The Uses Of Cinema

Found via Mefi an attempt to answer the question : Why do we spend so many precious hours of our lives watching films? What is it about cinema that it should occupy a place of such prominence in our lives? And why do we even need movies?

The site's usability is very painful but the content is definitely worth a read. As for the grand design of cinema and why it holds us in its thrall :

Cinema, with its ability to document the human spiritual experience, is the ideal medium for this kind of introspection into the depths of our being. However, in practice, film has become the least responsive, the most atrophied of artistic media. There is a notable failure on the part of major countries like the United States, Great Britain and Germany to offer directors dedicated to pursuing the rarely-treaded path of intense questioning and seeking on a SPIRITUAL level in their films. Certainly, there are many talented directors around the world, who have made and continue to make many fine films. But there are very few directors, who have intuited that the medium of film has a much greater potential than what has been realized thus far.

I don't know about uplifting my spiritual level by way of cinema but there is nothing as relaxing as a spot of mindless entertainment at the end of a long day. Good cinema is the next best thing to reading a good book specially when you don't have the time finish that book.