CALL ME SNAKE

Last year, Julianne Moore starred in a movie called "The Forgotten." It's about a woman and man who are told after the disappearance of their children that those children never existed in the first place. "Flightplan," the new Jodie Foster vehicle I hope not to see, is evidently similar: Foster's son disappears during a commercial flight (should have gone first class) but no one other than her will admit the boy was ever on the flight. Call me old-fashioned but doesn't it seem weird that two movies would have such similar plots, especially when the plots themselves are beyond-the-pale ludicrous? How can you tell a mother that her son doesn't exist and expect her to believe it? Especially when she's traveling with a bag full of Lego blocks, along with other subtle hints such as all the frequent flier miles her son is racking up for the trip, even while he's safely tucked away in an overhead storage bin.

The same goes for the Moore story. You may forget your kid momentarily, and pull the occasional "Home Alone"--as in going to Europe and remembering him a few days later when you're thinking of who to send a postcard to--but you're not going to actually FORGET your kid, as in permanently blotting out his or her existence. That just won't wash. Which is why I forgot to see "The Forgotten" and will do my best to avoid "flightplan" as well. And if I do have a lapse and remember, please remind me to forget.