Movie: Top Gun: Maverick
Director:  Joseph Kosinski
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller

There is a moment, close enough to and yet far from the end, where this could have taken a path to a quick resolution and been a beautiful film. Of course, this is Jerry Bruckheimer and Tom Cruise, so this is not just Hollywood, it is Uberhollywood, so that did not happen. Nonetheless this has still been critically well received and for good reasons.

Top Gun was released in 1986, had an Oscar winning song and another, Danger Zone, which is still culturally significant (hello Archer) and had more than a passing impact on fashion and hairstyles. It was a simpler, more impressionable, time. Tom Cruise is pushing 60, easily passing for late 40s, and despite being well matched here with Jennifer Connelly, the biggest struggle for the viewer is watching an old dude dominate in the G-force struggle that is modern combat-jet flying. If your suspension of disbelief can handle that, then you are good to manage the rest.

The rest is a well-manicured mix of nostalgia and call backs repackaged with just enough of the present to make something that kicks arse. This happens with characters, visuals and of course music and songs, but is also present with sociological themes. Compared to most of the drivel we have been served up for the last two years, which is how long this has been delayed from release, this is great entertainment, but if you are an X-er you will probably be struck by how much has changed - even though that is what you should expect when a sequel is made 35 years later.
There is a clever mix of actual follow on from the first film, such as Val Kilmer’s Iceman being an Admiral and Mav’s shrine to Goose, with Easter eggs for film trivia nuts such as Jennifer Connelly’s character, Penny, being someone only mentioned in the first film as one of Mav’s old flames. That is the polite way of saying that, and the difference between the old and new Top Guns in the handling of both sex and of gender roles is a study in itself. Or perhaps it is just a little more grown up. Just a little.

Much of the nostalgia may pass over the heads of younger audiences, and I will be intrigued whether this can reach all demographics. Some of the “duty”, “sacrifice” and dare I say “manhood” stuff may come off as just schmaltz to zoomers, or perhaps just stupid. After all, in a world full of spinelessness why be brave? Those things were more of the well-used US film makers’ trope of the conflict of individualism vs bureaucracy, entrepreneurialism/originality vs Taylorism, which of course the military lends itself to - you need crazy brave pilots, but you also need an industrial complex to build squadrons of jets and fleets with aircraft carriers. As a recruiting vehicle this will not have near the value of the original, but there is still a propaganda element. Do not let it get in the way.

Movie: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Director:  Sam Raimi
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor

When Thor: Love and Thunder came out in July that was six Phase Four MCU films released in 12 months. This Doctor Strange being the fifth. While all of these films are getting lost in the multitude this one stands out a little bit.

Sure, there is a fair bit of the nonsense that even hardened MCU fans must be getting sick of. The multiverse, though, allows some novelty and some of the straight up comic book settings are done well for the big screen.

Cumberbatch as Strange was always brilliant casting - bringing in a certain audience that possibly would not have considered this genre at all prior to the first Strange (2016), and he had to bring some of that serious actor range to this due to the marriage of Strange’s true love - to someone else!

At this point if you have not done MCU then do not start, and if you have started to thin the herd then I would recommend you think about catching this, certainly ahead of Thor: Love and Thunder.

Movie: Elvis
Director:  Baz Luhrmann
Stars: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge

Not a Baz Luhrmann fan, and while having a typically Gen X experience with Elvis of watching a few films as a small kid and a greatest hits album or two over the years, not really an Elvis fan either but I certainly remember the huge excitement on the asphalt of the school yard as 10-year-olds discussed his death with ridiculous stories of excess and Graceland. Given that, I found this very engaging and entertaining.

Unsurprisingly Baz has taken quite a few liberties here and even if only vaguely familiar with the bio you will notice some dissonance, which would be fine except for Tom Hanks jarring caricature of Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager. Purists might be offended, and Hanks is over the top, but otherwise this is probably a fair introduction to the life and times of a superstar. Given the soundtrack you cannot help but be swept along and this would be my number two recommendation, after Maverick, for the Cineplex at the moment.

As an aside, I remember the vibe at Elvis’ death was of a fallen star, obese from excessive cheeseburger consumption, yet at the end of the film there is actual footage of his last public performance just months before his death. By current standards he just looks mildly overweight - chubby, but hardly anything you would be concerned by.

Movie: Thor: Love and Thunder
Director:  Taika Waititi
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson

Yes, mid-credits scene and post-credit scene, so wait to the very end if you need that info.

There was a period of about twenty minutes deep into the film where it hit its stride, but other than that I am afraid this was ordinary even by the rapidly deflating standards of the MCU. Under two hours but it felt much longer and some of the special effects were below par, particularly during the opening twenty minutes with the Guardians of The Galaxy being led around by Thor.

Some of Natalie Portman's scenes as Thor are definitely kick-arse, and the Guns N' Roses tracks lift some weight too, particularly the coda of November Rain.  Part of the problem here is that the plot is covering a typical comic-book pathos take and director Taika Waititi cannot help but rehash his previous Thor's comic material and the tragic element is never sustained.

Six MCU releases in 12 months is a lot. Take out Tessa Thompson and Portman and I doubt you would bother, even for a Christian Bale god-killer villain.

Juddy keeps busy consuming cultural media while posing as a student at a major Sydney university, thus shirking real work. He hosts pub trivia, and tutors at said university, for beer and book money.