Over the last few days I have watched three very different productions of Sherlock Holmes; an episode of the 1980s Granada television series starring Jeremy Brett, the modern day BBC production starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr's return to the role in the movie Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. All of these are excellent in their own way, but are very, very different from each other. Of the three, the Jeremy Brett version is the closest to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle conception of the consulting detective. Granada Television set out to make a series that was faithful to the source material, and many consider Brett to be the definitive Holmes of his generation. The series captured very well Holmes' brilliant intellect and mercurial nature. The BBC production is very different; updated and set in the modern era, it has a very different vibe to it, but it still captures Holmes' lightning quick mind and ascorbic personality. Brilliantly played by Cumberbatch, you can almost see the wheels clicking round in his mind as he works through the mystery. More so than the Brett production it places a strong emphasis on the relationship between Holmes and Watson, played by…
Today I went out to the cinema despite the freezing cold to see this movie. Technically, it was excellent, with some superb performances, Gary Oldman and Benedict Cumberbatch both giving standout performances. Of course, it helped that all the main leads are very easy on the eye. However, as a woman, I was shocked by how darned chauvinistic it was. There was barely a single female character who wasn’t a) simple arm candy for the main characters b) a glorified tealady c) an adulteress or d) a damsel in distress the rescue of whom is held out as a reward for one of the main male characters The only positive female character , a smart secretary who seemed to know what was what (who got maybe 10 minutes’ screen time) was portrayed as less than traditionally attractive, and was forcibly put out to pasture (retired) very early on. Sadly, I fear that’s not too far from the truth of life in the 1970s British intelligence service. It’s been a while since I read John Le Carré’s novel on which the movie is based, so I can’t recall exactly if it’s as chauvinistic. When speaking with friends they asked me what…
Those of you who follow my blog will know how much I’ve lusted after the new Amazon Kindle Touch, and also shared in my frustration at Amazon’s refusal to ship it outside the US. Anyway, today I caved and took a short trip across the US border to Best Buy in Plattsburgh to purchase one. From my experience with the WiFi only Kobo, I did in the end decide to purchase the base model WiFi only with special offers for $99. I had a few tense moments when a Nook was produced that had been set aside for me and the saleswoman couldn’t find the Kindle Touches… I was very relieved to finally have it in my hand. As it is technically not available in Canada I was a little anxious about registering, especially as it took me three attempts with the virtual keyboard. However, it all seemed to go through and I am now happily downloading my content to my Kindle Touch. Size wise the Kindle Touch is noticeably smaller and lighter than the Kindle Keyboard – not surprising as it doesn’t have a keyboard! Comparing the screens to the Kindle Keyboard and Kobo, the two Kindles seem virtually…
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith follows a similar structure to his earlier book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in that it combines existing material with the fantastical. The premise of the book is that American President Abraham Lincoln’s life was spent hunting vampires as well as abolishing slavery. A mix of genres Now, straight historical biography is not a genre I tend to read very often; I’d rather be transported to a new world than learn about someone who lives or lived in ours. I found this particular combination of hard fact and fantastical fiction to be both fun and somewhat informative. A reader of this book would not finish it with an encyclopedic knowledge of Lincoln’s life – I must admit I kept Wikipedia on hand to check historical facts – but he may know more about him than he did previously, and possibly be inspired to learn more. It should be pointed out that as a Brit, my knowledge of American history is sketchy at best. It may be that American readers will learn little that is new to them. They however may enjoy trying to guess how the author will incorporate certain events into the…
Now that autumn's here, it's time to curl up with a mug of hot chocolate, a purring cat on your lap (or in the case of Meret, a biting cat…), to watch the new TV season. There are several new and returning shows that I am following: Desperate Housewives (ABC): this is the final season for Bree, Susan, Gaby and Lynette, and after eight years of following their exploits, I feel morally obliged to watch, despite the lacklustre effort of the last few seasons. If nothing else, the increase in tension of not knowing if all four are going to make it to the end of the season does add a bit of interest. There is a conscious effort to come full circle with many events this season echoing back to the first season, which is very nicely done. Glee (Fox): I absolutely adored Glee's first season. The mix of music and characters was fun TV viewing. Unfortunately, the second season had a major slump, focusing too much on new characters and not so much on those we'd come to love over the first season. The producers are promising a return to first season goodness, but we shall see. So far…
