Whodunnit – Episode 21
August 31st, 2009
From Agatha Christie over Columbo up to CSI. Solving a crime mystery is an everlasting topic in movies and is the focus in this episode. Tomas picks three flicks that are not so well known. But of course, the last word is given to the double-trouble team from Baker Street…Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Who done it? Tomas.
Tags: crime movies, Guy Ritchie, Kiss The Girls, Murder By Death, murder mystery, Peter Sellers, Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes, The Bone Collector, Truman Capote
Ja Ja Ja jjjjjjjjjjaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaajjjjjjjjjjjjjaaaaaaaaa amazing!!!!!!!! Ja ja ja ja ja j ahhhhhhhhhh ja ja ja incredible! More tricks with the chair ja ja ja!
I love the mystery, the blood, the murders, the psychopaths with good histories and the covered long black! Always dream with knowing the human being beyond the life, I consider must be the dream of all in some point. The people who know me call me “mystery” the truth I don’t like much the nicknames.
In the cinema I do not like when the mystery with humor is mixed as Sherlock Holmes sends automatically to film “Das Parfum” of Patrick Süskind, I feel that humor in this type of cinema really this others, removes much weight to him and lacks risk. “Das parfum” can will to have been a great film, an excellent film, with a great director, soundtrack shining, a great actor, a great book, the film before the put scenes of humor to the gross thing is reduced to ashes. A true pity.
We cannot speak of mystery without speaking of the king of the mystery Alfred Hitchcock, no, cannot. Yesterday I reading the interview that did Francois Truffaut to Hitchcock, and when Francois explains because he to write a book about Alfred and basically explained that Hitchcock was not being valued like director because was right unemployed in means, between the artistic thing and the purely commercial entertainment. I can will to extend hours speaking of this but I do not want to bore guys. In the cinema, the art and the entertainment go of the hand, one without another one is no existence, and one of the things that Truffaut emphasizes so much of Hitchcock is to do of the mystery a form to make cinema and I do not generate, in each Hitchcock scene articulates a mystery script, in the simplicity of the things there is mystery, and without mystery there is no entertainment.
And David Lynch? Twin Peaks? (1990/Serie of TV), Eraserhead? (1977) Lost Hightway? (1997) Mulholland drive? (2001) If that is not mystery, that is the mystery?
Juli “Mystery” Revolver
Ja jjjjjjjjjjjjjjaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaajjjjjjjjjjjjjaaaaaaaaa amazing!!!!!!!! Ja ja ja ja ja j ahhhhhhhhhh ja ja increible!! Mas trucos con la silla ja ja ja !!!
Amo el misterio, la sangre, los asesinatos, los psicopatas con buenas historias y los tapados largos negros! Siempre soñe con conocer al ser humano mas alla de la vida, estimo debe ser el sueño de todos en algun punto. La gente que me conoce me llama “misterio” la verdad mucho no me agradan los apodos.
En el cine no me gusta cuando se mezcla el misterio con el humor como Sherlock Holmes me remite automaticamente a la pelicula “Das Parfum” de Patrick Süskind, siento que el humor en este tipo de cine realmente esta demas, le saca mucho peso y carece de riesgo. “Das parfum” podria haber sido una gran pelicula, una excelente pelicula, con un gran director, un soundtrack brillante, un gran actor, un gran libro, la pelicula ante las escenas de humor puestas a lo bruto se reduce a cenizas. Una verdadera lastima.
No podemos hablar de misterio sin hablar del rey del misterio Alfred Hitchcock, no, no podemos. Ayer empece a leer la entrevista que le hizo Francois Truffaut a Hitchcock, y cuando empieza el libro Francois explica porque decidio escribir un libro sobre Alfred y el basicamente explicaba que Hitchcock no estaba siendo valorado como director porque estaba justo parado en el medio, entre lo artistico y el entretenimiento puramente comercial. Podria extenderme horas hablando de esto pero no los quiero aburrir. En el cine, el arte y el entretenimiento van de la mano, uno sin otro no hay existencia, y una de las cosas que Truffaut destaca tanto de Hitchcock es el hacer del misterio una forma de hacer cine y no un genero, en cada escena Hitchcock articula un guion de misterio, en la sencillez de las cosas hay misterio, y sin misterio no hay entretenimiento.
Y David Lynch? Twin Peaks? (1990/Serie de tv), Eraserhead? (1977) Lost Hightway? (1997) Mulholland drive? (2001)
Si eso no es misterio, que es el misterio?
I know there’s not a whole lot of point in criticising a film through the trailer, but I do sort of agree with Juli about the humour as far as Sherlock Holmes is concerned. I’m not objecting to the humour itself–the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle weren’t short of that–but they really seemed to have camped it up a lot.
I think generally I’m just not a fan of the kind of smug family-film humour where the characters do everything short of winking and nudging the audience in the ribs. ‘Look how funny we’re being, eh, Watson? Quite the comedic pair!’
