JAL offers a personal entertainment screen with a bunch of crap games and a number of movies and TV shows for the long flight across the Pacific. It's about 10 hours from Japan to the US, and 11 hours returning. I don't sleep on airplanes at all, so I watched a lot of movies. ANA plays one set of movies going east, and a different set going west; JAL doesn't. I forgot this tiny fact, which means I watched most of the movies during the most tolerably short leg of the journey. (Note: All "title links" go to the IMDB listing)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World: Yeah, you know, I actually want to enjoy this movie when I eventually see it, so I didn't watch it on a 5-inch LED screen with poor contrast. It's in theaters now in Japan, so I'll check it there.
Something's Gotta Give: Better than I would have expected; plenty of witty dialog, not too many implausible situations, and reasonably thought provoking. Keanu almost holds his own against Diane Keaton playing herself and Jack Nicholson playing the standard Jack Nicholson character. Am I damning the movie with faint praise?
The Haunted Mansion: Hey, did I mention I just finished localizing the videogame, which is based on the ride, not the movie, and the movie is also based on the ride, so it's mainly a synergistically pleasing coincidence that the game benefits from the movie's release? Did I? Excepting Terence Stamp, Eddie Murphy is the BEST ACTOR in it. It's a horror movie for the whole family. Yeah.
Gothika: Total crap. I'm tempted to leave it there, but in fairness to the curiosity that this may cause in some, further explanation to advise against viewing is in order. This movie is a poorly organized, style-over-substance mish-mash of a half dozen other, better horror movies of recent years. I like Robert Downey, Jr. and Halle Berry, but their interaction is so forced and hard to believe, it undermines even the red-herring attempts the movie makes to throw at the viewer. Despite a number of non-sequitirs and unrealistic plot points, after an overwhelming amount of stilted dialog presented through a blue-tinged shot, the movie stumbles through to a completely predictable ending. Avoid this movie, as well as anyone who has anything positive to say about it.
Shattered Glass: This was the second-best in-flight movie of the bunch. I had heard about a reporter who had been caught fabricating his stories, but hadn't remembered the name, so what was likely no surprise to anyone who'd paid to see the movie was a complete stunner for me. The same thing happened to me when watching "A Beautiful Mind."
Kisarazu Cat's Eye Japan Series: Go Major: after seeing Ping Pong on a previous flight, I've been happy whenever I can watch a Japanese movie with subtitles, because professional translators frequently provide a more thorough translation than my limited language skills can. However even with English subtitles, this movie was hard to follow. Take a made-up rock band (at least I think they're less made up than Kishidan, who also appear in this movie), throw in Yakuza with racoon-dog statue time-bombs, Gomingo (a giant monster made of garbage that has been illegally dumped into the ocean), bikini-clad amazons who fish for crustaceans on their otherwise deserted island, then trade them for sex with the marooned Cat's Eye band, and a heavy dose of Japanese Maturi-damashi (Festival SOUL!), put it in a blender, and hit "frappé."
Michel Vaillant: For a French-language movie that I watched through reading the Japanese subtitles, this was a surprisingly engaging movie. I think my head was filling in a lot of gaps with story that may have been more interesting than what was actually happening though, so if you can find it dubbed in Bulgarian or East Elbonian, I recommend it.
One Piece: The Cursed Sword: (link goes to TV series' page) I couldn't deal with more than five minutes of this thing. Good grief. I remember when I was a kid, I'd have given my milk money to see more anime than was available then. Now I can't be bothered to watch it for free.
Enter the Dragon: The best movie of the flight; it suffered only from age and budget issues. Bruce Lee's undeniable charisma somehow couldn't prevent him from sharing equal billing with John Saxon in this excellent movie. Writing this, I have just now become overwhelmed with dread that it is most likely in the remake pipe in Hollywood.
