Sherlock Holmes, More DVDs, and Other Shenanigans

Ah, it just wouldn't be a vacation without a day in Edmonton. I was hoping to see Avatar, but I'm saving it up to see it in IMAX 3D...the way James Cameron wants me to see it. And, since it was all sold out for today AND tomorrow, I decided to go see Sherlock Holmes instead.

Now, I should mention that I know absolutely nothing about the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Never read the books, never seen any of the earlier film adaptations...unless you count the Disney classic The Great Mouse Detective. So, really, this film was my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes.

It was pretty good I guess. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law do have a great rapport as Holmes and Watson. I had no idea that Holmes, as a character, was so eccentric. The action scenes are pretty good, and I love the ending where Holmes explains the entire plot and how he figured it out. Hans Zimmer also provided a delighfully offbeat music score.

But I don't know...as cop movies and detective movies go, the whole thing seemed kind of conventional.

I give it a 3 out of 4 nibs.

Oh, and, of course, with Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, I had to buy more DVDs!

First up, Best Buy, where I had to spend my Best Buy gift card. I snatched up Family Guy presents Something, Something, Something Dark Side. As you may recall, a couple years back, Family Guy did a scene-for-scene spoof of Star Wars. It was called Blue Harvest. Well, it did so well, that they decided to do a scene-for-scene spoof of the entire original trilogy. Something Something Something Dark Side is their spoof of The Empire Strikes Back.

I was hoping to get Robot Chicken Star Wars: Episode II as well, but Best Buy was all sold out.

And then, over at HMV, I was blessed to finally get my hands on a copy of Andy Barker, PI: The Complete Series, which came out a month ago but I hadn't found on store shelves yet. As I had to explain to a friend, Andy Barker, PI was the second brilliant-but-canceled sitcom starring the very, very funny Andy Richter. The series was created by Ricther's old partner Conan O'Brien, and was specifically geared for Richter's talents. Richter played Andy Barker, a very mild-mannered accountant who finally opens up his own practice. Thing was, his office used to be occupied by a private investigator, and when some of that PI's old clients start coming by looking for help, Barker begins moonlighting as a detective. And the whole thing turns into a loving homage to/spoof of the detective shows of the 1970s. It only ran 6 episodes, but Richter is comedy gold.

Oh, and for a while now, I've been thinking that I need more foreign films in my DVD library, so I grabbed Run Lola Run out of a discount bin. I can hardly wait to crank up that iconic techno score on my home theatre!

And, of course, I started pricing out some big ticket items. Every spring, I threaten to buy a bicycle and take up cycling again. I used to love cycling, I don't know why I stopped. I was also pricing out a Blu-Ray player. They've really come down in price...you can get a pretty good model now for around $150.

Next time.