So, I have unboxed the Kobo Touch and have spent my first few hours with it. My first impressions are generally positive. Hardware: The Kobo Touch has the same 6 inch eInk display as the Kindle. From what I could see, there was no discernible difference in contrast between the two, but as they use different fonts, it was tricky to say. In any case, both are clear and easy to read. I found the IR touchscreen reasonably responsive and easy to use. In comparison to the Kindle 3G Keyboard the Kobo seems tiny; of course this is because it doesn’t have a keyboard. I found the Kobo comfortable and easy to hold, and page turns were easy. I did miss being able to turn back a page with my right hand – the Kindle has page back buttons on the same side of the case as the page forward one. Personally, I found I had to use two hands – not easy with a cat purring in your lap. One thing the Kobo does slightly differently to the Kindle is the screen refreshes. By default it will only refresh the screen fully on every sixth page turn, minimising the…
As those of you who follow my blog will know, I am a strong advocate of e-reading and in particular, Amazon’s Kindle. I have had a Kindle now since January 2010, and have built up a significant library of ebooks. However, I’ve recently become very frustrated with Amazon’s US-centric focus and am beginning to wonder if the Canadian Kobo might be a better way to go. With this in mind, today I purchased a Kobo Touch e-reader and plan to take advantage of Chapters’ two week return policy to review it and decide whether that is the way to go. I believe both of them are good, reliable e-readers and I don’t think a purchaser would be disappointed in either. Both have the eInk display which is easiest on the eyes. At the point where I was considering going into ereading, before I bought my Kindle, I did experiment with both Kobo and Amazon stores and customer service and was equally happy with both. At that point the Kobo ereader was not yet on the market. As of yet, I have not unboxed it, but from what I understand, the following are the relative merits of Kindle and Kobo. Kindle…
So, I read the live blogs of the Amazon announcement and, as expected, new Touch Kindles as well as the Amazon Fire tablet were launched. The entry level Kindle is now only $79 US. That is a steal. I really hope it will encourage more people to read ebooks. For the full range of new Kindles, please check out Amazon's web page. Engadget posted a live blog from the event, so I'm not going to repeat all the tech specs. From my own perspective, my predictions from yesterday's entry were confirmed. The Amazon Fire tablet looks to be a nice media consumption unit, and at just $199, a wonderful entry tablet. If I were not already in possession of an iPad, based in the US and not hooked into iTunes/iOS I'd certainly consider it. The announcement of the Kindle Touch was what I'd been hoping for and I immediately went online to place my order… only to see that it's only available to US users, as are all other models except the current versions and the new $79 entry one! Thanks, Amazon. That is one way to generate interest and then kill it off. This is not the first time…
Amazon recently announced that their flagship Kindle ebook reader was now capable of borrowing from public libraries. As my ebook budget is a source of, um, friendly banter between my husband and me, this is one functionality that was very welcome to me. However, at this point, this ability is only available in the US. I know from past experience that the Montreal public library, of which I am a member, does have some limited ebooks to borrow, so I decided to check it out. When I last checked several months ago, the selection available, at least in terms of my preferred genre of fantasy, was extremely limited, especially in English. Well, it is the main city of Francophone Canada, so I guess I’ll forgive it for having most books in French. In all fairness I believe their selection has improved markedly since my initial investigation 18 months or so ago. My experience borrowing from the library was painful and I felt it would have been easier to write the darned book. I am no technophobe by any means, in fact more the opposite, but I found the numerous stages ponderous and unnecessary. I really hope Amazon’s process is much easier….
Having watched some excellent quality drama recently I decided to review what they had in common. First of all, it would probably help if I gave examples of what I consider quality television. It includes, but is not limited to: the Sci-Fi Channel's reimagined Battlestar Galactica, ABC's Lost, HBO's highly acclaimed production of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, and the UK's ITV channel Downton Abbey. At first glance, these may not seem to have much in common. What connection could there possibly be between a futuristic sci-fi drama, a time-travel mystery, a swords and sorcery fantasy series and a period piece set in early 20th century England? The answer, dear reader, is characters, people in whom we have a vested interest, portrayed by competent actors. We may not necessarily like the characters, but we do have to want to know what happens to them. It is not even a case of identifying with the characters. I have never been stranded on a mystery island with a Smoke Monster, nor survived a robotic genocidal attack. However, at the core of all of these shows is human interacting with human, humans dealing with situations outside their comfort zone, humans dealing…