The wife and i rented Brothers lastnight... Save your money! I appreciate the fact that the movie *tried* to convey what a soldier goes through when they come home from war. But this movie was just a total waste of time. I've grown up in a military family and i have family and friends that are doing multiple tours in Iraq and some that are dealing with the nightmares and neverending paranoia that come with that occupation. I'm not sure what i was exspecting, but the movie sucked... and i give it a thumbs down...

Hey sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings Jason but most of what's coming out of "Hollywood" these days is crap and has been for years now. Only one in several dozen is worthy of being "entertaining". I still haven't figure out the reason, though I have my thoughts on it.

Cause:
Saturation- Due to increasingly cheaper and ever advancing technology anyone with the inclination can make a movie (or music even). That doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be any good. More and more movies are being made, more and more movies are being viewed. The marvel and level of uniqueness is being replaced by the lifeless, dullness of carbon copies. Fresh ideas are few and far between. "Hollywood" has resorted to thieving from other medias for its ideas: comic books, real life, they even cannibalize other movies.

Effect:
Desensitization- Due this saturation viewers have become desensitized to movies. Something that would have wowed viewers 20 years ago is met with disinterest today. Even to the point that if something great comes out it's unappreciated if it doesn't have CGI, explosions or some unrealistic hero kicking ass. Like the Roman gladiatorial games in the coliseum, the State had to think up new and interesting ways to murder people to keep the spectators interested. THAT is what is acceptable in the mainstream. THAT is what people pay to see. THAT is what the production companies think we want to see, so they keep making the stuff.



Take something that gives you pleasure: escapism through movies/music/reading/video games, companionship, alcohol, rich food, sex.
Abstain from it for a time, just long enough to stop missing it.
Then reintroduce it.
You'll look at it with different eyes and appreciate it with different values. Even if that means excepting the simple norms of it.
This is what I have had to do with movies.