War of the Worlds

I’ve been meaning to write this review for about a week now but haven’t had a chance to sit down and express my thoughts on this movie until now. I’ve always worked well under pressure and with the movie fading from my memory and a plane calling my name in about 16 hours, no better time than the present.I’ve got an mp3 of the original radio show broadcast by Orson Welles and it’s pretty interesting to listen to, but when you listen to it. Before I saw the movie, I played the radio broadcast and I thought to myself - How are they going to make this into a movie? Well it turns out that in order to make it into a movie you have to bring a family into the forefront of the story. Rather a family and the worlds worst father. Tom Cruise’s charcter really has no redeaming qualities until he is literally forced to take care of his children who happen to be staying with him for the weekend.

As the attack begins within the first 30 minutes of the movie you’re treated to pretty incredible special effects. Things exploding, alien tripods rising from beneath the earth, and more explosions. It’s all very loud as we watch New Yorkers run for their life only to be turned to ash by the alien death ray. Much like Saving Private Ryan in its initial sequence at Normandy, the death is right there in the cameras face over and over again. Unfortunately it’s not nearly as scary this time around.

The biggest problem with the movie is that it simply lacks heart. As the film progresses, the special effects seem to dwindle leaving only a deplorable father played with mediocre success and Dakota Fanning who seems to be the brightest star during the entire 2 hours of screentime. Of course, the film ends just as the original radio show ends. Remember when I said I wondered how that radio show could be made into a movie….when I saw the ending, I realized that they couldn’t. The end of the film was cheap and dirty and left me sad that I had wasted all this time when I could have been watching The Fantastic Four or Herbie instead.

The special effects are good and there are some good moments in the film but overall it just kinda falls flat hoping that the loud effects will be enough to bring it to life. Alas, like the aliens - it fails. Sorry Mr. Spielburg but maybe you should stick with the ‘good’ aliens.

Goodbye Mr. Scott

James Doohan, the chief engineer aboard the Star Ship Enterprise during it’s first mission passed away this morning at the age of 85. It’s a sad day for any fan of science-fiction as Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott was a beloved member of the crew and the Star Trek universe as a whole.

His life was a very interesting one well before he ever jumped to warp speed. He was wounded as an infantryman during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day and later returned to action as a fighter pilot. It was then that he was exposed to hazardous chemicals which led to a chronic lung disease. He was a popular voice actor in his home country of Canada before jumping to television in the 1950’s.

Doohan auditioned for the part of the chief engineer using several different accents. Roddenberry, the creater of the show, asked him what nationality he thought the character should be and Scotty was born.

His last public appearance was last October where he received a star on the Hollywood walk of Fame. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and pneumonia which, ultimately, were the cause of death. Like Roddenberry, Doohan’s ashes will be launched into space following a private funeral service.

Goodbye Mr. Scott.

Proof that criminals are stupid!

I was just watching the news when they were discussing a new list of the top 10 most stolen vehicles. On the list: 1995, 96, 97, 98, & 99 Acura Integra….WHY? 2004 Mercury Marauder was also on the list which is more understandable since it’s at least an uncommon vehicle around.

You may…uh…like kiss the bride!

One of my better friends, Dave, is getting married at the end of the month. It’s been awhile since i’ve gotten out of Georgia, so this makes for a good excuse for a mini-vacation. I’ll be jumping aboard a Delta flight bound for National Ronald Reagan International Airport on Wednesday July 27th. While I’m there, i’ll get to partake of the Chicken Guido at Two Three (oops - as I said, it’s been awhile) Brothers Pizza - a great little italian restaurant that i’ve missed for far too long. On Friday I’m going to ride down with my friends Chris and Heidi, bound for Danville, VA.

Goodbye cruel world…

My time has come. I can feel it. The cold hand of death wrapping it’s boney fingers around my throat - clenching my body within it’s fist as it readies itself to take me to that next existence. Okay, so just MAYBE i’m being a bit melodramatic but this cold i’ve picked up is killing me. After the festivities on Sunday with family and spending the day cleaning house on Monday - I woke up tuesday morning not feeling quite right. As the day dragged on, I could feel the slightest tickle in my throat starting to grow. By the time the sun had set, I knew I had caught something as my glans were a little swollen. Luckily NyQuil was calling from my bathroom cabinet and put any feelings to the side as I enjoyed an hour of conscious vegetative state before going to bed.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

It’s been all over the tabloids before this movie came out. The two stars of the film, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie….more than just an on screen couple? WHO CARES. I certainly didn’t and avoided this movie for awhile just because I’d heard their names and seen their faces enough. Now that the hype has died down a bit, I decided it was time to take a few hours from my extended holiday weekend and check out this summer blockbuster.I liked the movie. Mostly….kinda. The chemistry between Jolie and Pitt is great, the playful banter between them at times seems a little flat though. The action is pretty good but the plot leaves a bit to be desired. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is basically a hitman version of War of the Roses, except in War you actually believed they might kill each other. Jolie is beautiful as ever and Pitt with his chiseled face will make the girls giddy no doubt but overall this movie just didn’t excite me. It’s odd, it had the action and the comic moments but somehow, inexplicably it just kinda seems to fall short. I noticed a couple glaring continuity problems in the movie as well. In the beginning of the film John (Pitt) is driving a black Cadillac CTS but at a later point in the movie he comes home driving a Lincoln which matches a Lincoln he stole after this point. Also there is a point where the Pitt’s character is trying to kill Jane (Jolie) in her Mercedes. She jumps out of the car and watches as the car goes into the air and into some trees at a rather high speed…then later (when she tries to beat John home in his stolen Lincoln) she is driving the same Mercedes….it would have been wrecked! Things like that don’t usually bother me too much, but those problems just seem very obvious and removed me from the action for a moment as I thought “Hey, that’s not right!” It wasn’t a BAD movie….but there is no way I can call it a good movie either. I give it a luke warm thumbs up. If you don’t mind waiting…it’ll be on DVD soon enough.