I did like Watson’s list of complaints, though.
I also think Robert Downey Jr is a good actor, but, relating to the stuff above, there’s a definite risk of the character being ‘Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes’ the whole time, with us being constantly aware that it’s an actor we all know and love messing about on screen, rather than having us believe in an actual Sherlock Holmes. Then again, that might be exactly what people are after when they go to see a film like this.
And I guess bullet time is just something that has to be checked off on the Hollywood Action Adventure checklist these days.
…
So much for not complaining about a trailer. We’ll see, I guess.
I absolutely agree that the art and the entertainment go hand in hand when it comes to cinema. Being very artistic without touching people (engaging or speak to them) is missing the point for me. Other way as well, when it’s only for entertainment but has no clue about film/story=telling as an art form, it is useless as well.
David Lynch’s movies makes my brain mambo-jambo. I watched Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway…don’t get it. Don’t know much about film as an art form and therefore can’t appreciate it as such and I can’t say I think it was good because – as I said earlier- the movie ends and I sit there think ‘What?!’ But maybe is just me being simple, I like to have questions answered that a movie opens.
Good mystery is for me very tricky and only few can do it very well. Maybe it’s more suspense but Hitchcock knew how to do it and in my opinion M. Night Shyalaman does it great for 2/3 throughout his movies.
The classic crime story writers are the English ones for me: Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Shyalaman it is a true disaster like director in my opinion, I am completely made position of my opinion with foundation.
David Lynch is more complicated, it has its own universe, once you enter you do not prune to leave, but I believe that it needs an adjustment nuts, to clear minutes to films like “Muholland drive” and make it more “entertaiment” or bearable we say. As Lynch director has I recognize it to faults, the same faults that I can criticize to him to Tim Burton but Lynch have an own seal, as Tim Burton that is irrefutable. I also like the films with opens ends, but a thing is a open good end and another thing is an open end because the script does not close to me absolutely, is much of this in the cinema of present suspense. And nor we speak of the nut returns that do not finish but.
Lo de David Lynch es mas complicado, tiene su propio universo, una vez que entras en el no podes salir, pero creo que necesita un ajuste de tuercas, quitarle minutos a films como Muholland drive para hacerlos mas “entrenenidos” o llevaderos digamos. Como director Lynch tiene fallas lo reconozco, las mismas fallas que puedo criticarle a Tim Burton pero Lynch tiene un sello propio, como Tim Burton eso es irrefutable.
Me gustan a mi tambien las peliculas con finales abiertos, pero una cosa es un final bien abierto y otra cosa un final abierto porque el guion no me cierra en absoluto, hay mucho de esto en el cine de suspenso actual. Y ni hablemos de las vueltas de tuerca que no terminan mas.
@Tomas: I’m sorry by the Shyalaman Tomas but I cannot avoid to reserve the opinion is really a bad bad bad director. When I saw “Sixth sense” I knew the end from first secondly, it films like a boy of 2 years that man.
David Lynch we will be able or not to understand it but that man breathes mystery not air, takes it in the blood films any thing that films.
Tomas I remember another film about mystery, is good “Caché” de Michael Haneke, maybe a copy of “Lost Highway” in some things.
wow it is the first time i saw the trailer of “sherlock holmes”. and i actually liked it. to take a quote from the black eyed peas there seems to be a lot of “boom boom pow!” and i don’t want to narrow the movie to just that but i kinda thought it is more gonna be about clean and proper work than fighting, exploding and shooting! and as far as i remember sherlock wasn’t really into guns…
more fencing and fist fighting…
another great examples are k-pax, se7en, identity.
wow, but i guess i am not too much into mystery movies since i haven’t watched the ones mentioned in your comments!
except for mullholland drive but that movie truly is a mystery to me…
@juli: no need to apologize. I am not a huge fan of Shyalaman but I think he can great suspense like no other that makes you think ‘What’s going on? I have a bad feeling about this’. Now once he let’s us know what’s going on, it goes downhill from there but still.
@ibby: did somebody get killed in k-pax? Can’t remember. Actually, I only remember the scene where Kevin eats the banana including the skin…hahaha.
The black eyed peas? what Ibby?? Are you dronk? Je je Better check it out “Eraserhead” of David Lynch, his better film (for me).
@juli: no this time i wasn’t drunk!:)
i know what i say, sometimes i don’t remember but at that moment i know what i say:)!
@tomas: yeah there are people dying in the movie where the main character claims he is an alien. during the movie the viewer finds out about the family of the “main character” being killed by someone unknown! now the question is…is he an alien? or is he an alien that uses the main character’s body or isn’t he an alien at all…
i thinki rememberred it correctly! if there is anything wrong with it, please do not hesitate to contact me or leave a message after the tone.
For suspense I like Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again. Very good acting and a good story. David Lynch is an acquired taste but he can be brilliant. I’ll give Sherlock a shot just for Robert Downey Jr. I’ve loved him since Less Than Zero.