Helen Mirren... Full auto weapons... Life is good!

    Another day of non-healing here at the HQ. I got an email from the HR folks. Looks like I'll have to go out of pocket to see a specialist. That's just great news... not. Moving on... In lieu of the usual GungirlTM, we have the trailer for Red (Retired Extremely Dangerous). It might very well be jst a formula piece about ex black ops guys with gratuitous violence and explosions, but it's Helen Mirren firing machine guns. It just doesn't come any better than that!
    To lull me to sleep, I usualy pop in a DVD. Last night, it was Murder by Decree (now inexplicably renamed Sherlock Holmes and Saucy Jack, according to the IMDB), a Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper mystery starring Christopher Plummer as Holmes and James Mason as Dr. Watson. The film was produced in England at Shepperton Studios and directed by the late Bob Clark, director of the famed Holiday perennial, A Christmas Story, as well as a remarkably varied, if not well received critically, repertoire of films. (In fact, Tedde Moore, who played Ralphie's teacher has a small but well acted role as Mrs. Lees.) I'm a snob when it comes to Holmes. For me the definitive Holmes has always been Jeremy Brett, who starred in several outstanding Grenada Television series in the mid-late '80s. Plummer is a delightful Holmes, tho, and Mason's Watson energetically avoids the fumbling, bumbling Watson of the 40s cinema entirely. At James Mason's insistence, Watson became an intelligent and formidable ally of Holmes. Murder by Decree is a deftly told story, featuring notable cameo performances by Anthony Quayle, Sir John Gielgud, Donald Sutherland, and Genevieve Bujold. For my money, Murder by Decree eclipses more recent, flashier efforts to bring Holmes to the big screen.