My Current Interest

I don’t know what it is about the Kenneth Branagh version of Murder on the Orient Express . Whenever I watch it, whether on TV or DVD, I always either fall asleep or have my mind wander. Maybe it’s the mustache. To me it seems more Wyatt Earp than Hercule Poirot. Or maybe it’s how overly dramatic some scenes become. Whatever the reason, I have a hard time paying attention. However, I did do my best to concentrate this time, and I noticed this film adaptation is least like the book. Murder on the Orient Express Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Willem Dafoe Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Johnny Depp Hercule Poirot’s adventure begins Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) has been called back to London from Istanbul. To get there, he must travel on the Orient Express. The first class car is unusually full for winter. Fortunately, Poirot’s train director friend, Bouc ( Tom Bateman ), is able to get him a berth. It will be shared with a man by the n...

Why anyone tries to dismiss Miss Marple’s instincts is a mystery to me. This is especially a mystery when Margaret Rutherford is Miss Marple. She trusts her instincts fully and won’t let anyone get in her way of finding out what those instincts mean. Murder at the Gallop Miss Marple witnesses a murder Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) is certain a murder has occurred. She and her friend Mr. Stringer (Stringer Davis) saw Mr. Enderby (Finlay Currie) die. When they find a cat, something Mr. Enderby was incredibly afraid of, Miss Marple becomes convinced Mr. Enderby did not simply die. He was scared to death. Miss Marple brings her concerns to the police, but Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) refuses to listen. The police trust the medical report they have been given. A medical report that will in no way list the cause of death as “scared to death.” After lecturing Craddock on how he should read more Agatha Christie, Miss Marple declares she will look into the matter herself...

The David Suchet version of Murder on the Orient Express definitely veers away from the book. The core story is there, but so much else is different. Murder on the Orient Express Hercule Poirot’s beliefs are challenged Hercule Poirot’s ( David Suchet ) summation does not go according to plan. The guilty party, a soldier, shoots himself before Poirot can have him arrested. This suicide rattles Poirot, but he remains certain the soldier would not have felt he must go to such desperate measures had he not lied in the first place. He also insists that no matter the reason for the crime, justice must be done. After this, Poirot witnesses a woman being stoned to death. The woman was carrying the child of someone who was not her husband, leading to this punishment. Of course, we do not see any punishment towards the man. A couple witness the stoning too. The woman, Mary Debenham ( Jessica Chastain ), is particularly distressed, but there is nothing any of them can do. This all ha...

There is something about cooler weather that makes it the prefect time to watch scary movies, and I’m not talking about just at Halloween time. The shorter days, colder temperatures, and falling leaves or snow add an extra spookiness to things, which makes it a good time to watch a scary movie. I say this even though I watched Scream 2 in the middle of an unusually warm day with bright sunshine, and I paused the movie to take out the trash. Still, it felt like I was in the right season for scary movie watching. Scream 2 Courteney Cox, David Arquette Neve Campbell Liev Schreiber, Jada Pinkett Sidney Prescott’s past returns in movie form Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has a new life. She’s at college. She has a new boyfriend, new friends, and caller ID. Why is the caller ID important? Well, in 1997, when this movie was released, the caller ID allows Sidney to identify all the prank callers pretending to be the Ghostface killer we saw in Scream . The prank calls have picked up s...