Summer Blockbusters To Watch After a Summer Without Them
Plus: Reviews of new releases Tenet and I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Unfortunately, this has been a summer mostly without big-budget movie theater entertainment. We at Do You Like Apples have really missed the experience of avoiding the heat by gathering in a darkened auditorium to revel in the glory of blockbuster movies, even the stupid ones. It’s a summer tradition that we hope to return to strongly in 2021.
While Tenet is now playing in many theaters across the country (see our review below!), that remains the only blockbuster to release during this pandemic-stricken summer. So, if you are longing for past summer movies to fill that blockbuster-sized hole we have you covered this week. Check out our favorite summer blockbusters streaming now.
Drew recommends…
The Fugitive (streaming on HBO Max)
When we think of summer blockbusters, we don’t think of The Fugitive. And yet, the Harrison Ford thriller was a runaway hit in August 1993, grossing $368 million worldwide and earning seven Oscar nominations. It’s no wonder, since The Fugitive remains a classically entertaining chase movie, even 27 years later.
The film has a great hook and wastes no time diving into the story. Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford) has been framed for his wife’s murder and sentenced to death. After a bus crash, he escapes custody and sets out to prove his innocence by identifying the real killer while evading capture by law enforcement led by U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones). In one of his most notable non-Indiana Jones or non-Han Solo performances, Ford is 100% believable as Dr. Kimble, a smart man that can’t believe the situation he’s in. Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones could not be more perfectly cast as the competent U.S. Marshal just trying to do his job. It doesn’t matter to him if Dr. Kimble is innocent or not. Tommy Lee went on to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in The Fugitive.
The suspense generated from the chase sequences (particularly the famous dive off the dam) is top-notch stuff, as is the explosive action in the bus crash scene. It’s hard to imagine this movie ever becoming dated because of how well those scenes are structured and shot. The Fugitive is also one of the great Chicago movies, right up there with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Blues Brothers.
Maybe one of the reasons we don’t think of The Fugitive as a summer blockbuster is because you don’t have to check your brain at the door to enjoy it. This is a shrewd and savvy thriller that also happens to be endlessly rewatchable, the kind of movie that sucks you in every time.
Top Gun (streaming on Amazon Prime and Hulu)
When we think of summer blockbusters, we definitely think of Top Gun. Back in 1986, this movie dominated the box office throughout the summer. Released to decent opening weekend earnings in mid-May, Top Gun continued racking up ticket sales well into the fall. It was a genuine sensation on its way to becoming the highest grossing movie of that year.
It’s not hard to see why. Top Gun has a wildly charismatic cast of stars or would-be stars. Young Tom Cruise was on a mission to prove he could lead a blockbuster movie, and boy, was he right. Cruise is electric as the arrogant hotshot pilot Maverick, and the character and this movie has stood the test of time so much that a sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, is on the way next year. The original Top Gun has many things going for it, but Cruise is the reason why it all comes together. Alongside the budding A-list star, Val Kilmer (as Iceman), Kelly McGillis, and Meg Ryan (in an early pre-fame role) fill out the flashy cast.
It also helps that Tony Scott, one of the great action directors ever, was at the controls. His fast-paced and extremely kinetic style matches seamlessly with this story of relentlessly competitive fighter pilots. The scenes in the air are incredibly loud and crazy entertaining, as they should be.
Top Gun has always been an unabashedly ridiculous movie. From the showy acting and dialogue (“I feel the need…”) to the infamous beach volleyball scene (why is Maverick wearing jeans here??) to “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”, all of these over-the-top moments are exactly what make this movie a beloved 80s classic. Start up Top Gun and just try not to have a good time watching one of the ultimate summer blockbusters.
Billy recommends…
Total Recall (streaming on Netflix)
The initial premise before the curtain is pulled back sounds like a dream that this whole world would be craving right now. A futuristic technology that makes travel so real that the user can’t tell the difference. Turns out that this technology is meant to mask a more massive conspiracy for planetary domination. A lot of people would probably take their chances no matter the sinister undertones.
Paul Verhoven’s sci-fi epic mixes a small, but powerful amount of skepticism of reality with a heavy dose of B-movie material. Total Recall says a lot in a few serious moments while driving this movie into cult classic territory with the always magnetic Arnold Schwarzenegger (Douglas Quaid) and his physical prowess. We have a superhero thrust into a plot that doesn’t need to set up a superhero subplot. The superhero aesthetic and leading man magnetism allows interesting directors, like Verhoven, to use world class visuals to enhance the thinly veiled themes he wants to bring into his movies.
