Best Things July 2018

Afternoons With Josh & Ken
Podcasts are a difficult thing to get into, there's about 100 billion out there and most of them are the same thing, I can't even argue that this one is any different, just two guys having a conversation and decided to record it, with no real direction or purpose. That being said, the reason why I really enjoy this podcast is because I already enjoy Ken Napzok & Josh Macuga as people already. I've followed their work on multiple platforms for years now and I find their conversations to be legitimately entertaining, whether it be Ken's self-deprecating humour, Josh's wild party stories or just any random nonsense that happens to be on their mind. Would I recommend it? No, not unless you're already a fan of their work. Then again this isn't a blog talking about what others will like, just what I like.


Hard Boiled
Before rewatching Mission: Impossible II, I wanted to expand my knowledge of John Woo's filmography, one of his most popular films that I had never seen was Hard Boiled and by god do I see why it gained such noteriety. This film is basically Woo in a nutshell, it's loud, exaggerated action where you feel every ounce of effort and genuine passion that went into it. Woo said that he had been criticized for glorifying criminals in prior films so he wanted to make a film glorifying the police and boy does he succeed. Chow-Yun Fat at first comes across as your typical renegade cop you'd see in any other action film, but it's how commited and stubborn he is towards doing the right thing that make him memorable as a protagonist, alongside Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as a morally grey undercover cop, the two play off each other greatly. However what makes the film stick out is of course the over the top action, most notably and insanely well done one shot inside a hospital near the end of the film, which sees the characters face off against multiple enemies, travel several floors and I can't even begin to imagine the preperation that must have gone into making that happen.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout
I've already talked about the Mission: Impossible films before and my love for them, so let me say with full clarity that this is my new favourite Mission: Impossible film, certainly one of the best action films of all time. Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise take practical stuntwork to a whole new level, the car chase through Paris, the cliffside brawl, The HALO Jump, the bathroom fight, the helicopter chase; any one of these could completely make an action film and the fact they performed all of this makes every other film look lazy in comparison. It's also definitely the best MI film in terms of story, not only could I actually tell what was going on most of the time, but I found myself invested in the characters beyond their basic entertainment value. Giving Ethan Hunt much more vulnerability at least emotionally particularly with how it ties in to his wife Julia makes me actually pity him, something that six films into the series has only now just been achieved. At the time of writing this I've already seen the film twice and I certainly plan on seeing it more while it's in theatres.