Movie Reviews: Fantastic Beasts, Bleed for This, Edge of Seventeen | Buzz Blog

Friday, November 18, 2016

Movie Reviews: Fantastic Beasts, Bleed for This, Edge of Seventeen

The Handmaiden, The Uncondemned, Long Way North

Posted By on November 18, 2016, 10:30 AM

  • Pin It
    Favorite
click to enlarge fantastic_beasts.jpg
A return to J.K. Rowling's wizarding world dominates the multiplexes, while a variety of art house specialty offerings include a fascinating period romantic thriller.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (pictured) takes a pre-Potter wizard story and only proves how important the hero was to those stories. Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden  mixes a wonderfully twisty narrative with bold images and fascinating socio-political content. The animated adventure Long Way North breaks from predictable visual style to tell a gripping coming-of-age story.

MaryAnn Johanson finds Bleed for This taking the real-life story of Vinny Pazienza and doing absolutely nothing new with familiar boxing-movie material. The documentary The Uncondemned  finds optimism in the story of efforts to prosecute wartime rape in Rwanda .

In this week's feature review,The Edge of Seventeen's caustic charms collide with an attempt to address too many issues.

Also opening this week, but not screened for press: Oscar-winning director Ang Lee follows an Iraq War veteran coping with being called a hero in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk; and a seductive sorceress tries to make the man of her dreams desire her in The Love Witch.

About The Author

Scott Renshaw

Scott Renshaw

Bio:
Scott Renshaw has been a City Weekly staff member since 1999, including assuming the role of primary film critic in 2001 and Arts & Entertainment Editor in 2003. Scott has covered the Sundance Film Festival for 25 years, and provided coverage of local arts including theater, pop-culture conventions, comedy, literature,... more

On Topic...

More by Scott Renshaw

Latest in Buzz Blog

© 2024 Salt Lake City Weekly

Website powered by Foundation