Image © Universal Pictures
M3gan
M3gan
“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: The Complete Season Seven/Eight”
(MPI DVD)
The long-running TV series (1952-1966) pivoted in 1957 to become the launchpad for the family comedy’s teenage star, Ricky Nelson. The kid had good taste—he wanted to emulate Carl Perkins, and used his parents’ show to debut his first single, a cover of Fats Domino’s “I’m Walking.”
It helped that his dad, Ozzie, was a band leader in the swing era; his mom, Harriet, had been dad’s singer. Using his connections, Ozzie negotiated a record deal that gave his son artistic control—something Elvis didn’t have. With his fresh-faced looks, Ricky became the talented but unthreatening personification of that new music, rock and roll, a respectable televised guest in the living rooms of middle-class America. (David Luhrssen)
The Last Bookshop of the World
(IndiePix DVD)
Finnish director Rax Rinnekangas brought together four European artists for a journey into the desert in a van packed with their favorite works of literature. His documentary records their conversations and profound discomfort with the increasingly digitized world—a global society whose university libraries discuss replacing books with computer terminals. The four artists discuss the incomparable physical sensation of holding a book—the scent of paper and binding, the texture—and ask hard questions about a society being entertained to death, starved of the more difficult imaginative leaps demanded by great literature. (David Luhrssen)
M3gan
(In Theaters January 6)
In this latest PG-13 Blumhouse offering, directed by Gerard Johnstone, M3gan (pronounced Megan), is a life-like doll with artificial intelligence. Designed by roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams), it’s intended to protect a child while keeping it company. M3gan (voiced by Jenna Davis) is in the prototype stage when Gemma’s 8-year-old niece Cady (Violet McGraw), is suddenly orphaned. Both Cady and M3gan come to stay at Gemma’s home. Big mistake. Soon, M3gan perceives everyone as threatening its program to protect Cady. The doll is child-size, but given its strength, speed and smarts, it’s virtually unstoppable. The filmmakers spent a year developing their M3gan doll and determining when to use a puppet version as opposed to using full CGI. Pleased with the result, Universal Studios is already thinking in sequels. (Lisa Miller)
