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Why we do not need a 5th Sherlock season

03 Thursday May 2018

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Nope, we do not need another Sherlock season. We don’t even want it.

I hope I am shocking you, fans, as much I was shocked when I realised it : Sherlock’s glorious days are gone. The latest statements of Martin Freeman about the filming being not fun due to expectations of fans only thwarted the fandom too. (Really, Martin Freeman? Fans enthusiasm and expectations is the reason why you did not enjoy doing it? The fandom gave you stardom and the Hobbit. BTW, wouldn’t you say that it was rather due to poor writing? If fans could have their words and can participate in the writing, please, Mr Moffat, contact me at once, I have some ideas I’d like to pitch to you!)

Now, I have to admit, Season 1 had turned me into a huge fan from the first 5 minutes on. I wrote about it here, talked (a lot) about it, I profusely praised the series in the column I’ve been writing for 5 years… yet the wonder and spectacular scripting of the first episodes faded a bit, as time went by and as seasons were sparingly released (I meant to write : and exasperatingly awaited.)

Sherlock, the unapologetically ubercreative, witty, fun and addictive TV series landed like a UFO in the streaming service world and onto our screens. It revolutionized our idea of the good ol’English genius sleuth and his faithfull-even-when-betrayed partner in crime (pun intended) the good Doctor Watson. It propelled their relationship in the dimension of cyber bromance, verging on being a potential romantic affair, thanks to the numerous queerbaits the audience was fed to fuel feverish speculation about them, and to keep the watchers and fans falling for the show, hook, line and sinker.

Those hints or sometimes heavyweighted assumptions served as a formidable springboard for the tremendously creative, graphic, and/or suggestive fanfiction and fanart (I must admit I have indulged in fanart too, and drew this, John slumped in his armchair, watching an ep of Doctor Who, drunk & feeling empty 2 days after Sherlock’s “death”, see below) that stemmed from the show shortly after it aired. (Crazy fab fanart out there around the internet, just google “Johnlock fanart“)

Sherlock 2days after

John, 221b Baker Street, 2 days after. (copyright FlorevaV)

The queerbaiting in Sherlock was a master coup of Gatiss and Moffat, of course, and addressed (while non-adressing it frontally altogether, in a sheer paradox) simultaneously the seemingly non-existent interest of Sherlock for romance and his asexuality, and the weird position of Watson, straight at heart and in his carnal desires and attractions but perceived as gay by others, placing him in the ambiguous zone of bisexuality, a thing rarely exosed in a TV series. Most of the audience fell for it, and shipped Johnlock. (fandom jargon expressing that fans liked the idea of a relationship between John Watson and Sherlock).

Because, let’s face it : the whole show is a romantic show, disguised as a mystery show. It’s all about speculative thinking : Sherlock, Molly and their interaction ;  Watson, Sherlock and their interaction (and they do interact like old married couples, being bluntly honest about each other’s qualities but mostly defaults) ; Sherlock, Irene and their interaction ; Mary, Watson and their interaction, Moriarty, Sherlock and their interaction (probably the most fascinating, yet clumsily dealt with after Moriarty’s suicide)… As for me, I would have liked a more complex ambivalence layered admiration/exasperation  between Sherlock and Lestrade.

Nontheless, one relationship remains the most important of all : Watson, Sherlock and their interaction with us, the audience. The poor audience whose hopes and dreams have been toyed with and crushed, resurrected and crushed again. We have been manipulated, tricked, cheated, shocked, made to laugh and hooked. And we have liked it.

Well, up to the moment where it began to make no sense at all and Mrs Hudson almost crashing sportscar on Watson’s nose fails to mend it. Loopholes were already noticeable in Ep 02 in Season 1, The blind banker. How on earth would the book of yellow pages drenched by the rain outside Soo Lin’s building make anyone link it to a possible smugling of ancient artifacts by Van Coon or the journalist and a potential place for the murder to hide? The writers here took a shortcut and it shows when you rewatch it. Similarly, how could Soo Lin been oprhaned so young, and immigrate to the UK so easily from China, not a country known to issue passports to each of its citizen? Through human smugling? Maybe. Yet, it’s not said and that too falls into the gray zone of laziness.

Facts are here, since the end of season 2, it’s been a slow downward spiral to mild disappointment  due to easy writing (what happened, Moftiss? Too much resting on your laurels?) and bizarre construction of the narrative, culminating in the improbable inner changes of Sherlock (who all of a sudden “cared”, thus becoming at the same time a consumate empath  and the ghost of himself), while Watson “toughtened” up (or maybe he just got bored and cared less), to the point of desenchantment. For him and for the audience. Or maybe it was just that the chemistry that was so enjoyable in the first 3 seasons between Cumberbatch and Freeman had been snuffed out like an candle under the blades of Moriarty’s helicopter… The decrease of the brilliant use of data being displayed on our screens while supposedly typed on a phone, or the analysis Sherlock makes in two seconds being plastered on the image of the person he analyses is also something to be sad about, because it was so enjoyable.

