IN THE SHADOWS TOP TEN FILMS OF 2022....NUMBER 1 !!!!!!

I have come to my number 1 film of 2022 which will not be a surprise. However I will go into why this film was more than just a number 1 film.

Well lets review my top ten films:

10-All Quiet On The Western Front

 9- Glass Onion

 8-Women Talking

 7-Downton Abbey A New Era

 6-Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

 5-The Fabelmans

 4-Emily The Criminal

 3-A Man Called Otto

 2-Where The Crawdads Sing

 1-???????????????????????

And now number one films of years past................

2014 Wild

2015 The Martian

2016 Edge Of Seventeen 

2017 The Big Sick

2018 Green Book

2019 Knives Out

Decade- Brooklyn

2020 News Of The World

2021 Coda

So now the number 1 film of 2022..................

TOP GUN MAVERICK

Since you already have probably seen the trailer, here is 10 minutes of behind the scenes that you may not have seen:

Why?

Lets start outside of the film itself.

Tom Cruise. Lets face it, he is an odd puppy. Socially odd. Yet, somehow he fully understands what entertains the public, and what they want to see. See Top Gun, see MI movies. He was the one that was adamant that this film must be shown on the big screen. This meant that the film sat in the can for 3 years over covid lock downs, and then the slow process of people trusting to enter said theaters. This meant the money people had to wait a long time to get their money back. It was a huge successful gamble.

Then Cruise insisted on minimal green screen and CGI aerial shots. This meant putting the cameras in the planes and the poor supporting cast had to undergo extensive G-force training. To make this look real on the big screen.

So what did this do? Lets face it, it saved the theaters. Theaters were struggling and going into the summer they were deep in debt. And along came Maverick, and this is why Maverick is bigger than just a very good film.... The people returned to the theaters and then returned to see this movie more than once. It was people of all ages which made it different from the dying Marvel films. People enjoyed themselves. Literally clapping in the theaters at the end.

So, Maverick kept the theaters going in the summer. However as the fall came ...it got ugly as Regal filed for bankruptcy. So what does the future hold for theaters. Its a big bad circle, where many good films go right to streaming, and now streaming services are now struggling because it cost money, lots of money, to pay the actors and to make the movie. They are not getting the money back. So what is going to happen? Or what has happened. Hollywood stars are going to start making less, because production is not going to have the money. So what is needed is more Tom Cruises, to insist in their contracts 4 weeks or more in theaters first. That is where their money will be. Will it be too late for theaters? We shall see. All eyes are on the AMC chain.

Well, long winded...now to Maverick...and why it worked..

Well Tom Cruise made it work.

Director Joseph Kosinski made it work.

Jim Cash; Jack Epps jr; and Peter Craig  wrote a wonderful near perfect script. Bringing nostalgia ( like Val Kilmer) to the script. Plus a new modern look, more quick paced with sharp edits.

Casting was just spot on:

-Jennifer Connelly as Penny plays her part perfectly. She does not need Maverick, she is a smart independent business woman. She does not need him...but it would be nice if he stays. So often she is quietly asking questions to test the waters.

-Miles Teller as Rooster. I love how they make him look like Goose with the cheesy mustache

-The antagonist Jon Hamm with that smirk (LOL) as Cyclone; and the underrated Glenn Powell as Hangman.

-Support staff Charles Parnell playing Warlock and Bashir Salahuddin playing Hondo, with their constant whispers trying to help Maverick and keep him going in the right direction.

-The very much underrated Monica Barbaro as Phoenix..who I still think, she is the brains keeping this group of pilots together. Please note, the great decision of putting a female in the movie who does not have to be a love interest.

The script; the action; the comedy; the love story; not trying to be politically correct or incorrect because it did not matter; the tension; the emotional ending; the Lady Ga Ga song at the end...a close to perfect Hollywood film.

And...let us tip our hat here at the end to Bob. Our favorite pilot. Played by Lewis Pullman son of the great actor Bill Pullman. BOB IS AN AMERICAN HERO!!

My number 1 movie for 2022, and most likely yours..Top Gun Maverick.

As always from the shadows thanks for your time.