FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE

 Jude Law     Mads Mikkelsen     Eddie Redmayne    Dan Fogler

Ezra Miller     Alison Sudol     Callum Turner     Katherine Waterston

            This umpteenth version of the Fantastic Beasts series begins on a rather sinister note with Albus Dumbledore (Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Mikkelsen) meeting for tea and revealing their significant history.  However, during the brief meeting they have major differences that will reverberate throughout the world of magic.  Dumbledore explains to Newt (Redmayne), Theseus (Turner), and Jacob Kowalski (Fogler) that they must exert their powers in thwarting Grindelwald’s plans for wizarding world domination.

            Mikkelsen is made up to bear a resemblance to Hitler and shows him rallying the people around him in ways reminiscent of the German Nazi of WWII.  Grindelwald has become power hungry and knows that Dumbledore will do everything he can to stand in his way, so he sends out resentful outcast Credence Dumbledore (Miller) to kill the older Dumbledore.  

            Most of the story is about these two factions trying to out-maneuver one another.  Unfortunately, there are few surprises (if any) in this production, and although there are a few pearls of wisdom cast (“Do what is right; not what is easy” and “Trying to make things right is more important than perfection”), real substance in terms of ethical and moral values is missing.

            The production is visually beautiful, and it is always fun to see magical powers rendered in CGI (the two major protagonists fight a brilliant battle with one another), but this plot is so thin and lacking any punch, the viewer is likely to question its 2+-hour length.

            Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Mads Mikkelsen, and the rest of the supporting cast are skilled actors who are consistent in their performances.  Music by James Newton Howard and cinematography by George Richmond contribute to the entertainment value.  It seems that the script (J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves) is the main drawback, although it’s also likely that the filmmakers have simply extended the series too long.

 

This latest production in the Fantastic Beasts series adds nothing new, especially given the length.

 

Grade:  C                              By Donna R. Copeland

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Eddie Redmayne     Sacha Baron Cohen    Jeremy Strong    Yahha Abdul Mateen II     Mark Rylance

Joseph Gordon-Levitt     Frank Langella     Michael Keaton     John Carroll Lynch     Ben Shenkman     Alex Sharp

     With a stunning cast of actors, Aaron Sorkin (probably best known for The Social Network, The West Wing and Steve Jobs) has written and directed what is likely to be one of the most important films of this year.  It’s been a long time since the 1960’s, but anyone alive then will vividly recall the turmoil surrounding America’s involvement in the Viet Nam War and the heated, controversial trial of the protesters after the Democratic Convention in Chicago.  Sorkin vividly describes who were the major players in that drama, the events leading up to the trial, and a detailed description of the trial in 1969 that lasted for 151 days.

     The Government was at a disadvantage in bringing the case against the defendants. 1)  because it used the charge of conspiracy when the defendants had not made plans together; 2) one of the defendants was not acquainted with the others and had only been in the city four hours, 3) the judge who led the trial did so poorly he was later considered unqualified, and, finally, 4) politics got mixed in when Richard Nixon was elected President. Whereas the previous administration under Lyndon Johnson had concluded that the Chicago police actually incited the riot at the Convention, rather than the defendants, Nixon’s Attorney General, John Mitchell, was determined to find the protesters guilty.

      During the film, we are shown revealing defense meetings, the trial, and clips of the protests, all of which make for exciting drama.  It should be said that some of the defendants (Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin particularly) were colorful in their own right and were gleeful in their irreverence and playfulness with the authorities.  But others were respectful, like defense counsel William Kuntsler and defendant Tom Hayden, but who, at times, dropped decorum and stood firmly in their beliefs.  

     Along with the writing and direction, the cast comes through superbly in portraying their characters.  Eddie Redmayne as Tom Hayden repeats his past fine performances in depicting someone knowledgeable in the law, impulsive at times when his humanitarian buttons are pushed, but usually maintaining his composure.  Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen and Jeremy Strong, respectively, are a hoot, just as the real men were; so shocking you get surprised at their intelligence. I completely forgot the actors during their performances, which is saying a lot, since each is so prominent in very different current and recent roles. 

     It was great fun to see Frank Langella, long-time nominee with few wins, play the disingenuous judge for whom the whole proceedings were overwhelming.  I think he captured his role just right, and hope he is nominated for an overdue award.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also one perfectly cast for his role as the lead prosecutor who is young enough to have maintained the strong principles he acquired from law school, but well brought up in American values and social skills. He maintains a perfect balance between knowing what will affect his career while still adhering to his basic ethics.  

     Michael Keaton is another actor who always comes through with just what is needed. And in this case, in portraying Ramsey Clark (Johnson’s attorney general), he shows a man without many pretensions but having basic human values about the difference between right and wrong.  He will take personal risks to see that justice is done.

     There are a dizzying number of characters thrown at the viewer right in the beginning, which requires good concentration.  Then, as the drama unfolds, you get caught up in it, both with your brain and your emotions.  It is an exceptional rendering of history that is reflective of real events as we experience them.  This is an informative as well as engrossing story to watch.  In light of today’s politics, it may be positive or sobering—we’ll see.  The film can be seen on Netflix.

