Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Hustle plus Short Takes on Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and some other cinematic topics

Alterations and Manipulations

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) when they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.

“You see, you can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)

Hustle (Jeremiah Zagar) rated R 118 min.

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): Last Friday was basketballed-themed for me, as earlier Nina and I watched our (San Francisco) Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics, tying this year’s NBA finals at 2 games apiece (winner takes 4 of 7), followed by watching Hustle which is about as invested in basketball as you can get as Adam Sandler plays a scout for the real Philadelphia 76ers with the main guy he recruits and other actors in the movie all actual NBA players, so I’ll go more at length just below about what happens in this Rocky-esque story of sports redemption. (Our at-times-struggling-in-2022’s-playoffs/finals-Warriors-superstar [no exaggeration] Stephen Curry [#30 in above photo] broke loose in that Friday’s Game 4 for his own redemption, scoring 43 of the team’s 107 points by himself in a commanding display of talent despite playing on a sprained left foot; he was considerably less-dominant in Game 5 on Monday of this week so others filled in the gap, leading to a 104-94 Golden State win, putting them up 3 games to 2, with the possibility of taking the title either this Thursday—hours after I get this posted—or next Sunday, June 19, 2022, depending on what happens in Boston tonight.) Hustle’s on Netflix streaming so you have to be subscriber to watch it; something else currently streaming, on HBO Max, but was in a lot of theaters 2 months ago is the latest Harry Potter Wizarding-World prequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Back when it was current on the big screen a combination of COVID-concerns for my aging body and a considerably-less-than-stellar-rejection by the OCCU led to my disinterest as a choice. When it became free to me (in a manner of speaking; I pay a small monthly fee for HBO/HBO Max) I decided to give it a look after all, which didn’t change my benign-dismissal of these tales of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and a much-younger Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) as they try their best to prevent evil from taking command of their extensive wizard-community, although I’ll admit the visuals are spectacular as usual even if I could not care less about the story, so learn what I have to say in my Short Takes section (or scan through the Rotten Tomatoes link far, far below in this posting to see how others, such as Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com, reacted: “These ‘Fantastic Beasts’ movies are just not good. They’re extremely OK, but never truly inspiring or transporting.”) One last thing I’ll note here (as I edited it out of the review for spacing purposes; I’m really trying to make my layouts better than they were even a few years ago) is how much Dumbledore ages from these late 1920s-early ‘30s stories to what we see set just a few decades away, the 1990s, in the actual Harry Potter series (am I forgetting something about his chronology?).

Also, here are links for cable TV’s Turner Classic Movies, a great selection of older films (no commercial interruptions), and JustWatch with lots of options for streaming rental or purchase. If you'd want to see what reigned at the domestic (U.S.-Canada) box-office last weekend, just go here.

Here’s the trailer for Hustle:

(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate

that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy). To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

What Happens: Stanley Sugerman (Adam Sandler) is an international scout for the National Basketball Association’s Philadelphia 76ers, although being in such a relatively-low-level-NBA-job for decades after a tragic accident (drunk driving, injured his hand, hurt his team’s record, got him 6 months in jail) cut short his promising college career, leaving him to try to find talent to match his long-gone-potential while he’s forced to watch from the sidelines, also missing out on much of his life with wife Teresa (Queen Latifah) and teenage daughter Alex (Jordan Hull). In respect for Stanley’s knowledge of the game, aging 76ers owner Rex Merrick (Robert Duvall) finally promotes him to assistant coach but suddenly dies soon thereafter, leaving Stanley at the whims of Rex’s son, Vince (Ben Foster), who often doesn’t agree with Stanley, busts him back to international scout with a threat to find an outstanding international player or see his job disappear. After several trips abroad which lead to nothing, he’s in Spain but the guy he came to see isn’t available so when hanging around a pick-up game he’s impressed with the skills of Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) who has a regular job in construction but makes extra cash with these nightly-hustles of would-be-opponents on local public courts. Bo’s initially not interested in Stanley’s offer to come to the U.S. (he was supposed to do so a few years ago, but his girlfriend [now long gone] got pregnant so he stayed in Spain to raise daughter Lucia [Ainhoa Pille] with help from his mother, Paola [María Botto]). Given the fat option of a proposed signing bonus, though, Bo agrees to work with Stanley, although back home Vincent’s not impressed at all so Stanley has to use his own funds to bring Bo to the States where’s he’s immediately detained at the airport due to an old aggravated assault charge (a fight with Lucia’s mother’s boyfriend after she tried to claim sole custody purely for governmental-support-money), so he’s now operating under the threat of deportation if he’s arrested for anything in the U.S.

Stanley’s former college teammate, Leon Rich (Kenny Smith), wants him to quit the 76ers, join him as a player’s agent; Stanley’s not ready for that but does accept putting Bo into a showcase arranged by Leon where there will also be presumptive-second-overall-pick in the upcoming NBA draft, Kermit Wilts (Anthony Edwards), a hot-shot-trash-talker (not unlike the Warriors’ love-him-as-you-cringe-at-his-antics/hate-him-vociferously [even obscenely in a Boston game recently]-if-you’re-the-opponent, Draymond Green). Wilts’ antics frustrate Bo, leading to an under-impressive-workout, even less interest from Vincent. Stanley decides to quit the 76ers (Teresa’s not impressed with that yet tries to remain supportive, even lets Bo live with them) to focus fully on Bo, in preparation for him entering the NBA Draft Combine (a multi-day-showcase prior to the June draft), but Leon can’t get him into the event because Vincent’s been spreading news about the assault charge. With still no option of playing in the Combine, Stanley gets NBA legend Julius Erving (himself) to set up the “Boa Challenge” where pros attempt to score on Bo, making enough of an impression for him to be accepted into the Combine, after which Stanley brings Paola and Lucia to the U.S. to help Bo’s spirits, even as Stanley puts him through many grueling physical preparations. ⇒In the Combine, Bo starts great, then is thrown off by Wilts’ insults, pushes his opponent to the floor, storms out. Bo and his family are set to return to Spain on separate flights, but Leon intervenes again, setting up a private game that Bo and Wilts are invited to so Bo stays, gets triumphant for a change even as Rex’s daughter, Kat (Heidi Gardner), tells Stanley she’s taking over, rehires him. 5 months later the 76ers are playing the Boston Celtics with Stanley as assistant coach, Bo playing for Boston.⇐ Before the credits, we get footage of many well-known-NBA-players, plus 76ers coach Doc Rivers.

