing appreciation for the Na’vi, specifically Neytiri.

First of all, I don’t recommend seeing Avatar for the first time without at least watching the 3D version. The last two movies I’ve seen have been in 3D (the other being A Christmas Carol) but Avatar just raised the stakes in 3D motion pictures. One might feel a bit uneasy with the 3D initially, but after a few minutes, it becomes almost a natural thing to see the film that way. The merging of the live action with the computer-generated parts is also seamless, something I was really looking forward to critiquing before entering the cinema. Worthington, Saldana and the other Na’vi went through the whole motion capture process similar to what transpired in A Christmas Carol and The Polar Express except this time, their characters also interacted with actual human actors. If I was given the chance to watch this in IMAX, I’d jump at it too just to witness what Cameron’s true vision for this epic was in the first place.

As far as plots go, I’ve heard Avatar being compared to the 90s animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest but since I didn’t see that toon, I can instead compare this to films by the great Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki’s films often have themes of environmental awareness and nature fighting against technology and there were parts of Avatar that had echoes of both Princess Mononoke and Laputa: Castle in the Sky in that regard. I definitely think Cameron had been watching a lot of anime leading up to coming up with Avatar’s story, whether it was subconscious or not though is another story.

Still, the main draw of Avatar isn’t the plot. That’s only incidental to this experience. Indeed, watching Avatar is an experience because we might have just seen the future of films with this piece. Cameron supposedly helped push for the development of the cameras and filmmaking process necessary to make what he envisioned into a reality onscreen. The effects, the visuals, the sheer spectacle of the film, these have become James Cameron’s trademarks and they’re the reason why I want to watch movies that he produces or directs. Avatar is by no means a perfect film, but despite it’s plot holes and the cheesy love subplot, it was still a fun experience to enter a cinema, put on my 3D glasses and be transported to Pandora. Isn’t that why we watch movies in the first place?