It's definitely in that Castle/Bones/Psyche area, and a lot of the procedural case-of-the-week stuff I can take or leave, but I think the two lead performances are great and the thing worth watching for.
Elementary as a story of addiction is also interesting as, at least in the early series, Watson helping Holmes maintain his sobriety is paralleled by Holmes simultaneously cultivating in Watson a (mostly) benign addiction to detection.
Finally, folks mentioned in this week's column also include:
@scsheil.bsky.social @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social @chrisroberson.net and Nicholas Wolf
Thanks as ever for reading!
#Warhammer #BookSky #BlackLibrary
This gives the series the basis that Holmes and Watson are on a more equal footing - they each have something to learn from the other. It may not be as close to the original stories in that way, but it make for a much more interesting relationship.
Liu's Watson never really has any of that deference - she recognises his genius but is not overawed by it and doesn't see herself as a lesser person, in his shadow. She encounters him as a person in need, and always views him first and foremost through that introductory lens.
I think that introducing Watson as Holmes' sober companion is what really makes Elementary, and Watson, work. Usually Watson meets Holmes The Genius first and there's a deference towards him - he's a Great Man, so there's a willingness to overlook any flaws, or to see them as secondary to the genius
Yeah, it's a great and very likeable cast who play off each other very well.
Ah cool - thanks!
It shares some vague similarities to Angie Dickinson’s first film Gun The Man Down but I’d never heard of that before this morning and definitely haven’t seen it. All I need now is a solid treatment and a time machine!
I think that Liu is my favourite Watson because traditionally when Holmes does some brilliant deduction, Watson's job is to say "My God, Holmes, how did you work that out?" in wonder, so the audience can see Holme's brilliance, while Liu's Watson asks because she wants to learn how she can do it too
Just remembered the name of this film - 'Take Down The Rope'.
Yes, THE KILLERS is great!
Watched so many Westerns recently that last night I dreamt one. It was in colour, CinemaScope, starred Angie Dickinson as an escaped kidnapee on the run from remorseless gunman Lee Marvin, both pursued by grizzled estranged husband Joel McCrea. Ended with a shootout on a lake where everybody dies.
Yes, I really liked that too. Reminded me of the relationship between Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin - soulmates without being lovers.
You're absolutely right. In Elementary each of them learns from and moves towards the other. I love how Holmes WANTS Watson to become a great detective, and has no ego about it when she figures something out that he doesn't.
The final season was compromised by having to restart things again after pretty much wrapping things up at the end of Season 6, and the season itself felt a bit truncated. I quite liked the concept of the villain but that story felt very rushed through. Liu and Miller always watchable though.
Yeah, I agree. Was hoping for a final cameo from Clyde too.
A still from the show Elementary. Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) in a sleeveless white top with round black buttons, and Johnny Lee Miller as Sherlock in a dark suit and light grey shirt buttoned-up to the neck.
Just watched my 154th and final episode of Elementary. Despite its flaws - some dull/daft cases (hazard of all procedurals), some dropped story threads and disappearing characters, Liu and Miller were always great, and great together. Probably my favourite version of the Holmes/Watson partnership.
Cover of L'homme de nulle part, the French translation of The End is Known by Geoffrey Holiday Hall. Designer unknown.
What a great cover. The French translation of The End is Known by Geoffrey Holiday Hall, a nominee for the 1950 Edgar Award.
I shot parts of this doc so I'm clearly biased but it really is a great piece of filmmaking with Tom, the shop's owner and a truly lovely man, at the beating heart of it.
This @recordstoreday.bsky.social I’m remembering THE GREATEST and much missed record shop of all (don’t @ me) SOUND IT OUT. Here’s a scene from the film I made there.
Watch the full film here vimeo.com/ondemand/sou...
An extreme close-up of Eddie, a black cat, showing a blurry nose and two yellow eyes looking down.
The cat decided to lay down on the arm of the sofa, right above where my phone was sat, allowing me to capture this view
A shot of me wearing a black t-shirt with the Detective Club logo on it
I love that logo. I got a series of t-shirts made a while back featuring cool old publisher’s logos from around the world and that was one of my favourites.
Pretty much hooked on Westerns at the moment and crate-digging to try and find some gems. Quantez was one I've been hoping to see for a while and it was pretty good!
Really enjoyed both of them, and it's the performances of Windsor and Young that really stand otu.
It's easy to get annoyed at Keir Starmer and his increasingly desperate attempts to worm his way out of a situation of his own making that's totally gone to shit, but I think it helps if you think of him as being played by Tim Robinson in an I Think You Should Leave sketch.
A Letterboxed Last Four Watched grid. Cattle Empire, Midnight Mary, Quantez and Hellfire.
A trio of Westerns and a Pre-Code crime drama. Marie Windsor as a gun-toting outlaw out for revenge, Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Malone trapped in a Western ghost town and Joel McCrea getting dragged by a horse. Plus Loretta Young as a murderess, reminiscing about a life in crime.
#lastfourwatched
'Cattle Empire' has a great opening sequence
Soild Western sees expert trail boss Joel McCrea return to Hamilton five years after being convicted of letting his men create drunken havoc in the town. Everyone hates him, but then he's asked to drive the town's cattle cross country, with both him and the townspeople thinking about revenge.
Title screen for the 1958 Western ‘Cattle Empire’ featuring the title over a shot of the desert with a bleached cow skull in the foreground
Tonight’s viewing:
