Sure-Fire Streaming: Bill & Ted Face The Music, Country Comfort, Top Gun, and more!
By Jordan Parker
https://parkerandpictures.wordpress.com/
Bill & Ted Face The Music – Available On Netflix
Anyone who shared a love of the original, hilarious Bill & Ted movies will find the new version to be a beautiful, righteous nostalgia trip.
It follows the best friends and bandmates who, even in their 40s, still aren’t ready to give up on their dreams.
When the universe calls on them again to save the universe with another hit song, they have to put their skills – and their friendship – to the test.
The best part of the film is that Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter fit right back into their early career roles, but this time they have incredible company.
With Kristen Schaal, Jillian Bell, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine and the return of William Sadler, they celebrate what made people love the original will being adaptable enough to let a new generation in on the joke.
Country Comfort – Available On Netflix
This extreme slice of cheese from Netflix is definitely pure schmaltz, and yet I couldn’t stop laughing.
It’s like Full House with a wonderful country twang, and I loved absolutely every second.
It follows an aspiring country singer who accidentally falls into a job as nanny for five kids who recently lost their mother.
But of course, she ends up learning just as much from them as they do from her in this sweet-as-pie show.
Starring Eddie Cibrian, Katherine MacPhee and a fantastic ensemble cast of young stars, this is an absolute joy.
Top Gun – Available On Prime Video
If you don’t like Top Gun, we can’t be friends. If you haven’t seen it, there’s hope for you yet. Just follow my recommendation!
At the height of Tom Cruise’s incredible fame, he played a pilot with something to prove in this cheesy 80’s tilt.
He’s part of a class at the U.S. Navy fighter pilot school, and he learns more from his professor than he ever expected.
Directed by the late, high-octane auteur Tony Scott, it’s constantly interesting, involving, and funny – even if sometimes unintentionally.
The special effects and music are unforgettable, and Cruise, Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer really own this one.
Green Book – Available On Netflix
One of the most controversial Best Picture winners in recent memory, Green Book is a great film about race, but it just doesn’t explore it to the depths we need right now.
That said, it is one heck of a performance piece for its two stars, and it’s an incredible true story.
It follows a working-class Italian bouncer who’s given the plum assignment of chauffeuring a revered musician to gigs across the country.
The only problem is his passenger is an African-American man in the 1960s American South. Our protagonist, initially intolerant – and racist – soon becomes friends with his passenger.
Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali are fantastic here playing real-life people who remain friends to this day.
It’s an interesting, involving tearjerker, and despite its flaws, I think it’s worth a look.
Ammonite – Available On Prime Video
An overlooked film this year came from writer-director Francis Lee, who made a splash with his LGBTQ+ debut God’s Own Country a few years back.
He keeps thematically close with this story set in 1840’s England about two women who fall in love during a tumultuous time.
Fossil hunter Mary meets and cares for a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea. As Mary and Charlotte fall for each other, they don’t know their lives will be changed forever.
Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan are both sublime here, but Winslet really takes the cake.
It’s a beautiful, difficult romance that will no doubt bring you to tears.
PHOTO: Jordan Parker