What are the best sequels of all-time? Here's my top 10 list

Harrison Ford in Blade Runner 2049

The near universal rapturous critical response (which I think is well-deserved) received by the new, hit Mission: Impossible movie Fallout has some people calling it the best film of the now 22-year-old franchise and potentially one of the greatest action movies ever made.

I don't know if I'd go that far, and six films in, this series has been hard to top in terms of quality (only the first sequel falls short for me), bur if I were to make a top 10 sequels of all time list the other iterations would just miss the cut.

I would also not count the Bond films, since with the exception of Quantum of Solace (and in a way Spectre) none of those movies are really proper sequels. Similarly,  the Marvel extended universe has just been too massive to take stock of -- you could argue that those films have been nothing but sequels since the original Iron Man ten years ago -- so I'm skipping over those two.

There's so many greats to choose from -- I am actually pretty pro sequel, as long as they justify their existence and add something new to the series' staying power. Some that nearly missed the cut or me: Evil Dead 2, Ocean's 13, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Road Warrior, Toy Story 3, The Color of Money, Superman II, Die Hard with a Vengeance and Batman Returns.

Here are my top 10 favorite sequels of all time, in reverse order.

10) Back to the Future Part II - This darker, more complex sequel looks at what happens when time travel is used for nefarious reasons with shocking results. Not only does this one expand on what's great about the original but it has several iconic sequences of its own -- like the hoverboard chase and the meta finale which revisits the events of the first film in unexpected ways. I've always loved how gloomy this sequel is and it set up such a high note cliffhanger that the underrated Part III could only disappoint.

9) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - The sillier European Vacation proved the 1983 original couldn't be topped as far as road comedies go, so the 1989 holiday follow-up wisely stays close to home and winds up crafting one of the best Christmas-themed comedies of all time. Chevy Chase is at his best here, as a more tender version of Clark Griswold, and this may also be Randy Quaid's finest moment as the uncouth Cousin Eddie. It's the rare comedy sequel that deserves the same classic status as one of its predecessors.

8) Mad Max: Fury Road - While this fourth installment of the Mad Max universe does little to weave in elements from the past three, it shares their DNA -- although this one is bigger, bolder and more epic than any of the movies that came before. The rare Oscar nominee that is not just a sequel, but an action sequel, it's truly that good. This is a movie I am down to watch anytime/anyplace -- it's sublime visual filmmaking at its best -- with something to say about the world we could leave behind if we don't start getting our shit together.

7) Creed - This emotionally fulfilling boxing film breathed new life into one of my favorite movie sagas -- the Rocky franchise -- by shifting the focus from Rocky (a stellar Sylvester Stallone) to the up-and-coming Adonis Creed (a charismatic Michael B. Jordan). Director Ryan Coogler, with his one-take fight scenes and heartwarming handling of all the major characters made simply the best Rocky film since the original and has started something really special which will continue this fall with Creed II.

6) Star Trek II - The gold standard by which all big-screen Star Trek pictures are compared. It's a character study first and foremost -- about Captain Kirk's mid-life crisis and his deep friendship with the half-human, half-vulcan Spock. And yet it also has some of the most riveting action of any space opera and one of the best villains of the decade in Ricardo Montalban's Khan. This is one of those great examples of everyone operating at the peak of their powers to perfection.There have been other good, even great Star Trek movies, but this one is a cut above everything that has come before or since.

5) Aliens - I've really struggled with which is the better film -- Ridley Scott's chilling Alien or James Cameron's more relentless Aliens, both films are pure genre perfection as far as I'm concerned. In this film Sigourney Weaver's heroic Ripley takes center stage and her tormented psyche powers the narrative of this high-tech horror film. It doesn't detract from the first film in the series at all, instead it simply seeks to top it at every turn -- from shocks to gore to special effects -- and pretty much achieves everything it sets out to do.

4) Blade Runner 2049 - This recent reboot was dismissed to easily as a box office disappointment, but upon further review its stature continues to grow and grow. It's a note perfect follow-up to the mercurial 1982 original, answering many of its mysteries while deepening others -- it's one of the more gorgeous films I've ever seen and the story really holds together if you pay enough attention and give yourself over to its slow-paced rhythms. One of my favorite genre films of the last several years, and one that should attain classic status as time goes on.

