"Madam President, either you destroy the world or the Entity does. In any case, it is checkmate."

An absolute juggernaut of a blockbuster, equally dread-filled and humanist, and dazzlingly delivered.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s irresistibly elaborate, and excessive, franchise bow – appreciably dubbed The Final Reckoning – makes the big-budget decadence of the prior chapter(s) resemble child’s play when contrasted with the sheer overkill of their latest (and last) Mission.

It’s a genre picture of nigh-comical extremes, whether narrative…

"I’m on the same side I’ve always been on. Stay out of my way."

Threatens to run off the rails well before hurtling itself from the literal cliffside (twice), indulging in its own assorted mayhem like no other Mission. Yet not only is the unyielding soul of Dead Reckoning as entirely committed, if imperfect, as the publicized stunt work, but the utter effort driving each shot – nay every second – of this picture leaves one breathless.

The technical needs…

"I'm not dead. Am I?"

The effect of Dead Man is almost beyond words. Part existential nightmare, part surrealist elegy, Jim Jarmusch's all-star "Psychedelic Western" is a transcendent odyssey through a vanishing frontier littered with the veiled tombstones of forgotten souls and destined ends. The phantasmagoric singularity of the tale is boundless, as is its unkempt and pragmatic cruelty. A metaphysical myth both unexpectedly refined and unquestionably abrasive, one underscored by the thunderous, haunting orchestrations of Neil Young.

A piece…

'With endless love, we left you sleeping. Now we're sleeping with you. Don't wake up.'

A visceral piece of influential terror, one that absolutely thrives thanks to the caliber of the virtuoso talent on each side of the frame. 28 Days Later is the near-flawless marriage of Danny Boyle's untamed artistic brilliance and screenwriter Alex Garland's all-consuming gravity. The picture, with its technical forethought and feral execution, claustrophobically cut by Chris Gill and saturated with John Murphy's haunting orchestrations, is…