Tom Cruise Flies Into the Danger Zone in Top Gun

Do you feel the need? The need for speed? My brother did after he watched Top Gun, the adrenaline-soaked 1986 movie about a cocky fighter pilot living in his father’s shadow. Like many others who watched those jets zoom past each other executing fancy maneuvers, he eventually joined the Navy, and while he didn’t end up becoming a pilot, this movie remains a favorite in my house.

It stars Tom Cruise as Maverick, a hotshot whose overconfidence is his biggest asset and liability. He’s a brilliant flyer, but he has a tendency to take unnecessary risks. As the movie begins, he and his best friend Goose (Anthony Edwards) have just enrolled in Top Gun, a program that trains the most accomplished pilots in the Navy. While the jovial Goose is generally well-liked, Maverick faces some hostility, especially from Val Kilmer’s Iceman, who sees his methods as dangerous.

For aviation enthusiasts like my dad and brother, much of the movie’s appeal is in the explosive firefights. While these are what make the movie so distinct, I find the spectacle a bit dizzying, and I prefer the human drama unfolding on the ground. In a classic scene that has rendered the Righteous Brothers’ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ taboo in most karaoke joints catering to Naval officers, Maverick meets Charlie (Kelly McGillis), a no-nonsense beauty he soon learns will be his flight instructor. Maverick may have the moves when it comes to MiGs, but can he win over this cool-headed teacher, especially when such a relationship would have to be clandestine?

This is the movie that brought us Take My Breath Away, the steamy song that seeps its way into the score at nearly every opportunity. I prefer the fist-pumping Danger Zone, though the former was the theme song for my senior prom. But when it comes to music, what I like best are the performances by Cruise and Edwards, which are more exuberant than melodious, aside from Edwards’ perfectly passable piano playing. While Maverick and Charlie heat up the screen, it’s his friendship with Goose that is the true heart of the movie. I also like Maverick’s relationship with the accomplished Viper (Tom Skerritt), who serves as a mentor both as a skilled pilot and a friend of his late, wrongly maligned father, and Meg Ryan turns in a sweet performance as Goose’s boisterous wife.

Whenever my dad watches Top Gun, he likes to point out inaccuracies like pilots taking off their masks mid-flight, which no doubt was done primarily so we could see their faces better. Certain aspects of the movie paint the Navy in a rather unflattering light, though that didn’t stop thousands of boys like my brother from feeling inspired to take to the skies after watching it. With the movie smack in the middle of the 1980s, some of the dialogue is a bit on the cheesy side, but that adds to the fun, as does a running joke involving an officer who really ought to know better than to accept a steaming cup of coffee when an irrepressible pilot is coming in for a landing nearby.

While Top Gun is not my favorite Tom Cruise movie – that honor goes to the underrated Far and Away – it did serve as my introduction to him, so it’s little wonder I tend to think of him as being pretty hot on himself. Of course, that demeanor does seem to permeate many of his roles, and like those others, Maverick can be pretty hard to take. All the same, I can’t help but root for him as he faces daunting challenges in the air and a painful maturation process on terra firma as he goes from a man whose “ego’s writing checks [his] body can’t cash” to a man truly ready to face the world.

Trixie Trades Knuffle for Knuffels in Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny Free

Prolific and much-lauded writer-illustrator Mo Willems has created several popular series, including the Pigeon books and the Elephant and Piggie books, but his Knuffle Bunny trilogy holds an unusual place in his canon because it is best read in order. Each book finds the main character, Trixie, at a different stage of her childhood, with her world expanding considerably each time. In the first book, she remains in her neighborhood and interacts only with her parents, and she takes her first plunge into comprehensible speech. In the second, she has mastered verbal communication and spends her days at preschool among other children her age, eventually making her first close friend outside the family. In the third book, she is a confident elementary school student off on an international voyage to see her grandparents. From a trip to the Laundromat to a trip to Holland, her adventures are steadily getting bigger.

Trixie remains just as attached to Knuffle Bunny, her dowdy stuffed rabbit, as she was in the first volume, so of course, she brings him along with her for the big trip, counting on having him to cuddle with during her very first airplane flight. Unfortunately, as anyone who has read the first two books knows, she’s not so skilled at hanging on to her treasured toy. On this occasion, she won’t be able to instantly retrieve him; she leaves him behind on the plane, and by the time she realizes what she’s done, the plane is gone, and Knuffle Bunny is off for a voyage around the world. Will she ever see him again? And how will she get along without him in the meantime?

