avatarEric Pierce

Summary

The undefined website features a review of "Top Gun: Maverick," the announcement of the Thunderdome series' return, and the introduction of Fanfare columnists, along with the publication's statistics.

Abstract

The website content includes a personal take on "Top Gun: Maverick," praising its aerial scenes and the return of the original cast, while also humorously lamenting the lack of resolution for some quirky characters from the first film. The article transitions into promoting the revival of the Thunderdome series, a pop culture debate platform for Fanfare writers, with upcoming topics scheduled for July. Additionally, the publication is launching a columnist program to highlight regular contributors and their unique perspectives, offering them increased visibility and engagement within the Fanfare community. The website concludes with recent statistics showcasing the publication's reach and engagement over the past 30 days.

Opinions

  • The author finds "Top Gun: Maverick" to be a superior version of the original, particularly valuing the aerial cinematography and the presence of the original cast.
  • There is a nostalgic appreciation for the original "Top Gun" film, especially for its swearing and the character of Stinger.
  • The Thunderdome series is presented as an exciting opportunity for Fanfare writers to engage in pop culture debates, with the audience having the final say through voting.
  • The introduction of Fanfare columnists is seen as a way to recognize and promote consistent and engaging writers within the community.
  • The author emphasizes the importance of great writing and fresh perspectives, suggesting that these are key criteria for selecting columnists.
  • The website's owner values long-term commitment and regular engagement with the publication's content, indicating a preference for writers who are invested in the Fanfare community.

Fanfare Newsletter

Top Gun: Maverick Could’ve Used More Rubber Dog Shit

The Broadcast for June 25, 2022

Paramount Pictures

So I finally saw Maverick: Top Gun. I generally don’t write traditional reviews — for those, you should be following Simon Dillon’s excellent Simon Dillon Cinema, seriously — and anyway, pretty much everything that could be said about the film has already been said. But since I brought it up, I guess I’ll give my opinion.

Maverick: Top Gun is a shinier, better version of the original. The aerial scenes alone are worth seeing in the theater. Everything else is mostly meh, much like the first film. I prefer the old cast to the fresh new faces and wish they’d reprised their roles, if only to answer some important questions.

  • Is Slider still dealing with aggressive body odor?
  • Does Wolfman still get unfortunately-timed hard ons?
  • Who’s flying rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong these days?

To that last point — I first saw Top Gun when I was maybe 10 or something, and I thought it was pretty much the greatest thing I had ever seen. Yeah, the film was exciting and the music was great, but the swearing! Oh, it was excellent.

I watched it on repeat until I had it memorized. James Tolkan’s Stinger — Captain? Admiral? Nope, just Stinger; what a Bad Ass — was probably my favorite character. His quotable-lines to screen-time ratio must be one of the highest in popular cinema.

Paramount Pictures

Anyway, Dad was less than pleased when he caught me telling my younger brother, “and you asshole, you’re lucky to be here”.

Pub Stuff

Shhh. Do you hear that? It sounds like drums…

It sounds like thunder.

I love this song. ATCO

Thunderdome Returns

We are bringing back Thunderdome for another limited tour. Get your tickets now! Operators are standing by.

In case you are new around here and are rightly wondering ‘WTF is a Thunderdome’, here’s the synopsis from the series page:

Thunderdome is a series open to all Fanfare writers, wherein two or more writers debate some matter of pop culture and then readers settle the matter with a vote.

It’s basically an opportunity to nerd out over pop culture. We revived it for the month of February, and are now bringing it back for July. Here are the upcoming bouts and dates. If you are interested in participating and are a Fanfare writer, drop a comment or leave a message on the Facebook writer’s group or the Discord. As a reminder, stories are due two days before the scheduled bout.

(Helping decide bouts and getting first crack at topics is one of the perks of the Fanfare writer’s group on Facebook. Yes, Facebook sucks, but it’s not so bad if you ignore the algorithmic drip-feed and go directly to such groups.)

July 7: Best Adaptation

July 14: Worst Adaptation

July 21: Most Underrated Show

July 28: Worst Sequel

Coming Soon — Fanfare Columnists

As a pub owner, I am always looking for ways to identify and amplify great writing. Everyone that writes here does so because I dig their voice and like how they write. Period. My initial decision to only publish 3 stories a day was predicated on giving each story its time in the limelight. And we still generally only publish 3 stories a day for that reason. But even at that rate, stories quickly slide down the main page and eventually tumble into the bottomless pit, aka the archive, never to be seen again.

So I approached a few writers with an idea, basically: you’ve been writing here a while, I dig you, let’s take this thing to the next level.

I Beyonced them.

Columbia

Next week (hopefully), I’ll be launching a new page for all Fanfare columnists and Fanfare series, such as Thunderdome. This page will be the first item in the menu and thus, hopefully, will help add some stickiness to these writer’s stories.

I’m happy to introduce our first group of columnists, and the name of their shiny-new column:

Interested in your own column? Benefits and guidelines below.

Benefits:

  • You are included on the Fanfare series page
  • Your column stories are hosted on the series page, via a Medium list, and are therefore “stickier” and less likely to be consumed wholecloth by the insatiable algorithm
  • You may use a Kicker — and you should, because Kickers are awesome — which should match the name of your column
  • You receive priority in the story queue, which is basically like Fastpass but way cooler
  • Your latest column will be plugged in the Fanfare newsletter

You must meet the following criteria:

  • You have been a Fanfare writer for at least 6 months. Why? I want proof you are in this for the longish haul. I’m not looking for a blood pact, but I also want some assurance you won’t just disappear tomorrow.
  • You publish regularly at Fanfare. I don’t want to put an exact number on it, and to be honest, I’m not going to go count. But let’s say you publish with Fanfare at least monthly. Trust me, I’ll know.
  • You read the stuff we publish and engage with the writers here. I’ll probably just use this for a tie-breaker, to be honest. But I like the idea of rewarding engagement — if I was still a Fortune 50 manager, I’d probably say something cringe like ‘eating our own dog food’, but I think we can all agree that is not necessary and also gross. Plus, clearly I’d feed you guys Taco Bell.

Note: meeting all the criteria is not a guarantee you will get your own column. It’s the bare minimum. I will continue to prize and prioritize great writing and fresh perspectives. These columns are just another way to amplify such writing.

Send me a pitch

Your column should have a unique point of view or some kind of unifying hook. If you are accepted, you will need to create a Medium list for your column and keep it up to date with new stories. That’s the only ongoing ask. There is no requirement for post frequency, and I don’t need a pitch for individual stories. Stories should be submitted via the normal process.

If you meet the criteria and have a cool idea, send me a column pitch: [email protected].

Pub Stats

All stats are for last 30 days.

  • Page views: ~270k
  • Unique daily visitors: ~8k
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