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Why is Tom Cruise so popular? No matter how old he gets he still has problems looking and sounding like an adult?If you want to catnap between battle sequences, this is the one. It wasn't a BAD movie but I did fall asleep once.
Now, about the battles: very, very good. Some of the best choreographed action I've seen on screen in quite a while. What struck me as unusual was the huge number of charging-horse stunts. Many, many leaping and going down with rider. More than I recall seeing before. Well photographed.
Is it worth the price of submission? Yeah, I think so. But take a pillow and shawl.
Follow Ups:
...tricyle."WOOOF! Gotta love the good folks over at Salon.com - this quote courtesy of Stephanie Zacharek.
.
All the Japanese actors were amazingly good. Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto OWNED the screen when he was on. Not to mention, the young Meiji restoration Emperor. And wasn't (the white) Tony Goldwyn as the Colonel utterly hateful? That, my friends, is acting!My buddy and I were talking about who could have done better that Cruise, and the names of Jude Law and Russell Crowe immediately popped up. But who cares? Tom was serviceable.
The battle scenes indeed had me squirming.
To think, this film came from the Zwick/Herskowitz team responsible for television's Thirtysomething...
And I've developed this thumbsketch for The Last Samurai: Not a Western, but a Far Eastern -- set during the Civil War.
Like it?
clark
albee33,There are two actors that produce some kind of automatic response such that I need to ensure I have to have a good sized bucket to hand- Tom Cruise and Kevin Kostner.
Your comment is very true that Cruise never seems to be an adult- I have this sensation about Micheal Fox and Matthew Boderick too. But as opposed to the latter two, Cruise just always seems wooden and in combination with his close set eyes under a monobrow give him an air of inattentive stupdity. It is difficult to imagine him in the role of a Samurai at all as I like to think of them as having a kind of super-vigilance and inner calm. With Cruise I can only think of a low-grade vacuum.
With Costner, I also see just some kind of walking shell and like Cruise, I am never affected by the acting, but only am drawn out of the movie experinece into contemplation of his succesful career and awards.
Sometimes, I even confuse Cruise and Kostner and wasonce in my oblidging way, telling a freind who likes Cruise that I thought he was was not too bad in "No Way Out". "Top Gun" was on the level of a budget movie about a high school student who we know in minute number one will get revenge on the big school bully. When the gorgeous astrophysicist appears in her Porsche Speedster, it was all over for me.
With Costner, I couldn't believe the cheap white-guilt movie "Dances with Wolves", with the noble Costner running around being so damn sensitive to everyone- and always his expressionless face on the screen 30' across with the Great Plains of the US as an insignificant background. How much more interesting if Costner had gone out to the frontier to join the genocide- as his background and heritage would've almost guaranteed at that time- and then learned of their nobility and culture by contact and come to defend them. Still, such a movie would still have Costner in it..
When I first heard of "The Last Samurai", I tried not to jump to judgement, and saw both the trailer and a little interview with him, but I can say that after refreshing memories of the movies on the same subject by Kurosawa of 40-50 years ago, I became a little dizzy and nauseous. The title alone of "Last"- implying that this is some kind of final word on the subject- is typical of some kind of discount super-sized Scientology-fueled ego.
Thanks albee, I feel better now!
Next time, perhaps could you bring up the great Shakespearen actor Kenneth Branagh?
Cheers,
Bambi B
just think: Risky Business 6! It would be fun to see what Joel is up to in his later years. CEO? Family man? Still in college? Partners with "Guido the Killer Pimp"? (Pantiliano's first big role-really made an impression.)Isn't Joel how most of us visualize him? Funny, he was too grown up for that role but has never been grown up enough for others.
Cruise is slightly more. He is like a boiled fish, blue orbs for eyes and all.
I don't know about Kevin, as he never made any attempts at serious acting, but Tom represents a clear case. When Kubrick tried his old trick of taking a second rate actor and making him turn a tremendous performance, the best of that actor's career (he did it two and a half times before), both of them fell flat on their faces - I guess the dead rock of Tom's inability was too much even for the Grand Master.
.., because after second thoughts, I had felt bad about insulting a living person because of an aspect of themselves that they have little control over. On second thought it's the chain of command that is to blame (include the public), those who consciously dictate the use of inferior fish. They deserve my insults most.
I cringed very lightly over your description but Tom has so much to dislike in his "acting" and demeanor, that that was hardly a determining factor.Just his favorite right arm jesture alone should be enough to permanently disqualify any serious actor, yet he just keeps using it again, and again, and again...
Tom Cruise always has that smirk of an idiot, while Harrison has true facial expression of a retard. I think appropriately his most natural role was that of a brain dead rich guy.
(C)Dmitry :)
Victor,Quite right- an actor that uses a 6' plank of mahogany as a lighting stand-in on the set. For Cruise it is a plank of pine and Costner 4' X 4' of birch veneered plywood.
Ford does have an incredibly small range, but I did think his brand of incredulous blankness and flat affect worked well for the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark"- that kind of cartoon stoicism in the face of anything. How DID he get onto the German submarine?
Regarding "Regarding Henry", I thought the whole premise fell apart as I couldn't tell the brain damaged Ford from the regular one- he was just more tentative about ordering breakfast- temporarily. We know before the movie starts he will triumph over the odds. I would've enjoyed a little twist on this very American theme by having the final scene be Ford coming home to his beautiful wife at their Park Avenue apartment from his job as the beloved janitor of an elementary school.
