It’s that time of year again, although I have been a little slow in posting to check out the Letterboxd stats for the previous year. I love these stats and find it very interesting to keep a check on which films I have watched. Something interesting for 2024 is that I didn’t watch many films multiple times, feels strange to have only logged When Harry Met Sally twice!
I actually thought my film watching was a bit lower but it was a few more than 2023 although I don’t think the highs of 2020 and even 2021 with the main lockdown/furlough and then that smaller lockdown at the start of 2021 will ever be beaten.
As you can probably tell from my stats I did a revisit to X-Men and The Hunger Games which sees Jennifer Lawernce take the top spot, some interesting ones in the actors due to that.
What are your stats for 2024?
Did you have a film you watched on repeat and who was your top star?
There are few fictional characters as legendary as Sherlock Holmes, which is why this literary character has enjoyed so many adaptations throughout history. However, not all of these adaptations are made equal. As such, we’ll be taking a deeper look at the popularity of this character in modern times, along with the most iconic adaptations in cinematographic history.
The Popularity of Sherlock Holmes in Different Mediums
Sherlock Holmes was created all the way back in 1887 by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with his first movie appearance being in Sherlock Holmes Baffled in 1900. Holmes is renowned for his somewhat unorthodox approach to his investigations, where he primarily relied on his powers of deduction and observation. Thus, it’s unsurprising that this one-of-a-kind detective is currently the most depicted human literary character in movie and TV history.
However, the popularity of this character has gone past literary and cinematographic, reaching other entertainment sectors such as iGaming. Nowadays, players can even locate online casino wowpots like Sherlock & Moriarty, which feature the persona in question along with his enemy. For those who haven’t heard of such games before, these are progressive jackpots that have four different levels, each starting at a different seed amount.
Even the world of music was inspired by the detective, with a concept album released by Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman. It has the same name as the book it’s influenced by, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Apart from the above, Holmes has been adapted for the radio, stage, and TV shows. All of the above showcases how beloved the character is, warranting adaptations to practically every medium imaginable.
Key Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes Throughout Film History
We’ll start this off with the 2009 Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. This is currently the best-rated IMDb movie on our list, and deservedly so. Downey does a great job at portraying the eccentric detective, and his chemistry with Law, who plays Dr. Watson, paired with the direction of Guy Ritchie is impeccable. And those who want to continue enjoying this depiction of Holmes will certainly enjoy the sequel, along with the upcoming third movie, which is still in the works.
Next up we have The Hound Of The Baskervilles, released in 1939. It is based on the book of the same name, which is typically considered to be one of the best and most popular ones in the series. And this was beautifully translated onto the silver screen, making it a very popular adaptation. Fun fact about the movie, it’s the first known era-appropriate movie set in the Victorian period, as the rest were updated according to the release date of the movies.
We’ll round this list up with Mr. Holmes, with Sir Ian McKellen playing the titular character in the 2015 movie. And let’s be honest, anything he touches tends to turn to gold. While we won’t spoil the plot, just like with the aforementioned options, the unique twist comes not only from the stellar casting but from the fact that it follows an aged-up Holmes, who’s struggling with declining cognitive abilities. This is a unique adaptation that makes it a must-watch for any fan.
With so many fictional detectives out there, it’s quite a feat to be considered the crème de la crème. So, while our list may be subjective, the fact that he is a timeless character is not. Regardless of which option you pick to watch, we’re sure they’ll all hit the spot.
London 1934, film critic Jimmy Erskine has a lot of power over the West End with his rather harsh reviews. Targetting actress Nina Land, everything is about to get rather messy as he fights for his job creating a deceitful web of lies.
That’s right I totally cracked (eventually) to get another amazing Build-a-bear and quite frankly I should not be allowed to look at them! Why oh why do they need to have and create so many amazing film related bears now?
If you wanted to have just a Lord of the Rings bear than that is perfectly possible, with the logo on one foot and part of the map of middle earth on the other then you can just buy that on its own! Originally it was Gandalf and Frodo as options, but more recently Legolas has been added (it took a lot of restraint to not order something with Orlando Bloom’s voice in it!).
I seriously cannot believe that it has been twenty years now since Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring was released in cinemas. I remember going to the cinema to see it as well, although not fully understanding what exactly it was but I can safely say that I had never witnessed anything like it before and the debate to whether we will ever witness anything on this scale again is very much up for debate.
One of the only pluses about the lockdown last year and when the cinemas reopening they did not have a whole lot of films and Lord of the Rings got a cinema release and they only went and put the extended editions on the big screen (the only editions now really) and I went to see all three of them twice within ten days of the big screen, as Odeon screened them first and then when Cineworld added them in I just had to go again. That was amazing that 19 years on and I still love them more than ever. While I may not watch them on repeat as much as I used to and in particular Fellowship of the Ring, my obsession with the film came a year after the cinematic release when I got the extended edition on DVD that looks like a fancy book. I would seriously watch it and then start it al over again, I have watched them all with the cast commentary and every single special feature.
It’s safe to say I was utterly obsessed with Middle Earth, I managed to read all of the books as well before Return of the King was released and I was just well taken into this magical world. If there was no Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings then you would not be reading this and Let’s Go To The Movies would not exist. It was the film that really grew my love for cinema and how amazing films could really be, no other films have made me feel the way this trilogy did and I don’t think anything will ever come that close. I felt part of the Fellowship and wanted to be on that journey with them, given the way the filming was done we really did feel that way when it came to watching the cast off set as well as on set. I was a member on some Lord of the Rings forums (anyone who is old enough to remember what an Internet forum is) as well as an Orlando Bloom forum. I have never hidden my fangirl moments over Bloom, which all seemed from Fellowship of the Ring, albeit I was slightly disappointed the first time I found out he didn’t actually have blonde hair. Hey, I was 14 years old?
This is something I have been putting together for quite a long time now and I have held off posting it or even attempting to start the blog post in fear that I have forgotten and somehow missed a favourite film from the list. Barring in mind I got up to 72 films and then had to cut it down to the 50. I would like to make clear these are my favourite films, some might have happened to win Oscars as well and some certainly have not at all. The way I have decided on my favourites is the sheer joy they bring and the number of rewatches I have had over the years. While I have listed 1-50 a lot of them can be shifted around and changed with each other. It is going to highlight my love for musicals and for certain actors and actresses! I doubt it will contain many surprises though!
Let's Go To The Movies 