Category Archives: Rebecca Ferguson

2023, Action, Adventure, Cary Elwes, Christopher McQuarrie, Esai Morales, Frederick Schmidt, Greg Tarzan Davis, Hayley Atwell, Henry Czerny, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Pom Klementieff, Rebecca Ferguson, Shea Whigham, Simon Pegg, Suspense, Tom Cruise, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

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mission impossible dead reckoning part 1 movie posterIn a summer movie season that has seen the unlikely pairing of Oppenheimer and Barbie dominate the box office, two surefire franchises have found it a bit more difficult than anticipated to generate sales. While  Oppenheimer and Barbie have both faired well with critics and audiences, Christopher McQuarrie’s (The Way of the Gun, Jack Reacher) Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One has scored just as well, but whose box office revenue may have been slighted due to the Oppenheimer/Barbie dual release date two weeks after. It may have made the Mission Impossible franchise’s seventh movie out of sight, out of mind a little too quickly. Dead Reckoning Part One is a film that should be seen in the theater, which many will agree with. Saying that it is better than Oppenheimer and Barbie is an unpopular opinion but one that I believe to be true. The novelty of Oppenheimer and Barbie is undoubtedly an allure over the seventh installment of a franchise and is something I do understand and appreciate. However, as a whole, I found Dead Reckoning Part One to be far more entertaining and better executed.

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2017, Drama, Hugh Jackman, Inspired by True Events, Michael Gracey, Michelle Williams, Musical and Performing Arts, Rebecca Ferguson, The Greatest Showman, Zac Efron, Zendaya

The Greatest Showman (2017)

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I’m not going to lie. The only reason I watched Michael Gracey’s The Greatest Showman was that it was the topic of one of the sermons at my church. Each year we have a summer movie series (In 2018, the movies were Forrest Gump, Good Will Hunting, The Princess Bride, The Shawshank Redemption…I had seen all four, of course, and watched all of them again before that week’s service to refamiliarize myself with each of these amazing films. Then on Labor Day weekend, we have our Family Weekend, where the children of our church sit with their parents rather than going to the classes that they usually go to. We show a truncated version of a movie, and this year it was The Greatest Showman. So I added it to my Netflix queue. It arrived two days before my church service, and I watched it the night beforehand. I’m not a fan of musicals, although I will say that the incredible La La Land has, if nothing else, allowed me to consider that I could potentially enjoy a musical. And, while it certainly wasn’t my cup of tea, I did enjoy The Greatest Showman and would actually consider watching it again one day with one or more of my three young nephews.
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2018, Action, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Christopher McQuarrie, Drama, Henry Cavill, Kristoffer Joner, Michelle Monaghan, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Mystery, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Simon Pegg, Suspense, Tom Cruise, Top 10 Movie of 2018, Vanessa Kirby, Ving Rhames, Wes Bentley

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

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Mission Impossible: Fallout should be looked at as the template for how action movies are created. This is everything you want in a pure action movie that is wrought with the same suspense, mystery, and comedic tones that you would expect from this top-of-the-line franchise. Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July, A Few Good Men) reprises his most recognizable character (people, Top Gun came out over 30 years ago…Maverick is great, Ethan Hunt is the identifiable Cruise character…at least for anyone younger than 35). I’ve spent a good part of the last two decades knocking Tom Cruise for his choice in roles, wishing he would return to the types of roles that earned him three Academy Award nominations between 1990-2000. And I honestly, at the time, though he was phoning it in for box office dollars. I understand an action flick here and there. I understand that action is the niche for various A-listers (Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone) but not Tom Cruise. He has more depth than these other actors, and I felt he was repeatedly resorting to variations of the same role (Jack Reacher, Oblivion, Edge of Tomorrow). But I was wrong. I’ve watched all of these movies, and while, yes, they are all action movies, he never phones it in. He actually might bring a more consistent intensity to his role than any other actor out there. And this was no exception. Although it is hard for us to see anyone else play Tony Stark/Iron Man than Robert Downey Jr., it would be challenging to see anyone besides Cruise play Ethan Hunt.

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2015, Action, Adventure, Alec Baldwin, Christopher McQuarrie, Jeremy Renner, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

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As my friend Tom would say, directing a Mission Impossible movie is like a doorknob. Everyone gets a turn. This is so true and not really in a good way. While this franchise is certainly getting better with each new installment, this wasn’t always the case. My biggest problem with the first four movies of the franchise was how different they were from one another. I have never watched a sequel that was so inherently different in directing, storytelling, cinematography, sound,, and everything else from the original than Mission Impossible 2 was from Mission Impossible. John Woo’s Hong Kong-style martial arts action flick was so far completely different from the Brian DePalma intelligent, well-crafted big-budget adaptation of the smart spy television series that ran for seven years in the late 1960’s that it felt like the two movies weren’t even related. I don’t necessarily oppose changing a director (though I don’t love it), but I oppose the changing styles. Plenty of franchises have had different directors that have made that work (most notably the James Bond franchise, which is similar to Mission Impossible), but many more haven’t. Throw in J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III) and Brad Bird (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), and you’ve got four different directors, each with a completely different vision from one another, for the first four movies of the series. Honestly, I expected the franchise to die at three films, but I am grateful that it got a new life with 2011’s Ghost Protocol (93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation introduces its fifth director in the franchise (Christopher McQuarrie – The Way of the Gun), but the first to direct multiple installments (2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout). The franchise has turned into a series of cleverly written and executed spy action thrillers. And with its cast of A-list movie stars, each movie is a unique experience and a fun escape from reality.
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2017, Adventure, Ariyon Bakare, Daniel Espinosa, Drama, Hiroyuki Sanda, Horror, Jake Gyllenhaal, Life, Olga Dihovichnaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Science Fiction, Suspense, Top 10 Movie of 2017

Life (2017)

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Wow! Life > Alien!

Yup. You heard that right. 2017 is off to a tremendous start! January, February, and March typically combine for the worst quarter of the year for movies. I’ve been reviewing movies since 2010, and each year has confirmed this belief. I didn’t anticipate 2017 feeling differently, but it is slowly happening. First, there was the surprising Split, which I personally wasn’t a fan of, but one that did fantastic with audiences and critics. Then there was Logan, which is one of my five favorite Marvel movies ever at the time of this writing. Sprinkle in the surprise hit Get Out, the quality reboot Kong: Skull Island, the live-action smash success Beauty and the Beast, and you already have five movies that won’t necessarily be up for awards at the end of the year but will be remembered as success stories for 2017. Now add a late March release of Life, the Jake Gyllenhaal/Ryan Reynolds vehicle that has been wowing potential audiences with both extended trailers and television advertisements during some marquee events. And for good reason. The trailer drew my interest, and, barring a complete rejection by the critics, I knew this would be a movie that I saw in the theater. I am actually surprised by the 66% critics score and even more shocked by the 61% audience score. This movie isn’t necessarily a thinker in that you’re going to get confused, but it makes you use your brain to follow along. For this reason, I don’t expect an audience score to be 95%, but I would expect it to be much higher. Perhaps it was a little slow for some people at times. I certainly did not think so. I was hooked from the beginning and thoroughly engrossed the entire 103 minute run time.

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