Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Movies originally were created to allow us to be able to go to a different place with different characters potentially at different times so we can escape into a world that is not our own. So, needless to say, the fantasy genre is probably one of the oldest genres in the biz. And with this, there have been a plethora of these films produced--certainly too many to list. Suffice it to say, people love these films. After the Harry Potter films ended, J.K. Rowling had to create something for her audience to escape into, so what a better film in to escape but with "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

 

This spin-off of the Harry Potter franchise jumps back in time to explore the wizardry world of 1926 New York, which is being threatened by both mystical acts of destruction and a group of extremist No-Majs (the American term for Muggles, i.e. those unable to use magic). Author Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives in the city as part of a global study of fantastic beasts, but he gets caught up in this conflict when some of the magical creatures in his care are accidentally released.

Newt inadvertently meets and befriends Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) when Newt starts attempting to retrieve his magical creatures. He delagates Jacob's help since he just happens to be there. Soon these two end up being arrested by one, Porpentina Goldstein/ Tina (Katherine Waterston), a mystical wizardry officer, only then realizing she just made a huge mistake. So as they go on the lam, they decide to hold up at Tina's sister, Queenie's (Alison Sudol) place so as to figure out what to do. The one that is the real problem here is Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), a wizard who's a self proclaimed judge, jury and executioner for any other wizard to even get in his way. What is this mild-mannered wizard to do where he feels like he is a stranger in a strange land?

 

Others to round out the cast are Samantha Morton as Mary Lou, Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone, Jon Voight as Shaw Senior, Carmen Ejogo as Seraphina Picquery, Ron Perlman as Gnarlak, Sam Redford as Customs Official, Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty Barebone, Credence's younger sister, Jenn Murray as Chastity Barebone and Josh Cowdery as Sen. Henry Shaw Jr.

 

This was whimsically and creatively directed by David Yates ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" '07, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" '09, "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part 1" '10, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" '11, "The Legend of Tarzan" '16). plus tons of TV. One thing I can say for the likes of Yates is he sticks to what he knows best and he certainly is the king of this type of film, hence his resume. The sad thing is that I would like to see what this guy would do with a film out of his comfort zone. He's a consummate director, so he would undoubtedly fair well. This was expressly written with whimsy and humor by the Harry Potter queen herself, J.K. Rowling. She really isn't a screenwriter--she penned all of the Harry Potter novels, so when she decided to pen the original screenplay of this, it had to be a huge jump for her. This isn't Academy Award writing, but certainly is entertaining and whimsical to watch. This being a prequel, if you will, Rowling really didn't need to have exquisite writing to get her audience in those seats, but it was definitely strong enough to keep one glued to the screen.

If the story and writing doesn't necessarily grab you, the photography by Philippe Rousselet, afc/asc, is breathtaking and the music by famed James Newton Howard ("The Sixth Sense" '99, "Peter Pan" '03, "Blood Diamond" '06, "The Dark Knight" '08, "Maleficent" '14) plus tons of others, is as whimsical as it is haunting. Of course the costumes by Colleen Atwood and the visual effects predominantly by MPC, Double Negative and Framestore are seamless and actually enhances the production values.

 

If you're a Harry Potter junkie, you'll be in Potter heaven. This apparently takes place 70 years before Harry Potter reads Newt's book in school, so this is probably a must see for any Potter fan. It's an entertaining, whimsical film all in a nifty IMAX/3D format to bring it even closer to home.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                               Rated: PG-13                              132mins.

 

Shut In

One of the most intriguing genres out there is that of the thriller genre. If written well, it demands and keeps its audience's attention all the while scaring them which leaves the audience holding on to that proverbial seat. Most people like to be scared, or they wouldn't be so intrigued with the genre at hand. This is why Hollywood produces films like "Shut In" so as to keep us yet intrigued.

 

This is a heart-pounding thriller about a child psychologist, Dr. Mary Portman (Naomi Watts) who is a widow that lives an isolated existence in rural Maine. When a young boy, Tom (Jacob Tremblay) Mary is treating goes missing, and is presumed dead, she is convinced that his ghost is haunting her and her paraplegic teenage son, Stephen (Charlie Heaton).

