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Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning-Indiana Jones and Top Gun Combined

Poster of ‘Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning.’ Taken by William Beavers. 'Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning' was a combination of thrilling and emotional as Tom Cruise went on one last ride with his usual merry band of IMF teammates to save the world from a rogue AI. Cruise really liked to keep it interesting with his own stunts, ranging from diving towards a rusty submarine under frozen waters to hijacking a biplane in a confrontation against a villain played by Esai Morales. 'The Final Reckoning' was very emotional, not only because of the lengths Hunt went through to save his friends, but because Cruise and his castmates had tears of joy putting this together and tying up almost 30 years of movies that start with a self-destruct message. Taking place two months after the first battle in 'Dead Reckoning Part One', Ethan Hunt, played by Cruise, and his teammates Grace, Luther, and Benji, played by Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg go on o...

'Karate Kid: Legends": Fought Like a Champ

Ben Wang as Li Fong in 'Karate Kid: Legends.' Courtesy of Sony Pictures. Good evening, readers and viewers. Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of watching 'Karate Kid: Legends.' It was so wonderful how they bridged together Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio's worlds in the 'Karate Kid' franchise, made beautiful representation of Chinese culture and New York City living, displayed wonderful drama and heart in Ben Wang's role as main protagonist Li Fong, showed cute and funny chemistry between Wang's character and Sadie Stanley's character, how he offered his own funny training montage with Joshua Jackson's character, and how the heroes and villains fought like champs with fast-paced martial arts kicking, punching, chopping. 'Legends' was a great combination of drama, action, comedy, and coming-of-age, and I give it a 9.5 out of 10. Taking place years after Chan's Karate Kid, Li Fong, played by Wang, and his mother, played by Ming...

American Fiction-More Drama Than Comedy, But Good-Hearted

Jeffrey Wright as Thelonious "Monk" Ellison in 'American Fiction.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Good afternoon, everybody. Since I'm learning more about screenwriting, specifically the kind that wins Academy Awards, I decided to give 'American Fiction' another go. At first, I wasn't into it, maybe because I didn't like the whole offensive racist tropes or drama between Jeffrey Wright's character and his family. But now, I see that the appeal of the film is that it shows how adults of different colors are still learning how to deal with said racist tropes and put a positive spin on stereotypes of fictional people of color, while also handling their own internal drama. Tracee Ellis Ross as Lisa Ellison and Leslie Uggams as Agnes Ellison in 'American Fiction.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. Sterling K. Brown as Clifford "Cliff" Ellison from 'American Fiction.' Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. 'American Fiction'...

Sinners-Empowering Music and Story

Poster of 'Sinners.' Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. 'Sinners' was not your typical Southern period drama. That's because it included vampires on the hunt in 1930s Mississippi while Michael B. Jordan ran a juke joint whose set design reminded me of 'The Color Purple' (1985). Despite the horror scenes throwing me off, I enjoyed the powerful performances of Jordan and Miles Caton and the powerful direction by Ryan Coogler. Besides those two things, I really enjoyed the Southern blues soundtrack. I first learned about the connection between the blues and African Americans back in college, and it felt great to see some black pride in the music of a dark time. Taking place in 1932 in Mississippi, twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore, played by Jordan in dual roles, are opening their own juke joint with money stolen from gangsters. They recruit their cousin Sammie, played by Caton, to play, and pianist Delta Slim, played by Delroy Lindo, as a performer. Their ...

'Thunderbolts*': 2025 Mismatched Marvel Fun

Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Ava Starr/Ghost, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Yelena Belova/Black Widow, and John Walker/U.S. Agent, played by David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh, and Wyatt Russell, respectively from ‘Thunderbolts*.’ Courtesy of Marvel Studios. You've seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe's attempts at superhero misfit madness with the original Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. But it took a dark-toned yet humorous turn when they released 'Thunderbolts*' this weekend. It was funny how the titular team had sitcom-like trouble working together, specifically in the friction between Yelena Belova, played by Florence Pugh and John Walker, played by Wyatt Russell, and how Julia Louis-Dreyfus of 'Seinfeld' fame rose to the occasion of playing an adult snob/mean-girl stereotype in her reprisal of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Humor aside, I enjoyed seeing Pugh, Russell, and Hannah John-Kamen fight using judo and kickboxi...

'The Amateur': Rami Malek was Jason Bourne with STEM Skills

Poster for 'The Amateur.' Photo by William Beavers. Good afternoon, readers. On Friday afternoon, April 18, I crossed ' The Amateur' off my watchlist. Rami Malek produced and led the film as a CIA employee new to the field. While I enjoyed Malek's character's intelligence and Volker Bertelmann's good score, I felt 'The Amateur' should've shown Malek's character using hand-to-hand combat. Rami Malek and Rachel Brosnahan as Charlie Heller and Sarah Heller, respectively, from 'The Amateur.' Courtesy of 20th Century Studios. Malek played Charlie Heller , a mild-mannered CIA cryptographer with a lovely wife named Sarah, played by Rachel Brosnahan from 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'. But Charlie's quiet life ended when Sarah was killed on a business trip. Teaming with a blunt Colonel Henderson , played by Laurence Fishburne , Charlie is forced to take the role of a killer to find the people responsible for Sarah's murder. O...