MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Nov 2017

CAST

Tom Bateman, Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Marwan Kenzari, Lucy Boynton, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Sergei Polunin

I just got back from seeing Orient Express : the new one with Kenneth Branagh- and it was NOTHING like i was expecting.. and to be honest i am Delighted by that fact...

one other point before i start. while this is a MOVIE. it IS essentially a play on a specific & limited stage. it doesnt have the kind of wild & bloody shootem up bang bang excitement most movies seem to have now days. everything has to happen on that limited stage.. its the essence & part of what i Enjoyed about the movie.. I personally give it 4.5stars

understand 3 things
1) i am A LONG STANDING fan of Agatha Christie: i recently read a review who complained about Christie's mysteries that has the reader as being an observer rather than falling into the story.. i guess i prefer that.. i like trying to figure out how the detective is figuring things out.. invariably i end up rereading a story to see how i missed the obvious clues lol... so yes i love that.. If you dont Orient Express may irritate you..

2) as much as i hate to admit it i AM a Fan of Johnny Depp. in spite of himself sometimes. his role in this movie is remarkably restrained -- tight & rough as the character is SUPPOSED to be. not a Johnny extravaganza that apparently some expected & were disappointed not to get. so yea for Branagh's Directing for keeping him IN character!

3) i AM NOT a Branagh fan as a rule.. every time i see him he seems 'over the top' in whatever role. kinda like the complaints about depp. hard to see the character for the actor. Not to mention the deep prejudice of many that David Suchet's role in Sidney Lumet’s 1974 adaptation is the best out there. (he does portray Poirot physically to perfection but even he takes him 'out there' a bit. I found Branagh's Poirot a bit more realistic, a bit more 'human' as it were. Obviously still very OCD in his fanatic pursuit of 'balance' but still more understanding of other humans than has been portrayed before..

I will say the cinematography was awesome and the DETAILS on the train mind boggling (1930s Lightbulbs for heaven sakes & the measuring the silverware placement in the dining car.. they DID that then!!!) nice tiny details that make things more fun to watch & watch for.

the main negatives that i see in this version is there isnt time/effort to fill the other charactors in as much as i would like.. they remain fairly shallow- but then they were in the book as well.. with such excellent actors portraying them i would have liked to 'know the charactors just a bit more. nothing bad about them, just not enough of them.

As there are still some few out there who do not know the story or its ending i wont go into further detail on that. Suffice it to say, one thing i havent really seen in previous versions of the movie. this one acknowledges this is a Murder (not just a mystery) and like all murders its a tragedy and no matter how good the detective is, how well he does his job, he cannot mend the damages done by such a tragedy. he can only hope to find justice somewhere in the pain of it.

i didnt leave the theater smiling but i did leave it feeling what the depth of the story was really about. i count that as a successful movie

Does the word Poor need rethinking:
 NOT eating Poor as opposed to eating Poorly……                                     

We all have moments of Eating Poorly.. quick snacks, fast food, skipping meals, junk food, soda.. everyone has at least one moment of this.. these are choices. we all make them & often (too often) regret them. - but in our runabout world we Get to make these choices.        ********************************************************************** But we dont have to Eat Poor,  although our choice making is a surprisingly similar set up.... choices are still made - the key is to not make bad ones..- and when there are few choices to Choose from, it can make a significant difference in the Quality of ones eating.

This is not a diatribe about being poor nor is it a condemnation of peoples choices. I am hoping to REMIND people, that even those in harsh circumstance may still  have 'some' choices still available to them. The difficulty I see the most is the lack of Knowledge.

 If I may digress a few moments before I share todays' vintage recipe - My family and I have been in the shoes of many who are considered rock bottom poor. It happened to us on more than one occasion.  I do not brag about that, its a simple statement of fact. ANYONE can end up in that sort of situation. The difference I feel is that i was Lucky. I had knowledge that many around me apparently did not have. this knowledge kept us going and we survived. both of us were raised by family that survived the Great Depression of the 30's and thru the tribulations of the 40's and WWII. From them we learned to cope with and create from what we did have.   Simple things- simple ideas.

 ALL things we 'know' today but many have moved away from.. a truly easy example of what i mean - a medium box of a product like Bisquick is very convenient and versatile but it can cost 5.8 cents an ounce (96oz for $16.52) for one box.. on the other hand to make that same thing from scratch can average..$0.15 per cup  http://penniesandpancakes.blogspot.com/2013/04/homemade-bisquick-mix-010-per-cup.html#.VINcH8k35-w

THESE are the kind of choices we must face when income has become drastically reduced. I feel I can speak to it because I have Done it.. One of the things I noticed the most when we were eating 'poor' was the lack of variety. very often one eats the same thing nearly every day - its a 'safe, known' recipe but I believe that contributes to a state of depression that many end up facing. Also, i was surprised to notice the lack of sweets seemed to add to the problem.. 

 As I have been rediscovering these vintage  depression & war years recipes, I was very interested to note How these things were addressed and SOLVED by the average homemaker. 

 Today's Vintage recipe I believe this was created with these thoughts in mind.. A frugal use of leftovers perhaps….. or the only meat in the house that day. and how to make it 'palatable, different and even rather sweet. Its an Interesting Recipe - Don't let your Modern sensibilities be put off by the name/ingredients,  we have quite enjoyed it.

PORK CAKE:
The Date/Year and Region: America's Cookbook New & Revised Edition 1944

Pork cake recipe

 

trying to mince the pork

fruits & meat chopped fine

baking

finished 'cake'

How Did You Make It:  very close to original recipe with some modifications – the hardest part for me was mincing the salt pork. I had to do it with a less than ultra sharp knife. A small processor would have made it MUCH easier (I did remove the rind as well) – all else was simple.
Time to Complete: approximately an hour – an easy recipe
 
Total Cost:
Most was in my cupboard/ refrigerator except the dried apricots – I already had the salt pork & raisins, molasses --- probably in the $4 range all told if that much—

How Successful Was It?:  Very – but it depends on ones point of view – My friend loves molasses, I like it, but much of the family does not & it Is a strong flavorant – although the amount used was small, It affected people’s response to the ‘cake’. 

 How Accurate Was It  Very accurate  I only substituted one ingredient (apricots for citron -as I had seen suggested on a website) I chose not to use some ingredients called for.

 Further thoughts: several things. 
First this was called a Cake.- from all the family’s point of view it was closer to a fruit cake than any form of cake we usually eat & its cooked in a bread loaf pan.. The ‘cake’ is very dense and moist. As None of us actually like the fruits called for in various fruit cakes we chose Not to include most of them.

The elephant in the room: the PORK. I am a fan of pork & find the meat sweet & pleasant but I did wonder what it would taste like in cake form. The very odd thing about this cake was you cannot actually Taste the pork. Yet its sweet & moist and dense. 

The only complaints about the cake was the molasses taste that some don’t like – even the apricots & raisons were not really noticable as a separate individual taste. The whole thing blended really nicely. – it was delicious plain, butter and cream cheese went well with it. 

If molasses is acceptable to your family I will actually highly recommend this.
It was fast it was easy and a very frugal use of a small amount of protein to enrich ones diet and it satisfies the need for a sweet taste as well.