What Is The Last Film You Watched? (Newer Films)

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The Suchet version is my favorite and I doubt Branagh will dethrone it.  I love the darkness they added to it.  Poirot's crisis of faith and Catholic background coming into play.  Good stuff.

 

18 hours ago, The Doctor said:

I've yet to see the one with Michelle Pfeiffer. I want to hear that sexy ass voice once more.

 

Did you listen to the song she sings on the OST yet?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

On 11/4/2017 at 2:28 PM, Hawmy said:

Matt Damon and Sam Neill were the loki and thor actors and I thought they were pretty funny

Actually it was Matt Damon as Loki, Luke Hemsworth as Thor and Sam Neil as Odin.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

On 05/11/2017 at 6:35 PM, The Doctor said:

How is Michelle Pfeiffer?

Fine, and still pretty damn MILF-y.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Fantastic!

[Simon McBride 113]

That's what I meant

[Jay 37,372]

It has been decided.  We're trekking out and seeing Murder on the Orient Express in the theater tonight!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Me too.  But I see a dozen or more movies in the theater a year, so it's not an event like it is for you.  This must be one your wife wanted to see?

[Jay 37,372]

Yep!  She's a big Agatha Christie fan, read all her books and seen every episode of Poirot and Marple, etc

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Me too!

 

I expect to like this adaptation less than the Suchet (my favorite) and the Finney (also good) ones but I'm sure it'll be enjoyable.  Like a cup of hot cocoa.

[Nick1Ø66 4,722]

As much as I like Branagh, Suchet will always be Poirot. What a joy to watch an actor so completely embody a role.

 

I remember watching his Murder on the Orient Express when it first aired. I recall that it was regarded with some controversy at the time (I think maybe because the production introduced some religious subtext).

[Disco Stu 15,495]

4 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Like a cup of hot cocoa.

 

The cocoa was watery and a bit disappointing.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

I found it quite pleasant. better than most movies and a decent score by Doyle. I welcome the teased followup 

 

[A24 4,345]

Gerald's Game. For 90% good but unfortunately it becomes something entirely different (not in a good sense) in the last 10 minutes. However, it was nice to see a real horror movie for a change and not one of those teenage flicks that are only about making the viewer jump with sudden loud sound FXs. Thank you, Stephen King. 6,5/10

 

 

 

Alex

[Bilbo 3,709]

On 11/11/2017 at 1:17 AM, Disco Stu said:

 

The cocoa was watery and a bit disappointing.

 

And the film wasn’t much better, ammirite? 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Branagh was bad.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Dis iz not luking gooed at awl!

[Bilbo 3,709]

39 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Branagh was bad.

 

People wouldn’t believe me when I said it should have been so much more. I was too young they said!

 

[Fancyarcher 350]

Murder On The Orient Express - 2017 - Good, though I wasn't entirely sold on the way they approached the story. Really enjoyed it overall though. Great classic mystery, the cast was very good, and personally I thought Branagh was very charming too, even if I didn't entirely like how Portroit was portrayed. - 7.5 / 10

[Bilbo 3,709]

Paddington 2. If you don’t enjoy it you don’t have a soul. 

[Seth 67]

Thor: Ragnarok. I liked it more than I expected and was mainly interested because the trailers looked so bizarre. I thought it was easily the most enjoyable Marvel movie since the first Guardians, even it it does take a while to get going. I found the humor to be more genuine than is typical of Marvel; not quite as snarky as Guardians or as quippy as the Avengers. I have no clue what to make of whatever Cate Blanchett thought she was doing, but the rest of the cast was fine. I enjoyed the dynamic between Thor and Hulk/Banner and thought Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth had a fun rapport. So it's definitely not art, but I enjoyed it for what it is. Mothersbaugh's score seemed like it might be interesting enough for a separate listen; I'm sure there's enough material in there to make a nice 30-minute program.

[A24 4,345]

The Meyerowitz Stories

 

 

Good family story (warm & touching) that walks the fine line between drama and comedy. Except for maybe Emma Thompson, all the characters were convincing but it was Adam Sandler's performance that actually surprised me. Yes, he showed he can play drama before in Punch-Drunk Love and Funny People, but in The Meyerowitz Stories, he literally became somebody else. And how long has it been since Dustin Hoffman got to play a beefy character like this?! Giving this movie a 6/10 would be wrong so I'm giving it a 7/10.

 

 

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You watched this even after finding out Hoffman was a sexual predator?

[publicist 4,643]

He shall be stoned and purged from the community!

[Quintus 5,399]

The Boo Box! 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

8 minutes ago, Quintus said:

The Boo Box! 

 

Is that another euphemism for vagina?

[A24 4,345]

34 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

You watched this even after finding out Hoffman was a sexual predator?

 

That's a Chinese hoax designed to hurt Hollywood!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

My last two Fridays.

 

 

So just a couple of "ok to fine" movies.  I'm ready to see a movie I really love.  Can't wait for movies like Ladybird, Darkest Hour, and Three Billboards to come to a theater near me.  

