September Stew: A Haunting in Venice, The Inventor, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

September featured an assortment of random films at the movie theaters and so now here's an assortment of reviews for your perusal.

A Haunting in Venice: Apparently Kenneth Branagh has decided that all he is doing from here on out is Hercule Poirot movies. And frankly, I’m not mad about it. Are these movies works of art? No. But am I a massive Agatha Christie fan who enjoys any adaptations of her work and is pleasantly surprised at the set pieces Branagh conjures up for each new film? You betcha.

In this installment, writer Michael Green has adapted the novel, Hallowe'en Party, which is set in a quintessentially English village, and instead moved it to midnight at Venice. This film is absolutely *brimming* with ambiance. And yes, it's a typical Poirot murder mystery where someone will get killed and our Belgian detective must employ his little gray cells to figure out who the killer is. But there are a lot of mystical and fantastical elements at play as well, which make this quite a spooky movie. It isn't quite horror, but it certainly features a number of jump scares and an eerie score by Hildur Guonadottir that will keep you on your toes. 

Like the previous films, this is a stacked cast, featuring people like Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Reilly, and Michelle Yeoh. They all look like they're having a whale of a time running around this creepy palazzo, trying not to get murdered, while a storm rages outside and Venice is flooding. It's a fun, creepy, entertaining film, and definitely one of your better options this weekend at the theater. 

The Inventor: I'll be honest, I watched this movie a few weeks ago and have already forgotten most of it. Which is not to say that it's bad, but I was sitting next to a very noisy family with young children, and as such it was a little hard to pay attention. Word of advice: while this is an animated film, it is probably too high-concept to keep a child entertained for 90 minutes. 

Directed by Jim Copobianco, this is a movie about Leonardo da Vinci (delightfully voiced by Stephen Fry) when he moved from Italy to France, and pursued a vision of designing the ideal city. It is gently funny but still informative, and would delight anyway who is into history, art, da Vinci, or just beautiful stop-motion animation in general. But it is also weirdly a musical. Which was very funny because Fry would just speak-sing his bits, while it turns out Daisy Ridley, who voices Princess Marguerite, has a rather lovely singing voice. Apart from that though, I can't say anything else really stood out. This is the kind of film that might be great to nap to during an afternoon because it is so soothing and beautiful. I know that's not much of an endorsement, but I know there are people for whom this is exactly the kind of thing they are seeking, so there you go! 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3: Yes, I know, I was really scraping the barrel in my need to watch movies on the big screen this month. I'll say it right off the bat - this is not a good movie. But given that it is officially fall and it has been cold and rainy for a week, you might greatly enjoy escaping to the sunny climes of Greece for an hour and a half and getting hungry at the lashes of food featured in nearly every scene. But that's about it. 

Nia Vardalos still stars as Toula, but she also wrote and directed, and oof this script is a hot mess. It was honestly laughable how it would move from one scene to a completely unrelated next scene, and the dialogue felt like a kindergarten play. There are lots of little side-plots, none of which are remotely fleshed out, and they all get tied up neatly with a bow almost as soon as they are presented. Everyone looks like they are having a grand time, because they are in Greece after all, but other than that, this movie is so shoddy. But to be clear, it's bad in a bewildering way, not in a frustrating way. I didn't leave the theater feeling mad about wasting my time, I just left feeling very bemused about what the filmmakers were even thinking. Because again, there's nothing else to watch these days, and at least I got to vacation in Greece for a bit. So, the bar is already pretty low, and yet this film does not manage to clear it. Opa!