Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (NOW PLAYING)

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NOTE: This is a SPOILER-FREE review.

I went to see this action film b/c it was FREE (w/ my movie Meetup)!  LOL… I’m NOT a big fan of Tom Cruise, BUT I don’t loathe him (like SO many out there).  I was (pleasantly) surprised that I had a GOOD time; the same goes for the ladies in my group (we’re ALL female, BTW).

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Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson star in “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.”

I was esp. glad to see a strong female counterpoint to Cruise in the form of Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson (who plays a Brit).  Yes, she’s a beautiful lady, BUT she is also tall, muscular/solid build, and does some AWESOME stunts!  Is her character a good spy or a baddie?  It takes a BIT of time for that to be revealed. She and Cruise have TERRIFIC onscreen chemistry.  FYI: This is her FIRST big movie role.

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Actress Rebecca Ferguson at a premiere for the film.

As for the men, I liked Simon Pegg’s computer expert character- he provided a LOT of the humor.  Jeremy Renner- don’t know WHY this guy keeps getting cast in big movies!?  The poor guy just has NO screen presence; forget about ever being a leading man.  Ving Rhames is underused, as is Alec Baldwin (looking good, as always).  Baldwin has one of the funniest lines in the film though.

The soundtrack is one of the BEST things about this movie; one (well-known) piece of opera is woven throughout a pivotal scene.  Also, everyone likes hearing the MI theme song, right?

Check out The Super Fantastic Nerd Hour podcast (Episode 72) if you’ve seen this film and want to hear an in-depth review.

Thoughts on Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episodes 9 & 10

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SPOILERS: Don’t read if you have not yet seen or don’t want to know details from E9 and E10 (the season finale) of the show.

Episode 9: A Dance of Dragons

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Jorah (Iain Glen) surrounded by the Sons of the Harpy.

Some will say this was a betrayal… of the contract that showrunners have with the audience.  Sometimes you can just go too far.  -Ben Mankiewicz (What The Flick?!) noting some viewers’ opinions of Sansa’s marital rape

This would never ever, ever happen in a normal TV show, and that’s part of the reason we watch this show.  -Cenk Uyger (Ben’s co-commentator) on Shireen’s death/sacrifice by burning

This was a VERY hard to watch ep (if you’re still watching)! We find out that, just before dawn, Ramsay and a few of the Bolton bannermen came and took ALL the horses.  Also, the sellswords (half of Stannis’ army) rode away in the middle of the night. Davos (LOVE him, as always) is sent away by Stannis to The Wall.  Davos wonders why HE needs to go when any other man would suit.  He gives Shireen a present (a deer he carved out of wood) before he rides away.  Poor little Shireen is walked from her tent to a pyre.  She cries and calls out for her father, but the soldiers just lower their heads and do nothing.  Suddenly, Selyse finds her motherly feeling (FINALLY), but it’s TOO late!  Melisandre has already set fire to the pyre.

The second half of the ep was like something you’d see in a feature film- WOW!!!  How cool was it when Jorah speared Dany’s would-be assassin!? (BTW, where did ALL those Sons of the Harpy hide their masks?) There was some heavy fighting, BUT finally Drogon flew in for the rescue.  It was a GREAT ending for the ep!

Episode 10: Mother’s Mercy

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Stannis (Stephen Dillane) realizes that he is defeated.

Go on.  Do your duty.  -Stannis’ last words (to Brienne)

There is no rightful heir right now to Westeros!  -Cenk Uygur

Cersei is (FINALLY) punished!  (FYI: They closed a lot of streets on location and used a body double for some of the shots, as Lena Headey is pregnant.  I didn’t know re: the double until I heard A Cast of Kings podcast.)  Yes, Cersei has done TERRIBLE things, BUT it was tough to see her treated in such a way.  What will come NEXT from her, I wonder!

