That’s Entertainment
By Pete Thompson
For most in our area, Memorial Day weekend means spending time on the beach, on your boat, on the water, and in the local restaurants and bars. Along with those usual activities, Memorial Day weekend also is one of those “tent-pole” dates where the big movie studios put out what they hope will be a major release.
Well, Paramount Pictures is hoping that “Top Gun: Maverick” is the movie that brings the masses back to the actual movie theater!
“Top Gun: Maverick” finished production in 2020 but its release was delayed for two years because of the pandemic. Theater owners are keeping their fingers crossed that Tom Cruise’s million-watt smile and his commitment to doing his own stunts — no matter the cost or the fact that he will turn 60 in July — will bring moviegoers back to theaters for what they hope will be a long and fruitful summer.
Even as I sat down to write this column, I saw someone on social media post about how much they hate Tom Cruise. I’m sorry, but to me, he’s Hollywood’s last real movie star. It’s been 30 years since the original “Top Gun” made Cruise a box-office behemoth, and he has basically stayed there since, outlasting his contemporaries. He’s the last remaining global star who still only makes movies for movie theaters. He hasn’t ventured into streaming. He hasn’t signed up for a limited series. He hasn’t started his own tequila brand, etc.
Love him, or hate him, his 44 films have brought in $4.4 billion at the box office in the United States and Canada alone, according to Box Office Mojo. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that as the hype kicks up for this new “Top Gun: Maverick”, news has also broken that the first trailer is out for the next “Mission Impossible” movie. That’s going to be called “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”. That’s due out in July of 2023. That’s right, I’m already writing about a movie that’s over a year away!
Now, before you accuse me of being all Tom Cruise all the time, I’m equally as excited to see the new “Downton Abbey: A New Era” that is already out. “Jurassic World: Dominion” is out June 10th. That’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Bottom line, I think It’s going to be a great summer for movies.
On TV and streaming, I finally had the opportunity to watch “Wandavision” on Disney Plus since I last wrote. Now, I’m not the world’s biggest MCU fan, but I certainly enjoyed the performances of Elizabeth Olsen & Paul Bettany in the lead roles. Kathryn Hahn & Kat Dennings were outstanding in supporting roles. If anything Marvel is your thing, I would certainly recommend “Wandavision”.
My girlfriend and I also decided to watch “Pam & Tommy” on Hulu. First off, I should say the eight-episode dark comedy is intended for mature audiences only. With that said, it was pretty fascinating to watch a dramatization of a time before anyone knew what the internet was capable of. For example, I forgot that AltaVista was the original search engine that everyone used way before anyone knew what Google was. What’s funny is, if you ask the youth of today, they’ll ask you what Google is and usually answer “is that like Siri?”
Before I close, I do want to acknowledge that by the time you read this, season 4 of “Stranger Things” will have finally dropped on Netflix. Well, part one of Season 4. The plan is to release the first seven episodes from season 4 on May 27th, and then the final two episodes of the series will drop on July 1st. It didn’t take me very long to fall in love with the characters from Hawkins back in 2016 when the series debuted on Netflix. Plus, the actor Gaten Matarazzo has ties to the area as he went to Pinelands Regional HIgh School in Tuckerton and his grandpa runs Matarazzo’s Pizza – Slice of Naples, located at 900 West White Horse Pike in Egg Harbor City. Bottom line, it’s been over 1,000 days since the last season of “Stranger Things” dropped on July 4th weekend in 2019, so I can’t wait to see what Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas, Joyce and Hopper are up to when the new season drops!
By all means, if there’s something out there I’m not covering or discussing in this column, please feel free to email me at PBrooksT@aol.com
I’m very thankful for your readership and hope you will patronize the businesses you see in the pages here. The LOCAL in Shore Local comes from the support of those businesses, so please support them!
Pete has been the local “sports guy” at the Jersey Shore since 2004. After a decade with TV 40, he joined 97.3 ESPN radio to talk Eagles, Phillies, Sixers & Flyers with Mike Gill on “The SportsBash” from 2-6 p.m.
Pete is proud to be a “voice” for the annual ShopRite LPGA Classic each June, and does emcee work for groups like the National Football Foundation, The Old Grad Awards, and The 200 Club of Atlantic County. You can hear Pete each Tuesday and Friday on 97.3 ESPN at 5:00pm, and if you see him out & about in the community, he requests that you please say “Hi”. Send comments to PBrooksT@aol.com
