Tagged: Sherlock Holmes

AIRSHIP 27/CORNERSTONE FLIES HIGH WITH NEW HOLMES VOLUME!

PRESS RELEASE
THE BAKER STREET SLEUTH RETURNS
Airship 27 Productions & Golden Hammer Press are delighted to announce the next chapter in their best selling series with Volume III of “Sherlock Holmes – Consulting Detective” and present a brand new quintet of terrific, classic Holmes mysteries written in the tradition of his creator; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Five brand new puzzles to challenge the Great Detective and his ever loyal companion, Dr.Watson.  Within these pages they will encounter mythological fairies seeming to plague a beautiful country estate, man-eating tigers on the loose in the streets of London and a stolen museum mummy.  These are only some of the mysteries awaiting the famous crime solving duo as penned by today’s most gifted writers; Aaron Smith, I.A. Watson, Joshua Reynolds and Andrew Salmon.  Both Salmon & Watson having won the prestigious Pulp Factory Award for their earlier Holmes tales in volumes one and two respectively.
Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to be continuing this extremely popular series which Sherlock Holmes fans around the globe have made an overwhelming success. “Of all the books we’ve done in the past six years, this series generates the most reader mail,” Airship 27 Managing Editor Ron Fortier reports.  “For months we’ve been bombarded by our Holmes fans wanting to know when this book was coming out.  I’m truly happy to say the wait is over.” Volume III features a wonderful new cover painting by Brian McCulloch plus eleven interior illustrations by the book’s designer, Rob Davis, another Pulp Factory Award winner for his work on volume one.  So load your revolvers, hail a hansom and prepare yourself for page turning thrills aplenty.  Once again, the game is afoot!
Airship 27 Productions; Pulp Fiction for a New Generation!
ISBN:  1-613420-09-9
ISBN 13:  978- 1-613420-09-6
Produced by Airship 27
Published by Golden Hammer Press
Release date: 05/27/2011
Retail Price: $21.95
On-Line Store (http://www.gopulp.info/)
Digital Store
http://homepage.mac.com/robmdavis/Airship27Hangar/index.html#holmes3

James Bond Is A Goner?

A couple months ago it was a simple suspension. The world continued to revolve, the property owners continued to license new books, and everybody thought one of the most
successful movie franchises – and one of the most successful reboots in modern media – would return after a short delay.

Today? Not so sure.

Bond 23 (that’s how they title them, until they actually title them) was suspended last April due to “financial troubles” on the part of the
studio, MGM. This is code for “we’re broke and we’re for sale.” Director Sam
Mendes, writer Peter Morgan, and star Daniel Craig were all lined up and
waiting for a start-date.

All they needed was a mere $200 million to make their budget and their 2012 release date. But now the London Mirror is reporting it’s all over, and the production crew has been told to seek work elsewhere.

Logic and history dictate eventually there will be a new James Bond movie – after all, they’re still making new Tarzan movies (occasionally) and just about every franchise is relaunched from time to time. Remember Sherlock Holmes? But, according to the Mirror, it could take years.

Sadly, I thought Daniel Craig was a keeper. So were Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright. And it would have been nice to see John Cleese take another turn as “Q.” An indefinite delay of any real length jeopardizes the return of these performers.

I’ve spent my entire life going from James Bond movie to James Bond movie, and I’ve seen a lot of crap in the process. Loyal supporters – all of us aging baby boomers, I’m sure – deserve better. I’m just glad Warren Zevon didn’t live to see this.

Are ‘Green Hornet’ and ‘Jonah Hex’ in Trouble?

  • News
  • April 16, 2010

IESB is among the several sites reporting that after years in development, the now shooting Green Hornet film has been underwhelming the suits at Sony. The phrase “displeased with the results” was used. Another was quoted as saying the “tone is too campy, they’re not happy with the work from director Michel Gondry and Seth Rogen does not look the part. At all. In fact, the feeling at Sony is the movie is a disaster.”

