100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 121: Murder On the Orient Express

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Genre: Crime/ Drama
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Josh Gad, Olivia Colman, Derek Jacobi

Description: When a murder occurs on the train he's travelling on, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is recruited to solve the case.

Review: This is maybe the 6th book to movie adaptation for “Murder On the Orient Express”, I think, The book was released in 1934 and is probably her most known book. And because Agatha Christie’s novel is such a masterpiece when it comes to murder mysteries, many want to turn it into film. It’s a perfect whodunit. In 1974 Albert Finney played the role of Hercule Poirot in Sidney Lumet’s version of the story. Now, 2017, Kenneth Branagh directs and also decided to portray the infamous detective.
Kenneth Branagh has a dramatic style when it comes to acting. It’s perfect for Shakespeare films. And I have to say, his performance as Hercule Poirot is really good.
We know the story. Detective Hercule Poirot is on the Orient Express, enjoying a holiday, when one of the passengers is murdered. One of the twelve passengers is the killer. Time for Poirot to solve the case, while the train is unable to move on due to a snow storm.
Lots of details, trying to find the killer. It’s close to the original, but some things go a bit too fast because they have to stay within the duration of 2 hours. There is also not enough time to develop all the twelve suspected characters. Some we get to know better than others.
Branagh really managed to get a fantastic cast together. Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeifer, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, Penélope Cruz and Daisy Ridley. And they are all solid, but no one really shines. Branagh’s interpretation of Poirot is good, the movie is not great. But very enjoyable and it looks stunning.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 73: Nine

Director: Rob Marshall
Genre: Drama/ Romance/ Musical
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 2009
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Stacy Ferguson, Sophia Loren

Description: Famous film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother.

Review: There is line between film and theater, they are two different worlds. That’s something you can conclude after watching “Nine”. The show worked on Broadway, but not so much on the big screen. Director Rob Marshall was successful with the musical “Chicago”, but “Nine”…. No.
“Nine” is filled with big names. Daniel Day-Lewis plays the lead. He is a fantastic character actor, almost always flawless in his performances. Sadly this is not one of those performances. But it’s not all his fault, because his character is a bit limited. All the women in the film are okay. Judi Dench, Penélope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard and Nicole Kidman.
The film has a very thin storyline and no surprises. With a cast like this, I expected more quality. “Nine” didn’t deliver.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 107: The Counselor

Director: Ridley Scott

Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Drama

Runtime: 118 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt

Description: A rich and successful lawyer, the Counselor (Michael Fassbender), is about to get married to his fiancée (Penélope Cruz) but soon becomes entangled in a complex drug plot with a middle-man known as Westray (Brad Pitt). The plan ends up taking a horrible twist and he must protect himself and his soon to be bride as the truth of the drug business is uncovered and targets are eliminated.

Review: With “The Counselor”, writer Cormac McCarthy delivers his first film scenario. The author is known for movie adaptations of his novels “No Country for Old Men” and “The Road”. His work seems to lend itself perfectly for the big screen, but it doesn’t necessary lead to success. That’s what is proved with “The Counselor”.

The movie takes us to the dark world of drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States. A business filled with greed and decadence and a world that’s hard to escape from. Counselor experiences that himself, when he chooses money over honor. He wants to secure his future with his fiancé Laura, so he decides to get involved. His eccentric business partners Reiner and Westray make a deal, that could eventually get them 20 million dollars. Off course nothing goes according to plan.

The failure of the plan is very predictable. The biggest problem is the dialogue. Every action, plot twist and progression happens during a dialogue. It gets a bit unilateral, but also results in unsurprising progression. Strangely enough sex is a big theme in many of the conversations, which also gives us a weird scene of Cameron Diaz on a windshield. Because of all this, the character’s motives are never really clear. It makes everything very incoherent. This might work in a novel, but the movie needs more than the spoken word.

Director Ridley Scott tries to put movement in the stiff scenes, and he succeeds. The montage is great and the trouble at the borders is clearly present. The acting is fine. Javier Bardem, with again a very weird look, is most enjoyable. Because “The Counselor” is so focused on dialogue, the conclusion of this film never sticks. It’s not all bad, but “The Counselor” could have been a lot better. One missed shot.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 4: To Rome with Love

Director: Woody Allen
Genre: Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 89 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Woody Allen, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, Penélope Cruz, Roberto Benigni, Greta Gerwich, Alison Pil, Judy Davis, Alessandro Tiberi, Alessandra Mastronardi, Flavio Parenti

Description: The intertwining stories of a worker who wakes up to find himself a celebrity (Roberto Benigni), an architect (Alec Baldwin) who takes a trip back to the street he lived on as a student, a young couple (Alessandro Tiberi, Alessandra Mastronardi ) on their honeymoon, and a frustrated opera director (Woody Allen) who has a talent for discovering talented singers.

Review: For director Woody Allen it has become the recipe: pick a famous city, choose a couple of interesting characters, add some storylines to it and finish it off with some witty comedy. Where he’s taken on Barcelona (“Vicky Cristina Barcelon”), London (“You Will Mee a Tall Dark Stranger”) and Paris (“Midnight in Paris”), he chose Rome for his décor this time.
I always like movies with multiple storylines, but it’s a bit too much here, even for Woody Allen. It’s very hard to make four completely different stories, which absolutely no relation, interesting. Which make some of the storylines feel a bit incomplete. For instance the story op Leopoldo, an average citizen who becomes a celebrity all of a sudden. It’s a good concept but doesn’t have the humor it should have. None of these stories are above average and the characters are all superficial and easily replaceable.
“To Rome with Love” does have some interesting moments, like the story of Jerry who discover that Giancarlo is a fantastic opera singer. But it also appears that he can only sing this well in the shower. This storyline is funny at times. The music that was used for the film is very characteristic and makes you think you’re in Rome. But the city of Rome isn’t used the way Allen did with Paris in one of my favorites “Midnight in Paris”, which was a hit. Is “To Rome with Love” a miss? Not completely, but it’s definitely not one of his best movies.

Rating: 2,5/ 5