I thought about this during my flight from London back to New York yesterday on United. America's Most Hated Airline (tm) had a surprisingly long movie collection, including many old classics and new. I started the flight by putting on There Will Be Blood. A movie I have, somehow, not ever seen. About 10 minutes in, I switched from that to Deadpool - a movie I had seen. Ultimately, I watched parts of Deadpool, Argo and Ocean's 11, all movies that I have seen before, while also watching parts of John Wick 2 and Moonlight, two I had not. I started thinking why I was inclined to watch these movies I had seen before, and it ended up on that while flying I want to be entertained more than anything, but not have to give 100% attention (I may be eating on too small trays, or trying to get some sleep, etc. And then I thought of those movies that I can just watch and watch and watch.
None of these are true classics (obviously, I could rewatch The Godfather or Goodfellas hundreds of times), but all are movies I have watched at least five times, if not more, either on flights or lazy Saturdays. Here are my guilty pleasures and most dependable turn-to movies when I just want to be entertained.
= Ocean's 11
Let's start with the easy clear answer. I've probably watched this movie more on flights than any other. Part of that is how lasting it is, but also how easily I will turn to it. Ocean's 11 is just a perfect time waster movie. The cast is brilliant, they are having so much fun, the chemistry explodes. Sure, after seeing the movie a bunch the actual heist is more or less meaningless, but it is such a joy to watch that cast. It is fun to try to decipher what the hell Don Cheadle is saying at any time, or what accent Carl Reiner is trying to use. It really just comes down to how good that cast is working with each other, with smiles plastered on their faces the entire time - specifically Pitt and Clooney. So many great small moments as well, from the entire reveal of the heist, to Pitt eating in nearly every scene, to the moment when Clooney and Damon realize they have to change the batteries in the detonator. What really helps the movie shine is the tone that anyway was focused on just creating a damn fun film, plot and drama be damned. It hit that target easily.
= Crazy, Stupid, Love
I called some of these as 'Guilty Pleasures' as I wouldn't readily admit how many times I've seen them, and the classic example is Crazy, Stupid, Love. Sure, the plot is a bit silly, and the whole piece of the son's lust for Jessica was a bit creepy (especially her giving him the nude photo at the end), but the movie has some great performances by the adult characters, specifically Julianne Moore and, most importantly, Ryan Gosling. This isn't the only Gosling vehicle on this list, but this was the more surprising lead role. Gosling is so good turning from the shmarmy womanizer, to his role as Steve Carrell's mentor and guide, to him finally falling for a girl. Very random, but I am a total sucker for the climax scene of the movie (in my mind) with the 'Who's On First?' routine in the Weaver's backyard where all the different lusting relationships come to a head. Finally, I'm almost obligated to note how beautiful the scene is where Steve Carrell and Julianne Moore reconnect on the phone while Carrell pretends to be at his apartment telling Moore how to fix the water heater (which she isn't doing). These great moments, and the lead performances, are so energetic, and the movie matches fun and sacharrine better than most romantic comedies I've seen.
= Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
To me, this is something like Ocean's 11 for older British. The collection of talent in this cast was absurd, and they did so well to tell the hell out of a small story. It's hard even to pick standouts. My favorite performance was either Tom Wilkinson as the old barrister trying to come to terms with rediscovering the lost love that society stripped away, or Diane Rigg trying to find herself after years of being a housekeeper in England. Still, even the more cliched roles, like Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie as playing dueling hounds looking to relive their primes. The story on the Indian side is a bit rougher, with one of the more one-note Dev Patel performances, but the mother picks that side up as well. Of course I am a bit biased being Indian, seeing a more uplifting view of India than what the West normally sees (namely, Slumdog Millionaire), and the movie itself just flies along. I haven't mentioned Bill Nighy's performance, but the fun he infected that role with was such veteran brilliance. The movie as a whole was great, and really wants me to see Hollywood make more of these with actors in the Golden Years.
