Mars Attacks

I watched this because it's on the list of movies that I really hate, but should give another try.

In 1996, I completely hated it. I haven't watched it since.

In 2009, it's not so bad. I definitely got the joke in 1996, but didn't find it funny. Today, I do sort of. I wouldn't rush out to see it again, but nor would I nuke anyone selling it.

It really is a super parody. What I may appreciate more now than I did in 1996 is the characters. Natalie Portman: She is completely bored through the whole thing. She never shows any spark of life. Pierce Brosnan: Portrays 100% confidence and never lets up even though he has no idea what he's talking about. Sarah Jessica Parker: I don't understand why I hate her. She's probably the loveliest person on the planet, but every time she comes on screen I want her to get stepped on by a Godzilla type creature. Jack Nicholson plays 2 roles: a president who's out of his league, and a vegas man who wants to capitalize on the invasion.

There's only one scene that I always remembered liking from my 1996 viewing. The grandmother is at the home listening to a record. The aliens see that she's oblivious, and sneak up behind her with a giant ray gun. It could've probably killed her from a mile away, but they're mischievous little fellas, and they want to get the turret of this huge gun as close to her head as possible. Funny stuff. (That just reminded me of IDIOCRACY. The cops surround a car, and one of the cops fires a rocket at the car from about 2 feet away. Meanwhile, the guy that owns the car is hiding and cheering them on forgetting that it's his car.)

There were a lot of people in the credits. Most of them only had a couple minutes of screen time. Michael J Fox: dead. Jack Black: Dead. That's all I can recall.