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To: LindyBill who wrote (122624)	6/30/2005 2:37:18 AM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793757

Oh dear.......it didn't take long for the on line crowd to develop another petition. To: Steven Spielberg Dear Mr. Spielberg, We, the undersigned, wish to inform you that we are compelled to boycott your movie “War of the Worlds”. Our decision is based solely on the abhorrent behavior of Mr. Tom Cruise. We will not be spending our good money to support the ridiculous and potentially dangerous antics of this raving narcissist. Mr. Cruise’s actions and comments have been offensive and insulting when not downright laughable. -We do not want to hear Mr. Cruise’s uneducated and unsubstantiated opinions on medicine and Psychiatry. His mean-spirited decision to use Brooke Shields as an example was unforgivable. The potential impact on those in need of treatment, who might heed the advice of a ‘celebrity’ over a trained professional, is dangerous. If Mr. Cruise believes that vitamins can cure mental illness, then perhaps he should consider increasing his dosage. -We do not want to be enlightened about Mr. Cruise's ‘religion’ of Scientology. If he is so concerned about mind control, he should not be part of an organization that seems to use this tactic as its Modus Operandi. Mr. Spielberg, was the fully staffed Scientology tent you allowed Mr. Cruise to have on the movie set placed right next to the Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim tents? Didn’t think so. -We are sick of being force-fed his relationship with Katie Holmes which, if it isn’t the publicity hoax it appears to be, is a pathetic, juvenile, attention mongering display. Tom’s obvious control of his Stepford-Wife-To-Be is frightening. -We do not want to watch his ‘out of control’ yet suspiciously manipulative antics nor listen to his condescending, holier-than-thou judgments. This man cannot even articulate a coherent sentence. He should stick to reading movie scripts. It is revealing that the most compelling character Tom Cruise has ever portrayed is “Frank TJ Mackay” from Magnolia, a control-freak with a pathological need to assert his obsession over not just those around him, but the public as well, by exploiting his access to public media. Apparently Mr. Cruise was playing himself. Perhaps he views the aliens he battles in War of the worlds as a metaphor for the aliens he and his Scientology friends believe inhabit we humans. Relax Tom, it’s just a movie. A movie we will not be paying to see. Sincerely, The Undersigned petitiononline.com

To: LindyBill who wrote (122624)	6/30/2005 2:43:01 AM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793757

This is a pretty fair assessment imo. Spielberg delves into modern terror 15:00 AEST Thu Jun 30 2005 Brett McLeod COMMENT \| By Brett McLeod National Nine News reporter It's not often a news journalist tries to don a film reviewer's cap — but it's a rare Hollywood blockbuster that contains so many contemporary news references as War of the Worlds; especially a film based on a novel more than a century old. From its opening shot of the New York skyline, the events of September 11 are a sub-text to the story. New Yorkers stand in the streets looking to the sky as an unknown force literally cuts a swathe through city buildings. The victims aren't just killed — they are vapourised as they flee. Tom Cruise returns to his home to find his face covered in a white powder — the ashes of the victims. Later, he walks past a long wall covered with photos and descriptions of the missing. With the identity of the invaders still unknown, Cruise's screen son asks "Are they terrorists?" Sound familiar? Try this for an allusion to events closer to this side of the world: Cruise's daughter — the extraordinary Dakota Fanning — is standing on her own by a river. She watches in horror as a body floats past, one hand slightly raised, as corpses in water tend to do. A moment passes; another body comes past ... and then scores start streaming by, before she's rescued. That was the moment that was most unsettling for this filmgoer, but there's something here to disturb everyone. This is a dark film, both in look and tone. Parents of young children be warned: the aliens here aren't trying to phone home, they're farming humans. It's a bold move by Spielberg to tie in the terror attacks to fare for the cinema multiplexes. Any American director in particular would be aware of the dangers of tokenism; of callously using the worst of recent events to spice up an old story. Yet, the references not only suit the sombre tone of the film, they serve as a reminder of the deep sense of fear and foreboding that linger in many as a result of those and other events — form New York to Bali to Aceh. To his credit, Spielberg doesn't try to turn this into "let's get 'em back" triumphalism, such as Independence Day. Although that does appear to be the direction it's going in when, as he prepares to flee his home, Cruise grabs one last seemingly essential item: a handgun. Yet, the gun later is used to show how frightened, angry humans in a mob turn on themselves. The military does fight the alien force, but to no effect. Instead, the people in this movie spend their time just trying to stay alive. That was the thread in HG Wells' 19th century book — and it's an apt analogy in a 21st century struck by terror, war and natural disaster. Victory, in the end, comes from surviving. Post script: It's reported that in the 1930s, HG Wells was driving through Texas when he stopped in San Antonio and asked for directions. The man who aided him is said to have been none other than Orson Welles, who famously adapted War of the Worlds into a radio play that was so realistic it sent America into a panic. Apparently, so the story goes, they got along well. © National Nine News 2005