"Airplane!" is back in theaters 1/29 & 2/1

In case you hadn't heard, the 1980 comedy classic "Airplane!" will be re-released, 12 days from now, for two showings only.  Thousands of movie-goers will be laughing themselves silly on January 29th, at 1:30PM, and February 1st, at 7PM.

This announcement came out on Friday the 14th, so it's not a lot of notice. There might be another problem - it will play only in AMC theaters, so if you're interested, I hope you have one nearby. The official site has a complete list, by city if that helps.

God is not her co-pilot

But I must warn you: look at that list carefully, because some fool put every AMC within 20 miles of NYC into the "New York" listing. Hey, guys - no one in New York City is looking at times for the AMC Nassau Metroplex 10! Nor in New Brunswick, Port Chester, Stony Brook, or even East Hanover. They actually made it harder to find a theater for everyone in the Tri-State area.

For my part, I support this decision a lot. I actually liked (but didn't attend) the "Back to the Future" re-release last October - and that was timed for a DVD release! Why? You can't complain that the movie industry is grubbing for cash when they put out something that's pure quality. It's as simple as that.

Both "BttF" and "A!" have interesting stories, well-defined characters - they're as fun as can be. When films like that are in theaters, there's nothing to gripe about and giving up your cash is a fair deal for everyone. I wasn't interested in the "Dirty Dancing" re-release in '07, but I never forgot how much people loved that pic. It's not like every financial move is evil; just the cheap/insulting ones...

The choice is even better in this case - "Airplane" was released 31 years ago. The NYT wrote a great article about it last year. It also has a massive fan-base, crossing many age groups. It's absolutely certain that many people have hoped to see this on a large screen someday. It really is the way to see many movies, certainly the great ones.  So to Paramount and AMC, I can only say, "Thank you! You picked a great film." I'm supportive, even if I don't go to watch it...

If you've somehow missed it, please believe me: "Airplane!" really is one of the funniest experiences you'll have in your whole life. The style of humor is all over the place - slapstick abounds, but absurdist and surrealist jokes are there too. Best of all, it's often terribly silly. That's why you'll walk out of the theater feeling lighter than when you entered.