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 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/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/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: 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

 

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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!

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

 

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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!

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: 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

 

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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!

DVD Review: Jules

Jules
(DVD Jules)

One night Milton (Ben Kingsley) hears loud splintering sounds in his backyard. He goes out to check and finds a space alien has crash landed in his flower beds.

 

Milton (Ben Kingsley) is a retired widower living alone in the family home. He’s having memory issues that are probably developing into some kind of dementia and potentially a loss of his independence. His daughter wants him to move out of the house as she recognizes he needs assistance, but he is refusing to do so, and their relationship is shaky at best. He also doesn’t get along all that well with his senior neighbors.

 

Jules is a sweet, quiet, personal film about three lonely senior citizens who end up banding together to aid a space alien — who is now named Jules. All three seniors are struggling in some way as they become friends while they realize The Government is searching for Jules. They work together to assist the alien in trying to escape from the Men in Black. Low-key yet also poignant and humorous.

 

Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley stars as Milton, with Jane Curtin as Joyce, and Tony Award winner Harriet Harris as Sandy. At only 87 min, this is still a film that will stay with you. An alien film that doesn’t require battles and explosions – more “E.T.” than “Alien.”

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

Recommended by Charlotte M.
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!

DVD Review: Barbie the Movie

Barbie the Movie
(DVD Barbie)

I imagine you’ve heard that there’s a new movie about Barbie?

 

First, to clarify, this is not one more installment of the animated Barbie remakes of fairy tales. Back in the day when I was babysitting my niece, we would watch Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses nearly every day and I can assure you she loved it, and for me, it was a good nap. Too much sugar!

 

Barbie the Movie does have its fair share of sugar, but it also contains enough spice to make it enjoyable, especially to the over 12 crowd.

 

Imagine a world in which Barbie isn’t just a fashion queen, but instead, stands in for all of the things a female person could be.

 

This “Stereotypical Barbie” believes that Barbies have been teaching young women that they can be anything that they want to be. Doctors, gymnasts, teachers, vets, scientists, space explorers (“Yay, Space!”) — a girl just needs to choose her own path. She can have a job, a house, a car, and even a Ken, if she wants one.

Although I know many people loved the moment when America Ferraro gives a speech about how hard it is to be a woman in today’s world, my favorite moment was after the young Bratz girls knock Barbie down for being a role model for unattainable body shape. Barbie, in tears, says, “She thinks I’m a fascist?  I don’t control the railways or the flow of commerce.” “Stereotypical Barbie” isn’t the blonde ditz that these young women have assumed, even if she is naive in her belief that girls have been empowered by her existence.

 

I highly recommend taking this journey with Barbie. You’ll have amazing side trips like seeing Will Ferrell and his posse of corporate execs chasing Barbie on rollerblades, a mystical moment where Barbie gets to have tea with her creator, poor Ken’s whole story arc, and just enough “stiff like a plastic doll” moments to tickle your funny bone. And yeah, plenty of mother-daughter moments to play on the heartstrings of what I think is the movie’s target audience: Women from ages 35-70. (We can’t help it if we carry some latent Mickey Mouse Club feelings for Ryan Gosling.)

 

Unlike Sandy from Grease, Barbie is not going to re-invent herself to fit Ken’s ideal. Ken (Ryan Gosling) and Ken (Simu Liu) are just going to have to do their Danny Zuko dance battle by themselves. Grease isn’t the only movie that’s referenced. There’s a slough of “Easter Eggs” to spot, and, if you delve online, you can find lists of the movies Greta Gerwig (the director) took as inspiration, including The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Red Shoes, The Truman Show, and Splash. You will see nods to Grease, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, The Matrix, Swann’s Way, Midnight Cowboy, Playtime, and many more.

