Top Gun and Maverick


 

Hey guys! Here is my review of both the original Top Gun and the sequel Top Gun: Maverick. I have a confession - I pretty much have the original Top Gun memorized. First off - it's a great movie. VERY quotable, very fun, very iconic, an instant classic. When I was in college, we had Top Gun in the VCR in the living room on repeat. So any time day or night you would hear from the living room, "I said to Hollywood 'where'd he go?' Hollywood said, 'Where'd WHOOOOO GOOOOOOO?'" So yeah, I learned the whole movie from memory. I had a date when I was in college and she said we should watch Top Gun together so we did and of course I was quoting along with most of it and she wasn't impressed and I decided I didn't need that kind of negativity in my life. ALSO! I worked at a camp for many years, and we had a tradition to do the "she's lost that lovin feelin" routine from this movie in the dining hall with various girls over the years. It was really fun.

THEN! I heard a lot about how great the new movie was. I went in with lowered expectations. And it was really good! Jennifer Connelly was amazing as Penny Benjamin. Tom Cruise was the inimitable Maverick. And Val Kilmer reprised his role as Ice Man, this time squarely in Mav's corner. I had heard everyone going on about how patriotic the new movie was. I didn't really find it that pro-America.  For better or worse. But I was very pleased to see that there was pretty much ZERO wokeness in it. 

It was just a good movie.

Now, I'm going on record saying the first movie was better. I have seen the new movie twice, and I feel like that's about enough. I might see it one or two more times. But the original, I've seen hundreds of times (or at least HEARD it in the other room that many times) and I'll see it dozens more.

I feel the need. The need for speed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the Banshees of Inisherin

Image
I just started watching this. I'm about five minutes into it. it already grabbed me. this is gonna be good.  UPDATE: So I finished this one and it's a masterpiece. The SUBJECT of the story is twisted and interesting. One character, pictured on the right above, decides one day that he doesn't like another character (played by Colin Farrell, pictured on the right). He tells him to stop talking to him. The Colin Farrell character refuses to stop, so the other guys says every time he talks to him, he's going to cut off one of his own fingers. That's the kind of twisted I mean. I'm not going to give you any more spoilers. But the tone and setting and mood of the movie is the real reason to watch it. You get TOTALLY drawn into the life of these simple people living on an island off the coast of Ireland. It's a beautiful and tragic movie that explores human relationships and their importance and limitations.  I highly recommend it, though it's not for the faint...
Read more

lost in translation

Image
 I had a funny experience when I watched Lost in Translation the first time. I watched it with some friends who were not the brightest lights in the harbor. And they did NOT get it. They kept complaining about little things throughout the movie that they were clearly not understanding. I thought that it was extremely apropos and hilarious that they were misunderstanding a movie called Lost in Translation. This is a wonderful movie. It's slow and warm and deep. It's about a friendship between two unlikely people, played by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. There is sexual tension between them, and I'm not going to give away the movie by telling you what happens, but I found it delightful. It's directed by Sofia Coppola, and it was the reason I fell in love with her as a director. It's rated R for language.  I highly recommend it if you like slow, warm movies about unlikely friendships - and great acting and writing.
Read more

puss in boots

Image
 I went in with high expectations. It surpassed them. Puss in Boots (2022) is the best movie I've seen recently. It's laugh out loud funny throughout the whole movie. The writing is witty and snappy and really fun. Antonio Banderas is perfect reprising the role of Puss in Boots. Salma Hayek is fantastic as Kitty Softpaws. I don't know the actor playing Perrito, but he's very funny in this role. John Mulaney is great and nasty as the evil Jack Horner. And Florence Pugh is fun as Goldilocks with her adopted family of three bears.  All of the characters are searching for a map that will lead them to a wishing star, and that star will grant the person one wish. I won't give spoilers by telling you what they are all wishing for or what happens. But the end is VERY satisfying. The movie begins with a song that is EXTREMELY catchy and gives us one of the best movie openings I've seen since Capt Jack Sparrow stepped off the sinking ship in Pirates of the Caribbean.  I H...
Read more