Editorial

The Bottom Line: November 10, 2017: Gilderoy Lockhart Solves A Train Murder!

Kenneth Branagh Murder on the Orient Express

The Bottom Line: November 10, 2017

A remake of Murder on the Orient Express faces off against Mel Gibson this weekend. Find out how they will all do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line!

Box Office Top Five

Thor: Ragnarok topped the box office (of course) with $123 million. Second place went to A Bad Moms Christmas, which took in $17.3 million. Jigsaw dropped to third place $6.8 million, while Boo 2! A Madea Halloween took fourth with $4.8 million. Geostorm rounded out the top five with $3.2 million.

A Closer Look at Some of this Week’s Films.

Murder on the Orient Express (PG-13) 114 mins.

Kenneth Branagh assembles an all-star cast and grows an all-star mustache to lead this new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. He plays the iconic Hercule Poirot alongside such names as Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfieffer, Josh Gad, Willem Dafoe, Penelope Cruz, Daisy Ridley and Hamilton‘s Aaron Burr (sir), Leslie Odom Jr. Branagh also shot the film on some 65mm cameras he borrowed off the set of Dunkirk, so at the very least, the movie will probably look really cool.

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But do modern audiences care much about a new Murder on the Orient Express? Reviews have been middling-to-good, and I’m interesting in seeing it. Mostly, I’m interested in seeing that mustache. It’s like Branagh grew his own mustache, but it wasn’t enough, so they took the digitally removed Henry Cavill mustache from Justice League and added it to Branagh for good measure. I predict Murder on the Orient Express opens at number three.

Daddy’s Home 2 (PG-13) 98 mins.

So… I guess Hollywood thinks we’re ok with Mel Gibson again? They’re banking on it, anyway, considering how prominently he features into the trailers for Daddy’s Home 2. This is the sequel to the hit comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and it looks like pretty much the same movie as A Bad Moms Christmas. Will Ferrell had such a long string of great comedies (mostly with Adam McKay) that it is a bit of a bummer seeing him slumming it in something like this, which is just getting dragged critically.

In terms of box office, though, I’m sure this will do well. The first was much bigger than it had any right to be, and I’ve seen this trailer really well in packed movie theaters. Expect it to take number two this weekend, just because I don’t expect it to take down Thor for first.

 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (R) 115 mins.

Oh yeah, this is what I’m talking about. Writer/director Martin McDonagh is back with another biting dark comedy in the critically-acclaimed Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. After the amazing In Bruges and the underrated Seven Psychopaths, I’m eager to see more from him and I’ve heard many say this may be his best film. Starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell and taking on American life in a bracing, unflinching manner, Three Billboards is a movie people have been talking about for a while and will likely continue to well into Oscar season. It’s in limited release though, so don’t expect it to crack the top five.

The Bottom Line

Thor: Ragnarok will maintain its spot in first place, while Daddy’s Home 2 will take second. Murder on the Orient Express will open in third place, while fourth will go to A Bad Moms Christmas. Jigsaw will round out the to five.

Movies To Look Forward To:

Justice League, Wonder, The Star (November 17th)

Leave your thoughts on The Bottom Line, Murder on the Orient Express, Daddy’s Home 2, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri below in the comments section. Readers seeking more The Bottom Line can visit our The Bottom Line Page. Want up-to-the-minute notification? Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook. 


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Michael Smith

Mike Smith is an avid filmgoer from New York who loves to hear his own voice - luckily his work as a podcaster on FilmBook allows him to do just that. Mike graduated from The College of Saint Rose in Albany with a degree in communications, and is ready to dole out critical analysis of all your pop culture fixations. Mike is the host of FilmBookCast and can frequently be seen at his local movie theater, patiently explaining to his friends that Superman Returns is a misunderstood masterpiece.
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