= Love Actually
People of my generation are in one of three camps with Love Actually. Either you openly love it, openly hate it, or secretly think it is a fantastic film. That third camp is really damn sizable, and I'm very much a part of that group. The movie is just damn well made. The performances are great, even in the thinner sub-plots. Actually, let's just do a quick ranking of Love Actually sub-plots:
9.) Colin goes to America - yeah, this is mostly useless, especially when in its climax you get a British actor who would go on to have a pretty useless career supposedly laying two future stars in Cuthbert and January Jones
8.) Juliet, Peter & Mark - I never really cared about the creeper who somehow ended up getting a kiss from Keira Knightley after being exposed as a fetishistic creep
7.) John & Judy - these were the two body-doubles that found love while actng out a nude scene. Honestly, this was perfect time-wasting fodder - in a good way
6.) Sarah & Karl - Laura Linney did her best to make this work, but out of the actual meaningful plots this one didn't really work, especially since the Karl character was really thinly drawn
5.) Daniel & Sam - The only parent/child relationship works because Neesom was great, but man that kid was a creep, no? Also, a bit fantastical with the scene of him evading security
4.) David & Natalie - Hugh Grant was amazing as the prime minister, and kudos for that brilliant little scene with him and Billy Bob Thornton playing himself turned up to 11
3.) Jamie & Aurelia - It took a while to get going, but Colin Firth's run through Portugal, and the hilarious bit where Aurelia's dad thinks he's after the other, fatter, sister is more than worth the wait
2.) Henry, Karen & Mia - I love that it is never stated if Rickman's character actually slept with Mia or not, but either way it was really powerful work by two great actors in the future Professors Snape & Trelawney
1.) Billy Mack & Joe - Has to be right. Nighy was, again, just amazingly fun in his role, and the actual reveal of the slow realization that his manager was his one true friend was perfectly revealed
= Straight Outta Compton
I haven't watched the full movie ten or more times. I have watched the first half about 20 though, and to me that evens out. Straight Outta Compton to me is the African American Rap version of Goodfellas, in that the first hour or so of the movies are just perfect. In Goodfellas, it is everything up until Henry goes to prison, and here it is everything up until the end of their first tour, when Ice Cube leaves. Before that moment though, the movie is magic. It is built off of the three brilliant performances of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and Ice Cube. The movie would have never worked unless all three were cast well, and they were all brilliant, even the little bit of stunt-casting in using Ice Cube's son to play him. The guy who played Dr. Dre is a superb actor, and the same for Eazy-E. The music was great, the rapping high quality, but the best part was showcasing the growth of the band within racially-charged LA. They weren't over-the-top with the racism of the LAPD and LA in general. They weren't too easy on the guys in the group. Those early scenes of Lonzo's Club, or recording Boyz-n-the-Hood for the first time, or the concert where Heller brought the three record execs. Every bit worked perfectly. The whole movie was effortlessly packed with energy. There are valid criticisms that the movie left out the 'dark-side' of the members of the group, but it is what it is. The movie was one of the best biopics and best music-related movies I have ever seen.
= John Wick
The first time I heard someone tell me that John Wick was actually a really good movie, I laughed it off. I had basically mentally written off Keanu Reeves from my life. But I had multiple people whose opinions I trusted tell me that no, really, it is a good movie. So then I watched it. And you know what... John Wick is fucking good. Sometimes it is just really fun to watch one guy kill a bunch of people in increasingly outlandish and badass ways. The movie ostensibly has some ridiculous plot about killing dogs and revenge and The Continental Hotel and rules and whatnot, but the movie really is just about killing MFers. And Keanu is damn good at that. I can't tell you one specific thing about the movie really, but I can just say anytime I see it come across the TV, or on a flight, I have to put it on and imbibe some assassin creed shit.
= The Nice Guys
Gosling time again! In reality though, while Gosling is his usual fantastic self, it is Russell Crowe's bad-cop that makes the movie, especially his gradually endearing relationship with Gosling's daughter. The movie is at times needlessly confusing, but like almost all the movies on this list, plot isn't really all that meaningful unless it is straight up dumb (and even then, that didn't stop Love Actually). I never really cared about the big reveal that Amelia's mother was in on it. In reality, I just wanted an hour-long extended scene at the house party, full of Gosling's daughter chatting up whores, and Russell Crowe getting into fights and Gosling swimming in fish tanks. Gosling's shrieks get funnier each time, and I love the little small notes of Crowe's character, like him carrying up a case of Yoohoo to his apartment after Gosling's daughter offers him one. This was fully a plane movie, as it was one of the handful of movies Air Canada showed on its Embraer E175/190 jets that I took way too often from Toronto to New York, so I watched it in pieces a lot and was never not entertained. I'm usually not a guy who wants a sequel of things, but I wouldn't mind getting two more hours of Gosling, Crowe and Anguaray Rice (who plays the daughter, figure I should give the actress a shout-out at least once).
