DVD Review: Anna and the Apocalypse

Anna and the Apocalypse
(DVD Anna)

This movie started as a short film in 2011, Zombie Musical, written and directed by Ryan McHenry. It was then expanded to this full-length feature film, following McHenry’s death, by writers Alan McDonald and Tommy Reilly, with music by Roddy Hart and Reilly. And the music is integral to this film’s success — there are over 15 songs, sung by various cast members, who break into song-and-dance numbers that seamlessly merge into the chaos and zombie killing.

 

Teenager Anna is looking forward to traipsing around the globe following the end of her senior year — a prospect that neither her over-protective father and her best friend don’t relish. Anna isn’t part of the “popular crowd” but she and her fellow misfit outsiders still form a tight bond. They tend to ignore the news reports of a global pandemic that appears to be turning people into zombies — until it starts to affect the people in their sleepy Scottish town of Little Haven. As the entire world appears to be dissolving into total chaos, Anna and her friends (and enemies) must fight their way through their zombie-infested town to their high school, which may or may not be the last safe haven.

 

The entire cast of this is terrific, particularly Ella Hunt as Anna and Malcolm Cumming as her lifelong platonic best friend John. The songs are at first a bit jarring, but quickly become one of the best parts of the film — it reminded me of watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode “Once More, With Feeling” — and all the actors have excellent singing voices. The make-up and special effects are grotesque but impressive. If the film verges occasionally into cartoonishness, it is allowable, as the entire concept seems outlandish. And yet, somehow it works!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to see the If You Like…Die Hard list of harder-edged action/suspense films set at Christmas-time.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: The Madame Blanc Mysteries (Series One)

The Madame Blanc Mysteries (Series One)
(DVD Madame)

British antiques dealer Jean White learns her now-late husband — killed in a suspicious auto accident — had pulled all their money out of the business leaving her penniless, and he possibly had an affair. Also, a valuable ruby ring is missing from the vehicle. She has one asset left and that’s a cottage in fictional Sainte-Victoire, a village in the south of France. She leaves Cheshire, England to get the cottage ready and sell it.

 

Still reeling from his lies and his death, she meets several members of the community and is pulled into their lives and community activities. She befriends the local police officer when her antiques expertise helps resolve the first case, and he asks her to be his assistant in the future when necessary. Which turns out to be often.

Originally aired by Acorn TV, this is a character-drive, contemporary, cozy murder mystery series with also a romance between Jean and another character that advances slowly. Each episode is approximately 45 minutes in length. Be sure to turn on closed-captioning unless you understand both English and French. The English translation is provided on-screen when French is spoken.

 

The library owns Series One (six episodes) and Series Two (seven episodes).

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: Dark Winds (Season One)

Dark Winds (Season One)
(DVD Dark)

I am a fan of the Longmire television series and am especially impressed with the Native American actors in the film version of the Longmire books by author Craig Johnson. One of the standouts in Longmire is actor Zahn McClarnon who portrays Officer Mathias on the Reservation in mythical Absaroka County. Recently I discovered that McClarnon is currently starring in the series Dark Winds as Lt. Joe Leaphorn in Navajo Nation, New Mexico. The series is based on the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito novels by acclaimed author Tony Hillerman (and continued by Tony’s daughter Anne Hillerman following Tony’s death), and produced by author George R.R. Martin and Robert Redford. The mysteries are top-notch and incorporate history, Navajo customs and language, and superb acting from the Native American actors and extras. Shot on location in New Mexico, this is one of the most powerful series I have seen in recent years.

 

Season One looks at events that occurred in 1971 involving conspiracies, murder and cover-ups with the FBI and the Buffalo Society. McClarnon gives an incredibly emotional performance as Joe Leaphorn who is determined to solve the cases of the murders of Navajo people at all costs. I am looking forward to seeing Season Two soon. Nebraskans should be very proud of actor Zahn McClarnon who spent part of his youth in Omaha, graduating from Omaha Central High School. Be sure to watch the bonus film on the making of this series which is included on the second disc.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Longmire. Also, Season Two of Dark Winds is now out on DVD as well. A third season is in pre-production, for airing in late 2024 or 2025.)

