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.


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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?

1999 v 2009 / Reader Submission #3

This post comes to us from loyal R3 fan Oliver C. It is a simple look at 1999 movies compared to those that have come to us this year in 2009. While I do not agree with everything he says below, it is interesting to look back at 1999 and think about how you felt after seeing the movies he references below. Did you feel like you'd still be talking about them 10 years from the day you had your ticket ripped? Will you still be quoting The Hangover 10 years from now? Oliver's post looks at the end of 2 decades, and while you could just as simply compare 1999 to 2008 or 2006, it's still fun to look at the end of a decade and see where we were, where we've been, and where we're going... I should note that this was submitted to us before December movies were released.

Always feel free to email us your very own submissions to be posted on the site. Enjoy Oliver's contribution and here's to looking forward to 2010.

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As we approach the end of the decade, many people will look back at the year and reminisce on the past movies that made 2009 the year that it was. I look back and I think… Really? Is that it??? What do we have to work with here? This year was marked off with remakes and sequels trying to be bigger and better then their first: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Terminator Salvation. Movies made to inspire us like Whip It fell flat. And even the biggest smallest horror movie was really just a re-imagination of the Blair Witch Project. All in all, once the dust settled from the battling robots, 2009 really went out with a fizzle. You’re probably asking, “geez, man, what do you expect?” I expected another 1999. Now that year truly ended the decade with a bang (I’m not eliminating Avatar to wow me… but I’m not holding my breath for it either).
1999 brought us a plethora of future classics, first-time directors, and even a sequel that lived up to the original in Toy Story 2.

1999 introduced the audience to M. Night Shyamalan(The Sixth Sense), Sam Mendes (American Beauty), Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich), Sophia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides), Alexander Payne (Election), and Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) all of which had their first wide releases in this year. Four of those directors were nominated for Oscars in their aforementioned debuts, with Mendes actually walking away with the trophy for Best Director. Since then Spike Jonze picked one up for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Sophia Coppola for Lost In Translation, Alexander Payne for Sideways, and Brad Bird for Ratatouille. And The Sixth Sense went ahead to be one of the highest grossing movie of all time.

It’s not just the directors that came out of the shadows, 1999 also introduced us to the on-screen talent who were once barely on the public’s radar to center-stage. Angelina Jolie not only outshined co-star Winona Ryder, but also took home Oscar gold with Girl, Interrupted. Reese Witherspoon proved that she wasn’t just another cute blonde with her Golden Globe nominated role in Election. Jake Gyllenhaal took his first adult role in October Sky. Michael Clarke Duncan went from bodyguard to the stars to Oscar Nominated actor in The Green Mile. And Russell Crowe went from Aussie bad-boy to future Academy Award Winning Aussie bad-boy in his Nominated performance in The Insider.

1999 was also a big comeback year. Whether it be from constant box-office flops like Julia Roberts or tabloid fodder like Martin Lawrence and Hugh Grant, each of these actors re-established themselves with Notting Hill and Blue Streak.

Two sets of brothers took us in opposite directions in the movie viewing experience. The Wachowski brothers taught us that Keanu Reeves can actually make a movie that will make you think in The Matrix. They also gave us a need to see everything in HD. The Weitz brothers taught us that you can have a sex-comedy with heart in American Pie. They also gave us a need to see everything in HD (I’m talking about you, Shannon Elizabeth).

Finally, 1999 taught us that Box Office grosses means nothing in the general scheme of things when it comes to making a movie that will always stick with the viewers. Fight Club, Boondock Saints, and Office Space suffered huge box-office hits (Boondock barely even saw the light of day), but each one resurfaced with a huge cult following in the DVD world.

All is not perfect though. 1999 brought us one thing that the true movie fan can do without. Jar-Jar-Binks and Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace.

I never said it was a perfect year.

