My 2-cents for movie producers

Dear producers of quality thriller films:

The next time you set out to make a movie like "Duplicity" or "State of Play," do it without Julia Roberts, Russell Crowe and all the other "movie stars" with which you populate these films. Not that Roberts or Crowe detract from the films; far from it, they and the other stars of these films are fine actors. But they cost you a lot of money; more money than I think these films are capable of recouping at the box office.

There's not that big of a market for smart thrillers like "Tell No One," which did not feature one recognizable Hollywood name (OK, there's Kristin Scott-Thomas, but, still ...), but they need to be made because there are plenty of folks out there like me who crave films like these and ones like "In Bruges" and "Transsiberian." Let these movies rise or fall on their own merits, not on the bankability of the leading actors.

I'm betting if you do this, you will, when international box office and DVD sales are factored in, make a nice profit from these ventures. But if you keep using big stars with big salaries, the movies won't make money, studios will be far more reluctant to green light them and the discretionary movie-going public will be the big losers.

At least think about it.