"Witness". this is so well thought of, but as a kind of reverse Beverly Hillbillies of the sophisicated fellow thrown into a foreign culture. Perhaps his expressions do suit a "fish out of water" story..
"Patriot Games" I just don't care for the typical Tom Clancy-like story and predictable style of ending- 30 minutes confrontation between protagnonist and antagonist in a defined space with temporary apparent victory of the villain.
"The Fugitive" may be the best thing he did, but it was Tommy Lee Jones that gave the film it's crackle.
Ford recently made insighful, thought-provoking comments on his deep love and serious knowedge of the acting craft, "I'd rather be a pilot, but I have this wasy to make a lot of money."
Do you remember the constantly wide-eyed wry villager "Yohei" in "Seven Samurai"? A sympathetic kind of character.
But wry blankness doesn't always work- seeing how Angelina Jolie was converted to a mindless robot in "Tomb Raider"- no humour, really no personality of any kind. All that could be done was to film the entire movie at breast level***, and it is disturbing how very effectively this de-sexed her.
Cheers,
Bam
*** And they never moved!- I checked..
BB,Frantic, Blade Runner, Witness - good flicks. Totally library-worthy[if I had one]. We both have seen worse actors proclaim they're Sarah Bernhardt.
THE guy who tops them all is Nicholas Cage.
My classification - he used to be an actor.I'd rather see Siegried[or Roy] play his parts.
ps-How about that lawyer recommendation?
TIA
dzgdds@yahoo.com
Dmitry,Yes, if Ford is in exactly the right role- "Blade Runner" for example=- and I would include the first "Raiders", he is OK.
Nicholas Cage is interesting. I saw "Windtalker" recently and liked his character, but the prtrayal was inconsistent- not as a complex character, but because of a kind of constant switching of modes/personality. I was a disappointed in the obvious imitation of "Private Ryan" in style and the simlar aspects of the story.
Andy Garcia is an actor that I thought would go to the top, but that I haven't seen in anything very imporessive for awhile. His role in "Ocean's Eleven" was so stiff and dull, I couldn't imagine what he was doing there. Julia Robert's catatonic state made him look like Jim Carrey.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Dmitry, I haven't forgotte. I'm seeing my own attorney tomorrow and will have a couple of names from him. The two that I thought of earlier I looked into again and feel that I now can't recommend them to someone.
I think that " Witnesss " is a really good crafted movie, it has a little humor, sexuality, good actors ( even Mr. Wood fits in ) a good film music....
Aother one that I like is " Blade Runner ".
One such film is Random Hearts, where all the burden is on the incredibly sexy Kristin Scott Thomas, Ford being pulled into her orbit, but not distracting too much.
.., if only because the relentless tugging of the real contributions to the plot divert my attention away from his two-dimensionality. Ford tried to screw this movie up, but could'nt.
nt
patrick,I agree that "Witness" was well crafted. I just thought the premise with Ford hiding in shaker drag was too contrived. A tiny detail: when Ford collaspes at the wheel of the car and demolishes the farmer's elaborate wood bird house, Ford did the repairs to the prop himself- he had worked as a carpenter before success as an actor.
Yes, I completely forgot "Blade Runner" which of course is an amazing and influential movie visually and I think derives it's status from Trumbull and Scott in spite of Ford. It's amazing to see "Blade Runner" today as it's many. many imitators obscure the impact of it's original.
Interestingly, there was an originally supressed scene- (a flying white horse dream I think) which implied the Ford character may also be a "replicant" or artificial person. A robot.
J'ai toujours pensee qu'il etait brilliant de Cameron pour mouler Schwarzenegger comme les "Terminator"- un robot car parler articule, geste subtile, et expressions faciale ne sont pas selone les besoins pour creer l'illusion d'un robot de tueur.
Salut AND Gruss,
Bam
Guten Abend Bam,No, I did not find him to contrived in the Hamish clothes but more like Pinoccio and that fit the scene, was my feeling...
I know he was a good carpenter and later in the film at building the farm house he was really at it too..
We should add that the scene when he is a voyeur is not bad, too.
In the book he actually is an replicant, and in the director cut too, but I prefer the " commercial" version.
Blade Runner was not a success, every one wanted H.Ford as Star War hero...much later on it did catch thank too for the fabulous music Vangelis did craft for this motion picture.
It was dark and poetic.Tchüss AND Bonsoir,
P.
s
Cheers Clark!
h
Clark,In that case I retract some degree of my comments on Cruise's ego- it takes something to be in his position and not be the main character. He can obviously choose or reject any role he wants.
John Wayne, after he had achieved stardom, I believe, would never accept a role which was not the principle character, though the exception are his scenes in "The Longest Day" which are among the most memorable in terms of personality. In the "cricket scene" Wayne exuded that leadership sensation that if you followed him, you'd have your best chance.
If I was with Cruise and a band of violent muggers appeared, I'd just advise him to get out his checkbook..
Cheers,
Bambi B
Subsidiary? NOT - Cruise's ego is all OVER this film. And he IS the main character.He tries hard, he's soooo very sincere, but not even a good performance from him could redeem this claptrap. Not even a good preformance from a better actor could save this pretentious groaner.
It's true that co-star Ken Watanabe steals every single scene he's in - in charisma and acting authority he towers over Cruise.
And ya gotta remember Wayne in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" where he has a small part as the Roman soldier who says (in that quintessential John Wayne drawl) "He truly was the son a God".
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