A Study in Sherlock cover

I just finished tweaking the file for my next book. A collection of practically all the Sherlock Holmes artwork I have done over the past 12 years. Which will include illustrations, small pen and ink sketches, comic art and set design.

 

I hoping to have a few copies available by the time stART at the Station rolls around. But if things go pear-shaped, it'll be available on Amazon.com and for download on Kindle.

 

Perfect for a last minute stocking stuffer.

 

However Memento Mori, the book I worked on with my wife Syd, WILL be available for purchase at stART. It's already available for purchase and available for download!! You can find a link to it on the right hand side of your computer screen.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Well, I suppose it was inevitable I would talk about this one.

I have made mention of this before but Tim Burton has always had a very "Hammer Films" approach to his adaptations. His movies like Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and even Batman are not entirely faithful adaptations.

 However, they're not bad ones either.

I really didn't hate this film. I wasn't entirely in love with the overall "Tween Disney" feel to the film. Or how it was given a very Chronicles of Narnia vibe to it by giving the characters and what the "drink me" bottle contained.

However, I'm not the film's intended audience for this film. Then again. I'm not the intended audience for the original Alice story.

Much like the original Alice tale, it was intended to delight and amuse children and not have craggy 36 year olds to endlessly debate and philosophize over it.

Although in this case, I think the film is geared more towards the tween crowd. And it's in 3D. And it's Disney. So of course there's going to be a pop hit and the Mad Hatters hip hop style dancing thrown in. Yes. That annoyed me.

But again. Read above.

As I mentioned before, Tim Burton creates his own version rather than doing the original. So instead of young Alice discovering Wonderland (or Underland) for the first time, we have a much older Alice escaping her engagement party from a potential fiance who could quite easily win the Upperclass Twit of the Year Award.

By establishing this is a much older Alice, Tim Burton doesn't treat his audience like they're stupid by making them believe Mia Wasikowska is supposed to be playing a seven year old girl. It gives Burton a chance to tell a slightly older action/fantasy style story.

And older kiddo's will connect with an older Alice rather than a seven year old one. I suppose it also allows filmmakers to get away with more too. Like the insinuation of a giant naked Alice standing behind a shrub. Try and film that with a seven year old and yes you will have police stopping by your house to question you  and probably confiscate your computer Ala Gary Glitter.



Tim Burton seems to have casted all my favorite actors in one film with Stephen Fry as the Chessur the Cheshire Cat, Michael Sheen as Nivens McTwisp The White Rabbit, Alan Rickman as Absolem, the Caterpillar, Christopher Lee as the Jabberwocky and Michael Gough in his last screen performance as the Dodo. Gough had retired from acting. However, he would break from retirement to star in one of Tim Burton's movies.

It wouldn't be a Tim Burton movie without Johnny Depp someplace as some character. I know Burton has received some criticism for working too much with Depp over the last decade or so. And that Depp has become a bit over-exposed between that and the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

But in Johnny Depp's defense, as an actor you want to work. If you don't work you don't get paid. Although, I suppose there's also royalties. But I digress.



But it's Helena Bonham-Carter who absolutely steals the show as the very childish Red Queen. She is an actress I really like because she puts everything she has into her performance. Despite how silly the role seems, she plays it like it is the most important role in the world.

And I respect that!!

I did not get to see this film in all it's 3D glory. So watching the film without the aide 3D glasses many of the objects and characters flying towards me made me feel as though I was watching the Paddle ball scene from Vincent Price's House of Wax. Another film made during the 3D craze of the 1950's that seem to lose a bit of it's Oomph without the aid of 3D... you know the scene I'm talking about.

But as stated, it's not a bad film and worth at least one viewing. 3D glasses or otherwise. If you take it at face value as a fun adventure story, it's enjoyable.

If you over-analyze it... well... think of it this way. You're over-analyzing a children's booking.

Up Next... Alice: 1999

Looking at the new Dark Shadows movie from the right perspective

Okay, Ladies and Gentlement. Boys and Girls. If you go into Dark Shadows either comparing it to the original series or expecting this to be up there with Tim Burton films like Pee-Wee's Big Adventure or Nightmare Before Christmas you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

I went in with neither expectation and I enjoyed myself. Don't let the trailer for the movie fool you. The movie is actually pretty creepy and not as goofy as the trailer might suggest.

