Negromancer News Bits and Bites from July 9th to 15th, 2023 - Update #13

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

COMIC-CON - From Variety:  The "Dune: Part Two," "Jury Duty," and "Abbott Elementary" panels at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 have been cancelled due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

NETFLIX - From TheNewYorker:  This shocking article discusses how little money many of the cast members of Netflix's "Orange is the New Black" made during and after the series. Consider this an explanation of the Hollywood writers strike and the impending actors strike.

EMMYS - From Deadline:  The nominations for the 2023 / 75th Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced.  HBO's "Succession" leads with 27 nominations.  The winners will be announced September 18, 2023 and broadcast on Fox.

DISNEY - From THR:  Disney has extended Bob Iger's contract as CEO through 2026.  Iger was previously CEO from 2005-2020 before retiring.  He returned in  2022 after his replacement, Bob Chapek, was fired by Disney's board of directors.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Sony Pictures and Apple Original Films have released the first trailer for director Ridley Scott's "Napoleon," starring Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix in the title role.  The film is set for a worldwide theatrical release November 22nd, 2023.

From Deadline:  Director Michael Mann's latest film, "Ferrari," is headed to the Venice Film Festival.  The epic film, starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, will open Christmas Day 2023.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 7/7 to 7/9/2023 weekend box office is Sony Pictures' "Insidious: The Red Door" with an estimated take of 32.6 million dollars.

CELEBRITY - From Deadline:  "Mission: Impossible" franchise director, Christopher McQuarrie, says that the first time he met Tom Cruse, the star told him that he (Cruise) makes "mass entertainment." Cruise also reveals the weirdest myth about him.

MOVIES - GiantFreakinRobot:  The site has been reporting since Dec. 2022 that Universal Pictures is rebooting its franchise, "The Mummy," that began with the 1999 film of the same title.  The latest is the actors Oded Fehr (Ardeth Bey) and John Hannah (Jonathan Carnahan) are returning.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  Soap opera actress, Andrea Evans, has died at the age of 66, Sunday, July 9, 2023.  Evans was best known for playing the role of troublemaking teen, "Tina Lord," on ABC's "One Life to Live" from 1979-81, 1986-90, 2008, 2011.  She also starred in NBC's soap, "Passions" (2000-08), and CBS' "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful."  Evans was a two-time nominee at the Daytime Emmy Awards.  Evans career was also hampered for most of the 1990s as she retreated from public view because of violent stalker.

From Deadline:  Film and television writer, director, and producer, Manny Coto, has died at the age of 62, Sunday, July 9, 2023.  He wrote episodes of such TV series as "Star Trek: Enterprise," Fox's "24," and "Dexter," to name a few.  He was on of 12 people who won the "Outstand Drama Series" Primetime Emmy Award for "24" in 2006. In 2011, he shared an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Drama Series" for Showtime's "Dexter."

WRITERS/ACTORS STRIKE:

From Variety:  The SAG/AFTRA strike begins in New York and Los Angeles.  Hollywood actors began striking today, Fri., July 14th.

From Deadline:  The site has the video of the powerful strike speech given by SAG-AFTRA president, Fran Drescher, the actress best known for CBS' former sitcom, "The Nanny."

From Deadline:  Concerning the Hollywood writers strike (via the WGA), the Hollywood Studios (as represented by the AMPTP) is to let the writers go broke before resuming talks deep into the Fall.

From Deadline: SAG-AFTRA is already preparing strike picket signs in case the actors' strike begins next week.

From Deadline:  WGA is picketing the New York City filming location of the 12th series of FX's "American Horror Story" (entitled "Delicate") after series co-creator Ryan Murphy threaten litigation against an east coast strike captain.

From THR:  TV super-producer, Ryan Murphy, in a letter from his attorney to the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, threatened litigation against Warren Leight, an East Coast strike captain and Strike Rules Compliance Committee member who has subsequently forfeited those positions.

From Deadline:  The Hollywood studios via the AMPTP has given Canadian actors a new contract, including a 5 percent raise.

From Deadline:  Writers Strike puts the spotlight back on the challenge from writers for animation productions to be covered by the WGA.

From THR:  Studios won't give writers better pay, and now, are laying off janitors.

From Deadline:  The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So what does the Writers Guild (WGA), currently on strike and negotiating with the AMPTP, think of that deal.

From Deadline:  Netflix shareholders declined to support the 2023 pay packages of top executives during a non-binding vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.  The vote won't prevent these execs from getting their loot (an total of $166 million), but this is a rare public rebuke.  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has urged shareholders to vote "No" because the pay was "inappropriate" at this time.

