War of the Worlds - movie review

I saw this movie yesterday and I am still having a great deal of trouble rating it. It was a very good summer movie, but there was just something missing that I can't put my finger on. I have read a handful of reviews on other websites to try to figure it out. The biggest complaint many have is how neat & tidy the movie ends with a certain main character disappearing in the middle and returning at the very end despite making us think he was dead. I didn't think this was as much of a problem. As I think back over the movie, the weakest part of the movie was in fact Tim Robbins. He was simply there as a plot device to alter Tom Cruise's personality. Aside from his cameo in Anchorman, his last great performance was in The Shawshank Redemption and that was 11 years ago. The movie felt a little rushed, like Spielberg woke up one morning and said, "hey, how bout we do a war of the worlds movie today." This movie also stole a great deal from earlier movies, such as Independence Day (without the horrible Pullman speech), Minority Report and a cute homage to E.T.

I am finding that my review is a little overbroad and not tightly woven, but that seems to fit this movie perfectly.

War of the Worlds gets an unsure 4.5 out of 6 beers.

Ratings of similar movies:
Independence Day - 4 out of 6
Minority Report - 5 out of 6
E.T. - 5.5 out of 6
The Arrival - 3 out of 6
Mars Attacks - 5.5 out of 6

The Big 50 Club

My boy Classic came to Houston from the A-Town to hang out with his family as well as Raj and I. After taking a practice 200 multiple choice multistate exam (6 hours for those not studying for the bar), we grabbed some dinner then went over to Rice Village, where we imbibed some beverages not intended for those under 21. We started out at Ryan O'Neill's, followed up by Baker Street and Little Woodrow's. While at Woodrow's, I began my quest to join the Big 50 Club. For those who are not familiar (as I was earlier yesterday), the Club entails getting a keychain that gets punched everytime you drink one of the 50 beers on the prepared list in order. The list starts off a little weak, as evidenced below, but does get better as you move through the list. You are all invited to join me in my quest, as I will keep my faithful readers abreast of each step (aka what beers I drank that night).

Beer #1: PBR
Beer #2: Pearl

It is important to note that you may only drink 3 beers on the list in a single day.