Murder on the Orient Express

It seems like I have been waiting forever for Murder on the Orient Express to be released!  The wait was finally over last night because I went to an early Thursday preview with my family and boy did I love it!  I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie.  I have read every one of her mysteries multiple times and Murder on the Orient Express is a particular favorite because of the clever plot twist.  Kenneth Branagh's version is stylish and entertaining but it also adds a bit of poignancy that the other versions lack.  Hercule Poirot (Branagh) boards the Orient Express in Istanbul hoping for a few days of rest and relaxation.  However, one of the passengers, Samuel Ratchett (Johnny Depp), is stabbed to death just as the train is derailed during an avalanche.  Poirot is enlisted to solve the crime by his friend Bouc (Tom Bateman) before the murderer can strike again while the train is stranded.  Everyone, it seems, is a suspect:  Ratchett's assistant Hector MacQueen (Josh Gad), Princess Dragomiroff (Judi Dench) and her companion Hildegarde Schmidt (Olivia Colman), an American named Caroline Hubbard (Michelle Pfeiffer), the missionary Pilar Estravados (Penelope Cruz), Dr. Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom, Jr.), a governess named Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley),  Professor Gerhard Hardman (Willem Dafoe), Ratchett's valet Edward Masterman (Derek Jacobi), Biniamino Marquez (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and the Count and Countess Andrenyi (Lucy Boynton and Sergei Polunin).  I really enjoyed the all-star cast, especially Pfeiffer who has an incredibly affecting scene and I can think of no one better to play an imperious princess than Dame Judi Dench.  They all have their moment to shine as they are interrogated one by one.  Branagh's iteration of the famous Belgian sleuth is a bit more emotional and tormented than the ones I've seen before and I actually really liked his portrayal (although his accent was a bit affected).  I also liked the claustrophobia of the sumptuous train cars juxtaposed with wide sweeping shots of the train traveling through the snow covered mountains.  Since I've read the book countless times and seen several versions, my enjoyment was not derived from trying to figure out "whodunnit" but from seeing a classic tale told in a new and surprising way.  I loved this movie and I would definitely recommend it!

Note:  The ending implied that Poirot's next case would be in Egypt.  Dare we hope that Death on the Nile will be next?

LBJ

Last night I went to the Broadway once again to see LBJ and I hate to admit it but I was a bit disappointed.   The film begins on that fateful day in November when President Kennedy (Jeffrey Donovan) is assassinated and Lyndon Johnson (Woody Harrelson) assumes the presidency.  Then the film flashes back to when Johnson was the most powerful member of the Democratic Party as Senate Majority Leader only to lose all of his power once he becomes the Vice President.  Despite a fantastic performance by Harrelson, as well as one from Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird, my biggest problem with the film is that it really isn't about Johnson.  Rather, it is about the Kennedys.  The script takes great pains to point out that Johnson was thwarted at every turn by the Kennedys, starting with losing the 1960 presidential nomination to John Kennedy then being relegated to a bit player at the White House by Bobby Kennedy (Michael Stahl-David) and finally having the first days of his presidency overshadowed by the nation's grief over President Kennedy's death.  The film ends with President Johnson giving a speech to a joint session of Congress advocating for President Kennedy's Civil Rights Act.  His one shining moment in the film is fighting for President Kennedy's legacy.  Then we see a few seconds of text on the screen outlining everything Johnson was able to accomplish during his presidency such as his Great Society legislation, Head Start, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well is his disastrous escalation of the Vietnam War.  I wish the filmmakers had focused on that.  I also felt that for being a biopic about such a bombastic character it was rather dull.  There is a lot of talking and many of the characters are difficult to distinguish from each other.  My mind definitely wandered.  The most stirring moment came during Johnson's speech when the film was practically over.   I would recommend giving this one a miss.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most provocative directors currently working.  His film The Lobster definitely generated more conversations with people in line for screenings at Sundance two years ago than any other film I saw.  Honestly, I still think about it and I am certain that I will be thinking about his latest film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, for a long time to come.  Cardiologist Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) begins spending time with Martin (Barry Keoghan), the son of one of his patients who died.  Their relationship is very undefined until Martin insinuates himself into Steven's life which makes him uncomfortable.  Soon his children fall ill with a strange paralysis.  We learn that Steven may have been responsible for the death of Martin's father and, seeking justice, Martin demands that Steven kill a member of his family or all three of them, including his wife Anna (Nicole Kidman), will eventually die of their illnesses.  The narrative is deeply disturbing on so many levels and some of the images are absolutely horrifying and yet I could not look away!   Every single shot evokes such a sense of menace and the crescendo of strings at key moments adds to the general unease.  I found myself nervously laughing several times.  Farrell is absolutely brilliant, speaking the oddly stilted dialogue in a monotone voice which serves to highlight his detachment from everyone and everything (he even has his wife pretend to be under anesthesia when he has sex with her).  This makes his emotional undoing all the more powerful.  Kidman gives an incredibly intense and chilling performance as a woman who can't quite accept the fact that her perfect life is crumbling around her and Keoghan gives one of the best performances I've seen this year as a twitchy teenage psychopath.  It is definitely not for everyone (I can't remember when I've felt more uncomfortable watching a film) but it is bold and brilliant.  Whether you love it or hate it, I guarantee that you will have a strong reaction to it and, in my mind, that is what the best films are able to do!