Sony of course declared the reports “complete garbage” and went on to say the executives have screened one third of the movie and find the results “outstanding… remarkable”. We’ll get a clearer idea based on what the studio cares to show fans at Comic-Con International in July.

Speaking of films in trouble, the lack of presentations at WonderCon and this weekend’s C2E2 does not bode well for Jonah Hex, the June 18 release based on the DC western anti-hero. After a splashy presentation in San Diego last summer complete with teaser footage and poster, there has been nary a bit of promotion for the Josh Brolin-led production.

Warner Bros. website offers up a synopsis and a link to a Yahoo site showing off the teaser poster from last July. In January it was confirmed that 10 days of reshoots would occur involving Brolin and costars John Malkovich, Megan Fox and Michael Fassbender. Additionally, The Hollywood Reporter noted  “Although no test screenings have taken place, the studio has decided to work on story and action during the shoots, working in 12 pages of additional script mixed in with some reshoots.”

Joining director Jimmy Hayward for the reshoots was Constantine director Francis Lawrence, listed as a consultant.

THR’s Heat Vision blog said, “Some insiders said the new infusion of scenes and money was designed to fix certain problems with the movie; others have said it’s being done to beef up the moderately budgeted pic so that it can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the big-budget tentpole crowd.”

Since then, there remains no obvious marketing campaign to make audiences aware of the movie which was moved from the relatively safe August 6 into the more competitive June 18 slot. That normally shows a sign of confidence in the finished product but temper that with the lack of appealing to the fan masses as convention season continues.

While Hex does not have direct comic book-based competition, it does follow remakes of  The A-Team and  The Karate Kid by a week and will open the same day as Toy Story 3 and is followed less than two weeks later by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Rumors continue to point to disappointment with Hex which may have cooled the studio’s ardor for adapting Lobo. Guy Ritchie had been on board to direct the film but he dropped out to shoot a sequel to Sherlock Holmes. Producer Akiva Goldmsman has yet to land a replacement and Warners doesn’t appear to be in a rush.

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Review: ‘Sherlock Holmes’ on Blu-ray

[[[rsz-1000110510brdlefo-6248156Sherlock Holmes]]] has been indelibly etched in the mass consciousness of pop culture consumers thanks to a steady stream of adaptations and homages of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories almost since they were first published. As a result, you say Holmes and a certain set of images come to mind beginning with the deerstalker hat and the cloak. Watson is always seen as comic relief, more bumbling aid than professional doctor.

As a result, Guy Ritchie’s take on the duo in 2009’s Sherlock Holmes was cause for debate. Some felt he was being blasphemous; others applauded how much more closely this interpretation hewed to the source material. The film opened to mixed reviews, skewing more positive than not but it also failed to ignite the box office. Still, earlier this month, the sequel went into pre-production and today, Warner Home Video releases the movie in a combo pack complete with Blu-ray, standard and digital discs.

The tale of Holmes and Watson dealing with the occult-minded Lord Blackwell is larger than most any other story, certainly larger in scope and menace than any of the original stories. Story writer/producer Lionel Wigram explains in the extras how he wanted to touch on the occult, then a popular subject in English society but without turning Holmes into a horror story. Instead, the clever Blackwell has spent months planning what is essentially a coup only to cross paths with Holmes, out to stop him.

Holmes and Watson are playing catch up, constantly finding new clues and adding them on the fly as the hunt for Blackwell continues. Meantime, complications arise as Watson is in the process of moving out of 221B Baker Street and preparing to marry Mary while Irene Adler, the one woman in his life, returns unexpectedly. The intertwining sub-plots are intended to flesh out the characters and relationships along with making it certain Holmes doesn’t catch Blackwell too quickly.

The problem is, Ritchie made a somewhat lifeless movie. His previous works are filled with memorable characters and inspired performances; here, everyone is fine and solid, not spectacular. Robert Downey Jr. is a fine Holmes, mumbling and wide-eyed as befits the constantly distracted character and his pairing with Jude Law’s Watson works well on the buddy level. Law, though, seems to lack the inner strength to do what is necessary, always having a weary look as he constantly comes back to Holmes’ side to finish the case. Similarly, Mark Strong is cool and evil, but flat as Blackwell and Rachel McAdams can’t make Irene sparkle, not enough to convince us she’s really the woman of Holmes’ dreams.

