This whole outdoor cinema trend seems to be getting bigger and bigger. The only one I had heard of was Moonlight Cinema, at the lovely Botanical Gardens, but I'm hearing about more and more outdoor cinema events. The latest one to open up is the Openair Cinema, down by the St. Kilda Sea Baths. The movie MrFodder and I signed up to see was Murder on the Orient Express, which is based on the novel by Agatha Christie. It stars Hecule Poirot, the famous fictional Belgian detective.
I know it's pretentious to say this, but I enjoyed the book more. I think the book did a far better job at building up the mystery, and slowly dropping hints at who the murderer was. I don't know if it's because of the success of Sherlock (and to a lesser degree, Monk), but I felt like the movie played too much on Poirot's eccentricities for comedic relief. The pace of the movie was like a runaway freight train (or maybe the Orient Express, hur hur hur, bad joke), so there never really felt like there was much mystery, nor fear that they were on the train with a murderer. It's probably because books are a better medium for showing what a character is thinking. The movie did a great job of introducing the character of Poirot and showing that he's a genius detective, albeit one who loves things to be "balanced". But after the introduction, it felt like there wasn't enough time for more character development.
To be fair, Murder on the Orient Express has a large cast of characters, and 114 minutes is barely enough time to build all of them up to be credible suspects, while also allowing enough time to for the murder to be set up and solved. Despite the star-studded cast, most of the characters barely had any screen time, including, sadly, Judi Dench. The setting was great, and I think the filmography was good, too. I loved the different camera angles, including one where they're talking on the train (which is obviously quite cramped), and the entire scene is shot from bird's eye view (assuming the roof is gone), so you see the tops of the characters heads as they walk around.
Overall, the movie was OK, but I personally wouldn't recommend paying to watch it. It sits somewhere between an episode of Psych and Clue, where both are shows that are more about the antics of the various characters, and less about the mystery itself - though Psych does at least set up a solvable mystery, whereas Clue has 3 different endings, so even if you were picking up all the clues, it doesn't even mater, because there isn't even a "right" answer.
As for the outdoor cinema, it was a bit of a mixed bag for me.
The venue was great, and we got there quite early, so we were able to get quite good seats. I'd paid extra to hire one of the inflatable loungers, so we had something to prop our backs up, as I've found in the past that sitting up for about 2 hours becomes quite tiring on your back. I had a bit of trouble getting the right position, but after a while, I got comfortable. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't start until sunset, and the gates open at 6. Now that it's Summer, that meant there was nearly 3 hours between when we arrived and when the movie started (sunset was 8:45). By the time the movie started, the whole place was packed.
They do have a bar there, as well as a take-away restaurant that does pizzas and some other fried foods, I think. We picked up some burgers from Andrew's Hamburgers on the way in, as they also let you bring your own food and drinks (though I don't think you're allowed to bring in glass bottles). The entire event is cashless, so don't forget your credit / debit cards! American Express (the sponsors) cardholders get discounted tickets, and complimentary blankets (normally $5).
There was also a slight failure right before the movie, as the power went out and the screen deflated.
By the way, remember how I mentioned those blankets? You should bring some (or hire some). After the sun went down, it was cold. Because we were right next to the beach, it was quite windy, and even though I had one of the blankets, it was pretty thin and the wind managed to get through the exposed areas. It was nice having seagulls fly overhead, as it was really pretty seeing them gliding with the stars in the background.
Lastly, since he is famous for it, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Poirot's moustache.
Even though it looks a bit ridiculous, and doesn't quite match his hair, I think they did a great job with it, as I always imagined Poirot having a great big moustache like that.
I'm also conceding that I was incorrect in what I thought constituted a moustache. I thought that a moustache was the bit above the lip, regardless of whether or not it was connected to a beard. But after polling a lot of people recently, I've come to find out that if it's connected to a beard, it's just part of the beard. It's only a moustache if it's a standalone thing - even if the moustache itself is distinct from the rest of the beard. So I guess I need to rename NiceMoustacheGuy to NiceBeardGuy, because his moustache is connected to his beard. No, I am not going to compliment his beard. I'm done with compliments.
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