DVD Review: Searching

Searching
[DVD Searching]

This contemporary technological suspense drama came out in 2018, and stars John Cho (Sulu in the recent reboot Star Trek films, among many other credits) as David Kim, the father of a teenage daughter, Margot. Both of them are still hurting from the relatively recent loss of David’s wife (and Margot’s mother) to cancer.

David is somewhat tech-savvy, but he still finds himself in over his head when his daughter disappears under odd circumstances, leaving her laptop behind. With the help of a driven police officer (Will & Grace‘s Debra Messing), David goes on a deep dive into his daughter’s social media, in order to try to decipher where Margot might have gone or what might have happened to her. This film has lots of dramatic twists and turns, and its exploration of Margot’s recent digital footprint shows that David doesn’t know his daughter as well as he thought he did.

The performances by Cho and Messing are both excellent, as are those of Michelle La as the 15-year-old Margot, and Joseph Lee as David’s brother Peter. The filmmakers’ skill at creating a narrative patched together from social media and interactions with laptops and smartphones is fantastic. In the “extras” on this disc, the actors talk about the challenges of performing opposite blank screens and their concerns about giving realistic performances without other actors to play off of — they manage to pull it off very well is this taut thriller.

My only warning is as follows — this probably looked great on a movie-theater screen, and probably still looks good on larger TV screens. But because so much of the “action” comes in the form of text on computer screens and smartphones, watching this on an old under-30″ TV made it hard to make out a lot of the important graphics that form the story’s narrative. If you’ve got a larger TV to watch on, this probably won’t be a problem. But if you’ve got an older, small TV screen, you may have some difficulty with all the visual details.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Searching Facebook page ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Witch Elm by Tana French

The Witch Elm
by Tana French [French]

Fascinating but disturbing stand-alone novel from the author of the Dublin Murder Squad series (which starts with In the Woods (2006)).

Toby is a young man in Dublin on a promising career trajectory until he surprises two burglars in his flat one night, and they beat him nearly to death. Recovering from his injuries, including possible brain damage, Toby has become disconnected from who he was and uncertain what he is going to be. He moves back into a family ancestral home, to care for his quirky uncle Hugo, who, himself, has recently been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Surrounded by the space that was once sacred to him in his childhood, Toby tries to reconnect with the two cousins who were once like siblings to him. When a skull is discovered (and later the full skeleton) in a cavity in a Witch Elm in the estate’s garden, the ensuing police investigation causes hidden things from Toby’s past to be dredged up, making him realize that — brain injury or not — he may not be the man he thinks he is.

This is a very dark novel, filled with complex characters and very emotionally-charged scenes. In many ways, it is the opposite side of the coin to French’s typical police procedural works — in that we get to see a complicated police investigation from the point of view of the main group of suspects, and the central one of those has an unreliable memory. This is definitely a stand-alone novel, so if you want to sample something from French without committing to following an entire series, it’s a good example of the quality of her character development and plotting. I’ll admit, it felt a little “padded”, but was still a compelling read.

[This title was the selected discussion title for the July 2019 meeting of the library-sponsored Just Desserts Mystery Fiction Discussion Group.]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the rest of Irish author Tana French‘s body of works. ]

[ official The Witch Elm page on the official Tana French web site ]

Read Pat L.’s review of Tana French’s In the Woods from Nov 2009
Read Donna G.’s review of Tana French’s The Likeness from Nov 2008

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Don't miss the August 2019 Just Desserts mystery book discussion group's meeting -- tonight! -- where the group will be discussing Robert Galbraith's stand-alone novel The Cuckoo's Calling. (Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for "Hary Potter" author J.K. Rowling.) Guests are always welcome. Just Desserts meets in the 4th floor auditorium of the downtown Bennett Martin Public Library on the last Thursday of each month, 6:30-7:45. Attendees are encouraged to bring a dessert to share with fellow mystery fans. Coffee and juice are provided.

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New BooksTalk Booklist: Random Reads From a Retired Librarian - 2019

Susan Vanneman, retired librarian, was the guest presenter at the Gere BooksTalk on March 25th, 2019. In her booktalk, she discussed several intriguing volumes in the categories of Fiction, Poetry, Non-Fiction and Biographies.

Check out his list of recommended reading at the following link: 

Random Reads From a Retired Librarian - 2019

DVD Review: Star Trek Discovery -- Season One

Star Trek Discovery – Season One
[DVD Star]

Star Trek: Discovery is the latest addition to the Star Trek universe. Discovery is set approximately 10 years prior to Star Trek: The Original Series, so familiar names and characters are sprinkled throughout this new series even as we meet new crew members, officers, and aliens of the USS Shenzhou, the USS Discovery, Star Fleet, and the worlds of Star Trek in general.

Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Commander Michael Burnham who is one of the major characters. She’ll be familiar to those who follow “The Good Wife” and “The Walking Dead” and she does a terrific job as a human girl who was raised on Vulcan by Sarek and his wife, Amanda, alongside her foster brother Spock.

Doug Jones portrays Commander Saru, a Kelpian from the planet Kaminar. His species is a prey-species and all Kelpians are aware of when death or danger is imminent. His fellow crew mates keep an eye on him during times of action and danger. Many people might know of Jones as the Creature in The Shape of Water and as Abe Sapien in the two Hellboy films starring Ron Perlman. He’s spent his career as a contortionist, portraying creatures while in full costume. He brings Saru to life even under all the prosthetics and is one of my favorite characters.

Jason Isaacs, as Capt Gabriel Lorca of the USS Discovery, is familiar to film-goers as Lucius Malfoy (Draco’s father) in the Harry Potter films. He brings an intensity to his mysterious character.

Michelle Yeoh is delicious as Philippa Georgiou of the USS Shenzhou. To tell you any more would spoil so many story lines. Yeoh demonstrates high level acting chops here.

We eventually meet Capt Christopher Pike of the USS Enterprise, and Spock (sorry, but that’s in season two) but to longtime Trek fans we are able to slip right back into the world of the Federation, Klingons, Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites, and others. Even Tribbles and Harry Mudd show up.

Make no mistake though, this is not a big reunion of favorite characters just for the fun of it. The storylines are engrossing and exciting, yet keep to the timeline and canon. The special effects folks do the impossible job of giving us fresh ships and technology that allegedly pre-dates The Original Series yet recognizes that in our Real Time the effects can do so much more now.

The theme song is definitely Star Trek yet distinct enough to stand on its own for a different series.

Each episode tells its own story, but there’s an over-riding arc of another storyline throughout the entire 15 episodes of season one. The first two episodes were busy introducing you to the characters, so if you aren’t sure yet about this series, wait until the end of episode three before making up your mind. I’ve heard it said that you will either love this series or hate it. I love it, and am impressed with all that the writers, actors, and special effects crew have accomplished.

Be sure to watch all the bonus features of cast interviews, behind-the-scenes information, and deleted scenes.

Currently seasons one and two are available on CBS All Access – a subscription streaming service of CBS, with season three in the works for 2020. While the second season (2019) has ended, only season one is out on DVD at this time.

[Some novels based on Star Trek Discovery are also available in traditional print format or as digital ebooks.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this series ] | [ official Star Trek Discovery web site ]

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!