At the time of the last season, an odd thought crossed my mind that maybe the personnal lives of both actors, hitting a major milstone, had changed quite dramatically their mindset and their perspective about their near future  : (ATTENTION : TABLOID MOMENT) Cumberbatch getting married and about ot become a father, happily engaging in family life, and Freeman having left  or leaving his partner (Abbington) of 15 years and mother of his 2 children, thus desenaging himself from family life. I remember thinking that certainly the convos during coffee breaks on the set would have been quite odd, one being so happy and cheerful about his relationship, and the other two only miserable about theirs. In any case, the gloomy atmosphere in the relationship on screen of Sherlock and Watson seemed to reflect the gloomy falling apart of Abbington and Freeman’s couple and the distance between the main male actors. And in an eery way too : shortly before the death of his wife Mary Morstan, Watson flirts with another woman and detaches himself. I dunno, it was just a thougt I had at the time.

Yet the epitome of weird narrative is encapsulated in the so-called Eurus mystery. Seeds have been planted all along to bring us to swallow this Everest of no-sense of Eurus being the “other sibling” devilishly more evil and smarter than her brothers (“The East wind is coming” S03E03, “I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one” S03E02 (please note the neutral-gender used by Mycroft, a hint that it might be a she), “RedBeard” S03E02, etc).

I don’t know for you, but if Eurus can escape, anytime she wants, her highy guarded prison to trick Watson and impersonates the skrink he sees and the girl on the bus he secretely dreams of having an affair with , then why would she stay stuck in this prison? Makes no sense.

And if she is cleverer than the Holmes brothers together, how can she be needing Moriarty’s help? Makes no sense ( unless you want an anthologic scene with him dancing and being his best villainish self.)

Makes no sense either to see Sherlock painfully blabbing the dreaded words to Molly, as asked by Eurus. It’s painful to watch because the writers have stretched this moment of unease for both protagonists up to its breakpoint, rendering the whole thing just artificial when it could have been more subtle and effective. It’s difficult also not to think of it as a wink to all those who ship Sherlolly. Which is both a blessing and a curse. As it infiltrates the narrative, the show lost a bit of its soul in that moment. This concession to fans may have been “the expectations” that Freeman said killed the fun of it. Yet it is lovely to see that the creators wanted to acknowledge the huge following of the show and in a way, thank them for their loyalty. Not sure it served the show. Once again, Sherlock becoming sentimental, caring about others’ feelings and state of mind, and becoming compasionnate is just plain weird.

So we were left to see Sherlock and Watson reunited once again, “Here are my Baker Boys” ( was it a hint at the 1989 movie the Fabulous Baker Boys? Will Moftiss make a movie out of the series?), exclaimed a videotaped Mary Morstan. From that moment on, Watson is expecting to blog, Sherlock to be bored again, especially now since all the horrendous villains are dead (each being more despicable that the precedent, if you remember, even if we have never heard about any of them in previous episode). Or maybe it could be the other way round, Watson getting so bored he kills himself, and Sherlock could blog about it while raising Baby Rosamund Mary, with Molly, why not…

So, Mofftiss, Gatat, don’t inflict another season on Sherlock’s fans world, please. That’s enough.

Moriarty’s dead, after all.

 

 

 

 

 

Sherlock’s faked death (should’ve posted earlier, oho).

02 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by in TV Series

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(Disclaimer : This is a draft I wrote 4 years ago,  can you imagine, 4 years already!!! and forgot/feared  to post. Time has come)

Episode 3 of Season 2. The Reichenbach Fall.

We know what it means, when Moriarty and Sherlock are reunited for the last time around the Reichenbach fall. It means the end of Moriarty and the apparent death of Sherlock. But we, as a baffled audience so engrossed with the show, need to figure out HOW Sherlock did fake his own death.

Many fans have crafted fanvids, and you can find them on YOUTUBE.

Here, I am no developing a theory,  but rather considering elements of clues sprinkled in the episode. The mannekin hanging from the ceiling,the breadcrumbs, the scream of the little girl, the fairy tales references and the book, the gingerbreadman,  the apple and the penknife, the little bouncing ball,  Sherlock saying several times that he’s not himself, Moriarty stating : “You are me” and “I am the storyteller”, fairy tales “and pretty grim ones”, grim or Grimm?,  this statement about changing/false/creating identities, the “I.O.U.” signs , the fake call about Mrs Hudson being shot, Mrs Hudson asking if Sherlock has sorted it all out, Molly’s willingness to help Sherlock in anyway, SH repeating it’s a trick…a magic trick, the buses and the lorry parked at the foot of the building, the various people gathered in front of Barts, the cyclist, the jostle, people preventing JW to touch SH, the song “Staying alive”.) It’s tremendously appealing to play the detective, too, trying to solve the mystery, and later compare with the solution (it’s a long wait until Season 3 is out!) 

We must remember that what we saw, as the audience, may not be what has just happened before John’s very eyes (and not our eyes, because we have seen things that the character John Watson has not seen, and we know things that John does not know). It has the appearance of what our mind thinks has just happened. Like a magic trick. Our mind fills the gap with what it thinks is the logical curse of vents.

Some elements are more relevant than other, that is…well, obvious.

Truth?    Moriarty tells the truth : he is the storyteller, he not only tells fairy tales, but he also plays the big bad villain. He wants Sherlock’s fall (metaphoric and literal). Sherlock, the pure hero on the “side of the angels”, seems to be the puppet in his hands. Yet Sherlock makes his moves and pulls out magic tricks as well.

The roof scene just after Moriarty’s head shot is a key moment, for John and for the audience, because this is the turning point. Stakes have been raised. We know that Sherlock will jump, because, we know that Sherlock wants to spare his friends’ lives : John, Mrs Hudson, Lestrade.  And a body with Moriarty’s face lies seemingly dead besides SH.

