Young Sherlock Holmes

Young Sherlock Holmes

Director: Barry Levinson. Cast: Nicholas Rowe, Alan Cox, Sophie Ward

When I was a teenager I must have watched this film probably a dozen of times. It was the during the golden age of Spielberg, both as a director and a producer (within 12 months of this film being released, we also had the “Goonies”, “Back to the future”, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, “Gremlins”, the “Color Purple” and even “Amazing Stories” on TV). I was a sucker for anything with his brand. Could you blame me? In fact, who am I kidding?! I still am!I remember loving this a lot so much so that I had started reading the Conan Doyle books too. Watching tonight with my son, nostalgia aside, I was surprised by how well it still holds up as a film and how tense some action is. Despite being 35 years old, it hasn’t age too badly. Being a period film obviously helps, as it keeps it ageless, but also it’s a very well-paced, fun ride, with some beautiful set design, moody cinematography and state of the art special effects. Let’s not forget that this is the very first film which used CGI to animate a character on screen (a nightmarish stained glass knight). Quite mind-blowing at the time and still works today.

Barry Levinson, who would win the Oscar for “Rain Man” only 3 years later, directs it all with verve and style, perfectly capturing the dark and seedy streets of Conan Doyle London, while Chris Columbus as a screenwriter, fresh from Gremlins and Goonies, injects some “The temple of doom” scares (It always struck me how similar the plot revolving about sacrificial scenes were), but also bringing some of the fun from the school scenes. It’s interesting how even my little 8 years old son picked up a “Harry Potter vibe” in the first half of the movie, since Columbus went on to direct the first two movies of the JK Rowling saga.The film was a bit of a flop at the time, today it’s mostly (and unjustly) forgotten, though it does now a certain cult following among those 80s affictionados: the name Sherlock Holmes was probably a bit of a turn off for people back then and the idea of having him “young” didn’t seem too appealing (interestingly in Italy, in UK and I believe in Australia and some other international countries they changed the title into “Pyramid of Fear” hoping it would help.

What certainly didn’t help was the uninspired cast, not only there was not a single recognisable face (though that certainly didn’t hurt ET or Gremlins), but also the two leads are undoubtedly rather uncharismatic.

A real shame, because it’s not just technically a very accomplished film, but also it’s a good story, a classy adventure, a fun ride, full of ideas and inventions.

The Rescuers Down Under

The Rescuers Down Under

Director: Hendel Butoy, Mike Gabriel Cast: Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, John Candy, Tristan Rogers, Adam Ryen. George C. Scott.

I am sure I must have seen this before but I could not remember a single frame, that’s usually a bad sign. So when Giovanni picked it up for his movie night choice (it was his turn tonight) my expectations were pretty low. I have to confess I was actually surprisingly pleased with it. It may not have the charm of the first “Rescuers”, the characters may not be as enduring (even the new Albatross voiced by John Candy is not even half as funny as he thinks it is), and yes the story is a bit generic too (and feels slightly abrupt at the end), but aside from all that the film moves along at a cracking pace and it’s an exciting edge-of-your seat adventure like I had not expected.

The Rescuers Down Under was made in 1990 and it actually sits at the cusp between old-style Disney and Computer animation. Coming up after the quite dreadful Oliver & Co, here you can really see the animators clearly enjoying the new innovating tools at their disposal. Some of the sequences push the boundaries of what animation could do, allowing for more a a sense of three-dimentionality not just to backgrounds and foregrounds but to the way the camera move within the space. The flying sequence with the boy and the eagle works beautifully both visually and thematically as it really helps to enhance the bond between the two. Nothing we haven’t seen before (E.T. anyone) and surely we’ll see later again (Harry Potter 3), but it’s still quite effective. As for the baddie of the piece, though not as memorable and terrifying as Medusa, he’s certainly one of the nastiest I’ve seen in a while.

It’s actually well above the 3 stars rating, but not quite 4.

Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Mickey’s Christmas Carol ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Director: Burny Mattinson. Cast: Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Hal Smith, Will Ryan, Eddie Carroll.

