Talkie Tuesday: Death on the Nile (2)

 

"It takes two." 

Hello everyone!

 

You thought I was done with this, didn't you?

 

Think again!

 

Inevitably, it seems, whenever I end up watching one of Kenneth Branagh's remakes, I also end up digging out the good old David Suchet interpretations.

 

Now, I have nothing personally against Branagh - in fact, there are several movies of his which I thoroughly enjoy, Thor among them - but unfortunately he's trying to flex and take creative liberties in a canon setting where these liberties might in the end confuse people more than make the cases clear and presentable.

 

And after all, that's what Agatha Christie was all about, in the end.

 

Murder mysteries, or mysteries as a whole, and the rather psychological way our detective solves them.

 

So one last time then: we're on a trip to Egypt. Death on the Nile it is!

 

Tome Thursday: Death on the Nile

 

Hello everyone!

 

As I spent my Tuesday blog post talking about the recent remake of Death on the Nile, I figured it's only fair and proper if I have a look at the original book that inspired all these adaptations.

 

I'm thinking of doing the same as I did with Murder on the Orient Express and also blogging about the David Suchet version, but we'll see.

 

For now, suffice to say that there are differences between the original book and the Kenneth Branagh remake.

 

However, the differences themselves aren't a glaring problem as far as I'm concerned - well, other than the case being presented poorly without REALLY asking the pertinent questions that might help move it along, but overall it isn't BAD.

 

The BAD part comes at the end and with Branagh's desire to change canon, so without further ado let's have a look at the ACTUAL story, shall we?

 

After all, Agatha Christie devoted her whole life to writing these things.

 

Death on the Nile is just one of her many successes.

 

Talkie Tuesday: Death on the Nile

 

"It takes two."

 

Hello everyone!

 

We return to the world of old Hollywood glamour, murder mysteries, and great mustaches.

 

No, seriously, we do.

 

You may have noticed that this blog features works by Agatha Christie rather often, and that's on purpose given that I thoroughly enjoy anything and everything that woman has ever written.

 

So when there are adaptations, you can bet I'll be somewhere close, or at least not far behind!

 

I'm a sucker for a good murder mystery, okay?

 

That said, I wasn't that much of a sucker for Kenneth Branagh's remake of Murder on the Orient Express, but I wanted to give this sequel to it a go because ... well, I'm a glutton for punishment.

 

And it wasn't even TOO bad, overall, if not for the blasted ending.

 

Hold on to your hats, we're taking a cruise through Egypt in Death on the Nile!

 

Death on the Nile (Booktober)

 

"Gott im Himmel! What is there now?"

 

 

 

With the new movie coming out (and by the looks of the trailer it might even be good) it's time to take a look at one of Agatha Christie's beloved mysteries again. Let's take a ride down the Nile alongside the egg-head-shaped detective who attracts problems like a magnet. And if you have the stomach for it, let's investigate the murder of a beautiful young woman - a crime of passion if there ever was one. Because when tempers run hot under the Egyptian sun, what else can you expect?

 

 

 

 

 

The tranquility of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful. A girl who had everything ... until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalls an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: "I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger." Yet in this exotic setting nothing is ever quite what it seems ...

(from book jacket)

xx

*image not mine

The Little White Horse (Booktober)

The Sign of Four (Booktober)

Harry Potter #2 (Booktober)

Troublemaker (Booktober)

The Lord of the Rings (Booktober)

Talkie Tuesday: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

Hello everyone!

I hope you're well during this chilly September. 

And rainy. Never forget the rain. 

That being said, it's all very September-y and nobody should honestly complain about it. It IS autumn, after all, and it's officially so as well since it's in the last part of the month.

Which means it's time for some warm socks, over-sized sweaters, and warm mugs of tea.

It's also time to return to Hogwarts.

Last week we took our first train to the ancient castle, and this week we're boarding it yet again.

But what happens when the magical barrier that leads to Platform 9 3/4 is suddenly closed?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. That's what happens.

Tome Thursday: Closed Casket

Hello everyone!

I apologise in advance if some portions of this blog may seem rambly or perhaps a little shakier than usual. I'm trying to fight off the beginnings of the flu so I'm pretty much drinking tea and vitamin C and cold medicine, coupled with a lot of honey and ginger, but my head still kind of feels like I may need a little bit of help lifting it next time I get up.

But anyway!

Yesterday (while I was feeling better than Tuesday and much better than today, being Thursday) I sneakily asked my father if I could steal a book he's currently reading. You're probably thinking GASP SO MEAN.

Not really - I asked before I nabbed it. Also, I'm a fast reader so I finished the book in one afternoon and now it's back where it belongs, waiting for my dad to continue munching through it.

The book I'm talking about is titled Closed Casket, and is the second of the New Hercule Poirot Mysteries, written by Sophie Hannah, who alone of all the writers vying for the honour of continuing Ms Christie's legacy was given that privilege.

Talkie Tuesday: Murder on the Orient Express (2)

"I do not approve of murder."

Hello everyone!

So a little while back I sat down to watch the re-make of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, helmed by Kenneth Branagh and some other famous film stars. 

Unfortunately, you may also know that one did NOT go off without a hitch.

In the spirit of trying to cleanse my taste buds from that foul thing, I ended up rewatching the David Suchet version with my friends (and then to top it off a couple of days ago, I also hunkered down for Death on the Nile, also with Suchet playing the titular role of the Belgian detective). Needless to say, the final consensus was that the Suchet apparition was much better than the Branagh one.

This does not necessarily have everything to do with the role of the sleuth, however, but with everything else happening around him, and how it's portrayed.

And while I will agree that, story-wise, there weren't that many differences between 2010 and 2017, the presentation of said story remains wildly opposite.

Back on the Orient Express we go!

Talkie Tuesday: Murder on the Orient Express

"I do not approve of murder."

Hello everyone!

First off, greetings from a VERY cold place. I swear, all that cold that seemed to have given the Koreans so much trouble during the Winter Olympics relocated up to Europe now. I can't remember the last time it's been this cold! 

Luckily, however, temperatures SHOULD rise by next week, though I doubt they'll go as high as mine did while I was watching the movie featured in tonight's blog post.

Many of you will know (or you're about to learn) that I am a devoted Agatha Christie fan. I have her entire book collection in the electronic version AND all of her Hercule Poirot-centered books in physical copies as well. Which does remind me that my padre needs to give me the books of hers he's hoarding so we can make one shelf of it.

Anyway.

As a fan, then, there's no way you can miss out on her most famous case involving Belgian detecive Monsieur Poirot. But while Murder on the Orient Express has the flare, it doesn't quite have the bang it might have wanted.