F I L M clusively inhabited by baddies who love taking hostages. Lucky for El Capitan, a stone-cold assassin dude happened to be on his flight. Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter) was being extradited to America on a commercial airline, presumably because someone out there remembered the events of “Con Air.” He is accused of murder, which he admits, but does add that he has a whole different side to his story. That side is never presented. Thus, audiences are left with hoping that maybe he killed someone who deserved it, like an NFT trader or someone who writes mattress ads for podcasts. Brodie and Louis team up to free the passengers from the terrorists, and no one in the whole film gets to show any personality or say anything interesting ever. Seriously, all dialogue is hyper-functional. Your liver will implode if you take a shot every time someone asks Brodie if he’s OK during the last 20 minutes. At that point, he has been beaten, shot twice, and looks like Dwayne Johnson’s least favorite gym sock. No, he’s not OK. But it’s all anyone can ask because anything more would require having a character deeper than “Human man,” “Human woman,” or “Person of color who kills people.” Many people have laughed at the title for this film. “Plane” is, unquestionably, a profoundly stupid name. It is also all that was available. This script does not operate with adjectives. You cannot find a defining moment or characteristic. I tried to think of a better name while watching it, and I truly, genuinely couldn’t. Insofar as a movie’s title is supposed to reflect the film, it absolutely nails it. “Plane” is a lazy attempt to grab your attention that is too stupid to understand the problems it contains.
Grade: D 34
CUTTING ROOM by Ryan Syrek
It would always hurt to lose two important film figures who hailed from Nebraska. The fact that one entertained me since I was 10 years old (with “Willow”) makes it sting more. IMAGE: poster for Willow from Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox
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o film news this month, only gratitude for two local fellas no longer with us. I have no special insights about Mike Hill or Lew Hunter. I never met either. I do know lots of people who did. To a person, each man was spoken of with the kind of praise you can’t fake. One time, for a silly scavenger hunt we were doing, a dear friend persuaded Mike to let her take a picture holding his Oscar … while she was dressed as an Oscar. What a kind thing to indulge. I’ve heard how the Omaha Film Festival folks talk about Lew as a mentor. I’ve heard how people who heard Lew talk at OFF talk about Lew. What a kind man to donate his precious, limited time like that. I do know Mike and Lew by their work. For my 10th birthday, I was so excited to see “Willow,” which Mike edited. It blew my mind. I think “Apollo 13” is one of the
February 2023
most technically sound films I’ve ever watched. With “Frost/Nixon,” he turned a stuffy stage play about a political interview into a propulsive thriller. With apologies to his longtime collaborator Ron Howard, it wasn’t the directing that transformed that film into something special. It was Mike who found the perfect pace. He always did. I read Lew’s “Screenwriting 434” for the first time in college. Everyone I know who has ever wanted to write a movie has read it. You want a stat that will blow your mind: In 1998, nine of the top 10 highest-grossing films were written by former students of his. It’s one thing to create art. The ability to help others achieve that dream, to be the stone that splashes in the pond and ripples out into waves of other creation, that’s next level. Sure, we have some famous performers who would find purchase in a Mount Rushmore of Nebraska
movie icons. I would sincerely put Mike and Lew right up there. Legitimately, their influence is as substantial and colossal as any Cornhusker cinephile in history. I just wanted to share my space with their memories for a moment. I have this space only because I started loving movies around the time I saw “Willow.” I have it only because I learned to write around the time I read “Screenwriting 434.” Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Lew. You won’t be forgotten. Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on KVNO 90.7 on Wednesdays and follow him on Twitter @thereaderfilm.