From Deadline:  Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav gave the commencement address at Boston University. There he was met with jeers and also chants of "pay your writers" from picketers and from some in the audience.

From Deadline:   President Joe Biden speaks on the Writers Guild of America strike.

From Deadline:  Retaliation! The studios have starting informing writer-producers who have "overall" and "first-look" deals that such deals are being suspended.

From Deadline:  Retaliation!  Prolific HBO creator, David Simon, who is best known for "The Wire," is one of the many writers who have had their overall deals suspended the studios due to the WGA strike.  Simon has been with HBO for 25 years.

From Deadline:  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike.

From Deadline:  Disney, HBO/HBO Max, and CBS have sent letters to showrunners (the TV equivalent of film directors) instructing them to return to work, inspite of the writer's strike.

From Deadline:  The WGA's chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, talks about the state of the writers' strike, including the lack of engagement on the part of the strike's other party, AMPTP.

From Deadline:  What went wrong between the WGA and AMPTP? What could they not agree on that led to a strike?

From Deadline:  The site explains the WGA strike: the issues, the stakes, movies and TV shows affected, and how long it might last.

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Review: "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - Dead Reckoning Part One" Embraces the Impossible

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2023 (No. 1921) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Running time: 163 minutes (2 hours, 43 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 intense sequences of violence and action, some language and suggestive material

DIRECTOR:  Christopher McQuarrie

WRITERS:  Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)

PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Fraser Taggart (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Eddie Hamilton

COMPOSER: Loren Balfe

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Frederick Schmidt, Maria Garriga, Cary Elwes, and Henry Czerny

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a 2023 action-thriller and espionage film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise.  It is the seventh film in the Mission: Impossible film series, which is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller.  In Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team race to obtain half of a key that is connected to something that could be a doomsday device.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in the Bering Sea.  Beneath the surface, an advanced Russian submarine, the “Sevastopol,” prepares to test a new AI (artificial intelligence) system.  But disaster strikes.

Later, Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny), the director of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), offers IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) a new mission.  Should he accept, Hunt must retrieve half of a mysterious cruciform key.  It is currently in the possession of his ally, the former British agent, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who also has had a 50-million-dollar bounty placed on her.

Next, Hunt and his team – Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames) – must trace the current holder of the second half of that cruciform key to a buyer.  However, the mission is complicated by the intercession of new players:  Grace (Hayley Atwell), a professional thief; Alanna Mitsopolis (Vanessa Kirby), a black-market arms dealers also known as the “White Widow;” and Paris (Pom Klementieff), a French assassin.  The most shocking new player is Paris' boss, Gabriel (Esai Morales), a powerful terrorist with an intimate connection to Ethan Hunt's past.  Ethan and his IMF team clash with these new people in a struggle for a key that is connected to something that could rule the world or destroy it, The Entity. 

I divide the six Mission: Impossible movies into two trilogies.  Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), and Mission: Impossible III (2006) make up the first trilogy.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011),  Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) form the second trilogy.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is something new.  It was originally meant to be the first part of a two-part send off for Ethan Hunt, but that has apparently changed.  Still, Dead Reckoning Part One feels like the beginning of the end.  It's as if Ethan is facing his ultimate test, a mission in which most of the potential resolutions can make things worse for the U.S. and the rest of the world.  Honestly, this feels like a mission in which Ethan should not survive.

That aside, should you choose to accept this mission, dear readers, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a non-stop thrill machine full of heart-pounding races, car chases, standoffs, and Tom Cruise running more than he ever has.  I balked at the runtime of two hours and forty-three minutes, but the film doesn't feel that long.  It's always moving and grooving to a electrifying pace.  The plot is a bit thin, and even that thinness manages to be a bit convoluted, but Dead Reckoning Part One moves too much to allow you to think about any inconsistencies.  Why think about plot when the action and thrills are so mesmerizing and exhilarating?  I had seen several video clips of Ethan Hunt's motorcycle cliff dive, which is the super-big stunt in Dead Reckoning Part One, but seeing the entire thing on the big, silver screen still made me nervous.  That's the peak power of the extravagant action movie treats that this film offers.

Dead Reckoning Part One has beautiful cinematography and a hypnotic, pounding film score, and killer production values.  Everyone is dressed so nicely, and all the sets put the art in art direction.  The cast is amazing, and I couldn't get enough of Pom Klementieff's Paris.  But the stars here are true movie star, Tom Cruise, and director Christopher McQuarrie.  They wanted to give people a reason to come back to movie theaters, and they have.  Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the kind of high-quality and breath-taking entertainment that demands to be seen in a darkened movie theater with a bunch of other people as equally thrilled as you or I are.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, July 15, 2023

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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35th Annual Script Awards Announces Nominations

USC Libraries Name Finalists for 35th-Annual Scripter Awards

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The USC Libraries named the finalists for the 35th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the writers of the year’s most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations, as well as the writers of the works on which they are based.

