#Middlebury #DVD #Video
Movies reviewed in this week’s column have just been released on video and DVD.
“Bloodshot” (R) – Vin Diesel stars as Garrison, an elite soldier killed and brought back thanks to RST, a nanotechnology warfare outfit headed by Emil Harting (Guy Pearce). Harting outfits Garrison with an army of nanobots in his blood that not only give him superstrength, but also repair physical damage at lightning speed, making him indestructible. He’s basically a cybernetic superhero. But RST has control over this nanobot army, and Garrison’s brain, too, so that his memories may or may not be real – especially the ones that compel him to take revenge for his wife’s kidnapping and murder. It’s definitive Diesel – plenty of slick action and gun sequences married with charming commentary.
KJ Apa and Britt Robertson in “I Still Believe” (Lionsgate photo)
“I Still Believe” (PG) – This faith-driven drama is based on the real-life love story of influential Christian rock artist Jeremy Camp (KJ Apa) and his first wife, Melissa (Britt Robertson). At the beginning of their courtship and at very tender ages – he 23, she 21 – Melissa is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The couple sticks together, complete with a fairy-tale wedding on the beach, but while she’s a paragon of faith, Camp struggles with his faith in God’s great plan. It’s a sweet love story, if tragic, that’s not wholly overshadowed by the background sermonizing. Have tissues ready when Camp sings the title song, a tribute to his beloved.
“The Jesus Rolls” (R) – “The Big Lebowski” was an iconic moment in cinema, highly quotable and with some larger than life peripheral characters, among them the eccentric, lawless competitive bowler Jesus Quintana (John Turturro). Lo, these many years later, The Jesus is resurrected for a crime caper with a love triangle twist, featuring the return of John Turturro, who not only takes the title role, but also writes and directs. Jesus is released from prison, picked up by his bestie Petey (Bobby Canavale), and the pair go on a spree, stealing a vintage car, hooking up with a beautician (Audrey Tatou) and causing general lighthearted mayhem.
“Gretel and Hansel” (R) – A poverty-stricken brother (Sammy Leakey) and sister (Sophia Lillis) set out into the woods in search of shelter and food. A fearfully strange witch (Alice Krige) with an overladen table lures the children inside her cursed home. The tale is familiar, but now layered with lore, suspense and witchcraft in addition to the monstrous evil that lurks in the woods for small children. The architecture of the woods and the witch’s house is gorgeous and stylized, but I found the story a bit too slow to be truly terrifying.
New TV Releases
“Ray Donovan” The Seventh Season
“Gunsmoke” The complete series
“Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On”
“Medium” The complete series
© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.
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