Blockbuster Movies

As a general rule, I don’t rush out and see the highly-anticipated movies the first weekend they’re released. Far too often over the years, I’ve found that the more a movie is hyped, the less impressed I am with it when I finally see it. There are some “blockbuster” movies that I’ve enjoyed a lot, but I prefer to see the independent movies that have a small budget and don’t necessarily have famous actors. What makes any movie great is an original story, fantastic writing, and top-notch acting. A huge budget and mind-blowing special effects don't necessarily make a movie into a classic. Isn’t it curious that most of the movies that we hear about these days are either sequels to popular movies, or remakes of older movies, or remakes of stage musicals… Not that they can’t end up being wonderful, entertaining movies, but why do so many producers and directors take the easy route? Take more chances on unknown script writers and actors. Give us more original ideas. Give intelligent viewers a reason to really get excited about seeing new films!

Overcrowding

Our world is shrinking. Well, I suppose it isn’t physically shrinking, but it sure feels that way sometimes. There are more and more cars sharing the same roads, city planners are cramming new buildings into cities all the time, and the cities themselves are sprawling further outside of their borders. One place in particular that I’ve really noticed the overcrowding is at my office building. They recently reconstructed the cubicles in my area so they could squeeze more cubicles into the same space. They continually put shelves and filing cabinets and photocopiers in places that used to be walkways. There are days when I need to walk to the other end of our building for classes or meetings, and the hallways have become painfully narrow! Two people can not comfortably walk side-by-side and have a conversation. That’s the case in a lot of offices these days, and as we know, our world’s population is not about to plateau anytime soon. Enjoy the valuable wide open spaces and wilderness areas that we still have left in this bulging world. I hope they’ll be around for a long, long time!