Friday, October 16, 2009

ANIMATION: RUSSIAN SHERLOCK HOLMES SHORT FILM AT RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL IN LONDON


The 3rd edition of Academia Rossica’s Russian Film Festival  held in London, England from October 30th to November 8th will include a screening of the 2005 animated short film SHERLOCK HOLMES AND DOCTOR WATSON. This charming animated film by creators Aleksandr Bubnov, Irina Kovtun and Zoya Trofimova has been making the YouTube rounds for a couple years since placing 3rd at the 2006 Open Russian Festival of Animated Film. Apparently a sequel is in the works, details and images, for those who read Russian, can be found at http://community.livejournal.com/holmes_2/


Details on the Festival can be found at http://films.academia-rossica.org/en/

The short film itself, as mentioned above, has been available on YouTube (in 2 parts with English subtitles), for some time, but if you haven't already seen them, here it is...enjoy!

Part 1: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson



Part 2: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

EPHEMERA: SHERLOCK HOLMES PAPER DOLLS, COLORING BOOKS AND ACTIVITY BOOKS?

Okay, what can I say, I'm a sucker for silliness. With the upcoming release of the Robert Downey Jr. starring SHERLOCK HOLMES film it appears that everybody is doing their best to get in on a piece of the action, which isn't the least bit surprising, and good for them, but what is surprising is some of the oddball products that are making their way into the Sherlockian marketplace. Paper dolls? A Coloring Book? An Activity book?

The most interesting of these, from the description at least, strikes me as being the Sherlock Holmes Paper Dolls. Here is the product description:

"The dean of detectives is a master of disguise so his doll comes with 10 different costumes. This set also includes 5 colleagues and adversaries: the loyal Dr. Watson, the nefarious Professor Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, Mrs. Hudson, and Irene Adler, the only woman to outwit Holmes. Sixty interchangeable heads portray a variety of actors who have played Holmes and Watson over the years."

Yes, you read that correctly "Sixty interchangeable heads" featuring a variety of actors who have played Holmes. Yes, my curiosity over the representations of actors is strong enough for me to order this ephemeral bit of silliness just to see who made the cut.  Expect a follow-up when I find out!

As for THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES COLORING BOOK and the SHERLOCK HOLMES ACTIVITY BOOK, I'm afraid that you're on your own!

All three items are currently available for pre-order on Amazon USA.

SHERLOCK HOLMES PAPER DOLLS Amazon Link

HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES COLORING BOOK Amazon Link

SHERLOCK HOLMES ACTIVITY BOOK Amazon Link













Tuesday, October 13, 2009

TV: BBC SHERLOCK PRODUCED BY STEVEN MOFFAT AND MARK GATISS


SHERLOCK
Duration:
3 x 90 minutes
Channel:
BBC1 in 2010
In production:
November 2009 

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman 

 
From the programme press release:

"John Watson, army doctor, invalided home from Afghanistan, alone and friendless ...

Sherlock Holmes, the most brilliant intellect of his generation, alone and friendless ...

London, 2009 - the best and longest friendship in all of fiction is about to begin anew.

The most famous detective, the most baffling mysteries, the most thrilling adventures and the deadliest foes, are coming in out of the fog. Sherlock Holmes was always a modern man - it was the world that got old. Now he's back as he should be - edgy, contemporary, difficult, dangerous.

A woman in pink lies murdered in an abandoned house - a serial killer is loose on London. Inspector Lestrade is the best Scotland Yard has got, but he knows he's not as good as a strange young man called Sherlock ..."


The Hartswood Films Initial Press Release (January 2009):

BBC Wales Drama, BBC One and Hartswood Films announce SHERLOCK, a contemporary remake of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (STARTER FOR TEN, STUART: A LIFE BACKWARDS) as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman (THE OFFICE, HOT FUZZ) as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. Rupert Graves (GOD ON TRIAL, MIDNIGHT MAN) plays Inspector Lestrade.

