Chasing After Those Pesky Erumpents

“My philosophy is if you worry, you suffer twice.” ~ Newt Scamander

“Mr. Scamander, do you know anything about the wizarding community in America? We don’t like things loose.” ~ Porpentina Goldstein

“So you’re the guy with the case full of monsters, huh?” ~ Gnarlack

“What did you do today, Jacob? I was inside a suitcase.” ~ Jacob Kowalski

“There’s strange things going  on all over the city. People behind this are not like you and me. There’s a hidden society. It goes back centuries.” ~ Mary Lou Barebone

“We live in the shadows for too long.” ~ Percival Graves

When J.K. Rowling finished her series about that boy wizard with the lightning scar and the two best friends with Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, she said that was the end of the line for her with that world, and so moved on to other literary genres, both under her own name and under a penname. And yet the world of Potter kept drawing her back time and again, whether it was tidbits of information at her site, or the more recent stage play that she’s had a hand in. And then there is the new movie Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, the first of several to come, set decades before the Potter film adaptations, and featuring familiar elements in a new context and setting. The film is directed by David Yates, who has a whole lot of experience in this area, having had directed the last four of the Potter films.

In 1926, we meet the young wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), who’s stopping in New York City on his way west. This is a New York not quite our own, as it features those who warn against witches and wizards (which, admittedly, might have been going on two or three centuries earlier in those parts, but not in the Jazz Age). A chance encounter leads to misplaced suitcases with what we’d call a Muggle, but what in America is called a No-Maj, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). The two men mistakenly take the other’s suitcases, which touches off a storm of chaos in the Big Apple when several creatures escape from Newt’s suitcase.

Rowling wrote the screenplay for this, delving deep into the background of the Potter verse and bringing out something new along the way. The title is actually taken from a textbook mentioned in the Potter books- one that Rowling later published as a false document- and Newt is derived from that back story, something of an odd and awkward fellow who comes into his own. Rowling very much sets the story in the Potter verse, with references and name drops along the way including Hogwarts, Dumbledore, and the Lestrange family, while taking things in a new direction by setting the action in America. This first film, slated to be the first of five, does feel a bit like an exercise in world building- we see the magical world decades earlier than what we were first introduced to in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, and the magical bureaucracy of America is different than what we’ve seen in the British Ministry of Magic, though there are some similarities.

The story weaves in themes of friendship, different worlds, and intolerance- best personified in the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a group that certainly comes across as extreme in their ways, seeing no particular wrong in killing witches or wizards, let alone being abusive towards children. The latter is a nod of sorts to the Dursley’s general poor treatment of Harry Potter, though comparatively speaking, the narrow minded Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton) is much worse. Family is also a theme running through the film, with a sharp contrast between the harsh Mary Lou, who mistreats her children, and the close relationship between the magical Goldstein sisters

Yates, having had handled the last four of the Potter films, is back in familiar territory with this, returning to the magical world  for a jaunt back in time. That includes the rules of the Potter world in terms of magic, the intrigues and tell tales that hint at what’s to come. And he handles it very well, taking the world of magic and bringing it face to face with New York and the unfolding jazz era. I like the way he brings that jazz era back to life- while meshing it with witches, wizards, and strange creatures, perhaps most perfectly colliding in one character, the sardonic goblin Gnarlack, who strides in both worlds, also running a speakeasy (and voiced by the ideal Ron Perlman).

The special effects crew do their part in bringing that world to life and making it feel like it’s right there with New York in the era, something that was done here and there in the Potter films with scenes set squarely in the Muggle world. The creatures are indeed fantastic, and strange, and do seem to occupy the space with the actors and landscape, which of course is essential in this kind of story- we’re a long way from Ray Harryhausen’s era of effects. One of my personal favourite composers, James Newton Howard, composes the score for the film. He’s a newcomer to this magical world, and yet makes the score his own, offering hints of the Potter themes before taking things entirely in new directions.

