Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them - Akio Cashcow!

Let's start this review off with a little confession: I've never been that big into Harry Potter. That's not to say I'm not a fan. Quite the opposite. I've read the books, saw the movies, and I admire that it's opened an entire generation to the world of reading. The world is a better place because of JK Rowling's creation and she deserves every bit of praise she gets and then some. It was just never an integral part of shaping my adolescence like it was for so many people of my generation. What can I say? The Simpsons and Pokemon got to me first. But franchise building and shared continuity is the name of the game in Hollywood now (a trend that Harry Potter is partially responsible for), and since Warner Bros needs something to fall back on in case the DC Extended Universe doesn't pan out, diving back into the Harry Potter universe seems like a safe bet since it was basically money printing license for a solid decade. Which brings us to Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. With a screenplay by Rowling herself and longtime Potter director David Yates behind the chair, this is the first installment where fans can experience it with fresh eyes without obsessively nitpicking the differences from the source material. 

Arrival - When Smart Sci-fi Makes First Contact

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Arrival is one of those movies that builds up to a huge twist at the end, and how you felt about said twist is ultimately how you felt about the movie. I for one think that this movie is fantastic and everyone should see it regardless of whether the twist works for them or not, but we can't really gauge that without actually discussing it. So I'm going to discuss the movie as a whole first, then put up a spoiler warning before I get into the twist so you know where to stop. We good? Good. Now on with the review.

Hacksaw Ridge - Bloody Hell

It's so easy to get distracted by Mel Gibson's public persona that forgetting what a great talent he is as an actor and director can be easily forgiven. He can be a bit, umm... eccentric, but to me that's what makes him and his work so fascinating. When you get down to it, Mel Gibson is a self loathing masochist with a martyr complex and hyper-masculinity issues that can only be the result of a devout religious upbringing. While these characteristics result in the behavior that made him such a big tabloid magnet, they're also what make him the perfect man to spearhead such films as Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto. And with Hacksaw Ridge, he has found a new conduit to explore his favorite subjects.