The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Boxed Set Collection) (1985) Review

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(More customer reviews)As there are already plenty of other reviews here detailing the specific episodes, let me just toss in my opinion along with the others that Jeremy Brett played the most authentic Sherlock I can imagine. His body, his voice, his mannerisms, his very BEING was true to the portrait of Holmes that Doyle wrote of. Even now, when I go to read the stories of Sherlock and Watson, Brett is easily pictured as Holmes--all the way down to his graceful fingers and small brief smiles. It was a tragedy to lose Brett, but we can be thankful that he was able to bring these classic mysteries to life before leaving us.
Holmes wasn't the only character that was played so perfectly, the role of John Watson is also played quite well by David Burke throughout the "Adventures" section of the Holmes series. In the later sections ("Return", "Casebook", "Memoirs" and all the longer stand-alone movie-episodes) Edward Hardwicke took over as Watson. I am not sure why Hardwicke took over, but I must say of the two I do prefer Hardwicke's Watson over Burke's. In any case, for this "Adventures" DVD set, it is Burke's Watson that you will see, and he does do an admirable job that in no way detracts from the spirit of Watson.
In one other area this entire series excells--the care taken with each and every episode. The people behind this series must have truly loved Doyle's Holmes. Every scene is done perfectly, from the idea of the locations to the photography to the scenery. The "mood" is set, and with Brett and Burke prowling the city and countryside, the stories of Sherlock Holmes come to life here like never before (and because of Brett's death, never again). If you love Holmes, you MUST see these!
Addendum: I contacted MPI video (the releasers of the Granada TV's Holmes series on DVD) and the person who responded to my e-mail said that they WILL continue to release the next series of Holmes DVDs "next year". When next year, I don't know, but just thought I'd pass the word on to other fans that MPI is in fact going to release more Holmes DVDs.

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ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES BOX SET - DVD Movie

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Starting Out in the Evening Review

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(More customer reviews)STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING is a quietly moving work of art, a film adapted from Brian Morton's novel by screenwriters Fred Parnes and and Andrew Wagner (who also directs) that dares to take us to the wall with decisions we make about how we conduct our lives and negotiate the changes that can either be stumbling blocks or stimuli for creative awareness, It has much to say about the creative process of writing, a theme upon which it first appears to be based, but it more importantly urges us to examine how we live - how we make use of this moment of time in which we inhabit a body in the universe.
Leonard Schiller (in an extraordinarily understated performance by Frank Langella) is an aging author, a man whose first two novels seem to set the literary world on fire, but whose next two novels languished on the shelves and slipped into the same plane of obscurity Schiller finds his life since the death of his wife. He has a daughter Ariel (Lili Taylor in another richly hued performance) who is nearing age forty and is unable to bond permanently with a man because of her obsession with having children before her biological clock ticks past fertility. Into their lives comes Heather Wolfe (Lauren Ambrose), a bright young graduate student who has elected to write her master's thesis on the works of Leonard Schiller. Schiller is absorbed in writing what may be his last novel and can't be bothered with Heather's plea for a series of interviews. But curiosity intervenes and soon Heather and Leonard are involved in the process of interviewing, a process which gradually builds into overtones of Heather's physical as well as intellectual attraction to Leonard. Meanwhile Ariel observes the process that seems to be infusing life into her father and encourages her to exit her current relationship with Victor (Michael Cumpsty) and re-connect with the true love of her life Casey (Adrian Lester), a man she loves but who refuses to give her the children she so desperately wants. The manner in which these characters interact and learn from each other the importance of sharing Life instead of obsessing with selfish goals brings the drama to a rather open-ended close, another factor that makes this story significantly better than most themes of May-December romance and unilateral coping with self-centered directions.
The pleasures of this film are many, but among the finest is the quality of acting by Langella, Taylor, Ambrose, and Lester. In many ways the story is a parallax of views of life as art that subtly intertwine like a fine string quartet. Why this film was ignored by the Oscars only suggests that movies for the mind take second place to movies for the merriment of entertainment. For people who enjoy the challenge of a meaty story, this film is a must. Grady Harp, April 08

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Battling illness and unable to finish a novel that has taken him ten years to write, aging novelist Leonard Schiller is slipping into literary obscurity. Formerly a famous author, Schiller has been all but forgotten by the readers, colleagues and critics who once praised him. But when Heather Wolfe, an ambitious graduate student, convinces Schiller that her thesis could reintroduce his writing to the world, the reclusive writer is forced to confront his past regrets. Frank Langella delivers a career-capping performance as a man who must redefine his work - and his perceptions - in the twilight of his life.

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