Posts Tagged ‘Holt McCallany’

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Easi Morales, Henry Czerny, Pom Klementieff, Angela Bassett, Ving Rhames, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Mark Gatiss, Cary Elwes, Pasha D. Lynchnikoff, Vanessa Redgrave, Jon Voight

Running Time: 2 hours and 49 minutes

Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Two years after the hugely successful Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, the final film in the franchise has finally arrived and while the 2023 film was flashier and more glamourous, Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is grittier and slightly retro in some scenes which director McQuarrie clearly takes inspiration for his film aesthetic from the 1960’s & 1970’s spy films. Think The Spy Who Loved Me and Diamonds are Forever.

Superstar Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the final film which director Christopher McQuarrie expertly pays homage to all the previous films in the series especially the original Mission: Impossible directed by legendary auteur Brian de Palma back in 1996.

This film wraps up almost 30 years of possibly one of the most successful spy franchises next to the James Bond series.

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning sees Ethan and his team including Simon Pegg as Benji and Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited, The Duchess, Captain America: The First Avenger) reprising her role as Grace as they have to race against time, risking the fate of the world to control a megalomaniac artificial intelligence known as the Entity as it seeks quite malevolently to pit all the nuclear nations against each other.

While the plot of the Final Reckoning is quite far-fetched, the stunts are absolutely amazing particularly the claustrophobic diving scene inside a sunken submarine in which Ethan Hunt retrieves a special source code to the incredible vintage plane sequence over jaw dropping African mountains when Ethan and his evil nemesis Gabriel played again by Easi Morales are fighting atop a burning vintage plane.

Oscar nominee Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Whats Love Got to Do With it?) is sensational as the American President Erika Sloane who has the difficult task of protecting America while entrusting Ethan to contain the entity for eternity before there is an international nuclear fallout. Fortunately Bassett has a whole group of co-stars to play to.

There are several really crowded scenes in Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning, almost like chorus scenes in a theatre, which adds to the absolute spectacle of this film. For Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning to be appreciated you have to understand the theatricality of the film, the splendour and the phenomenal stunts. The end sequence is heart warming and suitably appealing with the scriptwriter tying up all the narrative loose ends.

While some of the flashback scenes are a bit excessive, this final outing of Mission: Impossible is amazing and definitely made for the fans. Look out for brief appearances by Vanessa Redgrave and Jon Voight who were in the original 1996 film. Tom Cruise is passionate about big screen spectacle and he achieves this in this worthy conclusion to a stylishly well executed spy franchise, which has seen the films being set all over the world.

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is brilliantly choreographed with some unbelievable sets and stunt sequences held together by a bursting cast full of talented actors wanting this beast of a film to be appreciated and supported.

Set in London, Austria, the Bering Sea and South Africa, Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is pure escapism on a grand scale and gets a film rating of 8.5 out of 10.

Highly recommended viewing for those with a spare three hours to kill. The fate of the cinema world depends on the viewer going to see it. Trust me, the experience is worth it.

The Amateur

Director: James Hawes

Cast: Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Bernthal, Rachel Brosnahan, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Caitriona Balfe, Danny Sapani, Marc Rissmann, Joseph Millson

Running Time: 2 hours and 3 minutes 

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Oscar winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) made a convincing Bond villain in the 2021 smash hit No Time to Die but as a leading action hero his status is dubious at best.

However, One Life director James Hawes took a chance on Rami Malek as a leading man in the new spy thriller The Amateur which is like a nerd’s guide to the Jason Bourne franchise without the guns, fistfights and car chases.

Malek plays the extremely clever CIA data analyst Charlie Heller whose beautiful wife Sarah played by The Marvellous Mrs Maisel and House of Cards TV star Rachel Brosnahan who gets murdered in a terrorist attack in London while in the British capital on a business trip.

Charlie senses a CIA cover up and ignores orders not to go after the Belarussian terrorists responsible and decides to go rogue with enough hacking skills to break through any firewall.

First Charlie seeks the assistance of tough guy Henderson played with a welcome return to the big screen by Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do With it) who attempts to train him to become a killer. While Charlie doesn’t take to firing guns at bad guys he discovers a penchant for explosives and detonators which can so easily be digitally triggered.

