Thursday, May 11, 2006

Dad and Grandma O. are here for a couple days, on their way to points west of here. So Cowboy and I had supper with them last night and hung out for a while at their hotel. And tonight I had supper with them again, and then Daddy and I went to see Mission: Impossible 3!

I liked it. I liked it almost as well as the first one, and waaaaaaaaaaaay better than the second. The first one was sizzlingly original, while the second one was too informed by The Matrix and used too many identity-switches. This one is more informed by the Bourne movies, with wham-bang collisions and the use of random common objects as weapons (both a pen and a phone receiver, ala Bourne), but with crunchier fights (I do like the mind-altering swifty fights of the Bourne movies, but this was a movie about losing blood and getting hurt, so those wouldn't have worked).

M:I and M:I 3 are kind of like James Bond got buddies and some street smarts, lost his unrufflable tux-clad exterior somewhere along the way, but retained his gadges and panache. If that makes any sense. I'm tempted to rewatch the first one tonight, to see if it's as shiny as I remember. It's been several years since I watched it...

5 comments:

  1. Hm... on the surface it sounds like I would like it. But, but, but...

    "informed by" -- most curious phrasing ever, in the context you used it in! Never heard this before. *scratching head, intrigued*

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  2. Yeah, I know. There are some actors that irritate me so much I won't watch their movies either. Or only under great duress. Of course, now that I'm trying to remember who they are, I can't. But I know there are several.

    As for "informed by"...you haven't seen that used in this kind of context? Cuz I think of movies as being informed by other movies all the time. Maybe this is some weird archaic usage I picked up somewhere?

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  3. Nope, never seen "informed by" used that way. I mean people can inform other people, but how does a movie inform another movie, exactly? "Influenced by" I can see, but informed? Odd! Wonder where you picked that up?

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  4. I think I picked it up in college, either in a lit, theatre, or film class.

    According to thefreedictionary.com, one definition of "inform" is:

    To give form or character to; imbue with a quality or an essence.

    So I guess that's how I'm using it.

    I think you would actually like M:I and M:I-3. And who knows--maybe this would change your mind about TC? I didn't like him at all either, until I saw M:I. If it converted me, maybe it would you too. I still don't like him in all his movies, and he's not even in my top 20, but I don't hate him anymore. As an actor, anyway. He's still a very odd person, but as my dad would say, "he's a good little actor."

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  5. Ah, now that makes sense now on the "informed by." Thank!

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