Caught in a deadly snow storm, she must try fervently to find Tom and fears for his life. She repeatedly calls her associate, Dr. Wilson (Oliver Platt) for advice, because the longer time goes by, the more things don't seem to add up to why all these screwy incidences are even occurring. Can she find Tom before it's too late or will time take its toll?

 

Others to round out the cast are David Cubitt as Doug Hart, Clementine Poidatz as Lucy, Mary's secretary, Crystal Balint as Grace, Tom's mother, Ellen David as Joan, Alex Braunstein as Aaron Hart, Doug's teenage son and Ted Post as Sheriff.

 

This was creepily directed by relative newcomer to feature films, Farren Blackburn ("Hammer of the Gods" '13) plus a lot of TV and shorts. This filmmaker gave his characters that feeling of uncertainty or creepiness, depending on the character, that gave his audience that feeling of wonderment. He will go far in this biz, especially in this genre. It was written by Christina Hodson, a writer that has no other writing to her credit, but was able to produce a fairly coherent screenplay. Hey, don't get me wrong, this isn't Academy Award caliber work here, but considering her total lack of experience, this script wasn't bad. The main problem with this was the fact that it having only a 90 minute running time, there was too much time given to get to the meat of this story. Once it got going, the story simply soared. What will certainly help this writer is that she has other films that have been announced or in post-production. Of course, having Watts in this didn't hurt--she is a very talented, convincing actor that knows her characters well. Even Heaton who played Stephen was amazing in his role. As a new actor, he will go far, because he is undoubtedly a natural. This is certainly one of those small films that will take you by surprise whereas the sound effects were probably as much a star as the actors.

 

Certainly if you're a lover of the thriller genre, you'll be in heaven, but even if you're not, this still has enough to keep the most cynical in their respective seats until the end rolls around. You've got to cut this film some slack--considering the lack of experience from these filmmakers, this is still great escape fodder for an hour and a half to allow yourself to be scared.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                 Rated: PG-13                             91mins.

 

Arrival

As sci-fi is not necessarily one of my favorite genres, it certainly is a crowd pleaser with many an audience, which is why Hollywood has cranked out a plethora of them. Certainly I have my favorites: "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Silent Running", "Event Horizon" to mention a few, so when I decided to go and see "Arrival", I went with some trepidation, and got some surprises.

 

This story is about Earth's response to a possible alien invasion--whether good or bad. After extraterrestrial spacecraft plant themselves at various locations around the globe, a lindquist, Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and a theoretical physicist, Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) must find a way to communicate with the mysterious visitors in order to learn what they want and whether they pose a threat to humanity.

As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks, Donnelly, Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker), Agent Halpern (Michael Stuhlbarg) and others of the team race time for answers-- and to find them, Banks will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.

 

Others to round out the cast are Mark O'Brien as Captain Marks, Tzi Ma as General Shang, Sangita Patel as Newscaster 1, Abigail Pniowsky as Hannah (8 yrs. old), Banks' daughter, Jadyn Malone as Hannah (4 yrs. old) and Julia Scarlett Dan as Hannah (12 yrs. old).

 

This was delineated with explicit detail by director Denis Villeneuve ("August 32nd on Earth" '98, "Maelstrom" 2000, "Happiness Bound" (Documentary) '07, "Polytechnique" '09, "Incendies" '10, "Prisoners" '13, "Enemy" '13, "Sicario" '15) plus shorts. By his very resume, this filmmaker is an eclectic artist which makes him a director that won't and can't be pigeon-holed. The feeling of the different characters in this seemed amazingly real and whole, with all their bravery and all their humanness. If you appreciate this director's style, he is filming "Blade Runner 2049" right now due to release in 2017. It was creatively written by Eric Heisserer ("A Nightmare on Elm Street" '10, "Final Destination 5" '11, "The Thing" '11, "Hours" '13, "Lights Out" '16) which was based on a story, "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang. As I watched the trailer on this film, I felt it would like what I finally received, however it was a bit more cerebral than I was expecting. Not that this is a bad thing, but since I wasn't ready for it, it made the viewing of this a bit strained. Surely it had cohesiveness and continuity, but with a couple a slow places in the middle and it was attempting to be on the cerebral side, I suspect it took me by surprise and became a bit too must to wrap my head around. Both Adams and Renner were very effective in their respective roles, and Whitaker, however having a smaller role, still was able to bring his amazing talent to the table.

