I've knocked off a half-star with each viewing. The set pieces are undeniable, but this plot is goofy even by M:I standards. McQuarrie and Cruise lean so heavily and overtly into the mythology of the IMF and Ethan Hunt that the narrative almost plays as parody. Frequent mention of "The Entity" accompanied by an ominous whirring computer noise doesn't help, either. Some more story choices that slide into farce: a lengthy discussion among U.S. intelligence officials about the illogic of…

I capped off Andor S2 with a Rogue One rewatch. Still better than most of the recent Star Wars features, though the CGI reanimation of Peter Cushing and young Carrie Fisher remains a terrible, unnecessary choice. But the letdown this time is knowing the rich backstory of Cassian Andor while the story is centered on Jyn Erso. Which leads me to my main point: Andor rocks. The best SW project since The Empire Strikes Back, Andor digs deep into the…

I completely dismissed Safe when I saw it at sixteen. I wasn't prepared to deal with the film's ambiguity or depth. I found Carol White annoying and the pace lethargic. Boy, was I dumb. (This s my argument that any opinions you held about movies prior to adulthood are void.)

Revisiting the film over a decade later, I feel comfortable proclaiming it among the best of the 1990s. Safe is terrifying psychological horror, turning the industrialized modern world into an…

A brilliant and disquieting meditation on violence, particularly in its emphasis on corporeal trauma. At various points, NCFOM essentially becomes a procedural in wound care, and this visual fixation on the damage done to bodies by ammunition links malevolence to destruction or necrosis. Ellis's (key) line, "You can't stop what's coming," could just as easily apply to blood loss in this despairing film, a kind of 21st century revision to the Coens' Fargo.

Aside: To this day, I'm a bit…