As Charlie seeks creative revenge on the terrorists and their leader Schiller played by Michael Stuhlbarg (The Shape of Water, Call Me by Your Name), he globe trots from London to Paris to Marseilles and eventually to Istanbul where he catches up with a CIA asset the mysterious Inquiline, briefly played by Irish actress Caitriona Balfe (Ford v Ferrari, Belfast, Money Monster).

The Amateur is an enjoyably different spy thriller as Rami Malek makes for a usual spy while all the CIA hotshots played by Holt Callany and Julianne Nicholson are one step behind him.

The cinematography by Martin Ruhe was not good, many scenes appeared extremely dark and badly lit and the scriptwriters Ken Nolan and Gary Spinelli battled to get some character dimension into a rather bland screenplay adapted from the novel by Robert Litell.

Despite these drawbacks, The Amateur is an entertaining if slightly overlong film which is heavy on tech gadgets and light on action. Although there is one brilliant scene when Charlie kills a man in a rooftop swimming pool in a plush Spanish hotel. His creative revenge pays off.

If you enjoy a unique spy revenge thriller then catch The Amateur in cinemas now. The Amateur gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is no Jason Bourne but it just proves that never underestimate the tech guys in the basement level. Recommended viewing.

Rami Malek is excellent in the main role, especially being cast against type.  

Nightmare Alley

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe, Toni Colette, David Strathairn, Ron Perlman, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Paul Anderson, Holt McCallany, Clifton Collins Jr

Film Rating: 9 out of 10

Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes

Based upon the pulp fiction novel by William Lindsay Graham, Nightmare Alley, Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) turns his deft hand to the genre of film noir in this 1941 American thriller featuring brilliant performances by Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett.

Starting in the mid-west, we follow a low life con artist Stanton Carlisle expertly played by Cooper who gets off a train and follows a dwarf into a Carnival where he meets an assortment of weird and equally morally subversive characters from the sultry Tarot Card reader Zeena played by Toni Colette to Clem Hoatley played by Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Shadow of a Vampire, The Florida Project, At Eternity’s Gate) who controls a man in a cage who eats live chickens.

The first half of the spooky Carnival scenario is vividly captured on film by del Toro as Cooper’s character proves that he is a fast talker and a suave mentalist, easing gullible folk out of their money but he has bigger dreams. He yearns for the big grift: the wealthy clients of the urban metropolis.

Dragging his equally suspicious girlfriend Molly Cahill wonderfully played by Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (Carol, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) along to Chicago, they decide to turn their glamourous tricks on wealthy city folk until he is caught in the cross hairs of psychiatrist Dr Lillith Ritter, the ultimate femme fatale in a brilliant and sassy turn by double Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, The Aviator), who wears brilliant red lipstick and carries an ivory handled pistol in her evening gown.

Dr Ritter psychoanalyses the suave Stanton skilfully manipulating him into going after some wealthy clients including the eccentric recluse Ezra Grindle superbly played by Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water, The Visitor) who is paying him a fortune to conjure up the image of his dead wife.

From the authentic production design, to the expert pace and tension of the film, director Guillermo del Toro delivers a first rate film noir thriller about the rise and spectacular fall of mentalist and trickster Carlisle played by Bradley Cooper in his career best performance.

Cooper does a superb job of holding this entire film together from the seedy Mid-Western Carnival scenes, which are both dazzling and daunting to the exquisite scene between himself and Dr Ritter in one of the best scenes in the film, in which the dialogue crackles with manipulation, seduction and desire amidst temptation and cigarette smoke.

Nightmare Alley is a long film, in which the first half entirely foreshadows the second half but the talented ensemble support the two stars of the show in this riveting, psychological thriller which eventually leaves blood on the passageways. From the gorgeous golden Art Deco interiors, to the beautiful costumes, Nightmare Alley leaves nothing to chance.

This isn’t a carnival trick, it’s authentic cinematic entertainment which the supremely talented director Guillermo del Toro excels at delivering. In this case, it’s a pure cinematic homage to the original 1947 film starring Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell and Helen Walker.

Strictly for sophisticated cinema goers, soak up the atmosphere of sinister intentions in 1941 America and watch the film noir Nightmare Alley, which gets a film rating of 9 out of 10.