= Argo
I feel bad putting Argo here given it did win Best Picture for the 2012 movie season, but I don't think anyone considers this one of the better or best Best Picture winners ever. Also, I don't watch it because of its great filmmaking or acting or any of that stuff (for instance, why I watch Amadeus, which is too reputed to put on this list). I watch it because it is so damn entertaining. The whole scheme, the whole way Affleck's character sells it, the way Goodman and Arkin are so well cast and played, the way the various famous CIA agents are so good in their cameos (Cranston and Chandler). What makes the movie is the climactic, somewhat played up, ending with the guys in their plane taking off while the Iranian police try to track them down on the runway. For so many reasons, this should not work on repeated viewings. First, it is a contrived situation. Second, it is a true story so we know the hostages make it out of Iran (in reality, without much real fuss at the airport), and third because suspense scenes like this shouldn't really hold up. But this one does. I saw Argo in theaters, and was a bit surprised when it won Best Picture (I thought Django and Lincoln were both better), but overtime I've grown to love it.
= Pitch Perfect
Finally, my initial guilty pleasure movie. The first time I saw it was on my flight from New York to Johannesburg, the one that launched my Round the World Trip. This might be the most quietly entertaining films of the last decade. The entire movie is such an amazing joy. Each performance is great. The dynamic of the two 'seniors' on the team in Anna Camp and Brittany Snow are great. The girls that make up the Bellas are all so well put together, and while Rebel Wilson stole a lot of scenes, quietly so did Alexis Knapp (the slutty one), and Ester Dean (the lesbian). Kendrick is great as well, and her slow romance with Skyler Astin's Benjie is well played to give the movie some emotional weight. I never really bought the fake drama that the third act gave, but it did end up with two fantastic scenes, first the moonlight practice session where they finally let Anna Kendrick's ideas run wild, and then the final performance that was a damn good performance. Also, everything about that riff-off scene, down to it being the first time I heard 'No Diggity' was amazing. The sequel was mostly useless, but the original Pitch Perfect is one of the more rewatchable, entertainment-only movies I've seen in recent years.
None of these are true classics (obviously, I could rewatch The Godfather or Goodfellas hundreds of times), but all are movies I have watched at least five times, if not more, either on flights or lazy Saturdays. Here are my guilty pleasures and most dependable turn-to movies when I just want to be entertained.
= Ocean's 11
Let's start with the easy clear answer. I've probably watched this movie more on flights than any other. Part of that is how lasting it is, but also how easily I will turn to it. Ocean's 11 is just a perfect time waster movie. The cast is brilliant, they are having so much fun, the chemistry explodes. Sure, after seeing the movie a bunch the actual heist is more or less meaningless, but it is such a joy to watch that cast. It is fun to try to decipher what the hell Don Cheadle is saying at any time, or what accent Carl Reiner is trying to use. It really just comes down to how good that cast is working with each other, with smiles plastered on their faces the entire time - specifically Pitt and Clooney. So many great small moments as well, from the entire reveal of the heist, to Pitt eating in nearly every scene, to the moment when Clooney and Damon realize they have to change the batteries in the detonator. What really helps the movie shine is the tone that anyway was focused on just creating a damn fun film, plot and drama be damned. It hit that target easily.
= Crazy, Stupid, Love
I called some of these as 'Guilty Pleasures' as I wouldn't readily admit how many times I've seen them, and the classic example is Crazy, Stupid, Love. Sure, the plot is a bit silly, and the whole piece of the son's lust for Jessica was a bit creepy (especially her giving him the nude photo at the end), but the movie has some great performances by the adult characters, specifically Julianne Moore and, most importantly, Ryan Gosling. This isn't the only Gosling vehicle on this list, but this was the more surprising lead role. Gosling is so good turning from the shmarmy womanizer, to his role as Steve Carrell's mentor and guide, to him finally falling for a girl. Very random, but I am a total sucker for the climax scene of the movie (in my mind) with the 'Who's On First?' routine in the Weaver's backyard where all the different lusting relationships come to a head. Finally, I'm almost obligated to note how beautiful the scene is where Steve Carrell and Julianne Moore reconnect on the phone while Carrell pretends to be at his apartment telling Moore how to fix the water heater (which she isn't doing). These great moments, and the lead performances, are so energetic, and the movie matches fun and sacharrine better than most romantic comedies I've seen.
= Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
To me, this is something like Ocean's 11 for older British. The collection of talent in this cast was absurd, and they did so well to tell the hell out of a small story. It's hard even to pick standouts. My favorite performance was either Tom Wilkinson as the old barrister trying to come to terms with rediscovering the lost love that society stripped away, or Diane Rigg trying to find herself after years of being a housekeeper in England. Still, even the more cliched roles, like Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie as playing dueling hounds looking to relive their primes. The story on the Indian side is a bit rougher, with one of the more one-note Dev Patel performances, but the mother picks that side up as well. Of course I am a bit biased being Indian, seeing a more uplifting view of India than what the West normally sees (namely, Slumdog Millionaire), and the movie itself just flies along. I haven't mentioned Bill Nighy's performance, but the fun he infected that role with was such veteran brilliance. The movie as a whole was great, and really wants me to see Hollywood make more of these with actors in the Golden Years.
= Love Actually
People of my generation are in one of three camps with Love Actually. Either you openly love it, openly hate it, or secretly think it is a fantastic film. That third camp is really damn sizable, and I'm very much a part of that group. The movie is just damn well made. The performances are great, even in the thinner sub-plots. Actually, let's just do a quick ranking of Love Actually sub-plots:
9.) Colin goes to America - yeah, this is mostly useless, especially when in its climax you get a British actor who would go on to have a pretty useless career supposedly laying two future stars in Cuthbert and January Jones
8.) Juliet, Peter & Mark - I never really cared about the creeper who somehow ended up getting a kiss from Keira Knightley after being exposed as a fetishistic creep
7.) John & Judy - these were the two body-doubles that found love while actng out a nude scene. Honestly, this was perfect time-wasting fodder - in a good way
6.) Sarah & Karl - Laura Linney did her best to make this work, but out of the actual meaningful plots this one didn't really work, especially since the Karl character was really thinly drawn
5.) Daniel & Sam - The only parent/child relationship works because Neesom was great, but man that kid was a creep, no? Also, a bit fantastical with the scene of him evading security
4.) David & Natalie - Hugh Grant was amazing as the prime minister, and kudos for that brilliant little scene with him and Billy Bob Thornton playing himself turned up to 11
3.) Jamie & Aurelia - It took a while to get going, but Colin Firth's run through Portugal, and the hilarious bit where Aurelia's dad thinks he's after the other, fatter, sister is more than worth the wait
2.) Henry, Karen & Mia - I love that it is never stated if Rickman's character actually slept with Mia or not, but either way it was really powerful work by two great actors in the future Professors Snape & Trelawney
1.) Billy Mack & Joe - Has to be right. Nighy was, again, just amazingly fun in his role, and the actual reveal of the slow realization that his manager was his one true friend was perfectly revealed
= Straight Outta Compton
I haven't watched the full movie ten or more times. I have watched the first half about 20 though, and to me that evens out. Straight Outta Compton to me is the African American Rap version of Goodfellas, in that the first hour or so of the movies are just perfect. In Goodfellas, it is everything up until Henry goes to prison, and here it is everything up until the end of their first tour, when Ice Cube leaves. Before that moment though, the movie is magic. It is built off of the three brilliant performances of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and Ice Cube. The movie would have never worked unless all three were cast well, and they were all brilliant, even the little bit of stunt-casting in using Ice Cube's son to play him. The guy who played Dr. Dre is a superb actor, and the same for Eazy-E. The music was great, the rapping high quality, but the best part was showcasing the growth of the band within racially-charged LA. They weren't over-the-top with the racism of the LAPD and LA in general. They weren't too easy on the guys in the group. Those early scenes of Lonzo's Club, or recording Boyz-n-the-Hood for the first time, or the concert where Heller brought the three record execs. Every bit worked perfectly. The whole movie was effortlessly packed with energy. There are valid criticisms that the movie left out the 'dark-side' of the members of the group, but it is what it is. The movie was one of the best biopics and best music-related movies I have ever seen.