The Potter films were blessed with a wealth of great casting, and the same applies here, given that so many of the franchise’s senior creative personnel are involved again in the production. Samantha Morton, who’s done a mix of independent and big  feature films on both sides of the Atlantic, gets to play a character we dislike, the narrow minded abusive Mary Lou, a normal human with a dark agenda of her own. Ezra Miller plays her adopted son Credence, who harbours secrets and mysteries about himself that unfold as the film plays out.

Colin Farrell has seemed to be absent from films for a good long while, or maybe he’s just been doing films I haven’t been aware of. It’s good to see him back again, in a role that requires him to play the character with different nuances. Percival Graves is an auror, a sort of magical policeman with little humour or patience, it seems, and yet there’s something else under the surface, something that the actor plays around with as the story goes along. There’s a brief appearance by Johnny Depp as well, playing Gellert Grindlewald, a character referenced in the Potter books as a dark wizard, and a malevolent threat yet to come. His appearance here is a hint of  what the actor can do with him, and a worthy villain.

Dan Fogler gets the comic relief buddy role of Jacob Kowalski, and I like what he does with it. Here we have an ordinary man, an aspiring baker who’s thrown into the world of magic, something he had no idea even existed, by a trick of fate, and he seems to thrive in it despite everything. The actor brings a rich sense of humour to the role, and I couldn’t help but like the character.

Alison Sudol plays Queenie Goldstein, a bombshell as well as a witch, whose speciality tends to lean towards magical telepathy. In the hands of another character,  that skill could be dangerous, but Queenie is a big hearted witch, a free spirit with a good heart. She has surprisingly good chemistry with Jacob.

Her sister Porpentina is played by Katherine Waterston, and the actress gets a good role to play. Demoted previously despite her best efforts, she’s eager to get back into the good graces of her bosses. She’s down to earth and sensible, loyal and strong willed, and finds herself pulled between doing the right thing and serving her own career ambitions. The actress has good chemistry with her leading man, and ultimately I’d like to see where things go.

Which brings us to the surprise. Eddie Redmayne’s been busy soaking up Oscar glory and all sorts of accolades, but the only film I’d previously seen him in was that wretched musical version of Les Miserables, which I hated, and I remember particularly disliking his take on Marius, to the point where I wanted someone to strangle him. To be fair though, I was probably heavily influenced by that dislike of musicals thing that I have. Here I like what he does with Newt, an awkward sort of fellow, seemingly outcast in the world, but one who proves to come into his own in an unusual situation and rise to the occasion. He’s resourceful and quick to move, soft spoken but ultimately courageous, and Redmayne gives the character a deft, human touch that makes the audience like the character. Where things go for him from here is a question we’ll have to wait and see.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them may be an ungainly title for a movie, but the film itself is fun, bringing back the tone of the Potter films, where magic exists quietly in secret alongside the ordinary world. It gives us a likeable protagonist, a hint of a formidable villain, and a strong cast that invest their performances with humour and humanity. While it might spend time world building and self referencing itself, the film makes me want to see more of what’s to come.

From Billy Goats To Dread Dark Monsters

Breaking Of Decades Old Curse Inadvertently Unleashes Elder Being Monster Upon World

Chicago (Reuters) The Chicago Cubs won the World Series this year, successfully breaking a streak of no wins in Major League Baseball’s championship that dated back over a century. They also broke the traditional curse dating back to the end of the Second World War, in which a fan and his billy goat apparently hexed the team to never again win a World Series after being ejected out of a game at Wrigley Field. And they broke a more recent bad streak that dated back to 2003, and the infamous Steve Bartman incident that had fans for years toting voodoo dolls of the unlucky fan who inadvertently screwed up their chances in the National League Championship Series. Following the win, many of those same fans finally gave up those Bartman voodoo dolls and forgave him.

The fans were ecstatic by the victory, in a dramatic Game Seven against Cleveland that’s been touted by some as one of the best World Series games ever played. Chicago has been overjoyed ever since, with celebrations of their team, signs everywhere toasting the success of the Cubs. It’s even given hope to other fans of hard luck teams under proverbial curses. Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are gleefully expecting that after fifty years of failure in hockey playoffs, this might well be their year as well.

And yet breaking the curse might have had a horrible consequence.

No, not the election- though that’s bad enough.

