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Books, Harry Potter, movie trailers, Movies

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Trailer #2 (2018) *Who Will Change the Future?*

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After an uneven summer of sequel madness, it’s good to look forward to franchises that rarely-if ever-disappoint. The Wizarding World is back this fall with its 10th film installment and the second in the Fantastic Beasts cycle. The second trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was unveiled at Comic-Con today and it’s absolutely eye-popping. In addition to the continuing adventures of Newt and company, Potterheads will enjoy Easter eggs like Dumbledore as DADA professor, Nicholas Flamel, and The Mirror of Erised. Check out CBR’s notes from Warner Brother’s panel discussion of the film below.


Jude Law confirmed that this movie will be a “who’s side are you on story,” where the “wizards within the Wizarding World will be asked whose side they’re on. The depths and the darkness of this story are some of the darkest this franchise has gone.” Ezra Miller chimed in “Definitely” in confirmation.

Law continued with his take on Dumbledore, “I love the fact that people keep calling him ‘young Dumbledore,” because I’m 45,” he laughed. “…There’s a long way to go between this Dumbledore and the one we see here. David Yates our director really let me free to establish him on my own here, but I hope he’ll have some familiar traits. He’s still mischievous and…he still has this ability to manipulate people.”

The panel was then surprise interrupted by Johnny Depp appearing in full costume, in character as Grindelwald giving an ominous speech. “It has been said that I hate the muggles, the no-mag, the can’t-spells, I do not hate them,” Depp said in character, giving fans an insight into Grindelwald’s personality. Depp immediately left the stage after his performance.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is being directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling, and produced by David Heyman. The film Opens in theaters November 16, 2018.Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Poster

Books, Harry Potter, movie trailers, Movies

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Trailer #1 (2018) *Who Will Stand Against the Darkness?*

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At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.

In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Here’s a breakdown of the photo:

Pictured from left to right: Jude Law plays a young Albus Dumbledore, taking on the mantle of one of J.K. Rowling’s most beloved characters; Ezra Miller makes a return as the enigmatic Credence, whose fate was unknown at the end of the first film; Claudia Kim appears as a Maledictus, the carrier of a blood curse that destines her ultimately to transform into a beast; Zoe Kravitz plays Leta Lestrange, who had once been close to Newt Scamander but is now engaged to his brother; Callum Turner joins the cast as Newt’s older brother, Theseus Scamander, a celebrated war hero and the Head of the Auror Office at the British Ministry of Magic; Katherine Waterston returns as Tina Goldstein, who has been reinstated as an Auror for MACUSA; Eddie Redmayne stars again as wizarding world Magizoologist Newt Scamander, who has now gained fame in the wizarding world as the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; Dan Fogler reprises the role of the only No-Maj in the group, Jacob Kowalski; Alison Sudol reprises the part of Tina’s free-spirited sister, Queenie Goldstein, a Legilimens who can read minds; and Johnny Depp returns as the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is being directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling, and produced by David Heyman. The film Opens in theaters November 16, 2018.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Poster

Movies, Trailer Time

Trailer Time: King Arthur – Legend of the Sword Trailer #1 *What the What?*

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So many of the trailers that came out of Comic Con got me excited for films next year.  The only one I saw that left me dumbfounded at how amazingly bad it looked was King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.  Guy Ritchie may have been able to turn Sherlock Holmes on its head successfully (the first time), but the Arthurian legend and he seem to have been on different planes passing in the night.  Charlie Hunan was a great fit on Sons of Anarchy, but it’s become clear in every role since that he’s got absolutely no range.  His accent is so all over the place in this trailer, I honestly was laughing by the time it was done.  Ritchie’s hyperkinetic offbeat style is not working in this venue, and the special effects look like they cost a fortune.  In short, I think this film is going to be one of 2017’s biggest bombs.  King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is scheduled for a March 24, 2017 release.  That puts it head-to-head with the Power Rangers reboot, two weeks after Kong: Skull Island and a week after Beauty & the Beast.  In a crammed March, this is going to get flattened.  The smartest move would be to reschedule it in a desolate corner of late summer/early fall 2017 when it might even have a chance to win its weekend.
Charlie Hunan, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Movies, Review

Movie Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

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Grand-Budapest-Hotel-Ed-Norton

In a Hollywood landscape that’s gone cookie cutter, franchise-mad, you’re almost forced to admire Wes Anderson for creating a style of film that’s indelibly unique and completely his own.  That’s not to say I like his films.  I’ve found them to be hit or miss, but I really loved Moonrise Kingdom, so with all the great buzz, I was looking forward to The Grand Budapest Hotel. Continue reading Movie Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) →

Movies, Review

Movie Review: Side Effects (2013)

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"There are always. Side effects."
“There are always. Side effects.”

A couple of years ago when The Tree of Life came out, director Steven Soderbergh said that he was going to retire because he just felt so blown away by it.  Leaving aside how absurd a thought that is in itself, Side Effects is the last of the director’s commitments and he says he’s done.  I thought Traffic was fantastic.  I love the Ocean’s trilogy.  But, after seeing Haywire, his last film, and now Side Effects, yeah.  I’m cool with him being done.

The film stars Rooney Mara as a depressed patient with a husband newly returned from prison (Channing Tatum).  She begins to see a psychiatrist (Jude Law) who, after consulting with a colleague (Catherine Zeta Jones) puts his patient on a new antidepressant.  Following the gritty and harrowing look at addiction I’d just watched in Flight, I thought ok, well now we’re going to tackle depression, the pharmacology cartels who run our health care system, and really meaty stuff.  The sorts of things that Soderbergh tackled in films like Traffic.  But we don’t.  There’s a sort of medicated haze (intentional?) to the entire film.  It’s so detached from it’s actors, who seem as equally detached from the plot, which zigs and zags all over the place.  It’s tonally odd.  If you’d told me the guy who made complex and vibrant, signaturely directed films like Traffic and Ocean’s 11 made this, I’d have asked for one of whatever you were on.


This isn’t to say the film is horrid.  It’s not awful.  It’s just one of those movies where you sit there, credits roll, and you say….well that just happened.  Disappointing.  Good cast.  Used to be a great director.  Average end result.
5.5/10.0