Ryan's Currently Unnamed Blog

So, change of plans tonight and I ended up seeing Speilberg's Terminal tonight. While I thoroughly enjoyed the movie despite some moments when it got a bit slow, I think this may have had something to do with the fact that I haven't seen the trailer for it.

I came to the realization that the majority of the trailers we see before movies nowadays have to be some of the worst conceived pieces of advertising in recent memory. I'm not claiming that I could make them better, but who in their right mind would want to shell out $9 to see a thriller that exposes every single plot twist right in a trailer? How about a comedy that has the best one-liners and gags given away for free?

I have to wonder if Hollywood is merely blaming their decline at the box office on the much easier target of Piracy, rather then the product they are producing or the way they are selling it.

I'm not quite sure if I'm just getting old, I've seen too many movies, or Hollywood really is just pumping out more and more crap. With a few notable exceptions, I'd rarely leave a theater thinking, 'Wow, I really got my money's worth on that movie!'. Perhaps I'm just frugal in seeking discounts or matinees, but maybe... just maybe... this is the free market at work!

Anyway... waaaay off topic. Terminal. Good Movie. Paid a whole $6.50 for it, and it was definitely worth that! What I found most interesting about it was that the guys I went to see the movie with were happy to see that it wasn't made to be too 'Anti-American'. I didn't go into it thinking this guy was being held down by 'the man', but I did feel a twinge of dread on seeing the Department of Homeland Security Seal. For me, the movie peaked at the beginning... his initial 'processing' and the explanation of his situation. I can only imagine how very very frightening it would be to be striped of all of my rights, to be 'unacceptable'.

Lastly, the main theme for me was the perseverance of the Human Spirit. Its been an idea I've been working on (and I'm sure I'm not the first to come up with it) that in the face of adversity, people find a way to make it. Yeah, the guy was given a raw deal. He probably had SOME legal recourse he could have exercised in the 9 months that he was there, but he made the best of it, and he did pretty well for himself without resorting to panhandling or crime. What would he have done if every day the 'Field Commissioner' were to hand him a couple food vouchers every day? Would he have been motivated to pitch in and work hard and get ahead?

Phew... well.. I guess that's not bad for a first 'real' post. I'll get the hang of this soon enough!