In-Flight Film Time: Miko Girl 巫女っちゃけん。(2018) Japanese

Alice Hirose, Taiki Yamaguchi, Megumi, Naoko Iijima, Lily Franky

Movie rating: 8/10     Neck score: A

This might not have been the best pick to watch on a plane. I'm not sure Japanese movies are in general. Well, certain genres, which this fits into, are not the best. They tend to be quiet and slow paced. Because of the noise of the plane, I really couldn't hear what they said half the time. I knew they said something though, because I had the subtitles, so at least I still knew what was going on. But I really could only hear people when they were upset and shouting, and then it was too loud because I kept turning it up trying to hear the tone of their voices as they said something. But, I liked the movie well enough in spite of that. I would have preferred to watch it without all the background noise that made it hard to hear though.

It is about a reluctant shine maiden who got into the business because her father is the chief priest. The shine is also losing money, and somehow her blase attitude makes her a scapegoat. She is constantly being "tutored" by the other maidens and priests which comes off a bit as bullying because of her dissatisfaction in her life in general. She is looking for a new job so she can quit working at the shrine, but she is blase about life in general and doesn't really have any dreams or ambition apart from getting away from the shrine. Then she finds a kid who is clearly lost/a runaway and she ends up caring for him as she is forced to take care of him.

In-Flight Film Time: Default 국가부도의 날 (2018) Korean

Kim Hye Soo, Yoo Ah In, Heo Jun Ho, Jo Woo Jin

Movie rating: 7/10     Neck score: A+

I'll admit that I chose to watch this one because from the tiny poster on the tiny plane screen, Kim Hye Soo looked like Soo Ae (who I love). Also, it had Yoo Ah In, so that was another plus. Basically the cast alone kept me watching. It's about the IMF Crisis in 1997 when Korea almost went bankrupt. We have the four major players: Kim Hye Soo who plays an analyst at the Bank of Korea who has predicted the crisis and been ignored for years and is finally getting heard. Yoo Ah In who is a bank teller for the Bank of Korea who has also predicted the crisis, but quits his job to instead make money off of the situation. Then we have Jo Woo Jin who plays the Vice-Minister of Finance who also wants to take advantage of the situation to reform the economy and take power. Then we have Heo Jun Ho, who is a factory owner who gets screwed over by the crisis and starts losing everything.

In-Flight Film Time: Big Brother 大師兄 (2018) Chinese

Donnie Yen, Joe Chen, Kang Yu, Jack Lok, Lin Qiunan

Movie rating: 6/10     Neck score: A

I knew what it would be before I started it, but my love for Donnie Yen made me watch it anyway. I would have probably preferred a movie with more fighting in it, but what fight scenes there were were definitely good. This movie is more about the schmaltz. It's 100% feel good and social commentary. It's about an unorthodox teacher who turns a class of loser misfits around and makes them care about life and want to try again the way that only an unorthodox teacher can. He's not only ex-military, he's also an ex-trouble maker and alumni from the school. He's basically the perfect problem solver. That's probably the schmaltziest part of the film, he manages to solve everyone's problems with his magic caring. Well, a lot of that is just talking through things and actually giving a darn, so it does make some sense, but it also is a bit too simple. There are of course difficulties. Bad decisions and consequences that lead to our teacher taking out a MMA champion to save a student (got to get a fight scene in somehow) and later a gang of thugs because of course some evil rich dude wants the school to close so they can make bank on a redevelopment scheme. But they also had to comment on the school system which drives students to give up caring or to commit suicide, so there was plenty of heaviness too.

In-flight Film Time: Intimate Strangers 완벽한 타인 (2018) Korean

Yu Hae Jin, Yum Jung Ah, Cho Jin Woong, Kim Ji Soo, Lee Seo  Jin, Song Ha Yoon, Yoon Kyung Ho

Movie rating: 8/10     Neck score: B

I had been meaning to watch this for a while. Not just because Epik High quoted it's poster for their recent concert series, or because it has Lee Seo Jin, one of my ahjussi loves, but because it has an all around stellar cast, and the premise was super intriguing and it promised to be completely messed up. So when I saw it as an option in my in-flight entertainment, I jumped right in.

It is about a group of best friends for 40 years and their spouses who decide to play a game at a dinner party where they have to reveal their hidden life on their phones. Essentially answering every call on speakerphone and reading every message and notification out loud. Naturally it was going to get messy and tear everyone's lives apart. Not only would cheating and lying be revealed, but true opinions about each other, and their deepest secrets they weren't ready to tell even their best of friends.

In Flight Films Fail... or Win?

I recently went on a trip to Northern Europe and flew with SAS Scandinavian Airlines.  It was a 9 hour flight from Chicago to Copenhagen on the way up and an 8.5 hour flight from Stockholm to Chicago on the way back.  Besides the long cramped flight time (and weird beans they made me eat for dinner on the way up- they put them in the salad and the main dish!  I think they were Lima Beans...) there was the problem with their movie selection.  I'm there for 9 hours, at least they should give me something good to watch!

Ok, I did enjoy watching Captain America 2 on the way up, but other than that the movie options were weird and the same both times.  You'd think that after two weeks they would have some new movie selections.  Nope, same weird collection of foreign films, including less than exciting American films that I had either no desire to see or had already seen.  Result: I ended up watching every Asian film on those flights.  Also, don't try to watch Grand Budapest Hotel on a flight, it just doesn't work even if you are interested in watching it.  Wes Anderson on a plane just isn't compelling enough.

Summary:  Chinese comedies which were hilarious with plenty eye rolling moments of ridiculousness and Japanese dramas that left me thinking either "wut?" or "hmmmmmmm.... k"  So here we go.  They were actually pretty good, not the worst thing that I watched, and some I would actually recommend.