One of the too-many research institutes out there has created what they call the "Big Mac Index." They basically do some calculations involving average income, GDP, and other factors and compare them to the price of Big Macs around the globe. The study is flawed for reasons I won't even go into here. However, India has one of the lowest BMIs, and therefore some of the cheapest Big Macs (though there isn't even a Big Mac here, it's called the Chicken Maharaja Mac).
Another of these mostly useless research institutes does the same thing with movie tickets, and has determined that India has the cheapest movies in the world. If it weren't for the language barrier, I think I would see even more movies here than I already do. I almost never went to see movies at home, where the movie prices are obviously the most expensive.
Last night we went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I've never been a big fan of Brad Pitt, but Angelina Jolie makes my list. The movie was hot. And funny. It was well-written, and the effects were worth it. It had the potential to be just another shoot-em-up-blow-em-up action movie, but there was a new twist. The only thing I wish it had were a better Pitt-Jolie sex scene.
Before the movie, amid the commercials asking "Are you a Safi girl?" they ran the preview for War of the Worlds. I'm always a fan of global disaster films, no matter how shaky the plot. I don't know what it is, but they always do it for me. It was only a matter of time before Spielberg made his big comeback, and I think this will be it. If the movie is anything like the preview, I may have to see it twice in the theater.
Flown by mariposa at 12:06 PM on June 12, 2005
