merry/pippin rec

ACK! this one was really good. i mean, i actually held my breath. i tensed every muscle towards the end i think.

sneaky tricks for spurious tension, perhaps, in that at the moments of highest tension it was still perfectly clear what ending you were creeping up on. if you know what i mean. nonetheless:

a dolls' heart by venenatus venustas; merry/pippin, pg. some poor dialogue towards the end, some possibly questionable characterization towards the middle. overall very good. sweet. rather innocent shirefic, pre-quest, about growing up, with a sort of teen movie plot. but no, it really does work. i mean, i wouldn't have missed reading it for the world. i'm sure i'll want to read it again.

^.^

well, my recs page coding is caught up to the recs in my journal. but didn't i have a to-read list? with something on it that didn't make me go 'eh'?

::kicks a tin can::

sherlock holmes: the second stain

i've always thought the title, and the plot-point it refers to, were particularly clever here: it's one of the more memorable of the short stories. it's not a terribly outstanding episode, but it's fun to watch: it starts a bit tense, loosens up, then gallops fast-paced through the middle. there's another lull before the ending. no scene-by-scene ( but... . )

high points: searching under the rug.
low points: the flashbacks might be a bit slow.

( fifteen caps including the trapdoor, the lady, the cigarette, and the joyful leap. )

sherlock holmes: the six napoleons (sixteen caps)

i really, really enjoyed 'the six napoleons.' i was giggling and shrieking and gasping the whole way through. it was hilarious. and it had plenty of good shots of brett-as-holmes's face, which i value highly. (::purrrr::.)

low point: the guest stars' plot is introduced/interwoven from the beginning and is pretty hard to follow. it's also entirely in italian, not subtitled. even my (good? competent? ...) knowledge of spanish didn't enable me to follow it. it was rather muffled and generally very quick.
high points: LESTRADE. omg. how i <3 him! this ep made me fully realize. he's such an adorable little rat. i want to hug him and squeeze him and make up pet names for him! i want h. and w. to befriend him, have him over for brandy often, and make him feel intelligent (which in fact he is--just not in comparison to h.--in comparison to whom, let's face it, no one is v. intelligent)!
other high points: watson coming over all dominating. h. clearly thinks this is adorable--raises eyebrows, has to hide smile behind teacup (pictures inside!). also h. running roughshod over poor l. in the morgue: 'you won't mind if i keep this little photo?' 'but that might be an important piece of evidence!' 'i should certainly hope so; otherwise it would be of no use to me.' and poor lestrade just gapes as h. walks away with his evidence. also, h. and w. come home silently to discover l. sneaking surreptitious peek in h.'s notebook. h. puts finger to lips and motions w. to look. they put heads together and share a fond smirk. then h. puts a hand on w.'s shoulder and they tiptoe away to make a louder entrance.
one more high point: the last scene. h. almost tears up. and i almost did too.
slashy?: hoo boy. lots of shared looks and whatnot in this one, plus watson's Yes I'm Jolly Well The Top Even If He's Smarter act. over tea. did i mention?

( sixteen excellent caps. )

lalala

isn't this guy in hollsk's icon hot?

sherlock holmes: the priory school (15 caps)

'the priory school' was chiefly exciting for its plot, as opposed to its slashiness. the father of the kidnapped child seems a sinister figure at first, and when holmes asks him what the value of privacy is next to his son's life, he replies at first that he might as easily ask the value of continuing the line without honor. (???) the plot is a bit complex, which is i suppose why they chose to leave the boy's unpopularity with his peers out of the filmed version. ( a bit more. )

high points: at the inn, whose inkeeper seems astonished that h. and w. would approach his establishment in search of food despite the fact that he sells it. plus the several confrontations between holmes and the duke. plus the highly dramatic climax which involves h. and w. racing about separately--h. bicycling, w. spying; then a dark and dramatically lit scene of a the search party entering an underground cave. the overwhelming coolness of the cow-hoof-shaped-horseshoes.

( caps )

sherlock holmes: wisteria lodge (16 caps)

interestingly, the boxed set's liner notes say of 'wisteria' that it touched a bit on the homosexual (and almost as interestingly, out brett as bi):

"Powers remembered Brett to Scarlet Street magazine at the time of the actor's death, obliquely referring to the Brett's [sic] rarely-mentioned bisexuality:

'I am happy to be counted as one of Jeremy's friends--for indeed, I loved him, too. He was a princes--sometimes a princess-but always among the crowned heads of theater and film.'

...

'The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge' (1908) is a story with a gay subtext of its own. It has often been argued... that Mr. John Scott Eccles' invitation to visit Aloysius Garcia at Wisteria Lodge is nothing less than a homosexual pickup. ...

'I am a bachelor... and being of a socialbe turn I cultivate a large number of friends...I met some weeks ago a young fellow named Garcia... He spoke perfect English, was pleasing in his manners, and as good=looking a man as ever I saw in my life...In some way we struck up quite a friendship, this young fellow and I. He seemed to take a fancy to me from the first, and within two days of our meeting he came to see me at Lee. One thing led to another and it ended in his inviting me out to spend a few days at his house, Wisteria Lodge....'[all ellipses in this paragraph were already present when i got to it.] --Richard Valley

this story is notable for a particularly electrifying performance by brett and an illustrious guest star--the guy who plays the policeman was from the shakespeare company, apparently, and is very good.

high points: the introductory scene. brett really chews the scenery. the height of adorability comes when he tosses a bunch of papers, and his hands, into the air in exasperation (because he's bored and thirsting for a case, you understand).
low points: the thing watson wears in the first scene (cap inside)--is it a smoking jacket, or a dressing gown? anyway, it's hideous.
guest stars/plot: particularly dramatic flashback towards the end of this one. plus, a nice shot of garcia kissing his gun (cap inside).
slash: not terribly obtrusive, but i thought this one was sort of warmfuzzy all the same.

( sixteen caps including those promised. and a nice one of h. from the rear, leaning over the mantel. )

legolas/gimli

have there been any good new legolas/gimli stories lately? i remember seeing someone mention them somewhere. but i've not seen any.

i thought i'd comb the big list at axe and bow again last night, but i got tired. and now i'm not sure i have the patience, anyway. maybe i'll go read some sparkly girl slash.

rotk review from the new yorker

link from camillafarfalla. here. very witty.