If you suffer from the debilitating condition known as Ijustcantdecide, as I do, sometimes you need someone to do the digging for you and spit out a few curated suggestions for a good movie to watch. Paramount+ is not lacking for good movies, new and old, and this lineup for the work week for U.S. subscribers hits the nail right on the head.
This week offers up another nice random mix of fun, adrenaline, and fright, including the addition of an iconic fighter jet movie celebrating its anniversary this month, a terrifying jungle horror that will surprise you, a Jack Black classic full of power chords, and a critically acclaimed fantasy adventure.
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Top Gun
40 years later, Cruise is still master of the skies
Talk to me, Goose. If you missed the exclusive theatrical run of Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick that Paramount did last week in honor of the former’s big 40th anniversary, don’t worry—you can still catch them both streaming on Paramount+ to satiate your need, your need for speed.
While critics panned it when it came out in 1986, Top Gun propelled Tom Cruise to global stardom and became the year’s top-grossing movie. The high-flying action-adventure stars Cruise as hotshot fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, as he competes against elite pilots at the Fighter Weapons School known as Top Gun. Standing in his way is rival pilot Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), but after a training accident takes the life of Maverick’s copilot and best friend, Goose (Anthony Edwards), Pete has to dig deep to overcome the trauma to fly a real-life mission.
Beyond all that, Top Gun is full of groundbreaking aerial photography, features a smoking soundtrack of hits by Kenny Loggins and Berlin, and has the most iconic beach volleyball scene in all of film.
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Primate
A rabid chimpanzee wreaks havoc in this tense creature horror
OK, so you might need to take a big gulp of suspension of disbelief for this campy horror movie, but Primate ultimately delivers some genuine scares and a thrilling new take on over-the-top slasher movies. It starts pretty innocently enough—Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah), her sister Erin (Gia Hunter), and a group of Lucy’s college friends head to the sisters’ remote family mansion in Hawaii for some fun. There, we meet Ben, the family’s sweet and beloved pet Chimpanzee, who, unbeknownst to the girls, has been bitten by a rabid mongoose.
Quiz
Director match: Who made these movies?
Trivia challenge
Besson, Aronofsky, or Lanthimos — can you match these films to the visionary director behind them?
DirectorsFilmAuteursCinemaMatching
Which director made Poor Things (2023), the surreal Victorian fantasy starring Emma Stone?
Correct! Yorgos Lanthimos directed Poor Things, winning him the Golden Lion at Venice. It’s a typically absurdist, visually striking film that fits perfectly within his strange, formally precise body of work.
Not quite — Poor Things was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The Greek filmmaker reunited with Emma Stone after The Favourite, delivering another darkly comic, visually bizarre world that won the top prize at Venice in 2023.
Black Swan (2010), the psychological thriller about an obsessive ballerina, was directed by whom?
Correct! Darren Aronofsky directed Black Swan, earning Natalie Portman her Academy Award for Best Actress. The film is a hallmark of Aronofsky’s obsession with self-destruction and the psychological cost of perfectionism.
Not quite — Black Swan was directed by Darren Aronofsky. It shares thematic DNA with his earlier film Requiem for a Dream, exploring how the pursuit of perfection can unravel the mind entirely. Natalie Portman won the Oscar for her performance.
The Fifth Element (1997), the colorful sci-fi blockbuster starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich, was directed by whom?
Correct! Luc Besson directed The Fifth Element, which he had been developing conceptually since his teenage years. It remains one of the most visually inventive European sci-fi blockbusters ever made, blending operatic spectacle with pure pop-art energy.
Not quite — The Fifth Element was directed by Luc Besson. The French filmmaker poured years of personal world-building into the project, and Jean Paul Gaultier’s iconic costumes helped make it one of the most visually distinctive sci-fi films of the 1990s.
The Whale (2022), the intimate drama starring Brendan Fraser as a reclusive man with severe obesity, was directed by whom?
Correct! Darren Aronofsky directed The Whale, based on Samuel D. Hunter’s stage play. Brendan Fraser won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance — a remarkable comeback story that moved audiences worldwide.
Not quite — The Whale was directed by Darren Aronofsky. It’s a chamber piece set almost entirely in a single apartment, adapted from a stage play. Brendan Fraser’s Oscar-winning return to the spotlight became one of the most celebrated stories of the 2023 awards season.
The Favourite (2018), the darkly comic period drama set in the court of Queen Anne, was directed by whom?
Correct! Yorgos Lanthimos directed The Favourite, which earned ten Academy Award nominations. The film marked a shift toward working with larger casts and historical settings while keeping Lanthimos’s signature detached, darkly absurd sensibility fully intact.
Not quite — The Favourite was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz in a vicious power triangle, it became Lanthimos’s biggest awards success and introduced his unsettling worldview to a much wider audience.
