#Middlebury #DVDs
“Secret Life of Pets 2” (PG) – Just when the neurotic Max (now voiced by Patton Oswalt) was getting used to another dog in the family, along comes a baby to look after! When his family sets off for a visit to the country, a sheepdog named Rooster (Harrison Ford) teaches Max to find his inner courage in the face of change. Back at home, Snowball the bunny (Kevin Hart), now a pet with delusions of being a superhero, pairs with a Shi Tzu named Daisy (Tiffany Haddish) to rescue an adorable white tiger named Hu. Meanwhile Gidget (Jenny Slate), a high-energy Pomeranian, hilariously must transform herself into a cool cat to recover Max’s prized Busy Bee. All these storylines converge in a chuckle fest of an ending that the kids will mightily enjoy.
Taron Egerton in “Rocketman” (Paramount Pictures photo)
“Rocketman” (R) – It’s a musical. But if you’re thinking it will be along the lines of 2018’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the opening scene will dispel you of that notion immediately. Taron Egerton stars as Elton John – and yes, he’s doing the singing, and wow! The emotional journey has humble beginnings: Elton John-to-be is Reginald Dwight, a sweet boy with a cold father, a narcissistic mother and a talent for the piano, fostered by his grandmother. What follows is his establishment as a musician, his partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) and eventually a meteoric rise as a groundbreaking performer who pushed the limits of the word ostentatious. The songs are great and well-performed, and the cast is lovely.
“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (PG-13) – A battle of both monsters and ecological viewpoints, “King of the Monsters” follows the efforts of a fringe wing of scientists who seek to unleash the power of the Titans – ancient, mountain-sized monsters – in a dubious plot to heal the planet. When a three-headed alpha Titan is loosed from an icy stronghold, it will take a Titan to take it down. Enter Godzilla. Interspersed among monster battles, it stars Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler as Emma and Mark Russell, divorced scientists with opposed philosophies, and Millie Bobby Brown as their conflicted daughter.
“The Last Black Man in San Francisco” (R) – First-time director Joe Talbot and Jimmy Fails draw on Fails’ personal history for a story that is at once a love song to the need for a geographical touchstone and an elegy to a city being overtaken by gentrification. Jimmy (Fails) lives with his best friend Mont (Jonathon Majors) and Mont’s grandfather (Danny Glover). The pair spend their nonworking hours contemplating city’s poetic heartbeat, as well as fixing up a home that they do not own but that Fails sees as a sort of birthright, in that it was built by his grandfather and where he lived as a child.
New TV Releases
“A Million Little Things” Season 1
“The Rookie” Season 1
“Chicago Fire” Season 7
“The Flash” Season 5
© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.
You must be logged in to post a comment.