So What? Except for getting excited about the Warriors after they stormed into the 2015 NBA Finals (after basically being a joke for decades since they’d won a championship back in 1975 [plus a couple of earlier ones in 1947, 1956]), took the title, came back to the Finals for the next 4 years, winning again in 2017, 2018, I know very little about pro basketball beyond my local team (still have no idea how the referees decide who gets a foul when 2 guys run into each other, although it seems the Warriors pick up a lot of those even when they’re on defense and the ball-handler rams right into our man), so I was surprised to learn, according to Wikipedia, that there are several NBA players in this movie—including Hernangómez (from Spain) playing for the Utah Jazz, Edwards for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and now-retired-Smith who played for many teams, won back-to-back-championships with the Houston Rockets (1993-’94, 1994-’95)—most of whom I don’t know though you’re welcome to look any of them up if you like (but some of you readers must be more basketball-literate than I am), who appear either in Hustle’s narrative or those quick shots prior to the credits are Trae Young, Jordan Clarkson, Khris Middleton, Aaron Gordon, Kyle Lowry, Seth Curry (Steph’s brother), Luka Doncic, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, Aaron McKie, Charles Barkley (who never misses a chance to trash Draymond Green), Shaaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki, Brad Steven, Dave Joerger, Sergio Scariolo, José Calderón, Leandro Barbosa, "Álex" Abines, Maurice Cheeks, Boban Marjanovic, and Moritz Wagner, along with “street ball legends” Grayson “The Professor” Boucher, Larry “Bone Collector” Williams, and Waliyy “Main Event” Dixon.

I note all of these guys for the benefit of readers who’ll recognize them, probably further adding to your enjoyment of Hustle. You can also check out this short video (4:07) where NBA players comment on the movie’s authenticity and/or this website which grades some of these NBAers in Hustle. Also, if you watch the interview as the 2^nditem connected to this movie in Related Links so very far below you’ll find Hernangómez and Edwards predicting the Celtics to win this year’s NBA title, so we’ll see how that goes very soon, but if you want my biased opinion I’d say at least in Games 4, 5 they looked like they could use some help from Bo Cruz (but I’m glad they didn’t get it).

However, one noted sports figure not in Hustle but who seemingly should be is Rocky Balboa (a fictional boxer, at times world heavyweight champ in his stories, played by Sylvester Stallone in 6 Rocky movies [1976-2006], 2 Creed movies [2015, 2018]) given Hustle’s setting in Philadelphia, the rugged unorthodox training methods both men endure (Bo runs fast up a hill in early AM darkness; Rocky ran up the considerable steps to the Philly Museum of Art), both were relative unknowns attempting big breakthroughs (Bo for the NBA draft; Rocky’s title shot against Apollo Creed) so while Hustle successfully works the angle of dedicated men trying to achieve their dreams it does feel awfully derivative of the storyline so well-known in the our worldwide-cinematic-heritage since 1976.

Bottom Line Final Comments: Although I've somewhat faulted Hustle for being such a Rocky clone, I do like the clever use of the title’s singular word indicating both the hard-scrabble-street-games Bo assumed would be his only opportunity to show his basketball skills and the tough training Stanley put him through to hone not only his commendable-but-raw-ability but also his needed obsession with conquering the game’s challenges if he ever hoped to make it as a pro. The CCAL is generally impressed overall, as Rotten Tomatoes gives this movie 92% positive reviews, although the usually-more-reticent-folks at Metacritic could only muster up a 68% average score (not bad for them as they get into the 70s before showing much exuberance; more details on both of these critics’-accumulation-sites in Related Links). As noted before, you have to be a subscriber to Netflix streaming to see this, but at least there’s no further charge, so if this movie’s accessible (or you care to pay at least a one-month’s fee) you might want to add it to your viewing schedule along with however many games are needed to end this year’s NBA Finals. I know little about Adam Sandler’s personal interests so I’m a bit surprised to see what an homage to the entire experience of basketball he’s helped create here (he brought the Taylor Materne, Will Fetters script to director Zagar, sparking his interest in the project), in that I’d have expected this kind of story to come from Spike Lee but then we’d be all about the New York Knicks; I’m not surprised, though, to see Hustle has another connection to an NBA star (OK, major superstar, along with Stephen Curry who’s still looking for a Finals MVP honor to go with his previous NBA season selections for that prize) LeBron James, whose SpringHill company helped produce this movie, bringing the script to fan-boy-Sandler.

You’re not going to find much unexpected as Hustle works its way to closure, but it’s ultimately a feel-good-story giving a solid sense of what sort of obstacles an aspiring pro athlete must overcome, along with a lot of pleasure for true basketball fans in seeing so many of these pros either in notable roles or a cluster of quick appearances. As you might know (or, I’m sure, will be eager to learn) I wrap up these reviews with a Musical Metaphor for a last perspective from an aural source with this one—given the overt-Rocky connections you’ll find embedded in Hustle—being the theme from that much-earlier-movie (a winner in its own right, taking the Oscar for 1976’s Best Picture [directed by John G. Avildsen, also an Oscar-winner, plus it got Best Film Editing], using Bill Conti’s music, lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins [it took 2 of them to come up with those few words?]), “Gonna Fly Now” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YYmfM2TfUA with its uplifting tune, simple-but-direct-lyrics (“Getting strong now / Won’t be long now”) as applicable to Bo as they were to the “Italian Stallion” years ago. (A final note: I’ve walked up those Museum of Art steps on a hot summer day; the idea of running up them in preparation for a July 4 bout shows me Stallone’s obsession with his movie—also written by him—matches the kind of passion Stanley’s so determined to instill in Bo.)

SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

(David Yates) rated PG-13 146 min.

