Artemis Fowl (2020)

Thanks to the 30 day movie challenge and how specific it was, there was a lot of films that have been released that I have been meaning to catch up on. A lot of films that were supposed to see theatrical releases for the first time ever were released on various platforms rather than being pushed back and today's film Artemis Fowl is one of those as it was released on Disney Plus last month. The film stars Ferdia Shaw in his first role as Artemis Fowl Jr., a kid who is basically way too smart for his own good, but is the heir to a family secret that is being threatened to be exposed when his father is kidnapped by an evil being somewhere in a magical world. So, he'll have to resort to some unorthodox tactics to try and save his father before it's too late. The film also stars Colin Farrell (The Gentlemen) as Artemis Fowl Sr., Josh Gad (Murder On The Orient Express) as Mulch Diggums,  Nonso Anozie (Conan The Barbarian) as Domovoi Butler, Lara McDonnell (Love, Rosie) as Holly Short, Judi Dench (Murder On The Orient Express) as Commander Root, Tamara Smart (The Worst Witch) as Juliet, Nikesh Patel (London Has Fallen) as Chief Tech Officer Foaly, Jake Davies (A Brilliant Young Mind) as Chix Verbil, and the film was directed by Kenneth Branagh (Murder On The Orient Express).

Spoiler Alert: I may say things in this paragraph that could give away some key details so proceed with caution. I have to be honest in saying that while I think this could have made some money in the box office, I think this was definitely the smartest choice by Disney to have it streaming on their service. No one knows if theaters are ever going to be the same again and Universal is willing to bank on streaming services for their films so Disney may not be far behind. Now as far as the film is concerned, I definitely was a big fan of the special effects and the imaginative things they did with the story, but I kind of hated the ending of the story. I was hoping for a big time showdown with Opal that would involve magic and what not, but instead we get them rescuing his dad with magic as it teleported him out of their. Then we just get a bunch of we are going to get you scenarios that definitely left me up in the air as far as whether I want more or not. I definitely feel a sequel could have been up in the air had it done well in the box office so it remains to be seen what happens next. I definitely liked the acting in the film which was a saving grace for them, but I wanted more Colin Farrell. Nonetheless, the film is available and it has it's ups to go with the downs, but if I am being 100% honest with you all it's not a bad film. That is why I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.

Murder On The Orient Express (2017)

There are times in life when things happen that prevent us from seeing a brand new film or a concert that you wanted to go to. The film that I chose for today is an example of a film that for some strange reason I haven't seen until now as it was being offered for free on demand. The film is 2017's Murder On The Orient Express which is based off of the novel by Agatha Christie and was directed by  Kenneth Branagh (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) and he also stars as the films main character Hercule Poirot, the greatest detective in the world. After solving a case in Jerusalem, Det. Poirot is offered a ride to his next destination on the Orient Express. Unfortunately for him, a man is murdered on the train and Poirot is forced to put his detective skills to the test as he tries to figure out who murdered this man, but it may not be as easy as it seems this time. The film also stars Johnny Depp (Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) as Edward Ratchett, Josh Gad (Frozen) as Hector MacQueen,  Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Miss Mary Debenham, Leslie Odom Jr. (Red Tails) as Dr. Arbuthnot, Tom Bateman (Snatched) as Bouc, Penélope Cruz (Blow) as Pilar Estravados,  Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Magnificent Seven) as Biniamino Marquez, Sergei Polunin (Red Sparrow) as Count Rudolph Andrenyi, Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) as Countess Elena Andrenyi, Judi Dench (Skyfall) as Princess Dragomiroff, Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse) as Gerhard Hardman, and  Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Minds) as Caroline Hubbard.

The amount of star power that is in this film is absolutely amazing from Branagh to Johnny Depp to Willem Dafoe, but let's be honest about something. When you have that much star power in your film it can go one of two ways and that is one with it being a huge success and the second being a total failure. The first option in my opinion was definitely the case as every actor seemed to bring their a game no matter how large or small of a role they had in the film. Kenneth was definitely the star of the show as he proved why he is one of the best in the business and he was definitely the better Frenchman than Steve Martin from yesterdays film (but two totally different films). The huge surprise for me from this film has to go to Daisy Ridley who I loved in the Star Wars series, but she held her own with some of the best like Dench, Pfeiffer, etc and she was absolutely fantastic. I have never read the story or seen the original film, but I definitely did not see the ending coming because the whole time I was trying to figure out who it was. I definitely love films that throw the monkey wrench in and they do a terrific job of explaining it. They don't try to throw you in a loop just for the sake of having it, but in this they do it with expertise. I loved the costumes and I loved the cinematography in the film which helped a lot in execution. This was a lot of fun to watch and I am happy I was finally able to see it and I suggest you do the same. I am going to go ahead and give the film an A for a final grade.