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Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore


I dunno why I keep letting myself get sucked into this cash grab wizarding world. Dan Fogler is the film's only redeeming quality.
Did Mads do well? He's always great at playing the bad guy.





Re-watch. Such a good movie that I appreciated a thousand times more on my re-watch. The polar bear was terrifying.
@AgrippinaX, was it you who liked this movie? BTW, amused by Mads in the extras saying he hates flashbacks & appreciated there not being any in the screenplay. Someone else who hates flashbacks!
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@AgrippinaX, was it you who liked this movie? BTW, amused by Mads in the extras saying he hates flashbacks & appreciated there not being any in the screenplay. Someone else who hates flashbacks!
I have seen it and I love Mads, but don’t have any particular feelings re this film. I do agree with him/you there, most flashbacks are entirely rudimentary.



Let’s not forget Thomas Mann the author here. He wrote the darn thing. Mann was married with children, but had homosexual tendencies. He even admitted to being attracted to his own son.

Death in Venice wasn’t written as a book about pedophilia. There are many levels. Aschenbach was definitely enchanted by Tadzio’s beauty. And, if you remember in the movie when he was following Tadzio & his nanny through the Venetian streets, Tadzio would always quietly wait for him to catch up. Leading him on to his death.
Yeah, I don't think the film is solely about pedophilia. There's several layers of interpretations one can attach to the film, like Tadzio being a representation of Death as you point out. It's just that the offscreen drama involving Visconti and Andresen adds a creepy pedophilic angle to the film which, while not the main point of the film's symbolism, is certainly subtext that's hard to ignore.
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I can't remember the movie as well as I do the book (which also isn't that well), but while I agree that he is a representation of death, this doesn't mean we have to throw away the pedophaelic angle you mentioned in your initial write up. His longing for the boy, and the uncomfortable moral implications that comes with this, and us sitting in the audience bearing witness to his barely hidden desires, is entangled with his pursuit of death. They are one and the same.
Yeah, if it wasn't for the offscreen drama involving Visconti and Andresen, I don't think the pedophilia aspect would matter too much to me, but while I think there's certainly a handful of non-pedophilic interpretations one could make for the film, it's hard to watch the film without thinking of them as well for a bit of subtext. I do enjoy the film quite a bit though as the non-pedophilic layers to the film and the stylistic elements make up for the problematic bits.





Brute Force - This is another Jules Dassin film, a noirish drama loosely based on the 1946 Battle of Alcatraz where a prison riot broke out and raged for two days. Set in the fictional Westgate prison it stars Burt Lancaster as taciturn convict Joe Collins. His wife is dying of cancer and won't undergo potentially life saving surgery unless he's there with her. Collins is therefore hellbent on breaking out but self-important and remorseless head guard, Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn), has a personal grudge against him.

He's made Collins a pet project of his and works actively at harassing him. Warden A. J. Barnes (Roman Bohnen) is weak and ineffectual and there's a Bureau of Corrections official named McCallum (Richard Gaines) demanding answers to the recent spate of violence and inmate deaths. Fatalities that Munsey has played a direct role in.

This does a decent job of setting the proper mood even though these are some of the most well behaved convicts I've ever seen. But it was the latter part of the '40's and movie-going audiences were still taken aback at the apparently realistic representation. When the actual riot breaks out at the end it's a bravura piece of film-making. So I suppose the somewhat sober veneer of the prisoners lives only served to underscore the unhinged, Mad Max level of turmoil.

The rest of the cast does a fine job supporting Lancaster and Cronyn. Their characters are lesser objects orbiting and completely at the mercy of the two antagonists. Charles Bickford costars as shot caller and prison newspaper editor Gallagher along with Art Smith as Dr. Walters and Sam Levene, Jeff Corey and John Hoyt. Two other actors make their big screen debuts, Howard Duff and (you know him, you love him, you can't live without him) the fantabulous Whit Bissell!

This is a pretty good movie. Dassin knows his way around a clean narrative and they really pull out all the stops with that climactic eruption.

85/100



Wolfen (1981)

Kind of childish with its "white men and science bad, native Americans and myths good" storyline. The characters reminded me of Alligator (a positive thing) but that's a better film as a whole. At least I can't name another film where a wolf bites a man's head clean off.

