Vacation viewing part I: 'Barry Lyndon', 'Easy Money' and 'This Is It'

Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson in Barry Lyndon

If you follow me on social media you probably know by now that I have been painting the ye olde town of Europe low these last several days.

But that hasn't stopped your intrepid frustrated wannabe film critic from consuming mass quantities of movies during my downtime.

Cough, cough. You're welcome.

My gorgeous editor Liz Rosado and I have been traversing France and Holland -- taking in all the tourist attractions and gorging ourselves with local food -- all hail crepes and stroopwafels. But I digress.

On our plane flight in and during our evening rest-our-feet portion of the day, we've been watching movies I've brought along on DVD. Here are the highlights:

Barry Lyndon (1975) - Liz recently came to the conclusion that although none of his films would necessarily make her all time top 10, that Stanley Kubrick may be her favorite movie director.

Pleased, I suggested we should check out his sumptuous but challenging period film. Probably the most overlooked work of Kubrick's classic era (from Dr. Strangelove to Eyes Wide Shut), this film definitely takes it time and can be too detached for a lot of viewers -- yet like most Kubrick movies I like it more every time I see it.

It's more epic than just the story of a relentless social climber, it has this timeless resonance -- and something pretty profound to say about how human beings react to slights and hold lifelong grudges, and most importantly perhaps, how our chickens come home to roost inevitably.

The film was also the culmination of years of research into an aborted Napoleon project that might have starred Jack Nicholson. Although it's a shame Hollywood deprived us of that would-be masterpiece, it's incredible how much Barry Lyndon stands out thanks to its incredible detailed decor, costuming and overall aesthetic. For example, real candles light certain scenes giving them a real immediacy that has never been matched in any other period drama.

Easy Money (1983) - It's probably hard to believe now but there was a time when the late, great Rodney Dangerfield was a bonafide movie star who had vehicles built around him.

Nowadays I can't imagine how a one-liner spouting comic in his early 60s could be such a crossover draw, but Dangefield had this incredible ability to connect that made him a once in a lifetime event. Only Larry David is comparable in terms of playing lovable louts whose bawdiness is endearing to audiences.

Caddyshack and Back to School are better films than this one, but I just love watching Rodney be Rodney, cracking wise and navigating a totally convoluted plot (which kicks in very late) where he must give up all his vices in order to win a sizable inheritance.

It's the kind of movie Adam Sandler would make now but devoid of laughs. Dangerfield instead always conveyed a lot of heart behind his antics, which is why he really worked as an unconventional movie star. Also Joe Pesci is invaluable as his sidekick.

Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) - This stunning concert documentary still generates a lot of controversy. Was it just an obscene money grab? Was that really Jackson we always were watching on screen? Who knows...

What I do know is this: this film is a breathtaking tribute to the King of Pop's boundless talent and charm, which were clearly intact right up until the moment he died. This incredibly candid look at his creative process is wildly entertaining and deeply moving.

Both this film and Spike Lee's wonderful documentary Bad25 had me in tears -- because you really walk away from each movie with a sense of how tragic the loss of this iconic performer truly was.

Michael Jackson in This Is It

If you can get past the heavily criticized opening where dancers gush over getting signed to perform on Jackson's ill-fated This Is It tour (which the movie documents), you're in for some unforgettable footage of mind-blowing dance moves, powerful singing and unparalleled eccentricity.

This Is It (and also Bad25) succeed in part because they don't sidestep the fact that Jackson could be and was quite weird, and clearly sometimes his perfectionism can come off as childish and entitled, but the end result almost always justifies his means.

We'll never know if the King of Pop could have pulled off those 50 concerts he had scheduled but the movie does an effective job of making us wish we could have found out.