Now for the Good Guys-- Lots of good entries for the villain contest, now here’s your second chance to win a bunch of goodies by naming your favorite hero—rules are the same—add a comment here or on Monday and we’ll put all the entries in a hat and draw our two winners next Thursday.

I saw the new Star Trek over the weekend. I have mixed feelings. I think the casting was brilliant and the young actors really did their homework. Voice inflections, physical characteristics, the eyebrow thing—all worked.

Somehow, sadly, for me the story lacked—I can’t even put it into words—something. Drama. Suspense. I never felt the crew was in danger. Maybe because the villain wasn’t on screen that much. And the timeline confused me. I kept wondering why if they had traveled back in time (or was it ahead?) both planets couldn’t have been saved. Somebody help me.

I loved the glimpses into the early lives of young Spock and Kirk and the rest. And I hope they’ll do a sequel because I’m a Trekkie at heart.

Talking about movies, I’m not sure how I feel about this but here’s an early look at a new Sherlock Holmes movie. Have you heard about this:

From USA Today:

"We are trying to make a fun adventure movie," (Producer Lionel Wigram )says. "My favorites are the Bond films. Raiders of the Lost Ark. I want to make a movie like that."

Familiarity does breed box office. "The word of the day is 'branding,' " says Hollywood mogul Joel Silver, another of the film's producers and a force behind the Die Hard and Matrix series. "We are always looking for branded ideas. Audiences are interested in seeing something they know."

But with a difference, too. This Holmes is as brainy as ever but is a bruiser as well. Bare-fisted boxing, sword fighting and a mastery of martial arts have been added to his arsenal of weapons.

Hmmm...

And a second look here.

Okay, my thoughts…Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson?

The first problem for me is that Law is taller than Downey—that’s wrong. And Downey doesn’t have the angular edges to his face that Holmes had. I’ll probably be sparking a war here, but Basil Rathbone was the cinema Holmes for me. Until Jeremy Brett made the PBS series. I had the pleasure of meeting Brett when I lived in Southern California. I belonged to our own Baker St Irregular group called The Grimpen Admirers. We had dinners and dressed in vintage clothing and talked the Canon for hours. Brett was in Los Angeles for some function or another and our group met with him. It wasn’t long after his wife died and I’ll never forget his sad countenance. Still, he was warm and welcoming and I have a wonderful picture taken with him. Someday I’ll have to get it scanned so I can share it.

Anyway, in a wave of nostalgia, I started looking for some pics to share. I have Whedon stuff and a couple of other items but I think I’ll save them for next week. Let’s end with this.

First a well known Sidney Paget Drawing.


Next a couple of Rathbone images:



















Jeremy Brett:





















Downey & Law:
















How do you feel about Sherlock Holmes? Ever read Doyle’s stories? Why do you think they still resonate with readers? Any thoughts on the new casting? Tell me.

Images above are from the Sherlock Holmes shop and the website of Sheryl Franklin.

And don't forget to enter the contest.... you can guess who my pick would be.  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 4:51 AM