If there could be anything more exciting than a sequel that actually works! The mix of freedom offered by the skies, Tom Cruise, with his naughty sex appeal, and a story about a friendship that shaped a brilliant pilot for years to come, returned even better and bolder. Top Gun was a dream of 1986 with a taste of adventure, slightly forbidden romance, and love for the air force. 2022 brought us a slightly older Maverick and a young brave cast who were to conquer the world in their F18s. No wonder the cinemas have been packed with viewers of various ages and sexes in awe of possibly the best film of 2022. A jewel of the film industry that can bring experiences of a few selected to us, billions; the values of friendship, bravery, and comraderie we can all relate to, and let's be honest, loads and loads of fun. Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick, just enjoy.
No one prepares you for this. You have been familiar with keywords, which circulated around your childhood when someone mentioned ancestors. To you, they were like a third leg - equally unexplainable and mysterious. But you were far from them, with your life ahead of you and your parents still young.
But once you reach adulthood, you get closer and closer to encyclopedia entrances, able to name diseases, recognize symptoms, and find your way in the complex labyrinth or corridors of one or two hospitals.
No one prepares you for your parents' aging process and mental deterioration. No one tells you that the ones who take care of you, the responsible and trustworthy, will once require your presence, support, and push you to the limits. No one tells you that it can destroy your personal life and career. No one prepares that it will be just beyond your strength and patience. No one explains that you won't be able to save your own mum or dad, despite the money you earn and the responsibilities you take on yourself.
At the same time, it seems that it will be the path of the majority of us, and then our children or institutions we are willing to pay for.
Two stories about two fathers, two pictures of disease, loneliness, and pain, the majority of us can or will relate to.
2011 Fear of Falling and 2020 The Father
But once you reach adulthood, you get closer and closer to encyclopedia entrances, able to name diseases, recognize symptoms, and find your way in the complex labyrinth or corridors of one or two hospitals.
No one prepares you for your parents' aging process and mental deterioration. No one tells you that the ones who take care of you, the responsible and trustworthy, will once require your presence, support, and push you to the limits. No one tells you that it can destroy your personal life and career. No one prepares that it will be just beyond your strength and patience. No one explains that you won't be able to save your own mum or dad, despite the money you earn and the responsibilities you take on yourself.
At the same time, it seems that it will be the path of the majority of us, and then our children or institutions we are willing to pay for.
Two stories about two fathers, two pictures of disease, loneliness, and pain, the majority of us can or will relate to.
2011 Fear of Falling and 2020 The Father
In the celebrity culture, everyone secretly wishes to be someone else. To experience life in a different way, to be successful and recognized. There are very few accomplished hitting the headlines of gossip magazines and millions of those who buy them and follow the latest gossip.
But if you could have a chance to become someone else for a short period of time and live the life that was not given to you? What if you just opened a door to another person's mind and body? Isn't that an appealing concept? To this day, a cult movie and an idea so original that no one had yet surpassed it. A failed puppeteer finding a door to John Malkovich and how this influenced those around him. Enjoy.
But if you could have a chance to become someone else for a short period of time and live the life that was not given to you? What if you just opened a door to another person's mind and body? Isn't that an appealing concept? To this day, a cult movie and an idea so original that no one had yet surpassed it. A failed puppeteer finding a door to John Malkovich and how this influenced those around him. Enjoy.
Political and personal situations require us to make major life decisions. Who to support in times of conflict? Who to be loyal and devote years of service to? Is your personal life more important than financial stability? Or will you, against reason, make the same mistake as many before you and sacrifice your career for the sake of budding feelings of affection, when the outcome is so uncertain? Can you work for someone who approves of the actions of the aggressor and how will this loyalty affect your future, if these actions are condemned by the whole world?
So many questions that are valid for contemporary times, especially during Russian aggression in Ukraine. Personal fears, financial gains, and high-level decisions forced many companies to stay in Russia, despite the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers fulfilling Putin's commands. So many individuals of the free world supported Hitler despite what he was doing to civilians of Jewish or Polish descent, blinding everyone by his ideology. Years that passed don't make a difference.
Here one loyal butler decided to work for a lord who made a wrong political choice. Still accurate, unforgettable Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, based on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, The Remains of the Day.
Picture a perfect life for a young woman: a loving and handsome husband, rich parents-in-law, a beautiful house to take care of, a baby on the way. But whose perfect scenario is it? The husbands and parents' or yours? Are you just an addition to the pretty picture whose voice, thoughts, and experiences don't matter? What if your only way of independence and control in this bubble of forced happiness is to... swallow little objects? A way of self-discovery and individual birth of feministic values. Why Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty could be unhappy with their princes, and why old fairy tales don't apply to all contemporary women? Swallow.