Willems once remarked in an interview that the word Knuffle is an adaptation of Knuffel, the Dutch word for snuggle, so it seems quite fitting that the last book should find Trixie in Holland, snuggling with her Oma and Opa in her beloved bunny’s absence. Most of the book takes place there, which makes it educational for children as well as entertaining. As with the previous books, this is a mixed-media effort, with black-and-white photographs serving as backgrounds for colorful hand-drawn characters. Kids can wander the Dutch streets with Trixie as she eats at a café and poses in front of an authentic windmill, and they can gasp along with her at the garish pink Dutch-spouting robo-bunny her grandparents buy her in an effort to ease her malaise at losing Knuffle Bunny, seemingly for good this time.

Additionally, in a four-page fold-out spread, Willems offers a peek at some of the other places Knuffle Bunny might end up in his travels, showing him in eight very different locations. I wish that Willems had identified these places in a note in the back, but kids can still have fun trying to figure out what country they are seeing; it just might take a little more work for parents to confirm the accuracy of their guesses.

While all three books contain a mix of the humorous and the emotionally resonant, I would say that the first book is primarily funny, while the second is equally touching and comical. I would deem the third book the least funny of the three and the most poignant. We don’t know precisely how old Trixie is here; I would guess at least seven, and possibly as old as ten. She’s old enough to have a real awareness of how her life is changing, and that scares and saddens her. However, it also excited her, and by the end of the book, she has come to embrace the new possibilities that come with being a big kid.

Most of the pages in this book have a beige background, and while a few characters are drawn directly on the page, most are set within a photographic panel, with a majority of pages having between one and three. As always, Willems does a lot with a little. One of my favorite parts of this book is the series of panels in which Trixie, having realized that her bunny is gone, heads off to inform her father, who is busy enjoying a pleasant chat with his dad, a charming fellow with a thick gray beard, square spectacles and a bald head. In four pictures, we see him go from relaxed to on-edge to staring at Trixie to assuming a hopeless face-palm position. “Trixie didn’t tell her daddy that Knuffle Bunny was gone,” Willems writes. “She didn’t have to.” This is especially striking given that the central conflict of the first book hinges on Trixie’s inability to communicate with her dad and his obliviousness to the source of her distress. Just as Trixie is growing up, her dad is maturing as a father and learning to be more attuned to his daughter.

Like the first two books, Knuffle Bunny Free, a sweet, heart-tugging play on words, includes an epilogue, and this one drives home the fact that the Knuffle Bunny series will end with number three. I’ll admit I got a little teary as I read those last four pages, which are written directly to the real Trixie as Willems imagines what the next decade or two may hold in store for her. The book proper also ends with a letter, leaving the reader with a real sense of the power that words have to connect people. Perhaps children who read this may be inspired to begin correspondences of their own: with their grandparents, with each other, with distant pen pals they have yet to meet. They might even decide to write the author himself, which he encourages by posting his mailing address in the FAQ section of his website, www.mowillems.com.

The Knuffle Bunny trilogy is the continuing story of a pudgy plush rabbit that is always getting lost. It’s the story of two adults, especially one overwhelmed dad, learning how to be better parents. But mostly, it’s the story of Trixie, a girl who is gradually growing older and taller and wiser and kinder. The first two are pretty much unavoidable; the second two are just a shade easier to achieve when children read such edifying books as Mo Willems’ Knuffle Bunny series.

Tigger's New Toy Saves the Day in Winnie the Pooh and the Toy Airplane

The Hundred-Acre Wood is a very low-tech kind of place. To borrow from Bilbo Baggins, “life in the [Wood] goes on, very much as it has this past Age... full of its own comings and goings, with change coming slowly, if it comes at all.” So I was a bit surprised when I stumbled upon Winnie the Pooh and the Toy Airplane, a Golden book written by Joan Phillips and illustrated by Bill Langley and Russell Schroeder.

This book features just four characters: Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Roo. Considering Tigger’s general state of hyperness, it makes sense that he is the one with a fancy new toy to show off. It’s a rather handsome toy, and apparently it’s functional, though you sure wouldn’t know it to look at it. I could see how you might be able to toss it and possibly watch it soar for a while after being caught in a breeze, but there’s more to it than that. The thing actually flies. And when an especially small someone is in the pilot’s seat, steering is evidently a cinch.

