Weekend Boost: "Top Gun" Flies High (Mostly), "Ms. Marvel" Delights (Bigly), and Much More
The Best Movies, TV, Music, Books, and Comics June 17-19
Welcome back to The Boost. I’ve been busy with other articles (which I hope you’ve been enjoying) so I haven’t been able to share some of my favorite pleasures with you for a couple weeks.
However, I’m back, baby, and ready to roll. You follow these suggestions and you will definitely have a great weekend—or even week.
WATCH (movies)
Top Gun: Maverick
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie
The sequel only took 36 years, but it was worth it in the way that going to a 35th high school reunion is worth it when you look great and everyone else is out of shape. The movie—and Tom Cruise—look great.
This is the most successful movie of 2022 and it’s easy to see why. After two years of America in semi-hibernation, we’re taking to the skies in fast jets, watching hot bodies frolic on the beach, weeping over touching Val Kilmer moments, swooning over an actual mature love story, and getting verklempt over father-son type reconciliation. It’s movie melodrama at its best.
You don’t have to make any apologies for enjoying the nostalgia of ‘80s-style entertainment that was more about an awesome soundtrack than believable plot. All you have to do is strap in and enjoy the ride. You’ll leave the theater with a smile on your face.
[P.S.: Jurassic World: Dominion comes 29 years after Jurassic Park but is a junk drawer of a movie. The dinosaurs are all amazing, truly stunning effects. But the story makes little sense, the characters make unlikely choices, and there’s a lot of head-scratching at the end. Nostalgia doesn’t always pay off.]
Don’t make me go through the whole song and dance. Just Subscribe, Like, Share, and Comment. It’s the right thing to do—for you, for me, for Humanity!
WATCH (TV)
Ms. Marvel (Disney+)
One of the things I admire about all the Marvel superhero TV series (seven so far) is that each has its own style and personality. Yes, there are similarities—witty humor, charming heroes, exciting action—but those ingredients never taste the same from show to show. Ms. Marvel is no exception. It is a delicious and original gumbo of superhero tropes.
This series is different from the others in that our hero, Kamala Khan, is a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl living in Jersey City. Her over-bearing mother and eager-to-please father are delightful characters full of humor and warmth. It’s also different in that it mixes in comic book art into the live action story. Otherwise, there are the usual high school outsider issues and the joy of suddenly getting powers and adjusting to being a super being.
The result is as if Breakfast Club met Spider-Man. In fact, they could pull back a little on the teen drama and push forward on the super exploits. Sure, I like that we’re exposed to her Pakistani heritage and that she’s a Muslim superhero, but those are bonuses. The main reason to watch this series is that it’s funny and fun. That’s a lot right there.
LISTEN (music)
Brighter Days by Juan Ortiz, Hiroshi Takase, Gene Jackson
This album is the first release from CRU, a new jazz label out of Spain. And they certainly chose wisely. Brighter Days is a thoroughly accomplished compilation from this trio that features drums, piano, and double bass. I defy you to listen to the title song below and not start moving your body.
Seven of the eight tracks are written by pianist Juan Ortiz and they are all intensely enjoyable. There’s a linear clarity here that immerses the listener into the experience and holds them. Ortiz can be lively, solemn, thoughtful, playful. It’s all here and it’s all wonderful.
Buy album here.
READ (non-fiction)
Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote—a History, a Crisis, a Plan by Eric Holder and Sam Koppelman
Eric Holder was the first African American U.S. Attorney General under President Obama and it’s a joy to see that he is still fighting for equality long after leaving office. He could have cashed in and written a tell-all, name-dropping autobiography about his trials and tribulations as AG (and there were many), but instead he chose to take up the cause of voting rights, which right now is the biggest threat to democracy surviving in America.
Holder writes with urgency but easy-to-follow clarity as he details the history of voter manipulation by those wishing to usurp democracy to gain power. It’s clear right now that we are faced with an existential crisis as Trump-lites try to push a voting-restriction agenda to negate the power of the poor, minorities, and anyone else that doesn’t agree with them. Despite there being no proof of any voter fraud, more than 100 Republican primary winners are spouting off about election fraud during 2020. They know it’s false, but they also know that they need to lie in order to get elected by American citizens unable to distinguish between truth and lies. That entitled laziness is the real threat to America.
Read this book. Holder not only shows us the dangers we face, but he lays out a clear plan to reclaim our country. That’s exactly what we need right now—if we want America to remain a place that strives for equality.
Get book here.
READ (graphic novel)
The Ghost in You
by Ed Brubaker (writer) and Sean Phillips (artist)
A few months ago I recommended Destroy All Monsters by Brubaker and Phillips, the third in their Reckless series. Today I’m happy to recommend the fourth book in the series, The Ghost in You. I don’t usually revisit a series in my column, but this one is so good I’m making an exception.
No super heroes. No supernatural beings. Just straight-forward private detective thrills that I love. Set in 1989, the main detective from the previous books, Ethan, is out of town, leaving the sleuthing to Anna. There’s a plot about whether or not a house is haunted, but the core here is crime noir, with good old-fashioned leg work, intelligence, and a damaged but dogged hero.
I’m too old to read a graphic novel in one sitting, but this one I did. I’d be surprised if you didn’t too. Get Book here
Here’s a chat with Brubaker and Phillips about the book:
Thanks for recommending Eric Holder’s book, “Our Unfinished March.” Your comment about ‘entitled laziness being the real threat to America, is so accurate. Our Democracy cannot continue to exist if we don’t see our fellow Americans as people with a shared history and have empathy and understanding for our fellow Americans. Eric Holder is doing important work.
Just watched the first two episodes of Ms Marvel with my kids and it was awesome! As a Canadian of Pakistani heritage, I never would have believed there would be a superhero in mainstream media that looked like me. I love how my kids are able to relate to Kamala and her family. Marvel did a great job making Muslim life look normal.