IT'S ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR YONDU BY PHIL CONGLETON

 As Phil Meets The Movies moves through each month of 2023, we will explore as many areas of film history as we can. Each month, we will pick a New movie, an Old movie, a Best movie (aka Great movie), a Least movie (aka a Bad movie), and a film I rated an "E for Effort". The movies highlighted in each article have certain connections or similarities to each other, resulting in a common theme or thread. At times, Phil Meets The Movies 2023, just like Digging Star Wars, will explore the films and the creators of those films, who eventually inspired the Star Wars saga. Half of the theme for each month is based on the New movie choice for the month and the other half is based on the Best movie choice for the month. The Best (Great), movie pick of the month comes from our Film366 film list. 

Phil's Film366 Film List for May on Letterboxd

So keep all of this in mind, as we move through this month's installment of Phil Meets The Movies on Digging Star Wars. Speaking of Star Wars. The month of May is a busy month for the Star Wars universe. First off, the original, theatrical version of Star Wars (1977), was released nationally on May 25th, 1977. On top of that, George Lucas was born on May 14th, 1944. On May 26th, 1975, George Lucas founded his visual effects production company, Industrial Light and Magic. Since 2011, May 4th has been officially classified as Star Wars Day. This is why, on our May installment of the Film366 film list, Star Wars (1977), is our pick for May 4th and the George Lucas directed, THX-1138 (1971), is the film we have scheduled for his birthday.

It's a busy month on Digging Star Wars. I almost forgot that the man who portrayed Grand Moff Tarkin, another Star Wars icon, Peter Cushing, also celebrates a birthday on May 26th. He would be 110 years old if he had been bitten by Christopher Lee's Dracula. And, guess what? Christopher Lee was born on May 27th, 1922. We'll have more on Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in the Best Movie section, later on in the blog. For Peter Cushing's birthday, Film366 has picked the Hammer Films, horror film, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957).

Let's get the month of May started. Along with the Star Wars celebrations, this installment of Phil Meets The Movies celebrates a legendary author's birthday and his most famous creation. Read about that film also in our Best Film section for May. Along with that, we only have to go back 30 years for our Old movie pick for May. We will also say goodbye to a great franchise from the Marvel Cinematic Universe with our New film pick for May 2023. Let’s start things off with that brand New movie.

The early years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe were hitting its stride by 2014. Tony Stark had already had his three films by this time. The Avengers had assembled once already. Both Captain America and Thor had their second films released as well. However, with a large catalog of characters at their disposal, plus Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, and the X-men were tied up at other film studios, Marvel had to turn to the backup tiers of characters they had and take a chance on a group of characters, not that popular to the public. Compared to most of Marvel's other characters, these guys were not huge sellers. It needs to be remembered, that they were not part of the mainstream Marvel Comics collective. They were pretty much secondary or maybe even tertiary characters, by this point in their comic-book journey. Marvel needed to give it a try, however, plus they wanted to open up the space aspect of the MCU's universe. Remember, it was all about Thanos in these early phases of the MCU. With a small surge of popularity in the comics, the choice to use these characters was green-lighted and the Guardians of the Galaxy were heading to the movie screen. Enter director, James Gunn.

Phil's Full Letterboxd Review of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

The Guardians would return for a second volume in 2017 and appearances in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). They also would appear in a smaller-screen TV episode, in a Disney+ special, called the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).

In Volume 3 a new character played by Will Poulter, enters the fray. The below post-credits scene from Volume 2 shows Adam Warlock's cocooned introduction...