The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:

-- Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale, and Matthew Robbins for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” based on the fairy tale “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi

-- Kazuo Ishiguro for “Living” based on the novella “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy

-- Rebecca Lenkiewicz for “She Said” based on the nonfiction book “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement” by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

-- Peter Craig, Ehren Kruger, Justin Marks, Christopher McQuarrie, and Eric Warren for “Top Gun: Maverick” based on characters from the 1983 “California” magazine article “Top Guns” by Ehud Yonay

-- Screenwriter Sarah Polley and novelist Miriam Toews for “Women Talking”

The finalist writers for episodic series are, in alphabetical order by series title:

-- Peter Morgan, for the episode “Couple 31,” from “The Crown,” based on his stage play “The Audience”

-- Taffy Brodesser-Akner for the episode “The Liver,” from “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” based on her book of the same name

-- Will Smith for the episode “Failure’s Contagious,” from “Slow Horses,” based on the novel by Mick Herron

-- J. T. Rogers for the episode “Yoshino” from “Tokyo Vice,” based on the memoir “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan” by Jake Adelstein

-- Dustin Lance Black for the episode “When God Was Love,” from “Under the Banner of Heaven” based on the nonfiction work by Jon Krakauer

The 2023 Scripter selection committee selected the finalists from a field of 101 film and 67 television adaptations. Howard Rodman, USC professor and past president of the Writers Guild of America, West, chairs the 2023 committee.

Serving on the selection committee, among many others, are film critics Leonard Maltin and Anne Thompson; authors Walter Mosley and Michael Ondaatje; and screenwriters Eric Roth and Erin Cressida Wilson.

The studios distributing the finalist films and current publishers of the printed works are:

“Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio”—Netflix and Penguin Classics

“Living”—Sony Pictures Classics and Penguin Classics

“She Said”—Universal Pictures and Penguin Press

“Top Gun: Maverick”—Paramount Pictures and “California” magazine

“Women Talking”—Orion/MGM and Bloomsbury

The networks and streaming platforms broadcasting the finalist episodic series and current publishers of the printed works are:

“The Crown”—Netflix and Dramatists Play Service Inc.

“Fleishman Is in Trouble”—FX and Random House

“Slow Horses”—Apple TV+ and Soho Crime

“Tokyo Vice”—HBO Max and Knopf Doubleday

“Under the Banner of Heaven”—FX and Anchor Books

The USC Libraries will announce the winning authors and screenwriters at a black-tie ceremony on Saturday, Mar. 4, 2023, in the historic Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library at the University of Southern California. After being held in a virtual format the past two years amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, the Scripter Awards are returning to an in-person event subject to up-to-date COVID-19 safety protocols.

Since 1988, Scripter has honored the authors of printed works alongside the screenwriters who adapt their stories. In 2016, the USC Libraries inaugurated a new Scripter award, for episodic series adaptation. For more information about Scripter—including ticket availability, additional sponsorship opportunities, and an up-to-date list of sponsors—please email scripter@usc.edu or visit scripter.usc.edu.

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Review: "TOP GUN: Maverick" Surpasses the Original and is Hugely Entertaining

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 of 2022 (No. 1846) by Leroy Douresseaux

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Running time:  131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language
DIRECTOR:  Joseph Kosinski
WRITERS:  Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie; from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks (based on characters created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr.)
PRODUCERS:  Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer, David Ellison, and Christopher McQuarrie
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Claudio Miranda (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSERS:  Lorne Balfe, Lady Gaga, and Harold Faltermeyer

DRAMA/ACTION/MILITARY

Starring:  Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Bashir Salahuddin, Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Glen Powell, Jack Schumacher, Manny Jacinto, Kara Wang, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Jean Louisa Kelly, Lyliana Wray, Ed Harris, Chelsea Harris, and Val Kilmer

Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 action and military drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise.  The film is a direct sequel to the 1986 film, Top Gun.  Maverick focuses on a veteran U.S. Navy flight instructor ordered to transform a group of the Navy's top young aviators into a fighter squadron that can take on an impossible mission.

