F1 Is Vroom Vroom! 🏎️
And Zendaya is Meechee! Also, Project Hail Mary is here, kinda.
Ahoy movie mates - Tell me if this has happened to you. I’m watching a movie–in this case, Martin Scorsese’s 1985 cult classic After Hours–and an actor walks on the screen. That actor, is John Heard. You know, the guy in Big who gets mad playing racquetball against Tom Hanks’ Josh Baskin, who is a child in an adult’s body doing a lot of adult stuff in an absurd Manhattan loft. Where was I? Oh right. Then later, another face comes on screen, this time Catherine O’Hara, who I always enjoy seeing, but this time she’s a young, deranged, but also kinda hot Mister Softee driver. And then, for one brief second, these two people are onscreen together, and my brain sort of hiccuped when I realized, “Those are the parents from Home Alone AND the movie I’m currently watching is all about being lost in New York…” This realization sent me into such a state of 🤔 that by the time I shook myself out of it, I realized I’d missed more than five minutes of the movie and had to go back. Anyway, the point is I really like when actors who are both famous for playing a specific role appear in another movie together either before and after said-roles. I also like thinking that After Hours could be a prequel to Home Alone. Crazier things have happened in that franchise, after all.
PS - I am still running the NYC Marathon this year and could really use your help with the necessary $3,000 for charity that I need to fundraise in order to do so (we’re almost half way there!). I’ll make you all a deal: from here on out, if you donate $50 or more, I’ll let you choose a movie I haven’t seen to review in one of these newsletters. Think about it, won’t you? Then donate here when you’re ready.
Cheers, MB
In this week’s issue:
🚀 My most anticipated film of next year has a trailer
🏎️ The dumb exhilaration of F1: The Movie
🏁 Five other fun flicks where dudes go fast
🫨 The first film I ever reviewed, so much more
The Weekend Take: July 4-6💰
I really only have one thing to say, and that one thing is, “Holy sh*t do people love dinosaurs.” $148 million in the U.S. in its opening weekend, $318 million globally. It doesn’t matter if this film is any good or not (the reviews have been… mixed), it’s probably going to end up as one of the five biggest movies of the year. With two Oscar winners in the leading roles, and two more in charge of the cinematography and score, not to mention arguably the best visual effects artist on Earth as the director, there’s something for a lot of people here. If anyone out here has seen it, please let me know how it was.
But First, the News 🗞️
• Sorry, looks like it’s gonna be a minute until we get Meryl Streep as Jesus Aslan. Greta Gerwig, who unfortunately is looking more and more likely to be tied up in big franchise filmmaking for the next decade (“unfortunately” because it would be cool if she did something else, but also get that paper, Greta!), is experiencing more delays with her upcoming first Narnia film for Netflix. After originally being slated to film this summer, The Magician’s Nephew (aka the first book in the Narnia series from C.S. Lewis) is being pushed back to the fall at the earliest.
• Guard your loins, Amanda Priestly hath returned. That’s right, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are all back. Notably absent is Adrian Grenier, couldn’t tell you why. Also, Kenneth Branagh has joined the fold. Also also, very interesting that this movie started filming the SAME week that Anna Wintour announced that she was stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of Vogue. Coincidence? We’ll never know. Triple also, two Meryl Streep references in a newsletter about a car-racing movie? Way to go, me.
• Guard your… valuable antiquities? Indiana Jones is also coming back. Not tomorrow, not next year, and probably not with Harrison Ford (or Shia LaBeouf for that matter), but Disney is bringing everyone’s favorite handsome archeologist back to the screen sometime soon-ish. No word yet if Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be involved either (Remember when she was going to take on the lasso after the last movie? Remember when PWB… made stuff? You also keep gettin’ those (Amazon) checks, you legend).
• Speaking of sequels involving aging leading men, F1: 2 is also happening. Brad Pitt’s vroom-vroomie has already made close to $300 million worldwide, which was enough for Tim Apple to green-light a chapter two. Also, Pitt–who is on a rather, let’s say… calculated press tour at the moment–apparently loves Maestro, which is not remotely surprising for some reason.
• And lastly, three truly awesome looking movies have just released their first trailers. First up, my most anticipated film of 2026 (sorry, Homer and Christopher Nolan), Project Hail Mary. I truly don’t even have the words, thumbs up indeed. Gosling is so (probably) back. Then, Glen Powell and Edgar Wright just dropped their first look at The Running Man, which looks absolutely unhinged, but in a very fun way. And then to completely change gears, Joachim Trier’s new movie Sentimental Value, which is the follow up to his awesome 2021 film The Worst Person in the World. Expect this one to get a lot of Oscar buzz for its director and two stars, Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård.