The pre-Harry Potter adventures of Newt Scamander and a younger Albus Dumbledore continue (in the early 1930s) as they work together to thwart the evil intentions of Albus’ former lover, Gellert Grindelwald, who plans a war against us Muggles (those with no magic), a movie with lots of computer-driven-special effects (as they all have been) and fierce cunning from both wizard camps.

Here’s the trailer:

Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.

In this Fantastic Beasts … (5 planned, if critical dismissal/box-office-lag don’t bring retirement of these Harry Potter prequels* before screenwriter J.K. Rowling finishes her intentions) we’re in 1932 where magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) travels to China to aid a Qilin (a rare creature that sees into your soul, knows the future) give birth, yet he’s immediately thwarted by goons from evil wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen, replacing Johnny Depp released after his legal problems). However, she actually had twins so Newt puts the other one in his bottomless case, goes to help good-wizard Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) prevent Grindelwald from becoming the new Supreme Mugwump, then leading his wizards in a domination-war against Muggles (British for non-magical-humans; No-Majs in America) because former-lovers Grindelwald and Dumbledore made a blood-oath not to attack each other. From the earlier prequels you’ll see familiar characters: with Albus and Newt are Newt’s brother, Theseus Scamander (Callus Turner), wizards Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams) and Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam), Newt’s assistant, Bunty Broadacre (Victoria Yeates), and—for comic-relief—Muggle baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler); Gellert’s crew includes Jacob’s former-love-interest, Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol), and Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), illegitimate son of Albus’ brother, Aberforth (Richard Coyle). Current Supreme Mugwump Anton Vogel's (Oliver Masucci) secretly in league with Grindelwald so he's cleared of previous charges against Muggles, setting him up for the next election because he’s killed the Qulin calf, reanimated it to arbitrarily choose him for this high honor. ⇒Newt has to free Theseus from a hellish-prison; Credence learns he’s a Dumbledore, changes his allegiance; Newt’s team disrupts the sham-selection of Grindelwald by bringing the surviving calf to the ceremony where the choice goes to Vicência Santos (Maria Fernanda Cândido). Enraged, Grindelwald tries to kill Credence who’s saved by Albus and Aberforth, with the blood-oath negated as Grindelwald disappears. Finally, we see Jacob and Queenie reunite and marry; Albus observes them from afar before he slips away.⇐

*For more on the previous prequels, see my reviews of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Yates, 2016 [has a link to summaries of the 8 Harry Potter …. movies, relevant to events after these Fantastic Beasts … tales]) and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Yates, 2018). You can also watch this video (11:12 [ad interrupts at about 5:09]) for a more concise background on prior Fantastic Beasts … events than my lengthy diatribes. If that appeals to you, then this site has even more compressed info on the Potter movies and these Fantastic Beasts … episodes.

I’ve long been a fan of the best of the Fantasy genre (although it sports plenty of duds), whether the stories concern giant beasts (King Kong, Godzilla), mythological heroes (Wonder Woman, Thor), “scientific” enhancements (Superman, Spider-Man), or just pure magic (Disney fairy-tale-features, Doctor Strange)—with the Star Wars galaxy offering aspects of it all—yet I could have done nicely with fewer Harry Potter-wizard-movies, just as I've never been invested in these Fantastic Beasts … Potter prequels (despite widespread dismissal by others, I find the Star Wars prequels—… The Phantom Menace [1999], … Attack of the Clones [2002], … Revenge of the Sith [2005, all directed by George Lucas] to be more interesting than any Fantastic Beasts …, all of which I’ve rated with 3 stars [of 5]). More-engaged-fans of Newt Scamander and the much-younger Albus Dumbledore will surely find the constant flow of computer-imagery-enhanced-action, the ongoing-development of a host of established-characters, and immersion again in this magical-world to be a better experience than I did (although I did see the attempted Supreme Mugwump-coup set in Berlin in early 1930s with a world war on the agenda to be an intriguing allusion to what actually happened there) because this time I’m almost with the OCCU as RT reviews are only 46% positive, MC average score is 43%. … Dumbledore’s been out since April 15, struggling to find a profit after its budget of $200 million (plus surely close to that for marketing/distribution) with a take of $95.7 million, $401 million worldwide, so if you still haven’t seen it you might best be able to catch a screening on TV’s HBO if you have a subscription, but if you do you also have free access to streaming on HBO Max (in 4K).

Or, if you’re not convinced you want to spend substantial time (rather than $) on this movie here's a quick recap (4:29) telling you everything I’ve said but with film clips. As for a Musical Metaphor, nothing came easily to me so I finally settled on “Southbound Train” (1972 Graham Nash David Crosby album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xje8zfZy6eA, even as the song’s about a funeral train carrying dead soldiers home, the use of “Liberty,” “Equality,” “Fraternity” implies more about France than the movie’s focus on England and Germany, yet the song’s a sober reminder of the difficult struggles even large communities endure to maintain stability, reject the devious attempts of charlatans who either rig political outcomes (Grindelwald) or spread lies concerning legitimate voter decisions (see/read about the ongoing Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. House of Representatives committee hearings on the assault on our Capitol by duped-followers of former President Donald Trump). I admit I’m pushing the Metaphor-angle of my song choice to the limit here, but lyrics such as “Fraternity, failing to fight back the tears / Will it take an eternity breaking all the fears? / And what will the passenger do when he hears / That he’s already paid for the crown” feel relevant to me about these topics, even if they don’t directly address plot events of this part of the Fantastic … franchise.

Other Cinema-Related Stuff: Here are some extra items you might like: (1) 53 must-see Summer 2022 movies (at least in the "hallowed" IMDb opinion) (2) Top Gun: Maverick passes Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as top domestic grosser of 2022 (so far).

