Following along the lines of last week’s Thursday Thirteen, and my love of good movies, I have decided to start a weekly "theme" post where I will give my reviews and opinions of movies that I have recently seen, as well as films “from the vault” (pointing out really good movies that have been out for awhile, but deserve to be highlighted). From time to time, I may also include reviews of TV on DVD, if I should stumble upon something worth mentioning.
Yesterday (Sunday), I finally got to the theater to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Let me start by saying that I’m not a huge Potter fan; I go to the movies just because they can be fun to watch. The latest installment is more of the same fare, with little to distinguish it from the others, but still worth the ticket price if all you’re looking for is a fun romp.
My Score (out of ten): 7
From the Vault:
Recently I’ve had the opportunity to see a couple of Agatha Christie classics for the first time: Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Death on the Nile (1978). Both films involved the character of Hercule Poirot, which I have to say is not my favorite Christie sleuth (I’m a Miss Marple fan myself), but there the similarities end. In my opinion, Orient Express (though entertaining in its way) couldn’t hold a candle to Nile. By far a superior film, Death on the Nile had better casting (Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, and Angela Lansbury were all at their campy best in this film), better music (Nile’s music was superb, while the score for Orient Express sounded more like a Muppet movie than a murder mystery), and a better Poirot (Peter Ustinov was far livelier and more entertaining than Albert Finney). And of course, the exotic locales of Egypt didn’t hurt either!
About the only good thing I could find about Orient Express was the bizarre twist (and twisted) ending—it’s almost worth watching for that alone.
My Score (out of ten):
Murder on the Orient Express: 5
Death on the Nile: 7
Yesterday (Sunday), I finally got to the theater to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Let me start by saying that I’m not a huge Potter fan; I go to the movies just because they can be fun to watch. The latest installment is more of the same fare, with little to distinguish it from the others, but still worth the ticket price if all you’re looking for is a fun romp.
My Score (out of ten): 7
From the Vault:
Recently I’ve had the opportunity to see a couple of Agatha Christie classics for the first time: Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Death on the Nile (1978). Both films involved the character of Hercule Poirot, which I have to say is not my favorite Christie sleuth (I’m a Miss Marple fan myself), but there the similarities end. In my opinion, Orient Express (though entertaining in its way) couldn’t hold a candle to Nile. By far a superior film, Death on the Nile had better casting (Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, and Angela Lansbury were all at their campy best in this film), better music (Nile’s music was superb, while the score for Orient Express sounded more like a Muppet movie than a murder mystery), and a better Poirot (Peter Ustinov was far livelier and more entertaining than Albert Finney). And of course, the exotic locales of Egypt didn’t hurt either!
About the only good thing I could find about Orient Express was the bizarre twist (and twisted) ending—it’s almost worth watching for that alone.
My Score (out of ten):
Murder on the Orient Express: 5
Death on the Nile: 7
1 comment:
I agree with "Death on the Nile" being far better than "Orient Express" precisely for the things you noted.
However, we must agree to disagree about "Order of the Phoenix" -- I liked it even better the second time, and think it was a notch above the first four.
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