War of the Worlds

Last night I took my lovely wife out to see War of the Worlds. Yeah for the dollar theater that makes for cheap dates.

Anyway, I just had to say that that movie was horrendous. I can not really think of any redeeming qualities. It was dark, gruesome, cynical, and fairly poorly made. The escapes were improbable, the physics impossible, and the conclusion laughable. What happened to Spielberg?

Now, the book itself is fairly dark. But, there seemed to be a new cynicism that was added to this movie. It was not merely man against alien. Instead, it seemed to be turned into some kind of family against the world. Most action movies have some aspect of men coming together and conquering with man's ingenuity. But, perhaps Sept. 11th has gotten to Spielberg. The entire worldview seemed to be about the survival of the fittest and dependence on lucky happistance. I guess I am curious to know if this an indication of a cultural shift or merely an individual voice joining in the flood contrary and incoherent noise of our pop culture...

Wow...

I'm an uncle. Crazy.