 

If any moviegoer is expecting another "Independence Day", you will be sorely disappointed. The only similarity with these two films is that of being from the same genre. This is where the similarity starts and ends. This is a interesting expose of how we should confront a similar situation given the possibility. With that said, enjoy this gem--it is worthy of a view.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                             Rated: PG-13                                 116mins.

 

Hacksaw Ridge

I've said it before and I'll say it again, truth can certainly be stranger than fiction. Of all the films based on a real person, the one that stands above the rest has got to that of Desmond Doss in the new film, "Hacksaw Ridge". I've seen incredible characters based on actual people and stories, but none that were as amazing as this person. Why don't we hear about more people like this?

 

This, based on a true story, is a biopic about a World War II medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield). As a conscientious objector who refused to take a life or even carry a weapon--for religious beliefs, Doss was eventually awarded the Metal of Honor for saving the lives of 75 soldiers on the battlefield of Hacksaw Ridge, Okinawa.

His steadfast beliefs came at an early age when he almost  accidentally killed his brother, and his father Tom (Hugo Weaving) being an alcoholic--after his war days, became abusive toward his wife, Bertha (Rachel Griffiths), and after witnessing this Desmond almost shot him, but decided not to. All this impressed his hatred of not wanting to harm anyone. So with this and his incredible devotion to God, he just couldn't carry a rifle in combat, even though he knew he needed to help the war cause, which is why he went the medic role. So when he entered the Army, both his Sergeant, Sgt. Howell (Vince Vaughn) and Captain, Capt. Jack Glover (Sam Worthington) were at their wits end trying to convince this guy that war demanded killing. So what is a conscience ridden soldier to do in a wartime situation?

 

Others to round out the cast are Luke Bracey as Smitty, Teresa Palmer as Dorothy Schutte, Desmond's girlfriend, Matt Nable as Lt. Cooney, Nathaniel Buzolic as Harold Doss, Desmond's brother, Richard Roxburgh as Colonel Stelzer, Richard Pyros as Teach, Jacob Warner as James Pinnick, Milo Gibson as Lucky Ford and Darcy Bryce as Young Desmond.

 

This was brilliantly directed by Mel Gibson ("The Man Without a Face" '93, "Braveheart" '95, "The Passion of the Christ" '04, "Apocalypto" '06) plus TV. The way this filmmaker is able to encourage his actors to emit the correct emotion, especially the subtle ones, is short of perfection. He doesn't have a huge array of films to his credit, however the ones he has done are amazing productions on many levels. Like Steven Spielberg, Gibson's eye for detail has become something he's known for and this production shows that in spades. It was written with amazing continuity and cohesiveness by Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight. Even though these writers have limited feature film experience--Knight has a bit more than Schenkkan, this screenplay was amazingly well thought out and delineated with compassion, passion and fearlessness. These two writers will undoubtedly receive more work as they should. The realism of this film is stunning as is the photography--what one would expect from a Gibson production. There is so much the audience can and will take away after viewing this: an appreciation of fine filmmaking along with a moral dilemma. The dilemma? Given the same situation, would you stick to your guns (pardon the pun) and not carry a weapon assuming having the same belief convictions, or would you decide the opposite and let the chips fall where they may? Given that I am a Christian myself, I would like to think I would follow in Desmond's footsteps, but I suspect it would be difficult to say for sure until one would end up in a similar situation. What is amazing is every time Desmond would save a soldier, he would ask the Lord to let him save another one. His faith is what impressed me. Food for thought.

 

Whether one has religious convictions or not, the compassion and awe of this individual is something to behold. And if that doesn't get to you, the incredible craft of this film is something to sit back and revel in. Either way, enjoy this gem. Do I hear Academy Award nods calling?

 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                 Rated: R                                 139mins.

 

Dr. Strange

Welcome to the first week of films where Hollywood breaks out the big guns to entice us to the theater so as to make that elusive December 31st deline for potential Academy Award nominations. It all starts with the much awaited Marvel's "Dr. Strange". Since films based on comic books and amazing visual effects are such a crowd pleaser, what better film to kick off this period of time than with this film?

