Daniel_Gullo Reviews

Poirot: Appointment with Death (2008) Season 11, Episode 4

Lifelong Agatha Christie Fan: "This program was actually BETTER than the book!"

[10/10 · 1 September 2023]

Been a fan of Agatha Christie for >40 years. This is one of the few instances where the show was better than the book. As usual, Suchet delivers, as do the other cast members, like Tim Curry, Elizabeth McGovern, and John Hannah. The plot keeps the viewer guessing what will happen next, as opposed to the book and other productions; which were boring as hell. I may be the only fan of this episode and that's fine.

The Peter Ustinov production with Carrie Fisher, John Gielgud, David Soul, Piper Laurie, and Lauren Baccall was a 1/10 for me. I had high hopes because this was true to the book (which I was not a fan of) but then it fell flat on its face.

All of the ITV Studios productions are high quality, artistically made and breath taking.

The Wind (II) (2018)

The Wind came, and the plot blew away like dust...

[2/10 · 16 August 2019]

Other than some nice cinematography, this film represents 86 mins of my life I will never get back. Flash back, flash forward, flash sideways. The 12 producers could have each chipped in $5 for a 12# sledge hammer and taken turns hitting each other in the face, which would have been more valuable than what they spent on this film.

Solaris (2002)

Dreadfully and Mind-numbingly Boring

[2 November 2004]

On a "college art and cinematography student final project" level, this film succeeds in raising a little curiosity. The only saving grace is the soundtrack. (And possibly, Natascha McElhone, if she is your type. . .)

The film is reminiscent of 2001, Sphere, Event Horizon, etc. without the clarity of direction of the former three.

The trivia section of the IMDb page for this movie says that this version is an hour shorter than the original. That missing hour must contain the plot.

I didn't like it after the first 10 minutes. I guess I should have left (returned it to Blockbuster) as Soderbergh suggested.

Maybe he should offer a rebate for watching this turkey.

Red Dragon (2002)

Weak, trivial, shallow, miserable piece of cinema garbage. .

[9 April 2003]

'Red Dragon' = Boone's Strawberry Hill, Brass Monkey, E&J Gallo

'Manhunter' = Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, Dom Perignon

'Red Dragon' was a careless conglomeration of trite phrases; an attempt to hammer into the 'Silence of the Lambs' mold, a masterful story.

'Manhunter' had it all: depth of character, depth of plot, outstanding cinematography, thematic music.

It is yet another sad attempt to remake a classic which results in miserable failure (cf. 'Psycho', 'Rear Window', 'The Shining', etc.)

Why are we supposed to care about the Grahams? Why does Dolarhyde look like he just stepped-off the cover of GQ? Hoffman as Lounds isn't nearly as creepy and slimy as Lang. They replaced all of the characters but Crawford with their 'Silence of the Lambs' counterparts. (Glenn probably saw it for the turkey that it is.) I can't believe Hopkins agreed to this one. Must be some inescapable contractual thing.

Recommedation: Rent the movie, buy a gun and one bullet, you know the rest.. .