I have for ages wished that I could replace the opening sequence of JP1 with the opening of JP2 (where it belongs), and somehow shoehorn-in the other wonderful compy bits (the killing on the riverbed, the all-too-brief shot of the high grass being pushed down into trails in the meadow). The trailer ..hanging from the cliff is decent too. If I could edit these into JP with a minimum of continuity problems (such as having Julianna Moore suddenly appear) I would happily discard JP2 from memory.
I didn't find THE TERMINAL at all enjoyable (I never for a moment believed Tom Hank's accent - it's as bad as John Malkovich's "Russian" in ROUNDERS) but for the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones is about the most delightful eye candy on screen these days. And I usually like Stanley Tucci. Not here. The film felt like a breather between Spielberg blockbusters, which is essentially what it was.
IJ4 was not up to the first three, but I found it tolerable. Shia LeBeouf makes me want to gag.
HOOK had its moments, but it was a travesty of the Peter Pan story, a revisionist plot that did Barrie's original no favors or justice. Dustin Hoffmann was pretty good, though, and John William's score pleasant enough.
AMISTAD grows on me. The first half-hour remain the most compelling, but the rest has begun to seem better to me now that my expectations have been lowered.
ALWAYS has a very cute Holly Hunter and a few exciting fire-fighting sequences, but otherwise it just isn't very memorable.
EMPIRE OF THE SUN is a mixed bag. Another fine Williams score, and some great moments, but over-long and emotionally aloof.
1941 has some stunning choreography and amazing effects (especially the miniatures), but it leaves me cold. Broad performances like these worked in the 30's, but somehow, juxtaposed with modern special effects, they seem incongruous.
WAR OF THE WORLDS. This is one of the few films of the past thirty years that I have been to see multiple times at a theater (SIN CITY was the only other one until AVATAR). I agree that Tom Cruise was not the ideal choice, but given the revisionism of the main character to the 21st century, it could have been a worse one. My main caveat: setting the film in modern day New Jersey instead of 19th century London. I think a period adaptation could only have helped this become a more seminal re-make. The ending felt truncated and unsatisfying. Still, in spite of Roger Ebert's disdain for the design of the tripods, I found them to be scary as hell and the first half of the movie to be worth the problems in the second half.
I find the rest of Spielberg's output (as director, at least) to be quite exemplary, and feel grateful we have such a talent providing us with terrific entertainment and social commentary on a regular basis.
I didn't find THE TERMINAL at all enjoyable (I never for a moment believed Tom Hank's accent - it's as bad as John Malkovich's "Russian" in ROUNDERS) but for the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones is about the most delightful eye candy on screen these days. And I usually like Stanley Tucci. Not here. The film felt like a breather between Spielberg blockbusters, which is essentially what it was.
IJ4 was not up to the first three, but I found it tolerable. Shia LeBeouf makes me want to gag.
HOOK had its moments, but it was a travesty of the Peter Pan story, a revisionist plot that did Barrie's original no favors or justice. Dustin Hoffmann was pretty good, though, and John William's score pleasant enough.
AMISTAD grows on me. The first half-hour remain the most compelling, but the rest has begun to seem better to me now that my expectations have been lowered.
ALWAYS has a very cute Holly Hunter and a few exciting fire-fighting sequences, but otherwise it just isn't very memorable.
EMPIRE OF THE SUN is a mixed bag. Another fine Williams score, and some great moments, but over-long and emotionally aloof.
1941 has some stunning choreography and amazing effects (especially the miniatures), but it leaves me cold. Broad performances like these worked in the 30's, but somehow, juxtaposed with modern special effects, they seem incongruous.
WAR OF THE WORLDS. This is one of the few films of the past thirty years that I have been to see multiple times at a theater (SIN CITY was the only other one until AVATAR). I agree that Tom Cruise was not the ideal choice, but given the revisionism of the main character to the 21st century, it could have been a worse one. My main caveat: setting the film in modern day New Jersey instead of 19th century London. I think a period adaptation could only have helped this become a more seminal re-make. The ending felt truncated and unsatisfying. Still, in spite of Roger Ebert's disdain for the design of the tripods, I found them to be scary as hell and the first half of the movie to be worth the problems in the second half.
I find the rest of Spielberg's output (as director, at least) to be quite exemplary, and feel grateful we have such a talent providing us with terrific entertainment and social commentary on a regular basis.
