The Umbrella Organisation

As this com started as a com based around our twin loves of Sherlock and Benedict, I feel very bad when I have not talked about Sherlock Holmes for a while. I have not talked about Sherlock Holmes for a while. I feel bad. It is time to redeem myself.

This book has just come up on Amazon:



It will be published at the end of October (2011).

Cut and pasted from Amazon:

This entertaining collection of essays shows that Sherlock Holmes sees things others don't. He sees the world in a different way, and by so doing, allows us to see that same world - and human behaviour - in new ways as well. Is Holmes simply eccentric or a sociopath? Is he human or something from beyond? And is he as dangerous on the page as he is in person? Contributors explore the source of Holmes' faculty of observation and facility for deduction: Is it systematic training (as Watson surmises), genetics, or is he just really lucky? Other essays question whether logic is compatible with emotions, and investigate the nature of the friendship between Holmes and Watson. Are they truly friends or is it simply a way to disguise another level of secrecy and deception?

Obviously, I have no clue whether this book is going to be any good or not. But it does sound intriguing and I for one am very tempted to get it. You can pre-order it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherlock-Holmes-Philosophy-Popular-Culture/dp/0812697316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1316476976&sr=8-1

Anyone who does get it is more than welcome to review the book on this com!

I promised to tell you what films I will be seeing at the BFI London Film Festival. Belatedly, I got onto booking my tickets this morning. These are the eight films that I have booked to see (I may catch some more but I will get cheap seats at the last minute if there are any going) with the relevant links so that you can see what they are about:

50/50
An original story of friendship, love and survival - and finding humour in the most unlikely places.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1612

Wreckers
The debut feature from Dictynna Hood is a haunting tale of secrets and lies in the English countryside.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1850

Coriolanus
A clever, contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's play of political power and intrigue, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1654

Dreams of A Life
The intriguing story of a young woman discovered in a London flat three years after her death.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1671

Strawberry Fields
An inventive melodrama referencing Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire, a complex story of lust, rivalry and liberation in Kent countryside.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1812

Goodbye
When your country starts treating you like you don't belong, then it's time to leave.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1698

Wuthering Heights
Andrea Arnold's radical and beautifully filmed adaptation of this classic tale of obsessive love.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1851

Anonymous
A star-studded British cast graces Roland Emmerich's exploration of the contested authorship of Shakespeare's works.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/node/1626

I will write a short review of those films that inspire me. I will obviously cover Wreckers (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes) because not to review either of those would be failing in my duty as a fan trying to promote those actors and their work to as wide an audience as possible! Ralph Fiennes now has his own tag - I should have given him this honour the first time I mentioned him - sorry Ralph!

The films that I could not get into because they were either on a ticket ballot or sold out were:

The Deep Blue Sea
A Dangerous Method
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Carnage

I will have to wait for these to go on general release.