Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Fanmail!: Avatar & Sherlock Holmes

In our show reviewing Leap Year we decided to respond to a recent fan e-mail disputing our reviews of Sherlock Holmes and Avatar. Where we saw the former to be a much more enjoyable and respectable film, our loyal fan saw the overused and mundane. This fan felt Avatar was a bold and daring film that needed to be made and seen.

In our show we address this email as we felt it would not be done justice by replying in written word. On our podcast we read portions of the email, but it too was not given due justice. So, we have posted it here on our blog for you to read the points and counterpoints. Agree, disagree, or have thoughts of your own...it doesn't matter. Read. Listen. Respond. Email or Call In to discuss LIVE.


--------------------BEGIN SUBMISSION-------------------

I have to admit that I've been harvesting some negative thoughts...since your Avatar show for thinking Sherlock Holmes was better than Avatar.

Sherlock Holmes.....more like Borelock Holmes!

Borelock Holmes was like every movie E-V-E-R made!! Avatar was new and daring in soooo many different ways and touched on a lot of social issues that made people think.

What did you get from Borelock Holmes?

2 and a half hours of boooooring ***t we've already seen before although I will say that the character of Sherlock Holmes was new and fresh......oh... a ...no, wait, nope he's been around since EIGHTEEN-EIGHTY- SEVEN! I get it, I get it, he's really good at solving problems and his narcissism and self-destructive behaviors get him and his side kick doctor into trouble over and over blah blah-blah, blah-blah...I'd rather watch an episode of "House" at least I know he'll actually solve the mystery and it'll be over in an hour...And on top of boooring us with old plots and fight sequences they have the audacity to set it up for a sequel!!

Now Avatar, talk about a movie with balls.

Avatar was new and exciting, the fact that it was in 3-D alone make it SOOOO much better than Borelock Holmes. Avatar took risks, provoked thoughts and feelings. Not to mention, it touched on a lot of social issues our society is struggling with TODAY.

The technology was not just a gimmick but genius. The Na'vi Avatars resembled so much like the humans that it wasn't a far leap to Pandora. You didn't have to be a Trekkie or Si-Fi nut for the movie to take you there. Well done, James.

Let's talk about risks, the scene when Na' vi chick picks up Jake Sully's cripple human body instantly takes where Benjamin Button was too scared to go.

Now talk about a plot! Simple I know but powerful none the less. The Sky People destroy their own planet of natural green resources so they set out to find Pandora, and they bring death and destruction to people that they've deemed primitive, inferior or just plain different than them because they stand in the way of their riches. They set out to destroying cultures, sciences, and knowledge (secretly more advanced than their own) all because they are too greedy and too stubborn to come together on their own planet to fix their own problems! ....sound familiar? I know, I know it was not a subliminal correlation but that is the genius in it all; is it based on our past, present or Future? In the movie we - I mean the sky people - can see their flaws but we still can't seem to fix it. It made me angry, it made me frustrated, it made me think. On Pandora where all is connected, loved, and respected; Over laying themes of cycles of energy; not only choosing but being chosen, you find yourself thinking that the Na'vi made sense and it made me feel good and right, so much so that every time Sully went back to his human body you instantly felt down and agitated and couldn't wait to get back to Pandora. It was intended and it worked.

You call it simple; I call it art imitating life....

I don't want to be the Sky People anymore, do you?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

2009 Really Reels!

In case you missed last night's podcast, Really Reel Reviews gave out its 2009 Really Reels for some of the best performances and movies of the year. (Listen to the award show here)

But for all the lazy fans of Really Reel Reviews, here's a list of the big winners from last night!

Best Female Performance

ERIC - Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe as "Precious Jones" in Precious






TERRY - Monique as "Mary Jones" in Precious





Best Male Performance

ERIC - Robert Downey Jr. as "Sherlock Holmes" in Sherlock Holmes




TERRY - Christoph Waltz as "Col. Hans Landa" in Inglourious Basterds



Most Memorable Line/Best Catchphrase

ERIC - "Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including your mothers and yours. I dare you to do better." said by "Christopher Pike" in Star Trek


TERRY - "Classic" said by "Alan Garner" in The Hangover




Best/Worst Adaptation

ERIC (Best) - The Blind Side








TERRY (Worst) - Angels and Demons







Favorite Cameo

ERIC - Eminem in Funny People




TERRY - Tyler Perry in Star Trek






Worst Movie

ERIC - The Girlfriend Experience








TERRY - The Collector







Worst Sequel

ERIC & TERRY - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen






Biggest Disappointment

ERIC - Surrogates








TERRY - Bruno







Weirdest Sex Scene

ERIC - Tabloid picture in District 9

TERRY - Jake and Neytiri in Avatar

(Pictures omitted due to us not wanting to wind up on any lists after googling "Avatar sex" or "Human/Prawn beastiality")

Golden Bullet (2009's Most Hated Character)


ERIC - "Melissa" in The Hangover





TERRY - "Skids" and "Mudflap" in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen



A Shot of Jack (2009's Favorite Character)

ERIC - Summer and Tom in (500) Days of Summer







TERRY - Alan Garner in The Hangover







DRUMROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Best Movie

ERIC - Away We Go













TERRY - Inglourious Basterds










So there you go, Really Reel Reviews first Really Reels awards show. As always, if you have comments/concerns about the winners please email us at reallyreelreviews@gmail.com and we'll gladly post your feedback or read it on the next podcast.

And also feel free to nominate your favorite 2010 movies throughout the year and maybe they'll walk away with some hardware next January!