I saw a movie last night, which in fairness-sake shall remain nameless. Some of you have probably seen it too. Without giving away too much, its that one directed by Terry Gilliam from Monty Python. You know, the one with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger? Still not ringing any bells? It has the words "Grimm"and "Brothers" in the title (which I shan't reveal). With me now?

So, it was not a great example of the filmmaker's art. In fact, its not really even worth discussing. But it did make me think of something, so let's move on to that, shall we? As a culture. do we still appreciate craftsmanship? We ooh and aah over "artists"(some of them anyway) but do we really value craftsmanship? The ability to do one thing exceedingly well used to be well respected. Now it seems, if it doesn't challenge issues at every remove, something expertly made is less than well thought of. And don't get me started on subltety. We seem to want everything to be like an Heironymus Bosch, rampant overt symbolism in overwhelming quantities. Its as if we crave the dialogue, just not enough to work for it.

Maybe, the mass media and the communications industry have spoiled us. Its no longer rare to be exposed to a true artist, almost regardless of the field of endeavor you are talking about. Once it was a rare thing. Perhaps that should lessen the impact of the single-focus craftsman. I would maintain that there is still beauty in somethings just because they are so well constructed. A film, for example, need not have a cutting edge plot or incredible acting or sharp, witty dialogue, to be a pleasure to watch. Sometimes it doesn't need range or depth. Even one single sustained note can evoke wonder, right?

Or else maybe it just sucked.