Daily Dirt: Holiday weekend would be a great time to see these great films

Daily Dirt for Saturday, July 2, 2022

Personally, it might be time to see “Top Gun: Maverick” again … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 327 of The Daily Dirt.

1. The best movies to watch on July 4:

• Gold medal: “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), the best feel-good-about-America movie made in quite some time. Ironically, Tom Cruise, in one of his finest performances ever, turns 63 on July 3. Happy birthday to both America and Mr. Cruise. 
• Silver medal: “Forrest Gump” (1994), an Academy Award Best Picture winner offers everything a viewer could possibly want on the Fourth of July — “generous helpings of kindness, guilelessness and boomer pop culture callbacks, with a dash of feel-good whimsy,” according to writer Chris Nashawaty.
• Bronze medal: “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989), a film has often been described as a reminder that sometimes disagreeing with your country can be the ultimate expression of patriotism. Cruise earned his first Oscar nomination for playing Ron Kovic, a real-life paralyzed Vietnam vet-turned-anti-war-protester.

2. On this holiday weekend, we offer another of our ongoing musical tributes, this one looking at the top 10 songs from July 4, 1976. That’s when we as a nation celebrated our bicentennial:

• 1. “Silly Love Songs,” by Paul McCartney and Wings: Pure drivel.
• 2. “Afternoon Delight,” by the Starland Vocal Band: Was an incredibly catchy song. Just stupid.
• 3. “Misty Blue,” by Dororthy Moore: A great, great soulful song by a very underrated talent.
• 4. “Sara Smile,” by Hall and Oates: Ugh.
• 5. “Shop Around,” by the Captain and Tennille: These two had some great offerings. This, however, was not one.
• 6. “More, More, More,” by Andrea True Connection: Of all the dance songs out at this time, this was the best.
• 7. “Get Up And Boogie,” by the Silver Connection: I always thought the Silver Connection and Andrea True Connection were the same bunch.
• 8. “I’ll Be Good To You,” by the Brothers Johnson: Another ugh.
• 9. “Kiss And Say Goodbye,” by the Manhattans: The absolute best song among these 10. Manhattans were another underrated group of this era.
• 10. “Love Is Alive,” by Gary Wright: “Dream Weaver” was his best song.

Songs that should have been in the top 10:

• No. 11 “Never Gonna Fall In love Again,” by Eric Carmen;
• No. 17. “The Boys Are Back In Town,” by Thin Lizzy;
• No. 23. “Takin’ It To The Streets,” by the Doobie Brothers;
• No. 30. “I’m Easy,” by Keith Carradine;
• No. 50. “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight,” by England Dan and John Ford Coley.

3. The most famous people born on July 4:

• George Steinbrenner: The Yankees of today owe a lot to The Boss, the man who revived the franchise back in the 1970s.
• Ann Landers: At one time, her advice column was syndicated in more than 1,000 newspapers. 
• Neil Simon: One of the greatest playwrights and screenwriters — ever.
• Calvin Coolidge: For you youngsters, he was one of our presidents. (And the only one born on July 4.)
• Geraldo Rivera: OK, I admit this might be a stretch.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Steve is dreaming of what the Little Woman will be cooking up for the family’s July 4 get-together.