Movie Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183660/

Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them
Director: David Yates
Writer: JK Rowling
Rating: 3.5/5

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (FBFT) was our family date movie. It is the first JK Rowling creation which my husband truly appreciated. The kids were entertained and we were bawled over Johnny Depp's sneer at the end of the movie. If anything, FBWFT is only an introduction to the menace of a gathering dark that will sweep the world into greater conflict and war.

What I liked

Eddie Redmayne is fantastic as Newt Scamander. He breathed life to a side character of the Potter universe I only knew from short conversations and mere mentions among the major characters of the series. To some extent, I have always been curious about Newt Scamander. He must be a great wizard to travel the world in search for beasts of magic. How noble was his intent too: to write a book so that wizards and witches, young and old, can get a better grasp of understanding them. A true Hufflepuff!

Hufflepuffs are the underrated witches and wizards of the Wizarding world (UK) but in this movie, we saw a Hufflepuff who truly lived up to its house's traits. And yes, I am glad that Newt Scamander did not end up like Cedric Diggory.

Redmayne's portrayal of Scamander, a wizard and scholar, is charmingly geeky, goofy and gauche. I love him! He cares deeply for his creatures but, when faced with a danger bigger than them, he goes after it with his wand, a blazing light in his eyes and apparates to defend his friends and his beasts. I love Gryffindors, but really, a lead Hufflepuff in a Potter movie is something I truly appreciated.

The rest of the characters in the movie are all cut from the same cloths and patterns of JK Rowling's making: misfits, weirdos, eccentrics, oddballs, mavericks, the quintessential rebel, and the hyperbolic stereotypes. To me, it was comforting to be back in this world littered with such characters because, I have read about these flawed characters who became the hero or the villain of the books. This is one of the many reasons why I stuck with the entire series in the first place. Rowling's imperfect characters appeal to me because I learned early on in life that one's imperfections can be a great gift to others. Depending on one's choices, of course, because it can work the other way. One's uniqueness can also bring destruction to the world.

Once again, in FBWTF, Scamander and his newly found friends are all battling their inner demons or nursing a broken heart caused by a friend, a family member, a loved one or the very institution they put their trust on. We see them struggle and exert effort in rebuilding their lives, gathering up courage to dream again and to believe that doing good every day is one way to banish the greater evil that exist in the hearts of men. This is a Potter spin off that stays true to its mould, but it is slowly growing up into young adulthood.

Let's see how JK rowling spins this story thread further on.

What I did not like

There were gaps in the movie that left me bored. I didn't buy the slapstick and the comic relief provided to fill the gaps. I am a Potter head and I have grown up. I am ready for darker materials and the complexities of the human condition.

I am willing to wait for the next installment!

Posts on Potter

Thank you, JK Rowling for allowing Harry Potter to live...and live some more!

Harry Potter Phenomenon

The Life and Love of Severus Snape

In Memoriam

Harry Potter Moments

Pottermore

I still have to use the e-reader tablet given to me by Charles Tan last March 2011. Thanks to the Bibliophile Stalker! If ever the gadget gets its baptism of fire, it has to be from JK Rowling.

She's launching Pottermore on the 31st of July. Harry Potter goes digital!

HP Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Official Trailer

I won! I won! I won!

Not in the grand lotto.

But in the Harry Potter Giveaway contest at Sumthinblue's. 

Harry Potter Moments

I just joined a Harry Potter contest over at Bookmarked. Blooey Singson, the blog's owner, is  a huge Harry Potter fan so she's celebrating and giving away prizes in time for the movie. Though she says she won't watch it. But, if you're a Potterite like me, head on to her blog and see that many of us are up to no good! Kidding.

Here are my Harry Potter Memories.

HP Moment #1 - It was 2001 when I was at the height of my Potter obsession. I was pregnant with our youngest when I finished reading HP 4. In between 2001-2002, I bought Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages to while away the time waiting for Book 5. That school year, I was moderator of the Book Club. I had fifteen grade 5-6 boys combined. Not all of them were readers. They could read, but they're very selective at what to read. Thick chapter books with very few illustrations are a no-no.

Nonetheless, I urged them to read any of the HP series in preparation for Battle of the Books. They did and some even went as far as researching online. I had prepared my own set of activities to monitor their reading speed and space. On Battle of the Books day, we had FUN! As a wrap up activity, I had a write-the-author activity.

Yep. We dared write to JK Rowling!

I placed all of their letters in one big envelope and included mine as cover letter. I mailed it by snail to Scholastic New York. This was around Nov. or early Dec. of 2001.

