cherold

There aren't many series about a female Muslim punk rock band. There's just this one. But this one is so amazing that it feels like this should be a whole genre

The acting is great, the writing is great. The characters are distinct and three-dimensional. The series addresses issues specific to a distinct culture, and yet it is incredibly universal and relatable. And even at its most serious, it manages to keep its anarchic spirit.

Oh, also the songs are great.

This is, in fact, one of the most brilliant TV series of the last 10 years, and I am honestly perplexed by how little attention it seems to have gotten. Some TV series are all people talk about - your social media feed is full of it, there are op-eds in the papers, analysis. Think Ted Lasso, or The Bear. And yes, those are great shows too. But why is a series this funny and this brilliant not worthy of the same level of attention?

Probably has something to do with it being about Muslim women. Some people probably rejected it without watching it at all.

Anyway. You should watch it. If you do watch it you will be as desperate for a third season as I am.

Stultifying and ponderous, this humorless Christie production is dark and tedious. It's all set up as far as I got, like watching someone set up a chess board. I guess the idea is that once things get going, perhaps all the pieces come together in an interesting way, but if in the beginning you offer absolutely nothing of interest - just bland people blandly talking about unimportant things as though they were oh so important - I don't see why I should keep going in the hopes that eventually something interesting will occur.

It is, I suppose, what one could call "handsomely mounted," but it's also visually dark and monochromatic, which just adds to the deadening quality of it all.

A shame, there are some good people in the cast. But they didn't have much to work with.

This movie started off the genre of all-star Christie adaptations, and it's quite enjoyable. Lauren Bacall is wonderfully brash, Ingrid Bergman is intense (although I doubt she was the best choice for the Oscar she won) and characters are well drawn, with nice little touches of classism and xenophobia folded in.

But while Albert Finney inexplicably was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, it was terrible as a portrayal of Hercules Poirot and wasn't even good in general. It's very odd - he's pretty much a cartoon, with his chin sucked into his neck and a hoarse voice that has very little of a Belgian accent. I thought he was totally wrong at the time, but while Peter Ustinov was also wrong when he took over the role, he was less wrong than Finney. Same for Tony Randall, who took a stab at the part in the 1960s.

Of course, years after I saw this the perfect Poirot, David Suchet, showed how it should have been done all along. He was exactly what I expected from the books, and no one will ever be as good. But even before Suchet, Finney's was bad.

But not so bad that you shouldn't watch the movie. It is fun, it does have a bunch of famous actors strutting their stuff, and it is one of Christie's best stories.