Movie Day With the Kids (Fantastic 4, War of the Worlds, & King Kong)

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Took Alex and Zack to see Fantastic Four and War of the Worlds back to back the other day. Here are a few observations and reflections from the experience:

1) Who woulda thought "the Commish" woulda made such an excellent Thing?

2) Seeing Micahael Chiklis again made me pine for Theresa Saldana (the actress who played the Commish's wife).

3) Apparently, I find weasly faced women attractive.

4) The Fantastic Four movie was not as bad as everyone's saying it is. I'll probably never watch it again, but it was a fine, fun way to kill two hours with seven- and thirteen-year-old boys.

5) Despite my general snobbery, I am not a purist. I am a huge Fantastic Four Fan from way back, and I am not at all bothered by the liberties the filmmakers took with the original story line.

6) I also was not bothered by the liberties Spielburg took with War of the Worlds. It barely resembles H.G. WElls' original story, but who gives a crap? It was an EXCELLENT movie!

7) As much as I am loathe to admit it, Tom Cruise was actually quite good in War of the Worlds.

8) Tom Cruise owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to P.T. Anderson, because P.T. was the first director (Magnolia) to realize, "Hey, this guy is an asshole... So why don't we have play an asshole?"

9) Anyone who would walk two miles in the mid-day Sacramento summertime heat just to see a movie is crazier than Tom Cruise.

10) Holy crap! The trailers for Peter Jackson's King Kong look FANTASTIC! I'm an even bigger King Kong fan than I am a Fantastic Four fan. In fact, King Kong is nothing short of sacred to me. I still haven't forgiven John Guillerman for that 1976 catastrophe, but Peter Jackson's redo looks like it'll be a fitting tribute.