Delayed Reaction: Flightplan

What I Guessed It Was About: Jodie Foster's on a plane and there's a terrorist plot (because there's always a terrorist plot on a plane. Why else set a movie there?). She has to stop it because everyone else on the plane is worthless. Nothing explodes.

How I Came Into It: I go back and forth on Jodie Foster. She'll do Silence of the Lambs one minute, then Sommersby the next.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I don't think the movie ever expects the audience to consider that Foster makes her daughter up. Beasue of that, it plays out as a slow reveal of what happened. I've seen movies that would've fixated on the idea that the daughter didn't exist and use the daughter reveal as a big trick toward the end. There's a little of that, but not enough to get tedious.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: As awful plans go, this was an awful one. Anytime that a key part of a plan relies on someone not looking hard enough in a room or a plan full of people not noticing that a lady had a kid with her, it's not a good plan. The whole thing was awfully convoluted. That lame scheme the marshal had killed my enjoyment of the entire third act.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Snake Eyes

What I Guessed It Was About: One look at Nic Cage on the box and you know this is about Cage as a degenerate gambler trying to con his way out of debt...right?

How I Came Into It: The only thing I'd ever heard about this was praise for the tracking shot at the beginning. The last two movies I've seen that were praised for a tracking shot were Birdman and Gravity. Then there's the great tracking shots in TV shows lately with Looking and True Detective. As far as I can tell, long tracking shots mean something is going to be great.  Ah, if only that were true.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Ok, that tracking shot is pretty impressive. If I wasn't looking for it, there's a good chance I wouldn't've noticed it at all, which is a sign that it's been done well. Nic Cage is giving some vintage Cag-iness which has its charms. Hey look, it's Carla Gugino. I like her. I'm also a sucker for a story that changes based on different perspectives.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This plays like it was meant to be watched on TNT at 3 in the afternoon on a Wednesday. I don't know what to call that quality. I can't imagine when this was ever a new movie, because it plays more like a long episode of a police procedural series that never existed. It's a super plot-driven movie. For being a master plan and conspiracy, it sure relies on a lot of variables happening exactly as they should (I won't begin to go down that rabbit hole, but just ask "how..." at nearly any point in the movie and you'll see what I mean).

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Movie Reaction: Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Formula: (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol + Conspiracy Theory) / Jack Reacher

Why I Saw It: Ghost Protocol created an interest in this franchise that wasn't there before.

Cast: A lot of familiar faces are back, including Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames with Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin, and Sean Harris added to the mix.

Plot: Due to concerns about lack of oversight/accountability, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and the rest of IMF are shutdown just as Ethan is uncovering a shadow organization, the Syndicate, that's essentially the anti-IMF. Ethan, and later others on the IMF team, have to go on the run while working with a mysterious woman, Ilsa Faust (Ferguson), who is either a double, triple, or quadruple agent.

Thoughts:This is a thoroughly ridiculous movie. I mean that as a good thing. 'Impossible' is in the title and it earns it. Ethan Hunt is a super hero who can drown, get in a car wreck, fall off a motorcycle, and get up and do it all again the next day. That's just the kind of movie this is.
The plot is either cleverly mapped out or terribly messy depending on how much effort you want to put into dissecting it. The important thing is that Tom Cruise gets to do a lot of cool things. Rebecca Ferguson kicks some ass too. One odd thing is that Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner do about the same amount of fighting which is both more than I expected out of Pegg and far less than I expected out of Renner.
This has always been a series in which the director's presence can be felt. MI:III felt like a JJ Abrams movie. Ghost Protocol felt like a Brad Bird movie. Rogue Nation feels like it came from the guy who made Jack Reacher (it helps that the director, Christopher McQuarrie, also wrote the screenplay). The main villain in this easily could've been in Jack Reacher and the way that Tom Cruise carries himself is similar to how he played Jack Reacher. This still is very much a Mission Impossible movie first and foremost.

Elephant in the Room: I just don't like Tom Cruise anymore. That's your prerogative. I'm not sure I ever had a period when I disliked him, but after Ghost Protocol, Jack Reacher, and Edge of Tomorrow (I'm choosing to omit Oblivion and not credit him as the problem with Rock of Ages), I've determined he's a movie star I like.

To Sum Things Up (in 57 words or less):
Rogue Nation is big and loud and fun. The fifth installment in a 20 year old franchise shouldn’t feel this fresh. Tom Cruise and the supporting characters are all very winning in this. The villains are a little stale, but they don’t matter as much as the setpieces. I recommend it to anyone looking for something entertaining.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Think Like a Man

What I Guessed It Was About: This is a movie about Kevin Hart's journey from ensemble player to dominating comedy force through a series of stories of women trying to keep the men they are dating by aping them as best they can.