 

(Also available in traditional print format from authors Tony Hillerman and then Anne Hillerman.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: The Retirement Plan

The Retirement Plan
(DVD Retirement)

I’ll have to admit, Nicolas Cage stars in a lot of my “guilty pleasure” films — such as The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, the National Treasure series, the Ghost Rider series and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Usually, I find that a Nicolas Cage film is one where I can turn my brain off and just be entertained by mindless action and/or quirky characters.

 

The Retirement Plan is one of those types of films, but it doesn’t even live up to the promise of the others I already listed. In this film, Cage plays Matt, an ex-intelligence operative and assassin, who is trying to quietly live his post-employment life of leisure in the Cayman Islands, off the radar of past allies and enemies alike. When his estranged daughter gets sucked into her husband’s theft of a flashdrive filled with information critical to a Miami mobster, she sends her daughter to the Caymans (with the flashdrive hidden in her carry-on), hoping the girl’s grandfather (who’s never met her) will protect her.

 

What follows is a madcap adventure, as one of the mobster’s low-level henchmen sends team-after-team of thugs to get the little girl and flashdrive back. No-one (including his own daughter) is aware of Matt’s true history, so no one expects a grey-haired 60-year-old to be a threat, but Matt keeps eliminating bad guy after bad guy.

 

The plot is extremely predictable and the dialog is often cringe-worthy. But some of the performances are terrific, particularly Ron Perlman as Bobo, a philosophical but not particularly reluctant bad guy, and Ernie Hudson as one of Matt’s fellow retirees.

 

But you’ll definitely want to turn your logical brain off and don’t expect any Shakespeare (even though you’ll get some!).

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try pretty much any other Nicolas Cage action film, including the ones linked above.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

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Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD/TV review: Annika - Season 1

Annika – Season 1
(DVD Annika)

In January, I reviewed Season Two of this wonderful detective series while waiting for Season One to come in. The first episode begins with the words “Call Me Annika” which brings to mind the opening words of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick: “Call me Ishmael.” Each episode of the series begins with Detective Annika Strandhed talking about a classic work of literature and how it relates to the current case she is trying to solve. Each episode builds on the previous one with Annika confiding to the audience her worries and fears regarding the relationships in her life. Set in beautiful Scotland, we get to enjoy breathtaking views of the sea, lochs and rivers that Annika and her team work in as the Marine Homicide Unit of Scotland’s police force. Be sure to watch season one before starting season two — episode six is especially good in terms of dramatic tension and a major plot development in the final scene. I highly recommend this series.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Shetland, or Prime Suspect.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series )

 

See Kim J’s review of season two of Annika in the February 2024 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD/Movie Review: The Frighteners

The Frighteners
written and directed by Peter Jackson (DVD Frighteners)

In January, I was invited to go to the Filmstreams theater in downtown Omaha to serve on a discussion panel following a showing of Peter Jackson’s 1995 film The Frighteners. Why me? Because I’m the Lincoln City Libraries’ resident “expert” on the Charles Starkweather murder spree case from 1958/1959, and in the movie The Frighteners, Charlie Starkweather’s killing spree is mentioned several times — he serves as an inspiration for the “big bad” in the film.

 

I was pleased to see that the Lincoln City Libraries do still have The Frighteners in our DVD collection. In the film, Michael J. Fox is Frank Bannister, a man who can see the spirits of the deceased, but who uses this ability to con gullible people. He has partnered with three ghosts to “haunt” houses, after which Frank swoops in to offer his expensive services to de-ghost those properties. But multiple mysterious deaths by heart attack in Fairhaven. When one his latest ghostbusting clients has a chilling number appear engraved in his forehead (which only Frank can see), and then he turns up to be the next victim of a mysterious death, Frank ends up working with the man’s widow (played by Trini Alvarado) to figure out what’s going on in his town (and clear his own name as a suspect). It turns out that the ghost of a serial killer from the 1960s has managed to come back and is adding to his body count.

