Get Ready for SPACEBALLS 2!

Earlier today, legendary filmmaker Mel Brooks released the funny trailer below announcing that Spaceballs 2—the long-awaited(?) sequel to the 1987 Star Wars spoof Spaceballs—is now in development!

According to Deadline, Spaceballs 2 will bring back Brooks himself as President Skroob and Yogurt, while Bill Pullman and Rick Moranis (who interestingly didn't come out of retirement from acting for 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife or 2024's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) will reprise their roles as Lone Starr and Dark Helmet, respectively. Keke Palmer (of 2022's Nope and this year's One of Them Days) and Pullman's son Lewis Pullman (of 2022's Top Gun: Maverick and this year's Thunderbolts*) will appear in Spaceballs 2 as well.

No specific release date has been set yet, but the Schwartz awakens in 2027. Can't wait!

My Latest Take on a Potential Third GLADIATOR Film...

Why Gladiator III needs to happen even though Gladiator II hasn't broken even at the box office (it still should've made $450 million worldwide as of today): Domestically, The Matrix Revolutions earned far less than The Matrix Reloaded in 2003 (Revolutions made $139 million while Reloaded grossed $282 million that year, according to Box Office Mojo), and Lana Wachowski still got to direct 2021's The Matrix Resurrections. Resurrections only garnered $38 million in North America over three years ago, but still— Warner Bros. allowed this sequel to be made.

Paramount Pictures can always fund Ridley Scott's second legacy sequel to the original Gladiator film with money earned from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (which has a current worldwide box office gross of $338 million). The studio will recoup that investment from 2027's Sonic the Hedgehog 4...and Top Gun 3, which might possibly begin principal photography this year.

Make Gladiator III happen!

And the Winners of the 2023 Academy Awards Are...

Congratulations to Everything Everywhere All at Once for winning Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards tonight! In total, this quarky sci-fi/adventure flick took home 7 trophies...for Best Picture, Best Directing (for the Daniels), Best Actress (for Michelle Yeoh), Best Film Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (for Ke Huy Quan) and Best Supporting Actress (for Jamie Lee Curtis).

Germany's World War I epic All Quiet on the Western Front—which looked like it could've upset Everything Everywhere at the end considering all of the categories it won today—took home Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Production Design and Best Cinematography, respectively.

Top Gun: Maverick, which received 6 nominations, won the Oscar for Best Sound Design. Avatar: The Way of Water surprisingly (just kidding) won the award for Best Visual Effects.

I was rooting for Lady Gaga to win Best Original Song for Top Gun: Maverick's Hold My Hand, but the Oscar for this category went to Naatu Naatu...a song from the Indian action-adventure drama, RRR.

And Brendan Fraser, who—along with Ke Huy Quan—appeared in the 1992 comedy flick Encino Man, won Best Actor for The Whale. The Whale also won an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Tonight's ceremony was an eventful one...in a positive way, that is. History was made when Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan became the first two Asian actors to win Oscars in the same year!

Also, Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel managed to avoid getting slapped by an Academy Award nominee on-stage—unlike previous host Chris Rock last year. Google that if you are unaware of what I'm talking about...

Click here for the full list of Oscar winners. Congrats to all!

The 2023 Academy Award Nominations...

Congratulations to all of the movies, filmmakers and thespians who received an Oscar nomination this morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences! The winners will be revealed during the 95th Academy Awards that will be televised March 12 on ABC TV.

As shown below, Everything Everywhere All at Once (which I saw at the theater last April and immensely enjoyed) leads the Best Picture pack with 11 nominations. Top Gun: Maverick—which I saw multiple times at the theater last year—is up for 6 trophies; it unfortunately isn't up for Best Cinematography but is amazingly up for Best Adapted Screenplay!

Most-Nominated Movies for the 95th Academy Awards:

Everything Everywhere All at Once - 11 nominations
All Quiet on the Western Front - 9 nominations
The Banshees of Inisherin - 9 nominations
Elvis - 8 nominations
The Fabelmans - 7 nominations
Tár - 6 nominations
Top Gun: Maverick - 6 nominations
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - 5 nominations

I didn't watch the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, but I do know that Ana de Armas is a very talented actress who was great in 2017's Blade Runner 2049 and 2019's Knives Out. Congrats to her for her Best Actress nomination!

Click here to see all of the nominees for this year's Academy Awards.