 

(For context regarding my feelings on 2017 MCU, I gave GOTG2 four stars, Spider-Man 3.5, and now Thor 3)

[Jay 37,372]

 

Murder On The Orient Express (2017)

 

Ehhhhhh, it wasn't outright BAD, more like "thoroughly mediocre".  I actually have never seen a prior adaptation (or read the book) so had no idea who the culprit would be, but

 

it was obvious as soon as Poirot finished that weird shootout with Daisy and the doctor and walked to the table with all 12 suspects that it was a conspiracy and all 12 of them stabbed him, and it was disappointing that Poirot seemed to need another 5 minutes to figure out what I already had

 

Branagh was decent as Poirot - they gave him occasional quirks that made his character unique, but almost the entire running time he's quickly plowing through the case and just interviewing people, so there wasn't as many opportunities to develop him much.  

The film LOOKED great, even the CGI'd older cities looked pretty good, and the funky camera angles and long tracking shots he did were pretty good too.  But the pacing was all over the place, sometimes the film was too slow and sometimes WAY too fast, it never found a good rhythm.  Most of the cast really wasn't given enough to do, I feel like a 2 1/2 hour cut would be significantly more satisfying and make the final reveal have a much greater impact.  In the end its all just too rushed to have any lasting effect, the whole thing will be quickly forgotten.

 

 

PS WTF was the point of casting Johnny Depp for such a tiny role, seems like a pointless waste of money and effort

 

PPS And why does Michelle Pfeiffer sing a song over the end credits?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

It’s definitely the least of the three adaptations I’ve seen.  Pretty much every decision Branagh made to change Poirot’s character was bad.  The dumb Monk-like touches making him OCD were the worst.  

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

28 minutes ago, Jay said:

PS WTF was the point of casting Johnny Depp for such a tiny role, seems like a pointless waste of money and effort

 

Why cast a well known, good actor for a role in your film? Is that what you're asking?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Depp was awful.  Every scene he was in was made worse by his presence.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Why?

[Jay 37,372]

6 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

 

Why cast a well known, good actor for a role in your film? Is that what you're asking?

 

Hey may have been a good actor in the past and may have potential to be good again, but he was bad in this movie are even worse: incredibly distracting just by being in it.  It was pointless stunt casting

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Well I guess so.

 

 

[Quintus 5,399]

I reckon Depp is a washed out mess these days, his cool image all a big facade. By all accounts he's actually a bit of dickhead.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Washed out or washed up?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

It can be rough watching people age whose entire public image is based on youthful rebellion.

[Jay 37,372]

But why does Michelle Pfeiffer sing a song over the end credits?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

6 minutes ago, Jay said:

But why does Michelle Pfeiffer sing a song over the end credits?

This is one of those crappy Youtube uploads in a box and sped up trying to get around auto-detect copyright takedowns, but I saw Branagh and Pfeiffer tell that story on Graham Norton

 

Starting here:

 

It doesn't really explain why, but it's something?

[Jay 37,372]

I'm at work so can't really watch a video right now; Can you tell me the reason?

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

But why does Michelle Pfeiffer sing a song over the end credits?

 

Because Doyle likes to have a song in his scores, and he likes having it sung by the cast if possible?

[Jay 37,372]

I don't know why you phrased your answer as a question like that; I've never seen another Branagh film so have no idea whatsoever if its a sylistic norm for him or not.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Just now, Jay said:

I'm at work so can't really watch a video right now; Can you tell me the reason?

 

It's not in the video but my best guess in spoilers:

 

Spoiler

My best guess: her character in the film is meant to be a well-known Broadway actress and singer.  And her character is meant to be utterly heartbroken by the deaths of her granddaughter and daughter.  So she sings a song about her feelings?

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

I don't know why you phrased your answer as a question like that; 

 

Its what you do if you're offering an a possible explanation wich is based on speculation.

[Jay 37,372]

3 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

It's not in the video but my best guess in spoilers:

 

  Hide contents

My best guess: her character in the film is meant to be a well-known Broadway actress and singer.  And her character is meant to be utterly heartbroken by the deaths of her granddaughter and daughter.  So she sings a song about her feelings?

 

 

Ah OK, that makes sense

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

29 minutes ago, Jay said:

I don't know why you phrased your answer as a question like that; I've never seen another Branagh film so have no idea whatsoever if its a sylistic norm for him or not.

 

Henry V has a choral song with Doyle himself as the soloist. Much Ado About Nothing has several songs featuring Emma Thompson, Doyle and the cast. Hamlet has an end credits song sung by Placido Domingo. Sense and Sensibility has a song (I don't remember if it occurs during the film or in the credits). Brave has songs featuring Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson.

[Jay 37,372]

I've never seen any of those films (except Brave, which isn't directed by Branagh) so yea, I had no idea it was a thing he usually did in his films.  That's why I asked about it, it comes out of nowhere in THIS film.

[Marian Schedenig 8,207]

Well, most films these days have end credits songs. With Doyle at least, there's usually a good chance that it's actually an original song written by him.

 

Both Doyle and Branagh seem to have a soft spot for making underscore semi diegetic where appropriate (see the dances in Frankenstein and his Potter score, for example), or to use some of the dialogue in lyrics in the score (the egg songlet in HP4, which I forgot to list above), or even add other lyrics (like in the Hamlet song) to further comment on the film (in intention perhaps a bit like Shore did with all the choral and soloist bits in the LOTR scores).

[Koray Savas 2,251]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

I've never seen any of those films (except Brave, which isn't directed by Branagh) so yea, I had no idea it was a thing he usually did in his films.  That's why I asked about it, it comes out of nowhere in THIS film.

See more Branagh!

[Jay 37,372]

Which ones are the best?