On the fourteen hour flights, there were movies. As none are worth mentioning singularly, here’s a rundown of four I happened to watch between near-sleep and reading.
Bottle Shock
Bottle Shock
… is about wine production in Napa, or more specifically, the wine production that won the taste test in France in the seventies that disassembled the “French wine is superior always” myth. The story is interesting but is weighed down by unnecessary plot filler, mediocre to poor acting and a yawn top coat.
It’s the Dumb and Dumberer to Sideways‘ Dumb and Dumber, if that makes sense. (It doesn’t.)
Ghost Town
… is entertaining for one reason: Ricky Gervais. His unassuming, self-deprecation makes it watchable. Still, the premise is trite, acting is beige and story is redundantly meh. Gervais plays a guy who dies a little and starts seeing dead folk.
There are some bit characters that are funny, like a naked guy (you wear what you die in, apparently) or his flaky doctor but outside of Gervais, the main cast sucks like a commercial Hoover. Rent a season or both of “Extras” or BBC’s “The Office” and have a night of it.
City of Ember
City of Ember
… is a kids movie? Maybe. In any case, it’s one of those movies about how the world’s ending and we need someone to save us. It seems a thinly veiled metaphor for the sinking ship we call America. Watch it with your preteen and explain how we’re all going to die. It should make for a fun-flooded night in.
A note on Tim Robbins: From what I gather of his last few movies, he’s now famous enough to pick and choose his movies according to how hilarious him being in it would be (Anchorman) or how strongly the plot addresses one of his pet peeves (Noise, The Lucky Ones, this one).
Maybe that’s why they’ve all been so popular…
Nights in Rodanthe
… is terrible. I didn’t see the entire thing but won’t waste your time going into details. Rent it when you’re middle-aged, married for too long and wondering where you went wrong in so many ways. Then maybe you’ll find it mediocre (or adequate background noise while you slowly and repeatedly cut into your thighs with your husband/wife’s dull razor).