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

 

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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!

Spaceballs (on DVD)

Spaceballs
[DVD Spaceballs] 

I found this movie really funny, even though I’m sure I didn’t get all the in jokes, as I’ve only seen the original Star Wars movies once and this is a parody of them. The plot is basically a princess being forced into a marriage because a planet is running out of air, she runs away from her wedding, two buddies find her and hope her father will give them lots of money for her return. The planet running out of air hires Dark Helmet to get the princess back, so the two buddies are being chased by him. It’s a really goofy movie with spoken and unspoken jokes. I thought it was pretty funny and like action movies, sometimes the action or comedy in this case matters more than the story (which itself is overly absurd). It’s good if you want a comedy movie with some sci-fi in it, just like Spam-a-lot is good it you want comedy with some British folklore in it.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Mel Brooks web site ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch 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 reviewers recommendations!

The Artist

The Artist
directed by Michael Hazanavicius [DVD Artist]

Winner of five Oscars including Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Picture. According to an interview with the lead actor Jean Dujardin, The Artist was filmed in only 35 days! Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), an upcoming star steals the spotlight from silent film star, George Valentin. When George thinks things can't get any worse, it is Peppy who ultimately comes to his rescue. Brilliant acting and dancing; pay special attention to the sound editing, which gives the film a strikingly modern feel without sacrificing old-Hollywood nostalgia. [If you like this, you may also enjoy Sunset Boulevard or the films of Charlie Chaplin] -- recommended by Jeremiah J. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official The Artist web site (US) ]
 
Have you seen 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.