Mission: Impossible - Fallout

The sixth entry in the Mission: Impossible film series, Fallout has Ethan Hunt and his team set out to recover stolen plutonium from the same terrorist organization as the last entry while being monitored by the CIA. While I liked Rogue Nation, I didn't love it as much as Ghost Protocol, this one was a huge improvement over the last one though I find it to be second best to Protocol. And to be clear I still haven't seen the first three films nor the television series that they're all based on. Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan, and Sean Harris all return alongside newcomers Henry Cavill and Angela Bassett and they all provide great performances. The action scenes, in my opinion, are all better done compared to the last one though some of the fight scenes, like one that takes place in a bathroom, as well done as they are feel laking since you expect someone to draw blood and they don't. Fallout's best quality is the various twist and turns, reveals, and plot twists that keep on coming every minute. Returning to direct and write, a first for the series, Christopher McQuarrie does a phenomenal job at creating brisk and amazing sequences while telling a great story with heart pounding moments. You learn the reason why, despite being abandoned and disavowed numerous times by the IMF, why Hunt is willing to do what he does time and time again and it makes you root for him constantly. Over all: 100%

2018 top list so far:
1. Won't You Be My Neighbor?

2. Incredibles 2

3. Avengers: Infinity War

4. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

5. Solo: A Star Wars Story

6. A Quiet Place
7. Deadpool 2

8. Black Panther
9. Ant-Man and the Wasp

10. Ready Player One

11. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

12. Ocean's 8

13. Isle of Dogs

14. Game Night
15. Thoroughbreds

16. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

17. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Fathom Events-Princess Mononoke

My second Fathom feature and the first time I went to see a rerelease of an older film, the Fathom screening of Princess Mononoke is part of a year long showing of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki films. Set during the Muromachi period in Japan, the film deals with a village prince struck by a curse  from the gods and sets out to stop a war between mortals destroying the forrest and the gods and other creatures that inhabit it. One of the reasons I went to see Mononoke was because even though I'm not into anime, I once saw Spirited Away and fell in love with Miyazaki's style. The animation and visuals are all breathtaking and the various different colors are just so amazing and beautiful. While the English dub has some amazing talent behind it, like Billy Crudup and Claire Danes, and a lot of the dialogue is well done, some of the things the characters say either has weird deliveries or feels unneeded. As an animated film the fact that it's over two hours long and has a lot of very violent moments that fit the story is something many American animated films should look at and not be afraid to try. Although, while the fight and battle scenes are well done, there are odd moments where people loose their limbs way too easily and at times without them reacting as much to it. All in all, this Ghibli entry was good, beautiful, and had a good environmental message to it but not on par with Spirited.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Released ten years after the first film, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again has nearly all of the main cast return in this jukebox musical comedy that uses ABBA songs. The sequel reuses a few of the songs that were already used in the first one while also using others that weren't used in either the film or musical it was based on. Set a few years after the previous entry, Sophie is planning on reopening the hotel her mother made a year after she died but has setbacks due to a storm coming in and keeping people from coming in. It also looks at the misadventures her mother, Donna, had when she was younger and how she met the three men Sophie sees as her fathers and how she ended up in Greece. While I like the first film, despite its flaws, Here We Go Again is a big improvement as it tells its story better, though the story itself is very simple and nothing new, and the choreography is the best of the two. While Lily James is no Meryl Streep she does a perfect job at capturing the younger version of her character. The cast's overall singing is a whole lot better as everyone gets the song that best fits their singing style. One thing that did bother me was that the transition between past and present was never clear and took a while to know what time period was what. The first few minutes, especially the opening number with the younger Donna felt a bit slow for me, though after that it did get better. Here We Go Again's biggest surprise and the best moment of the film was the number between Cher and Andy Garcia. Even if she did appear for a few minutes and had no interaction with the cast, Meryl Streep always delivers. Over all: 88%

2018 top list so far:
1. Won't You Be My Neighbor?

2. Incredibles 2

3. Avengers: Infinity War

4. Solo: A Star Wars Story

5. A Quiet Place
6. Deadpool 2

7. Black Panther
8. Ant-Man and the Wasp

9. Ready Player One

10. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

11. Ocean's 8

12. Isle of Dogs

13. Game Night
14. Thoroughbreds

15. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

16. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Won't You Be My Neighbor? is actually the very first documentary and non fiction film I ever saw in theaters. The film deals with the life and philosophy of Fred Rogers as well as the behind the scenes of his long running show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Various people from Rogers' life, including those who worked with him on the show, spoke about the kindness of the man. Whether it was his wife, kids, musician and friend Yo-Yo Ma, and costar and friend Francois Clemmons you get to learn about both the amazing things and the sad things that occurred in his life. I never grew up with the show and haven't seen any of the episodes, but I was always interested in learning more about him. This was really beautiful and something that everyone needs to see as it is a deep exploration of a man so loved but even after so many years still had some doubts. The music especially used throughout the film is really good at emphasizing the emotions you feel in certain parts. While there were a few small parts wherein Rogers had an opinion about something that I didn't agree with, at least he had a good reason and made some fine points to them. Over all: 100%

2018 top list so far:
1. Won't You Be My Neighbor?

