Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011

Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Kelly Reilly







Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) and Watson (Law) go up against Holmes' arch enemy, Professor Moriarty (Harris), trying to thwart an assassination attempt on an important head of state. I don't really want to say much about it because you've just got to see it, and there isn't a ton to say about it anyway, except that it's entertaining and has lots of action and Robert Downey Jr. What more do you require, really?

Stephen Fry was so wonderful as Mycroft Holmes! What a pleasant surprise!

If you're a Holmes fan, you won't be disappointed! The music is just as brilliant as in the first film. Hans Zimmer is definitely a genius.

The Muppets, 2011

Director: James Bobin
Stars: Amy Adams, Jason Segal, Chris Cooper, Peter Linz, Steve Whitmire, David Goelz, Eric Jacobson, Bill Barretta







Is it crazy that I did not expect this to be a musical? I guess it is! But when they started singing, I was honestly surprised.

It's very funny, and very amusing. The story is that they need to get The Muppets back together and put on a special of The Muppet Show in the old Muppet theater, or they will lose the theater forever to an evil oil tycoon!

They also make fun of Hollywood and silly movies, "travelling by map", at one point when they all have to travel to Paris to find Miss Piggy. Or suggesting they do a "montage" to save time when finding all the Muppets.

And, as in all Muppet movies, there are quite a few cameo appearances, including Mickey Rooney! Very good stuff!

I love Kermit!

Last Reviews of 2011

For my final two reviews of 2011, I will share my views on the two movies I have seen in theaters this December. I'm not a big movie-goer, obviously. I like to get movies cheap, not pay an arm and a leg to see them on the big screen. Well, usually. I still like going to see movies on the big screen! Who doesn't? I just save it for the movies I think will be totally amazing!

And these two were great!





The Muppets, 2011 (directed by James Bobin)











Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011 (directed by Guy Ritchie)

Grease, 1978

Director: Randal Kleiser

Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing

'Grease' is the word, it's the word that you heard.....

I swear my sister and I have seen this movie 50 times! We used to watch it so much! I haven't seen it in years and didn't actually know how dirty it was until now. I never got those jokes/lines before! Oops.

Danny (Travolta) and Sandy (Newton-John) meet over the summer at the beach, and then say goodbye, thinking that they won't see each other again, since Sandy's family is going back to Australia. But Sandy ends up staying, and then they find out they attend the same school. But Danny has a reputation to protect, so he's a jerk to her at first. And everyone sings and dances and races cars. It's really great.

You have to see Grease at least once!

The Music Man, 1962

Director: Morton DaCosta (Auntie Mame, Island of Love)

Written by: Meredith Wilson

Stars: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Ron Howard (as "Ronny Howard")

"He's a music man!"

"He's a what--he's a what?"

"He's a music man! And he sells trombones and clarinets to the kids in the town...."

That's a wee bit of the first tune in the film. I love some of the sequences in this movie/story. The first scene takes place inside a train car, with several travelling salesmen talking- and singing, of course- about the legendary con-man "Professor" Harold Hill, who travels around selling instruments and band uniforms to the boys in town, and then skips out before teaching them how to play their instruments, since he "doesn't know one note from another", as one of the salesmen declaims.

I've seen it on the stage, and I have to say that that first scene is my favorite. It's amazing the way it comes to life, especially on stage. They're in a train car! Just watch the beginning, and you will see what I mean.

So that's basically the story. Harold Hill (Preston) was on that train in the beginning, and he hops off at the next stop- River City, to the surprise of the other salesmen, because they were declaring he was too smart to stop there, in that little conservative town.

But stop he does, and proceeds to convince the people of the good town that they need a boy's band to give their boys something to do besides playing pool. (Oh no! Not pool!) And, in the middle of all this, there's the single music teacher and librarian, Marion (Jones), who sees through him, but eventually, they like each other.

Songs include:

-"The Wells Fargo Wagon" (in which Ron Howard has quite a solo- he was so cute!!),

-"Til There Was You" (yes, that one- it came from here),

-"Trouble" (very funny- and very adaptable to real life. I quite often somebody or something is "trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool". All the time),

-"Shipoopi" (which makes me hate Buddy Hackett. I think you either like his voice or hate it- he plays the seagull in The Little Mermaid, among other roles. Anyway, I kinda hate it.)

-"Seventy-Six Trombones" (which very easily gets stuck in my head),

-"Marion" (which takes place in the library, where Hill is professing his love to Marion, who isn't convinced-- this one is my second favorite of all the sequences).

Note: I get so bored in this movie, though! I mean, it is so entertaining, but holy cow! It's so long! Two hours and 45 minutes! But if you like musicals, you must see it at least once.

NOTE: I checked out the director, and surprisingly he only directed 3 movies. Literally! This one and the ones I listed next to his name above. Considering how everyone knows The Music Man (at least has heard of it), that surprises me.

White Christmas, 1954

Director: Michael Curtiz (We're No Angels, Casablanca)
Stars: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen




Bob (Crosby) and Phil (Kaye), a duo of famous entertainers who met and started their act during the war, follow their new friends Betty (Clooney) and Judy (Vera-Ellen) to Vermont for the holidays. "Vermont must be beautiful this time of year, all that snow..."

Except there's no snow, and no guests at the lovely Inn where the girls are booked to sing. Business is bad for the owner, whom the guys discover is their company's former general, General Waverly. To help out the General, Bob and Phil decide to bring their whole show up to Vermont and rehearse everything up there.

This is a wonderful movie! It's brilliant and heart-warming! I always cry at the end. Anything referring to war always makes me cry- especially World War 2.

You'll love it.

We're No Angels, 1955

Director: Michael Curtiz (White Christmas, Casablanca)
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray,






"We came here to rob them, and that's what we're going to do: beat their heads in, gouge their eyes out, cut their throats....... as soon as we wash the dishes."


On Christmas Eve, three escaped convicts (Bogart, Ray, and Ustinov) come upon a store which they intend to rob, but soon find out how much financial trouble the store manager, Felix, is in. And then the store's owner, Cousin Andre, comes for a surprise Christmas visit to take inventory and check Felix's accounts. The convicts take it upon themselves to protect Felix, his wife, and daughter from this horrid cousin. But it turns out they don't have to do much....

This is a black comedy, but SOOOOOOO cute! If you haven't seen it, DO watch it. You are in for a treat. I especially love Peter Ustinov in it. Actually, I really can't pick a favorite!! They each have their moments.