Cast: Tom Cruise (Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg), Kenneth Branagh (Major-General Henning von Tresckow), Bill Nighy (General Friedrich Olbricht), Tom Wilkinson (General Friedrich Fromm)
For complete info, see IMDb's Valkyrie page.
World War II dramas have always interested me and Valkyrie is very well done. I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan, but he did a very good job in this movie. The rest of the cast is also wonderful. In spite of all the information available and the many documentaries, I didn't know much about this particular plot to stop Hitler, so I found Valkyrie very informative and entertaining. I definitely recommend renting this movie if you don't catch it in a theatre.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2008, Bill Nighy, drama, history, Kenneth Branagh, movie, thriller, Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:25 AM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robert Redford (Professor Stephen Malley), Meryl Streep (Janine Roth), Tom Cruise (Senator Jasper Irving)
For complete information, see IMDb's Lions for Lambs page.
I didn't know what to expect from this movie, since I hadn't seen any previews. As soon as I saw that Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, & Tom Cruise were in it, I was sure I'd see the movie, regardless of what it was about. I really like the way the movie went back and forth between the different story lines and how it tied everything together. The cast is amazing and the story is well told.
There were definitely a few slow points and I'm glad I didn't rush out to see it in a theatre, but Lions for Lambs is definitely worth adding to your rental queue.
Grade: B
Labels: 2007, drama, Meryl Streep, movie, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 6:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Ving Rhames (Luther Strickell), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Owen Davian)
For complete info on this amazing cast, see IMDb's Mission: Impossible III page.
Just as the cast continued to improve with each of the Mission: Impossible movies, the movies got much better with each new installment. I was very unimpressed with the first Mission: Impossible movie. The second was a lot better and a pretty good movie. Mission: Impossible III is very good! We saw it in a digital theater and it was definitely worth doing that for the special effects. If only it was on a giant screen digitally...
Perhaps the fact that this movie is better than the others has something to do with J. J. Abrams (Alias, Lost) taking over as director of this installment of the series. I hope he does the 4th movie!
I definitely recommend catching this Mission: Impossible movie in a movie theater before it goes away. With The Da Vinci Code, Posseidon, and X-Men: The Last Stand coming out this month, I'm not sure how long that'll be.
The special effects were wonderful. The cast was amazing. I couldn't believe how many great actors they got to be in this movie. Good to see that Tom Cruise's crazy antics haven't scared away any of the big players in the industry for movie purposes. :-)
Naturally, parts of the movie were very predictable and easy to figure out, but it was still a very enjoyable way to spend a couple hours and worth the money spent!
Grade: B+
Labels: 2006, action, adventure, Billy Crudup, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, movie, Philip Seymour Hoffman, thriller, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:05 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ray Ferrier), Dakota Fanning (Rachel Ferrier), Miranda Otto (Mary Ann), Justin Chatwin (Robbie Ferrier), Tim Robbins (Harlan Ogilvy)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's War of the Worlds page.
I didn't see the original movie, but (like just about everyone), I know of the HG Wells story. With Steven Spielberg directing, Tom Cruise & Dakota Fanning starring, and such a great supporting cast, I must admit that I expected more. I expected to be really impressed with the special effects, to get grabbed by the movie immediately and fear for the characters, etc.
As much as I love Dakota Fanning (and will probably always see anything she does) and enjoyed the rest of the cast (with the possible exception of Tim Robbins for whatever reason - I normally like him, too), I really wasn't impressed with the movie overall. The story just wasn't that great. The plot seemed a bit erratic and sketchy to me. The special effects were good, though, so I guess it was worth seeing in theatres for that.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2005, action, adventure, Dakota Fanning, movie, remake, sci-fi, Tom Cruise, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Vincent), Jamie Foxx (Max), Jada Pinkett Smith (Annie), Mark Ruffalo (Fanning)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Collateral page.
What a movie! The previews didn't tell you as much of the plot as it seemed, which is always a good thing! This movie really surprised me at times and was very well done. Of course, from the cast that signed on, this is not surprising.
This was the first time I really saw Jamie Foxx show what he can do and stretch himself in a roll and I was very impressed!
Some of the lines in Collateral are so impressive! The one that was in all the previews about the bullet and the fall (not Vincent) killing the guy cracks me up every time.
I highly recommend this movie!
Grade: B+
Labels: 2004, crime, drama, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, movie, thriller, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ken Watanabe (Katsumoto), Tom Cruise (Nathan Algren)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Last Samurai page.
Considering all the Oscar buzz surrounding Master and Commander, I didn't expect The Last Samurai to be better than it, but I think The Last Samurai should be getting the Oscar buzz instead. I was very impressed with this movie.
I think Tom Cruise did a great job learning all he had to know to play Nathan Algren in this movie about a US military advisor who embraces the Samurai culture when he is captured in battle. The Last Samurai is a very moving story with beautiful scenery and amazing costumes.
This glimpse inside the world of the Samurai was very interesting, even if it might not be totally accurate. I would have no way of knowing how accurate it is, since I know very little about the Samurai culture, but it seemed believable to me.