2. Incredibles 2

3. Avengers: Infinity War

4. Solo: A Star Wars Story

5. A Quiet Place
6. Deadpool 2

7. Black Panther
8. Ant-Man and the Wasp

9. Ready Player One

10. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

11. Ocean's 8

12. Isle of Dogs

13. Game Night
14. Thoroughbreds

15. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Ant-Man and the Wasp

A nice, well done breather after the emotional takedown that Infinity War put us through, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a great entry that lets us enjoy the more fun side of the MCU. After Scott Lang aided Captain America during the events of Civil War, he ended up under house arrest and lost contact with Hope van Dyme and Hank Pym. Lang reunites with them when they find a way to find and rescue Hank's wife but have to deal with a criminal boss wanting their tech and a woman with phasing powers known as Ghost. The third MCU film of 2018, and the only one without deep social, political, or really emotional and hard breaking moments, at least until the very end, this latest entry is all about fun and having a good time. Action scenes were on point and made great use of Pym's shrinking technology and Ghost's phasing, the performances were great, the story is fun and well told, and has a lot of great comedic moments. While this doesn't reach the levels of Black Panther and Infinity War in terms of how it changed the superhero film, Ant-Man and the Wasp excels in how fun it is. On the other hand, there are some negatives and drawbacks such as the comedy often happening too much, how certain things are explained away, and the way Janet van Dyme was found and the abilities she now has. Over all: 95%

2018 top list so far:
1. Incredibles 2

2. Avengers: Infinity War

3. Solo: A Star Wars Story

4. A Quiet Place
5. Deadpool 2

6. Black Panther
7. Ant-Man and the Wasp

8. Ready Player One

9. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

10. Ocean's 8

11. Isle of Dogs

12. Game Night
13. Thoroughbreds

14. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Pop Culture Guy episode 49: My Coming Out

Free Comic Book Day 2018 Invader Zim: Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy

With Free Comic Book Day 2018 Invader Zim: Floopsy Bloops Schmoopsy this is my first comic by Oni Press and my first based on a Nickelodeon animated series, this case the short lived classic Invader Zim. Playing out like any episode from the show, Zim creates a living blob to help him conquer the Earth but becomes distracted by Gir's obsession with binging a silly kids show he then gets hooked on. All the while, Zim's blob escapes and manages to take over the planet but because of his master's obsession, waits too long so decides to restore the planet, befriend the humans, and leaves Earth to help others. This comic, having been written by the same creator of the show, successfully captures the humor and colorful and crazy storytelling that the show was always doing each episode. Every page that I read from this comic I could see being done shot for shot if it was done as an episode of the show. Over all: 100%
Top list so far for 2nd set of comics:
1. Free Comic Book Day 2018 Invader Zim: Floopsy Bloops Shmoopsy
2. The Adventures of Superman Vol. 1 #500
3. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #5
4. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #6
5. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #4
6. Thor: God of Thunder Vol. 1 #1
7. Wonder Woman Free Comic Book Day 2017 Special Edition (2017-) issue #1
8. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2
9. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1
10. Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #92: Planet Hulk Part One
11. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3
12. Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation #1
13. Tate's Not At Comic Con Local Indy Anthology #8

Sicario: Day of the Soldado

While star Emily Blunt, director Denis Villeneuve, and cinematographer Roger Deakins don't return for this sequel, writer Taylor Sheridan and stars Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro return for this methodical thriller. It deals with most of the characters returning from the first film having to deal with Mexican cartels transporting terrorists into the United States. Sicario: Day of the Soldado's main plot deals with del Toro and Brolin's characters as they try to pit the various cartels against each other so as to disrupt the terrorists coming in by killing members of some cartels disguised as opposing cartels and kidnapping the daughter of a cartel head and making it look like the other cartels were involved. Much like its predecessor, Day of the Soldado isn't afraid to show how brutal it can be right in the beginning which can turn certain people off. The story is well told and the acting from everyone involved is phenomenal, with particular interest towards del Toro, Brolin, and newcomer Isabela Moner as the daughter kidnapped by the other two. Due to having a different director and cinematographer, this followup lacks the methodical directing style and beautiful majestic look that the previous film had, though it still well directed and photographed. Unlike Sicario's signature border shootout, there aren't scenes similar to that in this one, but there are some memorable action scenes. While this entry lacks in a lot that made the first film so great, it at least makes up for it by still keeping certain things and having some new stuff. Over all: 95%

2018 top list so far:
1. Incredibles 2

2. Avengers: Infinity War

3. Solo: A Star Wars Story

4. A Quiet Place
5. Deadpool 2

6. Black Panther
7. Ready Player One

8. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

9. Ocean's 8

10. Isle of Dogs

11. Game Night
12. Thoroughbreds

13. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom