Tom Cruise is a movie star, but after his public embarrassments in 2005, whether audiences could accept him in any role was questioned. And at this point, he probably can’t create a character who isn’t a variation on Tom Cruise, movie star, which may be why the Mission: Impossible franchise is perfect for him. After four films, what can you say about Ethan Hunt other than he’s an effective problem-solver? Ultimately, when you have a director engaged with the material, you get a good film, otherwise it’s just wheel spinning by craftsmen. Brad Bird had a lot to prove with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and it shows, he delivered a home run. Cruise is supported by Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, and Paula Patton in his battle to stop a terrorist (Michael Nyqvist). And our review of the Best-Buy exclusive Blu-ray follows after the jump.

I’m writing to you this afternoon in the late stages of a full-on nostalgia buzz. The reason? Last night, I had the pleasure of taking in a performance of the Beauty and the Beast musical at St. Louis’ beautiful The Fabulous Fox theatre. Thanks to Belle’s “Little Town”, “Something There”, and the Academy Award-winning title track, I’m still giddy and in complete tune with my five-year old self nearly 24 hours after the fact. Now, if I could just get my hands on that old Proton Pack I used to lug around at all times, my return trip to the ’90s would be complete…

…In this week’s “Top 5″ you’ll find a collection of items from The Dark Knight Rises, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo interviews with David Fincher, Rooney Mara, and Daniel Craig, tidbits of news from J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek sequel, director Brad Bird talking about Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Incredibles sequel and more, and a recap of what has been yet another crazy week in trailers (Hint: there’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Prometheus, and Wrath of the Titans). Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

15 years ago, Brian de Palma turned Mission: Impossible, a well-regarded spy TV series into an exciting action-thriller, and Tom Cruise earned a career franchise he could call his own.  Then something went seriously wrong with John Woo‘s Mission: Impossible II, but J.J. Abrams‘ Mission: Impossible III picked the franchise back up with a fun, albeit empty-headed installment.  The only consistent element was Cruise, but sometimes even his charisma couldn’t overcome dull action scenes or shoddy storytelling.  Director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) doesn’t do dull action scenes or shoddy storytelling.  He never has, and he’s at the top of his game with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.  Bird has always put story first, but he never forgets to give the audience the brash, bold excitement only a big screen can bring.  Bolstered by a quick, sharp script, and a terrific ensemble, Bird delivers bone-crunching action, fleet-footed pacing, and the best Mission: Impossible yet.

In Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, actor Jeremy Renner plays Agent William Brandt, an analyst who is more desk jockey than field agent. When Impossible Missions Force (IMF) operative Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is blamed for the terrorist bombing of the Kremlin, he is disavowed, along with the rest of the agency, when the President initiates “Ghost Protocol.” Left with only a team of fellow IMF fugitives – including Brandt, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Jane Carter (Paula Patton) – whose personal motives are unclear, Hunt must find a way to clear the agency’s name and prevent another attack.

At the film’s press day, Jeremy Renner talked about playing a character whose motives may be questionable, how great it is to be a part of such a successful franchise, getting in shape for the physical demands of the role, and how Tom Cruise has helped him prepare for any future action work he’ll have to do. He also talked about currently filming The Bourne Legacy, his work in The Avengers, what attracted him to the James Gray film Low Life, and the process of developing a Steve McQueen biopic. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Paramount is really hoping to woo people out to see Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in IMAX and to see it as soon as possible.  To help seal the deal, folks who attend an opening midnight IMAX screening can pick up a special edition poster for the film.  The posters—designed by Matt Owen—come in black-on-red and red-on-black, and cleverly combine the familiar Mission: Impossible fuse with the movie’s major set piece: Tom Cruise dangling off the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

Hit the jump to check out the black-on-red version of the poster.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX on December 16th, and opens nationwide on December 21st.

A batch of new images and a new clip from Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has been released. The film is the fourth entry in the ever-changing Mission: Impossible franchise and finds Tom Cruise and his team going undercover in order to clear they’re name. I’m excited about this movie for a few reasons: director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) is making his live-action debut, Simon Pegg is swell, and judging from the trailers the pic looks to be an engaging and fun action flick. The supporting cast is pretty impressive as well, with Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Tom Wilkinson, Josh Holloway, and Michael Nyqvist rounding out the cast.

Hit the jump to check out the clip and images. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX and conventional theaters on December 16th.

Paramount has released 17 new images and 5 set photos from Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.  The images show off spy-thriller shenanigans and director Brad Bird directing up a storm of spy-thriller shenanigans.  And as you can see from the image above, Tom Cruise is probably contemplating if it’s unreasonable to demand full bars if you’re in a cloud of debris.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Josh Holloway, Michael Nyqvist, Lea Seydoux, and Tom Wilkinson. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX on December 16th and goes wide on December 21st.  If you see it in 70mm IMAX, you’ll also get see the prologue for The Dark Knight Rises.

Paramount has released two new clips for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.  The primary purpose seems to be to highlight the new character played by Jeremy Renner.  In one clip, Renner banters capably with Simon Pegg; in the next, he gets in on the action in a scene aptly titled “Fan Jump.”  In the footage we’ve seen so far, Renner fits in well in the Mission: Impossible world.  That spells good things for this movie, obviously, but is especially good news since it was rumored early on that Renner may assume the lead in future Mission: Impossible films.