 

Some great performances, some spectacular special effects, a little humor, a little scare — this one’s got it all. Fox gives a great performance in his last feature film role before his Parkinson’s symptoms made it impossible for him to work. And the Nebraska connection is really played up, even though the film (made in New Zealand) is supposed to be set in the Eastern U.S. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the schlock horror Jackson had been known for, before being given the opportunity to direct this — and he soon went on to make the Lord of the Rings trilogy!

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD/TV Review: Endeavour complete series

Endeavour series
(DVD Endeavour)

From my first review of Endeavour when it started nine seasons ago: Endeavour follows the early years of policeman-in-training Endeavour Morse as he learns the ins and outs of police work with Investigator Fred Thursday in 1960s Oxford, England. As a fan of the Inspector Morse series with veteran actor John Thaw, I was curious to see how this series would hold up as a “prequel.”

 

Now the final season is over, I decided to go back and watch all of the seasons again from the beginning. One of the things that I liked most about this series is the superb writing and the attention to detail, tying together elements from the original Inspector Morse series and from the books by Colin Dexter. Endeavour Morse, always known as “Morse” to everyone, is a young Oxford-educated young man with a fondness for doing crosswords and solving mysteries, which is why he decided to try his hand at detective work. His knowledge of classical music, opera, Latin, and the classics gives him an edge over the other street-smarts cops that he works with in his division. The acting in this series is superb, with excellent acting by Roger Allam as Chief Inspector Fred Thursday, Anton Lesser as Superintendent Reginald Bright, James Bradshaw as Dr. Max DeBryn and of course, Sean Evans as Morse. One of the things that I would like to recommend is in the bonus features in Series Nine: a documentary about the making of this series and its previous series, Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis. Do watch all of the bonus features as you will learn much more about the making of these marvelous productions. I have to admit that I am sad that this is done now, but the producers did a wonderful job of bringing the stories together.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the original series, Inspector Morse.)

 

(Also available: many of the Inspector Morse novels by Colin Dexter.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series )

 

See Kim J.’s original review of Endeavour, in the November 2014 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD/Movie Review: Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer
(DVD Oppenheimer)

Oppenheimer is one of the front runners for Oscars on March 10th, leading all other films with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.) and Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), plus numerous technical nominations.

 

At 3 full hours, Oppenheimer requires a commitment in its audience, but it ultimately pays off. The first third of the film is relatively slow going, but tension and pace gradually increase, set to Ludwig Goransson’s nerve-wracking score. This is part biography of Oppenheimer the man, and part historical recreation of one of the most pivotal eras in U.S. and World history.

 

The performances in this film are outstanding, especially Cillian Murphy’s haunting take as Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss. I particularly enjoyed Tom Conti as Albert Einstein in a couple of short but critical scenes. The production design, costume design, editing, cinematography (particularly around Los Alamos and the bomb testing site) are all top notch.

 

Though I was a bit bored by the first third of the film, and ended up breaking it up into two viewings, I’m glad I returned to it, because by the end of this movie I was so impressed that I ended up buying the DVD for my personal collection.

 

Oppenheimer was part of a unique cultural phenomenon in the summer of 2023. It opened the same day as Barbie, and many filmgoers called that pairing Barbenheimer — challenging each other to watch both landmark movies the same day or weekend. Both films were smash successes, and now find themselves up against each other in multiple Oscar categories (Barbie earned 8 nominations). Personally, I preferred Barbie, but that’s just my own taste. I certainly recognize that Oppenheimer is an exceptionally well-made film…and I strongly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t yet seen it — especially those interested in world history.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird, The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: Miss Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries + Just Desserts meeting later this week

Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries
(DVD Miss)

Last month I reviewed “Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries” on DVD, that take place in the late 1920’s Melbourne, Australia. That series is based on the Phryne Fisher books by Kerry Greenwood.

