This week’s Nose is one hell of a steep climb outta there.

Top Gun: Maverick is a sequel 36 years in the making. It’s also the No. 1 movie of the year, both worldwide and domestically. It’s the highest-grossing film of Tom Cruise’s long career. And it’s the highest-grossing domestic release in the history of Paramount Pictures. Top Gun: Maverick starts its fourth month in theaters this weekend, and it’s now available for sale on digital platforms.

And: Val is a 2021 documentary written and photographed, from thousands of hours of videotapes and film reels documenting his life and career, by Val Kilmer, who plays Iceman in both Top Gun films. Val is, according to Kilmer in the movie, “A story about my life that is also not my life.”

Some other stuff that happened this week, give or take:

• Leon Vitali, ‘Barry Lyndon’ Actor and Personal Assistant to Stanley Kubrick, Dies at 74
• 101-best-movie-sequels-of-all-time.html">The 102 Best Movie Sequels of All Time Whether they come after, before, or between their predecessors, these films have their own indelible legacies.
• Thrones v. Rings: The Biggest Battle in TV History Is Here House of the Dragon [premiered] on HBO Max [last] weekend, The Rings of Power on Amazon two weeks later. The winner will set the course for fantasy—and streaming.
• The HGTV-ification of America You can’t escape gray floors.
• politics-tressie-mcillan-cottom-into-it.html">Yellowstonepolitics-tressie-mcillan-cottom-into-it.html">’s Brand of White Grievance Is Free-Range and Organic
• arts-pandemic-attendance.html">Live Performance Is Back. But Audiences Have Been Slow to Return. Attendance lagged in the comeback season, as the challenges posed by the coronavirus persisted. Presenters hope it was just a blip.
• Vince Gilligan Wants to Write a Good Guy After fourteen years of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” the showrunner talks about how TV has changed, the sins of auteur theory, and the appeal of an old-fashioned hero.
• Why Rick And Morty Creator Justin Roiland Likes Mocking Their Own Jokes Within The Show Itself
• Research says that your 40s are your unhappiest age. It’s worse for millennials I was already glum about soon turning 40. Then I learned that happiness is U-shaped — it bottoms out in your 40s, then starts to inch its way up again in your 50s
• I realised I would never be an actor — now I’m a big advocate of giving up on dreams To succeed you need self-belief and drive. But life forces us to give up all the time, and being able to let things go is also a skill
• holden-caulfield-from-the-catcher-in-the-rye-is-fine.html">You Know Holden Caulfield Isn’t Real, Right?
• The Commodore 64 at 40: back to the future of video games The bestselling computer made home gaming accessible for millions as it launched the industry toward the mainstream with classic titles such as Dropzone and The Sentinel
• An inside look at how the Girl Scouts chose their next cookie flavor, Raspberry Rally
• relaunch.html">MoviePass Is Relaunching Next Month After Failing in 2019 The company was driven out of business three years ago after offering customers a too-good-to-be-true subscription model.

GUESTS:

• James Hanley: Co-founder of Cinestudio at Trinity College
• Carolyn Paine: An actress, comedian, and dancer, and she is founder, director, and choreographer of CONNetic Dance
• Pedro Soto: President and CEO of Hygrade Precision Technologies

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Colin McEnroe and Catie Talarski contributed to this show.

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