The drama is co-created by the amazing partnership of Steven Moffat (DOCTOR WHO, COUPLING) and Mark Gatiss (THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, DOCTOR WHO, CROOKED HOUSE) and produced by Sue Vertue (COUPLING, THE CUP). The 1 x 60 minute episode, written by Moffat, started filming on 12th January, and is being directed by Coky Giedroyc (VIRGIN QUEEN, BLACKPOOL, OLIVER TWIST).

SHERLOCK is a thrilling, funny, fast-paced take on the crime drama genre set in present day London. The iconic details from Conan Doyle's original books remain - they live at the same address, have the same names and, somewhere out there in the London of 2009, Moriarty is waiting for them.

Piers Wenger, Head of Drama, BBC Wales, says: “Our Sherlock is a dynamic superhero in a modern world, an arrogant, genius sleuth driven by a desire to prove himself cleverer than the perpetrator and the police, everyone in fact.”

SHERLOCK is produced by Hartswood Films, continuing their fruitful relationship with the BBC. Past productions include COUPLING, MEN BEHAVING BADLY, JEKYLL and, most recently, THE CUP for BBC Two.

Steven Moffat says: “Everything that matters about Holmes and Watson is the same. Conan Doyle's stories were never about frock coats and gas light; they're about brilliant detection, dreadful villains and blood-curdling crimes – and frankly, to hell with the crinoline. Other detectives have cases, Sherlock Holmes has adventures, and that's what matters. Mark and I have been talking about this project for years, on long train rides to Cardiff for DOCTOR WHO. Quite honestly, we'd still be talking about it if Sue Vertue of Hartswood Films (conveniently also my wife) hadn't sat us down for lunch and got us to work.”

Mark Gatiss says: “The fact that Steven, myself and millions of others are still addicted to Conan Doyle's brilliant stories is testament to their indestructibility. They're as vital, lurid, thrilling and wonderful as they ever were. It's a dream come true to be making a new TV series and in Benedict and Mark we have the perfect Holmes and Watson for our time.”

Sue Vertue says: “Steven and Mark are such huge fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories that I had a feeling they would just go on and on talking about it, so I picked the Criterion for our lunch as I knew of its iconic significance in the meeting of Sherlock and Watson and thought it might get the boys' attention! It did, and what has evolved from that meeting is hugely exciting.”

Commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, and Jay Hunt, Controller, BBC One, SHERLOCK is shooting in Wales and on location in London. SHERLOCK is executive produced by Beryl Vertue, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat.

More information when it becomes available.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

PASTICHE DATABASE: SHERLOCK HOLMES PASTICHE DATABASE WITH ROUGHLY 8,000 ENTRIES


The field of Sherlock Holmes related fiction and pastiche is an amazingly huge and rich one that incorporates literally hundreds of  novels and short stories, the latter appearing in a dizzying selection of books, magazines, and various other outlets. Works of pastiche and parody featuring Sherlock Holmes and other Canonical characters have appeared in print steadily since the early 1890s. The sheer volume of these works is rather staggering and can be rather bewildering for the hardcore collector trying to track down as many of them as possible. Fortunately for the collector, Sherlockian scholar and reviewer Philip K. Jones of the Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit, Michigan maintains a remarkable database of pastiche and Sherlockian fiction that currently lists nearly 8,000 entries, with updates provided on a semi-regular basis. The links below include the database (in the form of an Microsoft Excel spreadsheet SHERLOCK.xls), a supporting document to explain the headers and functionality of the spreadsheet (Rich Text Format SHERCODE.rtf) and another document discussing and identifying the "Untold Tales" mentioned in Conan Doyle's stories (Rich Text Format UNTOLDEX.rtf).

The files are made available free to all, but should you make use of the material for reference in a published work please credit Philip K. Jones. Should you notice any errors or omissions, please drop Phil an email with the details.

Database links for direct download (clicking the links should open a dialogue box for viewing or download. Files hosted at www.bakerstreetdozen.com):

The Sherlock Holmes Pastiche Database (SHERLOCK.xls)
Explanation of SHERLOCK Database (SHERCODE.rtf)
The Untold Tales Analyzed (UNTOLDEX.rtf)


My thanks to Philip K. Jones for providing these useful and interesting  resources.