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Reviews
War of the Worlds (2005)
A very disappointing film after all of the hype
It is incredible to believe that Tom Cruise got so many millions of dollars for his contribution to this film (I believe in excess of 100 million). In my opinion, there are many actors who are far less well-paid who could have made a better and more convincing job of acting in this particular roll.
The 'acting' by other members of the cast was also rather stilted and'wooden', especially that of Cruise's 'son' who was so unconvincing that even after just a short while of the film finishing, my partner and I could not remember his name. Cruise's screen 'daughter' although much younger made probably the best contribution to acting. Even with the effects, that is the 'aliens' who make by far the most convincing contribution, the film was in our opinion a wash out and very disappointing.
Maria Stuarda (1988)
For lovers of Donizetti and Italian/German language
For those interested in italian opera AND the German language (particularly if they are learning german), or happen to be German, I would recommend that they either watch out for this Peter Weigl film or purchase it. Weigl's film combines arias from Donizetti's marvellous opera (Mary Stuarda)with spoken extracts from Schiller's play on the same theme (which altered the historical facts somewhat).
It is a most unusual combination, using Czechoslovakian actors, and the voices of Pavarotti/Sutherland/Tourangeau etc(from Decca recording 1976). For opera lovers an interesting venture into something a little more unusual - for italian/german language learners, a temptation to delve a little further into the culture/music/literature. For all an introduction to a unique experiment by Peter Weigl.