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

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Here’s more information about Hustle:

https://www.netflix.com/title/80242342

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBXgAmpqXOs (9:36 interview with actor Adam Sandler, actors/NBA basketballers Juancho Hernangómez, Anthony Edwards, and director Jeremiah Zagar [ad interrupts at about 6:25])

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hustle_2022

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/hustle-2022

Here’s more information about Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore:

https://www.fantasticbeasts.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohiFHui5_hg (15:03 Top 5 unanswered questions from the movie [at least for diehard-fans of these stories, not me]; Spoilers of course [along with getting past the sponsor’s opening pitch so the explorations don’t start until 2:35, then we get more ads at about 5:08, 10:15])

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_beasts_the_secrets_of_dumbledore

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/fantastic-beasts-the-secrets-of-dumbledore

Please note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow connect

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If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work. (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)

If we did talk, though, you’d easily see how my early-70s-age informs my references, Musical Metaphors, etc. in these reviews because I’m clearly a guy of the later 20^th century, not so much the contemporary world. I’ve come to accept my ongoing situation, though, realizing we all (if fate allows) keep getting older, we just have to embrace it, as Joni Mitchell did so well in "The Circle Game," offering sage advice even when she was quite young herself.

By the way, if you’re ever at The Hotel California knock on my door—but you know what the check-out policy is so be prepared to stay for awhile (quite an eternal while, in fact, but maybe while there you’ll get a chance to meet Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, RIP). Ken

P.S. Just to show that I haven’t fully flushed Texas out of my system here’s an alternative destination for you, Home in a Texas Bar, with Gary P. Nunn and Jerry Jeff Walker (although, as you know, with bar songs there are plenty about people broken down by various tragic circumstances, with maybe the best of the bunch—calls itself “perfect”—being "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" written by Steve Goodman, sung by David Allen Coe). But wherever the rest of my body may be my heart’s always with my longtime-companion/lover/

wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes/wanes over the months/years to come. But, just as we can be raunchy at times (in private of course) Neil and his backing band, Promise of the Real, on that same night also did a lengthy, fantastic version of "Cowgirl in the Sand" (19:06) which I’d also like to commit to this blog’s always-ending-tunes; I never get tired of listening to it, then and now (one of my idle dreams is to play guitar even half this well). But, while I’m at it, I’ll also include another of my top favorites, from the night before at Desert Trip, the Rolling Stones’ "Gimme Shelter" (Wow!), a song “just a shot away” in my memory (along with my memory of their great drummer, Charlie Watts, RIP). To finish this cluster of all-time-great-songs I’d like to have played at my wake (as far away from now as possible) here’s one Dylan didn’t play at Desert Trip but it’s great, much beloved by me and Nina: "Visions of Johanna" However, if the day does come when Nina has to present these above thoughts (beginning with “If we did talk”) and this music after my demise I might as well make this into a somewhat-Top 10 of songs that mattered to me by adding The Beatles’ "A Day in the Life," because that chaotic-orchestral-finale sounds like what the death experience may be like, and the Beach Boys’ "Fun Fun Fun," because this gathering may have gotten morbid so I’d like to sign off with something upbeat to remember me (the Galveston non-surfer) by.

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Thursday, June 9, 2022

Top Gun: Maverick plus Short Takes on The Bob’s Burgers Movie and some other cinematic topics

Teamwork: Live Action and Animated

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

“You see, you can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the same name)

Top Gun: Maverick (Joseph Kosinski)

rated PG-13 131 min.

Opening Chatter (no spoilers): In my previous posting I noted avoiding obvious debuts playing only in theaters due to ongoing precautions about the recent COVID surge in my San Francisco area, putting off blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick due to the assumption it would be difficult to find a screening where the auditorium wasn’t full of unmasked, health-status-unknown-fellow-viewers (based on this movie’s massive box-office-impact last week, I feel secure I was right) as well as passing on what was sure to be a funny experience with the oddball Belcher family in The Bob’s Burgers Movie in favor of watching a play on streaming, Octet, I’d already paid for, rather than experience that option in another type of crowded theater. Well, as fate would have it (and, as the late/great Texas folksinger/songwriter Steve Fromholz would interject into his live act, “Friends, fate will have it!”) my home Alameda County a few days ago reinstituted the indoor mask requirement, so my cautious wife and I ventured out in the early afternoon last Friday and Saturday to screenings where there weren’t all that many other patrons, allowing us to sit notably away from our neighbors and catch up on these 2 movies just a week after they’d opened, showing that in some situations at least “Making Up’s Not Hard to Do” (modifying the title of an old Neil Sedaka song, "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"). … Maverick proved to be as cinematically-spectacular as it’s been heralded to be, even if the story’s similar to the original in being a celebration of macho-determination (with a couple of females integrated into the events also this time around) while … Burgers … was just as silly as expected although pushing its credibility to the limit with the inclusion of songs that will either come across as appropriate to the overall goofy tone of the story or just something some of us would much rather do without. Also, here are links for the schedule of the cable network, Turner Classic Movies, which gives you a wide selection of older films with no commercial interruptions and the JustWatch site which offers you a wide selection of options for streaming rental or purchase. If you'd want to see what reigned at the domestic (U.S.-Canada) box-office last weekend, just go here.

Here’s the trailer for Top Gun: Maverick:

(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge it; activate

that same button or use the “esc” keyboard key to return to normal size.)

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

What Happens: Back in 1986 (when the original Top Gun [Tony Scott] takes place), cocky Navy pilot Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is assigned to the elite TOPGUN fighter-jet-program where he bonds with Lt. Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards); has conflicts with another trainee, Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), who becomes his friend after a deadly-firefight with some Soviet MiGs (where they shoot down 4 of these enemy combatants in an incident that oddly goes no further in international conflicts, just like the situation in our current movie); yet, Goose dies in a horrid accident that carries no punishment for Maverick; he's also embarked upon a romance with civilian instructor Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis). Except for the death of Goose and ongoing respect by Iceman toward Maverick, none of this is explored much in … Maverick, although knowledge of details of the earlier movie is useful given how much of it lies barely below the surface in this sequel (you can benefit from seeing this recap of 1986's Top Gun (20:14 [ads interrupt at about 6:20, 13:20]) based on questions raised by … Maverick’s trailer (no Spoilers here related to the current movie), then if you want even more detail on the older Top Gun you can consult this link. Moving on to the current story, Maverick’s assigned to a small unit testing the possible hypersonic speed of an experimental “Darkstar” jet, but when he arrives at the airfield one day he’s told Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain (Ed Harris) is on the way to personally tell them the project’s dead so the funds can be used on another project, pilotless-aircraft.

