Dark Shadows (2012)

I am too young to have seen the original televsion series, Dark Shadows. I know from a story on NPR around the time that this movie came out in theatres that the original was a television series, a night time soap opera that almost didn't get off the ground until they added a supernatural flare in the form of Barnabus Collins, vampire. I don't know if this incarnation bears any resemblance to that original series, but I suspect past character names and overall plotting, not too much is the same. But, that's okay.
This film has that unmistakable Tim Burton look to it, starting with the star of the film, Johnny Depp. Part of it is the color scheme, but I think one of the things that is Burton's calling card are insane little details, like all the wood work in Collinswood. There is also a certain amount of playfulness in his films, even though they often seem serious or even dire.
The cast of the film is great. It's kind of funny that the American actor (Depp) is playing the role of the British character and the British actors (Carter, Miller, Lee) are playing the role of an American character. They pull it off pretty well, though. But, I expect no less from any one of them. This may be Michelle Pfeiffer's best role yet, as I did not find her character annoying at all. Not even once. She is also aging quite gracefully and I will go so far as to say that the mature Pfeiffer is at her most beautiful now.
The screenwriter of Dark Shadows is the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Seth Graham-Smith. I think that he may have found his niche, the tongue-firmly-in-cheek horror mash-up genre, though this film is more of an 'inspried by' deal.
Now to the important stuff. What is up with this kind of vampire? He's not the Twilight kind of vampire, nor the True Blood kind. Sunlight burns his skin but not quickly enough to be accidentally fatal. He is also self-proclaimed to be effected negatively by silver. We never find out about stakes through the heart, beheading or crucifixes. We do see that he is not terribly concerned about fire, whether of natural or supernatural source. He is strong and fast and can fly not to mention easily mesmerize humans. you don't really see the whole mesmerism/hypnosis in most modern vampire films, Bram Stoker's Dracula being the exception. It's almost as if most modern vampires are either godlike *cough* Twilight *cough* or super-charged zombies, by which I mean they only serve as super killing machines. The Dark Shadow's vampire seems to be pretty close to what I think of as a vampire which is somewhat of a relief. I was worried that I wouldn't see another vampire on screen that fit what I think of as a vampire.

Dark Shadows at IMDB

Elementary: While You Were Sleeping

Well, the second episode didn't suck. In fact, I think it was quite good. I'm finding that I quite like the Miller portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He has a hard time making friends, but not like Cumberbatch or Downey. He's not oblivious to other individuals, he just doesn't know how to play with others.
Liu's Watson is not like any other Watson, partly the way she is playing her, but also the relationship - Watson if Holmes' caretaker in point of law if not in point of fact. They are not friends yet, and I'm not sure that the two characters even like each other at this point. You can see the basis for a friendship, though. In the end, it will be much like the other portrayals of their friendship in that Watson likes Holmes in spite of himself.
Speaking of friends, Holmes and the police captain are friends or at least friendly. So far the adversarial relationship that Holmes has with the police he works with is between himself and the various detectives.
The feeling of watching a procedural was even more in evidence this time around, since there was no need to spend time introducing the characters. There is a bit of time spent examining forensic evidence in both eps so far, as noticing little items is kind of Sherlock Holmes' thing, so this show is like a super-hybrid of CSI, Law & Order and Castle. So far, taking the best of each of those shows. I think it helps having film actors - Liu and Miller bring a certain amount of gravitas to the small screen, which is kind of funny since I wouldn't have listed either one of them as great actors, but compared to what we are used to seeing on American television, they are pretty darn good. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they are bad actors, just good actors.

Elementary: Pilot Episode

Jonny Lee Miller is not Benedict Cumberbatch. Get over it. Lucy Liu is not Martin Freeman, but that is obvious. The United States is not Great Britain. Have we got this all straight? Good. I'm not being pedantic, I had to convince myself of this, too.
Miller and Liu have good chemistry, that much is obvious from the very first scene that they have together and holds throughout the whole show. Even more surprising was the quality of the show. I am a fan of Ms. Liu and knew what to expect from her and was pleasantly surprised that she did even better. But, Miller was pretty much an unknown to me. I saw him in that movie, Hackers, what, like twenty years ago? Mostly I remember something about him being an item with, maybe even married to, Angelina Jolie. To say I was pleasantly surprised is almost an understatement. I really liked the way he played Holmes. He wasn't as manic as Cumberbatch's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes or as cocky as Downey's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He's confident for sure but also aware of his need even dependance on Watson.
What makes this show different from it's British counterpart is the similarity to police procedurals that we are already used to. And by we, I mean me. At the end of the episode I felt this show had more akin with Castle than it did with Sherlock. It's more than just the change of location and working amicably with the police (at least at this point in the series), it's the pacing. At times I could almost believe that I was watching CSI: Sherlock.
I don't know enough of the Sherlock Holmes canon to know if this story was based on any of those by Doyle. That is one aspect of the Sherlock series that I like - that they make an effort to tell a version of original tales. Well, its not like I only like one aspect of Sherlock, I quite like the whole show. And with only one episode to base it on so far, I quite like Elementary as well.