A Way-Too-Short Review: F1® The Movie
Let me ask you something. OK, let me ask you a few things:
1 - Do you like cars that go fast?
2 - Do you like movie stars?
3 - Do you like watching movie stars go fast?
4 - Did you enjoy the film, Top Gun: Maverick?
5 - Do you prefer movies that feature Javier Bardem and/or Kerry Condon?
If you answered “yes” to most of these, but especially the last two, then I think you’ll have a great time at F1 ® The Movie. This new racing film from Joseph Kosinski–who previously made the aforementioned Top Gun: Maverick, along with Tron: Legacy, which actually kind of rocks, and is now right up there with Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve in terms of event movie pedigree–and Tim Apple and co. is extremely entertaining. The racing scenes are amazing and were filmed at actual F1 races with real F1 drivers over the course of three F1 years. The supporting characters, especially Bardem and Condon, both of whom are truly just loving life and clearly enjoying being part of this massive brand activation without having to shoulder the entire film’s burden, are terrific. I too liked Damson Idris, who plays the upstart young driver paired against our elder protagonist, and I think he has a bright future (checks IMDB - Looks like he’s next in… Oh, just a movie about young Miles Davis falling in love in Paris. Very in on that).
However, it really is that elder protagonist who is the one holding this movie back at various point, even though F1 ® The Movie only got made because of his involvement. Yes, I am now going to talk about 61-year-old Brad Pitt.
It’s not that Pitt is bad in the movie exactly. Quite the opposite, in any scene involving him driving a car, or going on a jog, or flicking cards, or indulging in his eccentricities, or doing weird neck-focused planks in the middle of the night, he’s incredible to watch. It’s when he opens his mouth and engages with everyone else where something just doesn’t feel quite right. Reportedly, Pitt tried to minimize his character’s dialogue and seemed a bit adrift on set when he wasn’t driving, which if you have seen this movie is very clear. The four other key actors he engages with (Bardem, Condon, Idris, and Tobias Menzies, who is just chewing up all the scenery as part of a long afternoon lunch) all bring such energy and enthusiasm to each moment they’re on screen, but much like his aged race-car driver character Sonny Hayes, Pitt seems completely uninterested in connecting with people or creating any kind of chemistry. He’d rather everyone just shut up and let him drive.
While that might sound harsh, it also doesn’t really matter. Similar to how Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly’s complete lack of heat or Cruise and Miles Teller’s barely-constructed dynamic in Top Gun: Maverick drift away the second something absolutely awesome happens in a fighter jet, the moment after Pitt utters another half-assed bit of wisdom, flirtation, or hubris in the direction of one of the other much more engaged performers in F1 ® The Movie, someone gets in a car, hits the gas, and just like the cars themselves, your heart just goes vroom-f*cking-vroom. And while it would be nice to see Pitt connect with someone on screen the way he once did with Clooney or Leo or Edward Norton for that matter, F1 ® The Movie is still the most fun you can have at the movies this week (and maybe all summer).
The TL;DR
Rating: 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
What is F1® The Movie? On the one hand, a 156-minute F1 (and Expensify (and weirdly Tommy Hilfiger?)) ad. On the other, a 156-minute rollercoaster with incredible highs and pretty meh lows.
Should you make time for this movie? Yes, it’s very fun and it’s an incredible in-theater movie experience, especially in IMAX and double especially in Dolby Digital surround sound that makes you feel like you are in the f*cking car.
Will it win any Oscars? I would say no, but Javier Bardem deserves something for having such a god damn good time throughout the movie.
What will you remember most from this film? For some, Brad Pitt’s clothes and accessories. For others, the… choices he makes as an actor throughout. And for the rest of us, vroom-freakin-vroom!
Five Great Movies About Cars Going Fast 🚘
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
I know what you’re thinking and you’re right: this movie is silly as f*ck. But if you look beyond just the comedy of it all, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is a fantastic time capsule and commentary on George W. Bush’s America, populated by an incredible cast of actors in John C. Riley, Michael Clarke Duncan, Sacha Baron Cohen, and a variety of people who don’t use their middle names or initials in their credits (see: Jane Lynch, Leslie Bibb, and Amy Adams (what?)), all of whom rotate around the nuclear sun that was Will Ferrell in 2006. This movie is so dumb and funny and dumb funny, and simply just weird in the best way possible. Also, it both celebrates and absolutely dissects NASCAR as a sport and culture. Shake and f*cking bake!