 

Maybe Barbie’s mere existence doesn’t solve all women’s problems, but this movie may surprise you with the substance beneath its many layers of fluff. As the song playing as Barbie leaves Barbieland goes: “There’s more than one answer to these questions / pointing me in a crooked line / and the less I seek my source for some definitive / closer I am to fine.” For me, the major theme of the movie is how there aren’t any straightforward answers in life. Reflecting on Barbie’s journey can be as deep or as fluffy as you want it to be. Follow that Pink Brick Road to your own interpretation!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Red Shoes or Amelie for their similar technicolor esthetic, or any of the referenced movies, like Splash or The Truman Show.)

 

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

 

See Scott C.’s review of the Barbie the Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in the September 2023 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

(Carrie actually gives this a “9.9” but our graphics limit us to giving it a “10” rating)

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
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!

DVD Review: 65

65
(DVD 65)

I’ll have to admit, I’m not really an Adam Driver fan, but that’s mainly because I couldn’t stand him in his Star Wars trilogy. But in pretty much anything else I’ve seen him in, my opinion has been dramatically changing. He certainly doesn’t disappoint in 65, a fascinating and exciting scifi time travel dinosaur film from 2023. Though there are some brief moments with additional actors, 65 is essentially a two-person film, with Driver playing Mills, a futuristic astronaut flying a cargo passengers in stasis, who’s awakened partway into his journey when a meteor storm damages his ship and forces him to crash on a primitive planet in its dinosaur age. Discovering that one of his passengers/cargo has also survived the crash, Mills has to learn to communicate with the young woman, Koa (played by Ariana Greenblatt), and then to travel several kilometers to where his ship’s “escape pod” has ended up. Their travel, by foot, through murky swamps and desolate rocky terrain, is endangered by multiple prehistoric life forms and by the environment itself. Can the two strangers come to rely on each other to reach possible salvation?

 

Both Driver and Greenblatt turn in excellent performances in 65, and the atmosphere of the film is well-created. If you like dinosaur action, you’ll definitely get it here. Attempts by the film to explain that the planet they crashed on is actually Earth in the distant past are muddled, and ultimately unnecessary, as this is a film about the experience of survival. Well done!

 

( 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: Love Again

Love Again
(DVD Love)

Love Again is a romance film with some comedic undertones, and also featuring a soundtrack comprised almost entirely of Celine Dion music, including 5 all-new Dion songs — and Dion appears as herself in the film! Mira Ray (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) is still recovering from the tragic death of her longtime boyfriend (and near fiancee), John. When her younger sister tries to push her back into the dating scene, Mira is reluctant but willing. Meanwhile, Rob Burns is a British writer working as a music critic for a New York City newspaper/website. Rob has just been assigned to write a profile piece on Celine Dion, who is about to start her new tour, but finds no connection for himself to Dion’s soaring love-filled songs.

 

Until he starts receiving heart-wrench text messages on his newly-assigned work cellphone, from an unidentified young woman pouring out her grief and loneliness. The sender is Mira, texting her late boyfriend’s old number. When Rob doesn’t immediately respond back, he finds himself pulled into a quest to find the woman with her heart on her sleeve. And with the love advice of Celine Dion, he may actually have a chance.

Heartfelt performances, great music, terrific chemistry between the leads, and some laugh-out-loud humorous moments from the supporting cast. Though the central relationship is tinged with sadness, regrets and uncertainty, this still falls into standard RomCom territory, and I enjoyed it tremendously…enough so as to go out and buy the film’s Celine Dion-heavy soundtrack on CD!

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )

 

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!

DVD Review: The Band's Visit

The Band’s Visit
written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Eran Kolirin (DVD Band’s)

Having seen the touring company production of the stage musical The Band’s Visit at the Lied Center back in April 2022, I was curious to see the original 2007 Israeli film that served as the source material for the musical. I was not disappointed.

