Cinema Cat

    Murder on the Orient Express Kenneth Branagh, Director   Overheard during Previews of Coming Attractions:  “Well, I like Liam Neeson , but that looks stupid.” We feel ya, lady seated in the next row back.  We like Kenneth Branagh , and Johnny Depp , and Judi Dench , and Willem Dafoe , and Michelle Pfeiffer , and Penelope Cruz (well, sorta), and Josh Gad and Derek Jacobi …but this movie is stupid. OK.  Maybe we’re out of line to say such a thing about this lush production full of all these beautiful people.  There were at least a couple of noteworthy elements to this 70mm spectacle:  1. Branagh’s mesmerizing mustache and 2. that super cool avalanche. It probably is unjust to impugn a film when you’re not the intended audience.  And there was fair warning.  We knew going in that it was an Agatha Christie murder mystery; that Hercule Poirot would treat us like Perry Mason treated our mothers back in...

The Florida Project Willem Dafoe Brooklynn Prince Valeria Cotto Bria Vinaite Sean Baker, Director  Right out of the chute, The Florida Project thrusts us back into the free-wheeling summer vacations and that big-world-no-worries life that children lead.  Remember when school let out, and June, July, and August stretched to the horizon like Route 66 across New Mexico?  So we freely surrender to Sean Baker , the striking cotton candy colors of Florida, and these precocious kids’ point of view.  Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), Jancey (Valeria Cotto), and Scooty (Christopher Rivera) travel at will among the brightly-painted yet seedy residence motels just outside of – and galaxies away from  – Walt Disney World.  The kids’ shenanigans seem mostly child-like and harmless until a seeping realization forms in the periphery:  While this sense of freedom and unlimited time seem familiar, this is not a replay of the innocen...