I didn’t see The Recruit this weekend and doubt I probably ever will. My reasons are outlined pretty fairly in the topic of today’s strip.

I know you’re thinking “If you didn’t see the movie, then how do you know Al Pacino’s character is the villian?” C’mon. Have you seen the trailer? It’s pretty obvious when they spout lines like, “You can’t trust anybody. Not even the people that recruit you.” and they show a big close up on Pacino. For all intents and purposes, they might as well had slung a big sign around his neck.

Of course, just to be double-sure, I visited a few forums and gather the reviews of people who had seen it, and my estimation was proven true.

Personally, I think it’s a sad statement on Hollywood a fairs when a movie about ESPIONAGE cannot keep secret who the villain is in their picture. A potentially good film is undone by sloppy trailers. Don’t act like you haven’t been victimized by something like this before.

I had more comments about the art of trailer-making, but it’s all stuff you are familiar with. Comedies show all the funniest parts in theirs. Dramatic films bore you to tears with the impassioned delivery of dialogue. I don’t know. It just seems like there should be a system of check and balances that establishes what goes in a trailer. Maybe directors could pass along little notes to the editors who put these things together…

“Yeah, the part where Pacino is revealed to the bad guy? Please leave that out. Everything else is fair game.”

I dunno.

I’m all ranted out at the moment. It’s hard to keep finding things about the industry that piss me off. Okay… no it’s not.

I saw The Hours over the weekend starring Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep. I thought it was okay, but depressing – if that makes sense. I might put together a review of it later on. I have some thoughts about it. A good sign that the movie struck a chord somewhere.