 

Miss Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries is an offshoot and revolves around Miss Fisher’s niece, Peregrine Fisher, in 1960’s Melbourne. Peregrine inherits Phryne’s fortune when she goes missing after crashing in the jungle over New Guinea. Peregrine had never met her aunt and decides to follow in her footsteps to become a private-detective. She makes her way to Phryne’s club, The Adventuresses’ Club, where she is befriended by the other members who thought highly of Phryne.

 

I wasn’t sure I’d take to this series because I’m not that fond of the 1960’s – the color schemes, the furniture, the blatant sexism. But I ended up enjoying the characters, the mysteries, and watching Peregrine take on the challenges of meeting, learning from, and befriending the exceptional women of the Adventuresses’ Club.

Of course our thoroughly modern heroine meets a straitlaced guy, James, who is a police detective (just as her aunt did). He tries to dissuade her from investigating the various murders she encounters but they end up teaming together – against the wishes of his captain.

 

Produced by Acorn, the library owns all of this series on DVD.

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series )

 

See Charlotte M.’s review of The Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries in the January 2024 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

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If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting this coming Thursday, February 29th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. Tonight, we'll be discussing the recent thriller The Only One Left by American thriller/suspense author Riley Sager.

 

Even if you haven't read The Only One Left for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

DVD Review: Station Eleven (based on the novel by Emily St. John Mandel)

Station Eleven
TV mini-series based on the novel by Emily St. John Mandel (DVD Station)

One of my daughter’s favorite books is Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a book about what happens when the swine flu Pandemic kills off most of the population. Mind you, this book was published in 2014, years before COVID. Because of the focus on trying to keep culture alive, specifically theater, music and literature, I decided to give the new mini-series a try. The mini-series, Station Eleven, is based on the internationally acclaimed novel but with many changes in characters and plot. Even so, the series holds the same basic idea: survivors of the Pandemic must attempt to rebuild their world while keeping hold of the best of their culture: Shakespeare plays, music performance, and literature. A group of survivors bands together, calling themselves the Traveling Symphony, performing plays on their established route around Lake Michigan. Small groups of survivors who have formed new communities such as the one at the Severn Airport in Michigan invite the players to come perform for them. This happens 20 years after the Pandemic, bringing together all of the storylines and resolving them in one climactic performance. Much of the series revolves around a graphic novel that was created by one of the characters. Referred to as “the prophecy,” all of the main characters have some tie to this novel — only a few copies exist, but the impact of the story affects many people over the course of these twenty years.

 

I have to say that I really enjoyed the post-Pandemic story and how connected all of these characters were to the mission to save the best of humanity. However, the DVD set had no rating. I would view this with caution due to Language; Graphic Violence; Adult Situations; and Themes.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and the film adaptation of that, The Road starring Viggo Mortensen.)

 

(Also available in traditional print format.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this 10-episode mini-series )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched (or 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!

DVD Review: Peppermint (2018)

Peppermint
(DVD Peppermint)

This 2018 film stars Jennifer Garner and is a hard-core hard-bitten action thriller. Garner stars as Riley North, a young woman whose husband and daughter are gunned down by members of a street gang. Even though she is able to identify the killers, her testimony is not taken seriously during the trial, the killers go free, and she herself is labeled a dangerous psychotic. Riley manages to escape from medical personnel and goes underground. A few years later, having trained with some of the best physical and mental trainers she could find, she returns to her old city and starts to take violent revenge on those who wronged her: corrupt judges, lawyers, gang-bangers, etc.

 

As Riley works her way up the ranks of organization led by the drug lord who was ultimately responsible for the death of her family, both the bad guys and the good guys are out to find and stop her.

