cherold

This movie started off the genre of all-star Christie adaptations, and it's quite enjoyable. Lauren Bacall is wonderfully brash, Ingrid Bergman is intense (although I doubt she was the best choice for the Oscar she won) and characters are well drawn, with nice little touches of classism and xenophobia folded in.

But while Albert Finney inexplicably was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, it was terrible as a portrayal of Hercules Poirot and wasn't even good in general. It's very odd - he's pretty much a cartoon, with his chin sucked into his neck and a hoarse voice that has very little of a Belgian accent. I thought he was totally wrong at the time, but while Peter Ustinov was also wrong when he took over the role, he was less wrong than Finney. Same for Tony Randall, who took a stab at the part in the 1960s.

Of course, years after I saw this the perfect Poirot, David Suchet, showed how it should have been done all along. He was exactly what I expected from the books, and no one will ever be as good. But even before Suchet, Finney's was bad.

But not so bad that you shouldn't watch the movie. It is fun, it does have a bunch of famous actors strutting their stuff, and it is one of Christie's best stories.

In this fascinatingly off-kilter film, a guy finds himself in the middle of a desert being chased by a giant. After finding shelter, he gets his bearings, makes a discovery, befriends a bird, and starts a grand journey to a mysterious destination.

The movie is heavy on symbolism but light on detailed storytelling. If you want a cartoon with an elaborate plot, a wacky sidekick and characters learning and growing, this probably won't be the movie for you. But it's an incredible experience.

This movie was apparently made by one guy using animation software, and at times it looks like an adventure game from a couple of decades ago. Which I don't mind. But it is also, at times, visually stupendous - the mirrored lake with birds and birds and birds is amazing. It's very imaginative and well directed, creating moments of suspense and fun and tragedy.

It's also all pretty symbolic, and I don't really know what it all means. I'd love to hear a good analysis, but not understanding it all doesn't make it any less enjoyable to watch.

Highly recommended.

This odd little movie stars Amy Adams (excellent performance) as a mother who, in her inner thoughts, is trapped in a prison of her own design - being a mom.

Instead of motherhood as a joy, it portrays motherhood as a manic-depressive roller coaster with yes, moments of joy, but also of terror and emotional brutality that make you feel you're losing yourself and turning into ... something.

In her isolation, the mother might consider herself a freak, but the movie suggests that moms are perhaps all going through stuff, no matter how they seem on the surface. Some of that is pretty fascinating.

This is the fifth feature-length film Marielle Heller has directed, and they are all remarkably different from one another. She has incredible range. At the same time, while I really liked Nightbitch, I liked it less than all her other features. It just somehow missed being great. But it's still well worth watching.