Belated Friday five.

I'm not sure why I'd never thought of getting a DVD player for long plane rides before this summer, other than the fact that usually the only people who have DVD players instead of laptops to watch movies on planes are 5-year olds watching Dora the Explorer. But earlier this year I learned that a decent DVD player with a 3-hour battery is fairly inexpensive, and a 2.5-hour backup battery is reasonable as well. Much cheaper than a laptop, anyway.

And OH MY GOD did this sucker save my life on the 10-hour 3-flight journey to Puerto Rico in July, so I took it along on my flight to New Orleans so that I could catch up on Netflix. The sound quality of my cheap DVD player is fine, but the earplug quality is not, so the two movies I watched on the flights were foreign with subtitles. It worked out great. (Mind you, I've been on an Oscar nominated foreign film kick lately.)

And with that I bring you five entertainment items that got me through Oakland-New Orleans-Oakland round trip, including avoiding crappy hotel TV Wednesday and Thursday nights, in the approximate order consumed:

• Into the Wild. I ran across this at the airport Tuesday morning, purchased it on a whim, read most of it in about two hours and finished it on the New Orleans-Houston leg this morning. It was especially timely because of my friend who just hiked the PCT, but overall it was really well written, engaging and heartbreaking and I want to read all of his other books immediately. I hope to catch a matinée of the movie next weekend to see how they've destroyed the book. (Just kidding. Sorta. At least Ed Vedder did all the music for the movie.)
  
• After the Wedding. Holy cow. What a fantabulous movie. I don't use that word often, usually only when I'm singing along to Moondance, actually... But the plot was engaging in its innocent but manipulative way, and each and every one of the actors were phenomenal. More Danish movies, please!
  
• The Number 23. Interesting enough while you were watching it, I didn't see the end coming, but otherwise fairly forgettable.
  
• The Lives of Others. Again, holy cow. It's quite a sleeper but it's no wonder that it won an Oscar. The extras are also worth watching, even if you're not stuck on a plane trying to kill yet another hour - they talk about the great attention the writers and directors paid to ensure authenticity. I always appreciate extra effort to detail and this movie is not at all lacking in that arena.
  
• Sky Mall. I've sung its praises before, and I'll do it again. Really, now, who amongst us hasn't yearned for a radio rodent or adult footie pajamas or a wireless backup camera? The list goes on and on.
  

New Orleans photos and food reviews coming soon. Well, soonish.