On February 2002, Scholastic sent us sixteen letters and photos with JK Rowling's autograph!

I know it came from the publicist, or some marketing-PR person in Scholastic New York, but the important thing is, they answered back! My boys and I were on cloud nine. A good number of them became HP fans to this day.

HP Moment #2 - On the day HP 7 was released, I bought my copy at the Scholastic warehouse in Pasig City. I bought two copies actually - one for me and one for my friend, Mona Dy. It was my payback to her for something I owed. She claimed to have no memory at all on the debt.

HP Moment #3 - In the summer of 2008, my son has turned twelve and by the time school started in June, he has finished reading HP 3 - my favorite book in the series.

Looking back at the years when I was crazy over Harry made me realize that my HP moments extend beyond acquiring the books. It made me share reading magic to my students, my friend and my son. It made JK Rowling real to me as her publisher sent a letter recognizing our love for her writing and the books she created. There is love and wonder during those years that spanned age differences and geographic location. Books can do that. And if it is not magic, tell me what is?

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Official Movie Trailer

The 1st Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Trailer

Watch it here!

A Book. The Kiss. And some skin

Last Wednesday, I came home and found a package with my name on it. There was no return address so I was nervous and excited at the same time. I was transformed to Tatiana Del Torro upon opening the manila envelope. It's not everyday that I get a free book, you see. I could only think of the Filipino Librarian as the sender. Like a true librarian, he sure knows what book I will enjoy reading. To every reader is a book!

In The Stacks is an anthology of short stories about libraries and librarians. Edited by Michael Cart, it boasts of nineteen short stories by this century's premiere writers of fiction (so it says in the blurb). I will hold judgment as to how these writers perceive books, reading, libraries and librarians until the last story. I'm already on the third story in the collection and so far, it's been a satisfying read. Le Guin's The Phoenix left me puzzled. Yet, I am in awe of her discourse and her perspective to human nature's complexity. Calvino's A General In The Library is a timely read as I've been blogging about TGBB 2009.

Yes, yes! I will write a review. This is too good to pass.

So the same goes with the monumental "kissing" scene of Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. Well, at least, for me it is. I am a solid Ron-Hermione fan and I'm thrilled with the news. I hope it beats the Harry-Cho kissing scene from Order of the Phoenix!

Add the movie trailer of New Moon on the pile and my routine induced world shook a bit. Taylor Lautner showed some skin. Woof! Woof! Go Jacob!

Movie Trailer: Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince (Building Momentum)

This has to be the most exciting Harry Potter movie trailer. So far.



I don't remember the book as being extremely dramatic and tumultuous. The visual effects of the trailer made it so. Now I have to reread book six to rediscover old insights and uncover new perspectives. The movie is scheduled to open on July 17, 2009 in the US. With luck, the Asian showing of the movie may just be on the same date.

Let the count down begin!

Another Book to Movie Adaptation

Yup. I've given up my Twilight fixation but I'm still an Edward Cullen fan! There are just some things you can't shake off easily and a "hawt vampire" is one of them. So expect me to watch the Twilight movie in November. After that, there's Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. And then, Inkheart.

Brendan Fraser plays Mo (yummy!). Paul Bettany is Dustfinger (yummy too!) and Andrew Serkis is Capricorn (great actor!) I just hope New Line didn't sanitize Inkheart the way they did The Golden Compass. It's good to be grim. Even in children's literature.

Some kind of sad

Here's an article that touched me so.

It brought back memories of book characters I've loved, outgrown and let go of. The Cat In The Hat and Winnie The Pooh. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Encyclopedia Brown and Ramona. James and the insects that dwell in his giant peach. I only hope my kids would know them and love them as much as I did when I was young and unfolding.

Like everything else in this world, in fiction or in reality, I grew up and changed.

But I'm holding on to Hogwarts. I don't think I'm ready yet to let go of Harry though I'm smitten and bitten by Edward Cullen. Harry is Harry. It will be a while till I keep my HPs in a closet to be forgotten. No, I won't even sell them because I hope that my kids would discover its magic that only JK Rowling could wield and harness.

She pulled me back to believe in fantasy once more. When I wrote to her in 2000, she answered back (at least, via Scholastic) and sent my students letters and photos for us all. She unlocked a door in my mind and unleashed again that untamed sense of wonder. She pushed me to discover Tolkien and CS Lewis; Funke and Zusak; Gaiman and Pratchett. And my reading days and nights were never the same again.