 

This is “revenge porn” — with a mercenary taking out the people who wronged her, in increasingly violent ways. But Garner still pulls off a completely sympathetic character. She also proves that at age 46 (13 years after her action-espionage series Alias ended) she still has massive “action film” chops and is wholly believable as this avenging angel.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Garner’s TV series, Alias, which ran for five seasons in 2001-2005.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this 2018 film )

 

See Scott C.’s review of the first season of the TV series Alias, in the July 2009 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: The Creator, written and directed by Gareth Edwads

The Creator
(DVD Creator)

The Creator was a spectacular original science fiction concept — refreshing to see when so many SF/F films are franchise entries. Director Gareth Edwards (he also co-wrote this with Chris Weitz) gives us a world in which Artificial Intelligences have struck back at humans in the United States, detonating a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. When the action picks up years later, U.S. special forces are actively seeking out and destroying AIs around the world — but in New Asia, AIs are still valued and American intervention is opposed. Deep cover special U.S. special forces agent Joshua is married to an Asian woman and expecting a child, while still working on his mission to find the chief scientist creating new AIs. A strike force blows his cover, kills his wife and badly injures him…but when a mission to infiltrate and destroy a super weapon (that will take out the orbiting defense platform that is the primary U.S. weapon against AIs), Joshua is forced back into active service.

 

Joshua’s team is inserted into New Asia to try to find Nirmata, the creator of the ultimate weapon, and destroy both the weapon and Nirmata themself. The missions goes awry, and Joshua finds himself on the run with “the weapon”…which has been designed as a six-year-old little girl (who’s learning how to manipulate the technology around herself). Joshua believes his wife, Maya, may still be alive and he’s determined to use “the weapon” to find his wife and reclaim part of the life that was stolen from him. But he starts to bond with the little girl…and there’s still people out to destroy her.

 

John David Washington does a terrific job as the tortured Joshua, and there are some excellent supporting performances by Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Gemma Chan and several other adult actors. But the film is literally stolen by Madeleine Yuna Voyles, in her film debut, as the young weapon, “Alphie”. The Creator is complex and fast moving, and a lot of it is set in darkness. It is far from perfect, but it is still an excellent movie, and I highly recommend it. Particularly for the Hans Zimmer score.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Gareth Edwards’ other films, including Rogue One – A Star Wars Movie, Godzilla (2014) or Monsters.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this 2023 film )

 

See Kristen A.’s review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (directed by Gareth Edwards) in the September 2017 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: Only in Theaters - a documentary by Raphael Sbarge

Only in Theaters
a documentary by actor/filmmaker Raphael Sbarge (DVD 791.43 Onl)

Fascinating documentary about the Laemmle family (pronounced Lem-lee) and the chain of independent arthouse movie theaters they established in the Los Angeles area. This documentary started filming in 2018/2019 and its focus was going to be on the decline of independent movie theaters, and the Laemmle family facing hard decisions on whether to sell their chain or continue to cater to arthouse movie crowds.

But the documentary was still filming when COVID-19 arrived and movie theaters in California all had to shut down. The documentary focus shifted to how a family-owned-for-80-years business can survive during a period of forced social isolation.

 

I loved the sections of this film, particularly the interviews with film critics and fans (like Leonard Maltin), which dealt with the history of the Laemmle chain and how essential it has been to the film-loving community of Southern California. The interviews with both movie fans and movie makers was absolutely marvelous. While I certainly feel badly for the current generation of Laemmle family leadership on the hard decisions they have had to make in the pandemic era, those portions of the documentary eventually became somewhat repetitive.

 

But I do still recommend this film to cinemaphiles and anyone who loves the experience of seeing movies with a crowd in a movie theater…an experience that continues to become less and less common in an era in which streaming and home theaters continue to replace the actual movie-going tradition.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Last Blockbuster (a documentary on DVD), Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace by April Wright, American Picture Palaces: The Architecture of Fantasy by David Naylor, Ticket to Paradise: American Movie Theaters and How We Had Fun by John Margolies (Heritage Room only) or The Projectionist by Nicholas Nicolaou.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this 2022 documentary film )

 

See Scott C.’s review of the documentary The Last Blockbuster in the August 2021 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: A Christmas Story Christmas

A Christmas Story Christmas
(DVD Christmas)

The first time I saw the 1983 movie A Christmas Story, I was expecting something completely different. Instead of a heart-warming, sentimental story about a family’s Christmas in the 1950s, this hilarious film looks at Christmas through the eyes of a child who sees everything going wrong for him. A Christmas Story became one of my favorite Christmas movies to watch during the holiday season.

