View Poll Results: Murder on the Orient Express

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Thread: Murder on the Orient Express (Kenneth Branagh)

  1. #1
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    Murder on the Orient Express (Kenneth Branagh)

    MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

    Director: Kenneth Branagh

    imdb

  2. #2
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
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    So they over-scheduled us at work yesterday, meaning someone got to go home early, and I volunteered, because fuck work. Anyways, so I decided to check out this new release as a result of getting off earlier than expected, and it was sorta just meh. I haven't read the book, but based solely on its own merits, I honestly wasn't all too impressed.

    A lot of the mystery is being solved via details that the main character just suddenly remembers from another story, meaning not by piecing together clues from the actual film we're watching, so it felt a bit cheapened in that way, how it didn't feel like a mystery we were actively involved with, but being artificially left in the dark on. Then the final reveal and the lead's reaction to it was just radically over-dramatic, and felt like the movie had issues balancing its tone properly all of a sudden, ending on a real dour note that felt inappropriate given the rest of the film preceding it.

    [
    ]

    Prior to all of this, however, it's mostly fine. The performances are alright, though again, a lot of the actual character actions feel really forced, particularly after the reveal in the end, which retroactively sorta ruins a lot of what had previously transpired. It was also pretty well shot, so there's that. But all in all, yeah, this really was just meh.

  3. #3
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    Quote Quoting TGM (view post)

    [
    ]
    I'm a fan of Agatha Christie and just liked this book well enough, but I have been hearing about this... [
    ]
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

  4. #4
    Guttenbergian Pop Trash's Avatar
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    I haven't read the book, but this was deadly dull. After about the first 45 minutes the movie just kinda dies on screen right when it should be getting suspenseful. I was more perplexed by how ridiculous Branagh's mustache was than anything going on plotwise.
    Ratings on a 1-10 scale for your pleasure:

    Top Gun: Maverick - 8
    Top Gun - 7
    McCabe & Mrs. Miller - 8
    Crimes of the Future - 8
    Videodrome - 9
    Valley Girl - 8
    Summer of '42 - 7
    In the Line of Fire - 8
    Passenger 57 - 7
    Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6



  5. #5
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Mild yay. I thought it was fun to see a film that felt like one of those beautifully shot, big cast movies from the 60s. Branagh is very enjoyable in the lead role and it's a delight to see all of these actors together. I would have liked to see them interact with each other more, but alas, that's not really how this story goes. If anything, my biggest complaint would be about the source material which really asks you to accept some preposterous circumstances.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  6. #6
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Peng (view post)
    I'm a fan of Agatha Christie and just liked this book well enough, but I have been hearing about this... [
    ]
    I think it's a stretch to call it a 'tortured backstory'. If you're very familiar with the Poirot character, then the brief prologue may not be something you need. As someone who was not familiar with the character, I appreciated a little time to get to know him and understand how he ticks.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  7. #7
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    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    I think it's a stretch to call it a 'tortured backstory'.
    Do me a favor and spoil it for me? Based on the book and the '74 adaptation, I think I know what you're referencing but I'm not sure. I gotta know.

  8. #8
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
    Do me a favor and spoil it for me? Based on the book and the '74 adaptation, I think I know what you're referencing but I'm not sure. I gotta know.
    Well, I'm at a disadvantage since this is the only version of the story I know. But I assume that we're talking about ...

    [
    ]
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  9. #9
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    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    Well, I'm at a disadvantage since this is the only version of the story I know. But I assume that we're talking about ...

    [
    ]
    Whoa. That's interesting! It isn't from the novel, but I wouldn't be surprised if it originated from a short story. Then again, maybe not?

    [
    ]

    I have a love/hate thing going with both Christie and Poirot. But this one is a favorite because of the moral ambiguousness of its ending.

  10. #10
    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    I thought it was fun to see a film that felt like one of those beautifully shot, big cast movies from the 60s.
    Those movies sucked too.
    Just because...
    The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
    Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021) mild
    The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild

    The last book I read was...
    The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain


    The (New) World

  11. #11
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    Very dull indeed, cripplingly unintriguing, an air of artifice hangs over the entire endeavor. Some nice shots and I will say the ending was...unexpected and certainly a little bit clever.

    The opening 15 minutes may be the worst opening 15 minutes of all movies I have seen in 2017.

    I didn't like this.
    [+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating

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  12. #12
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    Don't mind me, I'm the one who loves what Branagh does with the Asgard stuff in the first Thor. And he brings similar theatrical panache here, which suits this film less but keeps it moving along enjoyably and messily fun enough to distract from how this story is still absolutely resistant to being cinematic. I actually like this better than Lumet's version, in part because it's livelier, and also from having a better ensemble (or at least having the one I like more), who can turn in both larger-than-life campy and darkly emotional modes. And I'm so glad Michelle Pfeiffer is given this role, because few can do both better than her. 6.5/10


    And now that this launches Christie Cinematic Universe, hope they move on to her stories that are actually more adaptable as cinema. Death on the Nile is a great start, but I hope they come around to the less-filmed likes of The ABC Murders and Peril at End House as well.
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

  13. #13
    White Tiger Field Stay Puft's Avatar
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    I liked Lumet's version way more than this one. Branagh's version gets needlessly convoluted. It conflates the colonel and the doctor and then has the doctor get involved in the murder in unnecessary and contrived ways, all to make the film more exciting, I guess? And that chase scene, ugh. Every scenery change is a baffling excuse for an even more bafflingly large budget. It's a story set on a train. What the hell. I felt like they completely muddled and muddied the story, particularly with the opening sequences and trying to add more to Poirot, and the way the film handles piecing together the old case and the final revelations was clumsy and lacked all of the intrigue and impact of Lumet's version.

    That's gonna be a "nay" from me.
    Giving up in 2020. Who cares.

    maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore (Sky Hopinka) ***½
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    Night Hunter (David Raymond) *

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