War of the worlds

[FullAuto]

Won't get far on those little legs...

I remember vaguely seeing a still of some film he was in, where he's sat on a bench with the romantic interest, the view is from behind them, and it looks like a child and his mother.

[Accounting Troll]

You know you hate Tom Cruise when you start cheering on the Martians. "Go on, step on him"

 

I like the idea of a points system for potential girlfriends. Mine would run:-

 

+5 Likes to cook

+4 Likes Hancock's Half Hour

-8 Likes reality TV

+2 Likes taking walks in the countryside

-12 Tried to take a peek at the size of my wallet

+7 Has seperate income

-3 Has had cosmetic surgery

-1 Likes vampire films

-1 Has feminist views

+2 Is interested in astronomy

+8 And has own telescope

-3 Wants an expensive wedding

-1 Insists I do some gardening

+4 Has an understanding approach to my fondness of computer games

-30 Is married

-60 Is married, and has children

[Hobbes]

You know you hate Tom Cruise when you start cheering on the Martians.  "Go on, step on him"

 

I like the idea of a points system for potential girlfriends.  Mine would run:-

 

+5  Likes to cook

+4  Likes Hancock's Half Hour

-8 Likes reality TV

+2  Likes taking walks in the countryside

-12  Tried to take a peek at the size of my wallet

+7  Has seperate income

-3 Has had cosmetic surgery

-1 Likes vampire films

-1 Has feminist views

+2  Is interested in astronomy

+8  And has own telescope

-3 Wants an expensive wedding

-1 Insists I do some gardening

+4  Has an understanding approach to my fondness of computer games

-30  Is married

-60  Is married, and has children

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Is that for a potential girlfriend or for a female alter ego of yourself?

 

Lets see...

 

-she likes to cook. So do I, 2 people in the kitchen make is more fun, especially arguing about who should cook.

-I have no idea about what Hancock Half Hour is, but while she's watching it I can write posts here

-Same for reality TV

-She doesn't like walks on the countryside. Good, then you will have a way to start discussing about small things, in order to start arguing later about the important things.

-She likes to take a peek at the size of my wallet. Good, then she will know what we can afford and we can't.

-No discussion on the separate income part.

- Cosmetic surgery....well it depends on the problem that she wanted to fix.

- Vampire movies....as long as they make their imagination go wild.

- Astronomy/telescope....OK

- Expensive wedding....well here the father of the groom traditionally pays for the whole wedding, so OK

- Gardening...does that mean physical work?

- Has some understanding of my obsession with computer games...if she doesn't then i have no patience for her reality shows.

- Is married/with children... get a divorce, and want to have more children. Otherwise, impossible.

 

And this is my female alter ego I think.

[FullAuto]

Ok, this thread has taken a turn for the disturbing. Can we move back on-topic please? My imagination is already curling up in a corner and keening to itself.

One thing I'd note is that if the aliens are only intent upon wiping out the human race, perhaps they'll miss Tom Thumb? Him and Mel Gibson may escape unscathed...

[Hobbes]

Ok, this thread has taken a turn for the disturbing.  Can we move back on-topic please?  My imagination is already curling up in a corner and keening to itself.

 

I apologize for my own imagination, back to topic.

 

One thing that bothers me is why the aliens are so intent on elimininating the human race. Are we just on the way? Are we a despicable species? Did we just piss off the Supreme Lord of the Aliens? Some sci-fi stories work around that question by simply hiding the aliens' motives, which makes them even stranger, but the question is: why have we been designated for termination.

[FullAuto]

Are we a despicable species?

 

Hit the nail on the head there. I don't know of any other species that starves, gasses, shoots, tortures, electrocutes, poisons, stabs, immolates, explodes, hangs, boils and decapitates each other.

[JellyfishGreen]

Monkeys and ants, for starters. They just don't have the techological advantages we have.

 

I reckon the big issue between any two great nations meeting for the first time is mistrust and motives - galaxy conquerors/colonizers hate competition and will endeavor to enforce their monopoly unless held back by principles (their own) or force (the other guys). Larry Niven wrote a good story about alien and human scout ships making first contact in deep space, and trying to figure out how to exchange all the information they could to a possible friend without giving away any strategic advantage to a possible enemy.

 

But the number one reason the aliens target us for destruction:...

(CHEAP) DRAMATIC TENSION!

 

The huggy lovey aliens make for very short movies. Although Galaxy Quest comes to mind.

[FullAuto]

Yes, but they do it for survival. We do it over things such as money, which, if you think about it, is nothing more than a collective delusion.

[JellyfishGreen]

Ah yes, but it's a collective delusion that conveniently represents the amount of resources you potentially control. And our evolutionary drive to amass resources doesn't come in with a built-in upper limit.

 

Anyway, ratings for the WotW film are looking OK here too. For other reasons, though, Ms Jellyfish and I are going to see Kung Fu Hustle.

 

PS. Happy Canada Day!

[Hobbes]

For other reasons, though, Ms Jellyfish and I are going to see Kung Fu Hustle.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I thought jellyfishes were assexual

[FullAuto]

Well, they can be asexual together, can't they?

 

Ah yes, but it's a collective delusion that conveniently represents the amount of resources you potentially control. And our evolutionary drive to amass resources doesn't come in with a built-in upper limit.

 

And that's not despicable?