 

The Band’s Visit tells the story of when the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, from Alexandria, Egypt, ends up mistakenly stranded in the tiny Israeli desert town of Beit Hatikva, instead of the much larger city of Petah Tiqva, where they were scheduled to perform. Without a place to stay for the night, locals led by diner owner Dina take pity on the band’s members and agree to provide them with housing for the night, until they can catch the bus out of Beit Hatikva the next day. The events of that evening make up the bulk of this film — as different combinations of band members and locals end up pairing off for life-altering conversations and experiences.

 

Sasson Gabay is mesmerizing as the Lt. Col Tawfiq Zacharya, the proud, principled leader of the Band. His expressive face is filled with so many conflicting emotions — he was truly a wonder to watch. Ronit Elkabetz gives a brash yet vulnerable performance as Dina, the diner owner trapped in a small world. Khalifa Natour as Simon, the clarinet player and assistant conductor of the Band gives a very sensitive performance — his wordless scene as he realizes how he can complete composing his clarinet concerto is some superb acting.

 

All in all, The Band’s Visit is a powerful little film. Though much of it is in English, there is still some subtitling for some of the lines spoken only in the native Egyptian and Israeli tongues. As a huge fan of the stage musical version, I’ll have to admit that wish that there was a little more actual music in this original film, but it was wonderful seeing the inspiration for so many of the musicals pensive and soaring tunes.

 

Highly recommended!

 

(If you enjoy this, the stage musical adapted from this movie was spectacular, and featured a marvelous soundtrack, which we have in the libraries’ collection: The Band’s Visit.)

 

( 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: Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch
(DVD Confess)

I’ll have to admit, the two 1980s Fletch movies starring Chevy Chase and I.M. Fletcher are among my “guilty pleasure” movie favorites. Chase is so over-the-top “wacky” as con man/investigative journalist Fletch in those two films that his comical performance kind of overwhelms the stories in Fletch (1985) and Fletch Lives (1989).

 

This new 2022 film, both starring and produced by Jon (Mad Men) Hamm, takes Gregory McDonald’s second Fletch novel, Confess Fletch (1976), and updates it to our modern era, but manages to keep much of the style and tone intact. Hamm is far more subtle than Chase was at bringing Fletch to life, but that works in his favor. He doesn’t need outrageous costumes or larger-than-life fake personalities to ingratiate Fletch with the characters he’s interacting with — his Fletch is simply slick and fast on the uptake. In this film, Fletch returns from Europe to find a dead woman in the luxury loft apartment he’s been leant by a friend. Fletch quickly becomes the #1 suspect in the eyes of the pair of homicide detectives investigating the case, and his efforts to locate a stolen art collection are hampered by his needs to come up with ways to shake his police tail.

 

Hamm is absolutely terrific in this, but he’s not the only one. Kyle MacLachlan is fun as a germophobic bad guy, Roy Wood Jr. and Ayden Mayeri as detectives “Slo Mo” Monroe and Griz provide a lot of comic relief, Lorenza Izzo as Fletch’s new Italian girlfriend, who sets the case in motion, is a firebrand, and Marcia Gay Harden (currently killing it on the CBS drama So Help Me Todd) is amusing as the Countess de Grassi.

If you’re at all a fan of the original Fletch novels by McDonald, you should appreciate this new film. Here’s hoping it was successful enough to inspire another!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the two earlier Fletch movies, starring Chevy Chase Fletch and Fletch Lives, or any of the eleven Fletch novels by Gregory McDonald, published between 1974 and 1994 — the earliest are the best.)

 

( 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 Lost King

The Lost King

(DVD Lost)

 

This is a delightful film based on the true-life experiences of amateur historian Philippa Langley who spearheaded a search for the burial location of King Richard III of England. Based on her research, Philippa becomes certain that the remains of King Richard III are located in an area of Leicester where the Greyfriars Church had possibly been. After many setbacks, the archaeological dig takes place and the remains of an adult male with a curved spine are found. With DNA testing, it was proved that this was, indeed, King Richard III. What I loved about this film was the incredible performance by actress Sally Hawkins (playing Philippa) as she fights against the male-dominated society that ignores her work and her achievements every step of the way. Incredible performances by Harry Lloyd as King Richard III and Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley make this a must-see for anyone interested in English history or Shakespeare’s version of Richard III. The bonus films at the end are fun to watch, too.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, or Richard III.)

