Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

I've been waiting what seems like forever for this film.  It's not as good as Harry Potter, I'll be honest, but it is a fantastic addition to the wizarding world.

Newt Scamander travels to New York supposedly in search of magical creatures to study for his book.  Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, the textbook that eventually becomes one of the books studied at Hogwarts.  He also wants to release one of his creatures, Frank, back into the wild.

Keeping all the creatures he finds in a magical suitcase which is basically a nature reserve, he arrives in New York where there is already trouble between the wizarding and non-wizarding communities and something invisible is causing havoc.

In the background of all of this is the missing wizard Gellert Grindelwald, one of the most dangerous dark wizards of all time.

The clues that Graves is actually Grindelwald are much more obvious the second time around, they are there and they are brilliant, but so easily missed if you're not looking for them.  The little Deathly Hallows symbol shows up a lot earlier than when Graves is handing it to Credence, and then there's the hair cut....

So basically, you have the "Nomaj" (American term for Muggle) in danger of discovering the wizarding world and they are on the brink of a war.  There's an Obscurial in New York, an Obscurial is a child who has tried to suppress their magical powers, which then burst out of them and attack uncontrollably.  Graves approaches Credence in the hope of using him to find the Obscurial, but in the end it turns out to be Credence, again MUCH more obvious the second time around!  Graves turns out to be Grindelwald and there we are... all set up for another 4 movies.

One of the best parts of this film though, is the relationship between Queenie and Jacob, so awesome.

Doctor Strange

I am a huge Marvel fangirl.  This did not disappoint me!

To be honest, the whole thing just spoke to me on many levels.  Firstly there is the idea that the mind can heal the body, I know that in the end it all boils down to magic in the film, but as a trainee yoga teacher, I have a firm belief that the mind can heal the body.   It was when the Ancient One shows Stephen Strange the chakra system, I was sold.

Then the Multiverse theory is back, second film in a week to have my head spinning over this.  This film has it in a more colourful and acceptable light, in the sense of it's not every version of our own lives existing at the same time, but separate unique universes all with their own individual purpose.

Anyway, Doctor Strange origin story..... Talented neurosurgeon, has car crash, destroys hands via severe nerve damage.  Standard, the only person that could have saved his hands was himself.  He goes off to find alternative therapies for his hands after modern medicine fails him.  He travels to Kathmandu and meets the Ancient One, who opens his mind to the possibility of other dimensions and magic.

As he studies and learns, his powers grow and he comes across the time infinity stone in the Eye of Agamotto, and then the cloak of levitation.  So when Dormammu threatens the Earth by absorbing it into his own timeless but dark dimension, offering "eternal life", it's up to Doctor Strange to stop him.  This scene on it's own is brilliant, I totally loved it.  DORMAMMU, I HAVE COME TO BARGAIN.
Cumberbatch is brilliant as Doctor Strange, in fact the casting is superb as usual for a Marvel film.  Great addition to the universe.