Magellans at the Movies: the Blog

  Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Genre: Spy thriller, Action Director: Christopher McQuarrie Released: 2023      The Mission: Impossible franchise has been on a critical and commercial win-streak the likes of which studio heads salivate over. Especially since Christopher McQuarrie assumed the director's chair, the series has established itself as the premium destination for tightly choreographed action and practical, death-defying stunts performed by franchise star and possible immortal vampire Tom Cruise. It is this tradition of quality that the seventh movie inherits, and I'm pleased to announce that MI7 lives up to this hefty legacy with a flashy, thrilling, and action-packed offering that grounds itself with a refreshing emotional core that the series has heretofore struggled to institute.       Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One centers around a malevolent AI called the Entity. This sentient program can infiltrate an...

  Independence Day Genre: Science Fiction/Action Director: Roland Emmerich Released: 1996      Ah, Independence Day. This was a Magalhaes movie mainstay growing up, and over the years I must have taken in the obliteration of New York City, Washington D.C., and L.A. dozens of times. Having just rewatched the film for the Fourth of July, and being old enough now that the layers of foreboding mystery that once enshrouded the film in my mind have all peeled away, I thought I would mark the holiday of Independence Day by imparting my thoughts on the movie that inspired it.       Independence Day follows a surprisingly expansive cast of characters, but the most important ones are strong-willed President Whitmore, environmental activist/cable repair man/computer expert David, fighter pilot Steve, and his girlfriend Jasmine. It's the weekend of the Fourth of July, but before our heroes can honor the local veterans by retraumatizing them with colorful expl...