The Reel World

When a disease begins targeting and killing children, you fear the future of the generation. However, when the children who survive develop dangerous abilities, you fear for yourself. That is the situation that Ruby Daly finds herself in. To compound her issues, not only does she have powers that she can’t control, but among the powerful, her abilities are among the rarest and strongest. Amandla Stenberg stars in this film based on a young adult novel series. Anyone else sensing a franchise in works? Unfortunately, despite the vacuum let behind by Twilight, Hunger Games (which our star was a part of), and the recently ended Maze Runner, I’m not so sure that The Darkest Minds will be the vehicle to fill the gap. Overall it was a solid opening, but I left the film with more than a few unanswered questions.

"Your mission should you decide to accept it. Isn't that the thing?"

And that has been the thing. Since 1966 Mission Impossible has plotted out nine seasons of television and six movies, thrusting Tom Cruise into an action hero icon. Cruise and company have taken their time with these films. It's been over 20 years, and we're only on the sixth entry. For the first five films, each of the Missions have been directed by a different director, from John Woo, who directed the second and worst of the films, through J.J. Abrams, who turned the ship around with the third, which was also his first feature film, to Christopher McQuarrie, who becomes the first director to repeat in the series of films.

A cool little film with a lot of mixed messages, Eighth Grade tells the story of a young girl entering her teenage years. Nicely acted and directed, the movie works on the heartstrings and leaves you with a feel-good sentiment. If you can remember the years when your next step would be high school, you may be surprised by the film that very little has changed. There’s one more week of eighth  grade, and Kayla Day (Elise Fisher) finds herself full of angst mixed with hope as she deals with what she leaves behind and looks forward. A lot is taking place including her last band practice, Kennedy’s birthday swim party, and upcoming High School Shadowing Day.  It’s also the announcement of class superlatives that precedes graduation day.

Dwayne Johnson appears to be a pretty busy guy. In addition to the HBO series Ballers about to enter its fourth season, Johnson puts out a couple or more films a year. We're not talking about small independent films, but rather huge high-budget and big f/x films. Next year will see Jungle Cruise and Jumanji 2,  following with San Andreas 2, Suicide Squad 2, Black Adam and a remake of Big Trouble In Little China, all arriving in the next couple of years. This year saw Rampage, which comes to home video next week. It's a busy life for Dwayne Johnson, who appears to have dropped "The Rock" from his name. I sure hope it didn't hit anyone on the head. Now he's starring in Skyscraper, which shamelessly combines elements of Die Hard and The Towering Inferno. In Skyscraper, Johnson shows us that he's intent on hanging around for a while... this time from 220 stories high.

In 2010 there was a little film called Winter’s Bone that came out; it didn’t make a splash at the box office, but it was one of the critical darlings of that year.  For many it was the first time people got to see Jennifer Lawrence on screen, and it’s safe to say it is because of that film she is the star that she is today.  I remember first seeing Winter’s Bone and being so floored by the film I immediately watched it again, and I had to know who it was that had directed the film. Debra Granik was the woman responsible for the film. It was a name I had never heard before, but it was one I’d be on the lookout for in the following years. Though she did a documentary between projects, it seems the wait is finally over as Leave No Trace is about to hit the big screen.

So the director had my undivided attention until he went completely sideways. I mean, I was engaged; I was feeling the message behind the film. I found the characters to be original and the things that they had to say were unlike anything I had seen in recent years. Not to mention that opening scene was the perfect way to bring the audience into this world; and then it all came crashing down. Despite this disappointment, Sorry to Bother You remains among one of the most creative cinematic experiences that I had this year. I wanted very much to love the film, but sadly I can’t say that. I liked it a lot, especially the first half. It is the kind of film that was likely the gem of the film festival circuit. The number one slot of box office will be out of reach for it, though.

Earlier this summer, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was turned upside down in a snap. Avengers: Infinity War was the culmination of 10 years worth of origin stories and world-building. That blockbuster featured (almost) every MCU hero in the galaxy, universe-spanning stakes, and an unforgettable cliffhanger. So you can excuse Marvel for scaling things back (waaaaay back) with its next entry. Of course, any superhero flick that came immediately after Infinity War was going to feel small by comparison, so who better to take on that task than the tiniest hero of them all?

“This is the greatest s--- show on Earth!”

The First Purge arrives in theaters a little more than five years after the (lowercase) first Purge rampaged into moviegoers’ consciousness as a nasty bit of R-rated, summer blockbuster counterprogramming. The movies are obviously quite popular, but I’ve never felt that any of them fully lived up to the killer concept at the center of this franchise. Unfortunately, that still holds true for The First Purge, which had a chance to deviate from the established formula in a variety of interesting ways, but ends up playing a lot like The First Three Purges.

"Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?"

By the time you get to the fourth sequel of a film the results are usually not very good. Even a groundbreaking film like Jurassic Park has been followed by at least one terrible sequel. The problem with these kinds of things is pretty easy to figure out. You can't please all of any film's diehard fans, and it's hard to continue to deliver on the formula's expectations, all the while breaking new ground without the result feeling more contrived than original. That's certainly all been true of this franchise. When Jurassic World set all kinds of box office records three years ago, it appeared that those entrusted with this franchise had found a way to turn it around.