Top Gun: Maverick – 10
I’ve probably hired close to a thousand people as a
manager. Maybe 10 or 15 delivered the
total package of commitment. They gave everything
they had to their job. They brought focus
and intensity every single day to the task at hand. You didn’t have to give them much
direction. You knew, and they knew what
they were there for. Those people are too-rare
treasures.
Which brings me to Tom Cruise. I just
laugh at the on-line hatred I see. Yes,
he’s made some very public missteps. He’s
got three ex-wives out there. His religion
is a little kooky, but aren’t they all?
He has a problem with couches, jumping on them, or ridiculing a
profession that uses a couch as an analysis tool. Didn’t like Matt Lauer (who’s sorry now?) So, he’s made some missteps. But man does he commit to his
profession. Nine out of ten times he
delivers an incredible movie. (Yea, The
Mummy was a disaster.) He’s a real movie
star, maybe the last we’ll ever see like this.
His preparation, his stunts, his treatment of co-workers, his thoroughness,
are all legendary. He is praised through-out
the industry. His commitment to his
craft is evident in every frame of his new movie.
In Top Gun: Maverick, he resurrects his character from 36 years ago, Pete Mitchell, a Navy pilot who is way more comfortable in the air than on the ground. He is still just a Captain because of a little problem with authority. Ok, he couldn’t follow directions to get across the street.
So, by now you’re wondering, is this movie any good? It’s terrific. It uses all the tools in 21st century movie making that are available. It packs the screen with action, movement, personality, and humor. I saw it in Imax, and I’d like to go back to see it twice more there. Once in the front row, and once farther back and higher. If you’re going to wait to see it streaming, you’re making a big mistake. Not only is it good to be back in a theater. It’s essential for this. Cruise isn’t just resurrecting a character here. He may be saving movie theaters.
Mav is now a test pilot for the Navy. He starts off pushing a new fighter jet, and the movie is off and running. Yes, it gets a little hokey at times, (that Top Gun dong) and they go out of their way with flashbacks to make sure you’re up to speed if you didn’t see the original. Go back and watch it first if you haven’t. You probably have though, since if you didn’t see it, you’re probably pretty young, and unlikely to be reading this.
Pete has a multitude of ground relationships that are troubled. First, there’s the son of his late navigator,
call-sign “Goose”. Miles Teller is
perfect as “Rooster” and presumably will someday be the father of “Duckling.” Then there’s the radiant Jennifer Connolly as
the radiant Penny Benjamin, who fortunately for the writers, has had a previous
relationship with Mitchell, and appears to be waiting for his return, because
she owns “the bar” and conveniently has no love interest when Pete walks into
her gin joint. Her lack of a boyfriend
is probably the most unrealistic part of the movie, but there’s only so much
you can cram into an action picture, so the rekindling is pretty easy, and let’s
face it, they are easy on the eyes,
Maverick has been called back to train some previous Top Guns for an impossible mission. No one thinks he can do it, and yet “Ice,” his former rival, now Admiral Ice, played by Val Kilmer, knows he’s the only one that can. We’re in the cockpit for thrilling training sequences and a mission that will require a series of miracles. For the final miracle Mav has to tap his inner Ethan Hunt, but I quibble. This is just great movie making. It’s immersive and enthralling.
So, is this movie Oscar-worthy?
Absolutely, and if theater owners had the vote, it would be a slam dunk.
Go.
Some Ancillary Comments:
This was released fittingly for Memorial Day Weekend. Goose may have been a fictional character,
but you can let him represent the many who have died furthering the American
ideal, some even in training exercises.
Also, we don’t often get a glimpse of where our tax dollars
go in the military. If you hate paying
taxes, at least appreciate that it gets us moving toward Mach 10, if we ever need to go.
Lastly, if you have been a boycotter/hater of Tom Cruise and
this has maybe opened your mind a little, check out the Mission Impossible
Movies. They get better and better, and
the last one, Fallout, is in my opinion, the best action film ever. Tom Cruise is our biggest action star, and it’s
not special effects where he shoots rays out of his hand. He makes movie magic almost believable. I don’t know anybody who isn’t a little kooky,
so its just my opinion but his dedication to movie making should be celebrated. I love movies, and I’m a big fan of his team and their commitment to entertaining us.