Fairy Tales?  Hansel & Gretel?  A false lead, an appetizer. So… obvious. A lot has been said about Hänsel & Gretel. And yet everyone missed … Snow White.  . 

Ok, so Hänsel & Gretel : The breadcrumbs,  The gingerbread man (St Nicholas magazine, 1875) seems a reference to please the American audience, as well as a reference of the material construction of the Witch’s house (gingerbread). The chocolate  factory, a metaphoric Candy, Sugar-coated and Gingerbread house.

And now, much more subtle and satisfying, the discreet references to Snow White (where Snow White is a metaphor for SH) : the apple left by Jim Moriarty, engraved with the letters I.O.U. The new identity of the wicked queen (JM) transforming her appearance, to deceive Snow White, (just as JM created the identity of Rich Brook to deceive the world and the readers of Kitty Riley’s articles). The false proof of Snow White’s death, produced by someone who cared for her (the gamekeeper and the doe’s heart given  to the queen). The empty grave, (no corpse in either case, Snow White was not dead, just asleep) And paying attention to the journalist’s  flat, Richard Brook/JM’s protector,  letters on the wall spell MAKE BELIEVE , 58’23” in the ep (addendum as of today, always wanted to add it, that’s why I never properly properly the post until today).

(Here a point : why would the kidnapper leave so obvious clues  and why would he have gone to the factory, sampled as many particcules for impossible to mistake identification, and returned to kidnap the kids? To plant the doubt in Donovan and Anderson’s mind and therefore to lead Lestrade stop trusting him and finally getting SH arrested. Jim Moriarty plays his favourite game : deception.)

Facts?    Watson sets off for 221b, alarmed by a phone call, (Probably Molly calling),  in the book, he was sent to the inn. Watson  is needed out of the way, in no possibility to protect Sherlock nor to fire a gun at Moriarty. He had to be delayed.

A song : STAYING ALIVE. States pretty clearly Moriarty’s intentions, I think. Deceiving SH. Staying alive and having the world thinking he’s dead. That is clever.

Moriarty confronts Sherlock,on the roof of Barts, at Sherlock’s request. SH : “I am you” , JM : “You’re me”. They both came to play, they share similarities, they both create identities (whereas in the books, SH disguises more often), they both make tricks. And, against all odds, Moriarty fires a gun. MORIARTY pulls a gun and shoots himself, thus preventing SH from getting anything that could stop the gunmen. With his (apparent) death, Moriarty forces SH to the only remaining solution to stop his friends from being shot. 

Sherlock apologizes to Watson, confines him in a location where Watson cannot see the lower part of Barts, and gives him a clue : “it’s a magic trick”. Then, he JUMPS.

Minutes later (how long later, though?), Sherlock is lying on the pavement, motionless, with his head and face covered in blood.

A grave bearing SH’s name.

A newspaper’s headlines about the Death of a FAKE GENIUS. But not a line about Moriarty’s death, “the most dangerous criminal mind”. Wouldn’t MYCROFT and the world not celebrate this fact? Hence, the confirmation that Moriarty’s alive and hiding, just like Sherlock.

Possible explanation : 

Moriarty IS ALIVE, and not dead, he FAKED his own death too, thus forcing SH to jump (if not dead, a possibility remains to make him change his orders to the hitmen).

Sherlock JUMPS, in a net spread below by his “irregulars” (7 persons are seen in the vicinity of his possible landing).

John is jostled by a cyclist and stumbles on the asphalt. How long does he stays knocked out? We have NO IDEA at all (no indication of time, nor close up on his wristwatch). This is the magic of camera and film editing, time elapses and for the audience, it just takes 5 seconds, but in real time, it could be : one minute? 5, 10 minutes, one hour? Watson  is probably watched over by an “irregular,” to be sure he’s blurred/ passed out, but still ok.

During that time, unbeknownst to John, and concealed by the building between them, the irregulars get rid o the net (in the truck?), arrange SH on the pavement, make his head up as if smashed on the pavement, spill the blood (SH’s own?) prepared/provided/taken out of SH’s body by Molly. With the small bouncing ball tucked under his armpit, SH might have slowed down his pulse, to trick Watson in thinking it has stopped.

Irregulars prevent John from approaching too close and staying near SH, making it unable for him to provide  his doctor knowledge/practices.

Moriarty thinks he’s dead, Watson thinks he’s dead. The papers think he’s dead….so it must be true!

Now we have to wait till (thanks film editing) more than 2 years have passed, until SH RETURNS!!!! Ta-Da!!!

 

(I’ll post about Sherlock, season 4 once I have recovered from the disappointment, stay tuned)

So long, folks.

 

Flo

 

House of Cards US and UK.

03 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in Entertainemt, TV Series

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Hi Folks!

It’s been a while since I last posted, but I wish to thank you, dear readers, old and new, for your kind loyalty. As I am not a Royal member of the British Monarchy, the motto “never explain, …” does not apply to me.

So. I have been extensively researching on various subjects lately, mainly Everest, Japan and Japanese traditions and way of living, and Operette, because my writings have connections to those fields. Hence my silence for more that 2 months. Apologies.

In the meantime, the much awaited “House of Cards” US aired on Netflix, Feb 1st. I am that TV series addict. Previously, I had enjoyed the British series “House of Cards” from which the US show derives and I must say that it was worth the wait and the impatience!

