Michelle Pfeiffer 'Afraid of Failing?'

Few days ago at NYT, Michelle Pfeiffer said she was 'afraid of failing' and 'You cannot bomb in front of Judi Dench.' From the footage in this trailer for Kenneth Branagh's 'Murder on the Orient Express' Pfeiffer is looking pretty good.

Nice to see her back.

Where Was This Clip Before Ryan Opened?

Gotta say, this car chase is pretty nicely loaded. You can follow the action, there's a good reveal for Keira Knightley's character, the editing is tight but remains engaging, camera work is good, and it doesn't play by-the-numbers -- not bad for yet another car chase.

And, watching this, I'm thinking 'Great, can't wait'. Thing is the movie opened last week (and did pretty poorly) and I didn't go see it because trailers were so lifeless. So then, where, one must ask, was this clip last week? Why didn't Paramount play this ace before the movie opened?

Strange strategy. Are they going for a strong second weekend?

I, for one though, can't wait to see this on disc. I need to know if the rest of Shadow Recruit meets the quality of this clip. Kenneth Branagh has the chops, we certainly know that, and if the whole movie is this good somebody did a lousy job promoting it.

'Ryan' Springs To Life

First trailer was, not to use technical terms but, pretty blah. Don't remember why but, then again, I don't really remember much about the trailer, period. 'Shadow Recruit' came off product-y, jangly, and I wasn't interested.

This edit is much better. I'm loving the look of this and Keira Knightley adds just the right touch. So do Kevin Costner and Kenneth Branagh, for that matter. Balances out that Chris Pine guy-in-line-at-Starbucks vibe.

I'd have to say Branagh has become a trusted director. This looks, dare I say it, tight. And, that Russian accent...