Somewhere around Mission: Impossible III I figured I could go for years happily watching Tom Cruise risk his life for my entertainment. If he wants to hang outside the Burj Khalifa pretending to be a spy, I’m all for that. You go, Tom.
Fortunately, he seems really game to keep doing it, even into his 50s. And watching all the Mission: Impossible movies, as I did this week, the only dud of the bunch is the second one. Otherwise, they’re a blast. And number five, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, might even be the best yet, coming 19 years into the series. That’s unlikely and amazing.
Check back here on FITI for my full review, coming soon.
National Lampoon’s Vacation series was a popular 1980s comedy franchise whose appeal completely escaped me. It starred Chevy Chase and Beverley D’Angelo and a series of child actors including Anthony Michael Hall, Johnny Galecki, and Juliette Lewis. An American family called The Griswolds go on misadventurous vacations over and over.
Vacation is a reboot/relaunch of the franchise, catching up with the son of the Griswold family, Rusty, now all grown up and married with kids and played by Ed Helms. He decides to take his brood to Walley World, the mythical theme-park of the first movie. Weirdly, this movie actually opened this past Wednesday, though I’m not entirely sure why.
Ian McKellan is Mr Holmes, playing the world’s most famous sleuth (Sherlock, natch’) in his 90s, reconsidering an unsolved case from 30 years before. Also starring the excellent Laura Linney, but you had me at McKellen.
It’s at The Oxford.
