21. let's talk airplane movies
and don’t call me shirley!
***Some housekeeping: I have a new job with longer hours so posts may come less frequently for a bit. Hold back your tears.***
What does it mean to be a great airplane movie? Do you take advantage of a new release you missed or go for the comfort watch? Are you someone who watches the same movie every time you fly? Is it even worth it to try and enjoy a movie among babies screaming and jets roaring? Should some movies be taboo to even be a plane option (i.e. movies Christopher Nolan would shoot you for watching on a seat monitor)? I did two international flights in a week so I feel uniquely qualified to weigh in on this at this moment. Here is what I watched and what each brought to the table.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
For a red-eye flight from Vancouver to Newark, this was good in theory (old movies have that nice patter-y dialogue that I thought would help me fall asleep), but this movie in particular features a lot of shrill Southern screeching that was engaging but no lullaby. Not the movie’s fault, but when I had about 5 minutes left, a gentleman behind me had a medical episode that definitely looked like a stroke. Very scary! A doctor came over, and he was back to normal after a few minutes, so they didn’t think they needed to land the plane, and I hope he’s okay! After things settled down, I turned the movie back on, and the first line of dialogue is- I shit you not- Big Daddy saying “A stroke is a hell of a way to go.” I flipped it off and sat wide awake for the rest of the flight with a keen sense of dread.
Movie Rating: 3.5/5
Airplane Watch Experience Rating: 2/5
Mutt (2023)
Now begins the first of 3 movies I watched during a 7-turned-13-hour flight (Newark’s radars broke down because New Jersey’s transit reputation was getting too good!). My watch experiences here were planned around an ultimately failed strategy of when to go to sleep so that I could adjust to the time difference. This movie was for when I was actually trying to stay awake even though I was soooo tired. It was definitely a debut and a capital-T trans movie, but the performances from Mehiel and Goic were great. Kind of a stressful movie for a plane but I think 90 minutes is the perfect duration.
Movie Rating: 3/5
Airplane Watch Experience Rating: 2/5
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2005)
I decided I had another movie in me before sleepy time. Let’s pick a ringer that's also around 90 minutes. Holy shit, Walk Hard is available. Only downside to watching Walk Hard is I’m laughing and crying so hard the people sitting next to me think I’m insane. Who gives a shit? It's Walk Hard.
Movie Rating 5000/5
Airplane Watch Experience Rating: 500000/5
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Hot take: The Wizard of Oz is good. I’m of the opinion that an airplane is not the place for first watches. Flying is so strange and often unpleasantly shocking- give yourself something familiar. I haven’t seen this since childhood, and I was watching this film before I understood what jokes were so I was surprised to find that this movie is like wall-to-wall very good 1930s bits. A genuinely magical cinematic experience and of course, informative to my Wicked refresher.
Movie Rating 5/5
Airplane Watch Experience Rating: 4/5
Honorable Mentions:
I watched two and a half 30 Rock episodes as well on the Vancouver flight which was honestly a better choice than any movie at all.
My neighbor had Lord of the Rings on so I also watched that over her shoulder. Being watched by the person near you on a plane is the most engaging quality a film can have.
brat summer is over, little hag fall has begun
I loved Doechii’s Listerine-strip-of-fresh-air mixtape. Its such a strong personal statement of an artist at this moment of her life. It has made me think about how spirituality doesn’t have to be quiet or modest and that recovery can sound like having the self-respect to not apologize for the volume of your joy.
The new album by Little Hag is also so good and I didn’t even know she was from Central Jersey until I read this interview, I swear!!!! I found myself singing a song that’s a love letter to a vibrator around the office.
as much as i look forward to the end of Eric Adams’ reign, you can’t say it wasn’t funny
SEEN/READ
09/07 US OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL, MADAGASCAR
09/08
09/09 Blood in My Eye
09/10 Blood in My Eye
09/11 Not Another Love Song
09/12 The Black Jacobins
some personal updates
I loved Ireland very much and am making moves to return permanently to raise sheep and fight the crown, like the Gillespies of old.
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman and John Mulaney, which I worked on, won an Emmy!!! Sharing an Emmy with John Mulaney was the measure of College Comedy Groupie Gabby’s dreams so its a bit surreal. Unrelated, I’ve decided awards DO matter and are the only decider of what is good, actually.
‘Eden’ Review: Ron Howard Has Finally Lost His Mind : I saw an early cut of this and thought it was really good so excited to see the final product getting some buzz! Surprising that Ron Howard is a new torch-bearer of the Let Movies Fuck Again campaign but happy to have him.