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If there is a theme to Steven Spielberg's new alien-invasion movie, "War of the Worlds," it is not that the human spirit has the courage that justifies human survival. Or that American know-how and grit can defeat invaders, even when the situation seems impossible. No, it is more like: If aliens invade, don't fight back. Run.

IF THERE IS a theme to Steven Spielberg's new alien-invasion movie, "War of the Worlds," it is not that the human spirit has the courage that justifies human survival. Or that American know-how and grit can defeat invaders, even when the situation seems impossible. No, it is more like: If aliens invade, don't fight back. Run. No need for self-defense. Mother Nature will take care of the non- indigenous occupiers. While set in the Northeast, Spielberg's alien war seems very much like what would happen if aliens invaded Hollywood. There would be no praying, no talk of God, no homeowners...

It certainly wasn't my intention to see Steven Spielberg's grating, 9/11-tinged War of the Worlds, much less on its opening day, but local weather conditions forced this undesirable occurrence. On the evening of June 28, violent thunderstorms rocked the greater Baltimore region, knocking out the power in over 56,000 homes. I was following the Red Sox-Indians game on ESPN.com, seeing Wade Miller off to a shaky start, when the house went dark, eliminating the sounds of two televisions, a Bose CD player, air conditioners, a food processor, the boys dueling on electric guitars to their self-penned "Cheeseburger on a String"...

In keeping with the fact that FR has the most relevant postings of any "blog," an FR posting last night led me to Bartleby.com where I was able to read the entire 1898 novel "War of the Worlds" in 6 hours. I was surprised by how conservative a liberal HG Wells was. It must have been a time when most liberals were like Zell Miller...holding tons of respect for the military and abhorring "decay" in society. If any of you are thinking "I wouldn't want to read a 107 year old book that is probably stupider than the movies" please...

War of the Worlds: Steven Spielberg and H.G. Wells on War, Revolutions, Occupations, and Christianity New Republican Archive. Movie Reviews. July 4, 2005. The new Tom Cruise vehicle titled War of the Worlds is not only a tense portrayal of the terror and horror of war, particularly for those on the losing side of a modern one, but also a deeply political film. Director Steven Spielberg has gone to great lengths to "spin" this classic story with contemporary political allegories. What else should we expect from a film directed by Spielberg and co-starring Tim Robbins? Indeed, we should expect nothing...

War of the Worlds, the leading man's latest release, opened Wednesday to record-setting box-office numbers for Paramount. The alien-versus-human saga took in $36.6 million from 3,908 theaters worldwide--$21.3 million in domestic tickets sales and $13.5 million in international sales--making it the seventh biggest opening for a Wednesday to date. (As a point of reference, Star Wars: Episode III--The Revenge of the Sith holds the record for the biggest opening day ever, with $50 million in domestic ticket sales. So far, the prequel has earned $360.1 million.) War, directed by Steven Spielberg and costarring Dakota Fanning and Tim Robbins, reportedly cost...

War of the Worlds" conquered the box office as easily as the movie's aliens overpowered Earth, but it did not have enough firepower to overcome Hollywood's prolongued box office slump. Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's sci-fi tale took in $77.6 million over the long Fourth of July weekend, lifting its total since debuting Wednesday to $113.3 million, according to studio estimates Monday. That fell well short of the all-time high held by "Spider-Man 2," whose $180.1 million haul in its first six days led Hollywood to a record Fourth of July weekend last year. The top 12 movies took in...

Caution: Possible spoilers! . Things I learned while watching War of the Worlds 1. You can be a master crane operator at a shipyard, but your skills will have absolutely no use during an attack by Martians. 2. If you give your neighborhood mechanic advice on how to fix a car, that car will be the only working car following a Martian attack and will have the keys in it, waiting for you to come along with your kids. 3. No matter how much panic ensues, you and your kids will be able to drive a steady 60 mph, weaving...

So there I am watching Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" with a bunch of swells at the movie's premiere in New York City. The film is a sci-fi extravaganza where Spielberg takes the basic premise of the 1898 H.G. Wells novel, borrows freely from his previous suspense films "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park," and creates a special effects bonanza that is bound to please a mass audience hungry for thrills and chills.

"War of the Worlds" conquered the box office as easily as the movie's aliens overpowered Earth, but it did not have enough firepower to overcome Hollywood's prolongued box office slump. Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's sci-fi tale took in $77.6 million over the long Fourth of July weekend, lifting its total since debuting Wednesday to $113.3 million, according to studio estimates Monday. That fell well short of the all-time high held by "Spider-Man 2," whose $180.1 million haul in its first six days led Hollywood to a record Fourth of July weekend last year. The top 12 movies took in...

