Cinema

Oh, yeah, ran into some friends at the movies.

Nothing all that consequential.  I've kind of judged what movies I would pay money to see by their television commercials.  If there are several commercials over time and they only show one or at most two different scenes, it seems to me if there are only two highlights in a film worth promoting, it might not be worth seeing. On the other hand, if you see a commercial for a particular movie several times, and each of them is different or there are very few repetitions, chances are there is a lot going on in that movie and it might be worth seeing.  That theory proved out the other night when I went to see "The Heat."  I don't remember seeing such a fast-paced movie with so many scenes one right after the other that drew laugh after laugh.  Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock are hilarious playing off each other, with original dialog and one humorous situation and outcome following another. And true to that movie I would guess I saw TV commercials with at least half a dozen different scenes highlighted.  And, after seeing the movie it looks like they had a hard time picking only half a dozen. I think I can safely stick to my theory.

For the record, only one person was given a writing credit.  Her name is Katie Dippold and among other things she has been a writer and producer of the "Parks and Recreation" and "MADtv" shows. Here is her Wikipedia entry.

Someone to watch, I think.

Moving on, I have been marveling (no pun intended, really) at the change in science fiction movies in recent years. Remember when futuristic movies took place in exotic science-fictitious locations with floating homes and hover craft and food delivered at the push of a button, where the society lived with all kinds of marvelous technological advances even though there would be drama and strife? Today, that has changed and most of the futuristic movies project a post-apocalyptic world where buildings are skeletons of steel, wrecked cars are the mode of transportation (usually with no explanation for where the gasoline comes from) and people wearing tatters and searching for food (though, again, they usually have enough ammunition to fight whoever the bad guys are)  And another note about those cars, how about how fast people travel on foot, New York City to northern New England, Massachusetts to Charlestown  South Carolina, or Northeast Coast to Texas all in just a couple of days and with no apparent change in foliage or climate.

How did we get from a future so bright we’d have to wear shades to a world desolated by universal war or alien invasion?  Are we still an optimistic society?