 

Dip into a taste of history that can be seen as hyper-relevant today in this brief look back.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD

Eddie Redmayne    Katherine Waterston     Dan Fogler     Jude Law     Johnny Depp

Zoe Kravitz     Allison Sudol          Ezra Miller     Credence Baregone     Carmen Ejogo

     The second installment of the Fantastic Beasts series tells about the renewed threat from the dark wizard Grindelwald, who has escaped from the custody of the MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) and has a devious plan to create a new world wherein non-magical beings will be subservient to the wizards who have pledged loyalty to him.  In this framework, one is either for or against him, and he demands a declaration of loyalty.

     The alarm goes out in the wizard world about this new threat, and Dumbledore (Law) charges Newt Scamander (Redmayne) with joining forces to stop him.  Newt is handicapped a bit by MACUSA’s forbidding him to travel internationally, but he is managing to get around that in his and friend Jacob’s (Fogler) journey searching for their loves, sisters Tina (Waterston) and Queenie (Sudol)

     One of the drawbacks of the film is in the script with its multiple plot lines involving so many people it’s hard to keep track of everyone and all the sub-plots involved.  There are the relationships between Jacob and Queenie, Newt and Tina, and Credence and Leta; there is the historical relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald; there is the relationship between Newt and his beloved beasts (quote:  “Newt has never met a beast he didn’t love”); there is the question of the true identity of Credence (Miller); and, finally, there is a question of who among all these characters will take up with Grindlewald and help him in his master plan.

     Director David Yates has collaborated with J. K. Rowling (author of the books on which all the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films are based) on the last six productions, and she has written the screenplays for the two Fantastic Beasts films.  This partnership, along with other consistent members of the team (Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot, Production Designer Stuart Craig), returning actors Redmayne, Waterston, Fogler, Sudol, Miller, and Depp, and the visual and special effects artists contribute a kind of consistency in quality that make the series popular with general audiences.  However, many viewers—possibly more discerning—are picking up on the repetitiousness and “tent-pole” characteristics of these creations.

     Eddie Redmayne’s talented acting is a plus in the Fantastic Beasts series, although whether it can endure the number of upcoming productions remains to be seen.  It’s been agreed that he will remain in his role.  In this film, he, Waterston, Fogler, Law, Kravitz, and Sudol pull off their roles admirably.  

This latest offshoot of the Harry Potter series is attempting to hold onto its popularity with the general public.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

EARLY MAN

Voices of:  Tom Hiddleston     Maisie Williams   Eddie Redmayne   Timothy Spall   Nick Park

     Nick Park and the Aardman Animation Studios bring us another enchanted story that entertains while it inspires hope and the achievement of dreams.  Dug (Redmayne) is an aspiring young man who tries to convince Bobnar (Spall), chief of the cavemen, that they should go beyond being a tribe of rabbit hunters and start searching for big mammoths instead. Unrealistic expectations, perhaps?  Bobnar indulges him by saying he will think about it, but in the meantime, Lord Nooth (Hiddleston), whose tribe has advanced to the Bronze Age and are deep into mining, is driving them out of their precious valley to get to the rich ore deposits lying beneath it. 

     Then an element of fanciful story telling is inserted into the drama.  Dug has found cave drawings that indicate that their ancestors played some kind of game with a ball similar to one he has stumbled upon near the mines.  (The “Bronzios” are the champion football team at the time).  Dug and his friends kick the ball around playfully for a time, but through strange coincidences they encounter someone who actually knows about the Bronze Age people’s game of football (soccer to Americans).  Who is this someone?  She is a girl(!) named Goona (Williams) who is barred from her people’s team because she is a girl.  But she is passionate about the sport and spends many hours watching the game and playing it in her imagination.  When she sees an opportunity to coach the cavemen and transform them into a disciplined team, she jumps at the chance to get back at the Bronzios who were never very nice to her.

     Much excitement and intrigue follow when Dug negotiates with Lord Nooth to get back their land.  The outcome of these negotiations will be determined by the winner of a football game between the scrappy “Brutes” and the expert “Bronzios.”  (Lord Nooth is not being magnanimous; he plans to reap more entry fees at the gate from the cavemen.  Little does he know that his wife Queen Oofeefa will have a role to play in the contest.)

     This movie is up to the quality of the famed “Wallace & Gromit” TV series and video games and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Chicken Run feature films, as well as other awarded productions by the same filmmakers.  It is beautifully animated and the story is full of humor, clever puns, and substance (story by Park, screenplay by Mark Burton and James Higginson.  An added bonus is that the story incorporates critical roles played by females—an issue close to our current political preoccupations.

     The voices of Hiddleston, Williams, Redmayne, Spall, Brydon, Margolyes, and even Director Park himself fit perfectly with their characters. 

From Nick Park and Aardman Animations fans, a new release à la “Wallace & Gromit”, The Curse of the Were Rabbit, and Chicken Run.

