Thursday, 2nd October, 2008

Have you noticed that recently several books and news articles have been churned out listing things to do, places to visit, films to watch, etc. before you die? I do hope that for at least some of them you only have to do it once.

Taste seaweed soup. Tick.

My Film Picks

When I was 'restructured' (canned) back in February my initial reaction was to sit on the couch and watch movies on TV. After a week or two of this I began to actually enjoy finding movies that were so dreadful they were splendid, I even developed a rating system. I ranked them on plot holes; appalling acting; terrible scripts; cheesy props; backgrounds locations pretending to be something else, etc. Of course even though I tried not to I also sometimes stumbled across some really great movies that had been relegated to obscure TV channels too. So every now and then in this blog I will share my discoveries with you, whether you want me to or not.

Currently showing on the Diva Channel is Air Speed (1998) starring Elisha Cuthbert and Joe Mantegna, which is so bad it is exquisite. I strongly recommend watching this film if you find yourself in need a few really good laughs or better still invite some friends over and have a party. It is simply brilliant in its awfulness. If you wanted to make it a double feature it would team splendidly with Airport 77 (1977) starring Jack Lemmon, Olivia DeHavilland, James Stewart and Christopher Lee and a gazillion other major star names.

It happens that I know a fair amount about aircraft and airline procedures, which make it even more fun for me. My dad and two of my uncles worked in the industry, my sister still does. As a little girl I sometimes went to work with my dad or uncle and used to play in the hangers at Heathrow and Schiphol. I flew every class from first (which back then really meant FIRST) right down to sitting in a jump seat or in one of six or so seats in a cargo plane, once in the company of a cage full of monkeys which was novel albeit smelly, and another time watching a jet engine bouncing around in a sling at the front of the hold as we flew over the Alps.