3) The Dark Knight - I liked Batman Begins a lot, but for me The Dark Knight was just an enormous leap above it in terms of scope and ambition. This was the film where Christopher Nolan's concept of a more reality based Gotham and Batman truly took hold and changed the way superhero movies looked and sounded forever. This was the moment the genre grew up and asserted its dominance over the movie-going public for what has now been a decade. Oh, and Heath Ledger delivered one of the all-time best performances ever as the Joker.

2) The Empire Strikes Back - The best Star Wars film of all time is the first sequel in the ever-expanding series of movies. It is the most romantic Star Wars film, the most exciting one, the one with the best sense of humor and sense of mystery. I feel like every Star Wars film since this one has been trying to recapture its magic and coming up just a wee bit short, although I always appreciate the effort. The secret to this film's success isn't it 'darkness' it's the character development -- this is the movie where we all fell in love with Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Yoda, Lando and the rest -- they were funny, daring, smart, charming and larger than life.

1) The Godfather Part II - The best sequel ever made? It's no contest. In fact I feel like it's almost an insult to call this masterpiece a sequel, it's more like a continuation, a deepening of the saga. Much of what is in this film is in the novel The Godfather, but Coppola brings so much soul and intrigue to the story. This is, in my opinion, the great American epic film. This is the drama that best captures the dark soul of this nation. The original is a powerful, pop hit -- but this second film is like an opera.

'Mission:Impossible' may be the best ongoing franchise in movies

Will all due respect to Marvel, they don't have anything on Tom Cruise. Here's the thing -- I am always going to be a James Bond guy first and foremost -- but those films just don't come out consistently enough. I'd love to see a new Mad Max, but who knows if George Miller and company will ever get around to it. So, for me, as far as big budget franchises go, there is nothing quite in the same league as the Mission: Impossible movies.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite -- but I will say after having seen the new one -- Fallout -- in IMAX (which is ideal), I can say this sixth iteration is probably the most ambitious and the riskiest.

It's the first that feels like it could be the end, and instead it feels like a new beginning -- I know that doesn't make a ton of sense, but once you see it (and I'm betting boatloads of people will) you'll understand.

At 56, Tom Cruise is just as vital a movie star as ever, and yet he's wise enough to know that it behoves him to show more vulnerability and fatigue than he did in say, Mission: Impossible II. It's not that's he lost a step, it's that the stakes both personal and physical in this one are that much higher.

This is the most espionage-heavy of the M:I films to date (which sometimes weighs the movie down with one to many plot threads) and it's the first one I can remember where I genuinely didn't know whether the heroes would survive, let alone accomplish their mission, that's an incredible feat for a series six movies in, and while I genuinely wonder how Cruise can continue doing death defying stunts like he does here, it feels like this series still has so much juice left in it.

It's a movie about endurance in many ways -- this film features what may be the all-time greatest 'Tom Cruise run' and like the last several of his outings as Ethan Hunt, it reminds audiences that he can still be one of the most charming and durable movie stars of all time.

A fantastic supporting cast backs him up here, from series mainstays like Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, breakout star Rebecca Ferguson and new additions -- a stunning Angela Bassett and a glowering Henry Cavill who's natural woodenness is used to great effect here.

It's all sprawling, globe-trotting audience-friendly entertainment of the first order -- but it's also a darker, more brooding entry than what's come before.

I think that's what struck me most besides the longer running time and of course the buzzworthy action spectacle of it all, I was impressed that this one dared to try some new things and give Cruise's character more depth while still not skimping on the kind of remarkable set-pieces that fans know and love.

There is probably nothing in here that tops the Dubai tower moment from Ghost Protocol, but watching Cruise gracefully ride his motorcycle against traffic may be the single most breathtaking bit of action filmmaking I've seen this year.

Every time one of these movies comes out they manage to raise the bar of what's possible. You jaw will drop, you will be on the edge of your seat and then you'll want to see it again.

Does 'Equalizer 2' suggest that Denzel needs a career reboot?

Denzel Washington has long been one of my favorite actors. I usually go to see everything he's in, however, although it's opened well and has lots of buzz, his new action picture The Equalizer 2, is the first one in years that I'm planning to skip.

The reviews are tepid at best -- and to be honest I was very underwhelmed by the original, which felt like a bit of Taken knock-off at best.

