(Thank you for not pointing out that I spelled "desert" as in dry, arid land, as "dessert" as in yummy confection. But for humor, picture the hoodlums and kidnappers driving into a chocolate covered sundae. More accurately, a Mexican chocolate covered sundae.)

I have to add. Have you ever seen "The Way of the Gun"? It was made in 1999. There's a deliberately funny plot point concerning some hoodlum's goons trying to follow two inept kidnappers into the Mexican dessert, and they keep losing their cell phone signal. The actors give it just the right spin that shows the juxapositon of power and powerlessness that is typical of the humor of this film. At one point one of the kidnappers is standing at a pay phone trying to call in the ransom to a cell phone that keeps giving him a recording. Trust me, it's funny.

Film is supposed to be an art. I don't have anything against incorporating new technologies into the medium as it reflects modern life, but there has to be some other way to relay the message to the audience other than watching a boring IM conversation that goes:

slacker123
ROFL i h8 my parentz

murderer666
Turn around!

STAB STAB STAB…

I can go on and on for hours about how text messaging, instant messaging and modern advancements in technological communication have ruined the English language, but this is not the forum for that.

Nancy Meyers – SORRY DON'T THROW ROCKS AT ME – I think knows how to use phones and instant messaging well. Or at least it doesn't look too awkward when she writes a scene with those objects. It's an essential part of her movies, as much as they are crutches that she and her characters use. And it kinda shows how upper middle class they are.

Again, easy on the stones.

chuck

Of course, this also brings up the old school technique of people running off to the library to look up old newspaper clippings, which may actually be worse logically than Google. Who knows?

If people are asking, "Why didn't they have a cell phone?" I would think it would be more of one of those things they may ask others after the movie after having enjoyed it rather than during the movie, which takes them out of it completely. Of course, this is just an assumption. :)

"Again, just bail on the cell phone. Don’t even introduce it into the equation."

is rarely a valid option because of the echoes of "What none of these people have cell phones" heard through every theater in America.

My other problem is that they use it as a crutch way too often. Let's see how here, how can we drum up suspense? Have her cell phone not work. Then people will start getting worried. It's an artificial way to provoke tension.

Anyway, good article.

Example: 'Why didn't he just use the video option on his iPhone?' Cause when the script was written (or when the scene was shot) iPhone's didn't support video.

@Vince: The Google search might make for a boring story but the idea of finding the basic info online is sound. Do a search for "michael's bay" and you find a few sites referring to an old lumber town in northern Ontario built on top of a native settlement. Poltergeist reboot, anyone?

Text messages are in 160 characters or less. Twitter is the one with the 140 character limit.

But seriously, I think that how films use technology is an attest to how well-written they are. If Google is used as a means to keep the plot going, then you know a movie is poorly written. For example, look at "Silent Hill" (the best looking video game movie in my opinion- as a film though it's lacking). I always found it dumb that instead of getting the daughter some psychological help or something, the mother (or is it the father? I don't remember that movie) just googles "Silent Hill" and voila, there it is and the location and everything. And so they went.

Um…ok.