ETPC

last night's movie was Con Air (1997)! and it was overwhelming to say the least! i watched this one with my buddy Dan while we ate pizza, wings and had energy drinks and oh my god. it was an experience. first of all, the entire movie feels like it's on 1.5x speed despite being almost 2 hours long, which is a hallmark of Cocaine Cinema classics like Any Given Sunday. the acting is incredible in that everyone is competing to chew on as much scenery as possible and some of the characters are genuinely amazing in how unhinged they are. you ever wanted Nicolas Cage with the worst southern accent and looking like a mix of Jesus Christ and a roadie for Alice in Chains? this is the movie for you! how about John Cusack playing a Dostoevsky-quoting sociologist US Marshal? you got it! John Malkovich as Basically Kane From Command And Conquer With Swears? yup! Steve Buscemi as one of the greatest serial murders of our time who talks about the definition of irony and sings gospel songs? of course! everything about this movie is completely feral. the music feels like it's missing half the tracks and is mixed SO loudly at times. the pacing is fun but the mood feels like someone has their hand on the dial and is just constantly rolling it back and forth. what i'm saying is this movie is incredible. it's so maximalist and tongue in cheek in a very 90's way that it feels like you can't do at this scale anymore. not to turn this into an attack on modern blockbuster cinema, but it's very easy to imagine a version where this movie is ruined by people constantly going "well THAT just happened." instead of everyone just completely and utterly believing in and no-selling their bullshit. it's honestly so refreshing! the action is also completely dialed up to 11 and it very much operates on "it explodes if we say so" logic, which is always welcomed. the setup for Con Air is that Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) has returned home to Alabama after a tour in the Rangers during Operation Desert Storm and meets his pregnant wife Tricia at her work place, much to her joy. three customers keep harassing Tricia and Cameron during their reunion, but Cameron keeps his cool much to Tricia's joy. the couple leaves the bar during a rainstorm and returns to their car only for the three customers to emerge from the darkness and threaten Tricia. after being thrown to the ground and attacked, Cameron snaps and accidentally kills one of the men. he is brought in for involuntary manslaughter but refuses to admit guilt in the court and get a lighter sentence, who takes into account his Ranger training and sentences him to an eight year prison term. time passes as Cameron keeps in touch with his wife and new-born daughter while educating himself and staying out of trouble, acting as the model prisoner. he makes friends inside, with one friend in particular being a diabetic prisoner named Mike 'Baby-O' O-Dell (Mykelti Williamson) and never causes trouble while waiting for his time to be up, when eventually he is granted parole on the day of his daughter's birthday. Cameron is scheduled to be taken from the prison back home via the prisoner transport aircraft Jailbird. on the way up along with O-Dell, Mike complains about missing his insulin shot at which point the bus guard Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin) informs he will be given his shot on board the plane. during this, Sally and Cameron converse about his incoming freedom and Sally instructs him that his daughter is a great way to keep on the straight and narrow. soon, they arrive at the airfield along with a bunch of other, much more violent criminals. airborne jail heist hijinks ensue. i will say this probably does require a CW for attempted sexual assault, but nothing happens in the movie in that regard as Cameron saves the day in both instances. there's also a fair amount of 90's racism and casual use of slurs. other then that, i highly recommend this incredible movie if you want to be so overstimulated that you need to go directly to sleep after.