The Greatest Trilogy of All-Time? / Reader Submission #01

The Infernal Affairs trilogy.
"Never heard of it" you are probably telling yourself. Well, this trilogy happens to be one of the most successful movie franchises to come out of Hong Kong. Many people say that Martin Scorsese’s Oscar winning The Departed was based on the notorious Southie Gangster James “Whitey” Bulger. In fact the movie came from the Hong Kong neo-classic film that was released in 2002. The film went ahead and won several big prizes at Hong Kong’s equivalent of the Oscars, including Best Picture, Screenplay, director, and supporting actor. Its sequels were also nominated for the major awards, but not picking up any. For the sake of avoiding confusion, I will refer to all characters in the Infernal Affairs trilogy to their The Departed counterparts.

You will find that The Departed is nearly a mirror image of its predecessor, minus the painfully over the top and unnecessary performance by Jack (however, the remake does redeem itself with Mark Wahlberg’s character that did not exist in Infernal Affairs). Without giving up too much plot and ruining it for you two, Infernal Affairs II is actually a prequel. The Departed took certain elements of this movie to give more of a back-story behind Leo and Damon’s characters. Infernal Affairs takes the stories of how Leo and Damon infiltrate the mob/police force and divulge into the lives of Jack and Martin Sheen’s characters and their rise through the ranks of both the police force and the triads. The third and final chapter of this fantastic trilogy is the only true “sequel” by the definition, deals with the aftermath of what happened in the first installment. While this takes a backseat to the action and suspense as the previous pieces, Infernal Affairs focuses on the characters in a deep more psychological thriller. While the third pales in comparison to the first two installments, it does give the fan a sense of closure.

And if you’re not going to put that on, you might as well put up the Mighty Ducks, or at least Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood’s Spaghetti Western trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly).
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We certainly appreciate this submission. And before I begin with a response, I just want to remind all our readers and followers that emails debating anything we post, containing questions, or suggestions for topics are always welcome – just email us at reallyreelreviews@gmail.com. You may even get your very own post, much like our first contributor, Oliver.

Oliver, to you I say your passion for movies is shared by both me and Terry. Your knowledge of the Infernal Affairs trilogy is impressive. However, for the purposes of our poll we decided to stick with mainstream films which almost always implies English language films – an unfortunate truth I am sure. I will certainly check out the Infernal Affairs trilogy as I loved The Departed, but I doubt there is any way this write-in suggestion of Infernal Affairs would ever win this poll hence its exclusion…which brings me to my next point.

Mighty Ducks, are you serious? I hope you’re kidding…and if you’re not then maybe you, Adam Banks and Russ Tyler can go practice triple dekes and knuckle pucks together because that would be time better spent than arguing for Mighty Ducks as one of the greatest trilogies. Moving on…

I agree with your suggestion of the Dollars trilogy. I debated including it on the list for some time believe it or not, but the main reason I left it off is because my list was getting long. Another reason is I felt like all the other titles were more in the consciousness of our average follower (probably the average American in general)as better films/trilogies. While many people have heard of at least one of these movies, I think most people are unaware that the three titles you mentioned are actually a trilogy of films. But maybe we should have served as the reminder of how good the trilogy was. After all, it is credited with giving life to, or at least setting the bar for the spaghetti western. On a personal level the Dollars trilogy played a huge part in my development growing up, and I have my older brother to thank for that. As a wide-eyed, impressionable youth my brother introduced me to two great forms of art. One was Wu-Tang’s “Enter the Wu-Tang”/“36 Chambers” which helped me learn at the tender age of ten that, yes in fact, cash does rule everything around me. The other was Clint Eastwood and his resume of characters including the Man with No Name. Later it was Fox’s weekend morning lineup of Kung-Fu theater, but that’s for another post.

If readers and voters are unfamiliar with the Man with No Name and the Dollars trilogy, I urge you to follow Oliver’s lead and check it out. I do not believe it would ever win this poll (it would smash Infernal Affairs and Mighty Ducks), but it is our position to post the poll and let you all decide.
Thanks for your submission, Oliver. And Tell Gordon Bombay ReallyReelReviews says, “What’s up?