How I Came Into It: This isn't that different of an idea. I've seen it numerous times. In fact, if you remove the fourth wall breaking from Two Can Play That Game, this is the same thing. I recognized a lot of the cast (3/4 of them are in About Last Night, which is another very similar movie). It's got Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, that guy from The 40 Year Old Virgin, Gabrielle "Never Ages" Union, Meagan "I've been following her since The Famous Jett Jackson" Good, and even a guy from Entourage. This is a lot of people I'm fine with being around.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) This movie isn't reinventing the wheel. It's an ensemble comedy that relies heavily on tropes. So, that means it lives and dies on the actors. Luckily, the actors are all pretty likable. No story is a big drag on things, and even if one was, no story is the focus for too long anyway. It seems to know when it's taking itself too seriously or when something is plain stupid. This was incredibly easy to watch. Also, bonus points for making jokes about Tyler Perry movies.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The tie-in to the Steve Harvey book is not poorly handled, but it's still pretty shameless. Being an improvement on Why Did I Get Married or The Best Man Holiday isn't incredible praise either. It may be easy to watch, but it's also not worth going out of your way to watch. Had I never seen it, I wouldn't be missing out on anything.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Atonement

What I Guessed It Was About: Pride & Prejudice but set a little bit later. (I don't have a lot of faith in Joe Wright's versatility, it seems).

How I Came Into It: Any poster art I've seen for this looks like the epitome of a period piece. I wasn't sure what it would be about, but I knew the characters would be dressed for it.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I quite like this cast. This isn't the best work I've seen from Kiera Knightley or James McAvoy, but it is good work. I'm not sure if I agree that 13-year-old Saoirse Ronan was Oscar nominee good either. It's a hell of an introduction for her though. It's nice to see Juno Temple and Benedict Cumberbatch too. The art direction is as good as you'd expect for a Joe Wright film. The ending with an old Briony revealing the true ending of her story was quite touching.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I don't know how this filled two hours. I watched it and kept waiting for something to happen and it never did. Briony as a kid misunderstands a few things, incorrectly accuses Robbie of rape, feels bad about it for an hour, then reveals the truth about the fallout from that. It's a good looking movie, but with a story that must've worked much better as a book.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Weekly 10: 7/24-7/30

So far it hasn't been all that hard coming up with 10 things each week. When the TV schedule starts back in full, I'm worried that 10 won't be enough.

Dr. Who Season 8
I watched this in two days. That might've been too quickly. "Listen" certainly didn't have the impact on men that it should've. I've determined that this is my favorite of doctor-companion pairing since the '05 reboot. Pete Capaldi is having such a wild amount of fun. You can virtually see his giddiness between takes.

Hannibal "The Great Red Dragon"
I'm so glad that we got the European vacation out of the way. Ending the series on the Red Dragon seems appropriate.

Southpaw
Jake Gyllenhaal tried so hard. I just wish it was worth the effort.

Battlebots Finale
I thought Bronco will be able to handle Tombstone. I nailed Biteforce winning the whole thing. The simple bots aren't as sexy, but they tend to be more effective. That final match though. That was close.

Halt and Catch Fire "Kali"
Brilliant payoff with Cameron bugging the system with Gordon's virus. I'm still so bored with Gordon's story though.

Harry and the Hendersons
Certainly one of those movies that I didn't have to see to know everything about it. It was charming. I'll leave it at that.

True Detective "Church in Ruins"
I hate will a bad plan gets pulled off successfully. After that sex party, I'm turning my brain off for the rest of the season. It'll make it a lot easier to enjoy the parts that I do like.

The Jim Gaffigan Show "A Night at the Plaza"
Vintage sitcom structure with a few tweaks to keep it from feeling tired. If you are going to over-direct a story, including recurring gags (like the door being broken) that are versatile is a nice touch. More than anything, I like that all the craziness isn't conspiring to turn Jeannie against Jim. The handling of their relationship is the best thing about the series so far.

Girl Meets World "Girl Meets Fish"
Boy Meets World wasn't immune to a theme night. That doesn't mean I have to like them in Girl Meets World.

Singin' in the Rain / Weekend / Stranger Than Fiction
I did a favorite movies night with some friends. That was a great triple feature.

Delayed Reaction: Mr. Peabody and Sherman

What I Guessed It Was About: Mr. Peabody and Sherman travel back to somewhere in time where they get stuck and have to journey to repair their time machine and get back to the present.

How I Came Into It: I only vaguely remember Mr. Peabody and Sherman from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, a show which I barely remember as a whole. This promised time travel and a healthy dose of the "this will go right over the kids' heads" humor that Dreamworks loves to do. Ty Burrell is oddly perfect for the voice of Mr. Peabody too, which is a good start.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) This was a more touching movie than I expected. All the stuff about adoption and the bond between Mr. Peabody and Sherman as father and son was great. The voice casting all around was quite good. The jokes were as good as they needed to be. It didn't exceed my expectations, but meeting them isn't so bad.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: It's probably good that I don't remember the original show well. I looked up some reviews for this movie and it's totally a sacred cow for people. Almost any negative review had the poorly concealed subtext of "This isn't as good as the show. Nothing could be" which is defeatist and not fair.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Unlawful Entry

What I Guessed It Was About: A home invasion movie about - is that Kurt Russell on the poster? - and whoever his family is being trapped in the house by some criminal. The 'unlawful' part makes me think the cops are involved somehow. Not sure if they are pro- or ant-agonists though.