One actor who I hoped would get nominated was John Boyega for his role as a down-on-his-luck Marine veteran in last August's Breaking. I gave this dramatic crime thriller an enthusiastic review last summer, and I was hoping that the Academy would give this movie the kudos it deserves... Next time, Boyega.

And up for Best Visual Effects for 2022 is Top Gun: Maverick, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Batman (which should've also been nominated for Best Original Score), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water. Yes, James Cameron's sequel to the 2009 sci-fi epic will go home with the trophy.

Can't wait to watch the Oscars on March 12!

GLADIATOR 2 Has Found Its Star...

So I just found out earlier today that Ridley Scott is moving ahead with the sequel to his 2000 Best Picture-winning epic, Gladiator. While I heard years ago that Scott wanted to continue the story of Maximus (the Roman general-turned-gladiator memorably portrayed by Russell Crowe), even though he died in the first film, it's only today that it appears this movie will finally become a reality!

Paul Mescal, who stars in the Hulu streaming series Normal People, will have the leading role in Gladiator 2...playing the adult version of Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and nephew of the evil emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Lots of other actors apparently chased this role—such as Austin Butler (who played Elvis in a Baz Luhrmann film about the legendary singer last year), Miles Teller (probably still basking in the success of Top Gun: Maverick) and Richard Madden (who appeared in Marvel Studios' 2021 movie Eternals).

While it's great news that Gladiator 2 has its star and will finally get made, one (highly-rhetorical) question remains: Will Hans Zimmer return to compose the sequel's music score? The Oscar-nominated score for the first Gladiator movie is one of my all-time favorites...to the point where I was listening to Gladiator tracks on MP3 while typing this entry!

It's a no-brainer that Zimmer will return and add the music of Gladiator 2 to his long list of memorable scores which includes those for The Dark Knight trilogy, The Lion King, Crimson Tide, Broken Arrow, Interstellar and Inception. Costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max will reunite with Scott for the sequel— Why not Zimmer as well?

Carry on.

Movie Review: DEVOTION...

Earlier today, I watched the Korean War biopic Devotion at AMC theaters.

This film is about two U.S. Navy pilots—an African American ensign named Jesse Brown (played by Jonathan Majors) and an Irish American lieutenant named Tom Hudner (portrayed by Glen Powell)—who became good friends during a Cold War conflict in Asia and amidst racial tensions in America.

Devotion is your standard war film; and the latest that depicts the immense bravery of African American aviators who served their country well during two major wars even though they faced intense discrimination at home. The previous flick that comes to mind is the 2012 movie Red Tails (starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr.)...which is about the Tuskegee pilots of World War II, and was the first film directed by George Lucas since 2005's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

What makes Devotion unique are its unofficial ties to this year's top-grossing film, Top Gun: Maverick. On the one hand, you have Glen Powell—who played Hangman in the Joseph Kosinski-directed blockbuster—portraying a fighter pilot on the big screen for the second time in 2022. And on the other hand, the aerial coordinator for Maverick, Kevin LaRosa II, utilized his services and aircraft cameras for Devotion as well.

The similaries between Devotion and the Top Gun sequel begin and end at Glen Powell as well as spectacular and authentic aerial sequences. Devotion honors Ensign Jesse Brown...who fought valiantly in his Corsair until it was shot down in North Korea on December 4, 1950.

While the corpse of Ensign Brown remained inside his aircraft when U.S. Navy jets napalmed it (as well as the Corsair of Lieutenant Hudner, who intentionally crash-landed it near Brown's fighter plane before trying to save his life) so it won't fall into enemy hands, that didn't stop Hudner from trying to visit his friend's crash site in North Korea almost 63 years later...in July of 2013.

The story of Jesse Brown is quite remarkable. One interesting tidbit that was featured in Devotion is the fact that he met Elizabeth Taylor (portrayed by Serinda Swan in this movie) in France—and was invited by her to a Cannes casino even though French personnel initially wouldn't let him enter the establishment.

Despite meeting a beautiful and legendary star like Taylor, Brown remained devoted to his wife Daisy (played by Christina Jackson) and their young daughter Pam.

Devotion is a story about love, determination, loyalty and bravery. Brown and Hudner are both heroes...and this movie did a commendable job depicting this inspirational friendship on the big screen.

Rest in peace, Ensign Brown and Lieutenant Hudner (who passed away on November 13, 2017). Your brave exploits have fittingly been immortalized in cinema.

Photos of the Day: Gettin' Up Close and Personal with the Darkstar from TOP GUN: MAVERICK!