It's been a long road since 2014 and it comes down to the end of an era, with our New film choice for May 2023. Director James Gunn returns for a farewell to Marvel (for now), as he brings Marvel's favorite band of misfits back for one final film (for this incarnation of the characters anyway), before heading off to the DCU. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Kraglin (Sean Gunn), along with the voices of Vin Diesel as Groot and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, return for the 32nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), is the final directorial effort for James Gunn in the MCU. It's the end of a trilogy, that wraps up the story arc of this incarnation of a MCU modern classic. It will also answer some of the questions, about what the future holds for these cherished, fan-favored characters. It's safe to say, that this is not the end, but more of a transition, because the actors might change, but the characters are part of Marvel's canon of characters. The film has the emotions, the action, the plot, the Marvel magic, and the performances of the cast, who express this intellectual property, the way it should be. The problem lies in the pacing, which slows the film down a little. It is still a very good film but ranks third out of the three films. This may be a good thing though, because the way they marketed this film as a finality, didn't feel like an end at all, but more of a new beginning. That lack of ending made things feel more like hope.

Phil's Full Letterboxd Review of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

7.8 (B- MyGrade) = 8 IMDB, 4 Stars Letterboxd

Usually, for our Old film choice for the month, I try to go far back in Hollywood history, but this time, I'm only going back 30 years, to the year 1993. The Guardians of the Galaxy films also have another, backup group of anti-heroes, called the Ravagers, who assist and sometimes knock heads with the Guardians. Two of the main leaders of the Ravagers, who are Guardians alumni, from different times, are Yondu, played by Michael Rooker, and Stakar Ogord (Starhawk), played by Sylvester Stallone. 

These are two, seasoned, veteran actors, who have been doing movies since, long before 1993. Everybody knows who Sylvester Stallone is. Most people know who Yondu is now too. These two successful actors played a big part in one of the most adrenaline-pumped action films released in 1993. It is our Old film choice for the month and one that deserves better credit than it gets sometimes.

Stallone is Gabe Walker, a rescue mountain ranger and skilled climber, who is returning to his old rescue station, located in the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. He's been away for eight months, brooding over the loss of his best friend Hal's (Rooker), girlfriend, whom Gabe was unable to save after her climbing equipment malfunctioned and she fell to her death. Now back, Gabe is trying to get his girlfriend, Jessie (Janine Turner), to move away with him and put all of this in the past. Meanwhile, money-smugglers, led by a murderous, but polite, former military intelligence agent, Eric Qualen (John Lithgow), take Gabe and Hal, hostage, to search for $100,000,000.00 in cash, that was jettisoned, during the heist, into the snowy mountains of the Rockies. 

May is a good month to watch Cliffhanger (1993) because this film was released in 1993 at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20th and across the USA on May 28th. It's hard to believe this film is 30 years old now. I missed the film in theaters when it first came out, but saw the film when it premiered on cable TV, back in the old HBO days. It is as thrilling now as it was in the 1990s. Some say the film is too much like the Die Hard films. I see nothing here, that is proof of that opinion. It is nothing like Die Hard (1988). In those early John McClane films, the main spark was always triggered by his love for his wife and his supreme effort to save her from danger. It's the drive powered by that love, that helps McClane (Bruce Willis), beat the bad guys. He is a cop, who is just trying to save his wife. In Cliffhanger (1993), we have a mountain climbing rescue worker, who is more trained in CPR, than fighting military-trained mercenaries. He isn't devoted to his girlfriend like McClane was with his wife, but his heart is good. Gabe and Jessie haven't seen each other for eight months, so the awkwardness is felt. It is pure good versus evil in this film. It also helps that Gabe is jacked-up, like Rambo, so he can handle the stress of being an action hero. It also is interesting to look back and see Stallone and Michael Rooker in an earlier collaboration, before the days of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Phil's Full Letterboxd Review of Cliffhanger (1993)

7.7 (B- MyGrade) = 8 IMDB, 4 Stars Letterboxd

Not everything is like a rose though. After he was done doing the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Michael Rooker would enter the pandemic era of film, in a failed 2020 attempt at rebooting a television classic. The Blumhouse group decided to go with a horror film angle, with their interpretation of this treasured 1970s/1980s TV show. It would be something that looked good on the surface but ended up being our Bad film choice for May. It's also important to remember, that this film was released a month before Covid-19 closed all the theaters down.

