Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.

In many of those Japanese paintings with Mt. Fuji in the background, we find tiny figures moving along under the immensity of the landscape.

Here’s an American version of a scene like that, by Stanley Plumly of Maryland, one of our country’s most accomplished poets.

Off A Side Road Near Staunton

Some nothing afternoon, no one anywhere,

an early autumn stillness in the air,

the kind of empty day you fill by taking in

the full size of the valley and its layers leading

slowly to the Blue Ridge, the quality of country,

if you stand here long enough, you could stay

for, step into, the way a landscape, even on a wall,

pulls you in, one field at a time, pasture and fall

meadow, high above the harvest, perfect

to the tree line, then spirit clouds and intermittent

sunlit smoky rain riding the tops of the mountains,

though you could walk until it’s dark and not reach those rains—

you could walk the rest of the day into the picture

and not know why, at any given moment, you’re there.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Reprinted from Old Heart, by Stanley Plumly. Copyright ©2007 by Stanley Plumly. Used by permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (Rated PG-13)

Anyone who thinks director Guy Ritchie would not stamp the legend of Sherlock Holmes with his own contemporary cool factor hasn’t paid attention to his career.

The legendary detective, famous for logical reasoning and the use of forensic science to solve crimes, not to mention the artful use of disguises, is an unlikely source for a modern action hero.

Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” as well as his 2009 version, has redefined Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic character for a new generation.

To the purists who believe the British sleuth is best represented by Basil Rathbone, there’s a big surprise in store for the rough-and-tumble style that Robert Downey Jr. brings to the role.

The titular character created by Downey defies convention. Gone are the emblematic deerstalker hat, curved pipe and posh British decorum.

Still possessing a brilliant, logical mind, the new Holmes is a streetwise, bare-knuckled brawler, whose physical prowess is equal to his superlative mind and preternatural powers of perception.

Guy Ritchie remakes Sherlock Holmes into the ultimate 19th century action hero, whose physical dexterity and keen interest in all types of weaponry make him a more contemporary figure.

At the very beginning of the story, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” staggers and lurches in a wobbly array of almost incomprehensible action scenes. It may all be a bit confusing at first.

Fortunately, the story settles down into a globe-trotting adventure that has Holmes absconding with his best pal and reluctant partner, Dr. Watson (Jude Law), just as the good doctor has married the lovely Mary (Kelly Reilly).

Set in 1891, the action quickly shifts out of London when Holmes and Watson, investigating terrorist plots that target political figures, get pulled into a rescue mission for Gypsy fortune teller Simza (Noomi Rapace).

Soon enough the trio is racing through France, and then Germany, in search of Simza’s missing brother who is apparently caught up in revolutionary schemes.

The ever-smart Holmes, of course, figures that his arch enemy Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) is cleverly manipulating and orchestrating a dastardly plot to assassinate various European diplomats.

The nefarious Moriarty plan is to spark all-out conflict between France and Germany so that he may profit from having cornered the munitions market.

To this end, Moriarty schemes his evil plan to occur at a summit that is scheduled to take place high in the Swiss alps at a hideaway that looks like something from a James Bond film.

Given his cinematic history, Guy Ritchie puts a real premium on the breakneck pace of explosive action, and “Sherlock Holmes” delivers the action goods in spades.

Most impressive of all is Ritchie’s slow-motion technique for many action sequences, where the unhurried pace is used brilliantly to allow Holmes to visualize in great detail his next moves on the action chessboard.

Of course, there’s more to the action scenes than just the deliberate, measured pace of the slow-motion sequences. Once visualized, Holmes’ perceptions are rendered expertly into real time speed with forceful impact.

Though it may not seem this way, there’s more to this “Sherlock Holmes” than just high octane action. One of the best scenes is a chess game between Holmes and Moriarty realized as a cerebral cat-and-mouse exercise.

In a film filled with delightful characters, one of the best may be Stephen Fry’s Mycroft Holmes, the famous sleuth’s older brother who provides some comic relief.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” loaded with explosive action, is an exciting adventure. But best of all is the great chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law; their collaborative effort really pays off.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

I find it hard to pass up a DVD release of old buried treasure from the glory days of television. “I’m Dickens...He’s Fenster” falls into this category.

This brilliant but short-lived 1962 ABC TV situation comedy starred John Astin (“The Addams Family”) and Marty Ingels (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”).

The show was created by Leonard Stern, the writer and/or producer for such great comedies as “Sgt. Bilko,” “Get Smart” and “The Honeymooners.”

“I’m Dickens...He’s Fenster” followed the comic exploits of two construction workers and bosom buddies (Astin and Ingels).

Though the TV show was a favorite of critics, it ran for only one season of 32 episodes. It suffered the fate of a premature cancellation.

