CBS announced today that their modern day Sherlock Holmes series Elementary will be airing in the coveted post-Super Bowl slot next February.  The spot directly after the most-watched television event of the year can serve as a great launching pad for new series, giving them a boost in viewership—NBC famously aired a Super Bowl episode of Friends in the timeslot, launching the already popular show into superstardom.  Last year NBC aired The Voice after the big game, and recent years have seen shows like House, Glee, The Office and Undercover Boss enjoy the ratings bump.  Hit the jump for more.

If while watching Elementary you feel like certain elements are too familiar, you can thank (or curse) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for creating such an unforgettable character that we have kept remaking him in endless forms since his inception.  Sherlock is not a maverick detective, he is the maverick detective, yet his brilliance as a crime solver has become commonplace with so many procedurals made in various forms of dedication to him.  Last week I mentioned that what made the BBC’s Sherlock stand out was not just the strength of the acting and relationship between its stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, but the stylization of the series itself: the way it uses technology and visual display to not just recreate Sherlock Holmes but to bring something new to the “maverick detective” genre as a whole.

Though Elementary does have a great strong central relationship between Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu (and a blessedly asexual one), the show does little to distinguish itself from other Sherlock-esque copycat series.  Still, for now, it’s a bit of fun that could seemingly get better and better.  Hit the jump for the specifics, plus why it’s essential to distinguish between a dash and an ampersand.

At last, after much discussion and speculation, CBS’s Elementary, a modernized adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s classic Sherlock Holmes stories, has arrived.  Much of the discussion revolved around the fact that the series has come pretty swiftly on the heels of the BBC’s hugely successful Sherlock, that also offers a modern take on the tales, which has aired here in the U.S. on PBS.  The other point of contention was the changing of Sherlock’s companion Watson from John to Joan, a decision that at first made Sherlock fans everywhere groan due to the expectation of a prolonged “will they won’t they” story line (Doyle would likely be spinning in his grave at the thought).  Still, those connected with the show assured everyone that there would be no romance between the two leads (though if it lasts for several seasons we’ll see if they keep to that promise).  For now the big question is how this series compares to its British brother, and either way, whether or not it stands on its own.  For that, hit the jump.

Taken, for all of its faults (and there were many), at least stumbled upon the fact that Liam Neeson can be a badass action star.  Unknown, clearly influenced by Taken and other Euro-trash thrillers, says “Fantastic!  Let’s put his ass-kicking persona all the way at the end of the movie and then just have him stumble around for the majority of the runtime!”  Rather than offer up a complex mystery built around an unreliable protagonist, Unknown clears up any major misunderstanding by the end of the first act, and then we’re bored stupid by Neeson wandering around as he’s hunted by non-descript bad guys as the clumsy narrative lurches towards an inevitable twist and his transformation to Taken Guy.  The film wastes its premise, its mystery, its lead actor, and only at the end does it have the courtesy to become laughably terrible.

With director Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) Unknown opening Febrauary 18, Warner Bros. has sent over 5 clips from the film which stars Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella.  Here’s the synopsis:

Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife (Jones) suddenly doesn’t recognize him and another man (Quinn) has assumed his identity.  Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by mysterious assassins, he finds himself alone, tired, and on the run.  Aided by an unlikely ally (Kruger), Martin plunges headlong into a deadly mystery that will force him to question his sanity, his identity, and just how far he’s willing to go to uncover the truth.

Hit the jump to check out the clips:

Rob Reiner gave an interview on CBS Sunday Morning News prior to the theatrical release of his latest film Flipped in which he candidly admitted to host Charles Osgood: “I basically tell the same love story over and over. The girl in the story is always much more emotionally mature… the boy is always running around like an idiot trying to catch up, trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Indeed, one need only look at the director’s resume to find validity in that statement. The man has long told stories about relationships (1989’s When Harry Met Sally … for example), but never quite as pleasantly as he does in Flipped, a familiar but plucky love story of boy meets girl, who loves boy, who doesn’t love girl, who soon grows tired of boy, who suddenly loves girl. The film is easily one of the director’s best efforts since 1997’s The American President.  Continued after the jump:

The “Liam Neeson Beats People Up” film movement continues with Unknown, the trailer to which has just been released by Warner Bros. After taking on slave traders in Taken and scenery in The A-, Team, Neeson now turns his fists towards identity thieves. January Jones (Mad Men), Diane Kruger (Inglorious Basterds), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Aidan Quinn (In Dreams) also star in the thriller, helmed by Jaume Collet-Serra ( Orphan). Check out the trailer after the jump.

Principal photography has begun on Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) next project Unknown White Male in Germany.  According to Warner Bros., the film will be shot entirely on location, with some filming at Studio Babelsberg, the oldest large-scale studio complex in the world.  The film stars Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List, Clash of the Titans), Diane Kruger (Inglorious Basterds), January Jones (Mad Men), Aidan Quinn (The Book of Daniel), Bruno Ganz (The Reader) and Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon).  For the synopsis and more on the film, hit the jump:

Thousands of Twilight fans will feel massive disappointment tomorrow as they hop online to see that there’s an “Eclipse” trailer online, except it’s not for their vampire-werewolf-romance-epic, but some fruity indie drama that provides a metaphor for loss of a loved one and the pain and fear of moving on.  Maybe it’s because I’m a “hater”, but I think I prefer the latter. 

The Eclipse, directed by Conor McPherson, is about Michael, a widower (Ciarán Hinds), who meets Lena, a horror novelist (Iben Hjejle) at a local book festival.  Believing he is being haunted, begins developing a romantic relationship with Lena as she believes that he may be living with a ghost.  Matters are complicated by a fellow writer (Aidan Quinn) who feels threatened by Michael’s relationship to Lena.  The trailer for the film has come online and while it lays on the horror elements a little too thick, I’m interested in checking it out for the character drama.

Hit the jump to see trailer and read the full synopsis.  The Eclipse opens on March 26th.

Today, we bring you an exclusive look at the poster for Conor McPherson’s upcoming drama The Eclipse starring Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, and Aidan Quinn.  The film follows the relationship and conflict which develop between a lonely single father (Hinds), an author who writes books about ghosts and the supernatural (Hjejle), and a world-renowned novelist (Aidan Quinn).

Hit the jump to check out the full poster as well as the official synopsis.  The Eclipse is schedule to hit Video-on-Demand, Amazon, and Xbox Live on February 26th and theaters on March 26th.