I'm getting a little sick of reading some critics reviews of this film and suggesting Tim Burton has only made five good films in his career. Which I think is ridiculous. And it makes me wonder if some of these reviews were written by bitter little toads who are just upset because Tim Burton rejected their screenplay.

 I especially enjoyed the cameo by Lara Parker, David Selby, Kathryn Leigh Scott and Jonathan Frid during a party scene at Collinwood. And not just one of those blink and you miss it type of cameo's. They even gave them a nice line too.

True this may not be one of his best of all time. But it's far from being his worst. That section in cinematic hell is reserved for Mars Attacks and Planet of the Apes in my opinon.

I didn't look at this movie as better or worse than the original series. Nothing ever beats the original. I look at the big screen treatment as a tribute to the original series as well as Tim Burton's version of it.

I suppose if I'm going to complain about anything as far as Tim Burton's current crop of films is I really miss the stop-motion special effects he used in some of his earlier films like Pee-Wee and Beetlejuice. But we live in a supply and demand age and I suppose it's easier to get a picture out there faster put together effects on the computer than to toil countless months trying to get the stop-motion effects right.

But with that said, I still have a soft spot for stop-motion creatures.

Go into Dark Shadows with an opened mind and you won't be disappointed. And if I listened to every movie critic out there, I wouldn't enjoy half the movies I'm into.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)

I'm being completely honest when I say this was a film I really didn't want to like when I watched it for the first time nearly nine or ten years ago. One of the biggest things that bugged me was the fact they cast Christopher Lee as Mycroft.

Not a jab at the great Christopher Lee. As a matter of fact he was really good as Sherlock Holmes in the three productions he appeared in.

But it's one of my pet peeves with many Sherlock Holmes productions is when they cast an actor who is physically similar to Sherlock as Mycroft because the character is supposed to be the polar opposite to Sherlock physically.

My other pet peeve is when they use "Forget everything you know about Sherlock Holmes" because you know it's going to be a stinker.

I think my other worry when I prepared myself to view it is they were going to try and give Holmes some sort of sexual relationship or have him fall in love.

As a purist I feel Holmes is just disinterested in the opposite sex. Any sort of relationship, male or female, would interfere with him being the best at what he does.

In short, he has no time for love.

I was really ready to hate The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes when I originally bought my VHS copy and popped it into the machine. And just the opposite happened. I absolutely fell in love with the film and it is now possibly my favorite Holmes film.

Although Robert Stephens didn't look the part of the traditional Sherlock Holmes, he won me over in his performance.

A bit of a confession bu some of his mannerisms I borrowed when I was adapting William Gillette's play into a graphic novel. Most notably the peculiar way he held his hands not so much on his hips but on his ribcage.

Colin Blakely's performance as Dr. Watson may not be completely the capable man Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in the novels and short stories. But he isn't the bumbling old duffer the poor old Doc has been maligned with over the years.

In this film, Watson is more of a ladies man and he also makes his objection towards Holmes's addictions to a seven-per-cent solution of cocaine very clear.

Although this is not the first time "the needle" is mentioned in a Holmes film. That distinction goes to the final scene in Basil Rathbone's film The Hound of the Baskervilles. However, I think this may be both the first time both Holmes's recreational use of the drug as well as the name of the drug itself, is made perfectly clear.

I might be wrong. But apart from this film I think Rathbone's Hound is the only other film before this.

I was even won over by Christopher Lee's performance. Despite not having the physical presence of actors like Robert Morley, Charles Grey or most recently Stephen Fry did as Mycroft, I thoroughly enjoyed his interpretation of the character. He and Robert Stephen's spar off each other really well in their scenes together.

It should be mentioned that The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was not the happiest of memories for the late Robert Stephens. Apparently between the rigorous production and Billy Wilder's insistence that Stephens needs to lose weight to look "thin as a razor" that Stephens himself actually tried to persuade his good friend Jeremy Brett out of accepting the part when he was set to play Holmes himself in the long-running Granada series stating that: "It will ruin your life".

I've enjoyed the film even more since I purchased it on DVD several years back. Having seen it in letterbox format there is so much I have missed in scenes that were cut out because many VHS copies format movies to fit your screen.

