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Sean Witzke has put together the following video essay exploring the work of Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams and Brad Bird over the Mission: Impossible franchise and it's a fascinating study of influence from a director's perspective and what has come of the franchise, primarily following Abrams' taking over ever since Mission: Impossible III. Witzke spends a ton of time exploring De Palma's contributions and influences when it comes to Mission: Impossible (1996) and as he moves on the time spent on each film decreases, which is interesting in and of itself. Talk of the influence of Alfred Hitchcock on all the films, as well as Ronald Neame's Gambit, Jules Dassin's Topkapi (which I have not seen, but desperately need to) and Roman Polanski's Macbeth are all referenced and he also discusses, as I have before, the fact Woo's Mission: Impossible II is essentially a...

After 19 years, Tom Cruise's first major franchise is still one of Hollywood's best.

As Ethan Hunt, the star turned himself into an action hero with 1996's "Mission: Impossible" -- going Full Cruise with all the running, punching and jumping onto a bullet train from (naturally) an exploding helicopter. The first film was a huge hit, spawning five sequels -- all from different directors, as the series aims to give each "Mission" its own unique fingerprint.

Cruise is back for the latest installment, "Rogue Nation." Before you see the movie this Friday, your mission -- should you choose to accept it -- is to check out these 27 facts about the "Mission" films.

"Mission: Impossible" (1996)

1. Before locking down Brian De Palma to direct, the first filmmaker Cruise approached about "Mission" was Sydney Pollack, whom he had worked with previously on Paramount's 1993 summer hit, "The Firm."

2. De Palma designed many of the...

Will Jessica Day want a short, short man? We’ll find out when Smallville alum Alan Ritchson makes his New Girl debut in October — and here’s a tiny, exclusive sneak peek.

Related New Girl Recruits a Person of Interest to Woo Jess in November

As TVLine previously reported, Ritchson will play a potential love interest who’ll admit to Jess that he isn’t the best hung stallion in the stable, if you know what we mean (and what we mean is that he has a micropenis).

In an effort to prove she’s not as shallow as her pals,...

Cinephiles go gaga over Wong Kar-wai. When he’s at his best his films have a dreamlike quality to them, blooming with narrative puzzles and visual beauty that just scream “cinema classic.” It’s no wonder then that his film In the Mood For Love is the most recent film of them all to show up on Sight & Sound’s definitive “Greatest of All Time” poll from last year. But now, after production troubles and seemingly endless release delays, he presents his epic The Grandmaster, the story of the martial arts master named Ip Man who is known to Western audiences as the guy who taught Bruce Lee. Apparently there are various cuts of the film out there with varying runtimes and excised footage with the general consensus being that the original Hong Kong cut is the superior version. What I talk about in this review is the Us cut...

Seth Gabel! I would have started this article with a long Woo Hoo if it wasn’t somewhat unprofessional. But please allow me to take a step back. Gothica (which by the way has absolutely nothing to do with the Halle Berry movie of the same name) is a pilot in development at ABC, described as a modern-day gothic horror soap surrounding the lives of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and more. Excellent, right?

This is not to be confused with the Showtime straight-to-series (no pilot required) Penny Dreadful, which features the same characters but in a Victorian London setting, that we told you about back in January. Nor is it to be confused with the modern-day I, Frankenstein movie which in turn is not to be confused with the Frankenstein movie that might have Daniel Radcliffe in it, as we reported earlier today. Don’t worry, we...