Definite Oscar nominations for Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett and David Strathairn as the drunkard trickster Pete.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Director: Edward Zwick

Cast: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Holt McCallany, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Robert Knepper, Aldis Hodge

After Jack Reacher was first introduced to cinema audiences in 2012, the first film simply titled Jack Reacher featured an all-star cast including Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog and David Oyelowo and of course superstar Tom Cruise in the titular role.

While the first film had a brilliant cast, this sequel seems to be less concerned with attracting big stars and rather making Jack Reacher: Never Go Back another Tom Cruise action film.

Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible, Top Gun) returns in this stand-alone sequel mainly set in Washington D.C. and New Orleans. He stars opposite Canadian star Cobie Smulders of How I met Your Mother TV fame as Captain Susan Turner.

Smulders (The Avengers: Age of Ultron) turns in a solid performance as the no-nonsense Captain Turner who is inadvertently arrested after two of her officers are killed in Afghanistan under mysterious circumstances.

Naturally it’s the everyman’s hero, one who has no flashy cars or gadgets, Jack Reacher who comes to the rescue breaking Turner out of a military prison whereby they embark on a quest to uncover the truth behind a shady private military contractor Parasol, represented by the villainous Robert Knepper of Prison Break TV fame.

In the process Reacher, a character based on a series of novels by Lee Child, discovers through a paternity suit filed against him, that he may have a teenage daughter, the Blonde haired and skilful Samantha, a suitably wilful performance by Danika Yarosh who soon forms a close bond with Reacher and Turner as they escape the American capital and head for Louisiana.

Close on their tail is a merciless assassin, The Hunter played by Patrick Heusinger (Black Swan) who ruthlessly hunts the trio to the Mardi Gras capital of America.

As the conspiracy deepens and the body count rises, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back becomes an absorbing and fast-paced thriller with loads of action skilfully directed by Edward Zwick, an accomplished American filmmaker responsible for films like Glory, Pawn Sacrifice and Blood Diamond.

While this film is not as good as the brilliant original film, Jack Reacher directed by Christopher McQuarrie it certainly will stand up as a continuation of another action franchise for Tom Cruise who inhabits the role of Reacher with ease and confidence.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is worth watching, while the plot is not particularly inventive, but certainly entertaining, is recommended for those that enjoy a good old fashioned action thriller, without the CGI, fancy cars or exotic locations. Although there is a particularly well executed action sequence during a Halloween Parade down Bourbon Street which is the highlight of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Sully

Director: Clint Eastwood

Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Valerie Mahaffey, Mike O’Malley, Jamey Sheridan, Anna Gunn, Holt McCallany, Sam Huntington, Max Adler

Clint Eastwood has turned into a brilliant director. At the age of 86 after a successful career in iconic films, Eastwood has shown a deft and experienced hand behind the camera. Just think Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino.

Now Eastwood as director turns in another remarkable cinematic achievement in the riveting retelling of the fateful day on the 15^th January 2009 when an experienced airline pilot Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger makes a decision to land an airbus on the icy Hudson River and by doing so avoids an aviation calamity. As a film Sully is helped by the innovative script by Todd Komarnicki, who employs a non-linear approach to the narrative.

Sully is a top notch portrayal of a good news story, a superb retelling of a bizarre incident which caused 30 years of human experience and a huge desire to save everyone on board, into an unrivalled act of heroism. The feat was stunning. In the shadow of 9/11, for once an aircraft disaster did not end in tragedy over the Manhattan skyline.

Oscar winner Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, Forest Gump) in one of his finest portrayals onscreen since Bridge of Spies, plays Chelsey Sullenberger, or Sully as the film title suggests who despite saving all 155 passengers and crew on board a USAirlines flight from La Guardia to Charlotte, North Carolina, goes horribly wrong when the plane hits a bird strike and both engines are destroyed. Sully has to land the airbus in the Hudson River on a freezing January day.

What Eastwood does so cleverly is he sets up doubt immediately in the audiences mind as Sully opens with potential scenarios of what could have gone wrong, the airbus crashing into a skyscraper or worse.

Then besides the doubt and aviation investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board into the cause of the crash and whether as aircraft captain, he made the right judgement call, Sully faithfully recreates all the events of that miraculous day from the plane taking off and its descent into the river separating New York from New Jersey.

