If you pay attention to The Signal's Web site, you've likely noticed over the last several weeks that I've joined Escape Editor Greg Eichelberger in doing a weekly movie review.

On the one hand, I enjoy it because it affords me the chance to escape the newsroom grind, and banter about movies - which I love. Hopefully what we're doing is helping you form a decision on whether or not to pay money for a ticket.

On the other hand ...

What I've found trying about Escape to the Movies is that it's designed to be a bite-sized review, just taking up a few minutes of your day. Which means it doesn't afford the kind of time I'd prefer to talk about a film.

For instance, what was my bottom line on 'Tropic Thunder'? If you want to see a forgettable popcorn comedy, full of pervasive foul language and a bit more gore than you'd expect, see this film.

But I can't stop there.

As I said in our recent review, '...Thunder' could have worked well as a consistent satire on the Hollywood machine, the filmmaking process, method acting gone too far, etc.

But it didn't really do that.

Sure, it had its moments of insider humor, as well as Hollywood jokes the average viewer gets, especially regarding the ridiculousness of celebrity.

And while I'm no stranger to profanity, did it need to be so crude?

And yes, there were some visual references to films such as 'Platoon' and 'The Deer Hunter'. The film essentially wound up an over-the-top homage to war films rather than a spoof, which by no means bothered me.

Of course, one of the strongest noticeable influences is of course 'Platoon', and to be honest, I find it hard to laugh for long at references to a film that is a gritty, painful snapshot of a conflict that took so many lives and which no one really understands. Would we be laughing if there were comic allusions to the current 'War on Terror' in Iraq?

Meanwhile, Tom Cruise in a fat suit and bald cap as a foul-mouthed, ruthless movie producer was to an extent amusing, but in the end I'd rather not have been subjected to wave after crashing wave of four-letter words.

I could go on, but I won't.

I think what troubles me is this: That we're content to pay for bottom-shelf entertainment.

And I'm not saying I dind't laugh during 'Tropic Thunder,' but would I have gone to see it if I didn't have to do a review? Probably not.

And while it could have been a brilliant satire, it wound up as a comedy that, for the most part, teenagers will watch, laugh at, quote for a while, and then forget. It's visual junk food.

It's why I pretty much avoid modern comedies. Because I want more from the $10.50 I'm slapping down for a movie ticket. I want to laugh, but I also want to be touched, and I want to think.

It's why a film like 'The Out-of-Towners' with Jack Lemmon makes me laugh. It's marked by moments of flat-out hilarity, and it still speaks to the fast-paced world we often feel compelled to keep up with.

Take the recent film 'Stranger Than Fiction' with Will Ferrell. I try to avoid Ferrell's movies because I could care less about storylines that involve immature, 40-something man-children. But '...Fiction' was a drama/comedy peppered with moments of true humor and drove home the need to stop trying to control every detail of life, and instead live life while we have it.

Next week, I'll probably watch 'The Rocker' and do a review, even though I already know what I'll probably say. That it's a two-star comedy about a man who refuses to get his act together and grow up, and is peppered by crude remarks.

I'm rambling.

My point is, if you're going to invest even just two hours of your life in something, make it worth your time. Stop settling for the bottom-of-the-barrel brain candy Hollywood cranks out.

In fact, go read a book instead.