Or AKA the Kenneth Branagh show - Saw it last Thursday
Lets the get the elephant out of the room at the off, its a problem because everyone knows the plot. A plot that is very well explained in the 1974 film by the use of "spinning newspapers" flashbacks, and other ways.
Its not though a problem in this film because the plot is very badly explained indeed, and at the end of the day rendered superfluous. This is all about KB's version of Hercule Poirot and explaining plot simply and clearly would eat into his dramatic monologue time. At the end you care no one jot who did it, nor is the twist in the tail a surprise because...
This is a new Poirot, not a dapper but stupidly dressed Poirot, but a dapper, classy stylish Poirot with a believable love interest in his past and clearly has normal feelings even tho he is is still portrayed as quite a way up the autistic spectrum, he now appears slightly more normal.
The cast list is magnificent, but with the exception of Johnny Depp, none of them has anything to do or say, let alone do any serious acting. Her ladyship Dame Judy Dench for example just sits around with a dog on her lap, Depp however is superbly sleazy.
It ends with KB giving acting lessons to the cast who are assembled round him like talent agents. To be fair, KBs Poirot is very very good indeed, its a masterclass..
Finally however, the cinematography is simply gorgeous, the set sublime, and ends and finishes with the most superb zoom out shots, alas all CGI
Enjoyed it tho, but make sure you have a strong coffee with you, it would be very easy to doze off.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 12 Nov 17 at 19:36
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My wife insisted on us going to a theatre production of an Agatha Christie play recently. Some reasonably famous actors ( in so far as I did sort of recognise a couple of them ) Can't for the life of me remember the name of the play. I did so try to stay awake, I really did, to the point of pinching myself hard every so often, but just couldn't hold up till the bitter end.
Only saving grace was that the bloke of the couple next to us ( didn't know them ) nodded off at more or less the same time.
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I fell asleep during a performance in the Sydney opera house, I blamed jet lag. :-)
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Can't claim anywhere as famous as that for quick kip, but I did managed to catch a few inadvertent Zs in the Usher Hall during an interminable ballet once.
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I can claim a kip in the Carnegie hall, the one not far from me, not the New York one. Built by the same bloke though.
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Ballet....?? What's it for really. Fell asleep in a Ken Dodd show once...4 hour marathon
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Drifted into the land of Morpheus once at the Lowry during a wooden, East European, Lucia di Lammamoor...I snore ! Fortunately SWM effected an accurate foot/shin interface.
Was the train ok Z? Or was it a red A4 hauling a rake of LBSC Ry four wheelers with a BR bogie goods van at the rear ? Shades of the Robert Powell 39 steps !
Quite a nice smoky scene in Howards End tonight depicting a London terminus, presumably KC, in Edwardian times with plenty of standing coaches made to look period.
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>> Was the train ok Z?
I'm not sure a real loco ever came into it, it was mostly cgi, but it appeared to be a French thing, so that was ok. The coaches were, again, the back lot set at Longcross studios, but were superbly done, looking like genuine Wagon Lit things, in that deeply lacquered dark blue. The interiors were plush, with a shed load of well crafted Lalique Art Deco lookalike light shades.
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>> Can't claim anywhere as famous as that for quick kip, but I did managed to
>> catch a few inadvertent Zs in the Usher Hall during an interminable ballet once.
>>
Did you fall over, or manage to stay upright....?
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>> Did you fall over, or manage to stay upright....?
He probably managed to make it look like a Grande Jeté
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>> He probably managed to make it look like a Grande Jeté
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...not in yellow boots, he didn't.............
;-)
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>> >>
>> >> He probably managed to make it look like a Grande Jeté
>> >>
>>
>> ...not in yellow boots, he didn't.............
>>
>> ;-)
No, dont think you can get en pointe in workmans boots
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>> Or AKA the Kenneth Branagh show - Saw it last Thursday
Also saw it Thursday and agree that it's an amazing visual experience; you just need to suspend belief about the plot and forget about Poirot as Agatha Christie portrayed him.
Four of us went and two slept through it (I stayed awake). Went to Everyman cinema with settees - a new experience to me.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 13 Nov 17 at 10:13
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If that was the everyman in Walton, then we were at the same performance.
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I've never really got on on with Agatha Christie and Poireau in particular - they just seem silly rather than nice period charm with a hint of lurking menace.
Train dramas ought in theory to be the perfect setting - endless miles, ceaseless rythym of the wheels on rail joints, sinister political agents, glamorous spies, run away couples, dubious salesmen, all in this moving cocoon, with outside the back drop of shaky and corrupt Balkan regimes, problems at the frontiers, etc etc. They ought to have it all, but for me, the Orient Express misses it or hams it up.
There have been some really good black and white train/spy films from the 30s. Perhaps that is the trouble - the past happened in black and white, with a lot of dubious grey in between. Shiny polished over-restored trains and cars in colour look like a bank holiday vintage parade with people unconvincingly dressing up for the part.
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>> Train dramas ought in theory to be the perfect setting - endless miles, ceaseless rythym
>> of the wheels on rail joints, sinister political agents, glamorous spies, run away couples, dubious
>> salesmen, all in this moving cocoon, with outside the back drop of shaky and corrupt
>> Balkan regimes, problems at the frontiers, etc etc.
"From Russia With Love"* manages to get all that in in spades, and although its in colour, its was shot in that over enriched type Technicolour, which has since faded and gives it a real wishy washy period feel.
*James Bond, Murders on the Orient Express.
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>> If that was the everyman in Walton, then we were at the same performance.
>>
Esher actually.
Close though!
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Really good fun. Thoroughly enjoyed it, not to be taken seriously. Not sure it was worth a trip to the cinema, but it was fun. A better Netflix film I should think.
Though you may well get films earlier than here, so perhaps its been and gone.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 13 Nov 17 at 13:18
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Saw Orient on release day, first performance. We happened to be staying near Malvern, and discovered it was on so thought it was worth a shot.
The cinema was brilliant. We had the front row of the circle (not been in a cinema with a circle since I were a nipper) all to ourselves. Indeed, there were only about 20 people there, and as it was Friday afternoon, we were the youngest by a decade or two I should think. So nobody talked or had mobiles. Brilliant.
As to the film, we both enjoyed it a lot. Looked great, especially with nothing between you and a huge screen at eye level. I also have the joy and delight of the sort of memory that is non existent. I'd not read the book. I suppose might have seen the original. No idea.
This meant I had absolutely no idea of the plot and the twist worked with me excellently. Mrs C was horrified afterwards to discover I had no idea what was going to happen, but there we are. But then, I have trouble remembering her middle name and always have to ask how to spell it, so she shouldn't be surprised.
Worked for me.
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Saw it last night.
Beautifully shot film and very enjoyable story.
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We went to CinieWorld (Freebie tickets !)....there were six in the audience, air-conditioning was on full cold for additional support. At least the film wasn't overlong (30 minutes of adverts though). Classy filming supported a paper thin plot. Good way to idle away an afternoon.
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Saw it last night - OK. Zzzzz factor - twice.
The film we saw on Tuesday evening was, to me, more memorable. 'Loving Vincent' was an animation based on oil painting in the style of Vincent; as I understood from the Q & A session afterwards, an army of very skilled painters somehow painted over the acted film - hence the dialogue was 'live' as opposed to using a voice-over afterwards. If you are at all interested in Van Gogh's life and work, then it's a film worth seeing.
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The song and the closing credits. That was an afterthought...!
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Murder on the Orient Express mk3 - SPOILER ALERT - Runfer D'Hills
