there's a fine line between "ooh, sexy" and "you should probably see a doctor about that"

Blog entry title thanks to my friend Ken, who almost always says the right thing at the right time.

We went to see War of the Worlds tonight, starring Tom Cruise (who Ken aptly, if half-inaccurately, referred to as "that buck-toothed dumbass"). It was pretty good, for summer blockbuster schlock, and there was one point that made me squeal like a piggy, which is really all you can hope for from action-packed blockbuster movies about the demolition of the world and the violent mass-murder of all humanity.

I should probably have boycotted it as a feeble personal protest against Cruise's incredibly moronic comments about psychology and psychotherapeutic drugs, or really, for just how annoying he is about being in love with a twelve year old named Katie Holmes. (I mean, I'm not a fan of slapping every excitable kid on Ritalin, but I also know a bunch of people whose lives have been saved by effective use of anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, etc, and some kids who have been really helped by Ritalin. I don't know, who am I to judge?) But if I'd boycotted it, who would win? The tripod aliens would win, that's who.

So about the movie -- I do think the Muppet Show's Statler (one of the cranky old judges) was right on the money in his review of War of the Worlds when he said of Dakota Fanning, who plays Cruise's daughter in the movie -- "and for a completely digital character, that little girl is remarkably lifelike."

(It's a little depressing to see the old guys pimped out to corporate whoredom for movies.com like that, but I admit, Pepe the backstage-manager muppet partially won me over by pronouncing "Miss Congeniality" as "Miss Congenitalia".)