So we have an airplane, which in and of itself seems rather out of place in such a low-tech landscape, and it’s apparently a very sophisticated piece of equipment. That makes for a rather odd premise. Meanwhile, Tigger and plane alike vanish from the story for a while, which seems a little strange. But this is what leads to Pooh, Piglet and Roo going pebble-hunting and Roo getting himself swept away by the creek, necessitating heroics after Tigger magically reappears to announce that the only way to save Roo is by flying over to him and picking him up, and the only one small enough to manage it is Piglet, who wants nothing to do with the plane. It would seem that the three who remain on the shore are not swimmers; that strikes me the more practical way to pull off a water rescue...

The writing style is extremely simple. A small circle in the corner identifies this as “A Golden Very Easy Reader,” and we’re definitely talking beginners here. Most of the sentences are quite short, and the same words come up multiple times throughout the book. Aside from the character names, we get five uses of the word “toy,” six uses of “look,” eight uses of “Oh, my” and thirteen uses of “fly” or “flying,” The repetition helps to make reading easier, though it may make the story a little dull for older readers.

Although it was published in 1990, the book has a rather flat look to it that makes it seem older. For the most part, there’s no shading to the characters, with only some shadows and color variation in the background, particularly on the grass. Still, the characters are faithful representations, and aside from the jarring blue plane, which could have used an extra detail or two - such as any indication of a steering mechanism - everything looks as it should for the Hundred-Acre Wood.

I still consider this easy reader, which I think I picked up at a yard sale, to be an oddity, and I certainly wouldn’t list it among my favorite Pooh books. But the camaraderie among the four pals is enjoyable, as is Piglet’s show of bravery, reluctant as it may be. While I probably wouldn’t specifically seek it out, if you come across it randomly as I did, Winnie the Pooh and the Toy Airplane is worth a look.

John Denver Flies High in Higher Ground

When it comes to individual singers, I don’t think there’s anybody who holds a more exalted place in my musical hierarchy than John Denver. So when I was browsing around YouTube the other day looking for a recording of Alaska and Me, I was startled to come across a version of the song from a movie I never knew existed. The title: Higher Ground, which is also the title of my favorite John Denver album, the album on which Alaska and Me is found. I didn’t care what the movie was about; I immediately put it in my Netflix queue.

I figured, though, that there would be an inspirational bent to it. After all, this was John Denver, and the movie shares its name with a song whose chorus is “Maybe it’s just the dream in me, maybe it’s just my style, maybe it’s just the freedom that I’ve found, but given the possibility of living up to the dream in me, you know that I’ll be reachin’ for higher ground.” It looks as though the song may have been written specifically for the movie; certainly it’s integrated into the score to an almost excessive extent, with the keyboard picking up the theme with various emotional shadings at key moments in the movie.

Knowing that at least one other song from the album was featured in the movie, I had hopes that it might be a showcase for several of the tracks, but Alaska and Me and Higher Ground are the only songs included, with the exception of a song at a sing-along whose words I can’t make out. If it’s a John Denver song, it’s one I’ve never heard before. Granted, looking over the songs on the album, several of them seem completely inappropriate, particularly Sing Australia and Country Girl in Paris. But there are a couple of scenes in which All This Joy would have fit in very nicely, and there could have been a place for For You or Never a Doubt.

Music isn’t a huge part of this movie, though. Denver’s character is Jim Clayton, an FBI agent in Los Angeles who becomes disillusioned with his job after his boss makes a choice that costs someone his life. He decides to take his buddy Rick up on his offer to come to Alaska and fly for his struggling airline, which primarily shuttles fishing supplies. Rick is played by Martin Kove, previously known to me only as El Creepo Supremo John Kreese in the Karate Kid movies. I recognized him immediately and was curious to see him in this much more sympathetic role. While Rick is a bit of a hothead, he’s indisputably a good guy, and I especially like the camaraderie between him and Jim.

Rick is a husband and a father. His wife Ginny (Meg Wittner) ends up having a larger role than he does, as does his son Tommy, played by Brandon Marsh, whose single acting credit is for this movie. That doesn’t surprise me, since I found his performance very over-the-top and borderline abrasive. On the whole, though, I was fine with the acting, especially by Richard Masur, who is nicely understated as villainous booze runner McClain, and John Rhys-Davies, whose Lieutenant Smight is a robust Scotsman determined to see justice served.

