John Powers

Suits me fine. What are your favorite programs? I just like TV, you know. To me, it replaced the fireplace when I was a child. And if you want to know what 20 million Americans are talking about on Saturday night, it's what they saw on Friday night on TV. It's a window on the world. Whatever it is, that's that image of ourselves that we're portraying.

For Lennon, it was a time of reinvention, both musically and in terms of his political involvement.

For Lennon, it was a time of reinvention, both musically and in terms of his political involvement.

For Lennon, it was a time of reinvention, both musically and in terms of his political involvement.

People say their phones are bugged. First of all, I thought it was paranoia. I've been reading all these, you know, conspiracy theory books. You can hear things going on on the phone every time you pick it up. People clicking in and out and... There was a lot of repairs going on downstairs to the phones every few days down in the basement.

People say their phones are bugged. First of all, I thought it was paranoia. I've been reading all these, you know, conspiracy theory books. You can hear things going on on the phone every time you pick it up. People clicking in and out and... There was a lot of repairs going on downstairs to the phones every few days down in the basement.

People say their phones are bugged. First of all, I thought it was paranoia. I've been reading all these, you know, conspiracy theory books. You can hear things going on on the phone every time you pick it up. People clicking in and out and... There was a lot of repairs going on downstairs to the phones every few days down in the basement.

I started taking my own phone calls too, so I don't know why, but at least I'll have a copy of whatever they're going to try and say I'm talking about.

I started taking my own phone calls too, so I don't know why, but at least I'll have a copy of whatever they're going to try and say I'm talking about.

I started taking my own phone calls too, so I don't know why, but at least I'll have a copy of whatever they're going to try and say I'm talking about.

Pop culture has long had a tendency toward bloat. The catchy two-minute singles of the 1950s gave way to the laborious concept albums of the 60s. the slim, mind-blowing novels of Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard, led to the doorstops of Stephen King and Neal Stephenson.

Pop culture has long had a tendency toward bloat. The catchy two-minute singles of the 1950s gave way to the laborious concept albums of the 60s. the slim, mind-blowing novels of Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard, led to the doorstops of Stephen King and Neal Stephenson.

Pop culture has long had a tendency toward bloat. The catchy two-minute singles of the 1950s gave way to the laborious concept albums of the 60s. the slim, mind-blowing novels of Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard, led to the doorstops of Stephen King and Neal Stephenson.

And then there's Mission Impossible, which began in 1966 as a tautly unpretentious hour-long TV series with a fantastic theme by Lalo Schifrin. In 1996, it became a 110-minute movie with a megastar actor, Tom Cruise, and an auteur director, Brian De Palma, who larded its silly story with big, gaudy action scenes.

And then there's Mission Impossible, which began in 1966 as a tautly unpretentious hour-long TV series with a fantastic theme by Lalo Schifrin. In 1996, it became a 110-minute movie with a megastar actor, Tom Cruise, and an auteur director, Brian De Palma, who larded its silly story with big, gaudy action scenes.

And then there's Mission Impossible, which began in 1966 as a tautly unpretentious hour-long TV series with a fantastic theme by Lalo Schifrin. In 1996, it became a 110-minute movie with a megastar actor, Tom Cruise, and an auteur director, Brian De Palma, who larded its silly story with big, gaudy action scenes.

Now, seven sequels and three decades later, we have Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning, the two-hour and 49-minute conclusion to the nearly as long Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1. Pictures so grandiose, they require a colon and an em dash just to write their titles.

Now, seven sequels and three decades later, we have Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning, the two-hour and 49-minute conclusion to the nearly as long Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1. Pictures so grandiose, they require a colon and an em dash just to write their titles.

Now, seven sequels and three decades later, we have Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning, the two-hour and 49-minute conclusion to the nearly as long Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1. Pictures so grandiose, they require a colon and an em dash just to write their titles.

Predictably, this new movie is overblown, inanely plotted, clotted with expository dialogue, and boundlessly self-congratulatory. But you know, it's also fun to watch. Flaunting its big budget, we zoot from tourist London to Norwegian snowscapes to sun-blasted South Africa, this souped-up thriller offers the irresponsible escape that most of us want from Hollywood blockbusters.