MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: Fallout (2018) was a direct sequel to Rogue Nation in which the IMF learns the Syndicate is still running without its leader, and plotting to launch a nuclear terrorist strike so bad the world order will collapse so a better world can arise. Can Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team stop them when CIA spooks Angela Bassett and Henry Cavill (as stiff and uninteresting here as I found him in Enola Holmes) think Hunt might be the real mastermind?
On the plus side, the final fight with the bad guys is truly spectacular and I like that the terrorist strike shows some imagination (contaminating the watershed that provides drinking water for China and the rest of Southeast Asia). And this writes Cruise’s wife (Michelle Monaghan from the third film) out, presumably so Ethan can hook up with Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) who also returns from Rogue Nation. On the downside, it says something I couldn’t even remember which mastermind was returning. And once again it appears the initial tape recording message is setting Hunt up, which happens ridiculously often in the movies (Bassett and Cavill lampshade this by pointing out how many times the government has failed or betrayed Hunt). Mostly, it just didn’t engage me — for all their flaws, the best Fast and Furious films are better. In any case, that’s it for this series until next year’s sequel. “I kill women and children with smallpox. I have no line.”
That said, Fallout was Star Wars compared to THE BATMAN (2022), in which Robert Pattinson’s Darknight Detective and Jeffrey Wright’s Commissioner Gordon try to thwart the Riddler, a serial killer murdering government officials involved in a vast coverup and conspiracy. Can Batman stop him? Is it even worth it if the system Batman protects is that corrupt?
Critic Christy Lemire describes this as a gritty 1970s crime thriller with Pattinson playing Taxi Driver‘s Travis Bickle more than Batman; I agree but unlike Lemire I don’t think it’s a good thing. Pattinson himself is unimpressive, playing Bruce Wayne like he was sleepwalking and giving voiceovers about Gotham crime like he was channeling Watchmen‘s Rohrschach. And the climax, with Gotham on the brink of destruction, has been a cliched third act for Batman movies since R’as tried bringing the city down in the first Nolan film. Color me very unimpressed, though Zoe Kravitz’ Catwoman adds some fun. “Since your justice is so select/tell me which vermin you protect.”
In the second season of DOLLFACE, Jules (Kat Denning), having regained her closest friends at the end of S1, now has to get a handle on the rest of her life — can she find a worthwhile boyfriend? A good job? And Madison, Stella and Izzy all have the same mission. As with the first season, this wraps up well, with the friends all in good places even if they haven’t figured it all out. I’ll be happy to see a third season. “That’s a lot to unpack — but I’ve now unpacked it and its really bad.”
I picked up a DVD of MATINEE (1993) just four years ago, then learned there’s a BluRay with lots of special features, so I ordered it. The story of Laurence Woolsey (John Goodman) premiering the giant bug film Mant! in Key West during the Cuban missile crisis was great fun to rewatch and the special features cover a lot of details about how much the movie draws on director Joe Dante’s life as a monster-movie loving nerd of roughly the same age as the kid protagonists. There’s also a short version of Mant! (Half Man — Half Ant — All Terror!) with more footage than the movie within the movie. Well worth buying. “One of you will have to go to the atomic destruction without Shredded Wheat.”
#SFWApro. All rights to images remain with current holders; comics cover by JL Garcia-Lopez.
I will admit that it makes me curious about the story, though, so I guess it did its job.
Back in my teenage years, Phyllis Schlafly was the face of anti-feminism. As 
Or this one by Joe Kubert.
They screamed that whatever was happening inside would be so much cooler than all the other books on the stands, Buy Me Now! I didn’t buy either of these but the competition was stiff every month. Lots and lots of cool covers, even if the stories inside didn’t match up (consider the synopsis for “
In an text piece in the back of BITTER ROOT: Family Business by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene, the essayist (I don’t remember their name) said one way around this is the “ethnogothic” approach. Rather than using the weird as a metaphor for minorities, use magic or SF to throw a fresh perspective on bigotry and racial issues.
metahumans manifesting in a black community, as one preacher points out, just give cops one more excuse to kill them. 
does the cover), wraps up the comic-book continuation of the Smallville TV series. At this point we’ve gone from No Flights, No Tights to a full alt.version of the DCU, which is fine by me but did upset some fans of the show.
follows them every ten years to show how their world changes, sometimes colorful, sometimes grim, sometimes silly (Byrne’s cover at the right is for the goofy story elements of the 1950s). It’s one of Byrne’s better works, though very dark in spots; the ending with Lana, on the other hand, comes too far out of left field.
parents and their friends and what happened when they discovered the secret. They simply weren’t interesting.
As a fan of Keanu Reaves and Alex Winter as 
The first time I saw VERTIGO (1958) I’m pretty sure I didn’t get it; as the standard critical take is that it needs multiple viewings to appreciate it, it seems I’m not alone. A near-fatal fall during a rooftop chase leaves John Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) afflicted with crippling vertigo that forces him off the force. A friend (Tom Helmore) asks John to shadow his buddy’s wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who seems obsessed to the point of suicide with a woman of the 19th century. John falls hard for Madeleine and when she finally succumbs to the haunting and kills herself, he’s completely lost. Then he meets her exact double (again played by Novak) and begins recreating her into the image of his lost love.
