Trailer for Mission: Impossible - Fallout: [link]

First impression: Aha! So THAT's the infamous mustache on Henry Cavill that necessitated all that creepy CGI in Justice League!

Second impression: That bathroom fight scene is pretty kickass and looks like it fucking HURT

Third impression: They better not kill off Rebecca Ferguson's character OR ELSE (she is named Ilsa Faust -- BEST NAME EVER -- and I want her and Emily Blunt's character from Edge of Tomorrow to meet, shut up about difference franchises you don't make the rules)

Fourth impression: So did Jeremy Renner's character croak offscreen or what

Fifth impression: wait, didn't Michelle Monaghan's character die in that one MI movie I did not see??

I know Tom Cruise is on the never-list of many people, but I honestly really enjoy these movies a lot. On that note, here's a review of MI - Rogue Nation by Matt Zoller Seitz (one of my all time favourite film critics), which distills down why the movies in this franchise are so enjoyable with just the right amount of affectionate mockery: [link]

So the IMF is disbanded, over the objections of Tom Cruise's buddy and fellow butt-kicking super-agent William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), whom I guess is his superior, and—I have no idea what happened in this movie. Something about Spectre, or Hydra, or The Syndicate, yes, that's it, the Syndicate, a group comprised of rogue agents who are sneaking all around the world blowing things up and killing heads of state and destroying major companies and taking candy away from little kids on Halloween, too! Just swooping down out of the sky, on jet packs, and stealing their candy! OK, they didn't do that last thing. But they did everything else on the list. These are really bad people!

I didn't realize this new installment was coming out and at this point, I am more psyched about it than the Solo movie, the trailer for which was all things underwhelming. (Except Lando in that fur coat, glory be)

She might have been pseudo-dead, but at this point we definitely know she's not for-real dead.

I should probably watch that movie at some point for completeness' sake. I think I went "whatever" at that time because the second movie was such a let-down. I mean, John Woo! Thandie Newton looking so breathtaking that I could barely look upon her face straight-on! But the villain was so boring, ugh. But #4 and #5 were great and this one doesn't look too shabby.

I can't believe the damn thing has been going on for 20+ years.

Henry Cavill looking debonair in suits and having fight scenes would be enough to make me put up with Crazy Tom Cruise jumping out of airplanes or off couches, but Angela Bassett seals the deal.

And the stunt where Tom Cruise broke his ankle is in the trailer.

Henry Cavill's mustache was posting to his Instagram on Sunday night - it may be the breakout star of the whole show.

Finally got through the best picture nominees. I liked The Post more than I thought I would, which seems to be a running theme with the last few stragglers.

My personal ranking of all nine would probably be something like:
Lady Bird
Get Out
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Post
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Call Me By Your Name

With the top three and bottom three being pretty clear cut and the middle three being fairly flexible on any given day.

I just got back from seeing Phantom Thread... man, was that a twisted ending. Very good throughout though, and excellent performances by all involved. And it has to have the Costume Design Oscar in the bag, right? (Though when I saw the first dress, my immediate thought was "where's the black wimple and poison apple?")

And it has to have the Costume Design Oscar in the bag, right?

One would think. My guess is that it won't win any "big" awards but will nap Costume Design and Best Original Score, with Shape of Water the only one presenting real challenge for both awards. SoW will almost certainly win the Best Director for Del Toro (and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets Best Film, honestly) so it'll all shake out evenly, I think.

I could see Daniel Day Lewis winning as a dark horse candidate what with the public announcement of this being his last film. Though maybe the Academy would instead go for a special Lifetime Achievement award down the line.

I think Gary Oldman has that category in the bag. He's good and a dominating force in The Darkest Hour and the Academy loves biopics. Phantom Thread is more of a three-header, plus DDL already has like 3 Best Actor Oscars at home. :) That said, upsets are always possible. I would place my odds at something like 80% Oldman, 10% Timonthee Chalamet, and 10% DDL. I don't think there is any chance that Daniel Kaluuya or Denzel would cause an upset.

The more I think of it, the more I'm astounded by how many noms Phantom Thread got. It's such a weird film. I guess it does have all the surface trappings of a prestige pic.