The act of splitting a movie's narrative into multiple parts can be pretty tricky. I'm not talking about series like Lord of the Rings that adapted source material with natural breaking points, I'm more referring to The Hobbit, which was a singular story that was planned to be two movies before getting bloated to three. … Continue reading Acceptable – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Whatever your personal opinions may be when it comes to Tom Cruise as a person - and believe me, I have some issues - it's still important to note that over the last few years, he's been the driving force in saving the theatrical model of the film industry. When he insisted that Top Gun: … Continue reading The Human Element – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
There are only a few days left in 2022, and I'm scrambling to see as much as possible before the year-end cutoff. It's not that I'm going to stop watching stuff once the calendar turns over, just that there's a bit of OCD in my head that I want to keep things as contained and … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Nomination, Part 2
The worst year ever... since the one before it, is finally over, and today, we officially begin our journey through the 2022 canon of cinema (even though the book is not yet closed on 2021). Unfortunately, it's only January, a bleak, cold month where the days are darkest and spirits tank after the highs of … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – January 2022
There are basically two elements of a music documentary that determine its quality for me. The first is the story. Tell me stuff I've never heard before and would never really know other than by doing independent research. The world of the music industry, particularly from the mid-20th century on, is a fascinating and endless … Continue reading The Greatest Band You’ve Never Heard Of – The Sparks Brothers
One of my favorite shows from the past decade is HBO's animated version of The Ricky Gervais Show, a podcast featuring Gervais, his writing partner Stephen Merchant, and former radio producer-turned-avatar for the people, Karl Pilkington (seriously, he's my spirit animal). In the third (and final) season of the animated show, there's a segment where Karl … Continue reading Is it Possible to Stay Fresh After Six Movies? Yes! – Mission: Impossible – Fallout
I Actually Paid To See This 