In 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.
Continue reading Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) →
A tour de force with its initial viewing, Christopher Nolan’s (Dunkirk, Interstellar) mind-bending Memento felt, more than 99% of the films I watch, worthy of a second viewing. What initially captivated but confused me equally would likely enthrall me further while clearing up plot holes. It turns out that this wasn’t the case. Not only did my second watch cause me to be more uncertain of the events, their timelines, and overarching structure. It also left me feeling bored by the premise and disengaged from the story. In a way, it feels odd to say that. At the same time, the film could be more straightforward in its attempt to entertain and differentiate itself in new and unique ways. Even in the early stages of his directing career, Nolan was, for better or worse, telling his viewers that he was the most intelligent person in the room and to get used to it.
Name a movie that you like much more than you should. I could rattle off dozens, and right at the top of that list might be the incredibly flawed yet thoroughly engrossing The Butterfly Effect, the supernatural thriller co-directed by J Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress. This movie could be better with each subsequent viewing, but it still gets the job done. I watch it every four or five years. It captivates me each time, though I pick it apart more. It’s not a criticism but rather an observation. This is a movie that I admire. I enjoy its dark themes.
Jake Gyllenhaal (
For as impressive as Dan Trachtenberg’s (