Much of the coverage surrounding this film is focused on the fact that its the first sequel in the 60-something actor's career, and I actually think that represents a distressing turning point. Denzel's name used to almost always suggest a certain level of quality, even if the movie he was in was imperfect.

A great example is last year's flop Roman J. Israel, Esq., which nabbed him a deserved Oscar nom for a very flawed film. It was a different kind of role for Denzel -- he played a wimp -- and clearly audiences didn't know what to make of it.

So now he's back in badass autopilot mode, even though he looks every bit his age and its impossible to believe this his doughy frame is capable of inflicting the kind of physical damage he's supposed to be in these revenge thrillers.

Sadly, his collaboration with director Antoine Fuqua, which was so potent in Training Day, appears to have grown stale (although I remember being pretty entertained by their reboot of The Magnificent Seven). Critics certainly think little of this Equalizer outing, but it also appears to be a solid hit -- meaning at this late stage of his career Denzel could be just another franchise guy, which is a bit of shame if you ask me.

Especially if you consider the fact that just two years ago he delivered one his career-best performances in his adaptation of the stage play Fences. While no blockbuster, the film was a solid success (winning Viola Davis her long overdue first Oscar), and it showed that Denzel was willing to challenge audiences by taking his trusted, beloved persona into darker territory.

He did the same thing very effectively in his other most recent critically acclaimed hit -- Flight -- where he played a alcoholic and drug addicted pilot.

These performances felt revelatory and showed that although Denzel Washington has become one of the most durable and iconic movie stars of the last 30 years, he has still got it as an actor.

And then there are the 'other' films -- tired genre movies that are watchable but also instantly forgettable and seem to be bogged down by self righteous religiosity and other heavy-handed themes.

I've seen this phenomenon before -- brilliant actors like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino eventually squandered their reputations on mediocre genre movies. Like a comedian who's lost a step, it's no fun seeing a once compelling actor slumming it in B-movies where they are trying to impersonate a tough guy but have grown far too old to sell it.

Sure, Liam Neeson did old man action well, but he always seemed to be in on the joke, and his self-awareness and commitment to playing his genre films to the hilt, helped them tremendously. Denzel doesn't seem to be doing anything inspired in most of his late career movies, and while he is still an Oscar mainstay for now he could tip dangerously into say, Bruce Willis territory, if he isn't careful.

Although Roman J. Israel, Esq. was a bomb -- one of the biggest of his career -- I do like that it was a riskier part for him -- and I'd love to see him do more. With the exception of Spike Lee, he hasn't worked with too many prestige auteurs, which is a big bummer. Can you imagine him being directed by a Christopher Nolan, Ava DuVernay or Paul Thomas Anderson?

I would like to see him make a comedy (for years he has been rumored to be considering an Uptown Saturday Night remake with Will Smith), I'd love to see him get to play sexy again (he hasn't had the opportunity since Out of Time). Don't get me wrong, I will always have love for Denzel, but there's something about The Equalizer 2, despite its success at the box office, that feels like a real regression.

'Sicario' sequel is problematic but still undeniably potent

The politics of the Sicario films have always been murky -- on purpose. They seem to both recoil from and wholly endorse violent, vengeful reprisal for drug cartels while portraying a reasonable about of moral ambiguity about the means in which the brutality is executed.

But this new film lacks Emily Blunt's empathetic hero, which hurts it, although the strong and largely silent Benicio Del Toro is compelling as usual, and Josh Brolin has a lot of fun as a swaggering yet shadowy mercenary.

It goes without much saying that the film's uneasy macho bravado when it comes to fighting terrorism and drug traffickers might not go down so well in the Trump era.

And yet, despite its myriad of flaws, I found myself getting immersed in this world of flinty, grisly violence all over again.

It starts off a little slow, although the movie looks as good as the original and has the same throbbing, ominous score. Brolin, who is on a real hot streak right now, helps set up the plot which involves trying to start a turf war between Mexican cartels by kidnapping the daughter of one of the kingpins.

But the action really picks up once Del Toro's character Alejandro returns -- his every move and gesture oozes ruthless efficiency, and the filmmakers here (who lack Sicario director Denis Villeneuve's skills) don't do much to reinvent his character.

This is where, to some extent, you miss Blunt's more relatable lead -- there are times where this film alternates between bad ass shoot out and quiet reflection, without much substance in between. While the original film seemed to want to say something about the toll of the drug war, this film doesn't do as much to justify its existence.

