AWFJ 2023 EDA Awards winners announced
The Zone of Interest, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Barbie are the big winners.
Tom Cruise
loaded question: what young actor (of any gender) working today could be the next great action star?
I honestly cannot think of anyone who could carry on the tradition of the 80s stars. The babies of the current crop of whom we might consider up-and-coming action stars are not that young…
daily stream: ironically, the best videogame movie ever
2014’s Edge of Tomorrow is new on Netflix in the UK, on Max in the US.
#DailyStream weekly roundup
The #DailyStream is a once-per-day, single-movie-only streaming recommendation that appears both at my Substack and Patreon, and in truncated forms across my social media. They are free for everyone.
I’m guesting on movie podcast SpyHards again
I join special agents Scott and Cam to talk about the 2017 Doug Liman film American Made.
weekend watchlist: two tales for Pride Month that cry out for simple human acceptance
Plus grounded human experiences, from escaping a cult to — yes — doing an espionage. (First published June 3rd, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
Top Gun: Maverick movie review: we’re well into the danger zone
With its melancholy regret and bittersweet nostalgia, this is far superior to the 1986 blockbuster. But as the sun goes down on American imperialism here, the last-gasp celebration of it unsettles.
classic film virgin: Top Gun (1986)
Cold War propaganda that is weirdly apolitical. Sunny, breezy homoeroticism that is surely unintentional. What a hoot this is! Mostly not in a good way, but its impact on pop culture cannot be denied.
classic film virgin: The Outsiders: The Complete Novel (4K restoration)
The deep, honest emotion undercutting the performative toxic masculinity of these young men is beyond charming and vitally essential, but the melodramatic randomness of the plot ultimately lost me.
Gemini Man movie review: the last hurrah of the movie star
No movie has ever been higher-concept than this: Today-aged Will Smith versus CGI-young Will Smith! It’s the future of film in an anemic, tedious, ironically dated spy-action shell. Bafflingly awful.
