Thoughts On Spielberg's War Of The Worlds

Right off the bat, I should say that I loved this film. Despite initial resistance to Tom Cruise and feeling burned by both AI (interesting but flawed) and Minority Report (ditto), I was really engrossed and blown away by War Of The Worlds. It is the best sci-fi themed film of the year so far, and one of the better horror films of the last 20 years. That's right, I said horror film!

In spite of being mis-advertised as yet another slam-bang summer sci-fi action movie, Spielberg's War Of The Worlds is truly a horror film, or even more accurately, a disaster horror film. And, I believe much of the criticism leveled at it centers on this misconception. Many people, including myself, found War Of The Worlds very disturbing and not terribly pleasurable to experience. Independence Day, this is not! But, I contend that that was the very point of the movie. The fact that you leave the film feeling psychologically assaulted and shaken is testament to Spielberg's power as a storyteller. Not all art is pleasurable, nor should it all be. Many horror films are fun, but the ones I love the best are the ones that make me want to take a hot shower afterward, and it's great that there are some filmmakers left in the world who have the guts to provoke an audience in this way.

There has also been a lot of criticism of Spielberg's use of 9/11 imagery in the film. Many reviews have contended that this was done purposely by the director in order to manipulate the audience into reliving a traumatic experience and therefore heightening the drama. I couldn't disagree more. We (Spielberg included) are now more knowledgable of how people in the real world react to a major disaster, and to not portray this would have made it less realistic and done a disservice to the film. Spielberg may be accused of blatantly tugging the audience's heartstrings in the past, but here he is at his most raw and powerful as a filmmaker.

Weekly Shatner Gossip

If you're a fan of William Shatner, as I am, then you should enjoy Look at his Butt. Look at his Butt is a Podcast by Lene Taylor and Jungle Kitty, a couple of women who are rabid Shatner fanatics. The show is gossip-laden and presents Shatner and all things Shatner from a woman's perspective (as a sex object).

I discovered Look at his Butt through iTunes, and of all the podcasts I've subscribed to, this one has been consistently the most fun. Enjoy.

(Warning, Look at his Butt contains explicit language and idolizes William Shatner)

RIP Commando Cody!

George Wallace, the man who played Commando Cody, died today at the age of 88.

Commando Cody has been one of my golden age Sci-Fi favorites since I first viewed Radar Men from the Moon almost a decade ago. The impact that the Rocket Man serials had on our current science-fiction flicks cannot be taken for granted. As an example, Commando Cody has been homaged numerous times throughout the Star Wars Saga- Boba Fett is an obvious decendent of Cody, the control panel on Darth Vader's chest is a wink, and of course, the character "Commander Cody" in Revenge of the Sith is the most obvious nod. And let's not forget The Rocketeer, which was basically an updated, and more sophisticated, comic book version of a "rocket-man" story (later adapted to film).

Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at this film icon, and a review of the Commando Cody serials.

Star Wars: ROTS (The Abridged Script)

The current episode of the Geeks On podcast is a very funny (and scathing) Radio Play style production of Rod Hilton's parody Revenge of the Sith: The Abridged Script.

Check out the Podcast here:
http://www.geekson.com/starwarsep3.htm

70mm 2001: A Space Odyssey at The Castro Theater

The Castro Theater in San Francisco will be screening Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Oddyssey in glorious 70mm as a part of their 70mm Film Series. It will be shown at 5 and 8 PM on August 2nd, one day only, so don't miss it.

Also of note in the 70mm series are Vertigo on August 1st, The Road Warrior on August 6th, Dragonslayer on August 8th and Edward Scissorhands on August 10th. Check the Castro Theater calendar for complete listings.

And coming in late August to the Castro- Ultramania! Posting to follow...

Rest in Peace Scotty!

Star Trek's Scotty, James Doohan, died this morning at the age of 85. Although he will live on in our memories and reruns, he will be greatly missed.

Link

Invaders From Mars

While watching the new Spielberg film War of the Worlds (a thrilling, well-crafted piece of filmmaking!) my friends and I were reminded at certain points of the classic sci-fi film, Invaders From Mars, which came out the same year as the 1953 version of War of the Worlds.



Invaders From Mars is a higher than "b" movie with many great moments that can still capture the imagination. Like the view of a glowing green saucer burying itself just outside a boys window, even more dreamlike and eerie because it is shown twice. Also, the possession of the boy's father provides some truly fearful moments. Near the end the movie gets a bit repetitive and silly in parts, but one image that leaves and impression is the creepy martian leader which is basically a emotionless head with tentacles sitting in a glass bubble. Freaky!

But the one image that is most iconic in the film is a shot of the end of a fence at the top of a hill in a murky atmosphere where the boy watches people get swallowed up by the ground. It's that setting that seems very close to a scene in the new War of the Worlds, where there is a very similar fence, hill and atmosphere. (Also, the IFM's martian craft are buried, as are the alien craft in the recent WOTW.) Now I could be wrong and Spielberg had something completely different in mind. But it was great fun to be reminded of those creepy vintage moments from the sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars.

To hear about this great era of Sci-Fi films from Spielberg himself and George Lucas, be sure to "Watch the Skies" on Turner Classic Movies, whenever they re-air this documentary!

Links to Invaders From Mars:

A cool french site with pictures.

A very comprehensive fan site!