By: Henry J. Fromage –
I was on several long flights for vacation last week, so you know what that means- airplane movies!.
460. Scream 7
The latest in this apparently unkillable franchise managed to simultaneously draw its poorest reviews and make the most money yet in the series. I found it to be somewhat squarely in the middle of those two poles- it was good to see Sidney Prescott and (somehow) Gale Weathers again, and there’s resonance in Prescott trying to insulate her daughter from what will clearly be a lifelong affliction of masked murderers, but the new cast and overarching killer motivations are fairly meh. I somehow both enjoyed and cringed at the Matthew Lillard of it all as well. Four Beers.
461. Over Your Dead Body
Jorma Taccone teams up with a hard-to-put-your-finger-on-it somewhat disturbing-looking Jason Segel and Samara Weaving in a remake of the Aksel Hennie and Noomi Rapace-starring The Trip, in which a director/actress couple go on a remote rural trip with a dark ulterior motive or two in mind. It’s quite the departure for Taccone- comical without being a comedy at all really, and hyper-gory (the one place it may surpass the original). As a mean-spirited thriller with lots of twists and turns, it’s not bad, and maybe better than that if you skipped the (superior) original. Four Beers.
462. Cold Storage
I had fun with this thriller about a couple of storage park employees (Joe Keery and suddenly everywhere scream queen Georgina Campbell) who find out that the former military base it was built in/on top of has a nearly forgotten about supervirus that’s just now escaped containment. Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville sure remember what they saw all those years ago in Australia, and are hellbent to put it back in Pandora’s box. I nicely nasty little film in more than one respect, with game performances from all involved. Three Beers.
463. Mercy
Nothing screams “airplane movie” like a single-setting Chris Pratt technothriller, in which his LAPD detective needs to convince the AI judge played by a particularly angular Rebecca Ferguson that there’s reasonable doubt that he killed his wife in 90 minutes, or else suffer the last part of her Judge, Jury, and Executioner role. Don’t think too hard about any of this- it’ll just hurt you- but as a “this is my 7th hour of flying and I need something propulsive to choke down my plane pasta to” kind of joint, it works just fine. Four Beers.
464. Mexico 86
This one was one of my “download a Netflix movie I figure I’ll watch eventually but am in no hurry to actually do so” tablet flicks for domestic flights (which are like 30/70 likely to have TVs in the seats anymore, it appears). Anyway, it tells the story of the rakish architect of Mexico’s 1986 World Cup bid, the first time any country had ever repeated as host and generally one of the fondest remembered games outside of England (Maradona’s Hand of God may have something to do with that). Diego Luna has great fun playing someone only marginally more or less sleazy than the typical FIFA functionary, and the period details are all quite engaging. Three Beers.
465. Case 137
The other thing that airplane movies are good for is presenting options that aren’t always available to watch in either or both countries you’re flying between. I’ve had my eye out for this French police drama since last Cannes (and still am, because unfortunately I had to fast-forward a bit to the ending due to an impromptu plane nap). Lea Drucker stars as an Internal Affairs officer investigating one of the many reported instances of police on demonstrator violence after a massive protest in Paris- one in which an apparent officer fired a just barely nonlethal projectile directly into a teen’s head, fracturing his skull. Somewhat unsurprisingly, resistance within the ranks and ultimately from her superiors is substantial, jading her towards what she’s accomplishing exactly (or meant to accomplish) in her position. Well-acted and directed, if more or less exactly what you expect it to be. Three Beers.
466. Worst Neighbor Ever
We a bit more (but not enough space) here from predecessor Worst Roomate Ever, although this Netflix true crime series shows that’s still too close for comfort for some unfortunate souls. Yes, this tells the harrowing stories of neighbors from hell- generally murderous ones, but all different in the way they callously disregards the lives of others. I don’t know how I feel about the animated elements (they look fine, but may just portray things that more natural source material would do just as well). Three Beers.