Wind River – 10
Every once in a while, a movie that you know nothing about sneaks up on you and
sucker punches you. Wind River is such a
movie. In retrospect, it shouldn’t
have. It was written and directed by
Taylor Sheridan, now the showrunner of Yellowstone, so if you are a fan of that
series, you’ll love this movie. But even
if you’re not, get ready. How did I find
it? I was reading a movie blog talking
about great movies of the past few years, and there was a guy listing all these
movies I like, and he then says his favorite movie of the last 20 years was
Wind River. So, I bit.
Jeremy Renner plays a game tracker for US Fish & Wildlife in Wyoming who finds a dead body that he recognizes. A rookie FBI agent played by Elizabeth Olson flies in from Las Vegas to investigate. Their relationship as they investigate is the centerpiece of the movie. It’s real and honest. She knows she is out of her depth and needs his help. There’s none of that artificial friction that you see so often. It soon becomes apparent that there’s going to be a showdown, and let’s just say that when it comes, it makes the gunfight at the OK Corral look like child’s play. What a simple, direct, terrific movie. I can’t wait to watch it again.
The Worst Person in the World – 9
This is a subtitled Norwegian movie that somehow got itself nominated for a screenplay Oscar last year. So, the script has to be special, right? Well, it is brilliant in that it examines a young lady, Julie played by an amazing Renate Reinsve, and doesn’t make it obvious why she’s the title character. It sinks in slowly. So, for me the script was brilliant, the acting was phenomenal, and the execution was flawless. The comedy as she bounces from job to job and lover to lover, never happy with her circumstance in either, perfectly captures the central dilemma that many have in life.
Be warned, this is not an easy watch as Julie's actions at time are difficult to stomach. It's like watching a friend make mistake after mistake, leaving hurt in their wake.
Old – 7
M. Night Shyamalan is at it again. This time fascinating and aggravating me at the same time, as he often does. A pretty cool story of tourists gathering on a beach that are suddenly aging at an alarming rate, and some of the things that entails. There are interesting developments, but unfortunately M has to come up with an ending, which ends up being a blatant rip-off of another movie, which I won’t mention here. It’s one you probably haven’t seen, so you may find this fascinating. I didn’t. The Journey proved better than the destination but isn’t that fairly common?
KIMI – 6
Director Steven Soderbergh has taken to shooting and editing films with an iphone, and sometimes the material deserves better. Zoe Kravitz, whom I now love because of the series High Fidelity, deserves better. Watch that, not this.
Kravitz plays an agoraphobic with a very cool Seattle apartment who works from home listening in on Alexa-like misfires (we’ve been there, and there usually pretty funny) and thinks she’s heard some foul play. So, it’s like an audio Rear Window. Soderbergh runs the Hitchcock playbook and seriously, can’t he be a little more creative? Oh, well. Misfire. They can’t all be great.
Ricky Gervais:
Supernature - 8
I don’t think anyone pushes the boundaries of comedy as far as Ricky Gervais, and his latest stand up special on Netflix has him in all kinds of hot water with the LGBTQ community and I can assure you he doesn’t care. I doubt we’ll see any apologies.
After the recent Dave Chappell flap over similar subjects, and protests from Netflix employees, Netlflix management (in what may have been a cost-cutting move) told their employees, “if you don’t like it, quit.” So much for corporate censorship.
Thus, this one-hour special is more gasp-inducing, than laugh inducing. Proceed with caution. I liked it. You may not.
We Own This City – 10
It’s not a sequel to the Wire (maybe the greatest series ever) but it sure feels like one for HBO.
I fell in love with Baltimore during my 8 years there, but
then I didn’t go where the police have to go in this drama that takes place
after The Freddy Gray incident. This series
tears apart the corruption and brutality of law enforcement in this city and weighs
it against those who are trying to check it.
This is enthralling, heart breaking television. And they nail the accents. Is this all true? It seems to be. The names aren’t changed to protect anybody. Jon Bernthal gives an incredible performance as Wayne Jenkins, the policeman running The Gun Trace Task Force for his personal gain. This will entertain and appall you while inducing more gasps than Ricky Gervais could ever hope to do.
