Snark alert – I’m most definitely snarky today, so you have been warned. For good measure, here’s the snark, free from her cage:
La Snark Escaping From Her Cage
I finally got around to watching War of the Worlds the other night. I know, seven years later.
Okay, don’t throw rotten lettuce, but I was underwhelmed. I didn’t believe any of it. I certainly didn’t believe that Tom Cruise escaped in the first sequence. Is it me or did he do lots o’facial gestures but not much real acting? Lots of lucky dodging and weaving. Overall, I thought it was boring and simply didn’t make a lot of sense in a lot of crucial areas. Plus, I never really cared about the Tom Cruise character or the truculent teenager (been there, done that, have no wish to rinse, repeat). Special effects don’t matter to me if the characters don’t resonate.
But here’s what really bothered me. There’s a little girl in our neighborhood who has this high pitched squeal that she uses whenever she wants to get attention. Take the sound of nails on a chalkboard, an aluminum ice tray opening, and the yowl of cats in heat and roll it all together and it’s still not as annoying as this little girl.
The exact same sound the little girl in the movie makes.
Halfway through the movie, I was hoping she would get eaten. In fact, I found myself talking to the aliens. “She’s in the basement!”
(I know, I know, this isn’t very uplifting or positive of me, is it?)
So, do you have problems suspending your disbelief in certain movies? And do certain character traits drive you batty?
La Snark has now been coaxed back into her cage.
Totally agree, Karen! I do not care for science fiction. If something really cannot happen, what’s the point?
I haven’t seen this movie. (See paragraph above.) Poor old Tom Cruise is a good looking fellow but…
I think because we are the mothers of sons, little girls’ screeches grate more on our nerves. However, if I had a little girl and she did that just once, she would be in deep, dark trouble. Don’t know what kind of trouble that is but my Mom threatened me with and I, in turn, used it on my sons. All I know is it works. The looks in their eyes shows they’re conjuring up all kinds of bad things! Is that child abuse?
But, I digress (as usual). My husband can watch some of the crappiest movies while I simply roll my eyes and walk go into another room. I do believe I can count on one hand the number of movies I have really enjoyed. So, I thank God for you, Karen, because you write wonderful books that provide all of the entertainment I need!!
Don’t forget to take your computer into the cage with you!!
Glad to see someone else takes forever to watch a movie. I don’t rent them because I know I would end up paying big overdue fines. I buy them when the price goes down. We just can’t seem to free up time to watch them even when they are supposed to be good. I have had the new STAR TREK on the shelf for over a year. There are some who have been there for much longer. I am going to give up waiting for my husband to decide to watch them together.
Screeching little girls don’t bother me. I have been around children my whole life and have learned to filter out the annoying sounds and just hear what is important. I will admit there are days when the filter gets a bit thin and the whining and screeching do tend to irritate.
Since I have seen so few movies lately, I can’t think of any particular type of character that annoys. In general the TSTL ones deserve their fate and you wish them to speed it along. Those, male and female, that have the “I’m too sexy for…” need to get over themselves. Who cares. They may as well love themselves, no one else will.
I hate watching Pierce Bronsan because he is a heavy nose breather….Ok watch Dante’s Peak with him and Linda Hamilton. As hes talking and acting he breathes through his nose very audiably and it drives me insane. I also hate to watch Kim Bassinger, she seems so fake on screen like she’s acting the part instead of being the character.
Other than that I have a daughter with a high pitched voice and a sone who has a booming voice and sometimes I’d like to use duck tape on them, but I would get in trouble for that.
Z
I haven’t watched a movie in such a long time I don’t remember which one I saw. The actors nowadays annoy me, I don’t like Tome Cruise at all. As for the girl with the high pitched squeal, that would drive me nuts. I blame the parents for that. Seems like they are afraid to tell their kids to shut the hell up because the kids are the boss.
Hi, Z: Duct tape on kids’ mouths might get you into trouble, but duct taping them to the wall for a short while might work better!
Rita Wray: Amen to that! Too many parents are terrified of their kids these days. I guess old Doctor Spock wasn’t so bad after all!
librarypat: You must have the patience of a saint to be able to ignore screaming kids! If you could bottle it and sell it, you would be very rich!
LOL!! Karen, I remember the first time I saw this movie and I had exactly the same reaction. Special effects aside, I thought Tom Cruise was overrated, still do, and was busy thinking who else could have played the part other than him while trying to ignore his daughter’s screams. I caught myself saying through gritted teeth, while gripping the arms of the chair to keep from screaming myself, “if she screams one more time, I’ll put her in a safe space all right!”
Screaming kids is why I taught high school not K thru 5!! Not that sometimes, I didn’t still have to hear squealing girls but at least it wasn’t quite as high-pitched!
I haven’t seen that movie, but I think I’d be annoyed by it too.
Tom Cruise is ok (liked the Mission Impossible movies – but that was probably due more to the action/storyline). He has a nice smile, but He’s too short for me – I like a tall guy.
I don’t have problems suspending my disbelief as far as action & special effects go – after all I know it’s made up.
I have more trouble with overacting – when a response seems fake or over the top. When you want to slap the character – like Cher did in Moonstruck and said ‘Snap out of it!”.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that movie, or if I have I don’t remember. I did watch a movie recently that had me howling with laughter. I’m not going to go so far as to say it was a great movie, the heavyset woman that plays in it is hilarious! The main female actor has her moments too. It was Bridesmaids. My daughter bought it and told me I had to watch it. Yes, you will laugh your ass off if you have any humor at all in your body. The movie in general isn’t one of my favorite chick flicks but I would watch it again.
Karen, If you could have heard me early this a.m. screaming you would have cringed also. It’s in an e-mail I sent you
I love Le Snark pic at the top. It was perfect for the post!
It’s a ridiculous movie.
I don’t mind if I don’t believe, so long as I can enjoy. Without that, it’s a waste of time.
I don’t think I have a problem suspending belief as much as I detest all the movies directed to males with a mentality of 14 (and there seem to be a lot of them). I don’t get to the theater much any more and rely on watching dvds long after the movie was released. And, yes – screeching girls would drive me nuts. And I don’t think I’ll tell you how snarky I get when I hear them!!