This movie was written by Michael Eric Stein, directed by Robert Day and produced in part by John Denver. It feels like a pet project for him, and I can’t help thinking he had input into the general direction of the screenplay. For his fans, that’s pretty good news, though there’s something very unsettling now about seeing scene after scene of John Denver flying a small airplane over a large expanse of water. The scenery is gorgeous, however, and the emphasis on nature, clean living and diplomacy all seem right in line with the messages he presented through his music. Some of the dialogue is a little cheesy, especially Jim’s habit of calling everybody he meets “pal,” but that’s about what I would expect from a made-for-TV flick.

Yes, this movie was aired on television and then largely forgotten. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece. But for a lifelong John Denver fan, it is a hidden treasure. If you count yourself in that category and are just as unaware of this film as I was, do yourself a favor and reach for Higher Ground.

My Top Ten Movies of the Early '80s ('80-'84)

I like to poke fun at the music of the '80s, but movies are an entirely different matter.  I was a little too young to enjoy these movies when they first came out, but in the decade or so that followed, they became firm favorites that have lasted to this day.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) / Return of the Jedi (1983) - What would an '80s list be without Star Wars? The second installment traumatized me, but it also introduced Yoda, who I adore and includes the delightful insult, "You stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder!" Most fans seem to list it as their favorite of the series, and it was even referenced in a recent episode of LOST. My favorite, though, is the concluding chapter of the trilogy, with its powerful themes of family and redemption. And what can I say... I'm a fan of the Ewoks!

The Blues Brothers (1980) - Saturday Night Live can be pretty stupid, but this movie based on characters from the long-running sketch show is one of my favorite comedies. Yes, a lot of cars wind up totaled, but there's also a slew of cameos from the likes of Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and some terrific performances, my favorite of which is the impromptu rendition of the Rawhide theme song. And the madcap adventure has a worthy purpose, as Jake and Elwood are "on a mission from God" to raise money to save the orphanage where they grew up.

Airplane! (1980) - More one-liners and bad puns than you can shake a stick at, and the visual gags are just as rampant. This is one of the silliest movies I have ever seen, but I love it. Some of the jokes are a little off-color, but most of it is just plain goofy, and no matter how repetitive it gets, I laugh every time. Leslie Nielsen and Peter Graves are particularly funny.

The Great Muppet Caper (1981) / The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) - Both of these original Muppet movies are lots of fun. I'm especially partial to the first, which features a jewel heist and some very funny performances from Charles Grodin and John Cleese, but the second is terrific as well and is more in keeping with the established Muppet personalities, since Kermit and the gang are performers rather than reporters. There's also that fun sequence imagining the Muppets as babies, a precursor to the popular cartoon.

Superman II (1981) - I love Superman, and I'm particularly a fan of this movie, in which the world is threatened by the sinister Zod, who has arrived with two cronies ready to do some serious damage. Christopher Reeve is terrific as both bumbling Clark and impenetrable Superman, and his rescue of a child who takes a tumble at Niagara Falls is one of my all-time favorite superhero moments.

Annie (1982) - Don'tcha just love tomorrow? This optimistic musical is fun and cheerful, with the title character's spirit uplifting just about everyone she touches, all the way up to the President of the United States. A great rags-to-riches story with terrific songs and the hilarious performance by Carol Burnett as the tipsy, diabolical Miss Hannigan.

The Dark Crystal (1982) - One of Jim Henson's darkest projects, this film depicts a beautifully imagined world ruled by opposing entities. It's a haunting fable all about sacrifice and balance, with gorgeous creatures and landscapes and occasional touches of humor, most courtesy of the gruff Aughra and the Ewok-like pod people.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) - This pensive film is basically tied with the fourth as my favorite Trek movie. It finds Kirk contemplating middle age while confronting two people he thought were out of his life forever and adjusting to his unexpected role of father. Ricardo Mantalban is deliciously over-the-top as the vengeful Khan, Scotty shows his emotional side after his beloved nephew joins the crew and Spock and Kirk share the most powerful moment in the entire series.

A Christmas Story (1983) / Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) / A Christmas Carol (1984) - It was a great couple of years for Christmas movies. The first is the funniest, a cult classic that is nostalgic but snarky and is my brother's all-time-favorite Christmas flick. The second is the most kid-friendly, an adaptation of Dickens' classic tale that clocks in at under 30 minutes, casting Mickey as hard-working Bob, Donald as exuberant Fred and, naturally, Scottish miser Scrooge McDuck as old Ebenezer. The third, starring George C. Scott, is my favorite straightforward adaptation of the story. It's much more detailed than the Disney version or even the Muppet version, which is my all-time favorite. Scott is magnificent as Scrooge, and David Warner is truly moving as the best Bob Cratchit I've ever seen.