All the Old Knives – 5
Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton are CIA agents and former lovers trying to dissect a day in the life of being a spy, when somebody betrayed somebody in their past. Frankly, this movie kept putting me to sleep. Didn’t buy it, didn’t care.
DOCUMENTARIES
George Carlin’s American Dream – 10
I have been a monster fan of George Carlin since his very first album and probably memorized his first four or five albums completely, while you just memorized the 7 words you can never say on television.
You didn’t get arrested for saying them, and you didn’t lose
at the Supreme Court level. George did
and boundaries were pushed.
His insightful comedy has held up very well over the
years. Clips dot the internet as do quotes,
some not really his. There’s just no comedian
that has ever had the impact he had. He
loved words. He knew how to dissect
them, and make fun of them.
This documentary is nearly 4 hours over 2 parts on HBO. My pet peeve with Director Judd Apatow is usually that he doesn't know when to stop. His movies are usually an hour too long. But his
thoroughness here merits the 4, as he digs into George''s life, habits, and drug use in great detail. And toward
the end he doesn’t dodge the central question that many ask. What would George say about the world
today? He answers it with a brilliant
montage of events. It elevates what has
been an outstanding portrait to high achievement. The way George would have wanted it.
Like A Rolling Stone:
The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres – 8
For someone who loves rock n roll as much as I do, you’d think I’d have read Rolling Stone religiously. I haven’t. Very rarely in fact. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the magazine’s place in history. I do.
Ben Fong-Torres was their famous writer/editor whom I know best from his cameo in “Almost Famous.” Shame on me. But, now I know much more about him and his famous interviews, how he is revered in the rock community, and most interestingly about the lives of his family as Chinese immigrants and their journey. This in not a thrilling documentary, but it sure is revealing.
Hemingway - 10
In the face of surgical recuperation, I finally finished the Ken Burns examination of Ernest
Hemingway. Wouldn’t expect anything less
than excellence from Ken and once again, he delivers an intimate and thorough portrait. Made me wish I substituted great books for
great movies in my late-night, can’t sleep activities. Maybe someday.
Sheryl – 9
Just when I was about to cancel Showtime, they roll out a nice documentary recap of the life and career of Sheryl Crow. Love her, love her music, love her story. Got to see her at Jazz Fest once, and thoroughly enjoyed her performance. She’s one of those people I’d like to have dinner with (3 hours at Arnaud’s please) where I could first pepper her with questions, then thank her for doing her part to keep rock from dying.
From her growing up in a loving household that loved music, to her battles with her first group, there’s little left out. Crow is such a willing participant it sometimes feels like a whitewash. But, I’m so grateful for her, I can live with that.
The Way Down: Part Two - 9
Speaking of kooky religions, HBO was forced to commission a follow-up documentary when the first examination of a cult was punctuated by the death of the founder in a mysterious plane crash. So, upon further examination of the crash, and the subsequent tenuous continuation of the cult, let's freak everybody out some more. No surprises here. Cults are here. They’re not going anywhere.
The 400 Blows – 9
Perched at # 39 on Sight and Sounds top films, for some reason this is a movie I have put off seeing for probably 40 years. I shouldn’t have. It’s a Fellini classic about a young street urchin, whose life spirals downward. A straightforward story, there’s no happy ending here.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - 9
This is # 177 on the Sight And Sound poll. It's a wonderful, colorful musical, that is very hard to appreciate. The movie is in French, every word is sung, and thus it's all subtitled. Imagine if you only spoke spanish and were watching The Sound of Music. It's a tough watch because you are not able to understand the melody of the lyrics. But, its greatness is obvious and I wished I'd taken my French class more seriously.
Black Narcissus – 2
This is # 163 on Sight and Sound’s Top 250 movies of all time. I have to confess, I have no idea why. Yes the sets are stunning. Beyond that I have no idea what this is about. I didn’t get it. I didn’t like it. I don’t know what the movie was trying to tell me. I didn’t understand the story. I didn’t like much of anything about it. The directors Michael Powell and Eric Pressburg have several entries in the top 250, and The Red Shoes was stunning, so I’ll try them again. But this movie went farther over my head that Elon Musk does. No, just no.
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