Fantasy Island (2020), has the ingredients to be good. It starts out with the beautiful, tropical scenery, needed for a Fantasy Island scenario, Of that, I'm not sure how much of it was CGI, but it works. The core cast of the film is pretty good. We have the likes of Michael Pena, Michael Rooker, and the beautiful Maggie Q. What is really interesting, about this article, was Michael Rooker's character, Damon's, most pivotal scene, happens near a cliff. It is a great shout-out to Cliffhanger (1993). The critics didn't like this film and I ended up being kind of bummed about it too. However, the film did do fairly well at the box office. My guess is, the good box office returns were related to curiosity more than anything else. We have to remember, that Fantasy Island was a big hit back in the day, on ABC television, and a lot of the older fans in the audience were probably drawn into seeing the film, because of that following. As you can see from my grade below, Fantasy Island (2020), is one of the better failures of recent years, so I still recommend seeing the film, because you have to see it to believe it. Applaud the attempt, but understand the negative reviews, that soon followed, after its release in theaters, a mere month before the world shut down. 

Phil's Full Letterboxd Review of Fantasy Island (2020):

4.0 (F+ MyGrade) = 4 IMDB, 2 Stars Letterboxd

Our Best film choice for the month comes from our Film366 film list. On May 22nd, author Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859. He is most famous for creating the character of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes got his start in literature, but when the film arrived, he was quickly adapted to the medium. Not many characters can say they have been adapted to film as much as Holmes. He has so many adaptations, that I can't cover all of them, but here are a couple of important moments that have happened over the last 125 years. The first Sherlock Holmes film was released in 1900. It was a Mutoscope film, so Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900), technically wasn't a theatrical film, because it was shown on a Mutoscope peep-show machine. Five years later, the first real theatrical film based on Sherlock Holmes was released. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (aka Held for Ransom - 1905), is a lost film, however, the paper negative copy of the film still exists in the Library of Congress. There were many Sherlock Holmes films made between 1908 and 1911 in different countries, that were made as a series of films, but only one of those films still exists. The Danish-produced film, Sherlock Holmes I Bondefangerklør (aka A Confidence Trick - 1910), is the earliest, still-existing film adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.    

We jump to 1929. After many Sherlock Holmes films of the silent era came through the pipeline, the Return of Sherlock Holmes (1929), would become the first sound adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. It was the first film, of a three-film series, starring Clive Brook as Holmes. The film highlights Holmes' ability to be a master of secret disguises. The third film is simply called Sherlock Holmes (1932).

The most famous actor to portray Sherlock Holmes, or at least, held the mantle, of the most famous Holmes, for a long time, was Basil Rathbone. Along with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, Rathbone would appear in fourteen films in the series between 1939 and 1946. One of the most famous Holmes stories, if not, the most famous Holmes story, was the one about the Hound of the Baskervilles (1939).

We jump again to the late 1950s. One of the most famous film production companies from England was Hammer Film Productions. They would revolutionize how some movies were made, particularly in the area of horror films. They did do many films in other genres too. An acting legend, who is known to Star Wars fans as Grand Moff Tarkin, in the original Star Wars (1977) and was digitally recreated in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Peter Cushing, was cast as Sherlock Holmes for this 1959 release. This film was another adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles and co-stars another Star Wars legend, Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. Star Wars fans know Christopher Lee as Count Dooku from the Star Wars prequel movies. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), also would be the first time, that Sherlock Holmes was adapted into a color film. Happy Birthday to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. 

In 1985 Sherlock Holmes would reach another milestone, as the character, in the first film to feature a character made completely of CGI. The CGI was done by Pixar Studios and would be a major moment in film history. It would also be nominated for an Academy Award for special effects. The idea of the film takes a young Sherlock Holmes back to his Academy days when he first meets Dr. Watson. The film was co-produced by Steven Spielberg.

