Happy Aliens vs. Angry Aliens
I saw War of the Worlds with my family last night (except for my brother, who is away in Washington DC for the next two weeks and has been for a week). I thought that it was solid.
It wasn't anything spectacular, really. Well, the sound and special FX were amazing, but there was very little talking involved. Very little real acting. Speilberg bascially took a very old, trite science fiction concept that used to be fresh and new when the book was written years ago (HG WELLS was really pioneering the genre), and put so much money into it that it became a real production. But underneath all those layers of money it was really just a "B" horror movie, wearing designer clothes. Also, Speilberg didn't answer enough questions, since i guess Wells never did. I suppose it would have been hard to somehow answer questions given the scheme of the movie. You'll have to see it to realize what I mean.
I personally like it when Speilberg does happy aliens. E.T. is a great movie for all ages, and timeless at that. But his real alien masterpiece is definately Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which--for anyone who hasn't seen it--is a mystery movie (sorta) about these suspicious abductions that take place over the course of years. People just dissapear. And now, the aliens are coming back. But these aliens aren't the blood-loving aliens of War of the World, they are...well, just see it. All these happy alien movies were thought of by a little Speilberg as he lay in bed at night as a child. He turned his fantasies and horrors into money. Brilliant.
The Annual July Fourth Twilight Zone Marathon is on today! Sci-Fi Channel.
It wasn't anything spectacular, really. Well, the sound and special FX were amazing, but there was very little talking involved. Very little real acting. Speilberg bascially took a very old, trite science fiction concept that used to be fresh and new when the book was written years ago (HG WELLS was really pioneering the genre), and put so much money into it that it became a real production. But underneath all those layers of money it was really just a "B" horror movie, wearing designer clothes. Also, Speilberg didn't answer enough questions, since i guess Wells never did. I suppose it would have been hard to somehow answer questions given the scheme of the movie. You'll have to see it to realize what I mean.
I personally like it when Speilberg does happy aliens. E.T. is a great movie for all ages, and timeless at that. But his real alien masterpiece is definately Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which--for anyone who hasn't seen it--is a mystery movie (sorta) about these suspicious abductions that take place over the course of years. People just dissapear. And now, the aliens are coming back. But these aliens aren't the blood-loving aliens of War of the World, they are...well, just see it. All these happy alien movies were thought of by a little Speilberg as he lay in bed at night as a child. He turned his fantasies and horrors into money. Brilliant.
The Annual July Fourth Twilight Zone Marathon is on today! Sci-Fi Channel.