I have a couple of reviews for you . . . First up, as an appetizer, my review of what has quickly become a favorite TV show:
Lucifer.
I know, WHAT? You WATCH that? Yes, yes I do. Let me give you some history first -- Tom Ellis, who plays the titular character, is funny. I first saw him in the comedy TV show Miranda, and the guy has great timing. When I heard he was going to be in this new show, I had to watch an episode. It was . . . meh. He did a great job, ate up every scene he was in. The rest of the acting was wooden and boring. But I kept watching. It HAD to get better, right? By the second half of the season, it seemed everyone figured out what they were doing, from the writers to the directors to the actors. It just got better. But the end of the first season, I was hooked.
Just to watch Tom Ellis ham it up is a masterclass in and of itself. The guy just relishes in bringing out the humor in his character. Watch it just for him, if for nothing else. A solid 3.5 out of 5 for me.
Second up comes a movie review. I have to preface this with saying I don't go out to see many movies -- most of what's out there doesn't appeal to me and what does, doesn't appeal to my family, so needless to say, when it finally hits Netflix or Redbox is when I'll get to see it. But, I've seen every movie in this franchise before it, so I had to go see:
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Say what you will about Tom Cruise (a Tom again, hmm), but the guy is a fair action actor. Thank goodness this movie has a really good supporting cast. Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, et al, acted their guts out, and the story gave them something to act with.
There was action, humor, more action, a chase or four (I lost count), more humor, even MORE action. By the end, I was exhausted. But what an end! I won't give it away, but let's just say, the good guys won by the skin of Tom Cruise's veneers.
This was a movie that doesn't hold up to deep thinking, as then the obvious plot holes appear, but in the middle of the action you aren't thinking about that, you're thinking, holy crap, how much running can one man do?? This was a take-you-by-the-shirt-front-and-rough-you-up kind of movie. It only really slowed down towards the end, where we see what's going on with Ethan Hunt's wife (ex-wife? they weren't particularly clear on that, even though she's remarried).
There was a special bit of acting that I absolutely loved, when Ethan and Julia are face to face, she turns to see the rest of the team, comically standing there wide-eyed as they wait for Ethan to come save the day. The look on Michelle Monaghan's face as she realizes what's really going on shows a subtlety in acting that you rarely see in these kinds of movies.
Ok, enough gushing. Go see this movie. It was good. Very, very good. A solid 4.5/5
So what am I up to now? I have recently released the fourth adventure in The Adventures of Tremain & Christopher, and have started plotting the fifth. I've also been mulling around a book or books that exist in a different world and genre altogether. Not sure where this is going yet, but I'll keep you posted.
If you want to know more about what I'm doing, you can always hit me up here on this blog -- just leave a comment, or you can find me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TerryMarchionAuthor)
Until next time,
Terry