Erin and I watch a lot of movies.  We used to watch them on a regular basis, mostly movies that one or the other had that the other hadn’t seen yet, or one of many movies that were burned and living on a spool that once belonged to a smaller stack of blank DVDs.  Mostly 80’s cheese and slasher flicks (Basket Case, Scanners, Maniac and the like), some exploitation (I Spit On Your Grave and Cannibal Holocaust to name a couple), a couple of art and weird movies (Susperia and Eraserhead on that list) and a few really “bad” movies (like the Peter Jackson’s cleverly named Bad Taste).  But we quit watching them for a while, what with moving, running errands and doing other things.

My family keeps wanting to push the Red Box on us, which isn’t a bad deal, really.  A buck or two (or whatever it is to rent them) is an awesome deal for renting a new release movie.  The main reason we do not do this though, is because the Red Box packs itself with high budget Hollywood blockbuster crap.  Just movies that have a face actor in it that are usually painfully predictable with overused plots and characters and use CGI waaaaay more than is ever necessary.  While Erin and I do go to the movies somewhat frequently (just last night seeing the newest Shrek film at the IMAX), Erin and I simply just don’t like watching this Hollywood garbage.

To me, movies need to push the envelope in some way.  They need to not only think outside the box, but go so far outside it sometimes that Michael Jordon couldn’t hit a jump shot from the distance created.  I expect to see art, and Hollywood has certainly forgotten what that was a long time ago.  Do I expect my parents to know what true art really is?  No.  Do I expect them to appreciate films made by true artists?  No.

“But Justin, if they keep renting that Hollywood spoon-fed garbage, won’t that just make Hollywood even stronger and more of a monster, making it nearly impossible for the independent film maker to get their work seen outside of their parent’s living room?”  The sad truth is, yes.  But without Hollywood, and without people who want to be spoon fed their entertainment, there wouldn’t be a scene for those of us who enjoy true art made by true artists.

My favorite movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera is one of those films, made by some of those people.  Truly an original work of art, the major studios didn’t even know how to promote it.  It takes the viewer on a wonderful journey that’s not quite drama, comedy, horror, or action flick.  The characters are insanely unique and the plot is beyond original (though it was ripped off recently, we will not get into that).  It’s a wonderful movie enjoyed by a ton of truly devoted fans, something most Hollywood cockbusters don’t experience.

And that’s why I love Hollywood.  As long as it’s around, there will still be this group of kids like myself who appreciate that which is true art.  There will still be renegades, true artists, guerilla filmmakers and visionaries who will get their work seen one way or the other through passion, something Hollywood waved bye bye to a long time ago.

Either way, Erin and I continue to stare at this spool of unwatched movies.  A lot of them suck in quality because they were simply downloaded and burned, not mixed correctly or displayed in the intended format.  Therefore, we weren’t seeing a lot of stuff or hearing a lot of what was being said.  I took it upon myself to get Netflix for the Wii.

We chose Netflix because there are a TON of awesome independent films, foreign films, documentaries, horror and splatter films (not to mention a ton of Troma work).  We got our disc in the mail today to get started and we decided to watch a couple of episodes of the Office season 2…18 episodes later, we’re only 4 away from finishing the season.  Talk about a lazy Saturday.  They’re good to have from time to time, and I have a feeling that Netflix for the Wii is going to create more of those in the future.

ps.  Mom, if you’re reading this, please, for the sake of your son, do not rent “Repo Men” from the Red Box.  Do humanity a favor.  Love ya  :-)

Enjoy today’s haiku:

We saw Shrek last night
So now Erin and I say
“I Love You, Daddy…”