‘Raw-dogging' a flight? I can't think of anything worse
Faced with a 15-hour flight, as I was last week, I decided to treat it as an opportunity to catch up on a few recent movies.
Stupidly selecting a seat right near the noisy galley and a crew of flight attendants who chatted all night, my only compensation for lack of sleep was the movie marathon.
I'd missed most of the Oscar contenders this year, so it was a treat to lie back and immerse myself in the best of filmmaking, even if the screen and sound weren't optimum.
The silver lining for me on every flight, particularly on those airlines with a good selection of movies, including art-house and international productions, is the entertainment.
If there's anything to look forward to on a long flight (apart from the destination at the end of it) it's the chance to hunker down and tune in to films I've missed during the year.
It's not really the way directors want us to see their work, but if I like a movie, I rewatch it afterwards on a larger screen.
Often, I've loved a film on the plane, only to really dislike it when on the ground – there's evidence flying heightens your emotions, skewing normal judgment.
I judge the length of flights by how many movies (and some TV series) I can squeeze in. The trip to Johannesburg from Sydney looked like it might be a five or six-movie flight.
I'd also brought along a thick book to read, Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz, who wrote Foyle's War for TV. (If you're looking for a brilliant writer, he's highly recommended, and there are eight of his crime novels to enjoy.)
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