It was first reported emerging off the South American coast on Wednesday, a monstrous presence rising up out of the Atlantic Ocean and laying waste to the Argentine coast, working its way north. Witnesses described the monster as a bizarre combination of dragon, octopus, and humanoid, with two legs, two arms, massive wings, and tentacles around its mouth. Its body was dark and scaly, and massive- hundreds of meters tall, seemingly beyond the capability of a body to sustain life, and yet it was alive, gigantic, and incredibly dangerous. The clawed creature continued to carve a path of destruction as it moved north, horrifying onlookers, shrugging off missile attacks by national military air forces.

“It’s called Cthulhu,” Professor Frederick Van Helsing told reporters at an emergency services dispatch center in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The professor, who describes himself as an expert in occult studies and metaphysical philosophy, lectures at Oxford, has a reputation for being eccentric but brilliant, and comes from a long line of academics with a particular interest in the supernatural. Curious, since he shares a surname with a character from Bram Stoker’s novel about that blood sucking vampire terrorizing London. “Yes, well, it turns out Stoker knew my great-great-great grandfather Abraham and decided to weave a vampire story around him as a vampire hunter. What Stoker didn’t know was that the whole family has a centuries long tradition of vampire hunting and putting down monsters. We still do it today, though these days we seem to be encountering way too many sparkly vampires. Lot less dangerous than the classic version, let me assure you.”

Cthulhu, as it turns out, is far more than the soul consuming beast in fictional H.P. Lovecraft stories. The creature, Van Helsing explained, has been imprisoned deep beneath the ocean for millennia, and is one of the Great Old Ones of ancient pantheons. He’s the subject of worship by cultists, and is said to drive onlookers insane. “The last time he came close to escaping was 1909,” Van Helsing added. “My great grandfather Curtis Van Helsing arranged with a coven of witches to reinforce the magical bindings with a hex. As it turns out Curtis was a baseball fan, and hated the Cubs, so he figured putting a curse on the Cubs that would simultaneously keep Cthulhu imprisoned was a win-win both ways. Except of course for Cubs fans, who had to put up with more than a century of failure, but you know, sometimes those are the breaks.”

At least until the Cubs broke the curse by actually defying the odds and winning the World Series. Doing that also shattered the bindings of Cthulhu. The creature stirred from its imprisonment, breaking free of the mystic spells binding it in the deep, and returned to the surface. Multiple reports of missing ships in the South Atlantic seem to have been the first indication that something was wrong. The beast worked his- or its- way up the coast, wrecking havoc across South American seaboards, seemingly unstoppable.

Millions fled from the coastlines as the creature passed through, all the while heading in a general northerly direction across the Caribbean. He reached shore in Florida, crossing the state from west to east and making a particular point of destroying the Disney World Resort. “We can confirm that the park is shut down due to an unforeseen difficulty,” Disney World spokesperson Chelsea Rae Stephens told reporters while the ruins of the theme park smouldered behind her. “But we’ll be right back up and running as soon as possible, just as fast as we can get Tinkerbell to rebuild the place. And by Tinkerbell, I mean the Tinkerbell Construction Company who do all our infrastructure repairs. The guys in the team hate the name, but hey, that’s what you get living in Orlando.”

Cthulhu continued up the coast, coming ashore periodically to devour souls and kick sand in the faces of onlookers. He paused near New York as if wondering if he should come on in and obliterate it- it’s practically expected in disaster films, after all- but for reasons of his own kept moving forward up the seaboard, unstoppable despite everything the Navy and Air Force threw at him.

Unstoppable, that is, until he met his match.

The creature crossed into Canadian waters off the southwest Nova Scotia coast, and headed straight for shore. The Canadian government, having had seen the futility of previous military attacks by other national forces on the creature, instead were able to bring a single man into the area in advance. As it turns out, the only person on earth capable of teaching Cthulhu some manners.

It was the legendary Mountie, Inspector Lars Ulrich.

Ulrich was dropped on a beach near Yarmouth when it became apparent the monster was headed in that direction. Witnesses saw him staring resolutely out over the waters. This was, after all, the same man who’d saved the world on multiple occasions from dark cabals, mad scientists, and megalomaniacs. This was the gruff Mountie who had made Godzilla cry and run away. This was the fierce bane of existence for many an entertainment reporter.

