The first thing I fell in love with when I moved to the Midwest was the sky. It felt so much more open than on the East Coast, endless and consuming amongst the plains. Living here has been a great honor— it will always be part of my life and heart, a place that cracked open the world for me and taught me about what I truly value in life. I love the sweeping landscapes of this film, the attention and love for community effort. To me, that is what is most special about the Midwest— people come together and stay together. It just took my breath away— it made me remember how I felt that first time I drove cross country, and all the sights I’ll miss when I move away and end up somewhere cramped again. I think the attention to landscapes and the beauty of these spaces is clear when considering Lee Isaac Chung’s work on Minari. What stood out to me about that film was how intimate the agricultural scenes were, how in love the camera was with our natural wonders. It honestly is really curious to me that he went from Minari to Twisters— I like that both seem to push at the dangers of our environment and how easily it can destroy us.

I am just overjoyed to have a strong summer blockbuster that is invested in its audience. Good studio filmmaking should care about its audience and want to provide a spectacle, not just scraps. These are the kind of movies that bring people together, that have you on the edge of your seat and have you dreaming about making something as exciting. Glen Powell is pivotal to this experience— he learned from Tom Cruise, recognizing the determination in the older star and reshaping it to fit his personal star image. His trajectory is exciting and I cannot wait to see more— it makes me relieved to know we have a star for our generation that will be committed to providing strong experiences. 

Near the end of the film, the screen of a cinema is sucked into a tornado— the image of Dracula biting into a neck is replaced by the tornado careening towards the theater. Multiple years of films, all offering varying sights that bring people together. There have been many discussions over the years about “cinema dying” and the audience not returning— but they have. Movies have survived through years of change, through cinemas being torn down or changed or damaged. They are central to our lives and our communities, and we continue to go back. We always will— it will find a way to adapt and survive.