Tell us the future, we ask now and again the fortune tellers, whom we partially trust, holding our hopes higher than our reason. If The Jetsons' cartoon reality of video conferences, internet schooling, application shopping, and robotic machines doing our kitchen chores came true, other scenarios might also turn into reality. The world consisting of humans and androids is not so difficult to imagine. The world cut to fit your size in terms of your cravings and wildest dreams is a must if we want millions appeased and satisfied. Finally, the world where everything is controlled and regulated, as we tend to colonize what is yet uncolonized and it seems that in time we just make this control stricter. Science, technology, and social rules, however, won't wipe out the inborn need to belong and layers of self-consciousness, posing constant questions about identity. And that will make you rebel regardless of the times you live in. Two films thirty-five years apart, proving that we're not there yet. Let's wait for the year 2049 or another film. Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049.
The cult of physical attractiveness is difficult to overcome. One hundred years ago film stars and celebrities were one of the most attractive people according to the standards of the epoch, and, sadly, one hundred years later actors, actresses, singers, and TV personalities of today are in most cases sexy. But is physical attraction the only ingredient of a happy relationship? On the other hand, can you build the foundation of a passionate marriage solely on interests, intellect, and hobbies? A nineties romance, which might have been an inspiration for many "duckling into swan" Cinderella stories. But also, some food for thought why the division between body and soul in a relationship is not really that possible. The Mirror Has Two Faces.
In the past, when you were getting older, you most likely ended up with your family. You lived with your children and grandchildren and as a representative of three generations under one roof and knew your fate perfectly well. In many societies, this is still a valid concept and tradition to obey. In equally many, when you get old, you start to be less and less valid to those younger around you.
While family ties loosen and children move out of their family homes, never to return, old people, are left to themselves. And in many seemingly rich societies, the social system fails to cover their needs. Pension plans and personal savings are not enough for day-to-day life and many choose a different life: life without a house and substantial bills to pay. Is this the life of freedom and travel? Of belonging everywhere and meeting so many on the same road? Of experiencing instead of owning? Or is there sadness in working your entire life to end up in a camper and freeze in the middle of nowhere? Today's reality for many: Nomadland.
You know how it is with climate change. Scientists show you pictures of flooded continents that they produced via simulation, weather conditions oscillate now from fires and heatwaves to hurricanes and floods in the areas where there hadn't been one. And unless you're there being killed, you just scroll. Greta Thunberg is literally pissed as she was born in times where a bunch of morons through years of neglect had devastated her time on this planet and she has the right to protest. Meanwhile, global corporations produce more and more CO2 and think about how can they still make waste while making a profit. And you are digging into Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson's situation. Or worrying about inflation or a broken washing machine.
You know how it is with pandemics: millions are dead, half the world is vaccinated, but there are still those who deny the existence of the Covid-19 virus and die while being converted. You know that politicians repeat what they want to repeat, that data and people actually educated in the matter are not loud enough among the self-educated crowds with no medical experience who always know better.
And now you might learn what will happen if a comet tries to strike our dear Mother Earth and what actions will be taken by scientists, politicians, and media. And boy, it's a hell of a ride. A tragic portrayal of us: a population that thanks to technology should have become smarter, but failed somewhere along the way. A catastrophe to come and our laughable actions to prevent it. Just Don't Look Up.
A reminder: the star of this film, one and only Leonardo Dicaprio produced a documentary on climate change Before the Flood. Might it be that he knows more? Let's do him a favor and rewatch:
Do you think that you have the right to peace and happiness? To respect and dignity? To acceptance and understanding? It's enough to bring you closer to a toxic family member to destroy any sense of self-respect and slowly suck the happiness from you. A complex square of interconnected characters: a woman, her son, her husband, and his brother in a tangle of love and hate. And one rotten element which slowly destroys them all. The Power of the Dog.
Imagine a planet where there is only spice. Water is like gold. Special uniforms have to be made to retain water from the body and keep you alive. Gigantic Warms cross its deserts bringing only fear and destruction. There are conquerors who want to make the most profit and the conquered who learned to adjust to the circumstances and live in hiding. In times of political unrest and betrayal, only a boy, Paul Atreides, can make a difference. But is the legend true and the righteous can get back to their power? Can a boy born to a Bene Gesserit bear the burden of being a leader? A cult 1965 Frank Herbert's book adapted for the 1984 movie, now refreshed. Dune.
