A limited choice of in-flight flicks

I've been back a couple of days but just getting around to finding the time to update anyone who cares on my recent viewing -- which was solely limited to the round-trip flights.  With all the recent hoo-ha and disruption at Heathrow, I thought it might be best to avoid that airport completely and to travel with a small, all-business-class airline (MAXjet) out of Stanstead which worked out very well in terms of easy check-in and security.  Yes, it cost a few bob more, but in the present climate it was well worth it and an exercise I'd repeat.  The only problem from Pretty Pink's point of view was the rather pathetic choice of entertainment, although this probably is far more important to me that to any rational traveller.  One was presented with a device rather like a portable DVD player, but pre-programmed with a selection of films, TV programmes and music videos; there were perhaps 30-odd movies to choose from -- but most of them were elderly, not classics mind you, but a selection of popular fare from the last five years or so, nearly all of which I've seen (in some cases more than once).  However there were a very few recent films to watch -- in my case two outward and one back, as follows:

Inside Man (2006): Rather atypical fare from director Spike Lee in much the same way as his recent "25th Hour", since despite its co-starring Denzel Washington, this bank heist caper is not any sort of black diatribe.  He plays a police detective attempting to negotiate with bank robber Clive Owen who is holding a number of hostages, but who -- as it turns out -- is not there to rob the bank in the conventional sense.  Owen's hidden agenda becomes apparent in due course and his success in this mission is not without interest.  However, Jodie Foster, as a society busybody brought in by the bank president, is handed a rather underwritten and thankless role.

Firewall (2006):  Another caper movie tailored to the aging charms of Harrison Ford, who plays a bank security specialist forced to cooperate with Paul Bettany's band of baddies, if he wishes to save his wife and kiddies.  A little unnecessarily violent and designed to present Ford in the best possible action- hero light, the film is really only of interest for Bettany's unusual casting.  No prizes for guessing who wins out in the end.

The Sentinel (2006):  I find it rather amusing that Michael Douglas is beginning to be more and more like his old man in choosing "look-at-me-how manly-and-irresistible-I-am" roles.  In this film he plays a special security agent who once took a bullet for the president (much like Eastwood in "In the Line of Fire"), who is being framed for a plot to kill the current president.  The fact that he is having it off with the president's wife (Kim Basinger) doesn't help his case.  Agents Kiefer Sutherland and Eva Longoria come down hard on him initially, forcing him to flee to clear his name, but of course they are soon won round and help him expose the real culprit (who is so obviously the baddie that his unmasking comes as no surprise).

All three movies were watchable but disposable, and time-fillers rather than rattling entertainment.  The playing device did, I must confess, give a far better and controllable picture than the usual airline screen.  Now if they could only mesh that with Virgin's choice, I'd be a very happy bunny.