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"Say no more! One ticket to Plane, please."

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

It is weird how Plane felt refreshing just for being a non-franchise, non-superhero movie that aimed strictly to entertain. It also has a decent sense of humor (Butler's phone call with customer service, the viral video featuring Butler, Tony Goldwyn's verbal evisceration of the airline bean counter bureaucrat, Colter's bemusement when Butler is surprised he didn't run away).

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I would not have predicted in the late '90s that the director of Ma 6-T va crack-er (an effective piece of violent agitprop) would go on to direct made-for-cable action thrillers, but here we are.

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

Career trajectories are fun that way. I would love to travel back in time and tell adolescent me that the guy who rapped "Cop Killer" would spend over 20 years playing a cop on a wildly popular mainstream TV show or that Marky Mark would become a respected, Oscar-nominated thespian.

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Keith: “(Kissing Booth star Joel Courtney)”

Me: “What? Who?”

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Hey, I had to look it up. But I knew it would be a familiar face to others, if not to me. He's also the star of SUPER 8. Should have mentioned that one, too.

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Okay, that one I remember!

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This is a double-bill that's so far up my street, I might have to take out a restraining order. I don't know where that sweet spot is where not-quite-prime Cannon, Peter Hyams-era Van Damme, and early 90s Pierce Brosnan junktaculars intersect, but Butler's apparent dedication to finding it is most laudable.

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Yeah, I saw PLANE on discount Tuesday at the Regal, used my Crown Club points to get a popcorn with an upgrade, and yukked it up among the dozen or two other people in attendance. That's what it's all about, you know?

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"It’s about a reliable hunk of metal that’s gotten passengers from one place to another for years and still holds up, however beaten-down and ungainly it appears to be."

This is also an excellent description of Gerard Butler himself! You know, I kinda like Gerard Butler. I actually saw 300 in NYC on an IMAX screen, and I absolutely loved the absolute sausage party it was. And nobody can vomit into a gas tank like Gerard Butler (if you don't know what I'm referring to, it is that masterpiece Gamer -- actually, I kinda like that movie, too). I think Gerard's low point was P.S. I Love You. Why in the world did I watch that movie? God only knows. (Which reminds me, I also really enjoyed Fatale, another terrible but fun film.)

Regardless, I'm really looking forward to Plane now!

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I might not have taken notice of this if I hadn't seen the trailers for "Dog" and "Ambulance" back to back, but these one word titles that describe the movie in such a super blunt, unimaginative fashion have been giving me a chuckle. If we allow an additional word "Cocaine Bear" fits the mold nicely as well.

And agreed about being dissapointed that it's so hard to find decent, if unambitious, action films these days. You'd think they would be the bread and butter of streaming services given how popular they always were on cable.

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