So Agatha Christie is quite the famous mystery writer, and one of her most popular plays is called 'The Mousetrap.' It's one of those with a group of people stuck in a house, one of which is the murderer and one is the next victim, a basic 'whodunit.'

Now Tom Stoppard wrote a comedy play called 'The Real Inspector Hound,' which is a parody of 'The Mousetrap.' I had to read 'Hound' for my Modern British Lit. class.

I'm going to do my final paper on 'Hound,' so I figured, as research, I would read 'The Mousetrap' out of good faith to the source material, and I came to realize that by reading the parody first, it completely ruined the experience of the original. I mean, it was still good, but all I could think about was the mocking premise of 'Hound.'

This happens more with movies--at least for me. I saw 'Night at the Roxbury' a few months before I ever saw 'Jerry Maguire,' so when I did finally see the 'You had me at "Hello"' scene with Tom Cruise and Renee, all I could think about was Chris Kattan telling Will Ferrell to shut up. But again, it was still good, just not as good. Plus, 'You had me at "Hello"' is possibly one of the most parodied lines ever.

Continue reading...

Murder on the Orient Express - IMDb

First, and for the record, Sidney Lumet is the shit.

A great 'whodunit,' set in the 1930s when a train is stuck in deep snow en route to... wherever. A man is murdered one night on the train and Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney), who had boarded at the last minute, being the detective he is, is enlisted to solved the crime.

I haven't read much Agatha Christie, but she has said this is the only film adaptation of her work that she was totally satisfied with, and there's good reason for that. Slow-paced but not lethargic, the story is unraveled in a way only Sidney Lumet could tell it.

It's been said everywhere else, so I guess I'll say it here. This is an amazing all-star cast. Albery Finney is perfect for this detective role. Anthony Perkins is always one of my favorites and he is a perfect fit for the timid assistant. Sean Connery, well, it's Sean f-ing Connery. Lauren Bacall, Wendy Hiller, Martin Balsam, John Gielgud, and of course my ever-favorite Ingrid Bergman. With so much talent there was no way this movie could go wrong.

There's more than a dozen suspects, a complex plot, and only the small area of a train to work with. For most people this would spell 'disaster,' but the film is executed perfectly and with a style that I rarely see anymore - though I wish I did.

Rating: 9/10

Continue reading...