Earlier today, I went to the Aerospace Valley Air Show at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California...where I saw the full-size model used for the Darkstar hypersonic aircraft in Top Gun: Maverick!

The Darkstar looked much smaller in person than in the film itself (as with the case for a lot of things, and actors, in Hollywood), but it was just as sleek as the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II also on display at the Mojave Desert-based event.

The stealth-like design of the Darkstar doesn't come as a surprise seeing as how the model, just like the three actual aircraft mentioned above, was also built by Lockheed. To be more specific, Darkstar was assembled by Lockheed's famed 'Skunk Works' division!

This is why the Skunk Works logo is visible on the vertical stabilizer of the Darkstar (as shown below) and even the joystick used by Maverick (Tom Cruise) inside the plane's cockpit if you watch the film again. Carry on!

Movie Review: PURPLE HEARTS...

Earlier today, I watched the romance drama Purple Hearts on Netflix.

I might be a bit biased (since I worked as an extra on this production when it filmed at the Hollywood Bowl last year), but I thought that Purple Hearts was a great film!

There was controversy (specifically on Twitter) about Purple Hearts' story when this movie was released online over a month ago, but I found nothing wrong with the messaging.

Purple Hearts' plot is about an aspiring singer (Cassie, played by Sofia Carson)—dealing with diabetes—who's unable to secure a refill on her insulin because her health insurance won't cover the cost of her medication. Living in Oceanside, she meets a Marine (Luke, portrayed by Nicholas Galitzine) who has financial problems of his own that could be rectified if he was married and had access to special benefits provided by the United States military.

Realizing that both of their financial predicaments can be solved by tying the knot, Cassie and Luke discuss how their marriage (and would-be divorce) will be handled before they're off to their private wedding.

The problem is, a soldier getting married just so they can receive extra money from the U.S. military amounted to insurance fraud...which was punishable through court-martial and imprisonment.

Folks on Twitter complained about Purple Hearts' message because they didn't like how Cassie and Luke only married to get financial benefits from the American government.

However, if they watched the whole film (spoilers ahead), then they'd see that the insurance fraud was eventually exposed...and Luke ended up getting court-martialed and sent to jail at the end of the movie.

Purple Hearts went to great lengths to show that Cassie and Luke slowly started to fall for each other after an awkward start to their relationship. Cassie took care of Luke after he returned to San Diego to recover from a combat-related injury suffered in Iraq, Luke made sure that Cassie was okay after she returned home to their apartment feeling dizzy from her diabetic condition, Cassie got Luke a support dog named Peaches to help him in his recovery, Luke took full responsibility for the insurance fraud when he found out that Cassie might be prosecuted by the state of California after his military hearing was over, and Cassie drove all the way from the Hollywood Bowl to Camp Pendleton to declare her love for Luke before he was shipped off to jail.

(We'll overlook the fact that it seemed like Cassie arrived at Camp Pendleton in less than an hour...when it's a 112-mile drive, at maximum, between the Hollywood Bowl and this military base in San Diego County.)

So bottom line is, I thought the story of Purple Hearts was great.

Also, if the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) found the messaging of Purple Hearts to be objectionable, then it wouldn't have given the production crew access to Camp Pendleton and military hardware for this movie. Not only that, but the USMC probably wouldn't have provided that honor guard during the funeral scene at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery—which is also where Iceman's funeral in Top Gun: Maverick was filmed. That is all.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK Has Reached a Huge Milestone at the Box Office!

Congratulations to Paramount Pictures for the enormous success that Top Gun: Maverick has enjoyed at the theaters since its release almost two months ago!

As of today, the Tom Cruise action sequel has earned $601.9 million at the domestic box office...surpassing Titanic's initial domestic box office gross of $600.8 million that it accumulated back in 1997-'98.

Top Gun: Maverick is currently the highest-grossing film, both domestically and internationally, of 2022. However, Titanic still remains Paramount Pictures' highest-grossing domestic movie in the studio's 110-year history—with re-releases in 2012 and 2017 bringing the North American gross of James Cameron's Oscar-winning epic to $659.3 million.

Speaking of Titanic and James Cameron, the Leonardo DiCaprio/Kate Winslet film is celebrating the 25-year anniversary of its theatrical release this December. We'll see if Paramount commemorates this occcasion on the big screen...as Disney is unveiling James Cameron's first Avatar sequel, The Way of Water, that same month!

Happy Wednesday.

Movie Review - JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION...