And yet, when the action starts clicking, I couldn't look away -- and by the last act (which stretches believability but also works like gangbusters) I was leaning forward and ready for more. A third film is reportedly in development, and I am excited to see this series continue.

I totally understand why the morally reprehensible aspects of this series (like its fairly stereotypical portrayals of Muslims and Mexicans) are a dealbreaker. The Brolin character is repugnant on paper -- but like a lot of action movies -- if you check you brain and your politics at the door there is a lot to enjoy for people who like this sort of thing.

And as far as guilty pleasures go -- I am one of those people. I like the nihilistic vision of these movies -- the bluntness of them. At the climax of the film, Brolin says "fuck it all" in reference to their directives from Washington -- and while this is hardly a subtle or smart bit of dialogue, I found its uniquely American brutishness cathartic.

I don't know what it says about me (or audiences), that what started as something of a thinking person's action movie has turned into a shoot 'em up franchise -- but alas here we are.

I can't really defend this movie, but I also can't deny the fact that it really entertained me.

Hilarious and heartfelt 'Eighth Grade' gets growing up just right

Eighth Grade is a special movie. On the surface, it doesn't appear to have much in the way of dramatic stakes -- it's about a normal, socially awkward young girl trying to break out of her self-imposed shell as she approaches the end of eighth grade and start of high school.

It's all pretty relatable, but what makes this movie so profoundly good is that it gets how at around 13 every little interaction feels momentous and life-changing.

It's funny, when I told my trainer I was seeing this film she asked me what I was like in the eighth grade, and for a bit I really struggled to remember. It's a hard period to place.

I remember feeling like whole weeks of drama could pass in a day, and even though what I was so worked up about grows hazier in my memory with each passing year (my most vivid memory involves pining after women that didn't like me back), I remember how fragile I was emotionally then, and writer-director Bo Burnham taps into that headspace flawlessly.

For the film's hero Kayla (played brilliantly by Elsie Fisher) just walking into a room of popular kids has the tension of a thousand horror films, or those awkward, first tentative steps towards sexuality can be devastating. One of the most moving, effective scenes in the film, involves a simple telephone call to a older mentor who's about to finish high school.

And lest you fear this film will too light and frothy, it contains a couple deeply real and powerfully disturbing moments that are achingly on point and unforgettable.

This film may not have the sprawling ambition of Boyhood, but it has a similar sort of universal beating heart.

Not only is it funny in a totally believable way (Kayla's exasperation with her doting dad is both heartbreaking and hilarious) but it feels so relevant and necessary -- this is a movie everyone should see, and will likely enjoy, not because it panders but because it stands out as humane filmmaking in an increasingly tech driven cinematic universe.

I will admit I was a sobbing wreck throughout, and not because it's an emotionally manipulative movie, it just brought a lot of memories flooding back of how both painful and pleasurable it can be not just to be a kid but to be a young adult right on the precipice of discovering who you are.

It's definitely one of my favorite movies I've seen this year -- and it really puts Burnham, who is only 27 (!) on the map as an exciting new voice in movies. I am not surprised he's so young, it helps that he's not too far removed from the age of the kids in this movie -- and he gets their halting rhythms of speaking (and copious use of the word like).

He also seamlessly weaves in the social media age which serves only to exacerbate pre-existing anxieties kids have these days. I kept thinking: I am so glad this shit didn't exist when I was a kid.

And yet, I didn't find this movie depressing (even with its sad beats), I found it to be a total joy and a real breath of fresh air.

'Ant-Man and the Wasp' doubles down and comes up aces

Marvel wanted to make a genre-revitalizing crowd-pleaser with gravitas, and they did it with Black Panther. Then they wanted to make a more brooding crowd pleaser, and they did it with Infinity War. They are now the top two grossers of the year, a huge feat for any studio.

With Ant-Man and the Wasp they wanted to make the second pure action comedy since Thor: Ragnorok, and no surprise here, they have succeeded again.

I am starting to believe that Marvel has entered the same rarified air as Pixar operating at the peak of its creative powers. They are close cinematic infallibility, with each new film succeeded when it absolutely should not.

