Murder(s) on the Orient Express

Christie was like Simenon or Stephen King in being so prolific it's hard to keep track of which of her novels are better than the others. I think Orient Express is overrated for its stunt plotting, somewhat like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ... once the final twist is revealed, there's not much air left in the souffle.

I wonder how Branagh will try to re-twist the ending; it's hard to imagine he'd keep the same reveal as the Lumet version.

My favorite Christie is And Then There Were None, which more or less invents its own genre. I don't think any of its film versions are as vicious or funny as the book.

I remember enjoying well enough the Ustinov Evil Under the Sun on TV many many years ago. Looking at the Wiki for it now, screenplay co-written by Anthony Shaffer, directed by Guy (Goldfinger) Hamilton, a pretty cool supporting cast - Jane Birkin, James Mason, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg etc.

My favorite as well, even more of an overt trifle than the '74 film. Ustinov as Nero Wolfe as Poirot may not have been the real thing but it worked, and exchanging snow for sun and keeping the ensemble formula going was a good move. The occasional movies after that, less so.

But Alfred's right that Death on the Nile is sharp in its own right, and enough of a success as the follow-on to the 74 Murder to justify more of them. Pretty much all the films are 'rich Brits and other wastrels wander either the Empire or other settings and soon one of them dies' and at their best are perfect excuses for then-contemporary and now period costumes.

xpost best film versions of And Then There Were None are the giallo knock-offs, especially Bava's Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve).

I keep going back to that picture and laughing at Branagh's facial hair

This doesn't help matters:

https://ewedit.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/000253779hr.jpg?w=669

(Not least because the look in combination with the train suggests his character from Wild Wild West is en route to meet the Hateful Eight.)

looks like a professor in a tintin book: one of the victims in the seven crystal balls, maybe

belgians and their beards

I mean, did they CGI the goatee?

Branagh has been a dreadful actor and director outside his Shakespeare adaptaions, and I post an asterix on Much Ado About Nothing.

http://moserm.free.fr/moulinsart/images/cantonneau4.jpg

(actually from the shooting star)

thor >>> all his shakespeares

best film versions of And Then There Were None are the giallo knock-offs, especially Bava's Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve)

OTM

Bay of Blood is much better than most giallos, though I don't know if it lives up to a title as outstanding as Twitch of the Death Nerve.

Branagh's Olivier impression in that Marilyn movie was amusing, but on a variety-show level.

the only version I recognise:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51lNAQpDJkL.jpg

Hell, Depp as Mortdecai had a better mustache than Branagh here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq4m3yAoW8E

lmao

IT'S OFFICIAL

Whatever else happens, the person who did the music editing for this needs to never do that job again. Ever.

I know, right? This is going to be hilarious. Its only lasting value will have been Josh Gad trolling Daisy Ridley over Star Wars spoilers.

I... liked this? Maybe I was just in the right mood to settle into a pleasantly old-fashioned sort of film at 11 am. Found myself oddly affected by all the flashbacks and I found all the stars quite pleasant onscreen, even Depp. Ending maybe a LITTLE oversold but still cool imo.

I kept meaning to revive this thread when it was released -- did anyone else actually see it besides DC?

Me

Reviving because I suppose Branagh made it a franchise at this point. I did finally see this and Death on the Nile and both were too...what is the word, stately/glossy perhaps? I generally take or leave CGI use but too much of them both always felt artificial, and both lack the elan of the 70s versions; if both iterations are 'cram a bunch of celebs someplace for a whodunnit and let the costumes do a lot of the work,' the earlier ones just feel a bit more lived in, though Branagh's Nile had its moments.

Which is kinda why I was a little pleasantly surprised by the new one (had a free afternoon yesterday and Alamo Movie Pass, so). Per the trailers A Haunting In Venice aka his adaptation of Hallowe'en Party really is much more of a modern horror movie vibe in style and editing, though it isn't actually a horror film as such, and I have to thank him for not just marching on and doing his own Evil Under the Sun (especially since that movie is one of my utter untrammelled delights as noted upthread). Everything feels different all around; supposedly this was done on a smaller budget and I don't blame them, but it makes the most of general setting as well as the fact that it's mostly in an isolated mansion over the course of a single night, essentially a bottle episode on film. It's still not GREAT by any stretch, and there's no way that Branagh/Tina Fey matches Suchet/Wanamaker in their version, but there were some honestly sharp moments and even a legit funny laugh line or two. Aside from those two actors and Yeoh I literally didn't recognize a single person otherwise in the cast though checking after the fact explains a lot (namely that I've not seen almost any of the shows/movies that they've been in otherwise).

Bizarre-as-fuck detail that I guess Branagh wants to have as a signifying bit: there always has to be at least one moment of him trying to find or enjoying his two symmetrical eggs in the morning. I feel weird even typing that.

Huh! I found the first one to be a surprisingly pleasant Sunday-afternoon movie, and the second to be kind of an irritating failure to nail that vibe. Wasn't planning to go back a third time, but maybe I'll roll the dice.

I mean, we're talking matinee showing here, don't rush out! But better to see this before Halloween than after, I figure. (I do wonder why they aimed for mid-September instead of the start of October.)