They Call Me Trinity (1970)

I mentioned in my last review of a spaghetti western that it came close to comedy. Now I've seen one that actually has comedy among its genres listed on IMDb and Wikipedia.

The title character (Terence Hill), who's never called by any name except in the first scene, wanders into a town where his brother, Bambino (Bud Spencer), happens to be impersonating a sheriff while waiting to reunite with a fugitive gang. Bambino resents Trinity's laziness and proclivity to fights, but he'll take what help he can get to settle a conflict involving pacifistic Mormon settlers (who seem more like Amish to me), a land-grabbing major (Farley Granger), and some Mexican bandits out to take undue advantage of hospitality.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

For my other full viewing on a plane lately, I selected another spectacle, this one depending much more on audio, which thankfully was not defective this time. I had heard mixed reviews, but the high praise from some individuals who dis a lot of today's blockbusters got me curious.

The story follows P.T. Barnum, starting in childhood but quickly moving to young adulthood (when he's played by Hugh Jackman). Unsatisfied with a lower-class life, perhaps especially after marrying former rich girl Charity (Michelle Williams) and having two daughters with her, he takes great risks to seek success in the entertainment field. When his wax museum flops, he launches a freak show that becomes apparently the first example of what leaps to mind when we hear "circus" outside depictions of ancient Rome. Its tawdry nature makes it controversial even at the time, so he has to try harder to gain the respect afforded aristocrats.

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

My plane headset had a bad case of feedback, so I missed at least a third of the dialog herein. I almost opted on that basis not to review the movie. But I had chosen it partly because I suspected that it was the kind of spectacle that didn't count on viewers paying close attention to dialog. Besides, for anything important I missed, I could (and did) check a synopsis later. Which confirmed my suspicions.

By the mid-26th century, technology has greatly advanced, not least for cyborgs, but if you're living in Iron City rather than the floating metropolis of Zalem, things look rather gritty. It is in the former location that a nearly dead cyborg who doesn't remember her name (Rosa Salazar) finds her human brain in a mostly new body thanks to scrap-hunting engineer Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz), who calls her Alita in honor of his departed daughter. As Alita seeks an identity—not necessarily her old one—she discovers her knack for fighting as well as a few good contexts for her to do so, from joining the aggressive motorball races to hunting criminal cyborgs. But she still has some key things to learn, including what her incipient boyfriend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), has gotten himself mixed up in....

Take Shelter (2011)

Although IMDb lists horror among the genres of this picture, it's more of a psychological thriller. There is little violence, and nobody dies, tho that doesn't prevent a horror classification. The R rating appears to be entirely for swearing. Still, it at least hints at horrific premises. An immediate sequel, if there were one, might just delve into them.

Ohio construction worker Curtis (Michael Shannon) is under a lot of stress lately. He keeps getting nightmares that produce rare physical symptoms, perhaps as a result of inordinate fear. These dreams are consistent enough in theme -- a storm provoking maniacally hostile behavior in people and animals -- that he starts to take them as prophecy. Moreover, when awake, he keeps sensing signs of an intense if not bizarre imminent storm that nobody else senses. Not daring to ignore these, he seeks to expand an old storm shelter. In doing so, he defies employer rules, financial wisdom, and the convention of being honest and candid with one's wife, in this case Samantha (Jessica Chastain).