So I watched the sixth and supposedly final film in the Jurassic Park franchise this evening, and needless to say, I can see why Colin Trevorrow was removed from his directing gig on Star Wars: Episode IX years ago!

Jurassic World: Dominion had a convoluted storyline, and its use of nostalgia (with Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum returning as Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler and Dr. Ian Malcolm in this movie) was not half as effective as what Tom Cruise and Co. pulled off in Top Gun: Maverick.

While I'm comparing Dominion to the Top Gun sequel, the two are the complete opposite of each other (overlooking the obvious fact that one flick is about fighter jets and the other about giant ancient reptiles): Maverick had great editing, great music and a clear and coherent storyline. Dominion didn't have any of those.

(But at least Dominion was shot on celluloid! It employed Panavision cameras using Kodak film... I appreciate that old-school creative decision.)

Dominion also had laughable plot points and moments—such as the CIA somehow being responsible for monitoring dinosaurs around the world, and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard's characters not caring to help Grant, Sattler and Malcolm out of that overturned Jeep in the movie's third act. Or was that still the second act? Can't tell... The story was convoluted.

Also, it's unfortunate that I can't remember any memorable motifs (other than the classic Jurassic Park theme) in Michael Giacchino's music score for Dominion. Oh well. At least he has other recent films like The Batman to be proud of.

Time to watch Top Gun: Maverick at the theater again to remove the overall bitter taste I have from Jurassic World: Dominion! That is all.

Movie Review - TOP GUN: MAVERICK...

I watched Top Gun: Maverick in IMAX at AMC theaters earlier today, and needless to say, it was an exhilaratingly kick-ass movie!

We'll never know how the late and great Tony Scott would've helmed the sequel to his 1986 action classic, but one thing's for sure, director Joseph Kosinski did a terrific job bringing the spirit of the original Top Gun film to this latest flick.

Tom Cruise was once again awesome as Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, while Miles Teller was fantastic as Lt. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw...the son of the late Goose (Anthony Edwards).

Jennifer Connelly did a commendable job filling in the shoes of Kelly McGillis as Maverick's new girlfriend and strong-willed bar owner Penny Benjamin, and Jon Hamm was great as the no-nonsense Admiral Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson. Ditto with Charles Parnell as Admiral Solomon 'Warlock' Bates and Ed Harris as Rear Admiral Chester 'Hammer' Cain.

Not to be overlooked are the other actors who were fantastic as Top Gun ground crew and fighter pilots: Bashir Salahuddin as Warrant Officer Bernie 'Hondo' Coleman, Monica Barbaro as Lt. Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace, Glen Powell as Lt. Jake 'Hangman' Seresin, Lewis Pullman as Lt. Robert 'Bob' Floyd, Jay Ellis as Lt. Reuben 'Payback' Fitch and Danny Ramirez as Lt. Mickey 'Fanboy' Garcia.

The one appearance that truly left a memorable mark on Top Gun: Maverick was that by Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky. His scene with Tom Cruise was the most emotional moment in this movie...and considering the fact that Iceman's health reflects the illness that Kilmer is dealing with in real life (he unfortunately has throat cancer), the reunion between these two fighter jocks was made all the more poignant.

If there's one note I have about Top Gun: Maverick that could be construed as a critique, it's that the main mission in this movie was clearly inspired by the Death Star trench run in Star Wars: A New Hope. The only difference is, you have actors riding in real F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets as they fly at high speed through a narrow valley before miraculously taking out a small target with two laser-guided smart bombs instead of a pair of proton torpedoes. And that's what made this scene so exhilarating!

An advantage that Top Gun: Maverick has over its 1986 predecessor was obviously the use of modern-day visual effects. Since the Darkstar hypersonic plane featured at the beginning of Maverick doesn't exist (supposedly), a full-size replica, model and computer-generated version of the aircraft needed to be created for this film. With CGI still in its cinematic infancy back in 1986, the utilization of a miniature model would've stuck out like a sore thumb in the original Top Gun considering the use of actual fighter jets and authentic aerial footage in that film.

Modern-day VFX also made it possible for the Top Gun pilots to take on enemy aircraft that were actually of a foreign origin! Unlike American-made F-5 Tigers posing as MiGs in the first movie, it was Russian-made Su-57 Felons that Maverick and his wingmen went up against...even though the actual country that flew these 'fifth-generation fighters' was never identified in the film.

I can go on and on about how thrilling Top Gun: Maverick was—and how I intend to watch it again at the theater! Yes, Harold Faltermeyer's Top Gun Anthem made its triumphant return to the big screen...and so did Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone as well as Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire.