= John Wick
The first time I heard someone tell me that John Wick was actually a really good movie, I laughed it off. I had basically mentally written off Keanu Reeves from my life. But I had multiple people whose opinions I trusted tell me that no, really, it is a good movie. So then I watched it. And you know what... John Wick is fucking good. Sometimes it is just really fun to watch one guy kill a bunch of people in increasingly outlandish and badass ways. The movie ostensibly has some ridiculous plot about killing dogs and revenge and The Continental Hotel and rules and whatnot, but the movie really is just about killing MFers. And Keanu is damn good at that. I can't tell you one specific thing about the movie really, but I can just say anytime I see it come across the TV, or on a flight, I have to put it on and imbibe some assassin creed shit.
= The Nice Guys
Gosling time again! In reality though, while Gosling is his usual fantastic self, it is Russell Crowe's bad-cop that makes the movie, especially his gradually endearing relationship with Gosling's daughter. The movie is at times needlessly confusing, but like almost all the movies on this list, plot isn't really all that meaningful unless it is straight up dumb (and even then, that didn't stop Love Actually). I never really cared about the big reveal that Amelia's mother was in on it. In reality, I just wanted an hour-long extended scene at the house party, full of Gosling's daughter chatting up whores, and Russell Crowe getting into fights and Gosling swimming in fish tanks. Gosling's shrieks get funnier each time, and I love the little small notes of Crowe's character, like him carrying up a case of Yoohoo to his apartment after Gosling's daughter offers him one. This was fully a plane movie, as it was one of the handful of movies Air Canada showed on its Embraer E175/190 jets that I took way too often from Toronto to New York, so I watched it in pieces a lot and was never not entertained. I'm usually not a guy who wants a sequel of things, but I wouldn't mind getting two more hours of Gosling, Crowe and Anguaray Rice (who plays the daughter, figure I should give the actress a shout-out at least once).
= Argo
I feel bad putting Argo here given it did win Best Picture for the 2012 movie season, but I don't think anyone considers this one of the better or best Best Picture winners ever. Also, I don't watch it because of its great filmmaking or acting or any of that stuff (for instance, why I watch Amadeus, which is too reputed to put on this list). I watch it because it is so damn entertaining. The whole scheme, the whole way Affleck's character sells it, the way Goodman and Arkin are so well cast and played, the way the various famous CIA agents are so good in their cameos (Cranston and Chandler). What makes the movie is the climactic, somewhat played up, ending with the guys in their plane taking off while the Iranian police try to track them down on the runway. For so many reasons, this should not work on repeated viewings. First, it is a contrived situation. Second, it is a true story so we know the hostages make it out of Iran (in reality, without much real fuss at the airport), and third because suspense scenes like this shouldn't really hold up. But this one does. I saw Argo in theaters, and was a bit surprised when it won Best Picture (I thought Django and Lincoln were both better), but overtime I've grown to love it.
= Pitch Perfect
Finally, my initial guilty pleasure movie. The first time I saw it was on my flight from New York to Johannesburg, the one that launched my Round the World Trip. This might be the most quietly entertaining films of the last decade. The entire movie is such an amazing joy. Each performance is great. The dynamic of the two 'seniors' on the team in Anna Camp and Brittany Snow are great. The girls that make up the Bellas are all so well put together, and while Rebel Wilson stole a lot of scenes, quietly so did Alexis Knapp (the slutty one), and Ester Dean (the lesbian). Kendrick is great as well, and her slow romance with Skyler Astin's Benjie is well played to give the movie some emotional weight. I never really bought the fake drama that the third act gave, but it did end up with two fantastic scenes, first the moonlight practice session where they finally let Anna Kendrick's ideas run wild, and then the final performance that was a damn good performance. Also, everything about that riff-off scene, down to it being the first time I heard 'No Diggity' was amazing. The sequel was mostly useless, but the original Pitch Perfect is one of the more rewatchable, entertainment-only movies I've seen in recent years.