Last week I read a vanity posting about how Steven Spielberg had produced a major left wing propaganda piece against the war on terror in his new film "War of the Worlds." The posting said that Tom Cruise's character, Ray Ferrier, was the "hero" whose metaphorical message was "don't fight the terrorists...they will defeat themselves on their own." There was also the claim that Tim Robbin's character said "local insurgencies always win." I almost boycotted the film because of that last claim. But I saw the film here in Germany last night. It turned out that it was a lot...

Tom Cruise's alien-invasion thriller "War of the Worlds" was the top movie around the world last weekend, erasing speculation that the star's antics in recent months could hurt its prospects at the box office. In North America, the Steven Spielberg-directed film has earned $113.3 million for the six days since its Wednesday release, distributor Paramount Pictures said Monday. Its four-day sum of $77.6 million, from Friday to Monday, ranks as the second-best for a July 4 holiday weekend, behind "Spider-Man 2," which grossed $116 million in the same period last year. After six days, "Spider-Man 2" was at $180 million....

WHAT'S the matter with Hollywood? Things just aren't what they used to be in Tinseltown. A string of box office flops this year has produced the worst slump in a generation and left studio executives wondering what they can do to recapture the movie-going public's imagination and interest. For its part, the public simply wonders if Hollywood can still produce movies worth seeing.The odds, thanks to the financial realities that now determine the kind of movies the studios are prepared to produce, are not encouraging on either front. You might want to hold the popcorn. "It's too early to say...

To: Steven Spielberg Dear Mr. Spielberg, We, the undersigned, wish to inform you that we are compelled to boycott your movie “War of the Worlds”. Our decision is based solely on the abhorrent behavior of Mr. Tom Cruise. We will not be spending our good money to support the ridiculous and potentially dangerous antics of this raving narcissist. Mr. Cruise’s actions and comments have been offensive and insulting when not downright laughable. -We do not want to hear Mr. Cruise’s uneducated and unsubstantiated opinions on medicine and Psychiatry. His mean-spirited decision to use Brooke Shields as an example was unforgivable....

If you want a real thrill this Independence Day weekend, see War of the Worlds by Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Cruise. The movie is suspenseful and the special effects are fantastic. Because this movie contains wanton killing of innocent civilians and destruction of property, I could not help but think that this is what it would look like if Islamic terrorists had access to numerous weapons of mass destruction. As if to read my mind, Steven Spielberg slips in a comment by a character ''occupation never works'', so we don't forget that the parallels to the War on Terror are...

LOS ANGELES, June 30 - On Wednesday, Steven Spielberg's apocalyptic thriller "War of the Worlds" invaded movie theaters worldwide. But the director had already moved on. That night in Malta, Mr. Spielberg quietly began filming the most politically charged project he has yet attempted: the tale of a secret Mossad hit squad ordered to assassinate Palestinian terrorists after the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. The film, which is being written by the playwright Tony Kushner - it is his first feature screenplay - begins with the killing of 11 Israeli athletes in Munich. But it...

HOLLYWOOD'S 9/11 PROBLEM July 1, 2005 -- EVEN though it is nominally a science-fiction film about an alien invasion, Steven Spiel berg's "War of the Worlds" is, in fact, the first Hollywood movie about 9/11. It's all there — an urban landmark (the Outerbridge Crossing) destroyed from the air, New Jerseyites running in terror, Tom Cruise covered in ash after escaping the attack, a wall with "have you seen my missing loved one" posters. The only real difference — a profound and troubling one — is that Spielberg's movie shows Americans turning on each other as the attack occurs. In...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Hollywood actor Tom Cruise not only battles creatures from outer space in his latest film "War of the Worlds," he also believes aliens exist, he told a German newspaper on Wednesday. Asked in an interview with the tabloid daily Bild if he believed in aliens, Cruise said: "Yes, of course. Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe? "Millions of stars, and we're supposed to be the only living creatures? No, there are many things out there, we just don't know," Cruise, 42, said in the interview published in German. Cruise...

Big concept. Big director. Big star. Big, big budget. Big deal. Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's "War of the Worlds" comes off exactly the way it started: An assemblage of enormous talent on a frantic dash to meet a deadline. They made it, but the rush job they delivered shortchanges story, character, design and even execution on some of the colossal special-effects sequences. The update of H.G. Wells' sci-fi classic of marauders from the skies went on the fast-track late last summer, when a narrow window opened in Spielberg and Cruise's schedules. Their haste shows. "War of the Worlds" is...

Troops in Spielberg Film Get Sneak Preview By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press Writer FORT DRUM, N.Y. - They've hunted down terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, opposed rebels in Bosnia and battled warlords in Somalia. Now, 10th Mountain Division troops are facing off against Martian invaders — with no less than the fate of the Earth in the balance. The soldiers were called on by Steven Spielberg, who picked Fort Drum troops to star in his remake of the H.G. Wells classic "War of the Worlds." The movie, starring Tom Cruise, opens nationwide Wednesday, but the actor-soldiers were treated to a...