Blu-ray thumbs

[Johann]

I’d never heard of him.
The acting won Oscars, and his short film SIX SHOOTER is a bonus on the blu-ray.
It stars Brendan Gleason and I didn’t find it that great.

[Chris Knipp]

You'll hear of him now.

[Johann]

I suffered through three of the new JJ Abrams STAR TREK movies.
They were terrible. Not even worth reviewing.

[Johann]

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (2008)



Enjoyable movie in the vein of The Goonies from Eric Brevig.
Starring Brendan Fraser, this is loosely based on the Jules Verne novel.
Fraser and a kid travel to Iceland, to follow in their relatives' past work at a volcano.
They meet an Icelandic woman who escorts them there when a storm hits and seals them in an old abandoned mineshaft.
From there, they free-fall to the Center of the earth, encountering luminous birds, venus flytraps, and dinosaurs.
Implausible but fun movie.

[Chris Knipp]

So now you must watch THE WHALE?!

[Johann]

I'll see it sometime.
It's Aronofsky, and he said he wanted to get back to working with actors more deeply.
It garnered gold for Brendan.

[Johann]

TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022)



If you were a fan of the '86 movie you'll love this sequel.
Myself, I didn't find it all that great, despite superb aerial photography.
It was nice to see Val Kilmer back (as Iceman), and they gave him an onscreen funeral!!
The story is simple. Maverick is a hotshot test pilot, and they get him to teach a new batch of aviators. The opening credits were a throwback to the original film, making all the gen-X'ers happy...not to mention the shirtless game of offence/defence football we see in the surf later on.
Fast editing of the scenes in jets, thrilling for some, meh for me. It just seemed like a video game to me. Jennifer Connelly is good, and Tom Cruise is looking his age.