The makers of Ant-Man realize that the premise of the character (who for the uninitiated can be both King Kong sized and subatomic) is so inherently silly, that they lean into it, have as much fun as a possible with it (including rapidly resizing vehicles and buildings!) and do it all in an expertly paced and wittily written script that maximizes the skills of its incredible cast, including Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Walton Goggins, Laurence Fisburne and the scene stealing Michael Pena.

I saw this film with the best audience, once mostly comprised of families. The kids got a kick out of the incredible special effects and broad physical humor, while the adults were tickled pink by the zingers that almost all landed.

Rudd and company are clearly comfortable in their roles now, and since the first Ant-Man has held up better than some other Marvel debuts, they feel free to double down here and expand on everything you likely loved about the first film (including Pena's motor-mouthed storytelling technique and the mind-blowing de-aging special effects used on Douglas, and now Pfeiffer).

I already loved this movie to death, and then I happened to catch the ill-fated Justice League movie on HBO today and it made me appreciate Ant-Man and the Wasp so much more. Justice League is a film that takes great pains (and it shows) in an effort to try to be funny and affable but fails miserably.

It doesn't help that their concept of The Flash is just that 'a concept,' and not a fully formed character, but the script just feels rudderless and unengaging. I know the production was troubled, with Joss Whedon having to pinch hit for director Zack Synder when tragedy struck his family, but the fact that despite that this film is more watchable than Suicide Squad and Batman v. Superman is really a testament to just how terrible those movies are.

What the makers of Ant-Man get, is that you have got to care about and like these characters -- they even pull off a ridiculously adorable and precocious child character without becoming the least bit grating about it -- before you get to the pyrotechnics.

It seems like a simple enough formula, the film should justify its own existence with a strong script and performances, but it just doesn't happen as much as it could or should. Right now, this may be the most fun summer movie out there, although early reviews suggest Mission: Impossible Fallout may take the crown and run away with it.

But again, that's a film and a series where the people behind them -- Tom Cruise in particular -- is invested in them being good, not just successful. The M:I movies and the Marvel movies have established a bar for quality and audiences rightfully expect them to keep it up.

The fact that after dozens of films and ten years of larger-than-life heroes, a post-credit sequence scene in a movie like Ant-Man and the Wasp can make me gasp and buzz about its follow-up is compelling and humbling.

Now, if only Marvel could take on the Russians.

The decline of Johnny Depp should be a cautionary tale

Just to be perfectly clear: I don't feel sorry for Johnny Depp. How can you? But I do think it's sad that he appears to have self sabotaged his career to some degree in a toxic mixture of hubris and bad life decisions. There have been a spate of recent articles detailing everything from his road to financial ruin to his alleged prodigious drug and alcohol abuse.

And even more disturbing are allegations of abuse by him, against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard and most recently against a location manager on an upcoming film.

Things are totally dire for the now 55-year-old actor (I was actually surprised by how old he is, and perhaps this streak of bad behavior is a prolonged mid-life crisis), he still cranks out profitable (albeit critically reviled) Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which presumably fill his coffers quite nicely.

And he's even going to appear in the family-friendly surefire blockbuster Fantastic Beasts movie due out later this year, so he hasn't become totally toxic as far as Hollywood is concerned ... yet.

But something tells me he could be well on his way down a road another infamous character actor-turned-bloated-egomaniac-movie star has gone down. I'm thinking Nicolas Cage.

While Cage still can occasionally do work that earns great critical notice, he has largely become a parody of himself, churning out forgettable direct to DVD films which only serve to erase the fond memories he created with classics like Raising Arizona and Moonstruck.

He too hamstrung his career by enduring a high-profile financial collapse as well as well-documented bouts of bratty behavior. With Depp, the shift in his image feels even more abrupt, especially considering his unlikely rise up Hollywood's A-list.

I'm old enough to remember when Depp was largely box office poison. While he occasionally carried the offbeat sleeper now and then like Edward Scissorhands, he was an actor's actor, willing to take on risky projects and subvert his boyish, sex idol persona.

But once he got his hands on the Pirates franchise he basically never looked back. There were some occasional glimmers of the interesting, unpredictable actor he once was, such as the underrated Black Mass, but he has largely seemed on autopilot for the last 15 years, willing to play quirky in airquotes while cashing in on forgettable fluff like the Alice in Wonderland movies or Tim Burton's reboot of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I saw in a recent interview that he'd rationalized this decision to abandon his character actor reputation as not selling out, but instead invading the power structure at behemoths like Disney. And while I can concede that his first Oscar nominated performance as Captain Jack Sparrow did feel subversive and risky, it ceased being that after four sequels.

