Anthony Davis6 said:Between Volver, Samaria, and Crime... the current selection of American films playing in New York City—alongside a decent amount of other quality American cinema, naturally—isn't half bad. Though, I suppose if you don't live in a major US metro area, there are certain advantages; you don't deal with the gridlock, you might actually hear birds chirping outside your window, and you aren't burdened by local income taxes. And so on.🙂 👋
True enough. I can hear the birds chirping, frogs croaking in the yard, and the occasional breeze passing by my window.
What I was actually getting at is this: I don't hold video rental stores accountable for having a poor selection. They are businesses; they want to make money, so they stock whatever the masses demand. My grievance lies with the public—or at least the majority of them—who lack the stamina for anything remotely challenging. When I look at the movie shelves, it’s depressing. They buy five copies of some mindless American sequel, while something like Casablanca just sits there gathering dust somewhere between the adult films and the cartoons. 😬
As for Caine, the man has aged, and it seems he had to lean on something widely recognizable just to stay relevant in the media. It’s almost as if people forget he’s acted in films he clearly despises. Personally, I find James Bond to be rubbish. You sit through a James Bond film and walk out feeling completely unmoved. It's all just nonsense. 😕