Adding to Top Gun: Maverick's adrenaline-packed music are Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga, and an intense film score by none other than Hans Zimmer. What a triumphant way to start the Memorial Day weekend and summer movie season, Top Gun: Maverick!

The Final TOP GUN: MAVERICK Poster and Trailer Are Here...

Just thought I'd share the final theatrical poster and trailer for Top Gun: Maverick...which were officially released today.

Nothing is revealed in the trailer in terms of the foreign adversary that Maverick (Tom Cruise) and his fellow F/A-18 pilots will confront in combat, but it does show the camaraderie between U.S. naval aviators Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Hangman (Glen Powell) and Payback (Jay Ellis), among others.

The new trailer also focuses on the conflict that will ensue between Maverick and Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (Miles Teller), whose father Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards)—the radar intercept officer aboard Maverick's F-14 Tomcat over 35 years earlier—lost his life in the first Top Gun movie.

Top Gun: Maverick employed IMAX cameras for its aerial sequences, so I definitely can't wait to watch this film in that format when it is released in theaters nationwide on May 27!

TOP GUN: MAVERICK Has Received a New Release Date...

So contrary to this previous Blog entry where I posted that Top Gun: Maverick was supposed to arrive in theaters nationwide on July 2, it will instead be released on November 19 of this year. This is actually great news! I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (by Pfizer) a little over a week ago, and I should get my second and last dose on April 21. While the protection by this vaccine would've been at its most potent in the middle of the summer, late November also gives a lot of time for millions of other hopeful moviegoers to get vaccinated before Tom Cruise's much-anticipated air-combat sequel lands in multiplexes everywhere. Herd immunity in the United States should already be taking place by the Thanksgiving holiday...hopefully.

And on another note, Indiana Jones 5 is expected to debut in theaters on July 29, 2022. James Mangold of 2005's Walk the Line, 2007's 3:10 to Yuma and 2017's Logan will direct the film. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who starred in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, will appear alongside Harrison Ford in the fifth Indy flick—while John Williams will return to compose the film's music score, respectively. Happy Friday!

AMC 20 Is Back in Business!

Earlier today, I visited my local mall, Puente Hills Mall (which, as you know, served as Twin Pines Mall in the first Back to the Future film), when I saw that AMC Theatres inside this shopping plaza finally reopened after being closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year! I'm so excited for this! Of course, I don't plan on watching a movie here till this summer (when the next Marvel flick Black Widow opens nationwide on July 9). But I'll definitely go to this AMC 20 theater when movies that are really worth seeing on the big screen (particularly on IMAX), such as Top Gun: Maverick, are finally unleashed in cinemas around the country. The Top Gun sequel arrives in theaters on July 2. Oh wait— That's one week before Black Widow is released! Niiice!

The TOP GUN: MAVERICK Trailer Is Here!

Earlier today, Tom Cruise made a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic-Con to present the teaser trailer for next year's Top Gun: Maverick. All I can say is...I am absolutely stoked for this film! I've been a huge fighter jet buff since grade school, and to watch a feature-length movie that will put a spotlight on F/A-18 Hornets in combat (Yes, I know— We saw the Hornets in glorious action during such flicks as Independence Day and 2001's Behind Enemy Lines) will get my adrenaline running and put me back in the danger zone again. This is just the teaser trailer, so it'll be a while before we find out if the F-35C Lightning II (the U.S. Navy's variant of the Joint Strike Fighter)—which was declared operational for combat in real life back in February—plays a role in this movie. Anyways, welcome back, Maverick!

Top Gun: Maverick arrives in theaters nationwide on June 26, 2020.

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TOP GUN: MAVERICK Has Begun Filming!

Last night, Tom Cruise tweeted this image showing him in his flight suit as principal photography has begun on the long-anticipated Top Gun 2, a.k.a. Top Gun: Maverick. The F-14 fighter jock memorably portrayed by Cruise in the late Tony Scott's 1986 classic will return to the big screen on July 12, 2019...this time piloting an F/A-18 Hornet, as seen in the photo above. All I can say is, had Cruise waited a few more years to shoot Top Gun: Maverick, it would be an F-35C Lightning II (shown below) that he would be staring at in this promo pic! The U.S. Navy's variant on the stealth jet is set to achieve active status (also known as 'initial operational capability' in military parlance) sometime this year.

Time to listen to Kenny Loggins' 'Danger Zone' on my MP3 player!


Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian M. Wilbur