The Karate Kid (1984) - While the second installment in the trilogy is my favorite, I love the first movie too, and it includes most of the truly classic Karate Kid moments, from "Wax on, wax off" to catching the fly with the chopsticks. While it's exciting to see Daniel transform from a hot-headed fish out of water into a karate champion, it's his relationship with the wise Mr. Miyagi that really makes the movie so much fun to watch. 

A List of Spoofs for a Variety of Tastes

Who doesn't love a good spoof? There are some great flicks out there that poke fun -- gently and not so gently -- at genres or particular shows/movies that we have grown to love. I'm sure that once I complete this list of favorites, I'll think of something that I should have included, but nonetheless I'm going to go ahead and give the list a shot.
Here goes!

The Princess Bride: Positively hilarious, this is a riotous ride through fantasy lands complete with romance, adventure, fencing, pirates, Rodents of Unusual Size, a rhyming giant, a torture chamber, a six-fingered man, a batty miracle man, a priest who sounds like Elmer Fudd... Well, you get the picture. This is one bedtime story you'll never forget!

Young Frankenstein: I don't care if it's in black and white. This Mel Brooks monster movie doesn't need color to tickle the funnybone. When the famed scientist's nephew inherits his castle, he isn't too interested in following in his uncle's footsteps. But his creative instinct soon takes hold, and his attempt to form his own perfect being goes awry when Igor brings him an abnormal brain...

Airplane: It doesn't get much funnier than this. This movie is so stupid it's hilarious. It's got more one-liners and sight gags than you can shake a stick at. "Surely you can't be serious!" "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley." A plane's passengers and pilot go down with food poisoning, and it's up to a conflicted fighter pilot to save the day. Can he do it? You may be too busy laughing to notice!

Airplane 2: Not quite as good as the first, but pretty darn close. It's got all the same types of gags, and once again the fate of hundreds of passengers depends on our hero Striker. This time, however, it's a space ship, and it's got a bomb on it. Extra bonus: William Shatner.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: This naughty spoof of the Arthurian epic is both witty and absurd. A troop of Brits tramping across the countryside in search of the Holy Grail, riding invisible horses whose hoof-steps are simulated by coconuts. Kinda falls apart at the end, but there are plenty of laughs beforehand to make up for it.

Galaxy Quest: A must for Trekkies. This movie places the crew of a syndicated sci-fi hit which bears a suspicious resemblance to Star Trek on an actual space vessel to help a batch of adoring alien fans beat an evil enemy. Tim Allen plays the Captain Kirk-like figure, and he is the most clueless of all when it comes to actually filling his character's shoes. Most fully appreciated by Trekkies, the movie reaches its climax with a band of nerdy groupies who must come to the crew's rescue.

Space Balls: Space is a popular setting for spoofs, and this film, whose storyline focuses mainly on Star Wars, considers most sci-fi fair game. Mixed in with the tale of the valiant hero who must use the Schwartz to defeat the ridiculous villain Lord Helmet and rescue his princess are references to such shows and movies as Star Trek, Aliens and Planet of the Apes.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery: All right, I'll include it. This James Bond spoof features a British special agent from the sixties with bad teeth, an extra supply of mojo, and clothes that would make Elton John cringe. He's got his moments, but the star of this spoof, in my opinion, is Dr. Evil, the much maligned villain who Austin was thawed out to defeat. It's hard to feel too intimidated by this guy, but it sure is easy to laugh at him.

And finally, here's two especially for the kiddies.

Muppet Treasure Island: The remake of the Stevenson classic by Henson's famous crew of muppets. A crew consisting of the scurviest bunch of scallawags ever to be crafted, an island populated by a tribe of savage hogs (including a certain female pig with whom we are all familiar), and of course some rousing Muppet songs...It's a hilarious high-seas adventure your kids will love.

Veggie Tales: Are You My Neighbor?: Just had to include this. It's got not one but two spoofs on it. The first is a rendition of the Good Samaritan told in the style of Dr. Seuss and set against a Seussian background. Second is an adventure which takes Junior Asparagus, Bob and Larry onto the U.S.S. Applepies to help Scooter avoid having the ship hit by a giant popcornball meteor. Yes, these are very gentle spoofs, but they're great nonetheless. You may well even catch yourself giggling.

Well, I won't say this is a definitive list of the ten best spoofs, but they're all pretty good and certainly funny.