Yeehaw, it’s another big week at the box office, and we’re in the homeward stretch ahead of a nice, long Thanksgiving weekend filled with food, football, plenty of movie and TV time, and hopefully minimal bickering over politics between you and your Uncle Joe. Even Between the Streams is taking time off next week, so this week’s show will be full of ideas for this weekend, next weekend, and everything in between.
First things first, we’ll be getting into this weekend’s box office highlights, which include some great choices. First on the docket is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the long-awaited return of one J.K. Rowling to her wizarding world, which went from a cute little idea about a wizard school to a multibillion dollar empire. The film, written and adapted by Rowling for the big screen, takes us back in time about 80 years before the events of the Harry Potter movies, and follows textbook writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in 1930s New York City as he tries to contain a loose group of, well, fantastic beasts.
More specifically, the prequel is set to explore the time before both Harry Potter and Voledmort engaged in their epic struggle, filling in the details of many of the mysteries discussed in the Potter books, including (we expect) the backstory of Grindelwald (played by Johnny Depp). Followers of Potter lore will remember Grindelwald as the wizard who seduced Professor Dumbledore to chase power and fame in his more impressionable years, before he became the malevolent wizard we came to know in the blockbuster series. So far, the film is getting good, if not great, reviews, and should be a nice escape for those looking to return to Potter-ville.
Other good choices this weekend include Bleed for This, the Miles Teller biopic about a badass boxer who came back from seemingly insurmountable odds after a near-fatal car wreck, as well as Edge of Seventeen, a really intriguing teen comedy starring Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson. Both films are getting good reviews, especially the latter, which is being painted as a witty, biting coming-of-age tale that goes far outside the paint-by-numbers lines of most comedies of its ilk.
In addition, we’ll be highlighting some new choices to kill some family time next weekend, including the new Disney animated flick Moana, about the legendary demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and a little girl who helps him on his quest. That’s likely going to be the family favorite, but those looking for some raunchy escapism may want to go the exact opposite direction with Billy Bob Thornton’s Big Santa 2. Then again, you may want to skip the latter. Not only is it getting really low scores from critics, even the star of the film himself reportedly said it won’t be as good as the first one, but he hopes to do it some justice. If neither of those choices appeal to you, of course, there are plenty of backlogged films that may not have made it to your list yet, including Doctor Strange, Arrival, Trolls, and many others.
Also this week, this podcaster will be talking about the most epic cinematic experience that exists, having just returned from San Francisco to witness Dolby’s new flagship Dolby Cinema theater. I got to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in this bad mother of a theater, powered by dual Christie laser projectors, 57 speakers of Atmos awesomeness, and one of the most sophisticated theater layouts (if not the most) ever created.
But it’s not all theater chat this week (though it may seem like it). We’ve also got plenty of news sourced fromelsewhere in the entertainment world. How about some Stranger Things-Star Wars tie-in action? Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobbie Brown (which is either the most awesome or most terrible name of any star ever), aka Eleven, has expressed a wish to play a young Princess Leia should Disney ever go in that direction. While there’s been little to no clues that this might happen, with Disney promising a new Star Wars film every year for, well, infinity, it could be a real possibility. She really does look like young Leia, she’s a great actress, and seeing that the young Han Solo film is already in the works for 2018, who knows what could happen. Brown could even potentially be in that flick, though she may be too young in relation to star Alden Ehrenreich — but you just never know.
We also got some other news from the rumor mill, this time dealing with rumors of a possible Game of Thrones prequel series after the show wraps up. While there’s no definitive news on this front, new programming President Casey Bloys said the idea is “still in preliminary ongoing talks” with GoT writer George R.R. Martin. We’ll also be covering much more, including news about Westworld season 2, the new live-action Beauty and the Beast trailer, and a very special Between the Cracks series for you to obsess over.
All of this and more on today’s show, so follow us live at 2 p.m. PST, or take our podcast on the road via the links above!