 

This follows the story of the talented neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) who, after a tragic car accident, must put ego aside and learn the secrets of a hidden world of mysticism and alternate dimensions headed up by The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and assistants, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Wong (Benedict Wong). Based in New York City's Greenwich Village, Dr. Strange must act as an intermediary between the real world and what lies beyond, utilizing a vast array of metaphysical abilities.

Dr. Strange lost all, but his ability of his hands in the accident, and with him being an extremely gifted surgeon, he wanted the use of his hands again. Although he tried every doctor and procedure known to man and nothing worked, he came across a man, Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt) that told him about this 'Ancient One' he could seek in Nepal to help him. So his connection with these people in Nepal was to help him, through spirituality, to regain the neurological strength back in his hands. But he found out that he had so much more to learn than he ever realized.

 

Others to round out the cast are Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, a fellow doctor of Dr. Strange, Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius, Michael Stuhlbarg as Dr. Nicodemus West, Scott Adkins as Lucian/Strong Zealot, Zara Phythian as Brunette Zealot and Alaa Safi as Tall Zealot.

 

Interestingly, this was directed by a filmmaker that predominantly works in the horror genre, Scott Derrickson ("The Exorcism of Emily Rose" '05, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" '08, "Sinister" '12, "Deliver Us from Evil" '14). Certainly, pacing, staging and getting actors to emit the right emotions can be done with any genre, but one would think that a director would've been chosen that had a more varied resume, not that he didn't do an effective job.

It was written by Jon Spaihts, Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill based on the Marvel comic book by Steve Ditko. Again, Derrickson's resume is mostly horror and Cargill basically came along for the ride on Derrickson's coattails. However, Spaihts has "Passengers" being released soon and "The Mummy" is in post production for a 2017 release. This writer is a busy guy and probably why this script was as tight and cohesive as it was. Both Cumberbatch and Swinton shined in their roles. Even if the mysticism premise of this film isn't your preference, the visual effects predominantly designed by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) will knock your socks off. They were absolutely breathtaking--some of the best I've seen by ILM, and they're good. ILM could very likely be looking at an Oscar nod for best visual effects come that time.

 

I'm not really into the mysticism of this storyline, but certainly it does grip the audience of how it is conveyed so as to keep your attention for the almost two hour time slot it runs and all in a convincingly 3D format as well. Although there are a couple of very small slow areas, it has humor, adventure and fantasy which is why we go to the movies in the first place.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                Rated: PG-13                                  115mins.

 

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Comedies are a favorite genre of mine, and although they are meant to be light, funny and entertaining in order to allow us to escape into a fun space for a couple of hours, there are times, many in recent years, that comedies don't live up to the ingredients in which makes this genre as funny as it should. Case in point is this next offing titled "Keeping Up with the Joneses", whereas the premise was actually funnier than the actual execution of the script.

 

An ordinary suburban couple, Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis) and Karen Gaffney (Isla Fisher) discover that their hospitable new neighbors, Tim Jones (Jon Hamm) and Natalie Jones (Gal Gadot) are actually government spies. As part of their mission, the Joneses' must find information from both of their neighbors in a way that they're subtle, but am able to extract the info they need which finds the Joneses rather frustrated. After sneaking into the Joneses' house while they're out, the Gaffney's come to learn that these people are up too no good so they have to be specifically careful around them. However soon, all four of them are caught up in an international espionage imbroglio.

 

Others to round out the cast are Patton Oswalt as Scorpion, Matt Walsh as Dan Craverston, Maribeth Monroe as Meg Craverston, wife of Dan, Ming Zhao as Scorpion's girlfriend, Michael Liu as Yang and Kevin Dunn as Carl Pronger, a security guard. 

 

This was sufficiently directed by Greg Mottola ("The Daytrippers" '96, "The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke" (TV movie) '03, "Superbad" '07, "Adventureland" '09, "Paul" '11, "Clear History" (TV movie) '13) plus TV. Even though this filmmaker has a fair amount of work to his credit, the characters he projects through his actors, at least in this film, aren't the most memorable as they could be. I think there could've been a bit more opposing character makeups between these two different couple in order to see the true absurdity of what's going on when a certain scene takes place. Trust me, this was much better than I dreamed it could've been, but the characters still needed some spicing up without them being like cartoon characters. It was written by Michael LeSieur ("You, Me and Dupree" '06, "The Maiden Heist" '09) plus TV. The writing could've be a hit and miss here, as with any film, but LeSieur is not a seasoned writer, so it's easy to say that, of course, the writing is not as polished as it could be. But then there are seasoned writers that, at times, are not at the top of their game. This writer has potential--he needs more writing, but maybe with TV for a little while longer--not sure. This writer will be given a reprieve in that he will be penning a new animated feature film of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" slated out in 2018. So we will see. How can one miss with that kind of material?

