Netflix Friday - Volume 65

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of a rising darkness.
 

Drama: Rocketman (2019)
A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John’s (Taran Edgerton) breakthrough).
 

Comedy: Ghostbusters (1984)
Three former parapsychology professors (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis) set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.
 

Animation: Sherlock Gnomes (2018)
Garden gnomes, Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt), recruit renowned detective Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments.
 

Romance: Top Gun (1986)
As students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in class, one daring young pilot (Tom Cruise) learns a few things from a civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) that are not taught in the classroom.
 

Horror: Saint Maud (2019)
Follows a pious nurse (Morfydd Clarke) who becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.
 

Science Fiction: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
A troubled child (Henry Thomas) summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home world.
 

Crime: Wild Things (1998)
A police detective (Kevin Bacon) uncovers a conspiracy behind a case involving a high-school guidance counselor (Matt Dillon) when accusations of rape are made against him by two female students (Neve Campbell, Denise Richards).
 

Thriller: The Good Liar (2019)
Consummate con man Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen) has set his sight on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes.
 

Documentary: Fantastic Fungi (2019)
Fantastic Fungi is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that begins 3.5 billion years ago.
 

Family: Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them (2016)
The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.

Top 5 Thursday: Creatures from “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

Boy was I glad to step into the wizarding world again. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was an amazingly adventurous film and really exceeded my expectations. There are so many beautiful and amazing creatures in this film, that I decided to pick my favorites. Here is my top 5.

5. Occamy
The Occamy is a two-legged winged serpent, that looks liks a mix between a bird, snake and a dragon. Its egg shells are made of pure silver. An Occamy has the ability to shrink or grow to fit the space available to it.

4. Thunderbird
The massive bird can create storms by flapping its wings, but it can also sense danger. Newt rescued Frank the Thunderbird from Egypt and was in America to let loose Frank.

3. Demiguise
The primate and sloth like combi, has the ability to become invisible at will. It can also see the future, making it hard to catch him. His fur can create Invisibility Cloaks.

2. Bowtruckle
The Bowtruckle looks like a cross between a praying mantis and a stick bug. A Bowtruckle is made out of tree stems, with their own little branches. They will get about eight inches high. We meet six of them in the film, named Pickett, Titus, Finn, Poppy, Marlow and Tom. Pickett is the shy little guy who hangs out in Newt’s pocket.

1. Niffler
Nifflers look like a cross between a mole and a duck-billed platypus. Although adorable, Nifflers ca be pretty destructive and they steal everything shiny. They also have a magical pouch that allows them to store their treasures.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Mooncalfs, Nundu, Swooping Evil, Murtlap, Erumpent

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 156: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Director: David Yates
Genre: Adventure/ Fantasy/ Family
Runtime: 132 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alison Sudol, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Zoë Kravitz, Johnny Depp, Ron Perlman, Samantha Marton, Jon Voight, Dan Fogler

Description: The adventures of writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in New York's secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.

Review: When “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” was released, it was the end of an era for Harry Potter fans. The last film about the adventures of wizard Harry Potter. But writer J.K. Rowling wasn’t done with the wizarding world either. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is a spin-off and she wrote the script for the movie herself. And thank goodness the magic is still alive.
It’s supposed to be a complete new franchise, with five movies in total. And I couldn’t be more excited! We meet Newt Scamander, a zoologist who studies mysterious fable creatures and keeps them in a magical suitcase. He travels to New York, but his animals manage to escape. The story is set seventy years before Harry Potter is even born.
Eddie Redmayne is really good as Newt Scamander. It’s like Redmayne always belonged in this universe, he fits perfectly. He is charming yet very unworldly. I also really liked Dan Fogler as Kowalski, a Muggle. He is the comic relief and he is sort of represents the audience. The one Newt explains everything to. Colin Farrell is the villain, sort of, and he is strong in his role as well.
With traveling outside the UK, the story has created room for many new characters, decors and situations. Wizarding is different in America. Muggles, called No-Maj, aren’t allowed to interact with wizards. But Rowling also connects the parallel tot he real world, to discuss themes as apartheid, oppression and intolerance. This gives the spin-off an extra layer.
But the amazement is what I love about the film. All the great fairytale like creatures we get to meet, like the Niffler, Pickett the walking stick animal and Frank, an eagle like bird.
Also the décor and costumes are fantastic, combined with an amazing musical score by James Newton Howard. Director David Yates, who directed the Harry Potter films since “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoeniex”, knows his material and again did a great job bringing this magical world to life.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: 2016 Fall/ Winter Movies to Look Forward to

Summer was okay, not very spectacular when it comes to movies. But fall (my favorite season) and winter has a lot in store for us. Here are the movies I’m most looking forward to.

