It will be interesting to see which film prevails in terms of box office interest, the one about the diminutive weirdo on the run from the security forces trying to take him down, or Lilo & Stitch.

Didn't know there was a live-action (ostensibly, though half of it's got to be CGI, right?) version of "Lilo and Stitch" coming out. Its success is certainly good news for Disney, after their "Snow White" would-be blockbuster crashed and burned.

I think it's possible.Cruise's Scientology demigodhood reached uncharted territory a while ago. Not even L. Ron Hubbard achieved Infinity ∞ Level Operating Thetan.

I saw it last night and it's wild. Atwell is apparently the kind of woman who gains all of five or six pounds, basically the weight of her baby and only the weight of her baby. If someone was really paying attention they may have been able to draw conclusions from the hint of Atwell swelling into a cow-like size 2, but she wouldn't 't look pregnant at all to anyone who doesn't have a restraining order.



Scientology, man.

Not even close -- Lilo & Stitch blew it out of the water. Not that MI did poorly, I think it opened to a series best.

Going tonight, expecting to enjoy it. Watched the last one this past weekend to refresh my brain muscles. Love it, but man, it's kinda crazy how dependent everyone is on avoiding facial recognition software... and how the heroes have access to these flawless super-masks no one can detect... and yet... they barely use them.

Overall, I'd say it was good but not great. It had two of the greatest set pieces in the series' history but the story felt very rushed in spots (even at 3 hours), there were times when upping the ante / peril got a little too ridiculous (even for Mission Impossible), and it got overly sentimental / cloying in some parts. I think a strong edit would have helped a lot.

I also thought, and this goes for the previous one as well, that Gabriel was miscast. He just seemed like a regular handsome soap opera looking actor -- the way the character was written, I would have liked to see someone bring the same creepy, stone cold killer vibe that Javier Bardum, Willem Dafoe, and Hugo Weaving have been able to channel in some of their best roles.

Anyway, going from memory, here's how I'd rank them. I think they're all good, so being toward the bottom of this list is no insult. I think all are a good time at the movies and worth the price of admission. I know most rate MI:2 as the worst of the bunch, but I recall really enjoying it when it came out and it felt like it was the biggest action film of the year. The John Woo stuff seems corny and outdated now, but it felt cutting edge at the time.

That's how I'm ranking these -- just remembering my reaction *at the time* I saw these movies. MI:3 probably doesn't get as big a reaction from me today after seeing all the others, but at the time it felt like the series really leveled up and I was in constant suspense. I'd probably also rank Rogue Nation through Ghost Protocol about the same, but it's a list, so they have to be in one order or another.

> Fallout
> Mission: Impossible III
> Rogue Nation
> Dead Reckoning
> Ghost Protocol
> MI:2
> Final Reckoning
> Mission: Impossible

Wild to think that MI:2 was the biggest box office smash of 2000. That would never happen today unless Tom Cruise was in a superhero costume.

At this point, I think superheroes are in the backseat and family films are ruling the roost. Last year we had Inside Out 2 in the top spot, with Moana 2, Despicable Me 2, Mufasa, Sonic 3, and Kung Fu Panda 4 filled out the top ten.

Kind of shows that families with kids still go see movies in large numbers, and action fans really don't.

I haven't seen these last two yet (waiting to watch them at home as one long movie), but if it's anything like all the rest of them, I will watch, enjoy, and promptly forget everything about them. I couldn't tell you a thing about any of the earlier movies, apart from maybe some memorable scenes. But even those, I wouldn't be able to say what was happening in them, or why they were happening. Could never do a ranking.

What happens in them: Tom Cruise gets himself into a sticky wicket, by Jove, and he jolly well gets himself out of them, then goes up the apples and pears to bed!

Correct ranking:

> Rogue Nation
>Fallout
> Mission: Impossible III
> Ghost Protocol
> Mission: Impossible
> Dead Reckoning
> Final Reckoning
> MI:2

I think having a faceless rogue AI and that one guy in the background scene in MI:1 be the main Reckoning villains was a mistake. I miss that gravely voiced guy from a few movies ago. Now that was a good villain.

I may or may not have needed to watch this video to refresh my memory of each one so I could recall my reactions to them in the theater. I suppose no one will ever know for sure.