TOP 5 SHOTS from "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

It's official. I'm out of excuses for not bringing this column back, be it with less of a bang than a slight ease-in, so another welcome to the retooled "Top Shots". You may have noticed in prior lists that the amount of dynamic shots has a potential to vary from film to film. Occasionally, I'm just stretching to a ridiculous point to bring ten shots in, so having a sense of rotation in the list is as freeing as it is stressful. Not having an extra five shots to lean back on means much more care in picking five for the top, so this week felt the need for something that wasn't so incredibly overbearing in terms of numerous cinematic opportunities.

Seeing as "The Bourne Legacy" is out this weekend, which not only features star Jeremy Renner, but also cinematographer Robert Elswit, the choice for this week wasn't just obvious. It was delightful, given it's a film I have no problem seeing repeatedly. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" made the cut for my Top 20 of 2011 literally under the wire, given an update to replace "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at #20 for something I genuinely had a great deal more encouragement towards. It's a film that not only knows how to have a ridiculously good time, but to evoke some tangible emotional themes throughout that the casual viewer might overlook.

THE LISTS: Best performances of 2012 thus far

At this point I have a tendency of wondering if we're really at the halfway point of this year already. It's true that often times this period of the year is marked by a stunt of intellectual cinematic properties and an abundance of blockbuster diversions. This year, however, it seems like things are just heating up exponentially with a rush of quality cinema. The past two weeks alone have offered not just one, but two films that may qualify the best of the year. But if I'm to be perfectly honest, the last thing I feel like doing at this point is putting the films to task in an effort to rank them. I leave the placing of favorites as a year end routine.

What's more, we're still waiting on plenty of films that seem ever so slightly outside our reach and prove to dramatically change the order of anyone's lists at this time. In just two weeks time we'll finally be able to take in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises", putting an end to suffocating fanboy hype and finally giving us a chance to judge it on its own humble merits. I'm waiting in eager anticipation to see how Yorgos Lanthimos' "Alps" turns out, since that's the real ticket premiere of this month, at least from where I'm looking. And we know that Venice, Telluride, and Toronto are just around the corner with more to bring to the table.

"Jack Reacher" Teaser Trailer

Tom Cruise has had a tough run of the past week or so. After "Rock of Ages" landed to a sadly tepid response with both critics and audiences, Katie Holmes' divorce is just a further beating on a guy who just can't seem to please people enough. Fact of the matter is that he tries, and it comes through in nearly every single one of his performances. I don't recall a single time when he hasn't been convincing and devoted in his role. His next film and performance, "Jack Reacher", pitches to earn him back some favor with thrill seeking audiences. He's the main showcase in the film's first trailer, and though I'm hesitant to trailers that merely build the announcement of a character ("Red Lights" forever be damned), it's Tom Cruise. After all these years, he deserves the buildup.

Quick Takes: "Alien", "Elena", "Mulan", "Minority Report"

"Alien" (**1/2)

Directed by Ridley Scott

This could very well cause to enrage people, and it already has if you follow my actions on twitter, but the moment I sat down to take on "Alien" for this week's TOP 10 SHOTS column, I realized it couldn't possibly work. Why not? Because there is so desperately little going on in this film. Ridley Scott is devoted to creating an intense horror aesthetic, and there's some truly honest effort there. But it only works, in this case, if we care about why this is happening, and who it is happening to. The characters are etched so thin as to offer nothing distinct about them. Them being there is a product of happenstance, like any other horror flick. There's just not that much cinematically to dig into. Don't worry, though, since you'll still have your share of Ridley Scott in this Friday's TOP 10 SHOTS column. It just won't be in the same vein as what Ridley's up to this year.

"Elena" (****)

Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Russia seems to carry with a heap of apocalyptic baggage that it just cannot seem to get rid of. Even in a film that holds absolutely no apocalyptic subject matter, the grim specter of massive and inescapable death looms heavy over. That's the definitive stroke that makes Andrey Zvyagintsev's third feature, "Elena", so much more than the chilling character study that it already is. Though the first ten minutes lull you into the belief that you're in for a contained story comparable to that of Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles", it really expands to being something rather more maniacal. It's Zvyagintsev's analysis of family boundaries that truly piques the interest.

Film Review: "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"

When you hit the fourth film in a feature franchise, there are a number of ways you can go. You can establish a strong footing for the rest of your series ("Harry Potter"), you can abandon everything that made the previous trilogy great ("Star Wars", "Indiana Jones", "Pirates of the Caribbean", the list goes on), or you can do what "Mission: Impossible" did, and just go out and make the best film you possibly can. This a series that had nothing to do in the first two installments, so no real purpose, and then they tried something interesting with the third and deepened the characters, gave it a jolt of humor, and several needed splashes of style. They did well to hold onto that.

So do I see this as the fourth film in the franchise? No. I actually consider it the second in the series that Abrams kicked off in 2006. Now it has become the jumping off point for Brad Bird's first time as a live action director. I think I had some trepidation when the first trailer came around, but we should have never expected an emotional hard-hitter. That's not what this series is, but it does have an emotional undercurrent that works as a steady heartbeat to hold everything together. What Brad Bird has established in his past of animated films is a lively energy and constantly upheld excitement. That translates perfectly for this piece.

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" Trailer

There's been a fair bit of silence around the latest "Mission Impossible" film, and I'd like to think it's more skillful than it is apprehensive. Then this trailer comes around and reveals just a little too much. I'm no fan of a film showing its card before it plays, so that kind of upset me a bit. Still, the trailer packs a strong enough punch. Between the Burj Khalifa and a sandstorm car chase, I'm totally in.

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" Teaser Trailer

Really, of all the ways they could've gone, they put Eminem as the musical backdrop of this trailer? More than a tad unorthodox, but I expect the marketing is trying to lure in the Transformers crowd that will be seeing it before Dark of the Moon. Yes, they vault a car in the air that Tom Cruise just barely misses, and he does, once again, vault off the side of a building, but how can you not expect that from a Mission Impossible film? Honestly, Ghost Protocol looks to be an exciting sort of film, but the teaser obviously wouldn't show that. It's a showcase of the action on display in the film. Don't pass judgment just yet. And honestly, when Tom Wilkinson surprisingly shows up in your film, how can you complain?