Crying the friendly skies

My recent vacation reminded me that one of the (very) small joys remaining in air travel is seatback entertainment. 

Of course I can (and do) download content on my own devices to watch on the plane, but over the years, when subjected to the whims of airline programmers, I’ve discovered many gems that have not only helped me pass tedious hours in the air, but introduced me to performers and creators whose careers I’ve since followed. 

On past trips, hours flew by (pun intended) while watching political satire In the Loop, which led me to creator Armando Iannucci’s British TV precursor, The Thick of It, in which Peter Cipaldi weaves a tapestry of profanity that was unparalleled until Iannucci’s brilliant White House comedy Veep. 

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British series The Split entertained me for hours on a previous overseas flight. It features the peerless Nicola Walker as a high-powered lawyer whose sensational cases are rivalled by her family drama. And I’m eagerly awaiting future work from Geremy Jasper after adoring Patti Cake$, his surprisingly sweet film about an aspiring female rapper (the amazing Australian actor Danielle MacDonald). 

You don’t want to waste a wide-screen experience on a scratchy, minuscule viewing window, so the plane is also a good place to watch those movies you’d never go to the theatre to see. Any film snobbery goes out the window (not literally, of course), leading to such lowered-bar favourites as Keanu, The Heat and, yes, animated classic Boss Baby. 

And is it just me, or are things more moving at 30,000 feet? Admittedly, I’m not a good judge, since I cry easily (lest you think I’m exaggerating, know that I sobbed during the remake of Bad News Bears) but I don’t think the ending of Boss Baby would have made me well up at sea level. Maybe it’s akin to the way I always want tomato juice on a plane — being in the air seems to alter my brain chemistry. 

I did not discover anything wonderful on my latest flight (I’m not sure how Air Canada thinks there’s a wide audience for episodes 4 through 7 of … And Just Like That), but Sandra Bullock’s silly rom-com-adventure The Lost City proved to be perfect plane fare. And I only cried once.

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What’s up this week

Festival season is well and truly underway, as the traffic flooding up Highway 10 to Dauphin this weekend should prove. The lineup for Countryfest (July 1-3) at the city’s Selo Ukrainia site features a who’s who of Canadian artists including the Reklaws, Terri Clark, Dallas Smith, Don Amero, Johnny Reid, Paul Brandt, Dean Brody and more. Tickets ($279 for the full weekend, $99 for day passes) are available here. More info available at countryfest.ca.

Arts reporter Alan Small previewed the festival and he’s already on his way to Dauphin to cover the event for us, so watch for his articles on winnipegfreepress.com over the weekend. 

Canadian comedian Russell Peters brings his Act Your Age world tour to the Canada Life Centre on Monday at 8 p.m. One of the most successful standup acts in the world, the Peabody- and Emmy-winning performer lives in Los Angeles these days, but he’s back home to take his show on the road this summer. Tickets are $60-$134 at Ticketmaster.ca. 

A fan of fireworks on July 1? Head to the Assiniboia Downs, 3975 Portage Ave., where the Canada Day festivities run from 1 to 11 p.m. and include an explosive display from CanFire Pyrotechnics. Events include a range of activities for kids, local artisans and makers offering up their wares, a beer garden and food trucks. Live music kicks off right at 1 p.m. with a lineup headlined by Hawksley Workman. Tickets are $10 at the gate or in advance here. Parking is $5. 

Free Press reporter Kevin Rollason wrote earlier this week about other events planned for Canada Day, including family-friendly events at The Forks and Assiniboine Park, a march in support of access to abortion, and an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “most people performing a drum roll online simultaneously.” Read about those events here.  

For more events happening around Winnipeg, see our weekly What’s Up roundup here.

Recommended 

Television: If, like me, you’re feeling peeved that you had to subscribe to AMC+ just to watch Better Call Saul, here’s another show on the streamer to make it worth the cash: This Is Going To Hurt is a bitterly amusing medical drama based on the memoir of the same name by Adam Kay. It follows Dr. Adam Kay, an exhausted young ob-gyn registrar (Ben Whishaw, beautifully sensitive and sarcastic) through the daily trials of an overstretched ward of a National Health Service hospital, where everyone is overworked and the place is understaffed. It’s brutally realistic, sometimes traumatic and very funny (the real Kay gave up medicine and is a popular performer at the Edinburgh Fringe).

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