Before Cain arrives Maverick takes off in the secret, highly-expensive jet, pushes it to its hoped-for-intended-speed of Mach 10 (exponentially higher than the sea-level-speed-of-sound at 760 mph), then goes to 10.2 (roughly 6,732 mph) before the plane blows up when he pushes it to 10.3 (in reality, the maximum speed has only been Mach 6.7). However, rather than getting busted for disobeying orders (over a 30+ years career since the events of Top Gun Maverick has merely risen from the rank of Lt. to Capt., despite a stellar record as a Navy pilot, given his inability to stay within the perimeters assigned to him), he’s sent to be a TOPGUN instructor in San Diego at the request of old friend/now 4-star-Admiral Iceman Kazansky, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, even though Maverick’s immediate superior, Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson (Jon Hamm), has little use for this hot-shot-guy, even though he’s been assigned to further train a group of top young pilots, already graduated from TOPGUN, because some of them will need to carry out a clandestine mission to take out an illegal-nuclear-development-facility in some unnamed country (implication is it's Iran), a site underground in an extremely-difficult-to-hit-spot tightly located between 2 mountains.

Maverick’s training exercises for his top-notch-group are brutal because he sees the great difficulty of flying low into the area (after missiles from U.S. warships take out the enemy’s close-by-airfield), avoiding retaliation from missile and planes already airborne, bombing a hole right above the target, then sending in the detonation-payload. Among the contestants for this crucial mission are a dozen masters of the air including self-confident Lt. Natasha “Phoenix” Trace (Monica Barbaro), cocky Lt. Jake “Hangman” Seresin (Glen Powell), and antagonistic Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), Goose’s son with a fierce hatred of Maverick both because of his father’s death and Maverick’s action to delay the kid for 4 years to acceptance at Annapolis (at Goose’s request, but Rooster didn’t know that). The training for the near-impossible-mission has only a couple of weeks to complete when Phoenix almost crashes so Simpson takes over the training with less-stringent-demands than Maverick (coincidentally, Iceman dies, leaving Maverick with no guardian angel) who confiscates a jet to personally show how his plan could work. ⇒Disgusted-but-realistic, Simpson puts Maverick in charge who chooses Phoenix, Rooster, and a few others to go on the mission (much to Hangman’s chagrin). The target’s destroyed, but Rooster’s in trouble so Maverick saves him, only to be shot down himself. As he’s about to be killed on the ground by an enemy vehicle Maverick’s saved by Rooster, yet then he’s shot down as well so the 2 of them have to steal an old jet, make an escape while shooting down pursuers, but as they’re about to be destroyed Hangman comes out of nowhere from behind (took off on his own it seems), shoots the enemy plane so all of our heroes return safely to their aircraft carrier. As it all wraps up, Maverick and Rooster have become the best of friends while Maverick follows through on a previous (little info to help us on this) relationship with nearby-bar-owner Penelope “Penny” Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), much to the cautious-delight of her young daughter, Amelia (Lyliana Wray).⇐ Ultimately, “We live in fame or go down in flame.” (Yes, I know, this is from the U.S. Air Force’s official song, but it’s the closest I could get; if someone can tell me an appropriate Navy-air-fight-team-song, I’ll be glad to use lyrics from it.)

So What? The first thing you might wonder about Top Gun: Maverick is why does a studio wait 36 years to make a sequel of a movie? Sure, some sequels are set years after the initial events in the original story (or incorporate prequels that provide actions prior to the original’s release), but they’re usually made in a reasonable amount of time after the foundational movie’s been in theaters (my argument’s obviously challenged by the time-line-release-chronology of the foundational Star Wars trilogies as the events of … Episode VI – The Return of the Jedi [Richard Marquand] from 1983 don’t find a theatrical follow-up until … Episode VII – The Force Awakens [J.J. Abrams] in 2015, although I’ll note the prequel-trilogy of …. Episode I – The Phantom Menace [George Lucas], … Episode II – Attack of the Clones [Lucas], … Episode III – Revenge of the Sith [Lucas ] were released in 1999, 2002, 2005 rather than there being a direct follow-up to … Return of the Jedi so I still find at least some validity in my initial statement). Admittedly, … Maverick was first conceived in 2010, production finally began in 2019 with a 2020 release in the original plans until COVID changed everything, although Paramount kept holding out for the right time of a huge theatrical release for a movie demanding to be seen on big screens (including the biggest of all, IMAX, the format used to shoot it) while so many other features that might have been in theaters over the past couple of years were sent to streaming services so at least those productions had the possibility of being watched. (After all, you pay for movie tickets just as you pay for streaming services, with many monthly fees cheaper than even an afternoon-matinee-ticket so the various media conglomerates were still making some money in some fashion until now when a summer-cluster of blockbuster releases may decide one way or the other if public projection will survive [from what I read, large chains are still getting by even as smaller venues are struggling to survive often due to landlord-repurposing, as with 2 of the arthouse Landmark theaters about a block from each other in downtown Berkeley, CA closed in recent months, even as the San Francisco Bay Area's known as a diverse-cinema-mecca].)

What you'll see in …. Maverick, on whatever-big-screen-you-might-choose, is thrilling visually as actors race around in F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets (F-14A Tomcats in the original Top Gun, a notation I make for those who know such nomenclature as I can’t tell one jet from another unless it's those Vietnam War-era-B-52 bombers), not flying their planes—except for Cruise, an accomplished pilot in real-life—but being shot while in the air with cameras trained on them as true airmen raced the aircraft thorough the skies (Cruise also devised a 3-month-training-session for the cast (9:26 [interrupted by ads at about 2:40, 6:20]) so when they seem overpowered by the G-forces pushing on them as they race along at excessive speeds, it’s not just acting acumen you’re witnessing. (If you’d like to know more about the true Navy TOPGUN [that’s how they spell it, despite the movie-modification] program, actually called the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, formerly at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego then moved [1996] to Naval Air Station Fallon, NV, look at this link.)