Notting Hill: Richard Curtis has been a personal hero in humor for me since Blackadder and the best Dr. Who, EVAR. I'll watch just about anything he's done, but hadn't realized that he'd written this movie until seeing it. It isn't nearly as charming as "Love Actually," but overcoming the hollywood nature of Julia Roberts is nearly enough of a recommendation for any movie. Side note: I picked up Blackadder co-writer Ben Elton's "Blast from the Past" at a used-bookstore on this trip.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World: Yeah, you know, I actually want to enjoy this movie when I eventually see it, so I didn't watch it on a 5-inch LED screen with poor contrast. It's in theaters now in Japan, so I'll check it there.
Something's Gotta Give: Better than I would have expected; plenty of witty dialog, not too many implausible situations, and reasonably thought provoking. Keanu almost holds his own against Diane Keaton playing herself and Jack Nicholson playing the standard Jack Nicholson character. Am I damning the movie with faint praise?
The Haunted Mansion: Hey, did I mention I just finished localizing the videogame, which is based on the ride, not the movie, and the movie is also based on the ride, so it's mainly a synergistically pleasing coincidence that the game benefits from the movie's release? Did I? Excepting Terence Stamp, Eddie Murphy is the BEST ACTOR in it. It's a horror movie for the whole family. Yeah.
Gothika: Total crap. I'm tempted to leave it there, but in fairness to the curiosity that this may cause in some, further explanation to advise against viewing is in order. This movie is a poorly organized, style-over-substance mish-mash of a half dozen other, better horror movies of recent years. I like Robert Downey, Jr. and Halle Berry, but their interaction is so forced and hard to believe, it undermines even the red-herring attempts the movie makes to throw at the viewer. Despite a number of non-sequitirs and unrealistic plot points, after an overwhelming amount of stilted dialog presented through a blue-tinged shot, the movie stumbles through to a completely predictable ending. Avoid this movie, as well as anyone who has anything positive to say about it.
Shattered Glass: This was the second-best in-flight movie of the bunch. I had heard about a reporter who had been caught fabricating his stories, but hadn't remembered the name, so what was likely no surprise to anyone who'd paid to see the movie was a complete stunner for me. The same thing happened to me when watching "A Beautiful Mind."
Kisarazu Cat's Eye Japan Series: Go Major: after seeing Ping Pong on a previous flight, I've been happy whenever I can watch a Japanese movie with subtitles, because professional translators frequently provide a more thorough translation than my limited language skills can. However even with English subtitles, this movie was hard to follow. Take a made-up rock band (at least I think they're less made up than Kishidan, who also appear in this movie), throw in Yakuza with racoon-dog statue time-bombs, Gomingo (a giant monster made of garbage that has been illegally dumped into the ocean), bikini-clad amazons who fish for crustaceans on their otherwise deserted island, then trade them for sex with the marooned Cat's Eye band, and a heavy dose of Japanese Maturi-damashi (Festival SOUL!), put it in a blender, and hit "frappé."
Michel Vaillant: For a French-language movie that I watched through reading the Japanese subtitles, this was a surprisingly engaging movie. I think my head was filling in a lot of gaps with story that may have been more interesting than what was actually happening though, so if you can find it dubbed in Bulgarian or East Elbonian, I recommend it.
One Piece: The Cursed Sword: (link goes to TV series' page) I couldn't deal with more than five minutes of this thing. Good grief. I remember when I was a kid, I'd have given my milk money to see more anime than was available then. Now I can't be bothered to watch it for free.
Enter the Dragon: The best movie of the flight; it suffered only from age and budget issues. Bruce Lee's undeniable charisma somehow couldn't prevent him from sharing equal billing with John Saxon in this excellent movie. Writing this, I have just now become overwhelmed with dread that it is most likely in the remake pipe in Hollywood.
Notting Hill: Richard Curtis has been a personal hero in humor for me since Blackadder and the best Dr. Who, EVAR. I'll watch just about anything he's done, but hadn't realized that he'd written this movie until seeing it. It isn't nearly as charming as "Love Actually," but overcoming the hollywood nature of Julia Roberts is nearly enough of a recommendation for any movie. Side note: I picked up Blackadder co-writer Ben Elton's "Blast from the Past" at a used-bookstore on this trip.
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