Cthulhu emerged from the sea to the sight of the lone Mountie on the beach. The Mountie stared back. There was a long moment of silence as the two simply stared each other down. And then Cthulhu broke the silence by speaking, in a loud, booming voice, in a garbled language native to the Great Old Ones. Linguists were later able to translate the creature’s words into a sentence, though one word stood out as, well, relative English. The translation came out to “hey, aren’t you the guy who plays the drums for Metallica?”

The last word of the sentence seemed to irritate the Inspector, who called out, “I am not that Lars Ulrich.”

Cthulhu appeared to be puzzled, and linguists later translated his reply from video feeds from the area as he asked, “Are you sure?”

Ulrich charged in and struck the beast, launching a vicious attack that went on and on and on. Cthulhu, despite being hundreds of times bigger, couldn’t even get in one blow as the Mountie unleashed a storm of punches and kicks, bringing the Dread Cthulhu crashing down into the sea. The creature lost consciousness promptly thereafter, bloodied, battered, and broken by a seriously annoyed Mountie.

In the aftermath, Van Helsing and his associates were brought in. A coven of witches first cast a teleportation spell sending Cthulhu back to his prison quarters deep beneath the sea, and the mystic spells were reinforced to keep him locked away. For good measure, a curse was placed on another sports team to ensure that the creature would not be able to escape. “We put a hex on the Maple Leafs,” Van Helsing admitted. “It’s not as if they’ll ever be able to win a Stanley Cup again, right?”

The last word belongs to Roy Stieb, the self described “Greatest Leafs Fan Ever”, a Toronto resident who’s been waiting all his forty eight years for a Leafs Cup win. “I was born too late for the last one, but that doesn’t matter,” Stieb said. “Cubs win the World Series, that’s a great sign for us. We’re gonna win the Stanley Cup this year, no doubt at all. And the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that. Who cares about some curse? Who cares if that big nasty guy breaks out when our boys win the Cup? I don’t care. My buddy Joe doesn’t care. Do you care? Come on, we’ll invite Cthulhu to come up and join the big Stanley Cup victory parade when our boys win big time. Leafs forever, baby! Wooooooo!!!!!!!!!”

In the professional opinion of this reporter... Leafs fans are nuts.

A Commemoration Of The Fallen Of War

A note to my readers: with the election results of this week having had deprived me of a sense of humour (I mean, what the hell, are you serious???), I'll be taking a few days away before I get back into things. And while I usually post here on Saturdays, instead I'm posting today, as it is Remembrance Day. I'm also doing a bit of a cross over with my photoblog, where I have shots taken on a different day and night of the two subjects below, so click on the Ottawa Daily Photo icon to the right to check out my post for today and see the other takes.

The National War Memorial is here in Ottawa, and is always the focal point of Canadian memorial services on the 11th of November. This past summer the Memorial underwent renovation and maintenance work which had it cordoned off. It re-opened early this month. It was officially unveiled by King George VI in 1939 as a memorial to the dead of the First World War, and commemorates the Canadian fallen of all wars. Officially titled The Response, it also features the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier at its base. I took these shots last Saturday, when things were overcast.

There was something new on Parliament Hill this year. Large projectors shone falling poppies onto the stone of Centre Block in the evenings of the two weeks leading up to today. As well, one of the projectors, equipped with screens on two sides, showed photographs of servicemen (and women) from all the branches through Canadian history, rotating every few seconds. These shots I took this past Sunday evening.

What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen?

