#Middlebury #DVDs
“The Bookshop” (PG) – “The Bookshop” is a sweet and thoughtful film about a woman who opens a bookshop in 1959 coastal England, and her interactions with local customers and detractors. Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) is a middle-aged widow who takes up residence in a musty old historical building and opens a bookshop, attempting to broaden the horizons of the townsfolk. She sees some success – particularly, admiration from one local man, Mr. Brundish (Bill Nighy) – and some struggles, too. Another local busybody (Patricia Clarkson) has her own plans for the bookshop’s location. Based on the novel by Penelope Fitzgerald.
Jamie Lee Curtis in “Halloween (2018)” (Universal Pictures photo)
“Halloween (2018)” (R) – Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the lone survivor of Michael Myers’ 1978 killing spree, has spent 40 years suffering (she’s an alcoholic and an agoraphobic) and preparing for his inevitable return. She’s training in combat, militarizing her home and remaining ever vigilant, to the embarrassment of her family. But boy does it pay off! After an accident in transport releases the masked psychopath on a Halloween eve, the G.I. Grandma goes into attack mode to save her kids, her grandkids and the whole town. This was really well done – the right mix of tension, dread, jump scares and gore – and nothing like the many throwaway sequels and homages that have littered the past 40 years.
“Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” (PG) – A couple of plucky kids trying to earn pocket money by cleaning up junk become unwitting participants in Slappy the Dummy’s attempt to escape the pages of R.L. Stine’s magnificently scary stories. Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris) pick up a job cleaning garbage out of an abandoned house, where they come across an unpublished manuscript for a Stine book titled “Haunted Halloween.” They unlock the book, and the shenanigans begin, with Slappy bringing the whole town’s Halloween decorations to life. The boys get a big assist from Sonny’s bright older sister Sarah (Madison Iseman). It’s a pretty cute take on “scary,” but the attention won’t hold for adults or older teens (despite the cast inclusion of adult comedy staples Ken Jeong and Chris Parnell).
“Jonathan” (R) – In one body, two residents – dual consciences, or brothers, if you will. One, a straight-laced prodigy, the other a looser, more relaxed creature of the night. They are tended by a psychologist and doctor (Patricia Clarkson), who has split their day so that they share their time. And it’s all fine until the night owl forms a relationship with a girl (Suki Waterhouse), and the daytime version finds out. It’s suspenseful and dramatic. Ansel Elgort stars as Jonathan/Jon, and is spectacular.
New TV Releases
“The Birthday Wish” (Hallmark Channel)
“The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection” Volume 4
“The Dr. Blake Mysteries” Season 5
“PAW Patrol: Pups Save Puplantis”
“Hunter X Hunter” Volume 5
(c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
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