Heathrow Hell: Movies to Make You Love a Layover

Gary Lee/UPPA/ZUMAPress.com

Question: When you've been up all night at a high school-themed rave on the outskirts of London with Daily 10 superproducer and nonstop dance machine Jennie Albano, and you find out your flight is delayed eight hours, what do you do?

Eight hours to kill in Heathrow is kind of the definition of wackness, so I decided to whip out the laptop and watch some films. Here are the movies that saved me: 

Stripes
This Bill Murray and Harold Ramis comedy classic not only has endured the test of time. but like a fine wine, it gets better with age. It came out at the perfect moment. Following on the heels of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Full Metal Jacket, Stripes approaches war from a slightly different perspective. I’ll say! Murray's dry delivery is so dead on, and Ramis reminds you that he's, of course, much more than that dude from Ghostbusters or Seth Rogen's father in Knocked Up. If you've never seen Stripes, drop everything and watch it, and if you have seen it, like 57 times or so as I have, give it another run...

The Last King of Scotland
Switching gears completely, I lost myself in not only the performance of a lifetime from Forest Whitaker but was once again mesmerized by both James McAvoy and Kerry Washington.

I've seen the film four or five times now, and it gets better and better each time around. With LKS, repeated viewings reveal subtle nuances in the film that really make an impact (Idi Amin playing soccer with a brand-new ball and track suit, only minutes after we've seen children in a shantytown using garbage as a ball).  For a small-budget movie, the attention to detail and historical accuracy is astounding. 

Broken English
I know this one is in theaters right now in a limited release, but folks, this is one of the perks of the job. Oftentimes I'll get screeners of the smaller movies, meaning they'll send me a DVD of the film to check it out, because in a packed summer season of huge, huge flicks, they need to do everything they can to get their tiny, independent passionate project seen and in the public's awareness.  

This one's pretty darn good too. It stars all-around cool girl Parker Posey and hottie Drea de Matteo as her best friend in a slightly dark relationship story about a woman trying to find herself and find love. The flick is directed by Zoe Cassavetes, the daughter of famed actor-director John Cassavetes and Broken English star Gena Rowlands, and Zoe did her folks proud. I hope Broken English survives the blockbuster-clogged summer season and finds the audience it deserves. 

Well, after three flicks, a quick power nap and a little duty-free shopping (the D10 staff loves Smarties and anything Cadbury), I'm finally ready to board the plane and head home. See you guys when I'm back stateside...peace!