We just watched it this past weekend too, and really liked it. The end bothered us, since it seemed that events from the future had percolated back to the past, which hadn’t been shown as happening before. DH found this fan-theory that does a pretty good job explaining it: linky.
Jack Reacher is next. Tom Cruise is crazy, but he still does good movie.
You notice that he always managed to show up in time to see that shot of her rising up from laying prone? The director sure noticed. They included that shot about four times.
The author of the graphic novel the film was based on, “All You Need Is Kill” said he was inspired by video games.
I, too, hate Tom Cruise but damnit, I love his movies. He’s definitely an actor who I have to separate from his skill from his personality.
I didn’t have any issue with Cruise being sent to the unit the way he was. He wasn’t originally supposed to fight. Heck, the Brass didn’t even think there would be a fight. But when Cruise attempted to blackmail THE general he was being insubordinate, at the very least. The general could have had him shot, but sending him to F Troop was cleaner and more expeditious.
Hey I was surprised that I really liked it as well. Saw it on an airplane so I had nothing invested in it, I didn’t even know Emily Blunt co-starred.
As I told my friends, it’s a Tom Cruise movie for people who can’t stand Tom Cruise.
But I can’t agree with y’all about Jack Reacher. It doesn’t help that it’s based on my least favorite JR book.
I don’t know about that. I love Tom Cruise, and, I found the movie a bit…tedious.
Something wrong with his ‘meeting his Yoda’ scene. Other stuff, too. I can’t remember much about the movie. I didn’t hate it, but, I thought there was a lot about it that forced me to say ‘it’s too formulaic’. I know, all movies are formulaic, but, this one seemed designed to focus my attention onto that aspect.
Just watched it. It was really good I agree. They blew it on the advertising for this one. Really enjoyed it. I agree the final couple minutes were totally unnecessary and made no sense in he context of the rest of the movie.
That’s not a very good critique. The only other movie I can think of that’s remotely like it is Groundhog day, and they are vastly different movies.
Yeah, that’s precisely what I thought when I was watching it, and I was surprised how I couldn’t find any other reviews, official or fan, that said the same thing. It seemed so clear to me that it had to have been deliberate, yet apparently almost nobody else picked up on it.
I didn’t watch it, bit I think it is ridiculous they picked someone shorter than Hobbit actor Martin Freeman to play a huge guy.
Yes, it was pretty cleverly done. I think where most video game adaptions fail is that they focus on the elements, and not the experience.
Just to bump this, because astro started a new thread on it a couple days after I saw it myself.
They showed the film at this year’s Case Western Reserve Sci-Fi Film Marathon and I really liked it! And the crowd there liked it too - they kept quiet, while usually we’re all hollering at the screen. I loved how unapologetically badass the female protagonist is, and the fact that there is just enough humor sprinkled in.
It really kept my attention too.
Someone made a note of the Redbox re-naming, that bienville noticed, in the IMDB trivia section for this movie. (Not that this thread is the reason for the note, just that other people have noticed it too!)
I swear, it’s like every time this thread dies…
I really don’t get the Tom Cruise hatred. Yes, he’s a Scientologist. So are a lot of people in Hollywood. But by all accounts he’s a super nice guy to work with, he busts his ass to get things right in his movies, he’s a good actor, and he’s got a good sense of humor about himself.
On the other hand, Hollywood is full of pricks like Alec Baldwin who mistreat the people around them, abuse their families, and cause public scenes constantly. People like Baldwin seem to get endless second chances, but Tom Cruise is still criticized for jumping up on Oprah’s couch years and years ago and hold it against him as a sign of his ‘craziness’.
Cruise has major balls, too. I really like that about him. Apparently when he was training for Days of Thunder, the race car drivers teaching him were amazed by his raw talent in learning to race cars, but terrified to be with him because he drove balls-to-the-wall. The guy is a pilot, and flies a bloody P-51 Mustang - a machine that will kill you fast if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. He also flies a Pitts S2B - the same plane stunt pilot Art Scholl was killed in during the filming of Top Gun. And a Gulfstream IV, which takes serious dedication to be rated in. He’s no dilettante.
He also does his own stunts, including this one where he is hanging on to the outside of a large aircraft while it cruises around at 5,000 ft. How many actors would do that? He had a safety harness, but that would take real courage.
