KNIVES OUT -- dir. Rian Johnson; Daniel Craig, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, etc. etc.

strong Evil Under the Sun vibes

strong Evil Under the Sun vibes

did someone suggest bringing back all the original cast, just have them play different characters? idk I really liked that idea

I watched the 70s Death on the Nile last year. Worth it for the scenes of maggie smith and bette davis bickering.

I saw a trailer on TCM the other day for The Last of Sheila (1973) which seems relevant as well. Also has a super-young Ian McShane!

We went on a binge of “films that inspired Rian Johnson” and god they’re all great

ooh such as?

promisingly, Johnson himself still refers to this as "the next Benoit Blanc mystery," not Knives Out 2

(and adds this annotation/agreement with above discussion)

ooh such as?

He recommended and discussed a whole bunch on this podcast episode, and here's a letterboxd list of them if you just want that.

(watch Sleuth before or in preference to Deathtrap, if you haven't before.)

“Last of Sheila” should definitely be on your watchlist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNAZE65mU34

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-69o1CFTusAg/VOWjK5vv3OI/AAAAAAAAQOo/m3XhlQrFyc8/s1600/The-Last-of-Sheila-Cast-Herbert-Ross-1973.JPG

thanks y'all

Last of Sheila notable as the only movie script Sondheim (co)wrote

Saw some snippets on Sheila on TCM, looked really cheesy. Maybe I'll give it another look.

>Last of Sheila notable as the only movie script Sondheim (co)wrote

With Tony fucking Perkins!

It's pretty amazing

it has lots of scenes trying to do the l'avventura thing of casual dialog, and none of them work. but the mystery is a great one.

Yeah, it's not cheesy, but there's definitely a failed Altman vibe. It's fun, though. I could only find it on YouTube

In the states, Warner Archive has The Last of Sheila out on DVD-R and BluRay.

Looks like it's also available to rent on Amazon, Apple etc. And yeah, it's a lot of fun! More clearly a work of Sondheim the puzzle constructor than Sondheim the writer of musicals.

SCREAM 8: A BENOIT BLANC MYSTERY

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) February 5, 2022

The original Death on the Nile moves as sluggishly as the ship itself, but Ustinov >>> Finney, peak Maggie Smith, and Angela Lansbury is a scream as a monstrous washed-up vamp.

I like Ustinov in different ways than Finney rather than better, no doubt said before, but agreed on the latter two points. Contrasting it vs the remake is interesting but using it as the setup for whatever Johnson's working on will be the real tell as you note; certainly the promo shots give a bit of that vibe. (Hahn's character seems Lansburyish.)

My objection with Finney rests on how he's photographed rather than the performance: those close-ups that force us to take in the makeup and mugging.

Ustinov's advantage is that he played a Poirot variant for decades.

ustinov is who i think of when i think of Poirot, i think just from being a kid mostly?

i never really took to Finney bc he’s a bit more abrupt & less cuddly? idk i love Finney just not as Poirot

My memory of Finney as Poirot is that he keeps does that acting-with-his-double-chin thing, like a DeNiro impersonator.

Early in covid, back when we thought it could be a couple of weeks and hunkered down watching movies as a family, I showed my kids the 1974 Finney "Murder on the Orient Express," and it was so dull and boring that they still haven't forgiven me and one of them still all but refuses to watch movies with me at all. (It was prompted by her request for more movies like "Knives Out," and I had all sorts of stuff lined up - "Last of Sheila," "Deathtrap" - but trust has been lost.)

Orient Express is a rubber donut.

Shoulda started with Evil Under the Sun, that's a slam dunk.

Man, if they can't handle Orient Express, don't show them Last of Sheila! It's great but it's hard work. If you ever get their trust back, what about Sleuth or Gosford Park? (Or Murder by Death or Clue!)

yeah Murder By Death somehow seems the closest in spirit to me, the cast is so gleefully in their roles

"Clue" they've definitely seen and like. We also saw "Gosford Park" around the same time as "Express," but I don't think it made much of an impact on them. "Evil Under the Sun" ... I dunno. "Murder By Death" and "Sleuth" were another couple I had at the ready, but even the one more likely to watch movies with me says she has trouble telling all these "old white men" (which is to say, probably middle aged) apart.

Murder by Death a more specific set of parodies, I would have said? Also teeth-shakingly racist. Like if you've shown your kids any of the Charlie Chan films, then why have you shown your kids any of the Charlie Cham films. And if you haven't then their reaction is probably going to be "wtf is this?"

Oh god I forgot that part. Strike!

Just watched Evil Under The Sun, it's ripe and delicious without ever achieving actual excellence, which is exactly the sweet spot for filmed Agatha Christie for me.

I came into this a complete Suchet-stan, but Ustinov is just funnier, more present, more precise, more charming: a counterpoint to the madness but also a part of it.

The rest of the cast is a fantastic assortment of hams and drips, esp Diana Rigg. Especially <3 this James Mason meta monologue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdKYTmeHKB8

Also the amazing costumes!

amazing

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/PP5J3N/original-film-title-evil-under-the-sun-english-title-evil-under-the-sun-year-1982-director-guy-hamilton-stars-diana-rigg-credit-emi-album-PP5J3N.jpg

Stellar stuff for sure, beautiful location shooting, just a treat and a fillip all around. Easily a top five comfort watch for me.

A delightful thing about Evil is how gently tuned-up from Death On The Nile it is - if you liked that, well here’s everything about it done slightly better, with more of a hang-out vibe.

Just watched The Weekend Murders, a 1970 Giallo/whodunnt that's definitely the most proto-Knives Out thing I've seen:

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

we have title

Benoit Blanc’s next case, the follow up to Knives Out, is called GLASS ONION. pic.twitter.com/6Zo0g1VX11

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 13, 2022

That's...not what I expected

Radiohead, Beatles, just a classic rocker at heart.

I really hope this one culminates in someone attempting to bludgeon an innocent character with a glass onion

lol

"to see how the other half live" in the lyrics is a good sign

if it involves a locked room with dovetail joints though

Only one man can fix the hole in the ocean

have been trying to get my fix and can recommend, Evil Under the Sun, The Last of Sheila, Laura (1944), Death on the Nile (2022), The Thin Man (1934)

very open to recommendations, especially classic stuff, really any crime/mystery will do

and thanks for the advice already, this is where I came across Evil Under the Sun and The Last of Sheila

i've tried to watch Knives Out three times and just couldn't make it through - i think maybe i'm not cut out for the sardonic thing

The 70s Sleuth and Deathtrap should both qualify, right?