The Mystery of the Blue Train - Agatha Christie

"The Mystery of the Blue Train" was published in 1928 and features Hercule Poirot. The retired detective rides a train to the Riviera upon which a murder takes place. Poirot works along with the police to find the killer. The French police are sure it is a conman but Poirot suspects the husband. A famed diamond is found to be missing from the murdered woman's belongings which ads more motive to all suspects. It takes time but Poirot catches the murderer and the thief.

The detective stories I read most recently were Sherlock Holmes mysteries, so I found myself comparing the two. Holmes stories generally follow the detective and Dr. Watson as they are introduced to the mystery and work through until it is solved. This story introduced all the characters in detail before any mystery appeared. Poirot does not appear until a third of the way through the book. The protagonist of "The Mystery of the Blue Train" is Katherine Grey, a woman on her first trip to the Riviera and the last person to talk with the murder victim, not the detective.

Upsides
The character development - establishing the characters before the mystery allows the reader to concentrate on understanding the mystery and not be concerned about how the characters fit into the narrative. Most of the suspense comes from character revelation rather than new evidence.
Multiple points of view - the reader has access to many characters' reactions

Downsides
Hidden knowledge - Poirot has facts the reader doesn't have access to (Holmes stories do this too)

Paddington 2 (2018)

Paddington 2 follows Paddington on his search for the perfect birthday present for his Aunt Lucy. Of course things don't go as planned. Paddington is sent to jail for stealing and the Brown's must find the real thief.

Upsides
A happy family film
I like the variety of crazy characters more in this than the first film
Laugh out loud slapstick humour

Downsides
It takes a lot of ideas directly from the first film. Do not watch if you recently watched the first one, it will not be as enjoyable.

The Commuter (2018)

The Commuter follows Michael on the day he gets fired from his job and takes the train ride home to tell his wife. On the train a lady asks him a hypothetical question that turns out not to be hypothetical.

Upside
Visual story telling - the first scene kind of blew my mind
                                -so many important details are only communicated visually
The ending
The fight scenes

Downside
The non-fight action scenes - a regular person would not survive that long
The family's reaction to Michael's day was underwhelming

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Hercule Poirot the famous detective is taking a holiday train trip on the way to another crime. During the 3 day trip a murder is committed. The train then gets derailed by snow in the mountains. During this delay to the next station Poirot must find the murderer.

Upsides
Some laughs - my theatre often laughed out loud
Character introductions - especially Poirot and Booker

Downsides
Some of the detecting at the end

and



!SPOILERS!

There is no way all 12 people would be able to believably act as if they did not know each other if they were recruited beforehand






P.S. I had not read the book before seeing the film, I liked it so much Hercule Poirot will be the net mystery books I read

Snow (2004)

A Santa Claus origin story "Snow" follows Nick Snowden on the week before Christmas. Nick is the next Santa and is preparing for the big day. Sandy works at the San Ernesto zoo. The zoo just got some new reindeer but one of them belongs to Nick. Nick leaves the North Pole to get the reindeer back before Christmas.

Upsides

Fun characters - Hector is awesome
Good special effects - the animated reindeer doesn't hold up, but the mirror looks really good
New Santa origin story
They made a sequel

Downsides

It ends with a couple questions - Can Nick understand NFRs too? What if there is no son in the family? Can people still find the workshop if it isn't the week before Christmas?

The sequel isn't as good

Bladerunner 2049 (2017)

Bladerunner 2049 is a sequel to a 1982 film based on a 1968 sci-fi book.

Upsides
It lives up to the first film well
It continues to make you think after it is over
They never answered whether Deckard is a Replicant
Scale

Downside
The music of the first film was iconic and different - they only used that style a few times




P.S. I still like the book "Do android's dream of electric sheep?" by Philip K Dick better.

P.P.S. The book and film are set in the same world but the story and characters are very different

Justice League (2017)

Justice League is the DCEU's answer to the Avengers of the MCU. Justice League Picks up right after Batman v Superman. Batman recruits the people in the video files. He visits Aquaman first but is unable to convince him to fight. Diana works to recruit Cyborg and is also turned down. Batman then finds Flash and recruits him. The villain is from Diana's history so she explains the goals and past of the people they are fighting.

Upsides
Much better than Batman v Superman - the story makes sense
Barry Allen is really funny - I was worried because his character is so well established on TV but the differences are big enough to still be the Flash and not feel like a copy


Downsides
Tries to be a team up story as well as Cyborg's origin
Superman's character isn't consistent with the previous movies
They don't call Barry, Flash or Victor, Cyborg