“I don’t believe in fairy tales about chakras or energy or the power of belief.” ~ Stephen Strange

“Might I offer you some advice? Forget everything that you think you know.” ~ Mordo

"Heroes like the Avengers protect the world from physical dangers. We safeguard it against more mystical threats." ~ Wong

"I do not seek to rule this world. I seek to destroy it." ~ Kaecilius

“You’re a man looking at the world through a keyhole. You’ve spent your life trying to widen it. Your work saved the lives of thousands. What if I told you that reality is one of many?” ~ The Ancient One

"Where have you been?" ~ Christine Palmer

"I went to Kathmandu, and I learned to tap into powers I never knew I had." ~ Stephen Strange

"So you joined a cult?" ~ Christine Palmer

Among the many characters dating back to the earliest days of Marvel’s classic era is the Sorceror Supreme, Doctor Stephen Strange, a creation of artist Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. The former surgeon turned master wizard has been a fixture ever since, in solo ongoing titles, miniseries, as part of a team, or in major events that have often had earth shaking consequences. Now the character joins the Marvel cinematic universe in a major solo film that introduces the character and the mystical side of a fantastic world, while still retaining roots to what’s already been established. It also retains the character’s initial arrogance turned to humility in this origin story that brings a proud man into a new role for the world. And for good measure, there’s a healthy dose of humour among the proceedings.

We meet one of the big bads of the film, a sorcerer named Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen, who’s often playing villains) as he and his followers stage a raid at a Himalayan retreat named Kamar-Taj, murdering  a librarian and stealing an ancient text. The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who once taught Kaecilius, and who is in charge of the place, isn’t pleased by the turn of events.

Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is an esteemed surgeon who’s let his reputation go to his head and has developed a rather arrogant streak. That’s all brought to a halt when he gets into a rather bad car accident that ends his surgical record, what with ruining the capability of his hands for the fine work of surgery. His former lover and colleague Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) tries to encourage him to move on with his life, but he’s more interested in finding a way to recover the full use of his hands. The path ultimately leads him to Kamar-Taj, where the Ancient One and one of her fellow sorcerers, Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) take him on as a student, introducing him to the mystic world, secrets of magic, and other realities.  In time, however, trouble is brewing, as the reasons for the raid become clear, and Kaecilius seeks to draw out an even bigger Big Bad from the Dark Dimension.

The idea of a feature film involving the Sorceror Supreme goes back to the 1980s, and in fact there was a TV movie from the late 1970s. More serious efforts to make the film started six years ago, with the go-ahead coming in 2014 with director Scott Derrickson coming in to helm the project. Numerous actors were considered for the lead, with Cumberbatch being consistently among them- the production ultimately ended up working around the actor’s schedule. Derrickson had a hand in writing the story, along with two other credited writers, Jon Spaights and C. Robert Cargill, and the story is both an origin tale and one that firmly establishes the character in the cinematic universe.

Along the way the story turns certain characters into different roles, while working to put its protagonist through the path to knowledge (and away from arrogance) that is so integral to what makes him work so well. The story is highly metaphysical and fantastic, which suits the source material very well- there are influences of The Matrix or Inception, with a magical overtone. While elements of the film are very much real world (at least real world Marvel cinematic universe style), other elements- once one starts dashing around other dimensional realities- are very much impossible, over the top, and incredible. The story still manages to maintain its foothold in that cinematic universe, telling a tale of who can be called upon to guard against threats that the Avengers can’t deal with. There are nods to the previously established cinematic universe, such as the idea of the dark dimension, the Infinity Stones, or a well placed cameo appearance. There’s even humour spread liberally through the screenplay, which might be a surprise with such epic otherworldly stakes at play.

Derrickson’s background as a director is mostly in horror films, and so this is his first foray into the super-hero genre. And he does very well indeed with it. His enthusiasm for the characters certainly come across, and he brings this fantastic world to vivid life. Derrickson paces the film in a way that’s always smooth, never with moments that feel slow or plodding along. The film straddles the worlds of science and magic, and gives us a protagonist that somehow copes with the contradictions of both, being in both worlds. Filming was done on location in Nepal- which gives much of the film a beautifully rugged, otherworldly feel, as well as in the United Kingdom and New York, with studio work in the UK.

The crew- especially those in special effects- bring to life the fantastic realms and realities the Doctor must deal with, both in small touches like props and costumes and in terms of the look of places like mirror realities, the astral plane, and the Dark Dimension. Their work really makes the film a visual spectacle. A particular nod must go to those who designed the look and properties of the Cape of Levitation, a part of Strange’s garb that seems to take on a life of its own. The sense of otherworldliness transfers over to the score by Michael Giacchino, who seems to compose half of scores these days- admittedly an exaggeration- and who gives the film a magical touch with the accompanying score.