Top Gun: Maverick opens over three decades after the events of the first film.  Former “Top Gun” candidate, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) currently serves as a U.S. Navy test pilot.  Over his 33 years of service, he has purposely dodged promotion in order to continue flying for the Navy.  A stunt with the “Darkstar scramjet” program looks as if it is going to be the thing that finally gets Maverick grounded.  However, Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, is Maverick's former rival and his friend.  Iceman saves Maverick from being grounded by giving him orders to return to where they first met, the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program in San Diego, CA.

There, Maverick must train an elite group of 16 Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission – a dangerous and practically impossible mission.  However, there are plenty of ghosts from his past waiting for him there, including Penelope "Penny" Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), Maverick's former lover, who is a single mother, a bar owner, and the daughter of a former admiral.

The most troubling ghost from Maverick's past, however, may be one of the young aviators he must train, Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller).  He is the son of Maverick's late best friend and RIO (Radar Intercept Officer), Nick “Goose” Bradshaw.  Maverick still blames himself for Goose's death during a training flight (as seen in Top Gun), and, in a way, so does Rooster, who also blames Maverick for hurting his career as an aviator.  As he pushes this elite group of aviators to test their limits and beyond, Maverick wonders if he may finally be grounded and fears that he may also end up causing the son's death as he believes he caused the father's death.

I don't like Top Gun.  I think that it is not a very well made film.  I love Top Gun: Maverick, which is a direct sequel to the original film and is intimately tied to it.  In a way, Maverick takes some of the best story elements of the first film and gives them dramatic heft, depth, weight, and a gravitas that they really did not have in the original.

Top Gun: Maverick is just all-around well made.  Joseph Kosinski does a much better job at directing the sequel than the late Tony Scott did with the original.  Maverick's screenplay, which like the original, is the result of several writers, nonetheless comes across like a seamless work produced by a single talented story mind.  The film editing is superb, so Maverick's editor, Eddie Hamilton, should also get an Oscar nomination next year, because the editors of the first film were Oscar-nominated for their … problematic work.  Even Maverick's musical score is better, although quite a bit of Harold Faltermeyer's music from the first film does make it into the sequel.

Top Gun: Maverick may also be Tom Cruise's best dramatic performance in over two decades.  Not only do his emotions seem genuine, but his emotional range is shocking.  Cruise has award-worthy moments in this film, especially a pivotal scene between Maverick and Iceman.  Cruise and Miles Teller also seem to work very well together, and Teller once again proves that he has some serious dramatic chops.  Jennifer Connelly, an Oscar-winner, as Penny, makes the most of what comes across as an extraneous token female character.  Actually, quite a few actors make the most of their roles and screen time in this surprisingly heartfelt and genuinely emotional film.

Top Gun: Maverick is, of course, an intense action-thriller with some amazing flight and combat scenes and sequences.  It kept me on the edge of my seat, worrying that one of the young pilots or Maverick would be killed in a crash or in combat.  And no, the filmmakers apparently did not use computer-generated effects for the flight scenes.  This is all advanced cameras, fighter planes, and human pilots, making the film a masterpiece of practical filmmaking and U.S. Navy flying.  Top Gun: Maverick surpasses Top Gun as a military-action film, and is something the first film was not, an emotionally resonate and real military drama.

Yes, it does seem to work a little too hard at pushing our buttons with dramatic conflict and melodrama.  But I honestly enjoyed the heck out of this film in a way that I did not expect – even after hearing so many good things before I saw it.  Top Gun: Maverick is … well, awesome, and this time, I really feel the need for speed and for more Top Gun.  And Tom Cruise still looks good on a motorcycle.

8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, May 27, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Paramount Debuts the First Trailer for "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7"

Paramount Pictures released the first trailer for the film, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” on Monday, May 23rd, 2022.  The stars Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Frederick Schmidt, all of whom will reprise their roles from the previous films.  Newcomers include Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Esai Morales, Rob Delaney, and Cary Elwes.  The film is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie.

The film opens in theaters on July 14, 2023.

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Review: "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" Goes All Out

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Running time: 147 minutes; MPAA – PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action, and for brief strong language
DIRECTOR:  Christopher McQuarrie
WRITERS:  Christopher McQuarrie (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, Christopher McQuarrie, and Jake Myers
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rob Hardy (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSER: Lorne Balfe
BAFTA nominee

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Vanessa Kirby Michelle Monaghan, Wes Bentley, Angela Bassett, and Alec Baldwin

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a 2018 action-thriller and espionage film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise.  It is the sixth film in the Mission: Impossible (M:I) film franchise, which is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73), that was created by Bruce Geller.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a direct sequel to 2015's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.  Fallout finds the members of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) racing against time after a mission to obtain plutonium goes wrong.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout opens two years after the events depicted in Rogue Nation, which saw Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team take down Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), the anarchist mastermind who was the leader of the international criminal consortium, the Syndicate.  Now, the remnants of the Syndicate have reformed into the terrorist organization known as “the Apostles.”