Some of you have read my early posts and know that I am no reasonable viewer, and as a TV series enthusiast, when the product is good, I find it very difficult to stop after just one episode. And so, the entire 1st season (13 ep) was dealt with within 2 days.

I liked the British show, and enjoyed that the rules were bent to better serve the narrative process by involving the audience as a witness or a confident (Diderot’s “4th wall” , also  used in Shakespeare’s  Richard III, also known as the “Regard Camera” -Camera Look, notably used by Fellini, Godard, Truffaut, The Coen Bros., Hitchcock, Bergman, Woody Allen, to name a few), when the character looks right at the camera, i.e. us,  and expresses his thoughts, or makes a comment.

This is not often or usually done, as the camera’s main quality remains to be invisible or discreet, and its presence must be “forgotten”, if the purpose is not voyeuristic or subjective camera.

In both series we follow  the resentful (because and after getting passed over for a promotion at a Senior position in the majority) politician and anti-hero Francis (Urquhart -UK/ Underwood-US) as he sets his own rules to weave his web around his soul-devouring sole goal : to become the leader of the governing party.

The script is packed with the usual suspects we hate to love and we love to hate, when carefully structured, crafted and brought to light  : Treason, manipulation, amoral deeds, blackmail, staged display of sympathy, intimidation, lies, false allegations and all the panoply of what we think politics is at its worst, allegedly for the “good of the nation”, while conveniently serving the main character’s personal ambitions.

Like most, I appreciate a good anti-hero, and Kevin Spacey’s  performance turns Francis Underwood into the perfect guy for the job, just as the late Ian Richardson created an equally brilliant bad guy in the eponymous UK series.

Not to mention the clever use of the graphics FX & inlays in the screen of the latest tech embedded on every smartphone, as already seen in “Sherlock” (which marveled the script analyst in me) and described by me in the post “Sherlock and me”, and brought to a higher level of creativity ( when Underwod texts someone) in this series.

It’s bound to be a massive success.

Welcome aboard, Kevin Spacey fans!

Enjoy!

Floreva

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House of Cards (US- 2013 and UK- 1990), on Netflix.

From the novel series written by UK author Michael Dobbs : House of Cards (1989), To play the King (1992) and The final cut ( 1994) 

On being a writer who learns and writes.

06 Saturday Oct 2012

Posted by in Books, Entertainemt, Movies, TV Series, Writing

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Time for reflection about being a writer.

When I was 14, I wrote a novel, not very long.  And then, I destroyed it. It was too personal, too raw, too me and I was too vulnerable, or so I thought…I wrote dozens and dozens of poems and texts. I wanted  two things : to be a writer AND to play on stage. I was an amateur theater actress and wrote in the school newspapers.

At 16, I wrote down a list of titles for the books I would wrote and a corresponding list of names, the character’s names.This list I still have with me, by my side as I write all that now, for your eyes. I kept on writing, although I had to change my professional choices. Eventually, deeply buried in those marketing jobs, I forgot about my self essential and my real life . Then one night, in August 2010, around 3 in the morning…

…I woke up. I mean, I WOKE UP to my past aspirations.  I was in the kitchen, sleep escaping me. My mind is racing.  For various reasons, over various subjects. And a thin fragile thread, long forgotten, attached to the very essential part of my soul is hit by a light I thought I had lost years ago. It was given back to me.

The energy of the writing spirit.

Now, at this hour of night, that day, I wanted to fight for that. This was the fighting spirit meeting the writing spirit. Good! Let’s go on!

So, in the heart of the night, I let the sun rise. I wrote  for 4 hours on my laptop. Characters knocked on the door of my mind, allowing themselves in, story unfolding neatly and energy increasingly awaking my creativity and my imagination…

Since then I have kept writing.

Now, I feel that I need to write more, to publish frenetically. I feel miserable taht I have not been able to give complete work to my publisher. I am affected by the virus of perfectionism. I rewrite, again and again, and again.  I got stuck on sentences for days, to achieve the ultimate construction. Letting go is difficult, and reaching a satisfying level is complexly hard. Sometimes, I think I have not done much in those past months. So I decided to summarize it.

What have I done in those past months, then? (Apart from my daily duties, of course). I did my homework and my work. And I ‘m still on it.

Firstly, I have prepared myself to properly tackle the writing of a script (because I am also a film lover since an early age) so I have :

  • read about 15/ + books on the subject ( The little red writing book, The golden book on writing –what’s this fantasy about colours??-, How to write a damn good thriller, How to write a damn good mystery, The art & craft of storytelling, A writer’s guide to fiction, The Bible of screenwriting, Crafty screenwriting, Writing screenplays that sell, Writing is a verb –oh?, The writer’s book of wisdom, See Jane write : a girl’s guide to writing chick lit, How not to write a screenplay –appealing/disturbing title, hence brilliant,  How to write what you want & sell what you write – long title, didn’t like the book, and 2 or 3 others.
  • shelled, analysed and studied about 40 scripts (and I am far from those 2/week I need to read!), among which  Eve (Mankiewicz), Body Heat (for that subtext), The big easy, Ocean’s 11 & Ocean’s 12, The electric Horseman, Howards End, Being John Malkovich, 3 Days of the Condor, Sherlock TV ep, Luther TV ep, The Prisoner TV ep, The Mentalist 4 TV ep, Scrubs  TV ep, West Wing 2 TV ep,   Amadeus, The Godfather, Donnie Brasco, Maltese Falcon, Pulp Fiction, Heat, Barton Fink, Sleepy Hollow, O Brother, Stagecoach, Night of the Hunter, The big Lebowski, The Big Sleep,  When Harry met Sally (yeah, for THAT scene, and see how it’s written), Some like it hot, etc…
  • read 7 modern plays (The Odd Couple  -his and hers- , Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf, The importance of being earnest, Ginger ale boy and Electric ballroom by Enda Walsh, one Shakespeeare…)
  •   read 6 novels , including the wonderful War Horse,  to relax

