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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) https://letterboxd.com/smudgeefc1985...f-grindelwald/


I don't really care if this is seeming filler in a wider series, it is simply a bland unoriginal cashgrab, that it appears is nothing but a concoction of bollocks designed to fill the spaces in Rowling's bank account.

I think this series did have some potential. The first one was okay, gave us all the stuff we loved about the Harry Potter series but took it somewhere else with a million new possibilities. This sequel has basically said "nah that was boring, just shoehorn in as many references you can to Harry Potter, make it a Dumbledore prequel series, and watch the monies roll in." Anything like this that is part of a wider universe needs to meet 2 objectives, and that's keep it true to the series for the long time fans, but also keep it accessible for any potential new fans. I don't think this actually meets either requirement. It is basically a collection of names and references from the future Harry Potter series (many of which actually contradict timelines and events within the books, and of course the very blatant straightwashing of Dumbledore) that I don't see how anyone new to the world or just a casual viewer can even hope to make sense of the absolute cluster**** that's taking place before them.

I think the cast are doing the absolute best they can, but with this material, they're pissing in the wind. A complete and utter turkey, and everything I hate about the blockbuster franchise culture poisoning Hollywood right now and pushing the good stuff into limited release obscurity.

Half a star awarded solely because my mate's ex boyfriend was an extra and got Avada Kedavra'd by Johnny Depp.

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You Were Never Really Here (2017) https://letterboxd.com/smudgeefc1985...r-really-here/


Strange film, much of it is so dreamy and laid back, and will then explode into violence, without us ever really seeing much of it happening, just the traumatic aftermath.

There is very little dialogue going on, all of the strength here is in the cinematography, and that music. (extra credit for that use of Charlene's Ive Never Been To Me!) Ultimately it is a film about trauma, and how it can affect an individual. With that in mind, it is fitting to me that much of the violence takes place offscreen, as so much of this character study is about the after effects of that trauma, rather than the trauma itself. Not an easy watch, but worth seeing.