Rogue Nation is actually decent!

I mean, for this type of action blockbuster, the individual setpieces are exciting and create some actual tension, the story is comprehensible

(...though watching 4 M:Is in a row, you realize they all have basically the same plot - mission goes wrong, gov't turns on Ethan, he has to find the Macguffin, discoveres the MacGuffin collector is just a patsy for a turncoat in the IMF...)

Rebecca Ferguson is a genuine star in this though.…

In the first scene of the movie, Eva strides through a rundown section of New York City playing Screamin' Jay Hawkins. She knows exactly who she is - a feat for someone at any age.

It's a sort of mission statement for Stranger Than Paradise, and for Jim Jarmusch as a director. There's an unapologetic comfort in being direct, in its single takes, its shabby realism, its watchful silences.

Stranger Than Paradise is also a movie about assimilation, about the…

In my note on Garden State, I described it as a low-stakes movie where people hang out and have conversations - except the characters are boring and have nothing to say.

A Real Pain demonstrates how enjoyable the same premise can be when the characters *are* interesting and do have things to say.

Some similarities between A Real Pain and Garden State:
- Bookended by scenes in airports/planes
- Lead characters who have recently lost their maternal figure
- Lead…