What had some diehard fans in an uproar was the action quotient. After all, Holmes is a cerebral detective, seeing everything and making deductions that stagger the imagination. Seeing him in numerous fights was the largest change from previous adaptations and Ritchie is a good action director. But, here things were too large and there was at least one fight too many. The entire sequence at the shipyards could have been excised since it doesn’t fit the rest of the film and was overlong and overdone.

The most effective thing in the film may be the production design which largely relies on CGI to transform modern day England into its earlier 1891 incarnation. The city lives and breathes and feels right. Hans Zimmer’s score helps as well.

Overall, the movie looks great on Blu-ray with solid visuals and fine 5.1 Dolby sound. The Blu-ray also offers us the film in the Maximum Movie Mode, wherein Ritchie appears throughout the film and discusses how things were shot or why decisions were made. The split screens and pausing for explanation are interesting with some nifty tidbits tossed in. This version runs just three minutes longer and is an interesting way to see it a second time. There are 31 minutes of assorted behind-the-scenes featurettes discussing how the source material and era informed the film. An additional 14 minutes has Ritchie and Downey discuss Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented. Surprisingly, there are no deleted scenes offered.

This is a perfectly serviceable adaptation of Holmes but as a film experience, it is lacking in the qualities one has come to expect from Ritchie.

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‘Three Stooges’ Moves from Warners to MGM

  • News
  • November 5, 2008

The Three Stooges has gained new life with MGM becoming the new parent to the Peter and Bobby Farrelly project. The brothers had spent five years trying to develop the film at Warner Bros. but now they have a new lease on life and will give their script a polish then turn it over to Michael Cerrone to direct.

Peter Farrelly credited Mary Parent, MGM’s Worldwide Motion Picture Group chairman with having the enthusiasm to go out and grab the moribund film from Warners plus secure rights to the Stooges from C3. She sees the $45 million production as targeted as a PG or PG-13 project complete with the trademark slapstick the trio is known for. The movie will actually be three 20-25 minute segments loosely tied together to recreate the feel of the shorts the act made from the 1930s through the 1950s.

"It’s not a biopic. It takes place in present day, and they look, dress and sound exactly like the Stooges," Peter told Variety. "When the economy started turning, we felt like the world could use a Stooges slapfest. Bobby and I haven’t done a real physical comedy in a while, and it’s the most exciting thing we could think of now, to have people go to the movie, see some great slapstick fun family humor."

A nationwide talent hunt, compared with the search for American Idol, will begin as the producers and director seek three comedians who can work well together and do the physical humor required to earn the Stooges name. A similar hunt will be conducted to find humorous short films to run with their feature.

"We know this is extremely difficult to pull off; we realize some Stooges fans will be upset no matter what we do," Farrelly said. "We love the Stooges and honor their memory, and we don’t want them to disappear. We hope that next Thanksgiving, dads will introduce their kids to the Stooges and create a new generation of knuckleheads."

MGM has already picked out November 20, 2009 to release the film. The studio may rethink that since Variety notes the competition that day is already thick with Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and the animated Planet 51.

Set Photos from ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ ‘Prince of Persia’

  • News
  • October 14, 2008

Photos from the set of the Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes has hit the internet. Just Jared scored the big scoop, posting photos that reveal actors Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, respectively.

"Clearly, I’m going to do it better than it’s ever been done," Downey Jr. jokes of his role as the famous detective. "The more I read about it the more overwhelmed I was by the weight of it and the amount of people who will be watching to see if it’s gotten right."

Ritchie himself has expressed concerns about the film, reportedly worrying about whether or not Downey could handle an English accent. Those fears have been asuaged for the director, who reports that "Robert Downey has the best English accent I’ve ever heard." This should be no surprise to anyone whose seen Tropic Thunder, who can attest to the thespian’s ridiculous chameleon like abilities.