As I said above, this wasn't a total wash--it was far better than I thought it would be, but when it comes time for Hollywood to produce a comedy with this interesting of premises, it's best to pay a bit more money and get a true, seasoned comedy writer. As the old adage goes, "you get what you pay for".

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                 Rated: PG-13                                   105mins.

 

Inferno

Mystery films are a usual staple genre that Hollywood has graced us with for a long time now. We have seen a plethora of them, and every time they are viewed, the audience becomes more intrigued with them than ever. "Inferno" is actually the third installment of the Robert Langdon series based on Dan Brown's novels--the other two being "The Da Vinci Code" '06 and "Angels & Demons" '09. Again, being mysteries themselves, audiences have become enamored with these.

 

This story finds the famous symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) on a trail of clues tied to the great Dante himself. When Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he inadvertently teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones), a doctor he hopes will help him recover his memories. Together, they race across Europe and against the clock to stop a madman, Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster) from unleashing a global virus that could wipe out half of the world's population. When Langdon finally finds a copy of the drawing of Dante's Inferno, he comes to realize that this global virus is linked to the ideals of Dante's view of hell. Can Langdon, Brooks and others including Elizabeth Sinskey (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and others have the time to stop this unfathomable genocide from happening?

 

Others to round out the cast are Omar Sy as Christoph Bouchard, Irrfan Khan as Harry Sims, Ana Ularu as Vayentha, Ida Darvish as Marta Alvarez and Poalo Antonio Simioni as Dr. Marconi.

 

This was directed by the incomparable Ron Howard ("Grand Theft Auto" '77, "Night Shift" '82, "Gung Ho" '86, "Parenthood" '89, "Apollo 13" '95, "A Beautiful Mind" '01, "Frost/Nixon" '08, "Rush" '13, "In the Heart of the Sea" '15) plus many others and TV. You know the film will be a well crafted film when it teams, once again, Howard and Hanks--which many have been teamed by them. They obviously work well together so the outcome typically is of high caliber. Howard has directed all the Robert Langdon series plus "Apollo 13",and "Splash", which stars Hanks. Similar cases are with director, Martin Scorsese working in several films with both Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio and director, Tim Burton working in several films with Johnny Depp. It makes it so easy when director and actor can work together well and produce a great film all the while entertaining us and making a ton of money. It is truly the best of all worlds. It was effectively written by David Koepp ("Death Becomes Her" '92, "Jurassic Park" '93, "The Paper" '94, "Stir of Echoes" '99, "Panic Room" '02, "War of the Worlds" '05, "Angels & Demons" '09, "Premium Rush" '12, "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" '14) plus many others. As with Howard's directing, Koepp certainly is a seasoned, established screenwriter-- his resume reveals this. Although this and "Angels & Demons" were far better written by Koepp as opposed to "The Da Vinci Code" being written by another writer, this still had some flaws. It started out very exciting with Langdon waking up in a strange place only to end up being chased. Then as the film reached the mid point, it started to meander a bit and got bogged down in some slow places in script. As it was frustrating me, it, all of a sudden, picked up and became the film I believe the audience was actually looking for. For Koepp-- a bad day at the laptop? Not sure, but this writer can be a hit and miss type of writer. Of course every writer has his or her bad or mediocre work, so to call this a total wash? Absolutely not, although it's not a great film either. Both Hanks and Jones were effective in their roles, but even they couldn't save this from being the film we were hoping it would be.

 

As I've stated above, a bad film? No, but not a great one either. The beginning and end of the storyline was probably the best this screenplay had to offer. It was solid in places but certainly needed to be a bit tighter in its conveyance to its audience. You be the judge.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 2.5                                Rated: PG-13                                 121mins.