“Mission: Impossible Fallout” Maintains the Good Spirits of Its Predecessor
Complain, if you must, that your local cinema is stuffed with nothing but sequels. Just don’t kid yourself that the stuffing is anything new. As Tom Cruise guns his motorbike around the Arc de Triomphe (against the traffic, naturally), in his latest venture, “Mission: Impossible—Fallout,” you may tell yourself, “Yeah, nice, but didn’t he ride a similar machine in ‘Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation’?” Indeed he did. And don’t forget the bike-off in “Mission: Impossible 2,” when he and the villain did wheelies at each other, like stags locking antlers in the rutting season. But spare a thought for your great-great-grandparents, off to the pictures, more than a century ago. They, likewise, will have muttered, “Here we go again,” as Helen Holmes—every bit as determined as Cruise, and no less capable of performing her own stunts—mounted a motorbike and hared off in pursuit of a runaway train. That’s what she did in “The Wild Engine,” which was released in 1915. It was the twenty-sixth film in “The Hazards of Helen” series, and Holmes’s last in the leading role, yet the franchise was far from done. There were ninety-three episodes to go.
'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' Soundtrack Set for Top 10 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
The Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again film soundtrack is dancing its way to the top 10 next week on the Billboard 200 chart, according to industry forecasters. Those in the know suggest the ABBA-inspired set could earn around 40,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending July 26 — up over 100 percent as compared to its debut a week earlier, when it entered at No. 20 with 19,000 units earned (according to Nielsen Music). The set is basking in the glow of the hit movie’s release in theaters on July 20, the first day of the tracking week reflected in the upcoming Billboard 200.
WHAT'S THE STORY? HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION starts with an 1897-set prologue that introduces monster slayer Van Helsing (voiced by Jim Gaffigan), whose family has tried unsuccessfully for generations to kill Dracula and all other monsters. Back in the present, Dracula (Adam Sandler) is busy coordinating another monster wedding when he realizes that all of his close friends are coupled off. Feeling lonely, he tries online dating but quickly decides it's not for him. His daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), catches him looking frazzled and has a brilliant idea to de-stress her dad: a family vacation. So Drac, Mavis, Jonathan (Andy Samberg), little Dennis, and the rest of the gang head off on a luxury monster cruise to Atlantis, where human captain Ericka (Kathryn Hahn) makes everyone feel comfortable. Once Drac lays eyes on Ericka, he immediately "zings" with her -- the monster version of love at first sight. The only problem is that Ericka is actually a Van Helsing, and she's determined to fulfill her family legacy...
‘Equalizer 2’ proves Denzel Washington can make even a bad movie watchable
It’s purely unintentional, but the little numeral dangling, like a broken, mangled finger, from the end of the title of “The Equalizer 2” signals more than the fact that this is a sequel to the 2014 action thriller about a violent vigilante. It also lets you know that there are two, and only two, pleasures to be had here. The first — Denzel Washington in the title role as an ex-military man and former black ops agent who, in his 60s, leverages his still-sharp martial-arts skills and strict moral code as an avenging angel for the mistreated — is not inconsiderable. Even in mediocre material, Washington shines. (Case in point: “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” for which the actor, but not the film, earned an Oscar nod.)
Complain, if you must, that your local cinema is stuffed with nothing but sequels. Just don’t kid yourself that the stuffing is anything new. As Tom Cruise guns his motorbike around the Arc de Triomphe (against the traffic, naturally), in his latest venture, “Mission: Impossible—Fallout,” you may tell yourself, “Yeah, nice, but didn’t he ride a similar machine in ‘Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation’?” Indeed he did. And don’t forget the bike-off in “Mission: Impossible 2,” when he and the villain did wheelies at each other, like stags locking antlers in the rutting season. But spare a thought for your great-great-grandparents, off to the pictures, more than a century ago. They, likewise, will have muttered, “Here we go again,” as Helen Holmes—every bit as determined as Cruise, and no less capable of performing her own stunts—mounted a motorbike and hared off in pursuit of a runaway train. That’s what she did in “The Wild Engine,” which was released in 1915. It was the twenty-sixth film in “The Hazards of Helen” series, and Holmes’s last in the leading role, yet the franchise was far from done. There were ninety-three episodes to go.
'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' Soundtrack Set for Top 10 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
The Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again film soundtrack is dancing its way to the top 10 next week on the Billboard 200 chart, according to industry forecasters. Those in the know suggest the ABBA-inspired set could earn around 40,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending July 26 — up over 100 percent as compared to its debut a week earlier, when it entered at No. 20 with 19,000 units earned (according to Nielsen Music). The set is basking in the glow of the hit movie’s release in theaters on July 20, the first day of the tracking week reflected in the upcoming Billboard 200.
WHAT'S THE STORY? HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION starts with an 1897-set prologue that introduces monster slayer Van Helsing (voiced by Jim Gaffigan), whose family has tried unsuccessfully for generations to kill Dracula and all other monsters. Back in the present, Dracula (Adam Sandler) is busy coordinating another monster wedding when he realizes that all of his close friends are coupled off. Feeling lonely, he tries online dating but quickly decides it's not for him. His daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), catches him looking frazzled and has a brilliant idea to de-stress her dad: a family vacation. So Drac, Mavis, Jonathan (Andy Samberg), little Dennis, and the rest of the gang head off on a luxury monster cruise to Atlantis, where human captain Ericka (Kathryn Hahn) makes everyone feel comfortable. Once Drac lays eyes on Ericka, he immediately "zings" with her -- the monster version of love at first sight. The only problem is that Ericka is actually a Van Helsing, and she's determined to fulfill her family legacy...
‘Equalizer 2’ proves Denzel Washington can make even a bad movie watchable
It’s purely unintentional, but the little numeral dangling, like a broken, mangled finger, from the end of the title of “The Equalizer 2” signals more than the fact that this is a sequel to the 2014 action thriller about a violent vigilante. It also lets you know that there are two, and only two, pleasures to be had here. The first — Denzel Washington in the title role as an ex-military man and former black ops agent who, in his 60s, leverages his still-sharp martial-arts skills and strict moral code as an avenging angel for the mistreated — is not inconsiderable. Even in mediocre material, Washington shines. (Case in point: “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” for which the actor, but not the film, earned an Oscar nod.)
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