Category: movies

I just watched a documentary (“Walmart : The high cost of low prices” – available to watch instantly on Netflix) that talked about many of the unethical practices of Walmart. It covered various things such as the fact that many of its employees are underpaid and living with incomes well below the poverty levels, employees being forced to work without overtime, the lack of humane conditions in their overseas factories, the measures the company takes to try to keep their employees from forming unions (and therefore getting more rights and higher wages), and many, many other disturbing things that the company practices in order to keep money rolling in. In the documentary, they spoke to many former walmart employees. Many of them were managers who talked about the unfair and unethical practices that they were forced to do because it’s what the corporate offices told them to. For example, they were taught how to anonymously change peoples time sheets so that it wouldn’t reflect any overtime they may have worked. I personally don’t like to shop there even if they can offer better prices on some things. I often complain about the long lines and lack of open check-out lanes. Apparently, this is part of the plan. If you’re short-staffed, then less money gets paid out to employees and more of it goes towards the sales for the store. I had heard about some of the bad practices that Walmart uses to keep costs down, but I had no idea the extent. I also don’t like the fact that their mere existence tends to close down locally owned shops that have been open for years. I happened upon this website that talks about some of the things that were mentioned in the documentary. I found the documentary pretty distrubing. It’s pretty surprising that such a wealthy company shares so little of its wealth with those people who work day in and day out to keep them making money. One thing that struck me was the part about the overseas factories and the working conditions and amount of (or lack thereof) pay the workers receive. One example shown in the documentary was for a toy where the cost to assemble it (includes materials and payment for worker) was 18 cents and then Walmart turns around and sells the item for almost $15! That made my jaw drop. And those factory workers are fearful of losing their jobs, so they can’t complain. Ugh! I just got so annoyed after seeing that documentary!

I went to the movies to see “Marley and Me” with Grandma and Mom today. I haven’t been to a theater since I saw “Ratatouille” with Nathan and Sean a looong time ago. We usally rent movies and watch them in the comfort and quietness of our own home. Going to the movies today reminded me that it really is nicer to watch movies at home. Why are there always THOSE people (you know who you are!) who feel the need to offer their opinion on scenes throughout the movie??? There’s really no need to say OUT LOUD, “that was really funny!” when we’ve all already had a good laugh and it’s on to the next scene. And for those who have seen a movie before already, you don’t need to offer your viewing partner the “You gotta watch this!” advice at the better parts of a movie… It kinda spoils the surprise, and yes, we came to the movies to WATCH it. One thing I was surprised about was that people actually paid attention to the “turn off your cell phone” warnings. I didn’t hear a single ring the whole time. Now one thing I will say is that there were 3 different warnings in between the previews. I wonder if there has been a study done and maybe 3 is the optimal number of times that people need to have a warning message sink in. Maybe one or two warnings is too few and more than three just annoys people to the point that they turn their ringers on full volume just to be spiteful. I don’t know. Also, what’s with the dude a couple rows back who was obviously hacking up a lung for several minutes at one time and then onand off throughout the movie? After a few gross coughs, maybe it’s time to hie thee to the lobby and finish your hacking there. I’m sure the person sitting in front of you would have appreciated that, especially. Also, maybe you shouldn’t come to the theater if you have Tuberculosis.

We watched the Donner cut of Superman II last night. Interesting changes from the Superman II that was released in theaters. “Kneel before Zod” makes me giggle every time I hear it. Tee-hee! I liked how Lois tricked Superman into revealing his identity in the Donner cut.

We finally finished watching the Wiz. That movie is hard to sit through all at once! It made me tired. I usually love musicals, but that was a hard one to watch. I only remembered seeing some of it when i was little. Probably because I kept falling asleep!