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I couldn’t think what else to call this post other than what it was. What is written below, this discussion of seven random recent movies, was pretty much my entire experience of the long haul flight I just took from London to Tokyo. Yes, I ate some barely warmed up cartons of food, I tried and failed to see Hong Kong out of the window as we took off after the layover and I chatted to the two strangers I was sitting with – one of who had just finished a degree at Oxford and the other who had just started veterinary training. Essentially though what I did was watch movies. My row buddies, with a combined age that falls about ten years short of my own, both watched Project Hail Mary, as I noticed did many people on the plane, but I’ve seen that three times already, and I’ve also seen Hamnet and The Drama, so my selection was (mostly) a little less mainstream. 

This is what I chose:

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How to Make a Killing

I’ve been curious about this one but not enough to see it at the cinema; which clearly makes it a perfect film for just this occasion. This is a remake of the 1949 Ealing Studios movie Kind Hearts and Coronets, which is one of my all time favourites, but inevitably the characterisation, dark edge and sublime gallows humour that make the source material a masterpiece are all missing here. The premise centres on a wronged member of a wealthy family bumping off everyone else in line to the fortune and Dennis Price in the original is a sublimely mannered society psycho. Glenn Powell in this is nothing of the sort. He’s just the wrong guy; they needed Jack Quaid or Evan Peters, even maybe Timothée Chalamet. They should have cast someone who can be charming but isn’t afraid to be even a little bit unlikable. Powell is killing people here like he’s passing round free drinks, and although that makes it sound colder it just flubs the tone. 

The messed up the ending too. I can see that they didn’t want to do the exact same denouement and they’ve tried to do something surprising but when you are waiting for a recreation of some of the best final scenes in British cinema then it can’t be anything other that a disappointment. I’m not sure the way they close the story works within the movie’s own context either. 

Margaret Qualley is great in it though, I will give it that. 

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Michael

Okay, so here’s another perfect choice for an in flight movie as I’d deliberately elected not to see this in cinemas because I didn’t want to give it my money. (I’ve checked, the airline pays an upfront cost so my choice to watch it or not makes no financial difference to the studio.) It was clear from the reviews that this film does not deal with any of the abuse charges made against Michael Jackson and instead presents him as an unimpeachable hero of popular culture. I’m not comfortable with that. Having seen it, this is indeed exactly what the movie does. In fact it presents Michael as either a victim at the hands of his father (which I have no doubt is true and may well have contributed to his alleged treatment of others) or it shows him as a generous benefactor to his family and sick children – and one particular abandoned chimpanzee.

They have said that this film was originally intended to deal with the full story but that these elements were cut out for legal reasons and actually there are a couple of places were parts of this might remain, just in how certain behaviours could be early precursors to later events. There is a sequel planned but I’m not really sure what that is going to be as most of the story has been covered, certainly in terms of his journey to superstardom. If they do pick up on his legal battles then that is going to be one hell of a come down for audiences who have unquestionably lapped up this hagiography. The producers have said they will but I suspect that might have been to appease any criticism that they’ve not painted the full picture this time. Either way at best Michael 2 can only present a narrative around dropping records sales, drug addiction, struggles autoimmune disorder, dangling babies over balconies, public mockery, a fatal heart attack at 50 and charges against his physician for involuntary manslaughter. Surely it is better to leave this all where it is. 

Taken at face value the movie, unlike Annie, is okay. There is nothing here to offer surprise or revelation and some of the key moments are played a bit heavily, like the introduction of said simian playmate. It is hard not to get swept up in it though and I will admit to getting goosebumps when he moonwalked for the first time. The musical performances are the highlight but to be honest, I’d rather just watch the real footage. Jaafar Jackson does do a great job playing his famous relative and he is able to do the dances but if anything this strips something away from old uncle Mike as I thought the whole point was that no one else could move like him. Maybe you have to be blood. The title character does come across as weird as well, something else that would have to be a big part of any follow up film.

I do still think there is some irresponsibility in how they have told this man’s story and actually it could have been a decent examination, but certainly not a justification, of how abuse can leads abuse. They’ve gone the easy route though which I guess, as the guy sang, is Human Nature. It’s not a Thriller but it also isn’t Bad.

