New Christie Minstrels
Agatha Christie is the second-most popular author in history, after Shakespeare, who had a few hundred years head start on her. There have been more than 30 filmed adaptations, 14 non-English, of her novels. Last night I was scanning with the remote and checked the PBS station All Arts, 21–4 on OTA in NYC. Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019) is not based on any of the master’s works. Agatha is the main character, trying to solve murders at an Iraq dig. I’ve read only one of her books — I don’t remember which — so I cannot judge her work. I found it difficult, maybe because she’s a lot smarter than me. The movie in question was not easy to follow but it was running commercial-free, so I stayed with it. I didn’t recognize anyone in the cast, despite their extensive credits, including the lead, Lyndsey Marshall. Everyone is fine. I didn’t guess the culprit. I chuckled when I saw the disclaimer at the end: “This film has not been endorsed, licensed or authorised by the estate of Agatha Christie or by Agatha Christie Limited.” The cast and crew describe the program as ‘faction’ — a mixture of fact and fiction. The Wiki page devoted to the film describes it as “alternative history.” The male lead character, archaeologist Max Mallowan, was actually Christie’s second husband, to whom she was married from 1930 to her death in ’76. To my surprise, this was the third installment in the series. Oddly, each has a different leading lady. 2000+ users at IMDb have rated Agatha and…, forging to a consensus of six on a scale of ten. It runs 95 minutes. The aspect I enjoyed most was Katherine Kingsley’s performance as a snob whose pet monkey is poisoned. Here she is along with the star of the show, Marshall. Photo from Google Images:
I guess stocks are not as invulnerable as they’d seemed for so long. I’m almost at the point of regretting not having sold my shares when the Keystone pipeline was closed. Too late now.
Headline from foxnews.com: “Pelosi cites pandemic to extend remote voting days after Biden declared it ‘over’.” It’s how they beat Trump and, in effect, took the Senate. Why not do it again if they can get away with it?
Are climate zealots mentally ill? This guy interrupted a London tennis tournament. Photo from GI:
What a turn in the weather. Although I was wearing a T-shirt, jersey and thick hoodie, the cold wind managed to penetrate. Before today, I’m not sure I’d ever retreated to the car to warm up in September. My thanks to Movie Buff, who bought The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz, and to the woman who selected a 1500-page Literature collection; and to Wolf, who took home The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum, a massive pictorial titled Art History, and two Russian DVDs; and to Vito, who purchased a dictionary and Extreme Simplicity: A Guide to Urban Homesteading by Christopher Nyerges and Dolores Lynn Nyerges. He later returned with a donation of valuable fare. I am blessed.
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