Hunt and his two longest serving IMF teammates, technical field agent, Benjamin “Benji” Dunn (Simon Pegg), and IMF agent Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), are in Berlin, Germany to buy three plutonium cores from Eastern European gangsters before the Apostles do.  The mission goes awry, which forces Hunt to track the cores to whomever or whatever organization now has them.  The person who may know the cores' whereabouts or have them is the mysterious Alanna Mitsopolis a.k.a. “the White Widow” (Vanessa Kirby).

Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), the new Director of the CIA, is furious at Hunt and current Secretary of the IMF, Al Hunley (Alec Baldwin), for failing to secure the plutonium.  Director Sloane insists that one of her agents, August Walker (Henry Cavill), an assassin working for the CIA's Special Activities Division, accompany and Hunt and his IMF team to Paris to meet the Widow.  What Hunt doesn't know is that a recent ally, former MI6 agent, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), is also tracking Hunt, and her mission may or may not be a danger to Hunt's.

I divide the six Mission: Impossible movies into two trilogies.  Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible II (2000), and Mission: Impossible III (2006) make up the first trilogy.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011),  Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), and Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) form the second trilogy.  Each film in the first trilogy has a different director and a different tone or sensibility.  The second trilogy only has two different directors, Brad Bird for Ghost Protocol and Christopher McQuarrie for Rogue Nation and Fallout.  However, beginning with Ghost Protocol, the films depict IMF as being a team of outsiders fighting both to save the world and to justify its existence, if only for a moment of goodwill immediately after a successful mission.  Afterwards, the security state apparatus of the United States is back to mistrusting the motives of IMF or to being downright hostile to it.  This intensifies the recent films' sense of drama and also sets them apart from earlier M:I films.

The recent film, Fallout, is the best of this second trilogy or second lot of films.  It certainly lives up to both the words “mission” and “impossible” in its name.  Every thing upon which Ethan Hunt embarks is a mission; these can't be adventures or mere chases because every move has a purpose.  The “impossible” comes in because the missions always involve these impossible set pieces, and Fallout sets a new standard in M:I insane set pieces.

Tom Cruise may be Hollywood's most consistent action movie star and its most ambitious.  As of the release of Fallout, the M:I film franchise was 22-years-old, with the seventh and eighth installments already preparing for release in 2021 and 2022 respectively (as of this writing).  One can call M:I III a bit of a box office misstep (but not by much), but as of Ghost Protocol, the franchise has been bigger, better (in some ways) and tastier with each new film.  Fallout, to date, is Tom Cruise's most extravagant, deliriously fun film, blending mind-bending action set pieces with brutal, physical, man-to-man fights that are sometimes to the death.  Cruise is so hungry to blow our minds ever more with each film that he actually was hurt performing a crazy and dangerous stunt himself.

In Christopher McQuarrie, Cruise seems to have found the perfect director for his aspirations for this franchise.  McQuarrie began his Hollywood career as a screenwriter and won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects.  In the last decade, however, he has proved to be a director of imaginative and inventive macho films that balance high octane action and conspiratorial intrigue.  McQuarrie gives us meat-and-potatoes action films, but the meat is of a high quality and the potatoes are sustainable and artisanal.  It is no coincidence that this already-good franchise has found a way to improve since McQuarrie began directing it and writing its screenplays.

The supporting cast is also excellent, with Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg finding places to shine next to Cruise's supernova.  Angela Bassett chews up two of her scenes; it is easy to take this magnificent actress for granted.  Of course, you will regret it.  I have to admit Henry Cavill impressed me in a way he has never before, and I have to say that I loved every moment of Rebecca Ferguson.  And it is always good to see Alec Baldwin.

At the end of my review of Rogue Nation, I wrote, “Seriously, Tom Cruise is as glorious as ever as Ethan Hunt.”  That remains true, and Mission: Impossible is also as glorious as ever.  I love it so much that I will say even to people who are not fans of the franchise: see Mission: Impossible – Fallout.  For a moment while I was watching this film, I thought to myself, “M:I has replaced James Bond.”  Yikes!