Léon: The Professional (1994), the stylish thriller about a hitman who protects a young girl, was directed by whom?
Correct! Luc Besson directed Léon: The Professional, launching a young Natalie Portman’s career alongside Jean Reno. The film cemented Besson’s reputation for kinetic, stylized action with unexpectedly emotional undercurrents.
Not quite — Léon: The Professional was directed by Luc Besson. It was a major international hit that introduced both Jean Reno and a 12-year-old Natalie Portman to global audiences, and it remains one of Besson’s most beloved and debated films.
The Lobster (2015), the dystopian dark comedy in which single people must find a partner or be turned into an animal, was directed by whom?
Correct! Yorgos Lanthimos directed The Lobster, his English-language debut. It won the Jury Prize at Cannes and introduced mainstream international audiences to Lanthimos’s deadpan, rule-bound fictional worlds where social norms are taken to absurd extremes.
Not quite — The Lobster was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Starring Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, it was the Greek director’s English-language breakthrough and a perfect entry point into his work, in which bizarre societal rules are enforced with complete straight-faced sincerity.
Requiem for a Dream (2000), the harrowing portrait of addiction starring Ellen Burstyn and Jared Leto, was directed by whom?
Correct! Darren Aronofsky directed Requiem for a Dream, adapting Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel. Ellen Burstyn received an Academy Award nomination for her devastating performance, and the film’s relentless editing style — nicknamed ‘hip-hop montage’ — became hugely influential.
Not quite — Requiem for a Dream was directed by Darren Aronofsky. The film’s brutal depiction of addiction spiraling out of control shocked audiences and critics alike. Its rapid-fire editing technique and Clint Mansell’s iconic score have influenced countless films and trailers since.
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Not to draw too many Cujo comparisons, but you can guess where things start going with Primate, as the girls’ lazy pool party shifts to a fight for survival as the clever chimp (he unlocks doors, knows how to use car key FOBs) starts picking them off one by one. It’s a lean, 90-minute creature feature with some excellent practical gore and awesome white-knuckle tension. It’s got a reputable 78% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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School of Rock
Jack Black was made to play Dewey Finn
Long before writer-actor/producer Mike White was the prolific White Lotus Mike White, he wrote one of the best music comedies of all time, while also giving Jack Black the role that would launch him to the A-list—School of Rock‘s Dewey Finn. Written specifically for the brilliantly musical Tenacious D frontman (jeez, can you tell?), Dewey is a wannabe rock star who just can’t seem to make it. After getting kicked out of his latest band, and with his roommate/best friend, Ned Schneebly (White), threatening to kick him out of his apartment, Dewey poses as Ned and takes a job as a substitute teacher at an elite private school.
When he discovers that his class of fifth-graders is full of musical prodigies, he secretly turns the class into a “rock band” project—complete with a band, a hard-nosed manager, backup singers, and costume and lighting designers—to compete in a local battle of the bands. While sidestepping the straight-laced principal (Joan Cusack) and Ned and his girlfriend (Sarah Silverman), Dewey’s selfish goal turns into genuine (albeit hilariously unethical) caring for the kids. The Richard Linklater-directed film was the highest-grossing music-themed comedy of all time until 2015 (unseated by Pitch Perfect 2), and it also spawned a major stage musical. It’s Black at his finest, and still holds a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
A wild fantasy heist with unexpected heart
This 2023 action-fantasy-comedy movie from the writers of Game Night and Spider-Man: Homecoming had no business being as good as it is. But the 91% Certified Fresh film stunned critics and audiences with its winding storyline, clever and self-aware humor, impressive action sequences, and excellent performances from its ensemble cast.
Pulled from the world of the table-top role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves follows fast-talking Edgin Darvis (Chris Pine) and fierce barbarian Holga Kilgore (Fast & Furious‘s Michelle Rodriguez) as they bust out of prison and set out on several missions in this D&D campaign. First, they must save Edgin’s daughter, Kira (Chloe Coleman), who’s been lied to and taken in by sneaky thief Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant). They must then stop Forge and the evil Red Wizards from unleashing an unholy power on the world. To do all of this, they assemble a ragtag team, including a shaky wizard named Simon (Justice Smith), a shapeshifter named Doric (Sophia Lillis), and a smoldering warrior named Xenk (Bridgerton‘s dreamy Regé-Jean Page). It’s a breezy, big-hearted adventure that’s far more fun than it had any right to be.
A nice mix of weekly movies
While you wait for the next episode of Dutton Ranch this week, throw on one of these movie picks—they run the gamut of action, comedy, music, and even horror, to scratch whatever itch you have. If not, then check out our other streaming roundups for suggestions to get it just right.
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Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