Old money and new money. Getting inside the circles of the super-rich is equally strange as immigrating into a new country with a different language and culture. You want to fit in. You want to be respected. But will having enough guarantee you the love of a woman spoilt by her upbringing? Or will you find yourself inside a messy affair and an even messier marriage? The 20s with their abundance of women, alcohol, and parties and one Francis Scott Fitzgerald enabling a reunion of lost lovers. One of the greatest love stories of our times and a spectacle to watch. You choose, Robert Redford and Mia Farrow from 1974 or Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan from 2013. Two different takes on one love. Enjoy.
The definition of success is different for everyone. Swimming in the sea of financial sharks, owning a great apartment, and enjoying the pleasures of a big city is considered a great achievement for some but, possibly, you need to redefine things in life. Going back to your roots gives you an opportunity to climb not the career ladder but expand your own personal space which is way more horizontal. Beautiful Italy in the background, a house to renovate, a few friendships to build, and a romance to start. Yes, you can have a good money year, but also A Good Year, and the latter is far more worthy. Enjoy.
All the good in the world is tinted with some evil. But if you come across a particularly nasty bad guy who makes life for people in your town a living nightmare, you need to take action. And just as in every good recipe for success you need a few key ingredients. Courage, skill, humor, wit, friendship, and trust with a pinch of madness won't guarantee anything, but do you have a choice? Will you accept the evil and stand silent? One woman was brave enough to collect a team to challenge a very unscrupulous man and you know which side you're on. A classic western and some good-willed cowboys to cheer. The Magnificent Seven.
It's rare that all family members add up equally to the family fortune. It often happens that one hard-working and successful man keeps the rest of the less accomplished, lazy bunch afloat. The fortune is tempting like a lottery win and there are many eager candidates for the inheritance. You can wait for years for the death of the prospective benefactor, but what if one day he dies a tragic death leaving all the gold behind? Who is there to blame? A plot with a few twists in Knives Out. Enjoy.
It's a challenge to play someone well-known and characteristic without the cringe effect. Freddy Mercury was such a person for sure. But having an unsurpassed music gift calls for an unsurpassed acting talent, and then the story just clicks. Queen's music enchanted us with this brilliant feeling of unity and power against the world's injustice. Bohemian Rhapsody reminds you about that magic and brings you closer to the person whom it all wouldn't be possible without. Painful self-discovery, disease, and the world at one's feet for one brilliant musician and his band that changed the music industry and moved generations.
You can live your quiet, uneventful life, not bothering anyone, getting in trouble, or aiming too high in life or career opportunities. But trouble tends to find you. What if you were mistaken for a millionaire with a reckless wife and thrown into a crime you had no intention of getting involved in? What if someone pissed on your carpet, and while having no other grudges, this one was offensive enough to trigger your anger? What if you were called like someone else, and this surname made you entangled in a weird family situation and placed among some greedy enemies? The Big Lebowski. When a guy just can't be left on his own. Enjoy.
Ambition can blind you at times. You can be driven by ego and achievements and be misled by what is worthy. Life also puts obstacles in front of you, challenges that make you learn your lessons and change your course of action. This journey gives you people who can shift your perspective and teach you the important things. And very rarely in life, you have a chance to talk to real spiritual leaders and change, admit to the wrong you caused, and improve. Based on real Heinrich Harrer and Dalai Lama with World War 2 and China's takeover of Tibet in the background. And a journey of one self-centered boy, who believed he could win the world on his own until he met the right kind of people and became a man. Seven Years in Tibet.
When you look at the pictures of couples that have spent their lives together and celebrated decades, you want that for yourself. You want that company, that happiness, that time, and that love. Success, money, and health are just a part of life. Another part contains the downs you agree on at the altar. And you know that the downs will be coming and testing you and your love. Those downs can be like monsters, and you'll be afraid. It's easy to run away and find something less scary, to go back to grade one while you're graduating. But true love is not just pictures and anniversaries. Love is moments in between. What if your relationship is changing due to an incurable disease, and you're there to witness it? Two men in love and a trip down a memory lane and coping with life's hard tasks. Supernova.
Life gets boring, problematic, and stressful. You're not as good as you wish you'd be, and it's no point denying that you're on the right path to success. What if you could make it just a bit less tiresome? A bit more exciting? A bit more relaxed? What if drinking just a bit of alcohol every day could solve your life problems? Experiments can be dangerous. Limits once set might be too narrow. And substance abuse is a long and windy road that can take you to the top and pull you down as just as easy. Drunk - a great picture of the drinking rollercoaster and a few guys adding to their lives a bit (and a bit more) buzz.