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MOVIE REVIEW: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by J.K. Rowling, is a See It! or Rent It. I'll leave that up to you!

It is 1926; wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives in New York City from England pausing to hear a speech from a social movement leader ranting against witchcraft and wizardry. While focused on the speaker, one of the several magical creatures Newt has stored in his briefcase escapes. Just when Newt has recaptured the varmint, he has a chance encounter with a local resident Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) who happens to have a case very similar to Newt's. The two accidently grab each other's bag.

Tina Goldstein (Alison Sudol), a witch who is on probation with MACUSA (The Magical Congress of the United States of America), arrests Newt for being an unregistered wizard and takes him to MACUSA, hoping to regain her status. But she warms to Newt and joins him in his search for his lost bag. This leads them on a journey of trying to get the bag, impress the MACUSA, helping Jacob with his goals, among resolving other issues.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is written by J.K. Rowling and is connected to the Harry Potter series. And, I never liked that series. Stories, about a group of British youth learning wizardry, were never very interesting to me. And this cast of characters is even less appealing than Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Fantastic Beasts' story is convoluted and takes more twist and turns than a drunk, cross-eyed mouse in a maze. The imagery is outstanding, but frankly, many of the creatures seem to be thrown in to meet viewer expectations, more so than truly fitting into the flow of the story.

Cast performances are adequate. However, some stood out. Colin Farrell as a wizard and Director of Magical Security for MACUSA was appropriately mysterious and vexing. Dan Fogler, as Jacob Kowalski, enriches the production with a strong performance as an average, decent guy who gets drawn into the world he never knew existed.

As to cast diversity, Fantastic Beasts gets a "C+". Members of the MACUSA are very diverse, including the president, Seraphina Picquery (Carmen Ejogo) who is "black" (Nigerian father, Scottish mother). This film fails in a way many period pieces do, by displaying U.S. urban areas without diverse populations.

Fantastic Beasts is set largely in Manhattan and not only did the many street scenes feature only white people, they were all very well dressed as if no lower income folks were allowed on thoroughfares.

In 1926, there were about 170,000 black people living in Manhattan alone and comprised about 10% of the New York City population and would have been much more visible than shown in this film. At that time black residents would have walked the public streets, to and from work, or shopping just like any other residents.

In fact, New York City's first black police officer, Samuel James Battle, had been sworn in some 15 years earlier in 1911.

Another flaw in period pieces is that they apply current day sensibilities to events which would have been non-issues at that time. Here, a mother beat her son and there was much sympathy for him and fanfare over that fact. Parents beating their children in the 1920s was not only acceptable – but expected - behavior.

The ultimate verdict for this film is Rent It, except if you are a Harry Potter fan, then I would say, "See It!"

Fantastic Beasts is rated PG-13 for some fantasy action violence and is 133 minutes in length.

Movie Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

You Don't have to be Strange to Enjoy Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Jacob Portman (Asa Butterfield) just doesn't know whom to believe. His grandfather Abraham (Terrance Stamp) tells him colorful tales of living in an orphanage for "peculiar children" in Wales in early 1940s. Jacob's father (Chris O'Dowd) dismisses his father, Abraham's memories as nothing more than fantasies. When Abraham dies, Jacob's parents take him to a psychiatrist to help resolve issues surrounding images he claims to have seen after his grandfather's death. The doctor recommends that Jacob and his father go to Wales and visit the orphanage where his grandfather claims to have grown up, as a part of his healing process.

Once in Wales, Jacob goes on an adventure that corroborates the assertions his grandfather made.

Miss Peregrine is a thoroughly entertaining movie based on the bestselling children's book. And it's a See It! It's different, creative, with strong characters, an exceptional cast and an intriguing storyline. I definitely preferred it to all of the films in the Harry Potter series. However, this is probably not a film for anyone under 10.

Directed by Tim Burton, this a perfect script for his peculiar filmmaking style.

Miss Peregrine gets an "A" for cast diversity. Considering the fact it's set in rural Great Britain in the 1940s, having a Samuel L. Jackson in the starring of role of Barron, is admirable. This movie very easily could have had an all-white cast.

It's rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of fantasy action/violence and peril) and is two hours and seven minutes in length. You should See It!

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