Secondly, I have written for myself (all)  and my publisher (a very small part) and you, -soon to be mine agent  (some):

  •  a 433p techno-thriller , with 2nd and 3rd  (same hero) in the synopsis -ripening room)
  • a 2x 150p drama novel (considering compiling to make one 300p book)
  • 2 short-stories
  • a long-feature radioplay (53min)
  • a short film screenplay
  • another short film screenplay
  • a synopsis for another short film
  • an article about a painting exhibition
  • 10 songs out of 12 for a musical project (with a music composer)
  • 20 poems (some are 2 or 3p long)
  • 4 detailed synopses for novels
  • 2 detailed synopses for short-story
  • 9 detailed synopses for a TV series
  • a synopsis for a noir feature film
  • 1 fan fiction TV ep
  • a 1st draft for a 3-act play in need of rewriting, editing, finishing and trimming
  • bits and pieces to be assembled into projects
  • 10 loglines /ideas for novel/Shortstory/script.
  • posts in a blog & tweets in a twitter account

I have relaxed in watching :

  •  300 ( or more) films and TV Series episodes, of various genres. (Next thing, I must try Doctor Who) [I can watch Sherlock AND read the script in the same time while sipping coffee. I’m like Windows, I am multitask) [[Sometimes, I watch the entire series in a row until it’s über-too late]]

In the meantime, when I have an insomnia, I also have observed & studied my targets (thanks Writer’s Market and magazines and blogs and news) and prepared my business and marketing plans, established the communication plan, established a list of other  contests I want to participate to. I have a new idea for a short…

I need a coffee, now. Strong, black, ultra caffeinated. Maybe I can just chew some coffee beans… It’s faster and a lot less fussier than brewing a mug ‘o joe…

It’s going to be a short night.

So long, Folks.

Coffee and films, what could go wrong?

Sherlock and me

03 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Creating, TV Series, Writing

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Sherlock.

 What? (now, really…)

It’s obvious. Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock and you. Sherlock and us. Sherlock and the industry. Sherlock and me. We like Sherlock & the industry LOVES him.

As for me, I confess, I am a fan. I am a great fan, though I never enrolled in any Holmesian club (maybe one day?).

In 2010 BBC produced a new theme on an old classic. The modern take on the  TV series,  conceived by Steven  Moffat and Mark Gatiss on a train while en route to a filming location in Cardiff, was bound to gain the affection of fans as well as neophytes. Sherlock, the much beloved sleuth that popped out of Sir Arthur Connan Doyle’s industrious mind got a dab of freshness and a makeover that left the audience astounded by the quality achieved.

The narrative is not news, of course (I refer to Moffat’s 2007 previous piece of art, “Jekyll” which I recommend you watch), the construction is rigorous, the script is perfectly written (I read one, it’s just what we oddjobbers dream to write), and the style is as immortal as Conan Doyle’s. Narrative finds please the modern watcher who has already experienced high photography quality, graphic novelties and inlays of modernity in the screen (remember, for instance, how Matrix had opened the path to perfectly trimmed slow motioned scenes). And the actors’ performances please our sense of comparison as they are as equally good/perfect/wonderful/impossibly amazing (choose) as Jeremy Brett and David Burke & later Edward Hardwicke. Benedict Cumberbatch is a unique & definitive Modern Sherlock, just as Brett was the ultimate period Sherlock. And Martin Freeman is just above all the Dr Watsons we’ve seen . Rupert Graves is this admiring Lestrade Sir Arthur described  in the books and Andrew Scott is good news as Moriarty, pleasantly mad.

Netflix uploaded the Sherlock Season 2 recently, and last week I indulged in watching the 3 episodes in a single row. You think I am addicted? Well, ahem…

You see the show and you tell me if the whole thing isn’t anything but brilliant.

(Who else can say : “Uh. Breathing. Breathing’s boring.”, and makes you feel he really thinks it? Sherlock cum – Berbatch)

I’m hooked, I’ve turned the last scene in my mind hundred of times (in my sleep, thank whoever is to be thanked, because I have no time in daytime for such amusement, pages need to be inked and written, job must get done , contests participated in and publisher provided publishing with material!). I WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!!

The script writers have fulfilled their duties. The cliffhanger is teasing, audience skyrocketed, and we crave for more episodes.

This is currently one of the best shows to learn from, when you are a screenwriter, a director of the photography, a credits designer, and SFX creator (unless you care for BIG, BOLD, UNNECESSARY, or UNSUBTLE SFX). Not in order to duplicate, of course. To fuel creation and align to such excellency standards.

I had to divert my attention from Sherlock to reinvest my own projects and current works.

Sunday evening, I discovered Miranda Hart’s show ( I had a good laugh), and I liked it so much I ordered the DVD on the spot. (now, talk of a British TV series addiction). Very visual and known slapsticks, but who cares? Old tricks, you know… etc…etc…Have a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTf17cmPl0I

Pleasant day to you, dear readers. The 1st page of that short-film script awaits me…

Floreva

DNA for dummies or Genetics and the screenwriter.

