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Is Kenneth Branagh the Best Poirot Ever?

Kenneth Branagh’s version of Hercule Poirot is back in Death on the Nile, a modern adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1937 novel. The actor and director has made the role his own, and this iteration of the character is a far cry from versions we’ve seen in the past. The 61-year-old clearly relishes the part, and it has brought out his most flamboyant side.

Five actors have played the great Belgian detective over the years, including David Suchet on television, and Peter Ustinov, Tony Randall, and Austin Trevor in film. There is hot dispute over who did the best job at bringing him to life on the screen. Some viewers love Branagh’s version, while others have a different actor in mind.

Poirot is One of Fiction’s Most Prevalent Characters

It’s hard to think of characters who have been in as many works of fiction as Poirot. He appeared in more than 80 novels and short stories and is easily Christie’s most celebrated creation. He’s also been represented in film, television, games, radio, and on the stage. Indeed, in all these various formats he’s been played by more than 20 actors.

The only character who could beat Poirot in terms of prevalence is Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective appeared in fewer novels and short stories than Poirot, but he has had a more mainstream and enduring legacy. This is highlighted by the way he is still at the forefront of the entertainment. There have been plenty of twists on the character’s world as well. Recent offerings like Enola Holmes and The Irregulars on Netflix explore other sides to the Baker Street legend. Then there are titles like Sherlock and Moriarty Wowpot at Betway Online Casino that delve into the relationship between Holmes and his most famous nemesis. For Poirot to challenge Holmes for notoriety, he would need to be represented on all these modern platforms as well.

Audiences Split Over Branagh’s Version

Poirot is a character bursting with pretentiousness, which is why Branagh is so well suited to the role. He is able to bring his stage experience and training from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to the part. In addition to acting as Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, Branagh directed the contemporary versions of these films, so he had a huge influence on the construction of this version of the character.

Branagh’s pictures are lavish and use modern-day filming methods to create an authentic and immersive experience. The wardrobe and set designs are perfect and take viewers back to the early 20th century. Some fans have claimed that Branagh’s version is not true to the character, though, as he is sometimes a tad too foolish. He also engages in a couple of action sequences, something that you couldn’t really imagine the unassuming Poirot of Christie’s novels doing. Other fans believe this rendition to be the best, as it is more rounded than previous Poirot performances from the past. Check out 50 free spins.

Many Believe Suchet to Give the Best Rendition

One of the reasons why Branagh may have struggled to win some Poirot fans over is because Suchet’s portrayal of the detective was so perfect. He starred in Agatha Christie’s Poirot from ITV Studios from 1989 to 2013, appearing in 70 episodes across 13 seasons. According to The New York Times, many people believed he embodied the character flawlessly and, when you think of Poirot, his face is likely to be the first that springs to mind. The ITV series adapted the whole of Christie’s Poirot catalogue and enabled Suchet to become the world-renowned deductive thinker.

Perhaps for Branagh to ever challenge Suchet as the best Poirot ever, he will need to appear in a vast number of films. This will allow viewers to begin associating the actor with the role, in the same way that Suchet became synonymous with it during his days as the character. There are already plans in place for another instalment of Branagh’s Poirot adaptations and, if it is as successful as the others, it stands to reason that he would want to make more. As noted in BRWC, Death on the Nile was a fine achievement.

Branagh may have brought an interesting twist to Poirot and created some more visually appealing versions of the classic tales, but the Belfast director hasn’t yet become the character in the same way that Suchet did. Suchet will be hard for other actors to beat in their renditions of this legendary detective.

TV Streaming Has Become Fragmented

One of the biggest gripes many people have with modern entertainment is that it’s fractured into tiny pieces. While many moons ago, it used to be possible to get all your TV shows in one or two different places, a modern diet of soaps, cartoons, movies, and sports is likely to run you hundreds of pounds over a number of different platforms.

Of course, plenty of entrepreneurs have tried to solve this problem, while almost always making things slightly worse for embattled viewers.

Bespoke Software

It’d be easy to believe that online streaming is a bit of a closed street. After all, streaming is very much the domain of major corporations today, inclusive of Amazon, News Corp (Hulu), Apple, and Netflix.
However, small scale services are more common than you might think. Anybody who has ever watched a documentary on YouTube will be aware of MagellanTV and CuriosityStream, for instance, while Facebook ads do reveal the completely free (ad-supported) PlutoTV from time to time.

Is it really that simple to start your own streaming platform, though? In many industries, the quiet spread of new platforms and products is due to something called democratisation. The tools to create things are more accessible than ever before, and nobody really needs to create bespoke software in areas like gaming, animation, digital art, and music.

In fact, this open ecosystem has even trickled down to much less visible industries such as betting, where a company called Pronet Gaming provides an off-the-shelf retail solution for casinos and sportsbooks. This kind of service is designed to slot into existing projects but can be used as the basis for new businesses, too. The example provided by Pronet Gaming (and Unity for video gaming, Mixamo for animation, etc.) brings up an obvious question – is the same possible for new streaming services?

Quibi

Well, the answer isn’t quite as easy to provide as in the previous industries but taking a look at other, existing platforms does offer some clues. Knowing your audience is one of the biggest obstacles to getting an alternative to Netflix off the ground as it will influence even the earliest decisions you take, from branding to content selection. For Netflix, which has a scattergun approach to content, this issue isn’t quite so pronounced. Short-lived rival Quibi found no audience whatsoever, though.

Quibi was designed to offer short snippets of content, which a) slotted it into the same niche as YouTube and b) somehow offered nothing of interest. Bite-sized media isn’t a problem in isolation but ideas rarely sell on their merits alone.

This brings us to one of the major difficulties with streaming services – acquiring content. Netflix pays between US$40,000 and US$500m for licenses to show films and TV shows, which means that indie productions offer one of the few solutions for this critical need.

The good news is that this is exactly how Netflix began its online service. It was funded by its rental business, though, which helped stave off any financial problems caused by expansion into what was a bit of an untested niche, back in 1999.

Overall, it’s not the rosiest of outlooks for anybody interested in starting their own streaming platform but the possibility exists for the bravest of individuals.

Prima Projectors: Small But Powerful – Having all your content in your pocket is nothing new now. We’ve been loading our games, movies, music and more onto our smartphones for years.

But, what if you could not only store your content in your pocket, but also have a huge HD screen, stereo speakers and Wi-Fi anywhere you wanted? Amazingly the folks at Prima has produced what has to be the most compact and powerful portable projector on out there. 

We’ve looked at projectors before, but none as tiny has these!

The ultimate cinema experience now fits in your pocket projector. Check this out – a massive 200-inch HD projection from a projector the size of an iPhone.

Cinema-quality video on any surface. Movies are more engrossing, watching Premier League champions Liverpool becomes more thrilling, and gaming is unbelievable in life-size HD quality on the best portable projector.

Just check out these stats:

• Easily pocket this video projector, wherever you go: portable slim and as light as an iPhone 8 Plus!
• Powerful 1080p resolution and projection of up to 200 inches, so you can watch your movies in HD
• This smart projector has support for 3D videos and 4K resolution decoding
• Cutting edge DLP technology makes Prima ideal in all environments
• Operate this mini movie projector from anywhere with the Bluetooth remote
• Connect via USB, headphone jack, Airplay, screen mirroring, Bluetooth and HDMI/MHL
• Built-in screen sharing for Android and iOS on this mini portable projector.
• Keystone correction so your projector can be used anywhere
• This mobile projector has up to 3 hours of internal battery

Prima’s goal is not to create just another home cinema projector. they’re dedicated to changing the way you think about entertainment.

For more info visit www.primaprojector.com.