Film and TV Reviews

The latest cinematic reimagining of Tolkien’s universe suggests surprising depth, presenting high adventure with ideas of enduring import

Marc LiVecche and Ryan Bernacchi discuss “Top Gun: Maverick” in this wide-ranging talk about naval aviation, ethics, and the challenges of military command

Top Gun: Maverick reminds us that war continues to require physically and morally courageous human beings to fight them. Killer machines are not yet here.

Maverick is not just fun and thrilling and moving; it’s not just breathtaking cinematography; it’s not just a great story; it’s not just great story-telling. For those with ears to hear, Maverick offers a powerful and needed message—and hence, much more than the original.

The editors discuss Mark Tooley’s review of Top Gun: Maverick, Marc LiVecche’s article about the “vocation of arms,” and how Reinhold Niebuhr viewed the Truman Doctrine and church-state relations in Europe.

The Mosfilm war movies collection greatly enhances understanding of the political psychology of contemporary Russian external aggression, especially the otherwise almost inexplicable official framing of the Ukrainian invasion

The BBC should bring back the skepticism of pacifism that Doctor Who used to have.

Matrix Resurrections, and much of today’s heroic fiction, speaks to us of different loves, including the love between comrades fighting for what is right.

In this special Dark Ops episode of the podcast, Mark Melton and Marc LiVecche discuss the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life and the short story that inspired it, “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern. The film premiered in New York City 75 years ago on December 20, 1946.