Focusing on the present, Tom Cruise is still the headliner of what looks to be one of the more entertaining releases this holiday season. Paula Patton, Josh Holloway, Michael Nyqvist, Lea Seydoux, and Tom Wilkinson join Renner and Pegg in the supporting cast.  Directed by Brad Bird, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens on December 16.  Watch the clips after the break.

New character banners for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol have gone online.  Usually we regurgitate advertising that’s in English, but these are in Russian so it’s a nice change of pace.

Hit the jump to check out the banners.  The film stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Josh Holloway, Michael Nyqvist, Lea Seydoux, and Tom Wilkinson.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX on December 16th and goes wide on December 21st.  If you see it in 70mm IMAX, you’ll also get see the prologue for The Dark Knight Rises.

Today is a good day. The Cardinals are World Series champions, trick r’ treaters will soon be out in full force, and I’ve got a night of horror films to look forward to. Once a year, my fiancée agrees to watch a few pics of the scary variety (or at least Halloween themed ones, i.e. Ernest Scared Stupid) with me in the hopes that I won’t ask her to partake in them again until the following Halloween weekend. Last year’s highlights included Drag Me to Hell and Trick r’ Treat. This year is shaping up to be Tobe Hooper-heavy with Poltergeist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre possibly making the cut. Like I said, today is a good day.

Before you dive into whatever Halloween festivities may await you, I hope you’ll take a few minutes and check out what this week’s “Top 5″ has to offer. In this installment you’ll find the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D, a new trailer for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and interviews for this weekend’s openers In Time, Anonymous and The Rum Diary. Hit the jump for a brief recap and link to each.

A new trailer for Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has been released. The fourth installment in the espionage franchise finds Ethan Hunt and his new team going undercover to clear their organization’s name. If you missed the featurette we posted earlier showcasing Tom Cruise hanging off the tallest building in the world, click here to check it out.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer. The film also stars Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Josh Holloway, Michael Nyqvist, and Tom Wilkinson. Previews for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol begin in select IMAX and conventional theaters on December 16th, with the film opening wide on December 21st.

Judging by the trailer and a new featurette for Brad Bird‘s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) running around the outside of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is going to be almost as important as having a stylish hoodie.  It certainly looks like Cruise did his own stunts, which raises two questions: 1) What insurance company would cover such a risky stunt? and 2) What if he had died?  It would be a spectacular and silly death.  Yes, he would have fallen off the world’s tallest building, but at the same time, people would wonder, “Why didn’t he just use a professional—and let’s be honest—expendable stuntman?”  I guess the set piece just wouldn’t work if you had any doubt that Tom Cruise was risking his life to make an action movie.

Hit the jump to check out the featurette.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX on December 16th and wide on December 21st.

Last week we reported the exciting news that a 6-minute prologue from The Dark Knight Rises will be attached to IMAX prints of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Well, now it looks like only certain IMAX theaters will have the footage. AMC Theaters reports that the footage will only screen on the higher resolution 70mm IMAX screens, not the digital IMAX screens. A reason for the specificity isn’t given, nor does AMC have confirmation of which locations will be screening the footage. Hopefully we’ll find out soon. In the meantime, start searching for the nearest 70 mm IMAX screen and get ready to have your mind blown by Batman and Tom Cruise in the same theater. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens on IMAX screens December 16th and on regular screens December 21st. The Dark Knight Rises is slated for July 20th, 2012.

Back in 2007, Warner Bros. attached the stellar opening scene from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight to IMAX prints of I Am Legend. Now it appears that the studio may be doing something similar with The Dark Knight Rises this holiday season. A trusted source has informed /Film that a six minute prologue to The Dark Knight Rises will be attached to the IMAX prints of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. This is exciting for a multitude of reasons. First of all, if it turns out to be true, this means that the first eight minutes of The Dark Knight Rises were shot in IMAX. We already knew that Nolan and his cinematographer Wally Pfister were planning on shooting a great deal of the film in IMAX, but this confirmation is all the more enticing.

Additionally, the Brad Bird-directed Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is opening on IMAX screens on December 16th, a full five days before its wide release. The exclusive IMAX engagement now appears to be a very smart move given this Dark Knight Rises news. Warner Bros. declined to comment on the story when reached for contact, so this could all end up being a rumor, but the prologue attachment makes a good deal of sense. Here’s hoping for the best. [Update: /Film has updated their story to reflect that the running time of the prologue is six minutes instead of eight. Furthermore, independent sources have confirmed the story]

On Monday, we reported that Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol would open in IMAX five days before its theatrical release.  Paramount has now announced that the movie “features approximately 30 minutes of scenes shot with IMAX cameras.”  Usually when a live-action movie hits IMAX, it’s been blown-up but the bigger pictures can result in lower-resolution images.  While it can be a little jarring to see the frame size fluctuate depending on the scene, it can also be tremendously effective for certain set pieces (as anyone who saw The Dark Knight will tell you).  I’m eager to see what director Brad Bird pulled off with IMAX cameras particularly the scene where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) dangles from the world’s tallest building.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  The film also stars Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Josh Holloway, and Tom Wilkinson.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in IMAX on December 16th and in conventional theaters on December 21st.