Murder on the Orient Express, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool and Paddington 2

Three wonderful British movies in succession. Starting with Kenneth Branagh's hammed up Agatha Chrstie's Murder on the Orient Express. His portrayal of Poirot suffers a little from the accent coming and going, but I forgave him because of his magnificent speech at the end. The cast enjoy themselves immensely. Even Daisy Ridley is surprisingly good. Never mind that I knew the ending, the huge wide screen did justice to a colourful show.

Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool is an emotional roller-coaster, memorable for an Oscar deserving performance by Annette Bening. Her portrayal of the fading star Gloria Grahame is top drawer. This is a celebrity who feels she has to act that part in normal life. taken the sweetnes from  screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh, based on Turner's own memoir, is superb, as is the direction by Paul McGuigan. The editing of the different timelines is spot on. And finally the soundtrack is first class. So one of the best films this year.

The amazing thing about Paddington 2 is just how it is so well written. Director Paul King and Simon Farnably (famous in our house for Yonderland), with some help from Jon Croker, have taken the sweetness from Michael Bond's story and made it relevant and hilarious for the present day. OK, the plot and action is all fantasy stuff, but with such sensitive feeling towards all the characters, it means so much at the time. Again, the cast are first rate. Hugh Grant is getting all the plaudits, but I much preferred Sally Hawkins as Mrs Brown. Her desperation at Paddington's predicament is something special. A small cameo from Tom Conti and something more from Brendan Gleeson are both terrific.

RECENT BRITISH MOVIES

I have been so pleasantly surprised by how many British movies have been released recently, and how all of them have been so good:

Goodbye Christopher Robin
Beathe
The Death of Stalin
Murder on the Orient Express
Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool
Paddington 2

And it looks like there are more to come, including one about Charles Dickens writing A Christmas Carol.