 

( 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: Amsterdam

Amsterdam

(DVD Amsterdam)

 

The trailers for this movie were considerably misleading, making it look like a wacky and madcap comedy film. While there certainly were some comedic moments, this was actually a fairly serious historical drama, a fictional look an event that actually did occur in U.S. history.

 

Christian Bale (Batman Begins) is Bert Berendson, Margot Robbie (Barbie) is Valerie Voze and John David Washington (Tenet) is Harold Woodman, the three co-leads. A flashback sequences explains their original meeting as participants in World War I in Europe, and the time they spent getting to know and trust each other in Amsterdam.

 

But the majority of Amsterdam follows Bert and Harold’s misadventures as they are tasked with conducting an illicit autopsy to prove their former commanding officer met with an unnatural death. The more they look into the case, the more misfortune occurs to them, putting them on the run. The one-eyed Berendsen is a disgraced doctor, the black Woodman faces racial persecution, and Valerie is being treated by her not-so-loving family for mental issues. But when they team up again, their friendship revitalizes each of them and they become eager to prove a national conspiracy against the government.

 

Terrific supporting performances from Robert Deniro, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon and Ramai Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)! Highly recommended.

 

( 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 Fabelmans

The Fabelmans

(DVD Fabelmans)

 

Quick disclaimer — I’ve been a fan of director Steven Spielberg’s films ever since his TV-movie Duel and summer blockbuster Jaws. I’ve enjoyed his mass appeal SF fare – Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., AI, etc., and have followed his career ever since the mid-1980s. This 2022 Oscar-nominated film, directed by Steven Spielberg himself, is the closest we’ll probably ever get to an autobiographical movie from that legendary director. Though fictionalized, most of the events that take place in The Fabelmans are based on actual events from Spielberg’s own life and early years before he broke into the film industry.

 

Young actor Gabriel LaBelle plays Sammy Fabelman, the analog for Spielberg, son of Burt and Mitzi Fabelman (Paul Dano and Michelle Williams), living in a small midwestern town. When a job opportunity uproots the family and drops them in Arizona, with almost no fellow Jewish families to associate with, Sammy’s obsession with making 8mm films intensifies. His father supports him but considers the films a mere hobby. His mother has more of a sense of how important filmmaking is to her son, but has relationship issues that get in the way of her being a strong source of support. And Sammy’s relationships at his new school are fraught with peril — he’s either bullied by anti-semitic sports stars or obsessed over by a girl who wants to convert him to Christianity.

 

But behind all of that is his love for film, and his increasing skill level at making a compulsively-viewable art form. When it is through his camera lens that Sammy uncovers a family secret, his need for the world of filmmaking to make sense of his own life and provide a medium for healing becomes even greater.

 

The performances in this little gem of a film are stellar. LaBelle as Sammy, Dano as father Burt, and Williams as mother Mitzi are all incredible. Excellent supporting work is turned in by Judd Hirsch as Uncle Boris, Keeley Karsten and Julia Butters as Sammy’s sisters Natalie and Reggie, Sam Reckner as jock Logan Hall, and David Lynch as legendary film director John Ford. The production design was terrific, recreating the feel of the 1950s and 1960s. John Williams created another winning film score. And as director, with The Fabelmans, Spielberg has brought forth another visually compelling story…all the more powerful for knowing that it was mostly true.

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try 5-25-77 for another semi-autobiographical film about growing up with an obsession about making movies; or any of the more instrospective and thought-provoking films directed by Steven Spielberg, including Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Lincoln, or more…)

 

( 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!