Additionally, a candid photo of Ben Kingsley as the nefarious Nazim in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has also appeared online over at Defamer. The film’s robe and ring-cladded villain points his fingers at the camera, appearing to rub in the fact that he is Sir while the rest of us are just misters and ma’ams.

 

Happy Birthday: Frank Bolle

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

Born in 1924 in New York City, Frank Bolle grew up doodling. He went to the High School of Music and Art and then served in the Air Force from 1943 to 1946.

After the war Bolle attended Pratt Institute and began looking for work—his first job in comics was in 1948 and he has been working in the industry ever since. He illustrated westerns like Black Phantom, Tim Holt, and Redmask for Magazine Enterprises; worked on Sherlock Holmes, The Lone Ranger, and other adventure stories for Western Publishing; drew several strips and covers for Boys’ Life; and did Doctor Solar, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and others for Gold Key Comics.

In 1982 Bolle joined Stan Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones comic strip, which he drew for seventeen years—Bolle also drew the Winnie Winkle comic for twenty. He is still drawing Apartment 3-G, which he took over in 1999.

Bolle has won three Graumbacher Gold Medallion Awards for his oils and watercolors. In 2003 he was awarded the Inkpot Award for lifetime achievement.

 

What Makes a Successful Character?

  • News
  • February 7, 2008

Stan Lee and Marvel Comics Senior VP of Sales and Marketing David Gabriel weigh in on why certain characters succeed and others don’t in a recent article on Forbes.com.

After taking a few undeserved jabs at Quasar, the space-faring Marvel hero created in 1978 and recently rejuvenated by a new miniseries, the article gets down to brass tacks and talks to Lee about what makes a superpower success story.

"I’m not sure I have the full answer, but my guess would be in many cases it’s just the quality of the writing, or the artwork or whatever," Lee said.

"For example, take Sherlock Holmes. There have been millions of detective stories over the years. Many of them are forgettable. Somehow Sherlock Holmes has endured, mainly because no one could write a detective story as brilliantly as (Arthur) Conan Doyle, and nobody could come up with a character as interesting and flawed as Sherlock Holmes."

And what did Gabriel, one of the marketing gurus behind all of the recent Captain America hub-bub, have to say?

Gabriel said it’s tough pushing some books on a consistent basis. People in his business have the blockbuster movies and videogames to thank for bolstering demand. With the exception of the diehard fans, this is what gets people into the 3,500 or so comic book shops nationwide these days. Slap the death and resurrection of a flagship character in there, and you’ve got a surge in the franchise.

Well, there you go. If they just killed off Quasar, Marvel would have a hit on their hands… right?

 

Edward D. Hoch: 1930-2008

  • News
  • January 21, 2008

From Mike W. Barr:

I have just learned that prolific short story writer Edward D. Hoch died Thursday, January 17, 2008.  Ed created many fondly-remembered characters including Simon Ark, who claimed to be 2000 years old and a warrior against Satan, and Dr. Sam Hawthorne, a New England physician who constantly found impossible crimes to solve.  He had a story in every issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine since May, 1973 (the issue in which my First Story was published).  He could also be construed as a tie-in writer, having written stories about Sherlock Holmes and Ellery Queen.

His output and his quality were an inspiration to us all.  He’s already missed.

Hoch (pronounced hoke) was born in Rochester, New York and began writing in the 1950s; his first story appeared in 1955 in Famous Detective Stories and was followed by stories in The Saint Mystery Magazine. In January 1962 he began appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. In December 1962 he kicked off his most successful collaboration, with the appearance of his first story in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine; in the years since EQMM has published over 450 of Hoch’s stories, roughly half of his total output. In May 1973 EQMM began publishing a new Hoch story in every monthly issue; as of May 2007 the author has gone an astonishing 34 years without missing a single issue.

In 2001 Hoch was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, the first time a Grand Master was known primarily for short fiction rather than novels.

And every so often, he even blogged.

Hail and farewell. You’ll be missed.

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