A Movie a Day 3D: 2D Edition

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A Study in Scarlet (1933)

Reginald Owen may be the only fat guy to have ever played Sherlock Holmes. Not that he's Biggie Smalls or anything, but he's chubby enough to have a double chin. Oh well. He's no more physically wrong for the part than Robert Downey Jr, and he's good enough that it doesn't really matter. A lot of these old Holmes films make me think there's no way that someone unfamiliar with the books would understand what makes him so interesting, but this one does a good job of it.

Anna May Wong is also good (I'm always surprised to see actual Asians in these old movies, since they usually just hired white people and told them to squint their eyes) but nobody else makes much of an impression. Filmmakers at this time still had no idea what to do with characters like Watson and Lestrade, so it's not surprising that they haven't been given any personality, or that they basically just linger in the background with nothing much to do.

But the mystery is good, and the filmmakers get creative with the visuals with some point of view shots from the killer's perspective, which you don't usually see in movies this old. One other thing worth mentioning is that the comic relief is actually funny. Not that it's hilarious, but it got a few chuckles out of me, which is amazing since 1930s comic relief usually makes me want to punch those responsible for it.

Mr. Plinkett's Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review (2011)

http://redlettermedia.com

Yeah, I'm counting this as today's movie, because I didn't feel like watching anything else. Not to mention it's longer than some of the movies I've been watching lately. If you're not familiar with Harry Plinkett, the serial killer movie critic, shame on you. His video reviews of the Star Wars prequels, in which he viciously tears them apart, are smarter and funnier than pretty much anything else on the internet. His review of Indy 4 has been a long time coming, and it's unsurprisingly terrific. You should go watch it, but only after watching all of his previous videos.

End of Week...4? I dunno. Recap: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Raven (1915), Maniac (1934), The Oblong Box (1969), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936), Infernal Affairs II (2003), A Study in Scarlet (1933), Mr. Plinkett's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review (2011)

By the way, this is the end of A Movie a Day 3. Thanks for (not) reading, f**kers. Back after Christmas.