Arrant Nonsense

As you know, Bob, I'm a huge Robert Downey Jr fan. I will go see him in a movie where he sits on a stool and reads the phone book for two hours. This is not a secret.

That being said: No matter how much of a drooling fangirl I am, not every movie he's in works for me. I loved Iron Man beyond all reason and have probably seen it twenty times. And then he did "Tropic Thunder."

And he was amazing in it. Robbed of the Oscar, IMO. But I didn't actually like the movie itself that much. Yes, it was alternately hilarious and horrifying, sometimes at the exact same moment, but the horrifying moments and the near-constant f-bombs overshadowed my enjoyment. I only saw it once, and it's not in my DVD collection (yet).

Then he did "The Soloist." Which he and Jamie are both amazing in. But it's a Big Serious Movie about Big Serious Issues, and it's not, for lack of a better word, "entertaining." Nor is it meant to be. It wrestles with a tough issue, and I'm good with that, more power to them for going there and not ending it with sunshine and roses and easy answers. But, again, I've only seen it once. There's only so much Sad I can take.

And then Sherlock Holmes crossed my radar. Well. It crossed my radar before they even began filming, because of the aforementioned "drooling fangirliness." I have been looking forward to this movie for over a year. I was terrified that it would disappoint me, that it would rape a beloved character sideways, that it would fail to Tell Me A Story. I had to wait a week after it was released to see it, for various reasons, and I was on pins and needles.

And then I finally got to see it. And it thrilled me. The characters, the story, the cinemetography, the acting, OMG the music--it was a delight from beginning to end. THIS RIGHT HERE is what a movie should be. THIS RIGHT HERE is what I want in a RDJ movie. THIS RIGHT HERE is what I want in a Sherlock Holmes movie.

The relationship between Watson and Holmes. Holmes being a badass. Holmes being too clever for his own good. Holmes having a woman fall in love with him with no idea what to do with that. Watson being long-suffering. Mary being awesome. A villain with a dastardly plan that only Holmes can thwart.

And underlying it all, a sense of out and out FUN. I've now seen this movie three times, and it never gets old. It's brought back the same feelings I had watching Iron Man. And that's why I love it.

I'm creating a "House, MD" drinking game. Need suggestions. Here's what I have so far:

Take a drink every time:

• House says something about Cuddy's boobs or other body parts
  
• Chase says something that reveals that his sex life is *cough* less-than-orthodox
  
• A patient exhibits less-than-orthodox sexual behavior
  
• House pops a Vicodin
  
• House or Cuddy uses clinic hours as a bargaining chip
  
• House and Wilson bicker like an old married couple
  
• The Ducklings break into someone's house
  
• They get a diagnosis wrong
  
• Something about a clinic patient gives House a light-bulb moment when dealing with the POTW
  
• A patient dies or goes into some sort of arrest
  
• They bring him back
  
• House lies or commits some subterfuge in order to get a patient the treatment he thinks they need
  
• Someone goes up the stairs to avoid House
  
• House uses his cane in a non-cane way
  
• Race is brought up in relation to Foreman
  
• Medi-cam!
  
• House or one of the Ducklings gets bodily fluids on them somehow
  
• Cameron makes doe eyes at House
  
• Someone walks into the room uninvited when House is with a clinic patient
  
• House asks Wilson for a consult on a non-cancer patient
  
• Chase sulks or pouts
  
• Wilson has a "non-date" with a woman who isn't his wife
  
• House bullies a patient into a treatment
  
• Cameron gets unnecessarily close to a patient
  
• House snarks at her about it
  
• Misdirection at the beginning on who the POTW is going to be
  
• House plays with his Gameboy or watches a soap opera
  
• House injects someone without an alcohol swab
  
• They try a treatment JUST to see if they're right about a diagnosis
  
• Some sort of wager is made
  

Please feel free to modify, add suggestions, etc.

Why, no, I'm not going to use it as a jumping-off point for a Spike&Angel snarkfest. Really. Would I do something like that?

OMG, "The Commish," S1 and S2, is out on DVD. *covets madly* And there's an official Visual Companion to Serenity coming out Sept 1.

So, I've got four ficathon assignments. Am I working on any of them? Um, no. I'm working on a Wash/Zoe fic wherein she goes from "he bothers me" to "love honor and cherish"--or at least starts on the journey there. Argh.

And we're talking about going to see "March of the Penguins" this afternoon. Saw "Stealth" and "Fantastic 4" last night. Both were Twinkies--yummy, but not nutritious. If you go see "Stealth," sit through the credits. The military brat in me was geeking out over the aircraft carrier and the jets, which were totally cool.

OH! That's where we've seen Josh Lucas before. He played Adult Walt in "Secondhand Lions." Was driving me crazy last night watching "Stealth."