I’ve watched two movies in the past two days, Adjustment Bureau and Source Code (spoilers within), which spurred this post. To put things simply, sci-fi isn’t my cup of tea because they involve false realities and happy endings. Without really breaking the movies down, I find the concepts borderline stupid and I think people just say these movies are good because they don’t want to sound dumb because they don’t understand what’s going on. In the Adjustment Bureau, there are a group of special people, who wear hats mind you, that turn door knobs clockwise and can travel at rapid speeds through these doors. Matt Damon is supposed to be an important political figure and it’s these special peoples job to keep him on his “plan”. However, a strange love interest deviates from the plan and love wins in the end with a lot of drama for essentially nothing. In the source code, Jake Gyllenhaal (who did a fine job of acting for this movie) is borderline dead but his brain works, he can enter the source code which allows him to assume the role of a dead person and relive the last 8 minutes of their life. Now amazingly these 8 minutes are altered depending on his actions within the source code which is easily the stupidest part in my mind. He eventually finds the information of the bomber and prevents a terrorist attack which they show as the present. Then the directors even take it one step further for unnecessary shock value and as he goes in again, saves the train, starts sending emails and calling people, and then people in the present start getting his communication from the source code. Plus the ending plays it out like he saved events that apparently already occurred in the present. Seriously, WTF?

I know it’s a movie and it’s supposed to be interesting but once it loses touch with reality, it loses me. I can live with some weird, far out shit in movies and still think it can be a good movie. Back to the Future is a perfect example of time travel that was a four star movie in my mind. The Matrix seemed like a reasonable, parallel universe. But once you start telling me that Jake Gyllenhaal actions in a fictional world, CREATED FROM A DEAD PERSON’S MEMORY allow him to gather NEW information, you lose me. I can’t overlook this and say this is a 4 star movie. Michael J. Fox can travel 88 miles per hour in a DeLorean and time travel, I’m fine with that, but don’t insult my intelligence. However, I ask the question was I entertained? Yes. The movie kept my interest but I’d still give it a thumbs down on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ve been on this authentic and truth binge for a while now and I’m sold that these ingredients make for superior results in just about everything. Make me feel like what I’m watching or reading is authentic and I’m much more apt to think it’s quality work.

The second part of this post is happy endings. I think they didn’t end the Source Code by shutting down his body and terminating him because they wanted to have a happy ending. I would have liked the movie more if that would have happened. Instead, the Source Code becomes a magic land that he can communicate with the present. I don’t need a happy ending to think a movie is good. Leave me feeling emotional and I can at least say the movie moved me. I’m part of a target audience who doesn’t care if the good guy always wins. I’m not a child anymore and I understand that not all movies are geared to emotionless realists like myself. I think I’m just really disappointed with the quality of movies that are coming out and also the way these critics review them. I read some moron on rotten tomatoes write “This movie awakened my seasonal urge to buy ice cream treats and turn my brain off for 100 minutes, so get ready for summer, everyone.” Any movie where I have to turn my brain off shouldn’t be considered good. I feel like I’m constantly being a harsh critic but for god sakes, someone has to do it.