Hanks is superb in this role, choosing to downplay all the traumatic emotions which usually spring from such a courageous event and focus on his own conviction that whatever could have been simulated would never have occurred in real life, involving experienced human beings dealing with an exceptional situation. What saved all 155 passengers on board that flight was a confluence of timing, experience and intuition.

For what Sully does point out is that most aircraft water landings end in tragedy or worse absolute disappearance like flight MH370 which vanished into the South Indian Ocean soon after take-off from Kuala Lumpur en-route to Beijing in 2014. The wreckage of that aircraft is still being searched for to this day.

Sully is a genuine rendition of a miraculous and courageous event, a well-crafted and mature film cleverly directed by Clint Eastwood and beautifully acted by Tom Hanks. As Oscar season is on the way, then Sully should be one of its first contenders for Best Director and Best Actor. Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney have supporting roles as loyal co-pilot and anxious wife respectively.

Highly recommended viewing. Sully is a must see film.

Gangster Squad

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Holt McCallany, Michael Pena, Sean Penn, Sullivan Stapleton, Nick Nolte, Mireille Enos, Josh Pence

Based upon the fascinating non-fiction book, Gangster Squad by Paul Lieberman, the beautifully yet violent cinematic rendition of the story of how an elite group of LA cops formed a Gangster Squad to tackle the effects of organized crime in post-wars Los Angeles, is thrilling to watch, engrossing and thoroughly entertaining. Featuring an all star cast including Ryan Gosling as Jerry Wooters, Josh Brolin as Jack O’Mara, Emma Stone as Grace Faraday and Sean Penn as the malevolent gangster Mickey Cohen who terrorized the Hollywood Boulevard in the early days of the city of angels growth is both visceral and heartfelt.

Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Pena also star as electronics expert Conwell Keeler and Officer Navidad Ramirez respectively in this brotherhood tale of elite cops fighting the influences of organized crime in the form of the vicious New York immigrant Mickey Cohen. Whilst Paul Lieberman’s novel goes into a truly in depth analysis of the origins of organized crime in Los Angeles, before and after the 2nd World War especially as California and Nevada become ripe for the East Coast families to increase their criminal activities. In this case Chicago crime emissary Jack Dragnet, played by Jon Polito is soon wiped out by Mickey Cohen who will go to any lengths to become Los Angeles’s crime boss.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Gangster Squad skips over much of the social history in favour of making a sleek, glamorous and violent film about the sharp shooting and mischievous Squad which successfully undermined Mickey Cohen’s grip on the city of Angels in the late 40’s and early 50’s. Not nearly as measured and brilliant as Barry Levinson’s film Bugsy about Bugsy Seigel’s establishment of Las Vegas in the late 40’s, Gangster Squad comes off more as a nostalgic pastiche of all great Gangster films from the same genre most notably The Untouchables, Bugsy and the brilliant L. A. Confidential.

Gangster Squad features a smooth talking Ryan Gosling in what is really an ensemble piece about a group of men who go to any lengths to undermine the mob king in their town often at their own personal costs. Gosling’s screen time with Emma Stone is fabulous along with some particular brilliant and captivating action sequences, Gangster Squad is held together by a brilliant cast, fabulous sets and a superb retelling of an emerging city out of the clutches of crime and into those of glamour and cinema, which is what Los Angeles is more famous for today.

Recent more grittier films about Los Angeles downtown crime film like End of Watch also starring Michael Pena shot in a Southlands TV series style has not changed the image that LA is still a city plagued by foreign criminal organizations or crazy criminals as immortalized in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and not so much by East Coast immigrants as it was in the first half of the 20th century.

Paul Lieberman’s book Gangster Squad is a brilliant read as his detailed history of the city of Angels in the mid 20th century is perfectly captured and exceptionally well researched.  The Hollywood film version of Gangster Squad is by all respects a brilliantly recreated 1940’s handsome cinematic experience complete with Slapsy Maxies also starring Nick Nolte as Chief Parker and Anthony Mackie as Officer Coleman Harris and worth watching for the quirky dialogue, well orchestrated action sequences,  and will surely delight those fans who loves similar styled mobster movies!