Old Gringo (1989)

★★
Old Gringo is a movie so full of half-baked ideas that I gave up trying to find reason in the motives of its characters. There are scenes that are oddly disjointed, as if something was left out that would provide a better explanation. The movie is not helped by Jane Fonda's allure or Gregory Peck's commanding presence. In the absence of these two actors, Old Gringo would have turned out a lot worse.

3-Iron (2005)

★★★½
This review was written years before Ki-duk Kim's passing in 2020.

Ki-duk Kim is fast becoming one of the most interesting foreign directors (foreign to the U.S.) working today. His Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring was my pick for the best movie of 2004. In that film, he showed a fascination with the passage of time. He found interest in everyday actions, because it's the little things in life that can have a profound effect on how we mature. Kim's follow-up film, 3-Iron, also utilizes the passage of time as a way to develop a character, but he takes that growth one step further by giving it a metaphysical quality.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

★★★★
Everything Everywhere All at Once belongs in the same category as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Tree of Life and Synecdoche, New York—movies about the challenges of being alive and how it is worth it all the same. They have one thing in common. Their main characters experience a journey into worlds that stretch into infinity. Eternal Sunshine… went into the deepest recesses of the mind, the limits of which are unfathomable (imagine a human brain with the capacity of over 1000 terabyte hard drives). Tree of Life gave us a glimpse of the afterlife, which will exist well after the earth's destruction. In Synecdoche…, Philip Seymour Hoffman composed the grandest of plays to explore the nuances of his own life. The play eventually consumed him and everyone around him. Everything Everywhere All at Once works within the theory of infinite universes, based on the idea that every choice we make actually happens, resulting in the birth of new universes that branch off from those choices. In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Worf experienced this concept firsthand when he jumped into different versions of himself in multiple universes.

After the Sunset (2004)

★★½
Aside from the great locations and splendid chemistry between the actors, there’s not much to recommend After the Sunset. If you’re looking for a good caper movie, stick with Ocean’s Twelve. There’s very little here in the way of elaborate set pieces and cool precision. There is, however, an amusing good-guy/bad-guy relationship based on mutual respect and obsessive one-upmanship.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

★★★½
Top Gun (1986) was about the brotherhood, the camaraderie, the personal challenges. Top Gun: Maverick is about those things too, but it takes all that and gives them purpose and direction. Tom Cruise returns to one of his signature roles after so many years away from it and delivers a knockout performance. Once the student, he is now the teacher as he trains a new generation of Navy pilots for a mission behind enemy lines. This movie isn't just another entry in Cruise's impressively expanding list of quality action pictures. It is recognition that our time in the spotlight is limited, and that eventually it will be time to step aside to let others take the reins. I did that recently, having left my employer of 21 years because the rules required it. I received a nice sendoff, and my retirement will be sweet once I can start to collect, but I feel I could have done more, and I would have been in position to continue if I had made different decisions years ago. Cruise's Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell sees the end. As his commander tells him, his kind is headed for extinction. Maverick defiantly responds, "maybe so sir, but not today." He has some gas left in the tank, and he intends to get all the mileage out of it as possible before flying into the sunset. We all want to be useful; it's a strong motivator.