What a waste

Alrighty then.
Went to see 'Transformers' tonight at the local multiplex and all I can say is...nothing...I was sitting there and thinking to myself what a waste of money, resources and time (but strangely enough, not a waste of talent).
I don't think it's any secret at this point that the vast majority of movies that get made, especially out of Hollywood, are nothing but crap and this was certainly no exception. What mystifies me is that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has somehow deemed it necessary to increase the number of nominees for its best picture award to 10 from 5. If I was a cynic, which of course I am, I could only conclude that this is being done to capitalize on the attendant increase in ticket sales that an Oscar nomination can provide to a film so honoured.
Having firsthand experience of the amount of money that gets thrown into making a movie I must truly lament the exorbitant sums that are almost literally burned during production. I do however offer a solution.
I propose that Hollywood shut down for a year and that the budgets for all the movies that would have been made should be given to charity. No one would miss the majority of productions that would be delayed, and with any luck some of them might actually die on the table before any member of the public is afflicted by exposure. The really good scripts might still ultimately find a way to get made, and the world just might benefit. Instead of sitting in theatres consuming grossly overpriced snacks that will contribute to our death, we could take part in life, maybe walk the dog, talk with our friends, or maybe even do a good deed. The money could be used to buy mosquito nets for Africans to prevent malaria, or to supply AIDS drugs to those countries who cannot afford to buy them, or maybe those American dollars could go to supplying health care to those who have fallen through the gaping holes in the social safety net.
Of course there would be job losses and economic fallout for the industry, but if it means that I don't get my intelligence insulted by seeing yet another dog-humping-a-leg gag, juvenile jokes about testicles, or robots talking like homeys from the hood, then I would be okay with that. And I suspect I might not be the only one.

Bitch pleeze.