I’m getting more and more excited about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with each featurette that Warner Brothers releases. Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who winds up letting loose a suitcase full of magical creatures in New York City in the 20s. It looks like they’re still finishing the FX, so most of the footage involves characters interacting. There’s some brand new shots we haven’t seen before, and plenty of discussion from author J.K. Rowling, who was much more involved in the making of this than she was Harry Potter.
This is such a heavy handed Oscar grab. In a year with Caitlin Jenner, Orange is the New Black, and Transparent, I think most people are looking for a deeper look at this subject, but this film never gets deeper than the pretty pictures and scenery. In our all-inclusive political climate, even I feel the pressure to speak nicely of a film like this lest I feel the wrath of the left wing battering me for being some kind of sexist bigot. If I want to watch Eddie Redmayne transform before my eyes, I will dust off Theory of Everything from last yea. But in this film, I never get past feeling bad for his/her wife and being tremendously thankful that they didn’t have children. I don’t want to waste more time on this film than I must. There are much better offerings to discuss this year, and I hope that the Academy can see through this feeble attempt by Tom Hooper to continue is award winning streak by playing on the hot topic of the year with one of the best new actors out there.
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."