Grade:  A By Donna R. Copeland

FANTASTIC BEASTS and WHERE TO FIND THEM

Eddie Redmayne   Katherine Waterston   Colin Farrell   Dan Fogler   Allison Sudol   Samantha Morton  

Ezra Miller   Ron Perlman   Jon Voight   Carmen Ejogo   Johnny Depp

          This spinoff of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series contains all the excitement and fascination we would hope would follow the previous series.  Exceptionally directed by David Yates (who directed four of the eight Harry Potter series), it is Rowling’s first screenplay and verifies once again her talent as a writer.  It stars the chameleon actor Eddie Redmayne as a “magizoologist” who has written a text used by the Hogwarts School and whose interest is in protecting exotic beasts that the rest of the world seems to fear and want to wipe out.  He regards them as endangered species, and carries a handy little briefcase to tuck them into when the need arises.  From there, they are magically transported to a sanctuary he has built for them.

         Newt Scamander (Redmayne) has come to the U.S. to relocate a beast he has rescued into the Arizona desert.  What he encounters upon arriving in New York, though, is something like a terrorist threat.  The city is under attack from something—nobody seems to know what, and we get only vague descriptions of it, but it is wrecking everything in its path.  In addition, there seems to be tension among factions—those who want to stamp out magic, saying the practitioners are witches, those who want to preserve it (Magical Congress of the United States of America—MANCUSA), and No-Maj people (with no magical powers).  Everyone seems to want to protect these poor souls.

         Typical of Rowling, we see parallel stories develop with characters we care about, others with evil intent, and still others caught in the middle of these two forces.  We see Tina (Waterston) and her sister Queenie (Sudol) trying to use their magic in a positive way despite self-serving superiors like Percival Graves (Farrell) and possibly Seraphina (Ejogo), president of MACUSA, whose sentiments are not always discernible.  We see Mary Lou Barebone (Morton) who takes in orphans like Credence (Miller) and preaches against magic. And we see Percival Graves (Farrell) wielding his power over Credence to manipulate him into searching for someone Graves wants.  The intermixing of all these strains adds complexity and enhances our fascination with the tale.

        Cinematography (Phillippe Rousselot), production design (Stuart Craig and James Hambridge), and visual/special effects essentially carry this film, right along with the story and the characters portrayed by captivating actors.  It’s so rewarding to see Redmayne play a modest hero magically out to do good—but then, he is an expert at that, presumably because it taps into his own personal qualities.  Supporting actors Katherine Waterston, Allison Sudol, Samantha Morton, and Ron Perlman (always creepy) give notable performances that further the elevation of this film’s quality. 

J.K. Rowling:  You got it!

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE DANISH GIRL

Eddie Redmayne     Alicia Vikander     Matthias Schoenaerts     Ben Whishaw

          The Danish Girl is a remarkable account of the transgender experience, not only from the subject’s point of view but for those close to him/her as well.  David Ebershoff’s book on which the film is based is a fictionalized account that used a transgender person’s diary for inspiration.  In the hands of screenwriter Lucinda Coxon and director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and their fellow filmmakers, the drama blossoms into a visually beautiful, lyrical production with emotional realism and depth. 

         A young Danish couple, Einar (Redmayne) and Gerda (Vikander) (immeasurably more attractive than their names!), are both painters, she of portraits and he of landscapes.  He is better known, partly because this is in the 1920’s when women were “not supposed” to be painters.  They are obviously in love and playful with one another, and in one of their games, they dress him up as a woman to pose for her portraits.  It turns out that he revels in the feel of the fabric, moving like a woman, and calling himself Lili.  He shrinks from art shows; but once, for fun, they dress him up as a woman to attend a benefit, and he is hit upon by Henrik (Whishaw) who tries to kiss him. 

        The problem is that he so enjoys his “woman-ness” he goes into an identity crisis, starts dressing like a woman frequently at home, and it begins to affect his relationship with Gerda.  Eventually he realizes that he has always been female on the inside.

          One of the strengths of the film is that Gerda is not shown to freak out in response to these changes, but is genuinely troubled because she loves Einar.  And her love is the kind we always seek—one that flexes with change and sees into the soul of the other person.  She sticks by him throughout his major decisions while still giving him room to explore, and she eventually accepts him as Lili.  “We have to let Einer go”, Lili advises her at a sensitive moment, and she does.

         Redmayne is as good at playing a woman as he was in playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, for which he won an Oscar earlier this year.  Vikander is bursting on the Hollywood scene with premium and very diverse performances in Ex Machina, Testament of Youth, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Burnt—all this year!  Both Schoenaerts and Whishaw contribute to the quality of the film in their supporting roles. 

         Danny Cohen’s cinematography and Alexandre Desplat’s music play essential roles in making this a top-notch film.  The beginning and ending scenes of the Danish fiords are redolent with nostalgia and longing, and Cohen’s capturing Lili’s sensual qualities are palpable.  He has received awards from the American Academy, BAFTA, and the Golden Globes for his work in The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Painted Veil and The King’s Speech along with numerous nominations for other films.  Desplat’s compositions always seems to capture the mood and essence of the films he scores, most notably, The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Philomena, and he does it again in The Danish Girl.

A film to help you understand and marvel at the power of love.

Grade:  A                                                   By Donna R. Copeland