 

I was excited to find that a new movie was produced recently looking at the characters from that original production nearly 30 years later. In A Christmas Story Christmas: Ralphie Comes Home, Peter Billingsley stars again as Ralphie Parker, looking at Christmas through the eyes of the Dad who is responsible for making sure everything turns out just right for his own young family as they celebrate Christmas with his Mom in his childhood home. Unfortunately, Ralphie has to deal with the loss of his own father and his inability to secure a publisher for his book that he has written while trying to make this a memorable occasion for his kids.

 

This excellent movie is filled with the same kind of imaginary scenes that made the original film the classic it became. We see all of the actors who played important roles in the original return for cameos as their adult characters. We see the same department store and its “visit Santa and his elves” but with the twist that its Ralphie’s kids waiting in the long line this time. The filming is well done, re-creating the look from the original set but fast-forwarded to the year 1973. We don’t have Darren McGavin as Old Man Parker (the actor passed away in 2006) but his photo is everywhere and there are clips from the original production as Ralphie remembers things his Dad did. We also don’t have actress Melinda Dillon (Mother Parker); she passed away shortly after this new film was released. Otherwise, the film does have the same feel as its predecessor.

 

A Christmas Story Christmas was co-produced by Jean Shepherd’s two adult children, Randall and Adrian Shepherd. One thing that I loved was the scene where Ralphie goes to visit his friend Flick in the neighborhood bar, Flick’s Tavern. The camera pans to a spot on the wall with a sign that says “In God We Trust; All Others Pay Cash.” This, of course, is the name of the book by Jean Shepherd that the original film was based on. I thought it was a nice touch to include that. The story was based on the author’s memories of growing up in the Hessville neighborhood of Hammond, Indiana.

 

I recommend this movie for anyone who is a fan of the original story.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the original A Christmas Story.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this 2022 film )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: Kindness Matters

Kindness Matters
(DVD Kindness)

I am one of those people who find it hard to resist movies with pictures of adorable dogs on them; you would think that I would have learned my lesson from last year’s A Christmas Doodle DVD which still holds the record for lowest rating from this reviewer. Anyway, the blurb on the cover made this one sound appealing: A boy named Lincoln is bullied for the way he talks; a lonely man rescues a puppy who transforms his life; an inspiring story illustrates how kindness can make a difference. First off, I will say that this film, unlike A Christmas Doodle, seemed to have a plot and the filming was actually good. There was enough conflict to hold my interest and I enjoyed the separate storylines that showed the impact that the stray dog had on two families. On the other hand, there were aspects of the story which I found unbelievable. The sudden romance between the man who rescues the dog and a former classmate he just happens to run into out in the desert; the nanny who decides to give up going back to England and shows up at Lincoln’s house (in the nick of time); and several other things which just irritated me. It is still worth watching, but will not be a contender for anyone’s best-of-the-year lists.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Christmas Doodle, or A Dog’s Way Home.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

See Kim J’s review of the movie The Christmas Doodle (referenced in this month’s review) in the January 2022 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries + reminder of the return of the Just Desserts book group

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
(DVD Miss)

This character-driven mystery series takes place in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia in the late 1920’s. Produced by Acorn so you know this series is going to be well done between the acting, the sense of place, and the interesting mysteries.

 

The world is still recovering from WWI and Phryne Fisher is new to the wealthy, titled life as her family grew up in poverty. However, due to all the family men dying in the war, the title and wealth passed to her father.

Phryne Fisher surrounds herself with interesting characters as her household help and friends as she gets involved with solving murders everywhere she goes. She believes she’s as capable as any man and should have the same rights and privileges. So you can imagine how she buts heads with the local authorities — who never appreciate a private individual involved in crime-solving anyway.

 

Based on the Phryne Fisher novels by Kerry Greenwood, Lincoln City Libraries owns all of the books, including the most recent one released this year (2023). LCL has all three of the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series, and the standalone movie, “Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears.”

