Crisp Criticism - "Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them", "Trolls", "Morgan", "Almost Christmas"

by

Julien Faddoul

Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them

The adventures of a writer in New York's secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter.

Interminable spin-off of Rowling’s Harry Potter series with a great deal of infantile claptrap going on, none of it particularly interesting or “fantastic.” It is a shame that an adolescent entertainment on magicians should be this counterfeit.

d – David Yates

w – JK Rowling

ph – Philippe Rousselot

pd – Stuart Craig, James Hambidge

m – James Newton Howard

ed – Mark Day

cos – Colleen Atwood

p – David Heyman, JK Rowling, Lionel Wigram, Steve Kloves

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Carmen Ejogo, Jon Voight, Ron Perlman, Josh Cowdery, Ronan Raftery, Faith Wood-Blagrove, Jenn Murray

Trolls *

After the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy, the happiest Troll ever born, and the curmudgeonly Branch set off on a journey to rescue her friends.

One of the lesser DreamWorks films which, although being fun to engage with on a visual level, is fairly banal in every other way, including sarcastic jokes, incessant song covers and a hackneyed message.

d – Mike Mitchell

co-d – Walt Dohrn

w – Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Erica Rivinoja

pd – Kendal Cronkhite

m – Christophe Beck, Justin Timberlake

ed – Nick Fletcher

p – Gina Shay

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Christine Baranski, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani, John Cleese, James Corden, Jeffrey Tambor

Morgan

A corporate risk-management consultant must decide whether or not to terminate an artificially created humanoid being.

Slickly made but far too similar to so many other, more forceful thrillers on the dangers of artificial intelligence.

d – Luke Scoyy

w – Seth W. Owen

ph – Mark Patten

pd – Tom McCullagh

m – Max Richter

ed – Laura Jennings

cos – Stefano De Nardis

p – Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer, Mark Huffam

Cast: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti, Rose Leslie, Toby Jones, Michelle Yeoh

Almost Christmas *

An dysfunctional family gathers together for their first Christmas since their mom died.

Broad family comedy of a familiar kind that has moments of charm that a few and far between.

wd – David E. Talbert

ph – Larry Blanford

pd – Wynn Thomas

m – John Paesano

ed – Troy Takaki

p – William Packer

Cast: Jessie Usher, Gabrielle Union, Danny Glover, Nicole Ari Parker, Omar Epps, Gregory Alan Williams, Mo'Nique, Kimberly Elise, Romany Malco, J.B. Smoove