I am in total awe of this picture.  I really don't know what to think of it. I see it as sort of an artistic representation of Britney Spears as an entity.  Every single frame is calculated down to the last detail in order to make the most amount of money possible.  The characters are constantly drinking Pepsi products, or using Herbal Essences shampoo, or whatever. Throughout the film, Britney writes in a notebook.  Someone finally asks what it is that she's writing, and she says it's poetry.  She then recites some of it for us.  IT'S LYRICS FROM SONGS OFF OF HER DAMN ALBUM.  Anyone who's still unaware of the brilliance of JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS really needs to see CROSSROADS.  It'll all become clear.  I'm actually surprised that CROSSROADS didn't come out first, since JOSIE seems like a perfect parody of it.

The product placement is not the only amazing thing about CROSSROADS.  The structure is also well thought out.  For example, we see Britney dancing around in her underwear in her very first scene in the film, and then once again in the first or second reel.  This keeps everyone in their seats for the remainder of the film, just in case.

I absolutely love CROSSROADS for the same reason that I love VARSITY BLUES. At the start of every single scene, you think to yourself, "They're going to do _____.  But no, they can't do that.  There's no way they could be that predictable."  And then they do it.  These films reach a level of such tremendous predictability that they actually become enjoyable to watch.  This to me is more forgivable than, say, A BEAUTIFUL MIND.  That picture is probably better made, but it still sucks, and it's much more bland and boring because it thinks that it’s something that it’s not (specifically, a good movie). CROSSROADS, on the other hand, knows exactly how cheesy it is. It tries really really hard to take itself seriously, but it knows that it can’t, and instead, embraces its cheesiness.

So can Britney act?  It's hard to tell.  I think that they've sucessfully surrounded her with mediocrity in an attempt to mask her lack of talent.  That being said, she's a better actor than me, so who am I to talk?

One night my roomate and I argued what was "good" music and what wasn't. We did this for eight strait hours. We finally agreed that "good" depends on if you liked it, bottom line.

-Claude

For the record...I do like Britney Spears, I do like Pearl Jam, I do like Eminem and I will continue to like pop music as "good" stuff comes out. But I also like Joplin, Garth Brooks, Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco. I guess I don't really have a set musical taste.