However, despite all the cooperation with the Navy in getting the technical aspects of this movie to be largely-plausible if not fully accurate (see the second item connected to … Maverick quite far below in Related Links for how some actual TOPGUN pilots/instructors react to what they see here), what bothers me about it somewhat (despite its impressive on-screen-presence, solid acting throughout) is how it works so consciously to not only connect to the original 1986 movie but also repeats so many of its aspects. (There's useful background in this detailed video [15:19; Spoilers of course, ads interrupt at about 5:28, 10:51] noting 25 of those, including how this time instead of Maverick at loggerheads with Iceman he’s butting against Rooster [they all choose nicknames, which is how they refer to each other], while his love interest is no longer Kelly McGillis—who wasn’t approached to revive her role in the sequel [neither was Goose’s wife, played by Meg Ryan]—but now is Penny Benjamin [vaguely mentioned in the first movie], noted to Maverick by her very young daughter he once broke Mom’s heart, so is she still talking about this over 30 years later or did Maverick reappear in her life during that multi-decade-hiatus?) Those who don’t know/clearly remember the original Top Gun might assume, for example, that Connelly's actually the McGillis character because we’re given little on what happened with Maverick during those undetailed-decades (although there were the 2 Gulf Wars [Kuwait, Afghanistan/Iraq] which would likely given him plenty of opportunities to achieve those many commendations he’s noted for—along with whatever ongoing-acts-of-subordination kept him at a Captain’s rank after so many years in service).

On its own, even with little audience-awareness of the 1986 original, Top Gun: Maverick is active, entertaining, fun to watch as these hot-shot-pilot-egos butt up against each other, stunning in the soaring-aerial-imagery, but when you get a larger-context-sense of how consciously it connects/ repeats itself tied to the original—as well as how it evokes other movies, especially the sense-of-repetition of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) racing through trenches to make a perfect shot to destroy the nuclear core of the Death Star in the originally-released/renamed Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (Lucas, 1977); Obi-Wan Kenobi’s (Alec Guinness) advice to “Use the Force, Luke,” echoing Maverick’s words to Rooster “Don’t think, act!”; then Luke being saved by a surprisingly-appearing Han Solo as Darth Vader was about to shoot him down from behind just as Hangman blows up the pursuing villain in … Maverick (yes, a bit of a Spoiler, but I needed to make the point)—you have to reconsider just how marvelous it truly is. Still, if you’re among the few on the planet who haven’t seen it yet, in addition to the trailer so very far above here’s a final look at what’s in this movie, an "anatomy of a scene" (3:36) by the director as Rear Admiral Cain’s on his way to shut down Maverick’s test of the “Darkstar” jet in which he insists taking 1 last test run (another call-back to a previous-major-aviation-film, The Right Stuff [Philip Kaufman, 1983] in which Maverick’s high-speed-destruction of the “Darkstar” is reminiscent of Chuck Yeager [Sam Shepard] pushing his planes beyond their capabilities yet escaping unharmed from blowouts in the skies [in another connection, Ed Harris who played John Glenn, is the Rear Admiral sent to ground Maverick in this early scene]).

Bottom Line Final Comments: Whether you have any interest in Top Gun: Maverick or not, certainly many movie patrons did as it’s already grossed $308 million domestically after being out for less than 2 weeks (now playing in a "mere" 4,751 theaters, way more than anything else vying for your attention [and money]) right now, with a worldwide total of $569.6 million so far (the domestic haul makes it #3 for the year already behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness [Sam Raimi; review in our May 12, 2022 posting] at $389.7 million and The Batman [Matt Reeves; review in our March 17, 2022 posting] at $369.3 million, both of which have been out for awhile so … Maverick seems destined to top both of them if it keeps soaring in coming weeks [with accounting considerations concerning Spider-Man: No Way Home {Jon Watts, 2021; review in our January 6, 2022 posting} in that it’s still playing well into 2022 {made $231.8 million this year} for a current total of $804.8 million domestically {$1.096 billion worldwide} so it’s made considerably more in total in northern North America than anything else still on screens, yet technically it’s a 2021 movie whereas the others I’ve cited here are clearly connected only to 2022]). However much money … Maverick makes, though, it’s doubtful it’ll be remembered (just like its predecessor) in years to come for anything except those jaw-dropping-flight-scenes, which make for spectacular pure cinema (along with some rah-rah-patriotism about a U.S. military success at a time when about the only other thing we’re finding to celebrate is the baby-formula-airlift from Europe). Nevertheless, the CCAL’s very enthusiastic at present with the scribes at Rotten Tomatoes giving … Maverick a hearty-trove of 97% positive reviews while those at Metacritic are about equally-enthusiastic with a 78% average score (quite supportive for them who rarely get into even the 80s for anything I’ve paid attention to). If going to a theater with a lot of your unknown neighbors during the latest COVID surge is OK with you, I think you’d find a lot of welcome-visceral-response to Top Gun: Maverick; however, if you’re fine with 1986 cinematic technology you’d get most of the same plot points in the original movie which you can stream on Paramount+ (where you can get 1 week free, then it’s $9.99 a month for the ad-free-version, same monthly price for Netflix DVD.com where you can also get a Blu-ray of it).

However you might (or might not) choose to see any version of Top Gun, you could also spend some time with my usual device of a Musical Metaphor to wrap up these review comments. In the case of … Maverick you might assume I’d go with the Kenny Logins classic “Danger Zone” (on the 1986 Top Gun soundtrack album [which also features Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away,” winner of the Oscar for Best Original Song]) which made such a big impact with the earlier movie (here's a video using it and footage from the first Top Gun as well as another video using the song set to footage from … Maverick) because lyrics such as “You’ll never say hello to you / Until you get it on the red line overload / You’ll never know what you can do / Until you get it up as high as you can go” speak to the heart of such actions in both versions of Pete Mitchell’s adventures “into the wild blue yonder.”