How could I relegate her and Harry in a dark closet all too soon?

The Future of Reading

I am culling out memorable and relevant posts I made in 2006 and 2007 to file them under the BEST of SLIA - an annual compedium of blog posts that, I deem, contain valuable information for me and my readers. But it seems that going over 200 plus posts for two years could not be done in a week. So here is a reprieve from my scouring -- an editorial by Shiela Williams on Harry Potter and the Future of Reading.

In the article, Williams mentioned of a lovely librarian (envy! envy! envy!) who accepted the Hugo Award on behalf of JK Rowling. Why would a librarian, and take note that she was described as lovely (images of loveliness come to mind- no thick intimidating glasses; gone are the dagger like stares; hair in a bun? go away!), accept the Hugo for JK Rowling? Ah. I am inundated by so many assumptions. But, I must say that I'm contented to think that indeed, librarians are not mere custodians of books. See, they attend events like book awards and book launchings where their presence is very much appreciated. Librarians do have a role on everything books and reading and not just the keeping of such.

The most thrilling bit of information I got from Williams' editorial though, is her belief that the printed word will never die. And proof of this is the phenomenal reception of kids and adults to JK Rowling's seventh Harry Potter. If you think otherwise, I challenge you to shrug off your snottiness on the HP books and read it.

Oh yes, Old Dumby is gay!

I promised that I will look around for more information on the Internet regarding Dumblodore's gay-ness. And Google led me to clues and news. So what now?

I can sleep happy. I was shocked at first, but thinking about it, he's one of the best gay characters I've read so far in the area of Young Adult Literature. Maybe now, young readers can look at a gay person beyond stereotypes. Being gay does not make one a lesser person. Rowling is really something.

So, Dumbledore is gay...

I just got the news via text from a friend who works for Scholastic that JK Rowling announced it so. I will still do a thorough search. HP fans, hold on to your emotions!

JK Rowling Reviewed by Stephen King

Here is a fantastc review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Stephen King. It could not get better than this - a writer reviewing another. King is obviosly, a fan of the Potter series. We get to see a writer responding as a reader of fantasy.

It is just so, wow.

The Life and Love of Severus Snape

This is another Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows SPOLIER. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I've always known from book 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, that there is something more to Severus Snape other than his hatred for James Potter. He was an enigma since. By the 6th book, I had a hunch that he was Dumbledore's mole. In the 7th and last installment, I was surprised to know his motivtaion to succumb into Dumbledore's plans and orders.

And I thought that Remus Lupin's character was so romantic.

Snape was the uber lover of Lily Evans. Sadly, his pasison for the Dark Arts cost him his own loss. But then, Lily's son lived. Redemption came seventeen years after.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows : In Memoriam

WARNING! If you have not read the book yet, please, do not scroll any further. This post contains spoilers.

I got my copy of the 7th Harry Potter book from the Scholastic warehouse in Pasig City on Saturday, July 21, 2007. I was there as early as 7.30 a.m. I was far away from the hub of activities that littered bookstores in celebration of its world wide release. There was a different feel of getting the book in the warehouse. Besides, I really didn't feel like sharing it yet with friends who are, like me, Potterrites. I wanted to relish the last book all to myself in peace and quiet. And I did. That is why I'm giving it a second reading.

For the mean time, please, allow me to grieve for these fallen warriors of wizarding Britain.

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.Your toughness and "constant vigilance" will always be remembered.




Fred Weasley. I wonder what your funeral would have been like. There would have been tears of, course, but there would have been more laughter.




Remus Lupin. I fell for you the first time you appeared in shabby, tatered clothes, sleeping in a compartment at Hogwarts Express. You were one of the best teachers Harry Potter ever had at Hogwarts.




Nymphadora Tonks Lupin. Just when motherhood is going to give you one of life's best gifts, you died with your hsuband in battle. I will miss the pink bubble gum hair, the clumsiness and the passion you had for seeking what you think Lupin deserves.




Dobby, Free Elf. For the many rescue operations you lent Harry, you are one of his heroes!




Hedwig, the Owl. Fly free to an uncaged land.

Book Review : Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

One more day. Just one more day of waiting and I wll have my copy of the last Harry Potter book. I am beyond excited!

To ease up the thrill and anxiety of finally reading the final series, I've searched online for news of the book. I fotunately found an advanced book review in the Herald Tribune . In another news, it is said that this angered Rowling. Oh, what can she do? She has, after all, created a cult following by creating Harry Potter.