#Middlebury #DVDs
“The Equalizer 2” ® – In the first “Equalizer,” retired CIA agent Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) was a level-headed hero who calmly tried to save a young woman from a life of exploitation, got driven over the edge, and then methodically dealt with all the riffraff – to the audience’s delight. This follow-up – again directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Richard Wenk – sees McCall driving a Lyft while meting out part-time justice and back in cahoots with his old friend Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo). When the wrong people take Plummer out, the level-headed hero is replaced by a cold killing machine who’s bent on total vengeance and has the goods to deliver. Alas, you can’t have everything, kids. I had high hopes when I heard Mr. Washington would grace us with a sequel (something he’s not known for), but it’s not as good as the first one.
“Smallfoot” (PG) – They do exist! Channing Tatum voices Migo, a Yeti just trying to figure out life and catch the eye of the village leader’s daughter Meechee (Zendaya). When he accidentally discovers a Smallfoot, and eventually brings one – wisecracking wildlife documentarian Percy Patterson (James Corden) – back to his Yeti village as proof, he finds out that there’s more to human-Yeti relations than existential proof. It’ll take a whole gang to work it out. The message, delivered sweetly and with much mirth, is tolerance and open-hearted acceptance of the unknown. It’ll have you all warm and fuzzy despite its frozen setting.
Keira Knightly in “Colette” (Bleecker Street photo)
“Colette” (PG-13) – The riveting life of French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is under exploration in this biopic by director Wash Westmoreland, with Keira Knightley in the title role. As a young country girl married to the notorious Paris rake and self-promotion machine Henry Gauthier-Villars (Dominic West), Colette began writing under her husband’s pen name Willy, publishing loosely autobiographical stories that took Paris by storm. Her exploration of sexual identity and gender roles and her struggle to claim ownership of her own words are powerful material that Knightley bears brilliantly. She grows stronger and more angled as Colette’s story and personality progress.
“Peppermint” (R) – Jennifer Garner plays Riley North, a mother whose young daughter and husband were gunned down by a drug cartel. Abused by crooked police, let down by a corrupt and useless justice system, she disappears broken and disheartened – but just long enough to hone herself into a serious weapon with a single mission: get the justice she was denied by the police and the courts. Crazed mom goes rogue to exact revenge for her murdered family and stand up for everyone who gets screwed by the system? There’s a lot to work with, but it didn’t come across compelling. There’s killing for killings’ sake, but not much more.
New TV Releases
“Instinct” Season 1
“The Last Kingdom” Season 3
“The Orville” Season 1
“Dan and Phil 2018 World Tour: Interactive Introverts”
(c) 2018 King Features Synd., Inc.
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