Kung Fu Hustle looks like it might actually be some cop, do let us know how it is, old chap.

O Canada!

[Accounting Troll]

Regarding the motives of the aliens in War of the Worlds, in the book and 1953 film they invade Earth because their own world is dying, its resources exhausted. Their only chance of survival is to colonize another world, and Earth is the best choice out of the worlds they can reach.

 

Humanity just happens to be in the way of their colonization efforts. It's like when we cut down a forest and make its inhabitants homeless so we can build a shiny new shopping mall. We did not hate the trees, they just happened to be in our way.

 

We are also a potential food source in the book, although I suspect that any large mammal would do. One of the characters in the book argues that the Martians intend to farm us for food. I find this unlikely because cattle are faster growing.

[Strong Bob]

After a while I thought it was illogical for aliens to conquer Earth right off the bat like that. But then I thought of it another way...

 

What if we landed on a planet somewhere and saw a bunch of 3 foot tall, 1 legged, tentacled creatures that built homes out of the dirt and had an entire society built upon a humongous vein of gold?

 

I'm thinking a few people would consider those little guys to be a bit of a nuisance...

[JellyfishGreen]

Well, they can be asexual together, can't they?

Actually we're dioecious cnidaria, thanks for asking.

Kung Fu Hustle looks like it might actually be some cop, do let us know how it is, old chap.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We liked it; Steven Chow makes an early-Jackie-Chan-type comedy that reminded me of "Matrix:Reloaded", set in 1930's mobster Shanghai, but funnier.

 

We are also a potential food source in the book, although I suspect that any large mammal would do.  One of the characters in the book argues that the Martians intend to farm us for food.  I find this unlikely because cattle are faster growing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That makes sense, but perhaps we'd be a sought-after delicacy. "The ones who sit in front of computers all day are more tender."

 

OnTopic: So how was the movie?

[Strong Bob]

I liked the movie a lot. And I hated the 1950's movie's poor adaptation.

 

It follows the book's rendition more than the first movie.

[Ivory]

groups decision...should i go to see it?

[Slaughter]

Yeah, so you can tell us how it was

[FullAuto]

Go see it, I'd say. Wells' story shines despite Shpielberg's hamfistedness and Cruise still, after all this time, being at least 50% Maverick.

[Strong Bob]

Fullauto likes it? Perhaps it was a better movie than I thought...

[FullAuto]

What are you tring to say?

[Ivory]

i think it was a compliment!

[Doug]

I saw this film today.

 

***SPOILERS***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I liked the CGI.

 

I just got tired of the screaming from Dakota Fanning.

 

Also I did not like the plot line that reasoned that the tripods were buried deep in the earth to destroy us thousands of years ago.

 

Apart fom that it was O.K.

[DoomMunky]

Yeah, me too, with the annoyance factor on that subject. I chose to think that that idea was just that particular characters idea of what happened, not the position of the movie (because it wasn't followed up!).

 

 

Otherwise, a fine movie, akin to 28 Days Later in my book.

 

 

SPOILER

 

 

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The damn son should not survive at the end. The entire story of the family was that some people need to learn responsibility, and Tommy is one of them. When he lets his son go run up the hill, he's letting a man make his own choices and live with the consequences. The problem is that those choices can get us killed. And to have the son just waltz out at the end makes the whole movie after that point stupid in retrospect.

 

Grarf!

[Hobbes]

I saw the film last night and it freaked me out! Not completely since there's things that irritated me a bit, see below for details:

 

*SPOILERS*

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The damn son should not survive at the end.

 

Completely agree. That ending was really a cold water bucket to me because it made no sense other than to give the traditional Hollywood finale, where all goes well at the end. That and the point of having the soldiers managing to kill the alien Tripod, after being trashed the entire time throughout the movie (the scene where the burning Humvees roll down the hill while trying to retreat is great: you simply imagine what happened). It didn't made much sense that the machine's shields would be deactivated unless the aliens inside were hallucinating from the bacteria killing them.

 

But, with the exception of that part, the rest of the movie was awesome:

- The ferry scene is a knockout. First the anarchy resulting from the destruction, which reaches its zenith when the guy picks Cruise's gun and realizes that it gives him power over everybody else. Then the aliens showing up and leading the ferry into a trap by the tripod waiting on the water.

- The aliens feeding on humans is shocking because of how it is presented. First the aliens simply kill people. Then on the ferry they start grabbing humans, without showing why. Then all the blood raining down from their machines and falling on the ground. And finally the scene where the tripod sticks the probe and starts feeding, plus the cages where the humans are kept. I remembered it from the book but my stomach simply turned inside out.

- The aliens running around the basement while Cruise and Robbins are fighting one another. Insanity vs. reason. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

 

Overall, a very good movie. If the ending was different I'd say it was one of the best sci-fi/horror movies I've ever seen.

[FullAuto]

***SPOILERS***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The damn son should not survive at the end.

 

Well, it was Shpielberg, and he's not renowned for handling emotion well, or being even vaguely realistic. Agree totally, the little shit should have snuffed it, what was he playing at? Sometimes, consequences kill.

I think Shpielberg copped out at times, like when Cruise killed Tim Robbins, or the alien probe going into the human was blocked out of sight. Mollycoddling the audience in the hope of getting a lower age certificate is just stupid and sad. Give us violence, or give us death! In fact, give us violence and death.