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The Batman (2022)

A disappointment after what I've read about this. It's like a dark detective film (think of Se7en) but made for the children. It doesn't pack a punch at all. Visually it's pretty but otherwise, it's just an overlong kids' movie in bleak clothing. Also, had to drop half a point for seriously bringing up the white privilege in the dialogue.
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Did Mads do well? He's always great at playing the bad guy.
Yeah, he was alright considering he had to step in and replace Depp. Say what you will about the man Depp looked far more menacing. Probably because he’s batshit crazy IRL so it wasn’t hard for him to sell that as Grindelwald



Yeah, he was alright considering he had to step in and replace Depp. Say what you will about the man he looked far more menacing. Probably because he’s batshit crazy IRL so it wasn’t hard for him to sell that as Grindelwald
He is not batshit crazy. He's a very good character actor. Have you seen him in any other films? He has several English speaking films.

And the be honest IMO, Johnny Deep is a 4 to Mads' 10 in regards to acting. I have seen enough of both actors films to make that call.





The Thing About Pam, 2022

Pam (Renee Zellweger) drives her terminally-ill friend Betsy home one night. Later that night, Betsy's husband Russ (Glenn Fleshler) finds her brutally killed in their home. The local police decide that this is a slam-dunk case, and newly-elected DA Askey (Judy Greer) sees this as a case that will solidify her political position in the town. But when St. Louis lawyer Joel Schwartz (Josh Duhamel) arrives to defend Russ, a number of strange details and inconsistencies come to light, many of them seeming to center on Pam.

Okay, so this is not a movie, it is a 6-episode mini-series, but I watched it all in one go (as a snowy last day of Spring Break final hurrah) and so I'm reviewing it like one.

Zellweger definitely dominates as Pam, a woman who lies so compulsively and with such conviction that she manages to string others along way past the point of credulity. Pam is a fascinating mix of someone who sees herself as selfless and kind, yet at the same time won't hesitate to drop life insurance intended for two children into her own checking account.

The first two or three episodes really focus on the way that the investigation is moved in exactly one direction almost from the get-go. The police and DA ruthlessly mock Russ's frantic 911 call, never seem to even consider the possibility that he is innocent, and fail to follow up on what seem like basic elements of the investigation such as confirming that someone received a phone call at the time it was alleged. Once things move to trial, it gets even worse. Duhamel's main job during the first half of the miniseries is to simply be baffled and outraged at the absurd shenanigans and small-town nonsense that takes place, including being told he cannot mention the inconsistencies in Pam's testimony and a last minute bizarro closing argument from Askey in which she declares that the multiple witnesses who saw Russ around town at the time of the murder were actually engaged in an elaborate conspiracy to give him an alibi.

The second half of the miniseries follows Pam in the wake of the trial, as her notoriety begins to get under her skin. The more press the case gets, the harder it is for Pam to control the narrative. You get the sense that she wouldn't care, except that it does start to impact her real estate house flipping sideline. Ever determined to be in control, Pam takes more and more extreme steps that only further damage her reputation and threaten to expose some ugly truths. Things eventually culminate in an act that is breathtaking in its cruelty and boldness.

The series is shot in a deliberately dark comedy, out there style. We frequently get sequences that hyperbolically reenact Pam's version of events (and in a really nice touch, her makeup and hair are always much more on point in these sequences). It is real life tragedy and absurdity taken to an even more extreme place.

As with any "based on a true story" piece of media, I often had to wonder about the accuracy of what was on screen. Yes, every episode is prefaced by a disclaimer that characters, dialogue, events, and so on were changed for dramatic effect. Still, in the sense of the bigger story this is a true event that happened. Many of the details are pulled directly from the real events. I almost wish they'd just stuck to the truth, which is plenty absurd on its own. (That said, some outlandish parts were apparently real, such as a police interview discussion about buying knives at the Dollar Store or Pam stopping a cross-examination with WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA . . . WHOA WHOA WHOA! WHOA!).

Great performances and a story that is astonishing in its details.