Total Recall is an absolute trip and a quick 2 hours that is easy to come back to time and time again. This story works best when Quaid is struggling to make his reality clear and at a certain point things come into place a little too easily. Regardless, the ride is quick, Arnie can hardly do any wrong on screen. And there is a three-boobed woman. How neat is that?
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (streaming on Amazon Prime)
There is a world where Close Encounters of the Third Kind could have been Steven Spielberg’s magnum opus if it weren’t for 40+ years of classic movies on a big scale. This film feels like his most personal because it had the same lofty ambition on a budget of around $20 million dollars, a lane that we were never able to see Spielberg return to, but a spot where he may be at his best.
All time directors like Spielberg make amazing art when they are in a bind. In this scenario the “bind” comes from a clear vision that is hampered by a smaller budget. Close Encounters uses a similar formula to the film before this, Jaws. Jaws kept our main focus, the shark, in the shadows for most of the movie to create horror and suspense. Whereas Close Encounters uses that same idea to create wonderment and mystery (and probably to stay within the budget). Our main character Roy Neary goes from his simple life to a constant meandering puzzle that somehow lost its last piece. He can’t get his mind off one mysterious night. That moment makes him fall into a deep obsession that is worsening his home life while potentially finding something amazing.
Close Encounters shows a modest budget movie from Steven Spielberg that would have probably failed financially if it weren’t for his all time box office success Jaws coming two years earlier. This more cerebral feel and slower pace is a side of Spielberg that he brings out once every 15 years. Possibly just to show he is capable to weave in and out of genres with the best of them. This film seems to be a random hole in a lot of movie fans' filmography and if that is the case for you I encourage you to take a risk with the slower ride that Spielberg takes us on.
Recent Release Mini-Reviews
Tenet (in theaters now)
Drew: After six months without movie theaters, I was starved for mass spectacle on the biggest screen possible, which made seeing Tenet in IMAX the ideal experience in which to return to the theater. No one makes movies today like Christopher Nolan, original stories depicted on a grand scale with audacious imagination. Tenet, his new high-stakes espionage action movie, is classic Nolan, which is an endorsement that will delight his fans and possibly frustrate others.
I’m squarely in the Nolan club, so I was captivated and arrested by his mind-altering take on a James Bond or Mission: Impossible movie. However, Tenet is difficult to follow at times, especially early on. The plot (which I won’t spoil here, mostly because I don’t think I could if I tried) is somewhat perplexing and the science fiction ideas at play are dense, even with charming Robert Pattinson explaining them to us. Some moviegoers enjoy piecing Nolan’s complex ideas together, and if that’s the case for you, Tenet is ideal because it demands repeated viewings.
While this Nolan effort may lack the kind of emotional throughline that can be found in Inception or Interstellar, that doesn’t mean the actors aren’t compelling. John David Washington delivers an athletic and poised performance in the lead role, while Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki portray elegant supporting characters.
Even if you do get lost in Nolan’s plot machinations, the inventive and gripping action set pieces will keep you locked in. Due to the nature of Tenet’s central idea of time inversion, there are several staggering, never-before-seen action scenes that boggle the mind. It might take a couple more viewings to decide if Tenet ranks among Nolan’s best, but I won’t ever be taking for granted the experience of seeing one of his creations on the big screen. - 4 / 5 Apples
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (streaming on Netflix)
Drew: This is an almost impossible film to review in a satisfactory way. Charlie Kaufman’s latest deep and dark mystery of the mind begins as a story about a woman meeting her boyfriend’s parents just as she is growing less certain about their relationship and gradually morphs into a different, much stranger movie. I’m Thinking of Ending Things is creepy, contemplative, and often confounding. While there are aspects to admire, such as the mesmerizing performances from Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, the film ends up in a hopelessly impenetrable place. - 3 / 5 Apples
Links
The sci-fi epic Dune just got its first trailer, and with its starry cast and spectacular visual effects, we have a new frontrunner for most anticipated upcoming movie.
Rebecca, a new adaptation of the classic gothic novel, has a trailer showing off the romantic intrigue with a cast that includes Armie Hammer, Lily James, and Kristin Scott Thomas. It will be hard to improve on Alfred Hitchcock’s Best Picture-winning 1940 version, but this looks interesting. You can find it on Netflix October 21st.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday that they have set inclusion requirements for the Oscars starting in 2024. See the new standards for diversity and representation in Hollywood here.