Grade: A
Labels: 2003, action, adventure, drama, Ken Watanabe, movie, Tom Cruise, war
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Chief John Anderton), Neal McDonough (Officer Gordon 'Fletch' Fletcher)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Minority Report page.
Minority Report is a very interesting futuristic crime drama with a lot of action. It's definitely got some points that make you cringe and are a bit gross, but they don't go overboard in that area. I was interested through the entire movie and jumped a few times due to the suspense.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2002, action, crime, drama, movie, mystery, sci-fi, thriller, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:30 AM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (David Aames), Penelope Cruz (Sofia Serrano), Cameron Diaz (Julianna 'Julie' Gianni), Kurt Russell (Dr. Curtis McCabe)
For complete info, see IMDb's Vanilla Sky page.
This surreal movie that has you questioning reality is very interesting. This movie concentrates on the consequences of ones actions and how it's not possible to have a "do-over" in real life. I haven' t seen the original Spanish movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed Vanilla Sky.
The cast is wonderful. The story is great and thought-provoking. Not a light movie, so if that's what you're looking for, stay away. However, if you're ready to think and enjoy a surreal romantic drama with some sci-fi thrown in, this is a good choice.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2001, 2002, Cameron Diaz, drama, movie, mystery, romance, sci-fi, thriller, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Dougray Scott (Sean Ambrose), Thandie Newton (Nyah Nordoff-Hall)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Mission: Impossible II page.
I enjoyed this one better than the first one. I'm sure I'm one of the only people who feel that way, but I was more entertained. I think it was because I expected less after Mission Impossible was too predictable and let me down the first time around.
Worth seeing for the stunts and special effects.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2000, action, adventure, movie, thriller, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Rod Tidwell), Renee Zellweger (Dorothy Boyd), Jonathan Lipnicki (Ray Boyd)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Jerry Maguire page.
Sports and romance - what more could a girl want in a movie? Jerry Maguire combines a couple of my favorite subjects for a movie in one sweet romantic comedy & drama.
The cast is amazing and the story is very sweet. Definitely a bit of a chick flick, in spite of the sports.
Grade: B+
Labels: 1996, comedy, Cuba Gooding Jr., drama, movie, Renee Zellweger, romance, sports, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:40 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Jon Voight (Jim Phelps), Emmanuelle Beart (Claire Phelps)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Mission: Impossible page.
Mission: Impossible was very disappointing. I didn't expect it to be so predictable. Seeing Tom Cruise run around and do crazy things is entertaining, but a movie that wasn't so easy to figure out would have been a lot better.
The plot sounded pretty good - totally clean-cut American agent gets framed and is suspected of being disloyal, so he has to find out who the real spy is to save his reputation, etc. If it had been carried out well, this could have been a really interesting movie. I think what bothered me most about this movie is that it had so much potential and they wasted it by making the plot easy to figure out and the agent who was really a spy pretty clear.
I hope that they treat the audience like we're intelligent if they do others. It would be a lot more interesting!
Grade: C
Labels: 1996, action, adventure, Jon Voight, movie, mystery, thriller, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Lestat de Lioncourt), Brad Pitt (Louis de Pointe du Lac), Kirsten Dunst (Claudia), Stephen Rea (Santiago), Antonio Banderas (Armand), Christian Slater (Daniel Malloy)
For complete info, see IMDb's Interview with the Vampire page.
The funniest thing (as a huge Anne Rice fan now, who hadn't read a book until she saw the movie was about to come out and then started reading) about this movie is that so many people complained about the casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat and almost no one complained about the casting of Antonio Banderas as Armand. I find this so interesting! I think that Tom Cruise did a wonderful job as Lestat, though he might not have been my first choice.
When I've discussed the casting of Antonio Banderas with friends, they've pointed out that in the first book (which this movie is based on), the reader doesn't know Armand's age. While that is true, since Armand is a vampire, he can't age and when we find out in the second book that he's a young teen when he's made into a vampire, he would have to be a young teen in the first book, and therefore the movie.
That being said, I still think that they did a very good job making Interview with the Vampire a movie. Of course, unlike most movies Anne Rice was allowed to write the screenplay for Interview with the Vampire, which certainly helped!
Grade: B+
Labels: 1994, Antonio Banderas, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater, drama, fantasy, horror, Kirsten Dunst, movie, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:10 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Tom Cruise (Mitch McDeere), Jeanne Tripplehorn (Abby McDeere), Gene Hackman (Avery Tolar), Hal Holbrook (Oliver Lambert)
For complete cast, see IMDb's The Firm page.
I loved this movie! In fact, I became a John Grisham fan because of it. I'd never read one of his books, but after seeing The Firm and enjoying it so much, I read it. I think that The Firm is one of those very rare instances where the ending of the book is totally changed in the film, yet both versions are excellent. Even my friends who read the book first enjoyed the movie, which is always difficult when a book moves to the big screen.
I highly recommend this movie if you somehow missed it. The Firm is a wonderful legal thriller with an amazing cast!
Grade: A-
Labels: 1993, drama, John Grisham, movie, thriller, Tom Cruise
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:30 PM show | 0 screams