14 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Entertainemt, Movies, TV Series, Writing

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Is it just me? Or are you, dear reader,  bothered too,  when a nice piece -TV series or movie- does not play DNA by the rules?

Namely, the color eyes chart. Especially, when it’s clearly said/showed/brought to our knowledge that NO foul actions or adultery/messing around have EVER occurred in the life of Madam since she’s married*? So?

So how come that THIS happens :

“(Recessive*) Blue eyes father + (Recessive) Blue eyes mother = Dominant** Brown eyes child “? The off-springs should have (Recessive) blue eyes.

Unless… The father has transmitted one (Dominant) Brown to the bundle of joy to, UNBEKNOWNST to the screenwriter. Or props were not properly stocked and the person in charge lacked those colored eye lenses. Too bad…

Maybe it’s just me. I probably shouldn’t have been so much attentive as a student in 8th grade, I suppose. Or is it only because I was just better in genetics than in geology, and the knowledge has sunk in deeper and is still there? [I confess : I took my (sweet) revenge in excelling at genetics whereas I sucked at geology, AND I was being taunted by my biology teacher because my father IS a geologist. No kidding,”why my cousin has blue eyes and mine are only hazel ?” bore much more appeal than “feldspars KAlSi3O8 – NaAlSi3O8 – CaAl2Si2O8″. And honestly, the sole interest I have in stones is when they are square-shaped, small, sparkling, red or blue, mounted on a golden ring]

*(in “Downton Abbey”, Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, his wife  Cora, Countess both blue-eyed produce two brown-eyed daughters -Lady Mary and Lady Laura, or in the episode “The Hide”  of the series “Foyle’s War” the boy is also affected of the same heritage; and some others I do not recall right now). 

**Recessive means it takes two of them lads to be strong, dominant means it is stronger, even on its own. It’s not me, it’s the law of Genetics. It’s possible to have blue inherited eyes if one of your parents is brown-eyed and the other blue-eyed, provided at the upper level (grand-parents) one of them had blue eyes too and had transmitted the Recessive gene to the younger generation. It means that the recessive (i.e. non-dominant) is stored in the genetic patrimony and express itself oddly and randomly with another recessive gene. 

Just as the script (and therefore, the show) must not bear historical inaccuracies, nor errors (such as  continuity, plot holes, factual, visible crew, revealing, characters, police cars plates changing every other episodes…),  it must get the DNA heritage done properly, don’t you think?

Super Screenwriter explains it better than me :

Super Screenwriter is a genius ©Floreva 2012

Last minute update : a nice cuppa and a British series episode Black Books

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Life in style, TV Series

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I just stumbled upon a nice post (http://blogofthecourtier.com/2012/09/07/one-is-never-enough/) regarding books and British series about a second bookshop keeper, who is rather misanthropist  than friendly to his customers. The post is well written and is about a British series I never have heard of before (how come? my series supply source must be audited somehow…) : “Black Books” (Channel 4, 2000-2004). The title in itself gives some clues about what to expect, only to twist your expectations and dip them into comedy (black comedy anyone?). And Mr Black wears…well…Black. Has black disheveled hair and is irascible to his potential customers. I let you imagine the results.

Photo  source : Wikipedia.

So as I read the article, my interest grew. Next thing, I found myself  searching the web, and watching patches of episodes on youtube. The series bears all the requirements to qualify to be eligible for the top-ten list (I’ll need to fix that and adjust  to a top-15 list, now, I suppose).

Apart from the canned laughter which spoil the delivery of the lines (don’t they know by now how  exasperating and annoying it is, particularly when the lines are good and need no support to make us laugh?), the show is witty, funny, eccentric, lines are just brilliant and hilarious, actors are perfect and above all, if you are a book worm sneaking guilty pleasures (I mean, like browsing one entire hour among books) from time to time in a second hand book shop, you have probably experienced such book keepers and you’ll recognize the situations.

The girl working next door is also funny both in her ways, and in her name (provided you know a little useful day-to-day German ). She’s named Fran Katzenjammer.

In Germany (and I’ve lived there and enjoyed some outings with friends in pubs), when you’ve had too much beer the day before, the morning after is usually a Katzenjammer day, because of all the “cats screaming” (literal translation), meaning you’re severely hung over. It wouldn’t be so funny if she didn’t pop in the shop every other scene  into the bookshop with a bottle of wine and glasses, or if she didn’t go into Bernard Black’s kitchen to fetch those items to toast to Black’s mishaps with either his customers or his co-worker Manny (seen also in the funny film Saving Grace)

As for me, last timeI went in such a shop was in Vienna, 6 weeks ago. British second hand book shop, keeper buried in his book, chain-smoking at his desk, barely answering. The shelves were seemingly organised and piles of books jammed the areas,  disheveled newspaper stood on racks… It had a a real atmosphere per se.

So, you know they can really be like that.

And having a series revolving around this fact is utterly hilarious.

I’m returning on my techno-thriller (25 p to go now and it’s good, because all the previous proof-reading increments seem to have to been taken into account by the software Word, and I had to catch up) *sigh*.