Of course, some characters should be and deserve to be movies stars, and I would never knock someone who decides to take a paycheck project now and then. But I do wonder if Depp made a bit of a deal with the devil when it comes to his career, and whether his willingness to sacrifice craft for commerce has now started to backfire.

'Sorry to Bother You' is the savage satire I've been waiting for

For a while now, I've been wondering when we were going to get a smart, appealing satire which captures that shock and awe of the Trump era without overtly calling out any specific people. Get Out got the ball rolling a year ago but there have few movies willing to swing for the fences since it. Instead, the marketplace have been oversaturated with superheroes.

Thank God for Boots Riley's debut film Sorry to Bother You, a wild and adventurous black comedy that lampoons corporate America, reality television, consumer culture and more without ever feeling preachy or pandering.

The film centers on a lovable loser played by breakout star Lakeith Stanfield who takes a telemarketing job just to make ends meet and gets plunged into a labor struggle and a mysterious conspiracy involving a cult-like nouveau form of slave labor called Worry Free.

I kind of don't want to delve too much further into the plot than that because it'll spoil the offbeat turns this plot takes into totally uncharted territory. There will certainly be comparisons made the whimsical work of Michel Gondry, and yes, Get Out too, but Riley's film has a funky rhythm and sense of humor that's entirely its own.

Even though this is Riley's first official screenplay and directing gig, you'd think he'd been making films for years, the movie is that assured and well-paced.

He's aided by a first-rate cast of scene stealers like Tessa Thompson, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, and Steven Yeun, just to name a few.

And there are also hilarious vocal performances from comedians Patton Oswalt and David Cross, that contribute to a plot twist spoiled to some extent by the trailer but still work when played out over the course of this film.

Really from the opening scene I was hooked by this movie's take on our current universe where the meme is supreme and achieving maximum wealth through minimal effort is the most prized skill of all.

This is certainly one of the best films I've seen this year, and hopefully one that will earn a broad audience and awards love (it definitely belongs in the original screenplay race) at the end of this year. I was heartened to see it already has nearly grossed a million dollars in just 16 theaters, which bodes well, and even though it takes some defiantly strange turns, I think it's just the kind of experimental, provocative kind of picture that can sometimes catch on with audiences.

It almost reminds me of early Spike Lee, unafraid to be confrontational to 'go there' on some taboo topics, without forgetting to still be fun at the same time. Definitely catch it you can while it's still in theaters, this is going to be a movie people will be talking about for a long, long time.

And I can't wait to see what Boots Riley does next!

What the Billy Dee Williams news means for 'Star Wars'

Probably nobody on the planet, besides maybe Billy Dee Williams himself, was more excited by the news that broke last night that the veteran actor and fan favorite would finally be reprising his most iconic role of Lando Calrissian in the next installment of the new Star Wars saga, the still untitled Episode IX.

Williams' performances as Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi have always been an inspiration for me, and as a young African-American kid growing up, he was a big part of what drew me to the franchise and made me such a diehard fan.

I've been long advocating for him to get the chance to bring his version of Calrissian back to life, something that I worried would never happen after he was snubbed by The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. But now, it's official and with everything related to Star Wars these days, I expect the reaction to be complicated.

There's the fact that at 81, Williams is considerably less mobile than he once was. Although his reps say he's going to be training for the film, presumably to lose some weight, I don't expect him to be heavily involved in any big action scenes.

That being said, I think most fans are hoping that this will be more than a glorified cameo, and considering the fact that Williams has been reportedly clearing his schedule, that suggests it will be.

Now, I expect two strains of thought from skeptics. I imagine there will be those who see his return as pure fan service (along with the return of Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams) to help win back people who rejected the divisive Last Jedi.

Second, and I'm already seeing this cynicism online, there is already speculation that his character will likely be killed off unceremoniously, because -- SPOILER ALERT -- this series has systematically dispatched Han and then Luke, and with the real-life passing of Carrie Fisher, effectively Leia too.

This new trilogy has been centrally concerned with reckoning with the past and The Last Jedi really made a point to hammering home the conceit that the past has to "die," but I hope that whatever Calrissian's fate, it won't be simply to reassert some pre-established theme.