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Heat of the Sun, from Masterpiece Theatre’s Mystery series, vol 1-3.)

 

(Books in this series are also available in traditional print format.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series ) | ( official Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries web site )

See Scott C.’s review of the first season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries in the June 2014 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

Recommended by Charlotte M.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

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If you're a mystery fan, you're invited to join us for this month's Just Desserts meeting this coming Thursday, January 25th, at 6:30 p.m. in the 4th floor auditorium of the Bennett Martin Public Library downtown at 14th & "N" St. -- this mystery-themed discussion group meets on the last Thursday of each month, January through October. Tonight, in our 2024 season premiere, we'll be discussing the body of works of contemporary American thriller/suspense author Allison Brennan.

 

Even if you haven't read anything by Brennan for this specific discussion, you can still participate, and learn about great new mysteries to try! For more information, check out the Just Desserts schedule at https://lincolnlibraries.org/bookguide/book-groups/#justdesserts

DVD Review: Annika - Season Two

Annika: Season Two
(DVD Annika)

I had heard about this mystery series and decided to sample it on PBS online. Like Shetland, this investigative team attempts to solve unexplained murders in Scotland; but instead of being set in the Shetland Islands, this Marine Homicide Unit focuses on murders that take place in bodies of waters surrounding Scotland and its islands. What is different about this series is the head Investigating Detective is a single mother, Annika, who is placed with a team that includes an old boyfriend of hers. More time is spent giving the viewer background information on each of the members of the team than in providing detail about the murdered victim, but it seems to work well.

 

The two things that I like best about this series are its use of a famous literary work as the framing story for each episode and the technique of having the main character address the audience with personal thoughts and feelings, such as what one would experience watching a Shakespeare play with the main character giving you background information that other characters are not able to hear. The main detective is humorous, intelligent and complex. You soon discover that parenting is difficult for her, partly because she did not have a good relationship with her own parents, who live in Norway. I recommend this series but it is important to watch Season One before starting on this set.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Shetland.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this series ) | ( BBC’s official Annika web page )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!

DVD Review: Prey

Prey
(DVD Prey)

Prey is an original TV-movie made for the Hulu streaming service in 2022 and later released to DVD in 2023, which serves as a prequel to the long-running series of “Predator” films that began with the eponymous Arnold Schwarzenegger film “Predator” in 1987. In all of the Predator films, single representatives of a technologically-superior hunter/warrior alien species are dropped off to hunt and kill one or more humans in an exotic location. In the original Predator, it was a Central American jungle, in Predator 2 it was the mean streets of Los Angeles.

 

The Predator is always armed with high-tech equipment, both for hunting tasks but also for repairing its own injuries if needed. And if they’re successful in their kills, they take heads and spines as trophies.

In Prey, the setting is the Great Plains and mountain region of the United States, but all the way back in the 1800s. And the prey being hunted is a combination of Comanche warriors and French trappers. the central character in Prey is Naru (played by Amber Midthunder), a young woman who has trained for the warrior arts but who isn’t allowed to join the men in hunts. Her self-taught skills are put to the test when the alien Predator pretty much wipes out most of the men in her tribe’s hunting party.

 

This film is extremely atmospheric and the quality of the production easily rivals the earlier feature films in the series. The focus on the Native American culture in the film is a refreshing change of pace — the film features a large Native American cast, and using your DVD player’s special menus, you can choose to view the movie with either a spoken English or spoken Comanche soundtrack. Longtime fans of the Predator franchise will find several nice “Easter eggs” connecting Prey to films set later in the continuity.

 

Prey is an excellent addition to the Predator series. I highly recommend this one! One note: Many of the action sequences in this film, especially in the final 20 minutes, are very dark — you may have to adjust your screen’s settings to make out all the details.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try all of the other Predator films, especially the 1987 original, which set the benchmark by which all the others are measured. Personally, my favorite is Predator 2 with Danny Glover.)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film ) | ( official Prey web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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!