5. Arrival
I’ve seen two trailers now and it looks fantastic. It’s directed by Denis Villeneuve, who also directed “Prisoners”, “Enemy” and “Sicario”, all movies I LOVED! The film follows a linguist, played by Amy Adams, who is recruited by the military to assist in transliting alien communications.

4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
All set in the Harry Potter universe, so for me that’s reason enough to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”. The movie is about Newt Scamander, a writer who delves into the world of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his books in school.

3. Passengers
The movie doesn’t have a trailer yet, just a couple of movie stills. But Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt got me excited enough. A spacecraft traveltng to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two of the passengers are awakened 60 years early.

2. La La Land
This trailer got me jumping for joy! It looks so beautiful. The cast is stunning, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. And its director, Damein Chazelle, already showed us he is amazing with “Whiplash”. The film follows a jazz pianist who falls in love with a aspiring actress. And…. It’s also a musical!

1. The Girl on the Train
I read the book and it was one of those stories I couldn’t put away. And the trailer looks so amazing, I just can’t wait to see it. Emily Blunt plays the lead and there are also roles for Justine Theroux, Luke Evans, Haley Bennett, Allison Janney, Lisa Kudrow and Rebecca Ferguson. The story is about Rachel Watson’s post-divorce life. Every day, she takes the train to work in New York, and evert day the train passes by her old house. The house she lived in with her husband, who still lives there, with his new wife and child. As she attempts to not focus on her pain, she starts watching a couple who live a few houses down, Megan and Scott Hipwell. She creates a wonderful dream life for them in her head, about how they are the perfect happy family. And then one day, as the train passes, she sees something shocking. The next day, she wakes up with a horrible hangover, various wounds and bruises and no memory of the night before. She has only a feeling: something bad happened. Then come the TV reports: Megan Hipwell is missing. Rachel becomes invested in the case and trying to find out what happened to Megan.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Sully, The Magnificent Seven, A Monster Calls, Doctor Strange, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Inferno, Sing, The Light Between Oceans

Movie Trailer Sunday (234)

Here are this week's trailers.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Director: David Yates
Description: The adventures of writer Newt Scamander *Eddie Redmayne) in New York's secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrel, Ezra Miller, Ron Perlman, Jon Voight, Samantha Morton
Trailer: Trailer "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"
Comment: The newest trailer, jeej!!!

Doctor Strange
Director: Scott Derrickson
Description: After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant and conceited surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under his wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Mads Mikkelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Trailer: Trailer "Doctor Strange"
Comment: A teaser, can't wait to see more!

The Neon Demon
Director: Nicholas Winding Refn
Description: When aspiring model Jesse (Elle Fanning) moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
Starring: Elle Fanning, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Jena Malone
Trailer: Trailer "The Neon Demon"
Comment: This looks very interesting!

The Birth of a Nation
Director: Nate Parker
Description: Nat Turner, a former slave in America, leads a liberation movement in 1831 to free African-Americans in Virginia that results in a violent retaliation from whites.
Starring: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Jackie Earl Haly, Mark Boone Jr., Penelope Anne Miller, Gabrielle Union
Trailer: Trailer "The Birth of a Nation"
Comment: Looks like "12 Years a Slave".

The Family Fang
Director: Jason Bateman
Description: A brother and sister return to their family home in search of their world famous parents who have disappeared.
Starring: Jason Bateman, Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Kathryn Hahn
Trailer: Trailer "The Family Fang"
Comment: Can't wait to see Bateman as a director.

Movie Trailer Sunday (218)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Independence Day: Resurgence

Description: Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-Solar threat. But will mankind's new space defenses be enough?

Director: Ronald Emmerich

Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Liam Hemsworth, Joey King, Maika Monroe, William Fichtner, Vivica A. Fox, Bill Pullman, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sela WardJudd Hirsch

Trailer: Trailer "Independence Day: Resurgence"

Comment: I;m glad to see Jeff Goldblum, but is Bill Pullman still president?

High-Rise

Description: Life for the residents of a tower block begins to run out of control.

Director:Ben Wheatley

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss, James Purefoy

Trailer: Trailer "High-Rise"

Comment: Don't know what to expect, it intrigues me...

 

Star Trek Beyond

Description: The plot is unknown at this time.

Director: Justin Lin

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Idris Elba, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella, Deep Roy

Trailer: Trailer "Star Trek: Beyond"

Comment: I think the "Star Wars" fans aren't paying attention to this at all!

Eddie the Eagle

Description: The story of Great Britain's first ski jumper to enter the Winter Olympics.

Director: Dexter Fletcher

Starring: Taran Edgerton, Hugh Jackman, Christopher Walken

Trailer: Trailer "Eddie the Eagle"

Comment: Looks fun.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Description: The adventures of writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in New York's secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.

Director: David yates

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Ron Perlman, Jon Voight, Samantha Morton

Trailer: Trailer "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"

Comment: Yeah!