Still, along with learning more about why an attempted Logins remake of that song was rejected for the new movie in lieu of keeping a stronger-connection to familiar elements of the old Top Gun as the old “Danger Zone” was used in the opening footage of … Maverick, I also found a better choice (for me, at least) in another time-honored-favorite, also in the … Maverick soundtrack, The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (on their 1971 album Who’s Next) at https://www.you ube.com/watch?v=5BFEEseVjvY for 2 reasons: (1) lyrics like “And the morals that they worship will be gone / And the men who spurred us on / Sit in judgment of all wrong […] Then I’ll get on my knees and pray / We don’t get fooled again […] Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss” have so much resonance with many of this movie’s characters, and (2) this Who video is their performance (October 16, 2016) at the magnificent 3-night Southern CA Desert Trip concert which Nina and I so enjoyed in person (this video starts a bit frantically but then settles in on excellent imagery, probably shot from the huge video screens behind the band; says it’s 15:01 but the song ends at about 10:15, followed by long applause and Pete Townsend introducing the band). People fixated on aviation thrills and/or Tom Cruise’s cinematic persona will likely remember Top Gun: Maverick longer than film historians are likely to do; however, I’ll never forget the marvelous music from that Desert Trip weekend (although if the sound quality of this video seems a bit murky, you can always indulge in the original recording).

SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)

The Bob’s Burgers Movie

(Bernard Derriman, Loren Bouchard)

rated PG-13 105 min.

An animated feature (hand-drawn no less) adapted from a popular TV series, this is an adventure of the Belcher family where the parents’ burger joint is in financial jeopardy—not helped by a huge sinkhole by their front door, further keeping customers away—as youngest daughter Louise tries frantically to determine who’s the murderer of a man-who's-now-a-skeleton at the bottom of the hole.

Here’s the trailer:

Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning detailed far above.

As with PBS TV’s Downton Abbey, I owe my awareness of FOX TV’s animated series Bob’s Burgers (originally part of Fox Broadcasting, now owned by Disney so the movie’s from their renamed 20^th Century Studios) due to my adventurous-“Let’s watch something new”-wife, Nina Kindblad; however, while I never joined her devotion to Downton …, which, ironically, premiered in the U.S. on the same Sunday night, January 9, 2011, as Bob’s … (although I have seen the 2 … Abbey movies with her [reviews in our September 25, 2019, May 26, 2022 postings], finding both of them enjoyable enough), I’ve come to really appreciate the wacky-humor of Bob’s Burgers, about the Belcher family—parents Bob (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (John Roberts), children 8^th-grader Tina (Dan Mintz), middle-child Gene (Eugene Mirman), but I'm not sure of his grade, 4^th-grader Louise (Kristen Schaal)—because there doesn’t seem to be any storyline too crazy for these folks (along with a mostly-regular-cast of supporting characters) to pursue so you never know what kind of craziness you’ll encounter from week to week (if you'd like to learn more about this sitcom, you can go here).

With time subtracted for commercials each TV show runs 22 min., so this theatrical version would cover an almost-5-episode-story-arc; thus, there’s considerably more plot here (one of 12 notable changes; [Spoilers, though] explored in this video [8:04], including more sophisticated animation [especially the use of shadows on the characters, more details in the imagery], how the crucial sinkhole in the movie’s foreshadowed in just-completed-season 12), although the essential concepts are how the parents are going to make payment on a bank loan to keep their restaurant equipment from being repossessed and how Louise is truly brave, even if she has to keep reminding herself by wearing a pink hat with long bunny ears. For those who know the original stories (if you don’t, the movie-situations are clear enough that you can just follow along without needing background info, although if you watch the second item in Related Links connected to this movie you can get a solid sense of how its events are built on the TV series), you’ll find all the usual situations: Bob obsessing about everything, trying to control a life seemingly always in some form of chaos; Linda assuming optimistic outcomes of events no matter how awful they are; Tina obsessing over Jimmy Pesto Jr. (also Benjamin), trying to get up the nerve to ask him to be her summer boyfriend; Gene lost in his own world hoping to get his Itty Bitty Ditty Committee band back together to perform at nearby Wonder Wharf (we never know where this takes place except for a seaside location, but it’s sure not Coney Island or Atlantic City) with his latest musical invention of a napkin holder, plastic spoons, rubber bands; and (usually) ever-confident-Louise, shaken in her self-confidence by schoolmates calling her a baby because she refused a playground stunt in fundamental fear her hat would fall off.

A good number of regulars also make at least brief appearances with the most time devoted to regular-burger-customer Teddy (Larry Murphy), egotistical-restaurant-landlord Calvin Fischoeder (Kevin Kline), his almost-useless-brother Felix (Zach Galifianakis), their lawyer-cousin Grover (David Wain), and Robbery Unit Detective Sgt. Bosco (Gary Cole). As noted, the Belchers are behind on their bank-loan-payment , with only 1 week to come up with the cash; Calvin’s ambiguous about a rent-extension to help them pay the bank; further disaster hits when a huge sinkhole opens up in front of their burger joint, forcing any possible-customers to enter via the unsavory-alley; Louise decides to go down in the sinkhole to prove her bravery but finds a skeleton there which turns out to be Cotton Candy Dan, a carny from the Wharf; Calvin’s arrested because he owns the gun that killed Dan, but Louise is convinced the real killer is Felix so she and her siblings skip school to look for evidence in Felix’s home; Teddy builds a burger cart so Bob and Linda (dressed in a bikini-clad-burger-suit) can sell their wares on the Wharf, hiding from health inspectors as they have no permit.