Good day to you, readers and bloggers. Share a laugh : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ip9LXmPysk

Floreva

Thanks to William from the Blog of the Courtier. (http://blogofthecourtier.com)

A nice cuppa and a British series episode

09 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Entertainemt, TV Series

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It’s been awhile since I last posted, as a fellow blogger & follower told me recently. Sorry, sorry, dear readers, it’s been a busy time, back on tracks and back to work. Plus I had to find something worth writing about & sharing with you.

And, no wonder, it’s TV series “addiction” I’ll write about today… Let me grab my preferred teabag, kettle is whistling…There… So…

…While discovering the much acclaimed (and being mesmerized by) Sherlock on Netflix  last month, I reflected on my TV & movie enthusiasm. And I came to the conclusion that I decidedly have a thing for most British stuff .

Particularly when it comes to TV series.

I loved them then ( 60’s & 70’s, 90’s), I love them now.

No doubt I’ll love them tomorrow.

Especially if the future series blend inventive narrative tricks with caustic characters and brilliant writing, and neat subtext (as Sherlock does, for instance).

And on whatever angle I approach them, I am never disappointed. Comedy, drama,  law, children ( remember Paddington, and Here comes the double decker ? ),  detective, period and history, they’re always a perfect match for me.

An complete list would prove annoying for you to read and useless (if not preposterous) for me to write down, so in respect for your time, I’ve shortlisted them to the 10  I would carry the DVD’s with me, should I be sent to the farthest corner on Earth (provided there’s a TV set, of course ;-p )

Mind you, choosing among all them has been difficult.

So the winners are :

The Avengers (from Honor Blackman’s time to Linda Thorson’s time), The Prisoner, Blackadder, Sherlock, Yes Minister, Wish me Luck, Foyle’s War, Absolutely fabulous (which comes “ex aequo” with French and Saunders and a Bit of Fry and Laurie, I’m afraid), Wire in the Blood, and The Last Enemy.

Now, I just can’t wait to watch A touch of Cloth, a spoof crime-police series airing on Sky 1. With John Hannah (who starred in McCallum and New street order, btw).

Interview in the Guardian here : http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/26/charlie-brooker-spoof-crime-drama-sky1

Trailer there : http://sky1.sky.com/sky1hd-shows/a-touch-of-cloth
http://on.fb.me/jXJXk5 (Like on Facebook)
http://bit.ly/mn7faJ (Follow on Twitter)

I’d be glad to read what your fave British series is, drop me a line!

I think I need a second cuppa now, cheers and good night.

F.

Mad Men and the Mad Men fashion wave

08 Tuesday May 2012

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The MadMen show is a hit (3.50 mio viewers on the premiere day, last March, in the US).

International Broadcasting. Multiple awards winner.

So, it was bound to happen. Now, 60’s elegance is inescapable if you are a city-dweller. It is impossible to pretend it is not there. And what zing this has !

In 2009-10 already,  Banana Republic stores in the US displayed clothing inspired by the series. They have teamed up again with MM prod/costume department to market  a limited Spring collection.

Fully advertised in Vanity Fair’s April issue.

 



Timeless elegance.

Calvin Klein, Brioni, Hickey Freeman, Hugo Boss, Brunello Cucinelli ads, in April VF issue.

Mad Men fashion is upon us. Well…more tight tailored preppy jackets, tightly fitting polo shirts and impeccable slacks…  that’s better than baggy worn out jeans and shapeless Tees.  Time has come to dig out vintage gems and glamour.

Nicotine and Caffeine are in a boat…

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Caffeine, Life in style, TV Series

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…Boat sinks… Which one do you save first?

Strange thought of mine, I know.

I just wondered, while watching an ep. of Mad Men tonight on Netflix (luv the series). Because we all know these two are so often paired. Why? Because they supposedly are as equally addictive? Ever noticed you have a cowboy’s breath when you come to have them unfiltered or unsweetened ? Nevertheless, coffee is good for you and your brain, just ask Voltaire (up to 60 cups a day), or Swift. Whereas cigarettes…Not exactly replenishing…

 COFFEE http://over-coffee.com/

Coffee and cigarettes…Oh, I almost forgot… and alcohol… Now that’s just the perfect attire for a man . Or  shall I write The Man? It has been so in the collective unconsciousness of the Western world for decades. At least on screen. And the perfume of masculinity that rides besides them is so strong, it’s hard to decorrelate one from another without bruising the image of what the French call the “éternel masculin” (immortal masculinity). Curiously enough (curiously, really? “curiously”? are you kidding me?), oldies are packed with this trio of little geniuses.

Particularly in the Noir movies (dish of choice for me). Meet Bogie in the Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, To have an have not, see Fred McMurray and Robert Mitchum… Recent movies too. Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs…

Over the years, in the industry, alcohol’s part shrank and almost disappeared, became as nearly as invisible sometimes (unless you expose some one with a liquor problem). Nicotine put one foot in the grave when battles against some companies were being fought on grounds of endangering the health of their customers. And with the ban of cig’s on working premises and more justice battles,  Sister Nicotina took place in her little coffin adorned with bills of laws and amendments and rules and blablabla law-ish (not mocking, just explaining).

But the lid has not been ordered (free country, free will, free smoking in my car/tub/house/loo/closet… ah-ah…gotcha!) . Too bad…

So there she lies, glorious as a nearly defunct tyrannic queen,…but… still breathing on her iron lung (addictive substances and image of coolness, maybe?). So how can the industry in L.A. escape this dilemma (real cool men smoke, and drink booze and fuel on caffeine) ?

