War of the Worlds

I have so much to tell you, but I guess I'll just do a short post about a movie today. I wish I had one of those programs that automatically posts. It would make my urge to communicate seem more regular and steady. Hey! I just thought of a way to write about the movie without spoiling it for those of you who haven't seen it. One of my proffessors came up with this nifty technique: Where there is blank space, just triple click to see the writing. [Update: the triple click doesn't work well here, just highlight.] If you haven't seen the movie, don't triple click!

So, today I go to get drug tested for my new job, because I'd been acting kind of funny and all... (Ok, I just decided that the rest of this story will have to wait, until I'm not working there. It may be awhile. I'll keep writing about it, but I'll do a post-job series of posts. I want to keep my new job. So, skipping to the movie, I went to see it while I was waiting for my drug results.)

I liked it! I put it in the category of movies that have suprisingly good messages, like Bourne Supremacy. Tom Cruise was not the rugged, never-phased, can-think-of-every-imaginable-thing-that-amazingly-saves-the-day hero. Thank goodness. He was this sort of everyday, crappy father guy. Yes, he thought of a few good things, but his situation still seemed hopeless. And my favorite thing, unlike so many disaster movies, is that the people actually seemed phased by the things that happen to them. I often notice the psycological unreality in movies. Where other people are screaming, "That could never happen, that 60 foot Gorgon would never be able to fit into that cavern!" I am yelling, "Those people need therapy! There is no way they would be acting like that if their Grandma just melted in volcanic water!" This action/disaster movie showed the most realistic psychological reactions I have seen. Yes, I too have heard of Tom Cruise's latest nuttery. However, I love him in movies like this.

The story of the alian invasion is definately secondary and clunky. Like Ebert, it did cross my mind that the alians sure made a lame plan, but unlike Ebert, I like that the story focuses on one person's experience. It was more humanizing and interestingly, more scary. If you can help it, don't read Ebert's review before you go, or anyone else's for that matter. I made a decision at the beginning of the movie to go with it, to be immersed, and the storytellers didn't let me down.

Categories | Movies, Post-Job Series, Links