Alien Reality [War of the Worlds review]

National Review on line ^ | June 29, 2005 | Frederica Mathewes-Green

[zook]

For me, that was the neat thing--no story line, just sheer terror. Exactly what a "real invasion" would be like.

[zook]

I don't really care who Steven Spielberg votes for. If he makes great movies, and isn't an a**hole, I'll go see them.

[Chode]

tim robbins will NEVER see another penny of mine... EVER!!!

[jimbo123]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/starr082298.htm

Further details about Clinton's testimony emerged on the same day that the president's legal defense fund announced it has raised $2.2 million in the last six months, more than was collected during the previous four years of his presidency combined. The newly reconstituted defense fund, operating with looser rules about who can give and how much they can offer, tapped into resentment against Starr as more than 17,000 Clinton supporters sent money.

Hollywood was quick to come to the president's aid. Among the 62 donors giving the maximum $10,000 were performers and directors such as Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand, Michael Douglas, Ron Howard, Norman Lear, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw-Spielberg as well as studio executives Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, Harvey Weinstein and Bud Yorkin.

"We believe that no first family should face such a horrendous financial burden while trying to carry out the work which the American people elected him to do," said David Pryor, the former Democratic senator and Clinton friend from Arkansas who founded the legal fund.

[BradyLS]

But the invaders are only there to provide a backdrop for the movie's seemingly endless tableaux of Tom Cruise -- Tom Cruise running for his life, Tom Cruise being bathed in the blood of others, Tom Cruise yelling at his movie kids like a guy who wishes he knew where to get his hands on some Ritalin.

This review is closer to my experience with past Tom Cruise movies: "How Tom Cruise would react if..."

Anyway, America has been "invaded, full on" by Tom Cruise for the last month, so I may pass on this one.

[jimbo123]

Someone should ask Tom Cruise about his "encounter" with Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas that everyone in LA is talking about...

[new cruelty]

I'll check out the movie soon enough. A friend of mine just called me from Houston to comment on his take of the movie. He didn't care for the film, noting it was quite possibly the worst he has seen in a while (and he sees a lot of movies). I got the impression that he was caught up on the logical aspects of what happened and that really ruined the film for him. I wasn't sure I followed him, but he noted something to the effect that he didn't understand why an advance civilization with the means to conquer other worlds would chose to take over ours using tripods that have been buried beneath the Earth for a million years. Again, I'll see them movie anyway. And perhaps, having read your take, with a different mindset.

[megatherium]

Just saw it. I thought it was very good, a solid and frightening 50s style space-aliens-attack flick but with modern effects. Good creepy art design with some nice icky touches. You know the plot, but there are a few surprises.

I didn't see any political messages in the movie. Xenophobia maybe. <grin>

[deadrock]

"encounter"

Don't leave us hanging....

[razorback-bert]

My pardner is going to see it tonight, my only question will be does Tom Cruise ever stop grinning?

[jimbo123]

The Tom Cruise & Rob Thomas story:

http://www.thesuperficial.com/archives/001038.html

[solitas]

The Spielberg version is a remake of the movie based on Orson Well's adaptation of H G's original.

...which IS in the public domain now. (Oy! Mama: come and look! Such a deal I got - not having to pay for a writer for something new!)

Go, read the book:
http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/gutenberg/3/36/36-h/36-h.htm

[demnomo]

Metro-sexual and looney Scientologist Cruise portraying a blue-collar dockworker? Reason enough for me to avoid this movie like the plague...

[Kirkwood]

little in the way of character development, and nothing truly develops in the plot.

That doesn't sound very promising to me.

Yeah, same here. Nothing I've heard about it makes me want to see it. Sounds like an episode of survivor.

[deadrock]

Yuck...that kind of encounter.

[jimbo123]

More on the Tom-Rob story here. Gossip website "Independent Sources" was forced to pull the story from their website shortly after posting but not before the story was reposted in other places:


http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/rnr/81449881.html

[MortMan]

I hate to show my lack of pop-culture knowledge, but what is AI?

[popdonnelly]

Well, once a leftist, always a leftist. I was impressed with "Saving Private Ryan", even though its plot reminded me of a bunch of kids playing "war".

[JennysCool]

Gene Barry has a cameo.

Now that's a nice touch...