Let tell you straight way that I think this short Oscar winning film from 1983 is one of the best adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol I’ve seen (yes, better than Scrooged and The Muppets version. There you go, I’ve said it!): it’s amazing how they’ve managed to keep the spirit and the essence of original story and squeeze it all into a mere 30 minutes.

It has that typical warmth of Christmas and all the wonderful cliché connected with it, the snow, the mistletoe, the decorated trees and so on, but also it embraces the darker side of the story (one sequence in the graveyard where Scroodge is pushed into a grave is particularly strong) and the most poignant too (the super-sweet Tiny Tim is instantly lovable and the moment where we see his tombstone is heart-breaking).Technically, the short is faultless: from the beautiful snow falling and footprints left on the ground, to the see through effect of the ghosts, to the camera moves as Scoodge is taken for ride by the Giant (or Ghost of the Christmas Present) or when it flies over the rooftops of the town grabbing Jiminy Cricket tight, to the warm reds and yellows of the interiors in contrast dark blues and cold exteriors.

Not to mention the joy of seeing every favourite classic Disney character making an appearance, even if just a brief one.I’ve seen this short dozens of times and it never grows old, never disappoints me and it always leaves me with a smile and a feeling of happiness…

Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

The Queen’s Gambit

The Queen’s Gambit ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Director: Scott Frank. Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chloe Pirrie, Bill Camp

By now I’m probably the last person on the planet who has finally seen what apparently is the most watch TV series on Netflix (I’ve been watching it with my wife and she likes to take it all very very slowly as if “binge-watching” was against her religion).

There are very good reasons why this has been so successful: it’s sumptuous, stylish, engrossing, full of interesting characters (you can also play the “stop the child star” game) and most importantly it’s anchored by a mesmerising central performance by Anya Taylor-Joy. She’s not perfect, or at least her character isn’t, in fact at times she can be hateful, incredibly annoying and she makes mistakes, and yet her presence on the screen is just magnetic: you can’t take your eyes off her and by end she’ll be your heroine.

This is not really re-inventing the wheel: we have seen stories about, addiction, childhood trauma and weird people before, but the real key of this is actual the game of chess at the centre of it all. The success of the series is that it makes this potentially rather boring game to watch one of most exciting thing on television, even if you have no idea how to play (and in which case I’m sure you’ll want to start learning it up after watching this). And by the time you get to the last third minutes of the last episode, you’ll be on the edge of your seat, rooting and cheering and bit moved too.

Enjoyed it very much

On Netflix.

Angela’s Christmas

Angela’s Christmas

Director: Damien O’Connor Cast: Malachy McCourt, Ruth Negga, Vivian Drew 

There’s so much stuff on Netflix that it’s easier miss those little things that don’t get as much attention as “the Queen’s gambit” or “Stranger things”, but they’re still worth watching. I’ve always been curious about this Irish animated short(ish), because I knew it was based on a book by Frank McCourt, the author of the heart-breaking and wonderful Angela’s Ashes (so we’re assuming the Angela of this story is the same Angela). The mood and atmosphere of this is clearly arcing back to that book and though the animation is a bit too “CG” for my taste, the lighting and settings are beautiful and very evocative.There’s a certain poignancy that permeates the story, with subtle details scattered throughout which are very telling of poverty in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century: churches so cold that you were likely to get sick if you went in, loos outside the houses, beggars in the streets, a very tiny Christmas meal shared with a whole family (though the father is missing), cold smoke coming out of the characters… It’s all background stuff that the children will hardly notice (though I’m sure it will register in some form or another), but the central message comes across loud and clear: stealing is bad, even if for a good cause. And that’s all it needs to be, after all, it’s a children’s tale.It is a heart-warming, cosy, very simple tale that’s certainly not going change anyone’s life but believe you can do a lot worse that watching this with your kids in the time leading up to Christmas and possibly in preparation for the feature-length follow-up (Angela’s Christmas Wish) which has just hit the streaming service and I’m sure we’ll end up watching soon.