2022’s Death on the Nile is Kenneth Branagh’s second film version of an Agatha Christie novel, one that works much better than his 2017 version of Murder on the Orient Express.

The actor-writer-director plays Christie’s mythical detective, Hercule Poirot, in both films. With both having been filmed to better advantage in the 1970s, one wonders why Branagh didn’t choose different Poirot novels to film instead of putting himself through critical comparisons with Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov whose versions still hold up to repeated viewings on home video.

The biggest criticism of Branagh’s interpretation of Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express was his hideous, large mustache. He tackles that early on in Death on the Nile with a prologue set in the trenches of World War I in which he is injured and grows the mustache to hide his scars. Whether because of that or not, the mustache is less bothersome this time around.

Branagh takes liberties with Christie’s novel and the screenplay for the 1978 version of Death on the Nile with new characters, changes in returning characters and their backgrounds, as well as their interactions in the new version. He even adds a third murder to the two-murder plot, all of this without altering either the main plot or the ending.

The changes Branagh makes are good ones. Inserting an interracial romance and a lesbian couple into a 1930s British mystery can be tricky, but Branagh makes both realistic and believable.

The 1978 version had an all-star cast of suspects including Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, David Niven, Jane Birken, George Kennedy, Jack Warden, Olivia Hussey, and Angela Lansbury. Branagh’s version gives us a less starry cast featuring Gal Gadot as the first murder victim, played by the less than stellar Lois Chiles in the 1978 version, with Armie Hammer in MacCorkindale’s role as her husband, and Annette Bening and Sophie Okokedo the most prominent cast members of the remaining players.

The stand-out in the 1978 version was Angela Lansbury in a deliciously over-the-top portrayal of a romance novelist. That character is wisely changed to a jazz singer because who could possibly stand up to comparisons with Lansbury’s great performance? She is played here by Okonedo. Her daughter, originally played by Olivia Hussey, is played by Letitia Wright (Black Panther) who has a controversial romance with Tom Bateman, whose character, Bouc from Murder on the Orient Express, was not in either the novel or the previous film version. Bening, playing another character new to this version, is his disapproving mother.

The catch here is that Bening’s disapproval stems from the fact that her son is in love with the daughter of a jazz singer, not because she is not white, although that can certainly be read into her reactions.

The other major change is that Bette Davis and Maggie Smith’s demanding old biddy and her put-upon secretary-companion are now played by British comedy team Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders as a lesbian couple.

Death on the Nile is available in 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Matt Bertinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet’s 2022 version of Scream doesn’t require an intimate knowledge of Wes Craven’s 1996’s version, but a refresher viewing of that now-classic horror film wouldn’t go amiss.

Technically, this film should be titled Scream 5 because it is actually the fifth film in the franchise. Its planned 2023 sequel is, in fact, titled Scream 6.

This one gives us a new batch of teens and their slightly older friends who are being terrorized by Ghostface in the small town of Woodsboro where the original took place. Except for Jack Quaid (Logan Lucky) and Dylan Minnette (Prisoners), none of them are played by actors I’ve seen before. The real treat, however, is the return appearances of original cast members Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette, and, briefly, Skeet Ulrich, reprising their old roles with Heather Matarazzo from Scream 3 briefly reprising hers as well.

It’s all over the top, with some of the killings and near-killings rather grisly, but it’s all good macabre fun.

Both versions of Scream are available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Pedro Almodovar’s 2021 film Parallel Mothers is a showcase for his muse, Penélope Cruz, whose Oscar-nominated performance features the actress at the top of her craft.

Ostensibly about two women who give birth on the same day, it’s essentially about just one of them, the one played by Cruz. Although the plot has many twists and turns, its essential one is obvious from the moment both babies are placed in incubators before being released to their mothers. As is usual with Almodovar, there are numerous subplots that keep you guessing throughout. This is the seventh Almodovar film featuring Cruz following Live Flesh, All About My Mother, Volver, Broken Embraces, I’m So Excited, and Pain and Glory.

Parallel Mothers is available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Clifton Collins Jr.’s poignant performance in Clint Bentley’s Jockey was one of the joys of 2021’s independent films. The film, which sheds a spotlight on the lives of hard-working, underpaid, and criminally exploited jockeys, features many surprises, none of which I will give away here. Just see it for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Jockey is available on Blu-ray and DVD.

This week’s new releases include Spider-Man: No Way Home and C’mon C’mon.