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June 30, 2005

Spielberg kicked my ass today

Forget for a moment that Tom Cruise has been a monumental whackjob of late with a case of verbal hubris that makes you want to reach through your TV and smack him.

Get your ass to your local theatre and go see War of the Worlds.

Most people know the plot and premise of War of the Worlds. This afternoon at my local movie house, Spielberg blew my mind with it.

Tom Cruise plays a father who can't seem to figure out how to be even a weekend dad. Then the alien ships come from under the ground and start blowing things up and it's every family for themselves. The film is less than 20 minutes old before all hell breaks loose. Cruise is forced to take his progeny and run away. Except there's no place to hide.

The tension in this movie is so thick that I caught myself gripping the armrests of my seat throughout the film. The visuals are brilliantly creative and practically jump off the screen. The cinematography is spellbinding. Spielberg proves once again that he's one of the greatest directors ever.

What really got to me though was the sound. The wailing of the alien tripod ships as they attack or call the aliens back to the ship is bone chilling. The quiet dripping of water during the scenes in the basement when the alien is searching for the people is creepy. The sounds of destruction as the aliens are attacking are some of the best auditory sequences I've ever experienced on film.

This is one kick ass movie. It's definitely worth the full fare to see it. Don't wait for the video, either. This is a big screen, big theatre film.

Posted by Carla at June 30, 2005 04:19 PM