Sherlock Holmes Vs. Hollywood

OFTEN, i wonder aloud how it is that certain authors -- john updike and donald westlake are two recently deceased masters who come to mind -- have been either overlooked or royally screwed up onscreen.

with the sherlock holmes novels and stories of arthur conan doyle, the phenomenon is the opposite: holmes is not only thought to be the most adapted character in history (200-some films with 70-or-so actors), some of these films have been quite good.

but it's been a long time since there's been a major holmes movie -- my generation has only musty memories of the great rationalist/sleuth/wit/morphine addict.

so it's intriguing and possibly exciting that TWO new holmes adapts seem to be coming down the pike, with guy ritchie's film starring robert downey jr. (!) and jude law coming in christmas, and a comedy starring sacha "borat" baron cohen and will ferrell coming next year, though the studio seems to be in confusion on this one.

HERE is my story in today's LATimes, for which i spoke to ritchie, producer joel silver, a very serious conan doyle fan, and champ literary critic michael dirda.

i must admit: i grew up in a house with calvino and chandler on the shelf, but no conan doyle, at least i dont think so: unlike a lot of kids, i NEVER read this stuff. in the last few months, knowing this story was coming up, i have delved into the holmes stories and novels and it's been a real pleasure.

Photo credit: Blue Bottle Art Gallery

Back From the Grave: Charles Dickens

HE was the star of the 19th century, and has become fiercely relevant in ours: take a bow charles dickens!!

thanks to the plunging economy, the awesome show "the wire," and a bunch of bbc adaptations, dickens is back in a big way. HERE is my piece from today's LAT in which i speak to a producer at mastepiece (theatre), a ucla literary scholar and former wire scribe (and onetime baltsun colleague) rafael alvarez. 

given where newspapers are these days, i'm pleasantly shocked that i'm still asked to do this kind of meaty deep-think story for the daily press.

anyone who knew me in highschool would be shocked to see me writing such a piece in any form: my freshman english class read "great expectations" and i HATED it. i think i simply wasnt ready for it. wasnt until a college assignment of the atypical "hard times" that i realized what a fool i'd been.

was a real pleasure to go back to some of the work, especially "david copperfield" and "oliver twist." much more awaits.

Photo credit: samuel lawrence and Superstock