9 of 10
A+

2019 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Sound” (Gilbert Lake, James Mather, Chris Munro, and Mike Prestwood Smith)

Saturday, May 30, 2020


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Tom Cruise's The Mummy is an Odd Duck

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2018) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

The Mummy (2017)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, action and scary images, and for some suggestive content and partial nudity
DIRECTOR:  Alex Kurtzman
WRITERS:  David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dylan Kussman; from a screen story by Jon Spaihts, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet
PRODUCERS:  Sarah Bradshaw, Sean Daniel, Alex Kurtzman, and Chris Morgan
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ben Seresin (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Gina Hirsch, Paul Hirsch, and Andrew Mondshein
COMPOSER:  Brian Tyler

FANTASY/ACTION/HORROR

Starring:  Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Russell Crowe, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, Marwan Kanzari, and Selva Rasalingam

The Mummy is a 2017 action, horror, and thriller film directed by Alex Kurtzman.  It is a reboot of Universal Pictures' The Mummy franchise and is also the first installment in Universal's Dark Universe cinematic universe.  The Mummy 2017 focuses on an ancient Egyptian princess that hunts the man who awakened her so that she can use him to bring a great evil into the modern world.

In the New Kingdom era of the Egyptian kingdom, Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) kills her father, the Pharoah Menehptre (Selva Rasalingam), as well as his wife and child so that she can claim the throne for herself.  She is captured and condemned to be mummified alive for eternity as punishment for the murders she committed and for trying to bring her lover, the dark god Set, into the world.

In present-day Iraq, Sergeant Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Corporal Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) of the United States Army stumble upon Ahmanet's underground tomb.  Dr. Jennifer “Jenny” Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), who previously had a contentions relationship with Nick, is the archaeologist sent to investigate the tomb.  None of these three people realize that they are about to release an evil that defies human comprehension.  That evil will make Nick a target both of Ahmanet and of Prodigium, a secret society dedicated to hunting supernatural threats.

1990 saw the release of a movie entitled Hudson Hawk.  The film starred Bruce Willis as a thief and was a box office bomb, although I really liked it.  Hudson Hawk was directed by Michael Lehmann, hot off his cult film, Heathers.  The film's producer was Joel Silver, known for some of the most successful and most violent action films of the 1980s.  One of the film's writers was Daniel Water, who rose to prominence for writing Heathers.

Years ago, I read a review of Hudson Hawk in which the critic said that the film was sold as a “Bruce Willis movie,” but it was not – not entirely.  The critic said that the film reflected the differing sensibilities of the primary creative forces behind hit:  Willis, Silver, Lehmann, and Waters, and each of those four men had different ideas about what Hudson Hawk should be.  Hudson Hawk ended up being some kind of mish-mash, hybrid action, adventure, comedy, crime caper, and sci-fi film.

From the time Universal first announced that it was rebooting The Mummy franchise to its completion of the film, The Mummy has involved several directors and writers.  The result is a film that is weird, thin on plot, and encompasses multiple genres while really not belonging to any of them.  The Mummy 2017 really seems like a movie made by too many people with the power to shape the film – a Frankenstein of Hollywood heavyweights making a patchwork of a movie.

There are rumors that Tom Cruise took control of all aspects of the film once he arrived on set.  That is funny to contemplate because Cruise seems out of place in this film.  I cannot help but view it and ask, “What is he doing here?”  I can't think of The Mummy as “a Tom Cruise movie.”

The Mummy 2017 mostly reminds me of how much I like... no, love writer-director Stephen Sommers' turn of the century reboot of Universal's The Mummy franchise.  Starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) were rousing adventure films in the tradition of Raiders of the Ark.  The Mummy 2017 is not rousing and is in the tradition of Hollywood, big-budget, tent pole, franchise-wannabe films that end up being nothing more than another cynical film trying to exploit a moment or a market.

To be fair, The Mummy 2017 did have some interesting, inventive, imaginative, and exciting moments; there were parts of this film that really interested me.  It is not particularly good or bad; it just never really comes together (and sometimes, it is so shamelessly mediocre).  The Mummy 2017 cuts right down the middle, equally okay and equally messy – canceling each other out.  The truth is I really wanted to like this movie... even if it is not a Tom Cruise movie...

5 of 10
C+

Friday, November 17, 2017


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" a Nation onto Itself

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2016) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)
Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity
DIRECTOR:  Christopher McQuarrie
WRITERS:  Christopher McQuarrie; from a story by Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pearce (based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, David Ellison, and Don Granger
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSER: Joe Kraemer

ACTION/ADVENTURE/SPY/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Simon McBurney, Jen Hultén, Hermoine Corfield, and Nigel Barber

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a 2015 action-thriller and espionage film directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise.  It is the fifth film in the Mission: Impossible film franchise, which is based on the American television series, “Mission: Impossible,” that was created by Bruce Geller and that originally aired on CBS from 1966 to 1973.

