“Mr. Holmes” – a difficult film

Posted on July 18, 2015 by tcwells14

Let’s state upfront that “Mr. Holmes” is a beautiful interesting film with excellent acting by Sir Ian McKellen and all his supporting cast which includes Laura Linney. It is based on a non-Doyle Sherlock Holmes novel called “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin.

The various plot strands include flashbacks that are easy to understand. The costumes (for each period) are beautiful and appropriate. The science (of bees) is easy to understand.

It’s a difficult film to love though. Even though all the strings are tied up, the story is difficult to watch.

 

Sherlock Holmes is in his 90s, living in the country amid his beloved bees, and fighting a failing memory. He has just returned from a trip to Japan with a new remedy for forgetfulness but it hasn’t help. He’s old, somewhat frail, and spends his time trying to write the true story of one of the stories that his friend, Dr. John Watson (now deceased) told. He wants to conclude this project before he, Holmes, dies.

Now why it’s a difficult film: it’s very, very difficult to watch Sir Ian cope with (fake) advancing mortality. Any watcher who has watched their own elderly parents deal with aging will recognize everything — and shudder. When Holmes falls out of bed onto the hard floor, you will flinch knowing how hard it will be on everyone if he breaks anything. When he admits he’s having problems with what a younger person sees as simple and easy, you want to cry – and I know someone who did. I wiped my eyes as well. The filmmakers slow down the plot with endless dwelling on his infirmities.

This can make a pretty grim flick. Pretty grim – more than that. Grim and slow.  The overly elaborate and stuttering pacing makes you want to watch your watch (though you might feel disrespectful doing it. Holmes deserves respect as does McKellen’s performance.) Then again, if they cut back on dwelling on the mortality, it would be easier to enjoy the movie.

So, “Mr. Holmes” is a thought provoking film that isn’t that much fun. You’re warned.

Next week, an all-American fluffy summer ‘park brain, eat popcorn’ flick: Pixels!

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What has the 21st century done to the Bard?

Posted on July 13, 2015 by tcwells14
From Photosforclass.com under Creative Commons

From Photosforclass.com under Creative Commons

So, what’s with the changes to the Bard? People are having fun with him again.

For years, students have been dragged to performances, condemned to perform in, listen to their classmates recite or watch the BBC versions in darkened classrooms (which are good for a snooze.) They are subjected to endless admonitions that he was the greatest playwright of all time.

Now a new generation is poking fun at the stuffy image.

There is a musical on NY’s Broadway called “Something Rotten. It’s an extended riff on William Shakespeare and his work. The Today Show has a song medley worth watching. Shakespeare as a preening rock star (Christian Borle who won a Tony Award for it) in tight leather… well, something new to consider for Shakespeare’s image.

Author Ian Doescher recast the entire 20th century classic, the “Star Wars” saga, and casting it into iambic pentameter for his mashups from Quirk Books. You actually get to hear what Darth Vader thinks of the world around him. And you get new insight into Jar Jar Binks which might (or might not) make you rethink the character.

This trend might have started with “Shakespeare in Love” in 1998. Anyone remember that movie? It got the Best Picture Oscar. It was also riddled with allusions to Shakespeare’s work as well as other Elizabethan contemporaries. (It was also the movie that caused me to call the Bard a SOB because I knew the kind of trouble he was getting Christopher Marlowe into as if Kit Marlowe needed more… but I digress from the point of this posting.)

So what will drag the younger generation from their iPads or the Internet?

Make it relatable and you have generational support.

Maybe it’s a (stage) musical.

Maybe it’s a (book) mash-up.

Maybe it’s Shakespeare’s words buried in an action movie where the bad guy and/or good guy is spouting his heroism/villiany. (And if anyone can find this among the Marvel sagas, point it my way. The closest I remember is watching Magneto/Gandalf (otherwise known as Sir Ian McKellen giving a one-man show on Shakespeare.)

So a strutting Will Shakespeare in a musical? Bring it on. Maybe in 20 years it will become a high school staple like “Bye Bye Birdie” and Shakespeare will not be confined to the musty pages of school books.

There is a world of fun to be had with him. Let’s go for it!

(Next: Illustration – a not so dead art)

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The allure of “Indiana Jones” lives on in traveling exhibit

Posted on July 1, 2015 by tcwells14

It’s a match made in heaven – fictional archeologist Indiana Jones and the very real archeology of National Geographic.

