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Barry Jenkins Deserves an Oscar for These 'Notting Hill' Plane Tweets

The 'Moonlight' director took us on an emotional rollercoaster that included Rick Ross, comparisons to antique lamps, Twitter polls, and Woodford Reserve​ bourbon.
Screencaps by the author

Notting Hill is one of those rom-coms from the 90s that makes you believe you're just one meet-cute away from romantic bliss, instead of hopelessly Tindering your way through your 20s. To be honest, Hugh Grant probably ruined love for all of us with his sad basset hound eyes longing after Julia Roberts (who essentially plays herself) in the 1999 classic.

Really, there's just one thing that could make Notting Hill better, and that's Academy Award–winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins live-tweeting the whole thing on a plane. On Wednesday, that's exactly what happened: From his flight to LAX, the Moonlight director apparently enjoyed the film without sound as a passenger watched next to him—the way some of us prefer our movies. What followed was an emotional rollercoaster of commentary that included Rick Ross, comparisons to antique lamps, Twitter polls, and Woodford Reserve bourbon—and is just about as entertaining as the rom-com itself. See below:

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He means this dude, who is a legend:

To be more specific, Grant's character owns a travel bookstore. But hey, it wouldn't be a rom-com without someone working as a baker or something and living in a multi-million dollar apartment so…

We've all been there, Barry. Generally, watching a movie over someone's shoulder on a plane is the best, but, yes, creeping during the sex scenes feels kind of like watching the dirty parts of a movie with your parents.

Bravo, Barry Jenkins. This is some next-level critical analysis. If you feel like drinking bourbon and watching rom-coms for VICE sometime, you know where to find us.

Follow Kara Weisenstein on Twitter.