Cruise (out of) Control...

It seems like good ol' transparent Tom Cruise is on television everytime I turn it on. That was a big clue that "War of the Worlds" must stink. This is the big "blockbuster" for the 4th of July weekend and the studio needs it to bring in big bucks. And it will. But it definitely stinks. There was absolutely no audience connection with Cruise as the lead character. He brought nothing to the role. Speilberg might as well have had Adam Sandler in the lead role. The only performance worth noting was that of the ever-present Dakota Fanning. Just how many movies is this young lady in these days? She's everywhere.

There is one particular "cellar scene" that seems to go on forever. It was at about this point I began to consider cheering for the aliens to win the war. And I won't waste a moment of time questioning the idiotic ending. (At least Morgan Freeman had the good sense to simply narrate and not appear in this yawner.) But maybe the real idiots are the forgiving folks who keep venturing into the theaters over and over hoping to be entertained a tiny little bit and not feel like they have once again been ripped off royally at the ticket window. Movie attendance is way down and Hollywood wonders why. Do any of the studio execs ever actually watch these reels of rubbish? Apparently not.

And yes, the latest Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes storybook romance is clearly no more than another thinly-veiled Hollywood publicity stunt designed to bolster the media coverage of their respective flicks. Think it's not a stunt? Count how long they stay together after their respective movies have faded from the Summer sun and hype... This relationship will be as short as Cruise himself.