And you really do miss out on so much the director originally intended on.

Another shame is the fact that there are a few deleted scenes that were intended for the film. One that still exists on film (although the audio seems to be missing) is the Affair of the Naked Passengers" which Holmes leaves it up to Watson to deduce how a honeymooning couple was murdered on a ocean liner they are returning from Constantinople on.

With disastrous results.

It's too bad these scenes were cut because it would have added to the Four Movement Symphony of adventures Watson felt were too outrageous to publish Billy Wilder intended.

The movie we end up with is two stories from Watson's unpublished archives. The first being Holmes is approached by a famous Russian ballerina, Madame Petrova who wishes to have a child with her. Holmes manages to extricate himself by claiming that Watson is his lover, much to the doctor's embarrassment.

The second and main story Gabrielle Valadon (Geneviève Page) is fished out of the River Thames and brought to Baker Street. She begs Holmes to find her missing engineer husband.

I showed the movie to my wife Syd for the first time last night and she pretty much deduced the storyline with Gabrielle Valadon and the German spies disguised as Trappist Monks and the Loch Ness Monster not even half-way through the movie.

I don't think this should discourage you from watching the movie. There are enough good scenes and genuinely funny lines to make up for any shortcomings.

I highly recommend you check out this film just as long as you do not take it too seriously and just enjoy it. You might find, like myself, you may even like it.

Today's Recommendation: Dracula Book One by Andy Fish

I have seen this project evolve over the past year or so and it's going to be amazing!! My good friend and fellow Worcester Art Museum Faculty Member Andy Fish is releasing his adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic Dracula. And from the pages I have recently seen from the book, this is going to a MUST HAVE for both fans of Stoker's novel AND fans of comics in general.

When he originally started the project the artwork was going to be in very much the same style of art he employed with both The Tragic Tale of Turkey Boy and Fly. But Andy wasn't entirely satisfied with the way the pages were looking. And being a guy who is not afraid to try something outside the usual style he works in completely... and I mean COMPLETELY... redid all the pages in a more realistic and somewhat painted style. Which I think looks incredible and makes his Nosferatu style of Count Dracula look a helluva lot more frightening.

As you can see above.

But unlike the Max Schreck/Klaus Kinski ratlike vampyre, Andy's interpretation of the Count retains that somewhat regal quality to him in the same way Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee did in the role. Lugosi in particular which Andy is a fan of 30's Universal Monster films. Which is the time-frame this movie takes place in since he has a fondess for that era as opposed to the Gaslight Era.

And the results are brilliant!!

And now's your chance to own a copy ABSOLUTELY FREE!! If you e-mail Andy Fish at andy@hebsandfish.com your name will be entered into a raffle with a chance to win a proof copy of Dracula Book One SIGNED BY ANDY FISH!! One person drawn at random so don't delay and e-mail Andy as soon as possible!!

He mentioned that he'll even sign it Bram Stoker if you like ;-)

Halloween movies

Since I've been watching a great deal of classic horror in the past month or so, I thought I would share a list of movies that you might want to check out that are perfect for the season:

1.)The Peter Cushing Frankenstein series. The Curse of Frankenstein, The Revenge of Frankenstein and the Evil of Frankenstein in particular.
2.)The Christopher Lee Dracula series. The Horror of Dracula, Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Taste the Blood of Dracula in particular.
3.)Phantom of the Opera (Hammer version)
4.)Vincent Price's Edgar Allen Poe series. Pit in the Pendulum, Fall of the House of Usher and the Oblong Box just to name a few.
5.)Nosferatu. Personally, I like both versions but I think the silent version is superior.
6.)The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
7.)Frankenstein 1931
8.)Dracula 1931
9.)The Witchfinder General (also titled the Conqueror Worm)
10.)Paranoiac
11.)Dracula (the 1970 Jess Franco film starring Christopher Lee)
12.)The Abominable Dr. Phibes
13.)Night Creatures starring Peter Cushing
14.)House of Wax starring Vincent Price
15.)Dr. Phibes Rises Again

So, go down to Newbury Comics, Borders or Barnes and Noble to check them out. Or if you have a Netflix account, put them on your list.

