Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015)

★★★½
If Ghost Protocol writers André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum and director Brad Bird laid the groundwork for increasingly stacking the deck against mission success to test Ethan Hunt's resolve and make the plot compelling, then Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation director Christopher McQuarrie was the perfect man to bring in to follow that blueprint and develop challenging adversaries who will push Hunt to great lengths to finish the job. Whereas James Bond can quip a one-liner to decompress after a near death experience, Ethan Hunt remains alert. His missions are too multilayered to allow him any respite. This isn't surprising, as McQuarrie wrote The Usual Suspects, a dense and complex crime thriller the ending of which slowly unfolded in a way to force us to rethink everything. Previous Mission directors didn't write the scripts. McQuarrie not only wrote this one, but he will also write and direct the rest of the series. A film universe that needs an I.M.F. perfectly plays to McQuarrie's strengths as a writer.

Terrifier (2018)

zero stars
Terrifier is pure, unadulterated trash. I hated every second of it. Director Damien Leone gives us a killer clown named Art, who dispatches his victims in the most gruesome ways possible, but he doesn't stack up well at all to filmdom's more sinister clowns. Pennywise commits psychological warfare and exploits his victims' fears. The Chiodo Brothers' killer klowns from outer space were inventive in their use of circus props to hunt humans. The Joker? He's been analyzed to death. He warrants it. He's one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. Art the Clown doesn't belong in that company, nor does he belong in the company of Freddy, Jason and Michael. He's a one-dimensional killing machine in a one-dimensional movie that isn't scary, suspenseful, interesting or clever. It's witless and stupid. It's a parade of characters who meet a grisly demise for no purpose other than to showcase the special effects crew's talents.

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

★★
Around the World in 80 Days is an unspectacular movie that runs on Jackie Chan's star power, which is fading fast in the U.S. after his The Medallion failed to impress anyone. While the writers—three Davids (Titcher, Benullo, Goldstein)—reworked the Jules Verne story to make the Passepartout character Chinese, director Frank Coraci stages some good fight scenes featuring the Buster Keaton of martial arts but renders everything else in the movie as afterthoughts. This makes for a very dull affair in which the story just plods along, and we have no choice but to look forward to the next fight scene.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

½ star
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's I Know What You Did Last Summer was coasting along at a slow but inoffensive pace until its ghastly third act, which infuriated me with its total disrespect not just for the first movie from 1997 but for its contempt for a strong male character who needed to be destroyed in the director's eyes. I liked the callbacks to the original and placing this movie in the same universe in which the Julie James ordeal occurred, but I hated the turn of events that led to the identification of the killer. Jim Gillespie's original wasn't without its faults, but it was a slick and thrilling ride. It was a good complement to Scream (1996), which is not surprising considering that both were written by Kevin Williamson. Robinson's version starts out as plug-and-play in a modern setting, but her twist is short-sighted and serves only to give a momentary shock to legacy fans who don't bother to think about the implications of orchestrating such a heel turn.

Hanging Up (2000)

★★
Nora Ephron's name will most likely forever be linked with chick flicks. It's ironic that her best work has nothing to do with that genre. In 1983 she co-wrote Silkwood, a fine film based on the true story of a nuclear factory employee uncovering corruption at the plant. Another notable film is My Blue Heaven (1990), starring Steve Martin as an oddball gangster hiding away while he awaits his court appearance. Ephron sometimes hits the target and dishes out something worth watching (1996's Michael), but lately I have found her films, whether written and/or directed by her, too cute for my tastes. I was unimpressed with her wildly popular Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and You've Got Mail (1998) was weak too. Now, she and her sister Delia have cowritten Hanging Up, which was directed by Diane Keaton, and again Ephron has created something with a warm and fuzzy exterior but with a shallow interior.

The Founder (2016)

★★★
Ray Kroc's venerable restaurant chain, like all the big-name retailers and food establishments that dot the landscape, started out as one store. It has endured periods of low profit, lawsuits, failed products (though I loved the Arch Deluxe), a critical documentary, a critical book and shifting eating habits to remain the go-to place for a quick meal and senior citizens who gravitate to the nearest store for coffee every morning. It has also inspired parody ("They got the Big Bac. We got the Big Mic.") and a sly pop culture reference courtesy of Quentin Tarantino. The Founder gives us the story of how Ray Kroc turned a lone hamburger stand in San Bernardino into the national brand known as McDonald's. Kroc's rise to the top of the restaurant food chain is an intriguing story so good it's taught in business schools. Director John Lee Hancock presents a struggling milkshake machine vendor in his 50s who finally sees an opportunity to find the success that has eluded him after years of effort. If he has to take someone else's concept and run with it, then so be it.

The Relic (1997)

★★★
The Relic is so much fun that it's easy to forgive its shortcomings, and there are plenty. This is a gory monster movie that takes place in a vast building with corridors that are perfect for a mutated beast to roam free and attack unsuspecting prey. If this sounds pretty routine, well, it is, but Peter Hyams directs the film like a well-oiled machine. There are occasional surprises to go along with the formulaic elements.