Is he (Jon Snow) dead?  Is he alive?  Will he be raised from the dead by Melisandre? (We saw Thoros do that before, BUT maybe she can do that, too?)  And what about Theon/Reek and Sansa?  So many questions…

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Jon (Kit Harington) lies wounded from the MANY cuts inflicted by the Night’s Watch.

Actors Gabrielle Union & Denis O’Hare: Redefining Family

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The black community in Hollywood is very small and close-knit. We watch each others’ scenes. There is a natural chemistry. You can’t have a crazy diva…  -Gabrielle Union

Getting married was a political act because so many people fought so hard for it. Also, every time I say the word “husband” and somebody flinches, I am helping to teach society this is the way it will be. This is the way it is.  -Denis O’Hare

Good Kill (2015) starring Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kravitz & January Jones

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NOTE: This is a SPOILER-FREE review. 

This is a small (as in intimate) movie w/ a VERY serious message- distancing and dehumanizing your enemy is ALSO a way of dehumanizing yourself.  I went to see this film back in May w/ my ladies’ movie Meetup; there was a brief Q&A w/ Ethan Hawke (VERY pleasant/thoughtful guy) and the director (Andrew Niccol, a Brit).  Aside from my group, there were press folks, and many associated w/ MSNBC’s news show, Hardball (Chris Matthews was the moderator).  A few members of the armed forces were also present; they seemed to relate to a LOT the film from comments I heard.  

Good_Kill_cockpitFighter pilot Major Tom Egan (Hawke) is STILL fighting The War on Terror, though he now works from a pod in the Nevada desert, not too far from the suburban Las Vegas home he shares w/ his wife, Molly (January Jones), and their two young kids.  Tom and his team conduct drone strikes; it looks a LOT like playing a video game (disturbing, yet darkly humorous to a layperson).  We see that Tom is dissatisfied w/ his work; his supervisor Lt. Col. Johns (Bruce Greenwood- provides wry humor and some of the best lines) knows that it’s NOT an ideal situation, but they are still “doing good.”

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This is a one man’s journey (Hawke is VERY well-suited) type of film, which uses tight close-ups on Hawke and his team, which later includes a young newbie, Airman Suarez (Zoe Kravitz, who does a decent job).  The people in Afghanistan (locals, baddies, etc.) are seen in grainy video- no closeups there.  Check out this film (recently available on Redbox) to see what happens! 

Inside Out (NOW PLAYING) starring the voices of Amy Poehler, Lewis Black & Mindy Kaling

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NOTE: This is a SPOILER-FREE review.

I saw “Inside Out” at a free pre-screening w/ my movie Meetup (all ladies) and a large group of press folks (who were pretty quiet during the film, which is common).  Before the main attraction, we saw a short film (“Lava”) about a lonely volcano that wants to have someone to love.  I’m NOT sure if this story was based on a Hawaiian folk tale.  There was a song all through the short, which was cute and catchy.

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I went in NOT knowing much about the film, BUT I liked it!  Some critics say it’s the best thing since “Toy Story,” which was a big hit for Pixar.  I suggest it for kids 10 and up, especially, as it deals w/ themes that MAY go over the heads of the younger crowd.  There is also a LOT for grown-ups to enjoy.

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Riley, an 11 y.o. girl, goes through a period of displacement and sadness after moving from her suburban home in Minnesota to an apartment in San Francisco.  Aside from Riley, the main characters are the emotions inside her head: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Fear (Bill Hader).  I wanted to see this mainly b/c I’m a fan of Black and Kaling. 

In the beginning, everyone was bummed out by how Sadness (who is blue, wears a turtleneck) was acting, BUT we know that people can’t always be happy.  Riley has to get used to her new room, new school and classmates, and missing her best friend.  She finds it VERY difficult to be her usual positive self, even though she knows that’s what her parents (voiced by Diane Lane and Kyle McLachlan) want.  Joy tries hard to get Sadness out of the way, BUT an accident pulls these two main emotions away from the control room.