Have a look at this clip of Cruise doing weapons training for Collateral. So many actors clearly don’t know how to handle weapons, and it makes them less believable when they use them on-screen. Cruise trains until he is legitimately good at it in real life. The same is true with flying, car racing, martial arts, whatever is required for the role.
And unlike some actors, the people behind the scenes working with him have nothing but good things to say about his willingness to listen, his skill, and his dedication.
Jesus, I sound like I’m heading the Tom Cruise fan club.
They both keep getting endless second chances. It sounds like with Cruise, you’re blaming the general public for having a negative impression of him, but he still keeps getting handed high-budget, high-profile movies, which I agree are GOOD. In fact I agree with everything you say about Cruise.
It sounds like with Baldwin though, you’re blaming the industry for giving him work, even though if he were really as bad as you say all the the time he wouldn’t be continually hired. If he were an absolute dick all the time, there’s plenty of actors in his age range directors and casting agents can choose from. Lots of actors have seen their careers dive because of attitude problems. It’s not like he’s a box office draw either. He must behave himself most of the time. He’s definitely a good actor. He doesn’t have the profile Cruise does, since now he mainly does TV, indie movies (like Still Alice, which I saw tonight and he was good), and foreign films. He does have some high-profile movies coming up, as a character actor. You think he shouldn’t be hired, or that the general public should actively boycott his TV shows and movies because he yelled at his daughter several years ago? She’s way over it, admitted she was a brat (like all teenage girls can be), and is very close to him. That would be silly. The general public doesn’t care. I think it’s his politics you don’t like, I don’t even know why you would bring him up otherwise. Tom Cruise is on a whole different movie star level. Baldwin will continue to work. Cruise will continue to work. In fact they’ll work together in the upcoming Mission Impossible 5. I hope to see some heads explode. That will be fun.
His rants about how chemical balances don’t exist, and psychology/psychiatry being junk science, probably alienated some folks, particularly given the presumption he believes in theta healing.
$cientology has addled Tom Cruise’s brain alright. No one would cheer louder than me if he somehow were to wake up and leave the cult. Others in much deeper than him have managed to do it. Hope springs eternal.
Psychiatry is the softest but potentially debatebly most harmful medical discipline, there is very little evidence for the chemical imbalance theory, and antidepressants are no better than active placebos.
That being said, Dianetics is a dozen times worse. The crazy rantings of a immoral third-rate science fiction writer. Cruise, though a nice person and a great actor, has probably made the lives of hundreds worse by his advocacy for it.
Such bullshit. Here is not the place to debate the subject, but back in the early oughts, antidepressants saved my life. Attitudes like yours are harmful and stigmatize mental illness.
I swear we did this thread yesterday! No?
The green tea is free, isn’t it? 
My son and I went to see it in the theater. He didn’t understand how such a serious movie could make you laugh so many times!
I used that exact phrase to describe the movie to my wife, and she stopped me right there. She’s completely uninterested in sci-fi, and Groundhog Day was the only movie she ever walked out on.
What? Did you want the original ending from All You Need Is Kill?
The Full Metal Bitch attacks Keiji, knowing that one of them has to die to break the perpetual time loop. He fights back and (regretfully) kills her. At the end, while he is up to be court-martialed for killing the most famous war hero on the planet, the brass realize he is more useful as the new face of the war effort… and the fight goes on!
I was OK with the ending. If you’re brave, read my spoiler above to see why.
… or she never got to taste the umeboshi, let alone eat a whole jar of them.
Like Oblivion and Minority Report? I also own both of those movies.
Paul Thomas Anderson is also a big fan, specifically of Cruise’s acting:
Paul Thomas Anderson was there when Cruise brought “Frank T.J. Mackey” to life in Magnolia. I’m sure all he had to do was say “Action” and “Cut” and in between stand back and watch in awe. PTA gets good performances out of all his actors, in every movie, but he starts by choosing the best ones for the job. Of course PTA would praise Cruise’s acting. He knows.
Thanks for that article. I’m glad to hear there’s no bad blood between them after The Master. I would like to see them work together again. It’s obvious by now that Cruise doesn’t ever recruit his fellow actors or the directors he works with (much to the frustration of his $cieno handlers, I’m sure), so cult dupe or not, I’ll watch anything Cruise does. He’s a damned good actor.