Rogue Nation finds the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) taking on their most impossible mission yet, defeating an international rogue organization that is every bit as highly skilled as IMF.  A little over three year ago, I called Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol the best M:I film since the first one, 1996's Mission: Impossible.  Now, I think Rogue Nation is the best since the first film.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation opens in Belarus.  Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is on a mission with his IMF team – technical field agent, Benjamin “Benji” Dunn (Simon Pegg) and IMF agent Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames).  They have to intercept a shipment of VX nerve gas aboard an airplane before it is flown away to be sold to terrorists.

Later, CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) and IMF Field Operations Director William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) testify before a U.S. Senate committee.  The IMF is currently without a secretary in charge, but Hunley believes that the Senate should not appoint new secretary.  He believes that the IMF is dangerous and destructive and that any successes its agents have are the result of luck.  Hunley wants the IMF disbanded and absorbed into the CIA.

Ethan Hunt has been trying to prove the existence of the Syndicate, an international criminal consortium.  He believes that the Syndicate is both the equal and the opposite of the IMF.  It is an anti-IMF that acts as a “rogue nation,” committing acts of terror and assassination.  Hunley believes that the Syndicate is a figment of Hunt's imagination and sends CIA agents and assets to capture Hunt.  Hunt believes that a mysterious operative, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), is the person who can lead him to the Syndicate and its formidable leader, the mysterious Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

I always want to be honest with you, dear readers, even when I'm being a fanboy who really loves a movie in spite of its faults.  I absolutely love Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, and I think that it is a genuinely good movie.  I don't know if it is possible that any other filmmakers could do a better job than director Christopher McQuarrie and film editor Eddie Hamilton did with Rogue Nation.  Maybe James Cameron could?

I think it is preposterous that this movie is so entertaining.  The action is so bracing and invigorating.  The ebb and flow of the thrills could cause you to ask for a cigarette after seeing this movie.  Rogue Nation is a way more entertaining action movie than Jurassic World, which made three times as much money at the box office as Rogue Nation did.  I kinda have to admit that I enjoyed watching Rogue Nation more than I did watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens three nights ago.  It hurts me to write this, cause I love me some Star Wars, but...

Seriously, Tom Cruise is as glorious as ever as Ethan Hunt.  This time, however, the mix of quality supporting cast as IMF agents and as allies, adversaries, and people somewhere in the middle is just right – like a stew or soup with that almost-perfect blend of ingredients, preparation, and cooking.  Yes, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a golden gumbo of flavorful characters, settings, plot, and execution.  I plan on experiencing this cinematic dish many, many more times.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, December 25, 2015


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Christopher McQuarrie to Direct "Mission: Impossible" 5

Editor's note:  I'm excited about this news, especially because I liked Cruise and McQuarrie's recent film collaboration, Jack Reacher - a lot.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND SKYDANCE PRODUCTIONS TAP CHRISTOPHER McQUARRIE TO DIRECT THE NEXT MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE

Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions announced today that Christopher McQuarrie will direct the next “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE” film.

McQuarrie will direct from a screenplay by Drew Pearce, with Tom Cruise reprising the iconic role of Ethan Hunt, who was first introduced to moviegoers in 1996.  The project will be produced by Cruise through Tom Cruise Productions, Paramount and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, who served as producers on previous films in the hit series.  Skydance Productions, who served as co-financers and executive producers of the last installment, will work closely with the team in the development and production process.

“I am thrilled to reunite with Chris for the latest installment in the Mission series," said Cruise. “I began producing the films with the goal that a different director with his own vision would make each one.  Chris is an extraordinary filmmaker who will deliver the heart-pounding action and thrills that audiences around the world have come to expect from the Mission: Impossible franchise.”

Added Adam Goodman, President of Paramount Film Group: “The Mission series is special for its signature directors; Chris McQuarrie keeps this tradition thriving.”

McQuarrie recently wrote and directed “JACK REACHER” for Paramount and Skydance, with Cruise in the title role, based on the novels by New York Times bestselling author Lee Child.  His screenwriting credits include the upcoming “EDGE OF TOMORROW” and 2008’s “VALKYRIE,” both starring Cruise, as well as “THE USUAL SUSPECTS,” for which he earned an Academy Award® for best screenplay in 1995.

“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL,” the 4th installment in the globally successful franchise, earned nearly $700M around the world and became Cruise’s highest grossing film to date in his storied career.

The “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE” franchise has earned more than $2B at the worldwide box office, making it one of the most successful franchises in movie history.

