Control (2007)

In retrospect, I wouldn't have chased a musical biography with a biography of a musician. Still, that's about where the similarity ends.

The story focuses on Ian Curtis (Sam Riley) starting in 1975, shortly before he marries Debbie (Samantha Morton) and becomes the lead singer of Joy Division, the British post-punk rock band. I'm afraid the timeline isn't very long, because he dies at age 23. And no, the cause is not drugs or a plane crash.

John Carter (2012)

I saw half of this on a plane and forgot most of it. You'd think that would be the end of my experience, but an acquaintance has insisted that the flick was underrated, thanks chiefly to a poor marketing campaign. Granted, dropping "of Mars" from the title was a big mistake: You should never try to hide your genre to draw in unsuspecting viewers, especially with something as bland as a common name. So when I had time to kill, I decided to stream the whole thing and judge whether I had been simply too jet-lagged to appreciate it before.

Most of the story is told in flashback as A Princess of Mars author Edgar Rice Burroughs himself (Daryl Sabara) reads the account of his uncle, former Confederate captain John Carter of Virginia (Taylor Kitsch). In 1868, Carter's search for gold leads him to alien technology, with which he unwittingly sends himself to Mars or, as the inhabitants call it, Barsoom. Being built for stronger gravity, he can leap farther and punch harder than either the green Martians, called Tharks, or the more human red Martians. Thark leader Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe), tho relatively friendly, wants to coerce him into being a personal champion, against the wishes of ambitious Tal Hajus (Thomas Haden Church). Red Martian princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) can think of a more pressing need for Carter's services: stopping Sab Than (Dominic West), another Red Martian leader, from conquering her city.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Dr. Strange is a tough act to follow, and here I am following it with another major studio's massive spectacle about sorcery. But as a fan of both the Harry Potter books and the accompanying booklet of the same title, I eagerly accepted my parents' invitation to see it with them on Thanksgiving.

Given the booklet's existence as a mere fictional bestiary, this could not really be an adaptation in the same sense as the HP movies. Instead, it's about a brief adventure of wizard Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in 1926, the year before his bestiary is said to be published. Since Harry's main set of adventures takes place in the '90s, we get none of the same actors and very few familiar names -- apart from Newt, just occasional mentions of headmaster Albus Dumbledore and his fugitive former friend Gellert Grindelwald. Author J.K. Rowling did write the story, so we can still count on it for fidelity -- and indeed, it still feels like the same realm.

At this point, Newt's not doing any biology research exactly. He comes to New York City in order to look for a rare beast to acquire. Unfortunately, he brings several other magical beasts in a magical suitcase that is not as secure as needed. This garners the undesired attention of random non-wizard Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) and disgraced policewitch Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), the latter of whom would have Newt punished and Jacob's memory wiped immediately if not for compromising circumstances. The bigger problem comes when something publicly kills in a way that no normal animal could. Newt insists it's none of his pets, but he takes it upon himself to determine what it is and how they can stop it before the whole city knows that magic exists.