stephen spielberg's the war of the worlds SUCKED. this is the worst movie i've seen in a long time. it was generic, it was boring as hell, was more predictable than i predicted; i walked out at the end thinking i'd only seen half a movie. all anyone did was run around, get stuck in crowds and hide in basements. i suppose this was all about what happens when you have too many people and they're all desperate but jesus. i just wasted 118 minutes of my life, and i wants it back, preciousss. i broke my policy of not seeing "remakes" but only because we couldn't get into the i-know-it's-dumb-but-i-heard-it-was-actually-funny the wedding crashers. sure, i got the references to 9/11 and iraq, but, enough, already! Mr. HG: i apologise. some people only understand butchery. with ALL that money they have to throw around, why the hell can't they just get the right people and make a good movie??*

but, never mind. i suppose i asked for it. because i lead a truly charmed life, earlier this week i saw the second half of The Best of Youth. don't just *think* about seeing this movie, put it at the top of your list. i tend to shy away from what i consider "epic soap operas" (not to mention long, multi-part ones) but i won tickets to Part 1 last month, at which viewing they kindly gave out free tickets to Part 2. it was a great deal: one 10-second email yielded one double pass, two single passes and six hours of fabulously free filmgoing.

the con: it's 6 hours of film. the pro: it's 6 hours of great film. i'm going to gush here, but it has this brilliant handle on the holy trinity of excellent filmmaking: flawless storytelling that always keeps you guessing, decent casting, and great cinematography - all of which are "of a piece" and perfectly suited for the genre: traditional, intimate, understated. it's an epic that spans some 40 years in the life of an italian family, spinning primarily off the lives of the two brothers. it was deeply touching, unpredictable, funny and endearing, and after seeing the first 3 hours a month ago, i taped the ticket to the wall in front of my desk so i'd remember to keep checking for the second half to come out. definitely see the parts in order, however - it's not a series, they are two chronological halves of one movie. it won the cannes jury prize and a slew of others.

stephen spielberg, because you seemed to be making the war of the worlds into a movie about family values for some stupid [9/11] reason, je vous presente Marco Tullio Giordana. he could teach you a thing or two.

*okay, so the tripods were cool. but that's it.