About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About Bad Robot
Bad Robot was formed by filmmaker J.J. Abrams in 2001. The company has produced television series such as ALIAS, LOST, FRINGE, PERSON OF INTEREST and REVOLUTION, and feature films such as CLOVERFIELD, STAR TREK, SUPER 8, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, and this summer's STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. Bad Robot is based in Los Angeles and can be followed at twitter.com/bad_robot.

About Skydance Productions
Skydance Productions creates and produces elevated event-level commercial entertainment.   Skydance’s recent releases include WORLD WAR Z, starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster; J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, and G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, starring Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum and Dwayne Johnson.  Skydance’s next film, JACK RYAN, from director Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Pine, is set for release on December 25, 2013.   Skydance projects currently in development include the reboot of the TERMINATOR franchise, to be released on June 26, 2015, the racy high concept comedy, BAD IN BED, written by Pamela Falk and Michael Ellis and a disaster film on a global scale titled GEOSTORM written by Dean Devlin and Paul Guyot with Devlin also directing.  Skydance’s previous projects include the award-winning Coen Brothers film TRUE GRIT, starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon; MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, starring Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner and Christopher McQuarrie’s JACK REACHER, starring Tom Cruise.

Review: Reach for "Jack Reacher"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux


Jack Reacher (2012)
Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, language and some drug material
DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie
WRITER: Christopher McQuarrie (based on the novel, One Shot, by Lee Child)
PRODUCERS: Tom Cruise, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Gary Levinsohn, Kevin J. Messick, and Paula Wagner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Caleb Deschanel (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Kevin Stitt
COMPOSER: Joe Kraemer

DRAMA/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, Werner Herzog, Jai Courtney, Vladimir Sizov, Joseph Sikora, Michael Raymond-James, Alexia Fast, Josh Helman, and Robert Duvall

Jack Reacher is a 2012 drama and thriller film from writer-director Christopher McQuarrie. The film stars Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, a fictional character that originally appears in a series of novels by author Lee Child (the pen name British author Jim Grant). Jack Reacher the movie is based on the ninth Jack Reacher novel, One Shot (2005). The film follows Reacher as he investigates the case of a military sniper charged in a mass shooting.

Jack Reacher opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where an unknown man readies a sniper rifle and shoots five people dead. Former U.S. Army sniper James Barr (Joseph Sikora) is arrested for the crime. Investigating Detective Emerson (David Oyelowo) and District Attorney Alex Rodin (Richard Jenkins) pressure Barr during interrogation to accept a plea deal that would spare him the death penalty. Barr, however, will only say, “Get Jack Reacher.”

Not long afterwards, Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), a former U.S. Army Military Police Corps officer (a “military cop”), arrives in Pittsburgh, but Rodin and Emerson will not let him see the evidence against Barr. Reacher meets with Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), Barr’s attorney and the District Attorney’s daughter. Reacher reluctantly agrees to help Helen, and soon finds himself drawn into a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with unknown forces that do not want the case against Barr investigated.

Jack Reacher is a suspense thriller. Because Reacher is always on the move and because the surprises and twists and turns come so fast and furious, the film is as much an action movie as it is anything else. Jack Reacher’s action movie credibility may be in doubt because the film isn’t jittery and loud like so many action movies. The explosions and gunfire are held to a minimum, so when they do happen, it means more to the narrative. Jack Reacher just makes the most out of its theatrics.

Everyone is a supporting actor and character to Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher, but some make the most of their time. Standouts include David Oyelowo as the dour and menacing Detective Emerson, Jai Courtney as the vicious killer named Charlie, and the always-welcomed Robert Duvall. As the retired Marine and gun range owner, Martin Cash, Duvall brings some much-needed levity and humor to the film. Cash throws Reacher off his game a bit, which makes Reacher vulnerable and more interesting as a character in the movie’s final half-hour or so. That makes it seem as if Reacher really could be killed, in turn, heightening the sense danger.

Jack Reacher is a perfect role for Tom Cruise. Cruise’s obvious aloofness and brusque charm, as well as that innate cold-bloodedness (which he tries to hide), are a near-perfect fit for Jack Reacher. Cruise as Reacher is just fun to watch, and I found that not knowing what crazy, unexpected thing he was going to do or say made Cruise/Reacher fascinating, even enthralling.

I’m surprised that this movie was not a bigger hit than it was. Outside of the Mission: Impossible films, this is one of the better Tom Cruise movies. Jack Reacher shows why Cruise is a true movie star and a rather good actor to boot.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, May 15, 2013