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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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Happy 80th Birthday, Bob Dylan

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What can I say? I've been listening to Dylan for most of my life (at least 55 of my almost 70 years). The only time I saw him in concert was when he was in his "Slow Train Coming" period, which included some good songs ("Serve Somebody") and a great band, but no dipping into the catalogue. But his songs have been part of my personal soundtrack across radio, vinyl, cassettes, CDs, downloads and streaming, from specific albums ("Highway 61 Revisited," "Blood on the Tracks," "Triplicate") to collections ("Biograph," "The Essential," the latter of which I am playing this morning). I have "Tarantula," which I quoted in my college-graduation bio (which was otherwise quite terrible), and "Chronicles." There are so many songs I love. Even when the covers are great, I find more to hold to in Dylan's versions. Some songs (with a few more added since I first posted the list, because there is so mu...
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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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