Movies
Top Gun Maverick
This is a great movie, it is as simple as that. This was an amazing summer movie that you should have seen in theaters and if not, enjoy it with some surround sound.
Garrett
Books
Sandworm
This book provides a detailed and easily digestible to all who read it. Andy Greenberg does a fantastic job of bringing complex geopolitical, malicious code, and poor reactions to some of the largest cyber threats in the world.
Movies
Mad Max: Fury Road
I have never seen the Mel Gibson Mad Max films, I know the story thought, and I won't after this. It is a very stylistic driving movie that he some really cool action, but lacks in any real substance as far as the movie. I know that that last statement is a VERY hot take as this movie is beloved.
Books
Path of the Assassin
While this book is entertaining, some of the plot holes and plot points are highly predictable making this book a miss in an exceptional line up. However, this was the second book in the series and so learning does occur for the author making this an acceptable miss.
Movies
Fury
The acting in this movie is really just top notch with a star studded cast that is truly at their peak. I mean dark comedy, fear, love, and sacrifice are just the simplest actions that take place and these 5 people in a tank could show you it all.
Books
American Sherlock
A case defined history of Oscar Heinrich. Dawson writes very well. This is a great introduction into the early years of forensic science as well as the repercussions of shotty science that still affect cases today.
Movies
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
This movie tried so hard to pull in every recall from previous movies, with the exception of Crystal Skull, that they could. People, lines, and story are all the same. I am immensely surprised that Harrison Ford agreed to do this movie. It isn't anything different.
Books
Iron Flame
Yarrow once against tells a compelling story that is in need of some depth. The constant repetition from the previous book and ideas/lines from commercially successful movies makes this a parrot call to what it could have been.
Movies
Bullet Train
This is a non-marvel Deadpool without the crude language of Ryan Reynolds. The story is the character that you are working through and the characters are the scene. I know that sounds super pretentious, but the characters have no development and that isn't a bad thing.
Books
The Spy and the Traitor
Ben Macintyre's story of a Russian Spy is the a great culmination of different sources to tell a concise and interesting story. Providing pivotal perspectives from different source to tell a complete story with no fluff and no overt bias.
Movies
12 Strong
This move is part of the household's Memorial Month movie list. It is an important part of American history that hasn't been told until recently. After more than 2000 civilians died from an unprovoked attack, we needed to provide a show of force that we will not sit quietly.
Books
Fourth Wing
An interesting book that I enjoyed reading and was a nice change to the magic of dragons and how humans interact with them. The layers of character building and expectation does have a bit of "Girls rule the world" and the protagonist has a large case of Deus Ex Machina.