this is the title of this blog

April 18th, 2006

Starting in the late 80's, I think, movies began to use much shorter titles in order to market their movies almost like catch phrases. This sad turn of events has finally culminated in every other modern movie having the very boring and unoriginal title: "The _______". At times, the variation of this format is used: "The ______ _______"

The ________
(Grudge)
(Vanishing)
(Village)
(Sixth Sense)
(Crying Game)
(Hudsucker Proxy)
(Game)
(Matrix)
(Red Violin)
(Rock)
(Transporter)
(Shawshank Redemption)
(Terminator)
(Pianist)
(Incredibles)
(Professional)


There are, of course, exceptions. Some modern movies have really great titles:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Breakfast on Pluto
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Pulp Fiction
LA Confidential
The Big Lebowski


Notice that the good titles are more than a few times directly proportional to the quality of the movie. The bad titles, however, are not. It's a toss up whether a good title is going to be a good movie or a "should have stayed home and watched National Geographic" movie.

I really wish that movies started implementing longer titles, just like they used to do in the good old days...err...before I was born.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
A ClockWork Orange
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Two Mrs. Carrolls
The Postman Always Rings Twice

Now, don't these awesome titles make you WANT to watch the movies? Nevermind that some of them are actually pretty lame...ahchooooopostmanalwaysringstwicecoughcough....

So I guess what I'm really trying to say is: I've had a lot of free time this morning and I've now wasted it all looking up movies and writing in this blog. Yes, that is what I'm really trying to say.