Is entertainment going downhill?

[wxcrazytwo]

Wow, I mentioned XXX and everyting blew up, of course no pun intended...

[azskyman]

I'm not a prude, and I've been around so many years that the shock value of just about anything left to see, hear, and discuss is approaching zero.

But I'm with you Ducky on the audio-visual level.

We went and saw Bill Murray's Broken Flowers last weekend. A kind of artsy slow-moving film with a few redeeming features. Bill Murray was not one of them this time around.

But in the film, there is a scene of full frontal nudity of a young actress (surely she must be 18+ but was playing a role of perhaps 16 or so). Now, it did get our attention (and Bill Murray's too), but quite honestly it added little if anything to the value of the film. I guess it is a new line that has now been crossed (and probably has before). Next it will go from being 3 seconds to 10. And then...

In and of itself, I've always thought that in film that the most provacative stories and scenes didn't need all the active parts exposed....and when they are, it makes me a bit uncomfortable in a public theater. This time was no different.

Whether it is the special effects in Star Wars or the antics of a sixteen-year old girl as in this movie, we have gone overboard with the visual...and the audio, in an effort to convey some sort of message.

I think I could make a very good, somewhat intelluctual movie with a load of real drama without using the f word (or worse), without showing nudity, without extended sexual scenes, without graphic violence, and without giving up a plot that could hold an audience in their seats for the entire two hours. You with me Duck?

Fluff comes in a lot of shapes and colors and fleshtones and movements and sounds these days. I like to be entertained as well as the next person.

But I prefer a good storyline to skin at this stage. Maybe that's because I see too much of my own affected by gravity these days.

Incidentally, we watched Spanglish recently on PPV. Not the perfect story....but I was impressed with it in general.

And in the end, the beautiful woman did not end up in bed with Adam Sandler.

[Miss Mary]

Thanks Steve, for that movie review, even if indirectly. I've watched a few too many strange movies lately that I just say no to current Bill Murray movies (Lost in Translation) and the most recent, the Aviator (not a Bill M. movie though). Jim wanted to rent Life Aquatic recently. Now I browse the Internet Movie Database before heading up to Blockbuster or buying one on PPV. That's another strange Bill Murray movie apparently. And I really like him as an actor! Dang......

Back to the discussion at hand....

Mary