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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684802 times)

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1550 on: November 17, 2017, 03:16:10 PM »
My thoughts on Murder on the Orient Express going into the Branagh Version:

I have seen the 1974 version twice. I don't like Poirot's look and the film seems to take forever to get on the damn train, but once Christie's plotting kicks in it's a fun game of tennis between Poirot and everyone else. This is the Orient Express where I first learned whodunit, which is certainly a luxury the others could not bring me, but the real defining moment of this adaptation is Finney's delivery of the line "There are too many clues in this room." It's a line from the first look at the murder scene, but I still covered it to protect any possible spoilage. It's also a line I haven't heard in any other version, though I believe it is from the novel.

I have seen the 2001 TV-Movie starring Alfred Molina as Poirot. Like you'd expect from a TV-Movie, everything is simplified and sped up. Trimming the story to its bare bones makes it all into a silly bit of dress up.

My favorite version is from 2010, starring David Suchet as Poirot. It also stars Jessica Chastain, Barbara Hershey, Hugh Bonneville and Toby Jones. This is a controversial episode among fans of the series, and I'm someone who owns the box set. Suchet is my Poirot. Two things set it apart. If you're familiar with the series, the style here is radically different. The camera moves more erratically, kind of hand-held but not shaky. The biggest difference is something purists have rejected outright.

Around this time, the writers started reflecting Poirot's late age by giving him religion. It's been very subtle up to this episode, which contains scenes where Poirot flat out prays to God for guidance. It's something Poirot would never do, something that probably had Agatha Christie spinning in her grave. However, for this particular case, religion turns what happens after the murderer is revealed into a major morality question. Usually Poirot points the finger and the case is closed. Here there are trickier issues, ones made into impossible choices by Poirot's newfound faith.

My thoughts on Murder on the Orient Express coming out of the Branagh Version:

This is the Hamlet of Murder Mysteries. The locked geography, the frenzy of clues, everyone's a suspect and the solution is ingenious. If you watch only one Poirot, this is usually the one. Often the 2nd choice is Death on the Nile because it also allows for an international cast of All-Stars. The other favorite among Poirot fans is The ABC Murders, which takes on the form of a serial killer manhunt. It doesn't get adapted as much because that structure means there are relatively few characters.

Even if you know the solution, the structure is so sound you can enjoy watching each artist both in front of and behind the camera put their personal stamp on the material. Kenneth Branagh has a sweet spot where his best films lie, the ones that often bump up against overly-faithful on one end and grand to the point of silly on the other. His Orient Express keeps hitting those outside problem zones, rarely landing in that middle sweet spot.

I'm fine with the sweeping vistas aided by obvious CG and the indulgent period details, though the two prominent ads for Godiva Chocolates are tacky. Branagh's moustache design for Poirot is acceptable because it's meant to be outrageous. He throws in a few unnecessary bits of action to get outside and they not only stick out, they're so brief it's like Branagh was forced to include it. Most of the outside scenes are strange because it's mentioned that the air is so cold their bodies could freeze. So why bring Daisy Ridley outside for a picnic during her main Q&A, and why have another meeting in an open car high atop a bridge? It's cinematic, but so unsafe it's just odd. The worst of these moments are at the beginning, when Poirot plants a cane that helps out in a million-to-one possibility and moments later and a dancer who gets into a bar fight and uses kung-fu kicks.

The climactic gathering of all the suspects commits two of these errors. First of all, they are all placed outside on the track and in the cold like a tableau of The Last Supper, something that would require an unbelievable amount of prep and co-operation from everyone involved including the railroad company. Then, Branagh has Poirot waving a gun around including pointing it at the suspects while he talks. This even directly contradicts a moment early in the film when a gun is pointed at Poirot.
RATING: * *

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1551 on: November 17, 2017, 05:22:00 PM »
If you haven't seen either version of Murder on the Orient Express, which would (any of) you recommend?
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1552 on: November 17, 2017, 05:30:31 PM »
The 1974 version is the safe choice. It takes some time getting to it and Albert Finney’s Poirot isn’t one I care for, but the story shines and the cast is stellar.

If you’re more interested in Poirot, I recommend David Suchet in The ABC Murders or Evil Under the Sun.

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1553 on: November 17, 2017, 05:44:15 PM »
Poirot isn't a favorite of mine, but I feel that MotOE is a basic film experience that I haven't had.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1554 on: November 17, 2017, 06:51:44 PM »
Just saw the current version and it was awful, a big fat waste of their talent and my time.
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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1555 on: November 17, 2017, 06:58:34 PM »
Just saw the current version and it was awful, a big fat waste of their talent and my time.

Well, at least it was true to the original then!

pixote
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1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1556 on: November 17, 2017, 10:36:53 PM »
I rewatched the David Suchet version which made me like the Branagh version even less. A number of clues uncovered by Suchet were Sherlock style leaps of intuition by Branagh. It also really bothered me how little much of the cast was given to do. I'd swear Olivia Colman only speaks in one scene and spends the rest of the film petting a dog.

The Suchet version was even more religious than I remembered. There's some talk of God and divine justice in the new one, and Branagh's Poirot is respectful of the belief's of others. With Suchet, there is much discussion of penance and finding justice on earth before facing God's judgment. The discussion made me think perhaps Suchet is the Orient Express he should watch, but I'll stick by my original recommendation because if you're taking the ride for the story, it's better to escape into the adventure.

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1557 on: November 18, 2017, 12:14:56 AM »
Wind River
* * 1/2

I think Taylor Sheridan is very talented even though I have yet to be won over by a single piece of work. Hell or High Water and Sicario show great structure and some great moments, but also a fair amount of frustrating scenes where you'd think by the good stuff that Sheridan would know better. That is much the case here where Sheridan surprises me and then shoots himself in the foot over and over.

The story is set up as a murder mystery, and Cory's (Jeremy Renner) knowledge of the terrain makes him a local Sherlock, especially when working with an FBI Agent (Elizabeth Olsen). Renner gets to play it hard and cool and smart, then there are the scenes where he goes all soft and the film turns sappier than a Spielberg heart tug. There's an amazing gunfight in this movie, but it doesn't belong in THIS movie, certainly not with Baby Driver levels of firepower on display. The film contains a rape scene and the moment I saw it coming I wanted to jump to the next scene, which it turns out you can totally do because there's no interesting visual information to support the people talking about it after. The title cards Sheridan uses at the end also aren't earned by the story. It's like Thor ending with a message about hammer safety. It doesn't ruin the movie's good qualities but makes me wonder if I got something different out of it than Sheridan wanted to put across.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1558 on: November 18, 2017, 08:33:19 AM »
Just saw the current version and it was awful, a big fat waste of their talent and my time.

Well, at least it was true to the original then!

pixote
pix continues to have the best hot takes of 2017.

mañana

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1559 on: November 18, 2017, 10:32:30 AM »
Just saw the current version and it was awful, a big fat waste of their talent and my time.

Well, at least it was true to the original then!

pixote
pix continues to have the best hot takes of 2017.
And 1974.
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