The music is great though, I’ll give it that.

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They Will Kill You

This is quite fun but is very similar to Ready or Not 2, which was both an alternate choice here (again, I’ve already seen it) and when it was in cinemas. Both tell stories of sisters trapped in a hotel violently battling against satanic death cults but this one is more graphic. The fight scenes are inventive and the cast has a few surprise appearances (ever wonder what Tom Felton and Heather Graham have been up to recently?) so if you are looking for something to watch on a quiet evening, on even on a plane then give it a go.

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Dead Man’s Wire

So this was both my second Colman Domingo film of the trip and my second Myha’la movie. She is better in this than in They Will Kill You and he is more understated than when he essayed Joe Jackson in a distracting and entirely unnecessary false nose. This tells the true story of a man named Tony Kiritsis who in 1977 kidnapped his mortgage broker and held a shotgun to his head while under siege for three days. It is a more balanced portrait of its protagonist than Michael but it does struggle to fill the 105 minute running time. The performances are strong from Bill Skarsgård as the kidnapper and Billy in Stranger Things as the victim and it is always good to see Cary Elwes, but maybe because I was watching it in the middle of the night I found it a bit underwhelming.

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The Voice of Hind Rajab

This woke me up though. The Voice of Hind Rajab tells of the true events around an emergency call that was received by Red Crescent volunteers outside Gaza in early 2024. On the end of the line was a 6-year old girl who was trapped in a car under IDF fire; in need of urgent rescue. Getting an ambulance into a war zone is no straightforward matter though and the movie plays out in real time as they do all they can to get her the required help.

The film, made in Tunisia in Palestinian Arabic, is totally gripping and utterly heartbreaking as obstacles, bureaucracy and emotions get in the way of what in an ideal world ought to be a very simple task. What is clear is that we do not live in an ideal world though and this movie highlights one of recent history’s biggest crises in an incredibly powerful way. 

Not perfect plane viewing perhaps but I needed it after watching a fair amount of trash (I use that term affectionately) and it was just what I needed.

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Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour

This was essentially a pallet cleanser. I thought I’d listen to some music for a while and this gave me that with some visuals if I wanted them. Obviously I watched the whole thing. 

Billie Eilish evidently has screen presence to equal her stage presence, which bodes well for her acting debut in Sarah Polley’s adaptation of The Bell Jar that is currently in production. She is credited here as director as well, which might have come from a throw away line that spoken halfway through this concert movie from ‘other’ director James Cameron, but it is most certainly her vision we are getting on screen. This is not as dynamic as The Eras Tour film but it isn’t trying to compete because Eilish knows she doesn’t need to. The songs are as brilliant as ever and the occasional back stage stuff leading up to the start of the concert adds nicely. There is some under stage stuff too as we see what happens when Billie disappears from one spot on the stage to pop up somewhere else in another and this totally fits with her character. You’d never get that with Taylor Swift because she is all about the magic but Billie is more down to earth in a way that highlights what is great about both of them.

It might be worth mentioning that there was another recent James Cameron on the menu too but I have no intention of watching that, even in this situation.

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Reminders of Him

I really thought this was going to be trash too but I totally got into it. The last Colleen Hoover adaptation I watched It Ends With Us was cliched but this was less so. It was maybe a little corny but I was on board from the beginning to the end. It might have been the tiredness and the high altitude but it made me cry too. This story of a mother separated from her daughter at birth is pretty well worked out and the performances felt authentic, especially from Maika Monroe who totally makes this her own. Credit to director Vanessa Caswill too, who steps out from the shadow of the Netflix romcom factory that she has previously been a part of. 

I mean of course there is nothing here that will surprise anyone and there is no effective suspense whatsoever, but it is a nice melodrama if you are in the mood for that sort of thing. I wasn’t at the start of this but I was about ten minutes in. It is no accident that this was the last movie I watched but it was actually one of the ones I enjoyed the most. Maybe I’ll choose Regretting You on the way home.