MTV has said its intention is not to stereotype or offend.

And I'm sure tobacco companies don't intend to make people sick with their products, but intentions mean squat.

A touching remembrance, Mr. Avrech. Thank you.

I always liked Brittany Murphy -- she was a talented actress, and had a fragility and vulnerability that was endearing.

I'm a libertarian, but I'm also a flawed human -- we all have a weak spot, and this is mine -- so I'm giving this bill a thumbs up. I wish it had also stipulated that people who make irritating/stupid/inane/ironically-detached commercials shall be hung by their toes and pelted with rotten bananas by agitated chimps.

Funniest part of The Santa Clause:

Dr. Neil Miller: [in a light-hearted psychiatry tone] Scott, what was the last thing you and Charlie did, before you went to bed Christmas Eve?

Scott Calvin: [sarcastically] We shared a bowl of sugar, did some shots of brown liqour, played with my shot guns, field-dressed a cat, looked for women... [honestly] I read him a book!

Dr. Neil Miller: What book?

Scott Calvin: [sarcastically] Uh, Hollywood Wives.

[Laura puts her hand into her face in an exasperated gesture]

Scott Calvin: [honestly] The Night Before Christmas, folks, come on!

LOL! This could go on forever. :-)

I should've added the criterion that the movie has to be watchable or interesting to me -- I mean, that's the whole point, I'm paying to be entertained, right? Ten, twenty years ago, there were enough good, interesting, not-gratuitously-graphic movies that I was visiting the theater at least once a week. Let's look at this week's offerings: By all accounts Old Dogs is terrible (as the reviewer at Christianity Today succinctly put it: "Woof"); you couldn't water-board me into seeing Twilight; not interested in Blind Side (I detest most sports movies). I did see 2012 last month and enjoyed it -- the first movie I've seen in the theater in months -- and I plan to see A Christmas Carol sometime in the next few weeks. So I guess that's an improvement over this year's average of one movie every 2-3 months. It's a Christmas miracle!

None of the top movies has graphic sex or violence or overt politics, from what I can tell: Twilight, The Blind Side, 2012, Old Dogs, A Christmas Carol. I'd say the fact that these were hugely profitable vindicates my point.

There are some, yes, however most of the movies that meet my criteria are either animated features aimed at children or are about things that don't interest me. I loved Up, but there are only so many children's movies I can see in one year, and I have no desire to see Blind Side or Every Little Step. I long for grown-up comedies and dramas that simply leave the overt stuff out -- the kinds of movies Hollywood was making twenty+ years ago.

If directors simply stopped inserting all of this graphic and political crap, how much box office would they lose? I predict zero. Judging from the comments here, I'd say they have a significant box office to gain from it.

Couldn't agree with this article more.

What is the obsession with raw sex scenes in movies these days? Does anybody actually enjoy them or find them to be an essential part of the film? I don't -- they ruin the experience for me, and this is a major reason I hardly go to movies anymore.

Between raw sex, intensely graphic violence, and leftist proselytizing, movie-going has become a dismal experience. So desperate am I for a wholesome grown-up movie experience, that I saw Paul Blart twice. I am a 30-something professional with disposable income and free evenings -- why doesn't Hollywood want my money?

Just what these two need -- more fawning, self-congratulatory, media exposure. Blech.

The abstinence and loyalty themes are nice, but I find it dangerous when a movie suggests that a teenager's happiness depends so completely and precariously on her love life.