I guess the world didn't end on Friday.  Oh well, it would at least have solved my problem of finding a job ;)

I watched another 3 movies this week (I'm on a roll, it seems).

First, in honor of the world supposedly ending, a friend decided to show 2012.  This is a disaster film in both senses.  It is about the end of the world and contains volcanoes erupting, earthquakes, floods/tidal waves and just about any other natural disaster you can think of.  It is also a disaster of a film.  It is repetitive (not once, but three times it has a plane outracing the destruction of the runway), unrealistic (in the sense that the laws of physics and how the world works are constantly violated) and just plain stupid.  That said, I enjoyed it as a comedy (even though it wasn't one) because the more ridiculous it got the more I had to laugh.

Second was Stargate.  I'd never seen that (or the TV series) and overall thought it was just OK.  None of the characters had much depth, the plotline was thin, but the effects were decent and I never really had the desire to stop watching due to boredom/disinterest.

The final movie I watched was Duel, Steven Spielberg's first movie.  The plot is very simple - man is pursued by mad trucker.  The reasons why are never explained (the trucker is homicidal because he is passed on the highway twice???).  I can certainly see how Spielberg was able to point to this film when trying to get hired to direct Jaws.  It has the same relentless killer aspect (motivation is irrelevant in a shark and never touched here), the same kind of tension/fear of what might come next.  However, I would consider Duel as a journeyman project rather than a masterpiece (in both senses of the word).