My favorite thing about watching movies on long airplane flights is that I invariably discover movies that I hadn’t yet heard of.
These movies are too small to run in the big chain theaters, and don’t get enough award acclaim that I would have gotten free screeners of them during SAG Award voting season.
We are currently on a trip to the Philippines, and with 18 hours of flying time each way, there is lots of time for movie watching and discovery!
On other recent long trips, I discovered The Hummingbird Project, a Wall Street thriller which I summarized in this post and Fighting With My Family, a wrestling movie (yes, wrestling and it’s great!) which I reviewed in this post.
Half of the movies were gems
On this trip out to the Philippines, I watched six movies and discovered a few gems: Brian Banks, Ode To Joy and Alita: Battle Angel.
Brian Banks is a true story of an NFL linebacker and the oldest ever rookie (he was 28 when he played his first season), who had a false rape conviction at age 16 vacated by the California Innocence Project. The movie is beautifully acted by Aldis Hodge (he played a similar eye-candy-with-a-heart role in What Men Want) and Greg Kinnear. The subject matter of the movie is too disturbing to make this a feel-good movie (what happened to Banks is frightening and horrible) but thankfully it has a happy ending, and the grace with which Banks is portrayed is inspiring.
Ode To Joy is a quirky rom com with Martin Freeman playing a man who has narcolepsy with cataplexy, which causes him to pass out every time he feels happiness. He can barely get through a walk outside since cute babies or friendly pets might render him unconscious. He also can’t fall in love because of his condition, but of course he does. Freeman can play anything (he’s particularly affecting in Cargo, playing a dad in a zombie apocalypse). Ode To Joy isn’t just Freeman however — this is an ensemble movie, and the group has excellent chemistry.
Alita: Battle Angel is the type of movie I would never have watched, except on a plane. It’s based on Japanese manga, which I don’t read, and directed by Robert Rodriguez, who I will forever associate with Spy Kids (a fun movie but our kids watched it over and over!). Still, it was beautifully shot and very well-acted (it co-stars three Oscar winners, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connolley and Maharshala Ali!). This is a fun film with something for everyone – thrilling action scenes, intrigue for the mystery love, even romance.
The rest of the movies were popcorn flicks
Popcorn flicks are enjoyable to a point, but these movies were average at best. The three movies reminded me of what an Austin Powers movie would be like if it tried to win an Oscar, instead of just embracing the type of movie that it is (which the Austin Powers series does so endearingly).
First up, I watched the latest Charlie’s Angels reboot, directed and starring Elizabeth Banks (she also rewrote the screenplay). I love Banks from 30 Rock, but then she directed the beyond-horrible Pitch Perfect 2, which could be shown at every Diversity & Inclusion training for what not to do. Charlie’s Angels was also not her finest work. It still featured an impossibly beautiful and bad-ass trio of female agents, but the original TV show and the first set of movies stayed with that premise with pride. This one toggled in-between straight and comic, and the costumes turned so garish it made Austin Powers look subtle.
My second action flick of the trip was Terminator: Dark Fate, the most recent entry in the Terminator franchise with a 60-something Linda Hamilton and a 70-something Arnold Schwarzenegger, gamely dipping back into the well one too many times. It was the exact same story and same bad guy, except this time the Sarah O’Connor they needed to save and the assassin sent to terminate her were Mexican. It’s like how Auston Powers recycles similar gags but set in different cultures – only not as clever. The movie should have been called, Terminator: Mexico City, and then you could watch the first or second Terminators (the best ones) and just imagine they were set in Mexico.
Then, there was Gemini Man starring Will Smith and Will Smith with special effects, creating a 23-year old version of himself. Again, this recalled the Austin Powers series, with the storyline of Dr. Evil having relationship issues with his son – except the Austin Powers movies captured the father-son drama with heart and humor, and Gemini Man just featured a strangely young Will Smith. There’s even a Mini-Me tie-in at the end of Gemini Man – I won’t spoil it in case you somehow, I don’t know why, watch the movie.
A few more were non starters
With 2 flights and 18 hours of flying time, even with time for napping, I had enough time to watch at least seven movies. In addition to the six I did watch, I also started a few others.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce, featured a promising cast but looked like a high school play, rendering it unwatchable (and I gave it a good 30 minutes before giving up!). I also caught a few minutes of Shazam, which lost my attention even more quickly than Don Quixote.
Instead, I opted to cut my losses on the movies and read, which arguably I should be doing more of! I read 43 books in 2019, and I am way behind that pace. There is always the return trip….
We are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. 
Financial independence and early retirement is not something we originally focused on, but over time realized it was possible. Our free report, 