They make historical series. Clever.

The hard part, though, may be to find actors that …smoke. (Yeap, might be difficult, since every one is keen on protecting their capital-health). Coolness has shifted. Now, it’s cool NOT to smoke and NOT to drink. And to have a moderate (or better, extra-low) consumption of caffeine (You know, deaaar, only when it’s mango-eating days.My diet).

Take Don Draper and his Mad Men crew, for instance… They almost chain-smoke all episode long. They begin to tackle old Johnnie RedJacket as early as 10 in the morning sometimes. They swallow gallons of coffee (ok, the american bottomless mug o’joe has no equivalent on earth and every European expresso makes a corn-fed and happiness-bred Yankee cough until next Christmas 😉 but anyhow…). They keep talking to each other well within the courtesy zone. And they kiss/sh*ahem*ag their lovers/spouses/secretaries/fiancees (choose) and embrace them strongly enough for them to be covered with those substances (metaphorical). And no one seems to notice that the cowboy’s back from hell.

Because, come on, have you ever kissed/talked to a guy who’s been smoking not light cigarettes, and about nearly 40 of them, and had a whisky one too many and his mouth…ahem… lips coated  with several layers of caffeine? It’s not the handsome model  freshly groomed and having chewed his whitening paste for 3 minutes posing for a famous cigarette brand near a campside fire, darling.

Nope.

We all have friends who are heavy smokers (but being a lighter smoker doesn’t prevent from dragon breath either) and do not have the glorious habit of brushing their teeth after each puff. I had several colleagues like that. One to one Meetings were…hum…started with the offering of a chewing gum. On unlucky days, gum was refused.

O gosh.

Caffeine is something we can manage pretty nicely behind the lips,  no big deal on the overall image. But Nicotina…aaargggh.

So if I happened to be on that particular boat one day, I’ll save lady Caffeine and let Nicotine drink her death.

Coffee <3

Source : Pinterest meetovercoffee

I have spoken.

Margo Channing @ White House Black Market

07 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Caffeine, Life in style, Movies, Places, TV Series

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Last Thursday I had an appointment at 9am. As I was very early and there was no traffic jam (lucky me!) I had nearly 40 minutes before hand, so I went for window shopping in Town & Country. Weather was fine, parking lot still empty, the set of beautiful shops nestled between Memorial and Kimberley was just ready for a private visit.

Nobody around.

Too good to miss.

I grabbed a coffee – just a coffee *sigh*-at the Starbucks corner in the store, and off I went.

The first windows belonged to Banana Republic. Very “Mad Men on a Safari tour”.

Yeah, it’s a jungle out there.

The “Men collection” is just …just…perfect. Nothing to add here. Have a look.

I remembered these ads in magazines for the spring collection featuring designs seemingly taken just out of the series.This  kind of team up between BR and Madmen surely is bound to be a hit….and the male model has a strong resemblance to Don Draper…

Is it Don Draper already?

I left the Men Mad with their Jungle Out There and I shifted to the huge windows of White House & Black Market.

Such a lovely boutique, such pretty items.

Sophisticated yet cool. Classic with a twist, bold style and fashionista-pleasing collections, displayed in a glamorous, boudoir-style shop.


And they are not ashamed of their commitment to charities (which is always a good point).

Hum…how can I tell you… I can’t resist.

Certainly Margo Channing would have bought her day garments in there (or at least, sent Birdie to buy them), had she not been only real on the silver screen and had the brand existed back then. Grace Kelly seems more a J Crew-type girl, I should say. In the evening :  Balenciaga, Valentino, or Nina Ricci. For both Miss Davis and Miss Kelly.

Bette Davis portraited an immortal Margo in the Movie “All about Eve” (Mankiewicz, 1950,20th Century Fox). Should you wander why the movie is a MAJOR classic in the history of Cinema (apart from the numerous awards it received), just pick a copy or dive into Netflix, and (re)discover the imperial Bette Davis, the ruthless predatory nature of the bitchy Eve (incredibly talented Anne Baxter), the stylish and smoothly cynical Addison DeWitt (magnificent George Sanders), the lovely debutante Marilyn Monroe, the charming and reliable Gary Merrill, the confused Hugh Marlowe and the naive friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm), encapsulated in a masterpiece so carefully crafted, that it looks like a  diamond necklace, sparkling with wit and brilliant dialogues, sumptuous costumes and decors, and such a mastery of photo and directing, you’ll be swept off you feet…

As for me, I love diamond necklaces…

PS : in Pop culture, references or homage to Miss Channing or to the movie are plethora, the following are the latest addenda to the entertainment industry (I thank Wikipedia-San for his help on the subject, seeing I am not a big fan of the Simpsons nor of Glee):

  • Blair (Gossip Girl, season 3, ep “Enough about Eve”) dreams that she is Margo Channing
  • P. Almodovar’s movie title “All about my mother” is a reference to Mankiewicz’s, and the first scene shows the protagonist watching the 1950 movie on TV, later a character is accused of  learning her lines “just like Eve Harrington”.
  • A 2008 Simpsons’s episode is called “All about Lisa”
  • In a Season 2 episode of Glee, a character is called a Latina Eve Harrington
*****
Later, during lunch time, I sneaked in the shop to try some garments on.
And then back to work…
So long, WHBM.

Here we go, coffee addicts…

06 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Cafés, Caffeine, Movies, Places, TV Series

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