Lugosi's Dracula

Last year (or the year before. I can't remember right now) it was Karloff's Frankenstein for the first time. This year it's Béla Lugosi in Dracula. In all these years, I had never seen either. And I thought it was high time I saw them both.

Much like Basil Rathbone's The Hound of the Baskervilles, you can criticize the 1931 Dracula for both the changes made to the story as well as the stereotypes it created for the character for many years to come. Like the long black cape and the heavy accent which nearly every actor (with a few exceptions) has been imitating when they don the fangs.

But in Lugosi's case, the accent is genuine which makes his portrayal more believable than someone trying to fake it.

And much like Rathbone's Hound, it's a classic for a reason. And a great deal of that is due to lead actor.

For those who are into fast-paced gorefests, you will find this film (much like many films of that era) to be very slow and sleepy. Even though the original novel is even slower and sleepier.

And another thing that makes it strange to watch is apart from the suite from Swan Lake during the opening credits, there is no incidental music throughout the movie. For people who have not watched a silent movie or any old movies, they might find this to be a bit strange to watch at first. But keep in mind, Dracula came out when talking pictures were still a new art form.

Another thing that makes the film great to watch is the atmosphere. There's something about black and white movies that helps us to forgive some of the less than spectacular. But the set design for both Dracula's castle and the abbey are fantastic. The spider webs, the long sweeping staircases. The armadillo's.

Yeah, you'd have to watch the film for that one. But I've seen it and I can't make sense of it. Although, it seems to fit in a strange David Lynch sort of way.

And even the lack of music adds to the tension of scenes. We don't have incidental music following us in real life, so this lack of music does make Lugosi's Count Dracula seem like vampires could be real and this could be happening.

Although, if you're someone who would get somewhat itchy watching a film without any music, there is an option on some of the Dracula releases where you can watch the film with a score by Philip Glass.

I prefer the bare bones version myself.

What I don't like is how they take the mystery out of the character at the beginning of the film. But then again, we all know Dracula is a vampire. It's sort of like most of us know Bruce Wayne's parents are going to get shot and he's going to become Batman.

But there is something about slowly peeling the onion away. Jess Franco's Dracula does that to an extent when they introduce Christopher Lee at the beginning. We suspect that it's the Count picking up Harker at the Borgo Pass. But his face is covered, so we are left with that mystery.

We really do not get to see Dracula until he opens the front door to his castle. And like I said, most of us know the story of Dracula backwards and front. But it does add a level of mystery to add that.

Franco's adaptation is another movie I feel has excellent parts and parts that really fall flat. But much like the Lugosi film, it has a strong lead actor with Christopher Lee as the Count.

Nevertheless, I was very happy to finally get the opportunity to watch both. I find myself liking Lugosi's Dracula a bit more than Karloff's Frankenstein. Both are excellent films and both have great actors anchoring the film. But Lugosi's wins out because of it's set design and atmosphere.

For those of you who do pen and ink art, it'll make you want to race to the drawing board and break out your pens.

Some of my favorite Sherlock's

Continuing on the subject of Sherlock Holmes, I thought I would compile a list of actors I really enjoyed in the role of Sherlock Holmes. It's probably been one of the most played parts. And you would probably need the fingers of several of your friends hands to count the number of actors who have played Holmes over the decades.

JEREMY BRETT: The DEFINITIVE Holmes in my opinion. To be honest, it took some time to get use to his voice with the character of Sherlock Holmes. I think that's because every actor since Basil Rathbone has been playing Holmes with this almost wooden dictation. Now I cannot read the novels and short stories without hearing Brett's voice in Sherlock Holmes's lines. Or either David Burke or Edward Hardwicke's voices in Watson's narration. Brett made Sherlock Holmes live. As Ratbone cast a shadow on the part for the longest time, I think Brett has now cast his own shadow upon the part. I have no problem with people continuing to make Sherlock Holmes films. And I love to see how other actors approach the character. I didn't mind either Richard Roxburgh or Rupert Everett's takes on the character. But Jeremy Brett is going to be a hard act to follow for a long time to come.