Loving Vincent

After spending Saturday night seeing a blockbuster at the megaplex I went for something totally different on Sunday afternoon.  I saw the independent film Loving Vincent at my favorite art house theater and I was completely captivated by this beautiful and heartbreaking film!  Every one of the frames of this film was hand painted by over 100 artists to mimic the style of Vincent Van Gogh so the images on the screen are absolutely dazzling.  I was spellbound by the beauty of what I was seeing!   I also really enjoyed the narrative about the last weeks of Vincent Van Gogh's life.  Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth) is tasked by the Postmaster, his father, to deliver a letter written by Vincent to his brother Theo Van Gogh.  Roulin travels to Paris but when he learns that Theo has also died, he travels to Auvers, where Vincent died, to interview everyone who knew him during his final weeks.  What I loved about this portrayal is that Vincent is not depicted as a madman but as a profoundly lonely man who had a sensitive soul and felt things deeply.  There is a scene between Roulin and Marguerite (Soairse Ronin), the daughter of Vincent's doctor, that had me sobbing.  I also loved this film because it doesn't definitively answer the question of how Vincent died because his life is more important than his death (which is what Marguerite conveys so beautifully in that pivotal scene).  I also loved that this portrait is not from Vincent's point of view (which is how other biopics tend to present his life) because there is no way we can fully understand this enigmatic artist and the story is as much about Roulin's journey as it is Vincent's.  His paintings must speak for themselves and I have always loved his paintings!   I absolutely loved this film, as well, (I suspect that I will be haunted by it for some time to come).  I highly recommend it!

Thor: Ragnarok

Last night I finally had the opportunity to see Thor: Ragnarok and I had a blast watching this movie with a rowdy late night crowd.  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) battles against his long-lost sister Hela (Cate Blanchett) for control over Asgard but first he must escape from the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), the leader of the planet Sakaar, by fighting in a gladiator battle with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and enlist the help of the treacherous Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and a disillusioned Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson).  This movie is absolutely hilarious and I was laughing out loud within the first minute as was the rest of the crowd.  Hemsworth is a great comedic actor and I especially enjoyed all of Thor's goofy banter with Loki (my favorite character in the series) and the Hulk.  I also really liked the villain Hela and it is clear that Blanchett had a lot of fun with the role, vamping and strutting around.  There are so many funny lines in this movie but I think my very favorite is said by Korg, a rock creature who is also imprisoned by the Grandmaster, when he explains how he came to be working as a gladiator: "I tried to start a revolution but I didn't print enough pamphlets."  I laughed and laughed at that!  The production design is fantastic, especially on Sakaar with all of the psychedelic colors and retro patterns.  There are some great action sequences and the use of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" in the opening and final battles got my adrenaline pumping.  It is really lighthearted and zany but I actually did enjoy the story because the notion of Ragnarok, or apocalypse, where an old world is destroyed and a new and better one is reborn is particularly compelling.  I definitely recommend this entertaining movie for a great time at the movies!

Note:  There are some fabulous cameos, especially in the play performed on Asgard (pay attention to who is playing Loki!) and the scene where Thor's hair is cut (I think I prefer Thor with long hair, though).  The scene with Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) had me laughing the whole time ("I have been falling for 30 minutes!").