Deadlines? What Deadlines?

No Green Lantern Corps news? Have they started shooting yet? That's fine. It's fine. The Wonder Twins series cancellation didn't generate much discussion. The Blue Beetle costume reveal seems to fall into the memory hole seconds after it was announced. I'm sure black Adam and Aquaman 2 will be massively successful, because of Johnson's and Mamoa's star power if nothing else. but Shazam 2 is only 6 months away and I'm detecting zero buzz for that film right now. We'll see what happens when a full trailer drops... eventually. He had a real sequel. From the screenrant article "Darker"? I swear that neck snap still has peoples brains scrambled nearly a decade later. Actually the vast majority of audiences liked Man of Steel. And does no one remember what happened with Superman Returns? A critical hit that had the Donner DNA all over it and it was an utter failure. How about Green Lantern? How about Batman and Robin? Or 2017's Justice League? WW84? Oh, yeah that movie was going to do a billion for sure. But hey, if they want to rip the guts and heart out of everything and just make goofy MCU clones, they're welcome to it. It's got nothing to do with me. How Phillips and Reeves managed to get their films made I'll never know. Also from the screen rant article: Information that includes the phrase "The Wrap" and "Anonymous DC studio insider" is about as reliable as flipping a coin. After a baffling WW84 and pretty meh TSS, Birds of Prey, and Shazam movies (which critics loved BTW) I have zero confidence that these guys will deliver anything interesting ever again. ETA: ...and Shazam 2 hits theaters after a year full of MCU and Star Wars content and 1 week after Avatar 2? It's fine. It'll be fine.

Lack of a China opening will hurt it internationally, but if the second weekend estimates are correct, it's on track to beat Dr Strange 2 domestically. Dr Strange 2 is weird. It opened in 4500 theaters domestically and didn't start shedding screens until the beginning of its 4th week. It has a 74% rating on the tomato meter but it's average critics score is 6.5/10, which suggest a lot of, "Meh, it's OK" reviews. I haven't seen it so I won't comment, but is this just franchise momentum? The thing'll probably cross a billion globally.

Movie Maker Valhalla, Mellon Farmer!!!

Not to get bogged down in box office mambo jambo, but according to Box Office Mojo, TG:M's 6 day domestic cume is ahead of The Batman and is within spitting distance of Dr. Strange 2, which had a considerably stronger opening weekend. It's worth mentioning that The Batman was a 3 hour long movie; fewer screenings per day, etc.

Pussy.

It's crazy. I've actually bee racking my brain thinking about just why this movie works so well. It isn't just a movie I like, It's a movie I like liking. 1st: It's a very "non-sequel"; in the sense that it very much stands on its own. You really don't need to see the first film at all to get into this one. There's enough exposition and flashbacks (that conveniently don't have to use de-aging technology) that you're largely up to speed by the end of act one. 2nd: Being a "non-sequel", it's a refreshing change to the current CMB and franchise stuff that dominates the box office. IMO, that stuff is is largely tapped out creatively. People watch that stuff now like they watch a soap opera. "What happens in the next chapter?" or "What character will they introduce next?". TG:M on he other hand, doesn't rely on Easter eggs, fan-service, or throw away cameos. The humor a bit low key but it's genuinely funny and not some Whedon-esque punch-up (which is also getting tired). 3rd: No endless debates about canon or comic accuracy or being true to the source material. ETA: not being a CBM or existing franchise film, it was also not really on the radar of the scoop or movie spoiler/speculation economy. Jesus Christ, that's refreshing. 4th: The action scenes are incredibly well done. They have a dramatic arc all their own. There is probably a lot more CGI in this film than people realize (eg, the scenes with the SAMs) but it's mixed with a good deal of live action stuff and blended seamlessly. You can feel the G's. The sound mix helps this also. And, I'll say again, the last 40 minutes of the film are intense. Maybe Dunkirk and Triple Frontier are the only films I've seen recently that come close to that. There have been comments about actors in actual planes. There is a shot in the film where you can actually see Tom Cruises face turn to pudding in response to some aerial maneuver. It's either the "2:15" run or the actual attack. He has his mask on so you can't see his jowels die but you definitely see his eyelids go wonky and his cheeks deflate. Stunning. 5th: it's extremely well made. There is a serious attention to craft on display. I'll reiterate: likely Oscar noms for film editing and VFX, with a possible win for the latter.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/01/top-gun-maverick-sparks-joy-in-taiwan-after-its-flag-features-on-tom-cruise-jacket

Yes. He thanked me for coming out to see the film that he made just for me.

Apparently The last MI film (the one with Henry Cavill; I don't know that frachise) there's an actual shot of Cruise shattering his ankle that actually made it into the film. And Tug Speedman can't even cry.

Yeah, no. He was thanking me.

That lines up with what Box office mojo are reporting. That figure is for the 4 days (Friday to Monday). https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2500036097/?ref_=bo_hm_rd Note: that $300m world wide figure does not include China. The film hasn't opened there yet. Apparently the Chinese censors have a problem with a patch or a sticker related to Taiwan or something.

So I looked up the director of Iron Eagle because why not. This guy has had quite an extensive career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_J._Furie However, not to disparage the guy, his '80's filmography definitely has a "whatever will support my coke habit" vibe to it.

Yeah, that "zeitgeist" Ran was referring to probably involved vicarious revenge against "not the" Iranians, for thumbing their noses at the USA and getting aways with it. Also giving the Russians what for, by god.

That's interesting. I could have sworn Iron Eagle came out a year later.

- Yeah well, Iron Eagle completely ripped off Top Gun, so expect an Iron Eagle sequel in a few years. Good soundtrack that 'Eagle movie. Has anyone ever even seen Iron Eagle 2?

Because THUH POWAH!!! Yeah it's... It's the powah.

Such a thing probably exists somewhere, but that plane was made up.

It was delicious.

I saw Top Gun: "The Maverick" today... I went to some insane theater with a seriously powerful sound system and leather recliners that vibrated with the boomier parts of the soundtrack. Fantastico. ... With my brother who is a former Air Force technician who worked on CF-18's, which are somewhat sexier than the American F-18's but somewhat less sexy than the F-18E super hornets in the film. He reports that: As for the film itself, Jesus Christ that last 45 minutes was intense. Wow. I'm calling it right now: Oscar nomination for VFX and a likely Oscar win for film editing.

He's got two movies coming out and three currently filming according to IMDB Too damn young. It's been a while since I've seen it but No Escape was underrated I thought. He gave the performance of a lifetime in Goodfellas.

Tracking. I miss tracking. There was something so satisfying about tracking. Sigh....... Tracking. ETA: Also pausing. If you had a VCR that could pause "clean"; Dad knew he got a good deal on this doodad, boy howdy.

"Unobtainium" is cool. I'm sure it's hit urban dictionary by now, but at the time it was still an inside joke among engineers and designers. It's basically a shorthand for, "This isn't going to work". If you have to build your widget out of an alloy so exotic that it doesn't even exist, yo need to go back to the drawing board. It's a bullshit science-fiction-y sounding name that's very obviously a bullshit science-fiction-y sounding name. Narratively it's a proxy for oil, or gold, or whatever commodity people are willing to make other people suffer for. Case in point.

Did no one "buzz the tower"? Oh, next you're going to tell me no one loves mom and apple pie. Actually, considering what's happened in the interval, it's a virtual certainty that several of those aviators are actually gay.