Film Blog (3/1 - 3/7)
Top Gun (1986)
I’ve never had much interest in Top Gun. I love Tony Scott, and I love aerial dogfights, but the fact that I could never get a handle on any kind of narrative hook for the movie always gave me pause. It’s essentially An Officer and a Gentleman but with cool jets. And the jets ARE cool to be clear. But the human drama is so shallow that it can’t sustain what is, at its core, an interior story. Unlike Tony Scott’s best movies, Top Gun lacks a strong external plot to keep you hooked. There’s no exciting conflict that it’s building towards. There’s a vague sense of a cold war, but that whole aspect is undercooked. It’s just characters in school.
Cruise is undeniably captivating, and Edwards and Kilmer are great supporting players. And anytime they hop in those jets and get up in the air, it’s breathtaking. I just feel no narrative propulsion. The film seems more interested in the human relationships, and while Maverick and Goose have great chemistry, the romantic subplot with Kelly McGillis is completely embarrassing. I had to look away during that sex scene.
★★★
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
A surprisingly sweet film, despite its desolate mise-en-scène and stone-hearted protagonist. John Lurie’s Willy is a self-centered bum who cares nothing for his family or his Hungarian heritage. But the arrival of his cousin Eva, whom he considers to be a nuisance at first, awakens a feeling of kinship in him. He starts making more of an effort, even though he’s still a slave to his layabout habits. The shot of Willy and his friend Eddie sitting in awkward silence after Eva leaves is so affecting. It gives the clearest indication that something has shifted with zero words.
Jim Jarmusch has to be the king of making people look cool when doing absolutely nothing. Everyone seems bored in the film, and most attempts to actually go out and have fun are shot down in favor of comfortable dullness. But everyone’s dressed so slick and living in such romanticized squalor that you can’t help but admire them when they sit in silence smoking.
Every scene is structured beautifully. The film feels like a collection of vignettes separated by cuts to black. The short scenes are staged so perfectly, sometimes with barely any dialogue or movement, but they speak volumes about the characters' interior lives.
This film reminds me of the rare instances where I try to get people to do something spontaneous and fun, but I’m plagued by crippling anxiety that it will turn out to be a complete bust.
★★★★
Send Help (2026)
It’s good to see Sam Raimi back in his groove. This is my preferred lane for him, where he takes his over-the-top horror instincts and applies them to a pulpy movie that’s not strictly horror. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are 100% game for this crazy premise, and they perform beautifully. It’s nice to see A-list actors who aren’t afraid to have all types of bodily fluids sprayed into their mouths. It’s especially funny to watch O’Brien fully commit to the young shithead boss in such an exaggerated manner while still playing a recognizable human. And of course, it’s immensely satisfying to see McAdams come into her own in a role that feels like a meta commentary on how Hollywood has misused her and older actresses in general.
Seeing McAdams turn the tables on O’Brien and reveal him for the blubbering loser he is never stops being funny. But the film does a great job of fleshing out both characters and developing a real bond between them. Which is why I find the climax slightly disappointing. It’s undeniably fun, but it feels like it tosses out the development of O’Brien’s character in favor of a more traditional third-act resolution.
★★★★