PETER CUSHING: Was actually considered to be the definitive Holmes by many Sherlockians for many years. Even though Hammer made The Hound of the Baskervilles somewhat unrecognizable. I still enjoyed the film for two things. Peter Cushing as Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry. What I liked about Peter Cushing is he was a man after my own heart as far as how both Holmes and Watson should be portrayed. And he got his chance to stay true to the original Conan Doyle stories playing Holmes for a second time in a BBC Sherlock Holmes series when Douglas Wilmer stepped down from the role. I got to see the Hound of the Baskervilles. And despite some weak acting from some of the supporting actors and the usual tatty sets from the BBC Productions at that time, it's a great production. I really wish that they would release the Peter Cushing series of Sherlock Holmes over here in the States.



















ROBERT STEPHENS: A somewhat forgotten Sherlock Holmes actor and a somewhat forgotten film with The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. But I enjoyed both the film and Robert Stephens's acting in the part. It should be mentioned that Robert Stephens was good friends with Jeremy Brett and actually tried to discourage Brett from taking the part because of how miserable of a time he had when filming Billy Wilder's film and the possibility of being typecasted. Although, Stephens would end up playing the part again on stage in a production of William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes.























JOHN NEVILLE: Another somewhat forgotten Sherlock Holmes actor in another favorite film of mine A Study In Terror. I was already a big fan of John Neville because of the film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. When I had read in a Sherlock Holmes book that he had played Holmes in a film, I had to see it. The plot has Sherlock Holmes face off against Jack the Ripper. The film itself doesn't particular stick very close to some of the facts of the case. It's a very Hollywood sort of explanation behind the identity of Jack the Ripper. But it is still highly enjoyable. The film also features Robert Morley as Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft. Morley is probably one of my favorite actors in the role of Mycroft to date. Charles Gray who played Mycroft in the Jeremy Brett series is a very close second favorite for me.























CHRISTOPHER LEE: Unfortuntely, the films he did play Holmes in weren't the greatest as far as great Holmes films are concerned. The biggest problem with his first film as Holmes is when they dubbed it from German to English, they got this awful American voice actor to dub his dialogue. Why they wouldn't get Christopher Lee, who has one of the best voices in the world (possibly next to Tom Baker's) is beyond me. I would imagine the company that did the dubbing were cheap bastards. However, I found Sherlock Holmes and the Incident at Victoria Falls to be one of the better of the three Holmes films Lee played the role of Holmes. But what made all the films worth watching was Christopher Lee's performance. He made a very good Holmes.





SIR IAN RICHARDSON: Another actor I really enjoyed in the role of Holmes. Unfortunately both films he was in, The Hound of the Baskervilles and the Sign of Four, were horribly Americanized and the production tried to make them more exciting for an American audience. BUT Richardson was marvelous and the films aren't without their charms. Actually, Sir Ian ended up having a great deal more success in the role of the man who inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Joseph Bell in the series Murder Rooms.














CLIVE MERRISON: Although, he has never played Holmes on screen, he has the distinction of doing every Sherlock Holmes story created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on radio. If you have not had the chance to hear one of the stories, I highly recommend you go out and purchase one either on tape or CD. They're very well done and create wonderful pictures in your mind.







BASIL RATHBONE: As much as I don't like how they placed Holmes in the 1940's and how much Nigel Bruce's idiotic Doctor Watson made me want to tear my hair out, I liked both The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Both of those films are set in Victorian England. Actually, they're the only two of Rathbone's Holmes films that are set in Victorian England One must give credit where credit is due. Rathbone helped make the character popular for many years to come. And now is pretty much part of a great debate in the same way who is better, Kirk or Picard? Who is better Rathbone or Brett? I will, of course go with Jeremy Brett. But probably without the Basil Rathbone films there might have not been any of the Holmes films we see today. Perhaps.


WILLIAM GILLETTE: Okay, so I have never seen him perform Holmes. But unless you're over the age of 100, neither have you!! But I did get the opportunity to listen to him perform as Holmes in a radio play someone posted on Youtube. Why I like William Gillette is because of what he did to popularize the character in the United States. Sure, some people grit their teeth because he was the man who basically pidgeonholed Holmes to wearing the deerstalker hat and smoking the curved pipe. And famously having him fall in love. But it's his play and his portrayal as Holmes is what helped the character to become more well known here. So, with that said I think Gillette owes a great deal of respect for what has become somewhat a tradition with actors.

Somewhat like what playing James Bond or the Doctor on Doctor Who is today.