2015-Indy-Ra-cropped

A traveling exhibition, “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archeology,”  from the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, has landed at the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. It uses the four “Indiana Jones” films to introduce field of archeology, and contrasts the behavior of archeologist ‘Indy’ with what authentic archeologists face. The interactive exhibition is at the museum until January 3, 2016.

Indiana Jones has inspired generations to explore archeology. His well-documented ‘history,‘ though, is pure action adventure.

“The Adventure of Archeology” points out that Indy’s style of archeology (based in the 1930s through 1950s) is very different from modern archeology, which puts an emphasis on the study of artifacts in situ rather than bringing them back to museums to be studied.

The exhibition has ceramics and jewelry from the Americas loaned from  the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, better known as the Penn Museum, in Philadelphia. The fourth movie, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” used South America for their adventure.

The National Geographic’s Archeology Fellow Dr. Fredrik Hiebert and Dr. Michel Fortin of the Université Laval in Quebec City were the primary academics involved with the science and educational information.

Visitors follow the “Indy trail” with hand-held tablets and headphones. The exhibition starts with the first film “Raiders of the Lost Ark” comparing it with the ancient Sumerian city of Ur and authentic archeological findings there.

Some exhibits are numbered which means they have further information. Tap the numbers into the tables, and more information is provided – either clips from the films or videos from experts.

Ancient coins from the National Geographic exhibition,

Ancient coins from the National Geographic exhibition, “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archeology.”

For example, for the display of ancient coins from China, Greece, and Rome, the audio explained about currency in different cultures through history.

For those interested mostly in the movies, there are numerous costumes and props from the films including several of Jones’ leather whips, Marion Ravenwood’s costume in the Nepal bar (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery) eyeglasses, Grail Diary,   and Crusader tombstones from “The Lost Crusade.” Also included is a vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle used in “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

The beautiful red-beaded and sequined dress, worn by  Willie Scott in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” lived a life of danger. The first was eaten by an elephant. A costume designer was flown out to the set to create a new one.

Costumes from

Costumes from “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” are part of Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology exhibit. May 14-Jan. 3, 2016 at National Geographic in Washington, D.C.

This exhibit has nothing from the “Young Indiana Chronicles” which ran from 1992-1993, later had made-for-tv movies in 1996, and were later put out on DVD. That series also included short historical documentaries.

There is more than enough to engage the attention of all generations in “Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archeology.”

You can even have your picture taken with a (fake) Indiana Jones on the out.

“Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archeology” is at the National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th Street, NW (17th and M), Washington, DC 20036 through January 3, 2016. Tickets cost $15.

By Tish Wells

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Greetings to the big wide world

Posted on June 28, 2015 by tcwells14

The first post. Always a trial to be faced, always an opportunity to richest.

I’m Tish Wells,  a freelance reporter based in Washington, D.C., but a world wanderer both literally and figuratively. I’ve lived in Asia and Europe; my interests are as diverse as Asian art, museums, antiques, architecture, history, terrorism, television, the Internet, cooking, archives and anything I feel should be covered but isn’t.

This includes ‘geek’ culture from Star Wars to BBC America to Steampunk all of which are cultural elements that moved from niche culture to mainstream (Hello Big Bang Theory). All of these deserve respect because their culture is as important to their fans as any sports team’s coverage would be to a mainstream audience. My interest in science fiction, fantasy, media started with my first media/SF convention in 1975 and has continued to attend them ever since.

I’ve covered “Star Wars,” “The Clone Wars,” “Sherlock,” generations of “Doctor Who,” BBC’s new “The Musketeers,” “Foyle’s War” and “Ripper Street.” I’ve had the luck of speaking with George Lucas and Sue Vertue and the ever-charming Ashley Eckstein.

I’ve also written about 9/11 changes to modern architecture, the hidden greenhouses at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and how to find the hidden cats at the Freer Gallery of Art. I’ve reviewed fiction and non-fiction, cookbooks, graphic novels and anything that interested me.

I worked for 13 years at USA Today and 16 years at the McClatchy Washington Bureau (formerly Knight-Ridder) where my work went out of the McClatchy-Tribune, now Tribune, newswire.

So, welcome to my world. Let’s see how this all goes.

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