Stupid Writers, Tricks Are for Kids!

My Dear Reader,

Sorry about missing last week's post; I've been in somewhat of a creative slump as of late. I suppose that's okay, however, because all of Hollywood seems to be in the same predicament.

I don't know, I guess I expected more after they came back from the writer's strike. I thought those writers would just have so many ideas backed up while they were standing in picket lines that great plots would be coming out of Hollywood as frequently as idiotic remarks come out of Vice President Biden. Please consider, if you will, the great artistic works that have come forth in recent months, the first two that came to my mind being Land of the Lost and Twilight*. Both movies were highly hyped, but ended up earning places in the Movie Hall of Shame. And both, come to think of it, weren't original stories, but rather adapted from books.

This idea the Hollywood has become unoriginal really hit home to me when I heard a discussion on NPR about how Disney Channel and Nickelodeon are carving a TV niche because they have the most original sitcoms in the business. That's kind of sad, isn't it? Sometime I feel like all of the today's sitcoms are just based off of a 90s sitcom that worked. It's been going on for a long time, but I thought that after the writer's strike, things would get better. I don't think they have, do you?

Sometimes I wonder if the writers tried to pull a fast one on us, thinking that we'd be so hard up for non-reality TV that we'd take anything they threw at us, especially if they distract us with some cool CGI sequences and a few dozen explosions. It's like they were offering stagnant swamp water to a man dying of thirst. Well, I'm not buying it anymore. Unless I buy the accompanying RiffTrax, which would make it all bearable.

And while you're at it, feel free to discuss the worst flops or greatest successes in TV or movies in recent memory in the comments. I dare you.

Regards, best wishes, and healthy debate,

-Cecily Jane

*Trust me on this one. Once you get over the fangirl frenzy, you too will realize that this move is worse than The Pumaman (though the special effects were surprisingly similar). The shot where the particular placement of a stuffed owl made Edward an angel made me belly-laugh for two full minutes. I don't think I could have made it through that movie alive without RiffTrax. And by the way, violently moody men who wear paste on their faces and break into your house to watch you sleep don't really do it for me. And shouldn't do it for anybody.