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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2018 6:05 pm    Post subject: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) Reply with quote



I enjoy all the Harry Potter movies (and own the DVDs), so I was pretty sure I'd like this newest journey into J. K. Rowling's wonderful world of wizards and wands.

(Okay, maybe that was too much alliteration. Sorry.)

Thirty minutes into the movie I started wondering if it was really going to work the same magic on me as the Harry Potter series. ("Magic" isn't a pun in this case. It's just an appropriate figurative reference. Writers love to show off . . . )

But I knew it was unfair to compare my feelings for this movie — right in the middle of my first viewing — to the fondness it's taken me years to develop for the whole Harry Potter series. So, I stuck with.

Fortunately, the pay-off was the eye-popping scene "inside" the hero's (Newt Scamander) magical Tardis-like suitcase, when he shows the likable Mr. Kowalski an amazing menagerie of magical creatures, all of which lived in their own stunning native habitats.





The CGI in that part was so filled with delightful eye candy that I developed cavities on my corneas!

At that point I noticed I was beginning to like the characters, especially Mr. Kowalski when he said, "Now I know I'm not dreamin'. I ain't smart enough to think up all this."



And right after that, the action went into high gear and the plot came into focus. Newt Scamander is an environmentalist trying to protect endangered species of "magical" creatures against the cruel indifference of the American wizards' organization who just want to wipe ‘em all out.

Okay, so this is a PC message from Ms. Rowlings, but nobody in their right mind would disagree that mankind is killing off the natural world, so a story about mankind killing off the supernatural world is certainly fair game for an author of her caliber.

Newt's companion in this battle is Tina Goldstein, a demoted young wizard who starts out as an adversary and turns into an ally when she and Newt end up sentenced to death by the wizard world authorities who have the usual hidden political agendas.



By the halfway point in this movie I was convinced that it had earned the $814 million it made world-wide, and I was already looking forward the next installment. In fact, I was still looking forward to the second half of the first installment, which is high praise indeed, eh? Very Happy

If you haven’t seen this fine movie, I can highly recommend it — especially the first half, which I just finished watching. If the second half sucks, I'll make a new post about that later.
Cool
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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon May 07, 2018 8:33 am; edited 2 times in total
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat May 05, 2018 7:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BUD WROTE :

Quote:
Tina Goldstein, a demoted young wizard who starts out as an adversary and turns into an alley.

I turned into an alley once and almost got mugged!
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Custer
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PostPosted: Sun May 06, 2018 9:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Was that Diagon Alley...? Very Happy

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun May 06, 2018 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Very funny. Ha ha. I think I'll stop fixing the misspelled words in YOUR posts, guys. I do it for everybody. Very Happy

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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sun May 06, 2018 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well Bud, You know we read them very closely. Anyway, it does make sense either way you read it.
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Sun May 06, 2018 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you need help, "ally" is spelled "ally". Very Happy
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Custer
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2018 5:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Laughing Come to think of it, the title is "Beasts" rather than just one "Beast" - at least Bud didn't make the slightly more common error of including a rogue "r" in the word... Wink
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2018 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Custer wrote:
Laughing Come to think of it, the title is "Beasts" rather than just one "Beast"...

And NO apostrophe.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2018 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Well gosh, I'm certainly glad I provided everyone with an opportunity to make interesting comments about the plot, the music, the script, the editing, the photography, and the special effects in this enjoyable movie! Very Happy

I mean, after we finish discussing spelling, punctuation, and typos . . . Rolling Eyes

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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2018 6:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, the movie was okay.
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Custer
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PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2018 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yup, it was okay. A sequel, titled Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, is scheduled for release on 16 November 2018, a quick trip to Wikipedia tells me... just over two years after this film appeared. I can't help feeling that a two-year gap is a little bit longer than would have been ideal; it can't have been a "Oh wow, this movie did a lot better than we expected, guys, what say we try to come up with a sequel?" scenario. It was always going to do well, with the Harry Potter connection, and was the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2016.

The film was made on a budget of $180 million, with an additional $150 million spent on marketing, I see... which shows how the industry works these days.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2018 3:57 pm    Post subject: Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Newt Scamander is an environmentalist trying to protect endangered species of "magical" creatures against the cruel indifference of the American wizards' organization who just want to wipe ‘em all out.

GREAT! Another anti-American screed. Pass.

The two year gap could have to do with all the effects work, it depends on when principle photography started. In Hollywood the advertising costs have always been high, sometimes higher than the filming budget. It takes a lot of money to get people to come see a movie.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2018 8:42 pm    Post subject: Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
The two year gap could have to do with all the effects work, it depends on when principle photography started. In Hollywood the advertising costs have always been high, sometimes higher than the filming budget. It takes a lot of money to get people to come see a movie..

Gawd, aint that the truth?

Compare today's need to advertise a new movie in every way possible at a tremendous cost — just to lure the public out of their homes and away from their big screen HD televisions — to the way Star Wars: A New Hope captured the nation's attention when it first came out, simply by the enthusiastic word-of-mouth that spread through fans of the genre!

Today, the changing world we live in — with its instant communications and pocket-size devices which almost connect our brains to anyone on the planet — has overwhelmed us with too many choices!

Back in 1977 we were absolutely desperate for what Star Wars offered, and when it came out we stampeded to the theaters several weeks in a row just to watch it over and over again!

But now we can turn on a video game and see better special effects than anything possible in 1977. The images which dazzled us back then . . . barely amuses us now. Sad

We're cursed by the explosion of new creative minds, people who can blast us with images using an unlimited medium which dulls our appreciation for what we should impress us.

It's like moving into a glass house on the rim of the Grand Canyon. You're dazzled by the view the first week. Then your impressed by the view until the end of the month. And finally at the end of the year . . . you're thinking about moving to the beach.

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scotpens
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PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2018 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Custer wrote:
Laughing Come to think of it, the title is "Beasts" rather than just one "Beast" - at least Bud didn't make the slightly more common error of including a rogue "r" in the word... Wink

Oh, I think we all know where to find those.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2018 10:30 pm    Post subject: Re: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Compare today's need to advertise a new movie in every way possible at a tremendous cost — just to lure the public out of their homes and away from their big screen HD televisions — to the way Star Wars: A New Hope captured the nation's attention when it first came out, simply by the enthusiastic word-of-mouth that spread through fans of the genre!

Remember, Bud, back in 1977 the title was "STAR WARS", none of that new hope garbage.

They did advertise "STAR WARS" pretty heavily back then, at least what was considered heavy advertising back in 77. Nothing compared to how they do it for movies now.

I can remember going with friends to see a movie at a specific theater because it had the "STAR WARS" trailer before the movie.

David.
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