⇒As this all continues to evolve, we find the killer’s actually Grover (who wants Calvin out of the way so he can claim the family inheritance, tear down Wonder Wharf, build a mega-park on the site) who holds his cousins and all the Belchers hostage. Calvin and Felix try to escape in an old submarine from a ride but get nowhere as the others drive off in a go-kart, followed by Grover, who ultimately pushes them into the sinkhole, then covers it with a pile of dirt left there by the city. In desperation (their car’s top won’t open), Bob revves up his wheels which cut through a plastic water pipe allowing a torrent of water to shoot them up onto the street where Teddy pries open the car, then they rush back to the Wharf to prevent Grover from blowing it up. Bob and Louise both overcome their fears to attempt to snuff out the burning fuse which Louise eventually does. Grover’s arrested; Calvin and Felix are rescued; Calvin pays off the bank loan; the sinkhole’s fixed; Gene’s band performs (to a very small crowd); Tina boldly kisses Jimmy Jr.; Louise (who learns Linda made the hat in honor of her being brave on her first day of pre-school) preforms her stunt at school, drops the hat, doesn’t care.⇐ You just have to flow somewhat mindlessly through the bumpy ride of the plot (never intends to be anything except strangely-funny) to enjoy The Bob’s Burger’s Movie, which I was able to do except for the filmmakers’ decisions to make this into a more-or-less-musical with songs periodically inserted into the flow of the action (a tactic sometimes used in the weekly series), so ultimately how you feel about … Bob’s … may well depend on how you react to those songs (here’s an example: the oddly-surprising-opening-number of "Sunny Side Up Summer" [4:00; just lyrics and cast singing, no visuals]), all of them becoming a dreadful, unnecessary distraction for me.

I’m not alone as the San Francisco Chronicle’s Soleil Ho found this to be a problem as well (“[…] the foul, insistent cadence of intrusive memories of a bad acid trip […] original tunes with the melodic coherence of spaghetti”); however, the Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr wasn’t bothered a bit: “The songs are a study of contradictions: Somehow atonal, catchy, charming and awkward all at once. It’s a pretty impressive feat.” Even more importantly (in my house, at least), Nina was happy with these “intrusions,” so I’ll just quietly finish up this review with my own attempt at musical harmony, my Metaphor: “I Whistle a Happy Tune” from the stage musical The King and I (the music by Oscar Hammerstein II, lyrics and book by Richard Rogers, 1951) using the film adaptation (Walter Lang, 1956) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGS029Peq7k as Anna Leonowens (Deborah Kerr) attempts to boost the confidence of son Louis (Rex Thompson), although the actual singing is done by Marni Nixon.* For me, the lines “Whenever I feel afraid / I hold my head erect / And whistle a happy tune / So no one will suspect / I’m afraid […] You may be as brave / As you make believe you are!” could easily apply to each of the Belchers, especially Louise, as they find strategies to cope with the constantly-growing-challenges they face. Like me, the CCAL is generally-supportive, with RT reviews at 87% positive, MC average score at 75%. Like … Maverick, this movie had an earlier-intended-release-date (2020) delayed by COVID-19 considerations (I’m surprised Disney didn’t push it into streaming as they’ve done lately with Pixar features), but now that it’s come to theaters (3,425 of them) it’s made $22.4 million domestically since its May 27, 2022 debut, $24.1 million worldwide. If you’re still considering going out to a theater (and maybe choose to use unnecessary bathroom breaks or go get more popcorn during at least some of the songs), I think you’d find The Bob’s Burger’s Movie to be a pleasant-enough-alternative to those ongoing-miseries in the rest of our lives.

*She also dubbed vocals in Best Picture Oscar winners for Natalie Wood in West Side Story (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961) as well as Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964).

Other Cinema-Related Stuff: (1) New on Netflix in June 2022; (2) New on Amazon Prime Video in June 2022; (3) New on Hulu in June 2022; (4) New on Disney+ in June 2022; (5) New on HBO/HBO Max in June 2022, and (6) Top Gun: Maverick almost opened differently.

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

Here’s more information about Top Gun: Maverick:

https://www.topgunmovie.com (click on the 3 little lines in the upper left of the screen

for more info)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5tJA9pluxY (47:33, actual TOPGUN fighter pilots/

instructors comment on the movie [Spoilers here too; ad interrupts at about 24:20]),

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/top_gun_maverick

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/top-gun-maverick

Here’s more information about The Bob’s Burgers Movie:

https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/the-bobs-burgers-movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzp1X6NJ9P8 (15:15, 20 things you missed in the movie, including a reference to Citizen Kane, but it’s mostly about how aspects of various TV episodes

work their way into this movie [ads interrupt at about 2:08, 10:28])

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bobs_burgers_movie

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-bobs-burgers-movie

with us at that site in order to do it (most FB procedures are still a bit of a mystery to us old farts).

If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here please use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work. (But if you truly have too much time on your hands you might want to explore some even-longer-and-more-obtuse-than-my-film-reviews-academic-articles about various cinematic topics at my website, https://kenburke.academia.edu, which could really give you something to talk to me about.)

wife, Nina Kindblad, so here’s our favorite shared song—Neil Young’s "Harvest Moon"—from the performance we saw at the Desert Trip concerts in Indio, CA on October 15, 2016 (as a full moon was rising over the stadium) because “I’m still in love with you,” my dearest, a never-changing-reality even as the moon waxes/wanes over the months/years to come. But, just as we can be raunchy at times (in private of course) Neil and his backing band, Promise of the Real, on that same night also did a lengthy, fantastic version of "Cowgirl in the Sand" (19:06) which I’d also like to commit to this blog’s always-ending-tunes; I never get tired of listening to it, then and now (one of my idle dreams is to play guitar even half this well). But, while I’m at it, I’ll also include another of my top favorites, from the night before at Desert Trip, the Rolling Stones’ "Gimme Shelter" (Wow!), a song “just a shot away” in my memory (along with my memory of their great drummer, Charlie Watts, RIP). To finish this cluster of all-time-great-songs I’d like to have played at my wake (as far away from now as possible) here’s one Dylan didn’t play at Desert Trip but it’s great, much beloved by me and Nina: "Visions of Johanna." However, if the day does come when Nina has to present these above thoughts (beginning with “If we did talk”) and this music after my demise I might as well make this into a somewhat-Top 10 of songs that mattered to me by adding The Beatles’ "A Day in the Life," because that chaotic-orchestral-finale sounds like what the death experience may be like, and the Beach Boys’ "Fun Fun Fun" because this gathering may have gotten morbid so I’d like to sign off with something upbeat to remember me (the Galveston non-surfer) by.