This week we embark on a new franchise. Is Doug Liman’s 2002 film a cultural game-changer, a weirdly paced mish-mash, a refreshing dose of reality, or all three?

This Week’s Watching

MR ROBOT, Season 2 (2016): Sam Esmail, Rami Malek, Carly Chaikin

SHERLOCK, Season 1 (2010): Mark Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman

THOR (2011): Kenneth Branagh, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman

Recommendations

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1996): Brian De Palma, Tom Cruise, Jon Voigt

BEFORE SUNRISE (1995): Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

RUN LOLA RUN (1998): Tom Tykwer, Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu

SWINGERS (1996): Doug Liman, Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn

Footnotes

We talked a lot about the James Bond/Austin Powers link, which is a fairly obvious one; this link, though, has a comprehensive list of just how many pastiches there were in the AP films. Sam mentioned PTSD briefly when talking about SHERLOCK, and it also appears in BOURNE (towards the end, and in the later films); read more here and here. Finally, if you’re interested in soundscapes and film, then this is a good resource.