Just landed in Los Angeles, back from my weekend trip to Germany. Condor Airlines lost my bag in Frankfurt, I hope they get it back to me before I head out again on Wednesday for Chicago!
I will say, however, that Condor had a great selection of movies on the plane. Since no one cares, I figured I would offer my list of movies that I watched flying to Germany and flying back home. I’m usually so busy all the time, I rarely have a chance to go watch a movie in the theater, or even sit down for a few hours at home and watch one on TV, so on planes is when I really get a lot of movie watching in!
Appaloosa—It was mostly an excellent “modern” Western. Renée Zellweger was a really bad actress in this, and I usually like her in films. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen were a good combo, I thought.
Bullitt—I love it when they have old movies on planes! I hadn’t watched this one for a really long time. Excellent car chase scenes. And it really is a funny concept to have car chase scenes in San Francisco, flying over all the hills.
Unforgiven—an excellent Clint Eastwood modern Western. I enjoyed it from start to finish.
Conspiracy Theory—A really odd Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts movie from the 1990s. They make Mel Gibson out to be this “crazy” conspiracy theory taxi driver weirdo, but by 2024 standards he’s just a normal Fox News viewer.
Dirty Harry—Another fantastic vintage film that I haven’t seen in a really long time. Yes, I’m a dude. I like gritty 1970s action movies and I hate rom-coms. Car chases and explosions, please!
Life of Pi—I never watched this one when it was out, I’m glad I finally got a chance to sit down and watch it. What an excellent movie. Outstanding in every way.
Man from UNCLE—Eh, it was okay
Motherless Brooklyn—Excellent crime noir film, I thought, with Ed Norton as an unlikely 1950s hero with Tourette’s syndrome.
Midnight Special—I never heard of this one when it came out. I thought it was really great, with an odd plot about a “special” child with magical powers, adopted by a religious sect because they think he’s going to bring the Rapture, then hunted down by the government who think that he’s some kind of weapon, but—spoiler—he’s really just trying to get back to his planet! This is the kind of movie that I love Michael Shannon in. He’s excellent as the kid’s redneck dad. Almost enough for me to forgive him about how bad his portrayal of George Jones was. But maybe that’s why I hated the George Jones TV series so much, because Michael Shannon is usually excellent!
Thanks for listening, this movie review got me almost all the way from LAX back to my house in the San Fernando Valley while riding the flyaway bus. Time for some Del Taco, wassup SoCal peeps?