Logan Lucky (2017)
Somewhat similar to Talladega Nights, Logan Lucky is a NASCAR-ish movie that captures an incredible moment in time with an absolutely lights-out cast, including Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Katie Holmes, Riley Keough, a very early appearance from Jack Quaid as a character named “Fish Bang,” and most interestingly Daniel Craig in his first post-James Bond role pre-Knives Out (OK, No Time to Die ended up happening after this, but the less said about that the better). And to say this was Craig trying to get away from 007 would be putting it… kindly (Exhibit: A). On top of all of this was director Steven Soderbergh’s attempt to upend the film marketing industry by using extremely targeted (and micro-budgeted) promo efforts to zero in on the exact demos of people he thought would respond to a NASCAR heist movie starring three beefcakes. It did not go well. As a result, this movie has sort of been lost to time, but it is very funny (especially Driver as a one-armed vet and bar tender (and Craig as a bank robber named “Joe Bang”)) and I think you’ll like it.
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Fun fact: Joseph Kosinski, director of F1: The Movie, was originally supposed to direct this movie, then called Drive Like Hell, before it was simplified to an easier-to-sell Ford v Ferrari, with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. That would’ve been f*cking wild. Instead, we got Matt Damon and Christian Bale, both of whom are much better actors than Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, but not as big of movie stars, directed by James Mangold, who is a very good director, but maybe lacks the explosive energy of Kosinski. Also, Tracy Letts doing Tracy Letts things. If you want a movie where you can feel the cars shifting and get a whiff of gasoline throughout, this is a great choice, and it also stands as a reminder of just how chameleonic Bale is, and how captivating he can be when given restrictions of how fast he’s allowed to go, even if that doesn’t include the car he’s driving.
Ferrari (2023)
No Ford in this one, folks! Let’s just get this out of the way: Yes, some of the CGI in this film from Michael Mann is absolutely atrocious. Also, Adam Driver should consider some roles that aren’t enigmatic Italian businessmen (just a thought). Also also, Shailene Woodley’s Italian accent is tough, especially when matched up against Penélope Cruz acting her absolutely perfect ass off (how she wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for this, I do not know). OK, now that we’re past all of that – holy sh*t, what a fantastic movie about cars and dads and beautiful things. The vehicles in this film are works of art, and while my eyes rolled faster than the racing wheels at certain points – most of which involved the absurd melodrama between old man Adamo and his wife vs. mistress dilemma – the racing scenes more than make up for it.
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Corona, familia, and living your life a quarter-mile at a time, what else do you need? I know this franchise has turned into a corrupt/mutant version of its former self (See: literally this one scene says it all), however, there was a time when these movies were fun and actually kind of cool, none more so than the film that started them all. Paul Walker? A dumb, but fun leading man. Jordana Brewster? Yes. Ja Rule being both funny and one of the dumbest people on Earth for quitting the franchise after being in one scene in the first movie because he wanted more money. His replacement, who, as I mentioned before, literally drove to space, continues to be thrilled to be here. We laugh, don’t we? Oh, also Vin Diesel is in this film. He’d probably be upset if I forgot to mention him.
What the F*ck Is This Movie? 🏁
Speed Racer (2008)
I have three things to say about 2008’s Speed Racer:
1. It was the first movie I ever reviewed, for a digital zine of sorts during my sophomore year of college, and sadly (but probably for the best) that review no longer exists.
2. Dondé es Emile Hirsch? Who did he piss off? What crimes has he committed? Other than randomly being in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood…, what has become of the dude that was about to be “him”?
3. This movie absolutely f*cking rocks:
Born into a family business of race cars, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is one of the track's hot stars. Sitting at the wheel of his Mach 5, he consistently deflates the competition. When Speed turns down an offer from the head of Royalton Industries, he uncovers a secret. Powerful moguls fix the races to boost profits. Hoping to beat the executive, Speed enters the same arduous cross-country race that killed his brother.
No further comment. OK, one further comment. Fin.
Seen anything good lately (other than Speed Racer)? What did you think of F1: The Movie? Did I miss any films with the word “Ferrari” in the title? Let me know by responding to this email.