Victim of The Night
Wolfen (1981)

Kind of childish with its "white men and science bad, native Americans and myths good" storyline. The characters reminded me of Alligator (a positive thing) but that's a better film as a whole. At least I can't name another film where a wolf bites a man's head clean off.
Ouch. I quite like the film. It's simplistic dichotomy of the races was actually very progressive at the time, I remember that society was really reflecting on its position on the Native American in the late 70s and this film seemed to reflect that in a way that, at the time, was enjoyable for me. Kinda like the "we are the real monsters" trope, it's not so tropey the first few times you see it.
Oh well, I'll still enjoy it because I'm old.



Ouch. I quite like the film. It's simplistic dichotomy of the races was actually very progressive at the time, I remember that society was really reflecting on its position on the Native American in the late 70s and this film seemed to reflect that in a way that, at the time, was enjoyable for me. Kinda like the "we are the real monsters" trope, it's not so tropey the first few times you see it.
Oh well, I'll still enjoy it because I'm old.
I get the vibe thats their issue with it in the first place.



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He is not batshit crazy. He's a very good character actor. Have you seen him in any other films? He has several English speaking films.

And the be honest IMO, Johnny Deep is a 4 to Mads' 10 in regards to acting. I have seen enough of both actors films to make that call.
No, Depp is batshit crazy. If even half of what’s been reported is true.

Mikkelsen is amazing, so playing Grindelwald is far beneath him in terms of what he can do. I still say The Hunt is his best work, but the man did far more for the Star Wars franchise than anyone who has come before him.


And the scene from the screenshot below, I’d argue, is the best moment from the entire franchise. I will admit my bias, tho, as I love Rogue One.




Ouch. I quite like the film. It's simplistic dichotomy of the races was actually very progressive at the time, I remember that society was really reflecting on its position on the Native American in the late 70s and this film seemed to reflect that in a way that, at the time, was enjoyable for me. Kinda like the "we are the real monsters" trope, it's not so tropey the first few times you see it.
Oh well, I'll still enjoy it because I'm old.
I liked it too and really enjoyed the book by Whitley Strieber. Read it first before seeing the movie but there's no reason to say one was better than the other.



I forgot the opening line.

By The poster art can or could be obtained from Paramount Pictures., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8188193

Wonder Boys - (2000)

This film had a high placing on the original 2000s Countdown, so I wanted to check it out - it has a good ensemble cast, and genuinely funny screenplay, so it was okay. Especially the performance from Tobey Maguire. At a Pennsylvania university novelist Grady teaches, and he has fallen for the wife of the chairman - in the meantime the annual writing festival sees his publisher (played by Robert Downey Jr.) back in town. Grady is suffering - the wife he pines for, Sara (Frances McDormand) is pregnant. His most gifted student, James Leer (Maguire) has shot the chairman's dog, and stolen a priceless jacket worn by Marilyn Monroe. His second book, after a successful first one, is a disaster. His wife has just left him. His weed smoking has become a habit. Although the film does seem to revolve around him, all the characters and actors in this film get their time to shine (Katie Holmes a bit less so, and Rip Torn not at all - I should change that to most.) I would have watched a whole film with "Vernon Hardapple" in it. The soundtrack is great, with a few songs from Bob Dylan (one original one which won an Oscar) and there's some layered meaning in there. Overall I felt it was a good film that passes the time of day, but not one which aspires to be a "great" film. Without Tobey Maguire's turn it wouldn't have been half as good.

7/10
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No, Depp is batshit crazy. If even half of what’s been reported is true.

Mikkelsen is amazing, so playing Grindelwald is far beneath him in terms of what he can do. I still say The Hunt is his best work, but the man did far more for the Star Wars franchise than anyone who has come before him.


And the scene from the screenshot below, I’d argue, is the best moment from the entire franchise. I will admit my bias, tho, as I love Rogue One.

Yes Mikkelsen is one of the best actors EVER! You should watch Valhalla Rising, it truly shows his acting ability. I agree about the Star Wars and Marvel franchises. Also, you should see Another Round. It's very good as well. I do enjoy the films he's in that are directed by Anders Thomas Jensen.

Not sure if you already knew but I am a HUGE Mads fan 💓.

Oh yeah, watch the Hannibal series with him as well.