Because it never had enough episodes to qualify to run in syndication, “I’m Dickens … He’s Fenster” has been a lost treasure up until now.

The Volume One release offers the first 16 episodes, along with bonus material such as commentaries from the original stars.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

Hawley will play her rendition of Ludwig von Beethoven's “Hammer Klavier Sonata Opus 106" at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17.

This is a very long work so only a few movements will be featured with short narratives by Hawley.

The performance also can be listened to online at www.kpfz.org.

Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.

The persons we are when we are young are probably buried somewhere within us when we’ve grown old.

Denise Low, who was the Kansas poet laureate, takes a look at a younger version of herself in this telling poem.

Two Gates

I look through glass and see a young woman

of twenty, washing dishes, and the window

turns into a painting. She is myself thirty years ago.

She holds the same blue bowls and brass teapot

I still own. I see her outline against lamplight;

she knows only her side of the pane. The porch

where I stand is empty. Sunlight fades. I hear

water run in the sink as she lowers her head,

blind to the future. She does not imagine I exist.

I step forward for a better look and she dissolves

into lumber and paint. A gate I passed through

to the next life loses shape. Once more I stand

squared into the present, among maple trees

and scissor-tailed birds, in a garden, almost

a mother to that faint, distant woman.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2010 by Denise Low, from her most recent book of poetry, Ghost Stories of the New West, Woodley Memorial Press, 2010. Poem reprinted by permission of Denise Low and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

THE SITTER (Rated R)

Only recently, this column focused on family-friendly films. Not so now for a review of the incredibly raunchy comedy of “The Sitter.”

Not attributed to Judd Apatow in any way, “The Sitter” is nevertheless a fitting substitute in the cinematic department of crude humor filled with sexual content, drug use and profanity.

Still, a graduate of Judd Apatow’s school of vulgar laughs, the chubby Jonah Hill, is the starring titular character of an unfit babysitter.

This film recalls memories of Elisabeth Shue in “Adventures in Babysitting,” minus, of course, the rude, coarse hilarity that is more commonplace in today’s world.

Jonah Hill’s Noah Griffith, a college dropout living at home with his single mom, has little motivation to do anything other than to satisfy a would-be girlfriend.

Right from the start, “The Sitter” announces its intention to bawdy, vulgar behavior. Let’s just say that involves Noah in a compromising position with his wannabe girlfriend Marisa (Ari Graynor).

After setting the stage of the film’s lowest common denominator spirit, Noah finds himself dragged into a babysitting job for a couple that wants to introduce Noah’s mom (Jessica Hecht) to a blind date.

Very quickly, Noah learns that he has just inherited the babysitting job from hell for a trio of dysfunctional kids that would turn Mary Poppins into a serial killer.

The youngest of the bunch is the precocious Blithe (Landry Bender), who likes to dress up in sexy clothes and applies more makeup than a hooker. Sadly, she looks like a JonBenet Ramsey imitator.

The oldest child is the very proper and neurotic Slater (Max Records), a lonely teen who wears a fanny pack to carry his medications. Morose and depressed, Slater claims to have “serious issues.”

The third child is the volatile Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), a churlish malcontent who urinates on floors and blows up toilets with cherry bombs. That he’s adopted from El Salvador makes him feel out of place.

Hoping for a quiet evening of watching TV, Noah struggles to keep the kids out of his hair. And then a phone call from Marisa compels him to load the kids into a minivan and head off to New York in search of cocaine.

What follows, naturally, is a series of misadventures as Noah tracks down wacky drug dealer Karl (Sam Rockwell), a guy so insane and paranoid that he surrounds himself with bodybuilders for security.

Meanwhile, the troublesome Rodrigo steals a dinosaur egg full of blow from the deranged Karl, which in turn leads to Noah having to come up with $10,000 to save his own life.

For his part, Noah continues to make a series of bad decisions, one of which even results in bodily harm at the hands of an enraged kickboxer.

Noah hits up his estranged father (Bruce Altman) for a loan, and after being rejected he steals his Mercedes and then robs his jewelry store.

Other adventures result in gunplay, harassment by city cops, bar fights, theft at a bat mitzvah and the crashing of a fancy charity dinner-dance.

Without question, the antics in “The Sitter” range from the absurd to bizarre. But this is to be expected from the director who gave us “Pineapple Express.”

Jonah Hill, who has recently trimmed down, is playing the type of obese slacker with quick wit that he perfected in comedies like “Superbad” and “Knocked Up.”

During this upcoming season of holiday cheer, let’s face the simple fact that “The Sitter” is not, for the most part, a joyous celebration of life.

Then again, the film surprises with out-of-place life lessons that affect everyone in a positive way, especially the gloomy Slater and the explosive Rodrigo.

In the end, “The Sitter” is either an exercise in banality and bad taste or a supremely funny film, depending on your perspective with this genre of raunchy comedy.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.