Happy Saturday from 30,000 Feet

Hello, friends! Summer officially starts now. Sure, we have blockbusters in theaters, and maybe you’ve already jumped in a pool or turned on the air conditioning. But we are finally going on vacation after a crazy couple of months, heading to Montreal and Boston, two of our favorite cities. Because I am me, I don’t know how to unplug fully, so you can expect newsletters from various locations, plus Alonso and I will do a review of “Deadpool & Wolverine” next Friday. That’s actually become a fun, annual tradition for us: My family and I always end up seeing some big summer movie during our time in Montreal, including “Dunkirk,” “Nope,” “Barbie,” and the French dubbed version of the 2016 “Ghostbusters,” by accident (which, in case you’re wondering, is called “SOS Fantômes”).

This week, we have plenty of new mindless escapism for you at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel. Hope you’ll subscribe if you haven’t already:

• TWISTERS. Is it a sequel? A remake? A reboot in cowboy boots? Sort of all of the above. This movie about Oklahoma tornado chasers is dumb, but perhaps not dumb enough. Still, as I’ve mentioned before, Glen Powell is a freaking movie star. In theaters.

• TWISTER (1996). We didn’t want to be totally lost watching the new version, so we went back to the original dopey tornado movie to make sure we were up to speed. This is a fun, muscular ‘90s action flick, with surprisingly effective special effects. Plus: It has an insanely deep bench of supporting actors to back up Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, including Cary Elwes, Todd Field, Lois Smith, Alan Ruck and a young Philip Seymour Hoffman. Streaming on Max and other places.

And speaking of “Twister,” my good friend Tim Grierson has a very entertaining interview with director Jan de Bont, who’s now 80 years old, over at RogerEbert.com. If you ever wanted to know more about the flying cow in that movie, here’s your chance.

• FAYE. This documentary explores the life and career of Faye Dunaway, the gorgeous and formidable figure of ‘70s cinema. She won a best-actress Oscar for “Network” and starred in other classics of the era including “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Chinatown.” Now at 83, Dunaway herself is surprisingly candid about her choices, mistakes and reputation, and shares that she has struggled with both bipolar disorder and alcoholism. Her openness is refreshing. Streaming on Max.

And as always, you can find all these reviews in podcast form here at Apple or wherever you download your favorite shows. Take us with you wherever you’re traveling this summer!

Here’s a movie you’re welcome to avoid: “My Spy The Eternal City,” which I reviewed for Ebert. It’s the sequel to the 2020 action comedy “My Spy,” which came out on streaming early in the pandemic, and while that movie wasn’t great, it provided a welcome distraction the whole family could enjoy. Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman still have decent chemistry, but this needless follow-up is a mess tonally, and it’s unclear who it’s intended for. It’s too silly for adults, yet too grown-up for kids. It’s in theaters, but there are way better choices available to you out there.

Over at our Patreon, we reviewed the 1973 thriller “Don’t Look Now” for July’s Off the Menu. We wanted to honor the late Donald Sutherland, who died recently at age 88, leaving behind decades of incredible work. It was hard to narrow down the movies we offered in this month’s poll, but Nicolas Roeg’s horror film, which neither of us had seen, ended up being the winner. Sutherland and a luminous Julie Christie star as a husband and wife living in Venice after the drowning death of their young daughter. Recurring motifs abound — reflections, water, the color red — and the non-linear editing structure would go on to be influential. Plus, “Don’t Look Now” features a sex scene that was notoriously racy for the times. It’s streaming in several places including Pluto TV and Prime.

We lost several icons recently, including Bob Newhart, Richard Simmons and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. There are many beautiful tributes out there to the enduring impact they had on the culture. I wanted to mention the passing of Kathy Willens, veteran Associated Press photographer, who died this week of ovarian cancer at 74. I didn’t know Kathy very well during my time at the AP, but I knew she was a serious, groundbreaking photojournalist and enormously respected among her peers over her 45 years with the news organization. Take a look through some of her work in this lengthy appreciation. It’s breathtaking and varied, but no matter the subject, she always captured an unmistakable human connection. This shot here, from the riot-torn streets of Miami in 1980, is the one I keep returning to for the emotions it evokes.

Kathy also covered sports for years before women were doing that sort of thing, and was famous for fighting for her spot to get the best shot. I’m always grateful to the fearless, female journalists who came before me.

I’m also grateful to you for sharing some of your time with me this week, especially if you’re also on the go. If you found value in this newsletter, I’d be honored if you’d pass it along to a friend. Have a great week, and I’ll see you from a different city next Saturday.