The cast are all wonderfully chosen for their parts, even if some of the casting choices are highly unconventional. Benedict Wong is a British actor who’s appeared recently in The Martian and Prometheus. He plays Wong, a character rather different from his comics incarnation, where there he is the manservant and voice of conscience to Strange. Here he is a master of the mystic arts, taking on the role of guarding the sacred texts of Kamar-Taj after the murder of his predecessor. The character is something of a strict drill sergeant, not to be trifled with or underestimated, but likable beneath the gruffness.

Mads Mikkelsen often gets to play either outright villains or brooding characters in much of his international work outside his home country of Denmark. He’s probably best known to many filmgoers as the antagonist Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, and here he plays the villain with scenery chewing gusto. Kaecilius is a mixture of characters from the comics, but one who believes he’s doing the right thing, even if that’s a path into the wrong thing. There’s an element of the relationship between Sauron and Saruman in the character- as formidable as the wizard might be, he’s a forerunner for a bigger threat (a rather unpleasant fellow named Dormammu who likes hanging around in the Dark Dimension and being thoroughly despicable). Mikkelsen makes him a character you can hate- while you’re still understanding where he’s coming from.

Tilda Swinton may seem an unlikely choice for the Ancient One- the comics book character was a Tibetan man- and the reasons they altered both ethnicity and sex for the character are rather convoluted. That said, she’s well suited for the role, one of those rare actors gifted with eccentricity that fits this character. There’s a mix of serenity and grave responsibility to her, as well as dry humour and wit that I liked. She takes her role in the great balance of things seriously- even if it might blind her to a point of view that disagrees with her own. Swinton makes the character her own, and does a formidable job of it.

Rachel McAdams has a good turn in the film as Christine Palmer. Rather than be the requisite love interest, the story turns that on its head by having her and Strange coming out of a previous relationship on friendly terms, and instead Christine is his anchor to his humanity. It’s an interesting twist, and McAdams gives the character depth and humanity, as well as invests seriousness and professionalism into how she plays her- Christine is, after all, a surgeon in her own right, and those qualities are critical to such an occupation. More to the point, we can accept the connection between the two characters- the way they interact suggests lots of history.

Chiwetel Ejiofer is one of those character actors you’ve seen in many films down through the years, including Children Of Men and 12  Years A Slave. Two of his roles that particularly stand out for me are as the Operative in Serenity and as Detective Mitchell in the sublime cops and robbers caper Inside Man. He plays Mordo as something different than the comic version, and the result works well. The comic version is a villain, a ruthless sorcerer without nuances. Mordo here is a mentor and ally to Strange, working with him through the film, though ultimately they end up in different places. He’s a stickler for the rules, and Ejiofer gives the character qualities of wisdom, gravity, and occasional impatience.  He makes the character compelling to watch.

There were numerous actors considered to play the lead, many of whom would have been ideal, but Benedict Cumberbatch is perfectly cast as the character. He brings across the character’s early arrogance (and a personal reason to be a doctor) very well, as Strange has let his gifts get the better of his ego. From there, he conveys the sense of startled wide eyed curiosity and bafflement as Strange discovers worlds and realities far beyond his experience through the learning process. The actor also brings to life the character’s humility, eccentricity, and ultimately audacity as the story goes along. I like that he’s willing to bend rules as he finds his place in a world of magic, and that  Cumberbatch invests the character with intelligence and wit. The actor gets a second role of sorts, providing motion capture movement for Dormammu, the third act Big Bad. Especially as the lead though, he’s charismatic and fun to watch, and that comes across through the film.

Doctor Strange opens up the mystic side of the Marvel cinematic universe in a big way- it’s something that’s been underplayed, really, aside from one of the Avengers. It’s entertaining and thrilling, fun and visually sparkling, and a pleasure to watch, with a terrific cast. It makes for a very good way to wind down what’s been a year of cinematic superheroes- some of whom have worked better than others. This film is very much the former of those.