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"Mission: Impossible -- Fallout"

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The latest "Mission: Impossible" film, subtitled "Fallout," exemplifies some issues facing action-moviemmakers, and not necessarily to its credit. First, the success of the "Fast and Furious" movies has made a case not only for big action, but for over-the-top, outrageous pieces so absurd that people cannot help but laugh. I've laughed at sequences in the last couple of "F and F" films, and a recent screening of "Fallout" found people laughing at the end of several crazy action sequences. "Fallout" also underscores how some moviegoers will come only for a grandiose adventure, one suitable for IMAX and 3-D, both of which formats are available for "Fallout." I saw it on a big but not huge screen, in 2-D, and felt as if a couple of the action sequences had been imagined just for the special formats, with no concern about how they would play in less elaborate form. Now, why do these ideas suggest a problem? B...
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"Uncut Gems": Grand illusions

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An actress not long ago said it did not matter if she liked or disliked characters she played; it was only important to understand them. Pretty much the same thing might be said about moviegoers: they won't mind if a screen character is terrible as long as they can see why. The biggest problem, then, with "Uncut Gems" is that the explanation for the central character is only that he is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is; beyond that, we see that he is an ass to everyone around him, but never why he is such an ass. This, I admit, is contrarian. The movie has gotten raves from reviewers -- 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes at this writing -- with Oscar talk attached to Adam Sandler for adding this bold, bracing performance to his short list of departures from often stupid comedies. The comedies, of course, are his bread and butter; "Murder Mystery" was reportedly the most-watched original on Netflix in 2019, and many of my Film Appreciation students last ter...
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TV watching, so much TV watching

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I still cruise the television offerings, though sometimes not for long. "Blood and Treasure," the CBS summer series, wasn't even worth finishing the first episode, a clumsily forced attempt at clever action. I managed to make it through one episode of Spectrum's "L.A.'s Finest," a gender-reversed visit to the "Bad Boys" formula, but one was enough; again, everything seemed to have been borrowed elsewhere, and not very well. I've seen a little more of the new Netflix-backed season of "Designated Survivor" ; it seems to be trying to be less of a thriller and more of a political tale (including via real-people documentary footage) but it's not very good at it -- at times a blatant reworking of things "The West Wing" did better. And I can say that from current memory, since I've been binge-watching "West Wing," with six seasons done and the seventh to go. The original flaws are still there -- the unk...
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