I actually think Rian Johnson's decision not to include him in The Last Jedi was a mistake. As much as I enjoyed Benicio Del Toro's performance as the unpredictable DJ, I felt like swapping in Lando for that character would have been a lot more compelling and interesting, something Johnson briefly considered, but eventually abandoned.

By bringing him in now there's a danger of his presence feeling forced, and with all the original heroes gone except for reliable old Chewbacca (and R2D2 and C-3PO), it's hard to know where Lando can and will fit in this narrative.

Clearly, Donald Glover's likable performance as the younger Lando in Solo resurrected interest in the character, and proved there was more room to develop him. And although the young heroes of the new trilogy -- Rey, Finn and Poe -- grew a lot in The Last Jedi, they are still in need of mentors, and certainly an aging Lando could fill that gap.

No matter what, I just hope they give him something fun and interesting to do, although it seems to me that the central narrative of this new film --  which is supposed to be the final entry in this particular saga -- would focus on reconciling the tension (both sexual and otherwise) between Rey and Kylo Ren.

I will say probably the most exciting thing about this forthcoming adventure (which I believe is due out in 2019), is how much of a blank slate it is. For better or worse, The Last Jedi didn't set up an obvious trajectory for the next film to go on and so Abrams and company will have a very challenging or liberating hand to play with, from a certain point of view.

Virtually nothing works in Ava DuVernay's 'A Wrinkle in Time'

I'm back after a bit of a hiatus, and there are so many movies in theaters right now I wanna see and need to catch before it's too late -- but before I get onto new material, I've gotta weigh in on one woeful disappointment from earlier this year that I finally caught: Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time.

This was a movie I had once very highly anticipated -- in part because of the historic and symbolic achievement of DuVernay (as the first female director of color to be at the helm of a $100-million budget, would-be blockbuster) but also because the Madeleine L'Engle book that inspired it had been a favorite of my youth (although I had forgotten far more of it than I could remember).

Poor reviews kept me from rushing to see this big screen adaptation when it finally hit theaters (where it under-performed at the box office) and while I still had every intention of seeing it, my expectations were considerably lowered.

Now that I have finally seen it, I can say it is an unequivocal failure, but one I struggle to pinpoint. It's not a laughably bad movie by any measure, but still virtually nothing works in it from its casting to execution.

I have enormous respect for DuVernay's talent, but perhaps she simply isn't suited for making these kind of epic, fantastical films. A movie like this should dazzle you and there isn't a single set piece that stuck out for me.

Basically, my big takeaway from this was too appreciate Ryan Coogler's Black Panther that much more, since pulling of this kind of blockbuster is such a delicate tightrope. I imagine there is always studio pressure to go light on character for spectacle, and the right balance can make or break a movie.

Here DuVernay takes great pains to give her characters gravitas, and she has likable adult leads in Chris Pine and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, but the kids aren't compelling (at least to me), and the stunt casting of Oprah Winfrey alongside Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling didn't work for me at all. They're distracting and dopey as hell.

Kaling, who has comedic chops, is saddled with corny quote jokes and nothing to play. At least Reese Witherspoon commits to her childlike performance, while Oprah is simply being Oprah, accept unlike in Selma she doesn't wisely play against her diva persona, here she revels in it to the detriment to the movie.

The effects, which can often be a saving grace for a movie like this, are dull at best and chintzy at worse. I'm not really sure where the money went here, it certainly doesn't seem to be on the screen.

But the greatest sin of this movie is that it doesn't appear to have anything interesting to say about the material. Yes, there is some progressive politics and nods to multiculturalism shoehorned in, and while I agree with the sentiments they're not subtle or effective, neither is the strain of female empowerment that is supposed to transform the sullen heroine into a fierce warrior.

It could be that the book's material was too hard to translate into a grounded film -- I don't know. I couldn't help but feel like a Tim Burton in his prime could have done wonders with it. All I can say is that after seeing this iteration, I think DuVernay was still struggling with the material when she made it.

Now, with all this being said, I love that she got the opportunity -- that is an advance worth celebrating. And, if by chance, this film ends up inspiring a generation of young women to be strong and independent voices, than I will always applaud that too.

Still for me, this feels like a total misfire, not even an interesting one like the similarly aspirational Tomorrowland, and that bums me out.