How I Came Into It: I knew nothing about this movie. I've liked the cast in different things though. Kurt Russell was coming off Backdraft. Ray Liotta was coming off Goodfellas. Madeline Stowe, well, I'm sure she was doing stuff before that (that was her in Stakeout, right?). This was a good time to be any of them.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) This is a simple movie that's effective at what it does. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Stowe's character believed Russell well before the end. In fact, Liotta's partner was on Russell's side too. I can't stand when a movie like this becomes conspiracy-like where only the main character knows the truth and everyone assumes he's wrong. It's such a plot-driven move that makes the supporting characters impossibly dense. Unlawful Entry didn't do that. Bravo!

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This is a fringe movie at best. It's been done before and since so many times that your favorite one is most likely whichever you saw first. It's also in that sub-category of movies that have probably been done better as a Law & Order episode. It doesn't make this movie bad or anything. I means that in a few months, I guarantee the my response to it will be "which one was that one?".

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: G.I. Jane

What I Guessed It Was About: Demi Moore works out for 2 hours and cuts her hair.

How I Came Into It: I remember all the fuss about this when it first came out. Demi Moore was huge at the time, the biggest actress in the world as far as I knew. She just did Striptease and followed it up with this. There was so much coverage about her chopped off hair and how ripped she got. Most people forgot that there was an actual movie amongst the transformation.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I'll admit, a lot of me was curious to see just how ridiculously cut little Demi Moore got. That does take over the movie, no doubt about it. In general, it does a good job portraying the difficulty of the SEAL training.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Almost all of the movie tries too hard. The training is ridiculously tough (can it really rain that much?). Like, super amped up. I'm not super "hoo-rah" about the military to begin with, so a lot of this movie just strikes me as comically ridiculous. For example, there's that whole mission they go on at the end that I'm pretty sure is there because the studio made one pass through the screenplay and said "No. There needs to be a battle scene".

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Movie Reaction: Southpaw

Formula: Rocky + Rocky II + Rocky III + Rocky V + Rocky Balboa

Why I Saw It: I like Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams enough to give it a chance.

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal is the through line character with people like Rachel McAdams, Forrest Whitaker, 50 Cent, and Naomi Harris showing up for parts. Oona Laurence fills the cute kid role.

Plot: Billy Hope (Gyllenhaal) is a champion lightweight boxer. One day, he gets in a brawl with another boxer (Miguel Gomez) and his wife (McAdams) ends up dead. He spirals out of control, then works to put his life together. (Note: I'm only spoiling what the trailer already does)

Thoughts:
This is a referendum on Jake Gyllenhaal first and foremost. Southpaw isn't a good movie with a strong lead performance. It's a strong lead performance with an OK movie. If you don't like what Gyllenhaal is doing, then it's going to be a long two hours. Luckily, he's very good. Not Nightcrawler level. Expecting that would be greedy.
I'm not sure how this movie could be more familiar and predictable than it already is. It's like they rolled every Rocky movie into one and then took away his kid (Laurence) for a while. The story simply goes in every direction I expected it to. At no point is there a surprising decision and it is riddled with cases of showing instead of telling. Don't worry about missing a thematic element, because as it's happening, someone will comment on it.
There's too much story as well. The arc is too big and the focus too scattered. There's establishing Billy's relationship with his wife enough for it to matter when she dies, his downward spiral, his posse and manager leaving him, the litigation for custody of his daughter, the career redemption story, learning to be a more responsible man. Many of these things are tied together, sure. But, this many years after Rocky and Raging Bull and Ali and Cinderella Man and The Fighter, you really have to pick a focus to be memorable.
That's not to say this isn't without its small charms. Gyllenhaal, as I mentioned is very good and ably holds up the movie most of the time. McAdams is much better than what was on the page for her (The fact that I cared at all for her by the time she dies early on is remarkable). Except for a couple annoying reminders that he's the "bad guy", the movie doesn't make the rival boxer antagonist into a monster. He's a loud-mouthed competitor, which is only natural, but he gets a few grace moments that prove that he's as respectable a guy as Gyllenhaal. In fact, I would've loved to see a version of the movie that was more about that rivalry.

Elephant in the Room: How's the boxing though? It's kinetic enough. Anthony Fuqua has an interest in being as close as he can to the fighting. It isn't very consistent though. There's a change in how the fighting is shown that is less about showing and evolution in Hope's style and more about "let's try this now". Especially at the end, the fighting moves into a silly "video game" style of intensity that got in the way of my appreciation of it.

To Sum Things Up (In 57 Words or Less):
Jake Gyllenhaal holds this narratively and thematically scattered movie together as well as possible. There's genuine moments of heart and excitement that don't come often enough to make up for how much of the movie drags. I can only recommend it to the most diehard boxing movie or Jake Gyllenhaal fans.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend