Recent observation: movies are so long these days. And I'm not just talking The Neverending Story 3, I mean, Lord of the Rings 3. Here's what's playing at the PV theaters:

1. 21 grams - 125 min
2. Bad Santa - 91 min
3. Cheaper by the Dozen - 115 min
4. Elf - 97 min
5. The Last Samurai - 144 min
6. Lord of the Rings - 201 min
7. Master and Commander - 139 min
8. Mona Lisa Smile - 117 min
9. Paycheck - 119 min
10. Peter Pan - 113 min
11. Something's Gotta Give - 123 min
12. Stuck on You - 118 min
13. Cold Mountain - 155 min

Now, as I said above, we're going to leave LOTR in a league of it's own (and after Alex telling all about people LAUGHING at how long it was and CHEERING at how it ended, I think it's had enough). But let's look at the "dumb comedies" category... Elf and Bad Santa are exactly as expected at about an hour and a half... but Cheaper by the Dozen and Stuck on You at almost 2 hrs?? (though I really do want to see the Farrelly brother's new one...) And the "I want an oscar" category... (Cold Mountain, Samurai, Master and Commander)... does winning an oscar mean being the longest?

Maybe the movie industry has laid off all its editors. Maybe it's trying to justify charging up to $10.50 (plus parking, at the Grove) per movie. But really. No wonder Arun won't watch movies. :)