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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Agatha Christie-Marple-By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006)

Agatha Christie-Marple-By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006)

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Released 31-Jul-2007

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Mystery Main Menu Audio
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2006
Running Time 93:23
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Peter Medak
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Geraldine McEwan
Chloe Pennington
Oliver Jordan
Anthony Andrews
Greta Scacchi
Clare Holman
Miriam Karlin
June Whitfield
Claire Bloom
Steven Berkoff
Patrick Barlow
O.T. Fagbenle
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music Dominik Scherrer


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Agatha Christie created two of the most enduring characters in crime fiction, Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Both of these characters have recently been brought to life again in a series of Granada Television telemovies over the last few years. Both series were shown on ABC television here in Australia and both have been released as a series of DVDs by Roadshow.

    As you would expect from Agatha Christie, all of these new Miss Marple (played here by the wonderful Geraldine McEwan) stories are full of murder, twists, lies, red herrings and deceptions. It is impossible to describe the plot in detail without giving away the story and spoiling the twists.

    This one is a little different to preceding ones in that it also involves a couple of other recurring Agatha Christie characters, Tommy & Tuppence (played by Anthony Andrews and Greta Scacchi). Tommy works for MI6 and his wife used to enjoy amateur sleuthing but more recently has resorted more to the bottle. Tommy & Tuppence appeared in a number of short stories and novels by Christie and as far as I can tell this story featured them only and not Miss Marple in the original novel. Regardless this is certainly an enjoyable Marple episode and the combination of the three of them works well. The title reference s a line in Shakespeare's Macbeth uttered by The Three Witches By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.

    In this story, Tommy & Tuppence go to a nursing home to visit Tommy's crotchety old Aunt Ada. Miss Marple is also there visiting a friend of hers. While waiting for Tommy to finish talking to his aunt, Tuppence is press ganged into conversation with another old resident, Mrs Lancaster who tells her a confused tale of a murdered baby and the possible hiding place of the body. Shortly after their visit, Tommy goes to the continent for MI6 and news comes through to Tuppence that Aunt Ada has died suddenly. When Aunt Ada's belongings arrive, a painting is included which Tuppence does not believe was Aunt Ada's, however she finds a letter from Ada hidden in it which indicates that the contents of the picture will help to solve the mystery. Mrs Lancaster also disappears. Tuppence hooks up with Miss Marple and sets out to solve the case.

    Stylistically, this telemovie includes some nice touches, somewhat reminiscent of a 1950s melodrama. All-in-all, this is one of the best of the Marple series and can certainly be recommended for fans of English murder mysteries.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is very good but not spectacular.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced, which is most likely the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout without being overly crisp. The sharpness was also affected by some light grain. There was no evidence of low level noise. The shadow detail was good.

    The colour was very good with no issues to report.

    The only noticeable artefact was a little mild aliasing.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which are clear and easy to read.
    

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 256 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this film by Dominik Scherrer is very good indeed surprisingly so for a television production. It adds significantly to the mood of the show. The music sounds very warm and full.

    The surround speakers were used quite extensively for music when played using Dolby ProLogic II.

    The subwoofer was used to add bass to the music but this was more a function of my amp's bass management than anything else.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    None.

Menu

    The menu was very simple only allowing for scene selection and turning on and off of subtitles. Music plays over a still from the show.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This series of four movies are available as a box set in Region 1 which includes the following special features:

    As the local releases include no extras, this is obviously a better solution.

Summary

    Another instalment in the series of Miss Marple mysteries featuring Geraldine McEwan.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output
DisplaySony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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