MOVIE: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)

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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Year: 2025 Rating: PG-13 Length: 169 minutes / 2.82 hours When a film franchise like Mission: Impossible reaches its conclusion, you hope the finale is a fitting send-off. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) splits this duty with its predecessor, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023) and does a fairly good job of maxing out the action and “impossible” sequences the franchise is known for. If anything, it’s nice to know that there’s a definitive end to these movies instead of letting them continue in perpetuity. Now I just have to wonder what the next “big stunt” movie franchise will be to replace this one. Considering the modern hype surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential to end the world in a variety of ways, choosing to make the AI the final villain for the franchise was a smart move. What better way to show how impossible a mission is than to have the opponent be better at...
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MOVIE: The Fall Guy (2024)

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The Fall GuyYear: 2024Rating: PG-13Length: 126 minutes / 2.10 hours I have a bit of a soft spot for movies that focus on the creative act of making movies. Most of the time, these "behind the scenes" films focus on the more managerial aspects of movies. In The Fall Guy (2024), there's a fun meta that ties together stunts for the movie being made and stunts in the "real world" that may bring down the entire production. As a pseudo-heist movie, The Fall Guy is a fun action romp that I found entertaining and educational. Anyone who has seen Ryan Gosling in Barbie (2023) knows that he has the comedic chops to hold up his side of a film. Honestly, he was the main reason I wanted to see this film, as I was expecting "Ken" levels of machismo, but with maybe a little more intelligence. Gosling definitely delivers, and this is a great film to watch for fans of his work....
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MOVIE: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

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Mission: Impossible - Fallout Year: 2018 Rating: PG-13 Length: 147 minutes / 2.45 hours It's a little weird to think that we're already on the sixth Mission: Impossible movie, especially considering how far the franchise has come since (what I consider) its revival in Mission: Impossible III (2006). Since then, the action has been consistently impressive and the stunts mind-bogglingly intense. Fallout continues to provide on this franchise's promise of high-octane action and neat spy tech, even if the latter doesn't seem to be nearly as impressive as in its previous installments. Ironically enough, one of the problems I had with this movie was how it tried to interweave plot from previous films in the franchise. I'll be honest and say that I don't watch these movies for the plot. Sure, I'll follow along to see how the team has to accomplish the "impossible" in the form of setting up a ridiculous stunt. From scaling tall buildings in Dubai, accessing computer servers underwater, and hanging above...
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