In 2009, Sherlock Holmes would be brought into the modern age of film. An acting superstar would be cast in the role of Holmes, just a year after the release of his biggest comeback. Robert Downey JR. had climbed back from the abyss and had emerged as Marvel's flagship superhero, Iron Man (2008). After this huge achievement, why not add to it, the job of being Arthur Conan Doyle's prized character? Our Best film pick for this month includes a handful of MCU actors in it. This film would be a hit and would gross a lot of money.  

 

So, it turns out, we have RDJ (Tony Stark as Sherlock Holmes), Jude Law (Yon-Rogg from Captain Marvel as Dr. Watson), and Rachel McAdams (Christine Palmer from Dr. Strange as Irene Adler), all coming from the MCU into a Sherlock Holmes film. Robert Downey JR. was born to be Sherlock Holmes too, at least, this version of the character. I don't think this approach to the character would have worked for Basil Rathbone's version. Those films had their own charm, and they dazzled audiences, during Hollywood's golden age. This film manages to use the energy of modern filmmaking but also captures the essence of the classic, literary character of Sherlock Holmes.    

Phil's Full Letterboxd Review of Sherlock Holmes (2009)

9.1 (A- MyGrade) = 9 IMDB, 4 1/2 Stars Letterboxd

The E For Effort film we picked for May, continues to follow along the thread, found in this article, related to Marvel Comics, by also being about a superhero character, that is another plant, like Groot. In high school, an E is worse than a D, but better than an F. An E is technically, also an F, but if you score an E, you were allowed to retake the class in summer school, to pass the year or graduate. If you got an F, you failed the class. So, I used this model, to come up with my E For Effort grade, when grading certain movies. I still recommend seeing these films, because a film might have the right idea, but the execution ends up being bad. They are films, that the filmmakers clearly showed to the audience, that they tried their best, but for some reason or another, the film fails in the end. Another thing that makes these movies recommendable, is the idea, that they usually have something interesting for film-buffs, have a historical significance (in film history or real-world history), or a technical gimmick, that still keeps these films as a "need to be seen", type-of film classification. It also could be, they are just good enough, to be "middle of the road" (nothing great, but nothing terrible either). They are films, that have those, one or two blemishes, that if the filmmakers could fix them or re-shoot a scene, it would be the difference between a bad movie or a really good film. Unfortunately, this film would come out, during the dark times of Marvel's days of releasing average to bad movies, not called the X-Men or Spiderman. It was the early 2000s, the pre-era, that came before the creation of the MCU.

 

I somehow slept through the release of this film back in 2005. I had no idea this film even existed. It turns out Man-Thing (2005), was released in the United States on the Sci-Fi Channel, but it was also released in theaters in other countries. I didn't have the Sci-Fi Network back in 2005, so I totally missed this film's debut. A year ago, I stumbled onto the film, by finding it on a list of old Marvel movies. I watched it again recently, to include it in this month's blog article. Man-Thing (2005), maybe the bottom of the barrel for Marvel (theatrical), films, but I still feel it deserves a look-see, especially since the Man-Thing character, finally made his MCU debut in the Disney+, one-shot, episode of the Werewolf By Night (2022). Contrasting it against the new version of the character makes Man-Thing (2005), seem a little bit more interesting, thus making it a little bit better. It's all about the swamp. Maybe Yoda has a cameo.

Phil's Full Letterboxd Review of Man-Thing (2005)

4.8 (E MyGrade) = 5 IMDB, 2 1/2 Stars Letterboxd

I completely forgot to take a photo of me visiting the movie theater, the day I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), so I have a photo of some of the DVDs, highlighted in the article, next to my favorite house plant. I am Groot! Have a great month my fellow movie-buffs. Phil Meets The Movies will return to Digging Star Wars near the end of June. Remember, go to your theaters, as much as possible, in 2023.

About the Author

Phil Congleton is a lifelong film buff, who worked in television for 30 years and produced a few, small independent films in the 1990s. He is the co-creator of Film366 with Chris Mich and curator of Phil Meets the Movies. Now retired, Phil commits his time to promoting the movies and the art of film. You can read more about Phil's film reviews on Letterboxd.