Quick takes on 'Your Name,' 'Orient Express' remake

A massive hit last year in Japan, director Makoto Shinkai’s exquisite “Your Name” finally has a proper mainstream release in the United States.

The animated fantasy/drama had an Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles last December, followed by a limited theatrical release this past spring. Now it’s available everywhere (and dubbed in English) on Blu-Ray, and it deserves to be discussed alongside the best movies of this year/last year. It will be on my Top 10 list this year.

“Your Name” is, in essence, a body swap movie — for reasons unexplained, Mitsuha, a high school girl living in rural Japan begins to randomly switch bodies with Taki, a high school boy living in the heart of Tokyo. The first half of the film follows this concept conventionally but thoughtfully, and Shinkai plays with the gender switch in a few unexpected ways.

Then the film takes a significant turn in the second half, and the body swap angle comes to be secondary to what “Your Name” ultimately explores. It’d be unfair to spoil the shift, but it makes for a thrilling and emotionally wrenching experience.

Though it’s a PG-rated animated film, “Your Name,” isn’t a kids movie, and the (mostly) grounded narrative makes for a nice entry point for those who haven’t had much experience with anime-style films. Every frame of the film is absolutely gorgeous — the colors pop and editing greatly builds visual momentum as the story unfolds.

Some of its fans would bemoan any recommendation of the English dubbed version of the movie. While I wouldn’t mind reading the subtitles and hearing the original language, the English dub didn’t hinder the experience. Typically with these crossover hits, the U.S. distributor hires celebrities to voice the characters, which generally distracts from the film. Of course, with visuals and a story as strong as those in “Your Name,” even a teenage boy voiced by George Clooney couldn’t ruin the experience.

See “Your Name” now before Hollywood remakes it into something that strips the rich (and story-essential) Japanese culture from the movie. Seriously, J.J. Abrams is already working on the American version.

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Speaking of remakes, the newest version of “Murder on the Orient Express” provides hardcore Kenneth Branagh fans with the most Kenneth Branagh movie of all time.

I mean that as a compliment, mostly.

In addition to directing the film, Branagh stars as the world-renowned and spectacularly-mustached Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who is tasked with solving an especially sticky case after the titular train derails in an avalanche.

The train is filled with all sorts of suspicious characters — including those played by Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Willem Dafoe. Nobody other than Branagh appears on screen for more than a few scenes, but the famous faces help to keep track of the film’s numerous suspects.

Lavishly shot with effortless period detail, Branagh adds a visual punch to a low-key whodunit, and his performance onscreen adds entertaining eccentricities to Poirot’s character. Let’s just say the mustache matches the man.

“Murder on the Orient Express” is a good couple hours of harmless, if not especially memorable, entertainment, and Branagh obviously loves playing the part. He practically begs for a sequel in the last scene. If it means an even bigger mustache, I’d buy the ticket.

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@ cdapress.com