America as Paramount Pictures

It's amazing anything ever goes right here.

(Photo by HECTOR MATA/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Life Is Suffering

I want to talk about Hollywood today as a metaphor for the larger world. So bear with me.

Last week I watched a very bad movie that could have been a very good movie. It had a solid, high-concept idea, a talented director, and a pretty good cast. It was one of those movies where five minutes …