Posts Tagged ‘Tom Cruise’

Short Take: Every bit as much fun as its predecessors

Director: Brad Bird

Screenwriters: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton

Length: 2h 13m

Synopsis: After an IMF agent is killed in an effort to capture the launch codes for Russian nuclear warheads, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his crack team of agents are assigned to find out who took the codes and why. Their efforts, however, lead them to being framed for the destruction of the Moscow Kremlin, which makes Ethan Russia’s most wanted and forces IMF to disavow all of its agents. So with no help from IMF and a huge target on their backs, Ethan and Co. must prevent the stolen launch codes from getting into the wrong hands. Crazy and elaborate plans ensue, with stunts and chases aplenty. What we see may possibly be their biggest challenge yet.

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With the recent release of the super patriotic Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which was no doubt strategically distributed just in time for the 4^th of July holiday, we thought it would be a good idea to try and figure out which American movie is the most patriotic. Such a question naturally leads into some healthy debating, and the more we thought about it the more difficult we found it to pinpoint which single film is more ardently loyal and proudly American than all the rest. However, with some careful thought we were able to compile the Top 5 most patriotic movies ever.

Before we list the privileged few we must first set up some conditions. For a movie to qualify for our list it had to meet three requirements: it had to portray the United States as a uniform protagonist (if only symbolically) and could not just be a story about one single American, the U.S. had to have been in opposition to some thing or other country in some way (not necessarily in terms of war, but it’s admittedly a running theme), and it had to at some point visually glorify a national symbol (with the most common example being the American flag). With these parameters now set let us get right to it! Read the rest of this entry »

To commemorate the holiday which celebrates the United States’ independence we thought we’d list some quotes from some relevant movies. There have been quite a few films that have been made over the years that either directly or indirectly acknowledge this day of the year, and so hopefully you’ll fondly remember at least a couple that we mention. However you celebrate this national holiday, we at Movie-Thoughts hope you enjoy your festivities safely, and as always keep enjoying the movies!

Born on the Fourth of July -

Ron Kovic: This place is a fuckin’ slum!
Marvin: You want out of here, man? Fine. We take that leg of yours, and we can get you out of here in two weeks!
Ron Kovic: I want my leg.
Marvin: Why?
Ron Kovic: I want my leg!
Marvin: Why? You can’t feel it no how!
Ron Kovic: (incredulous and angry) It’s my leg! I want my leg, you understand? Can’t you understand that? All’s I’m sayin’ is that I want to be treated like a human being! I fought for my country! I am a Vietnam veteran! I fought for my country!
Patient: [off-camera] Shut the fuck up!
Ron Kovic: And I think that I deserve to be treated… decent!

Independence Day -

President Thomas Whitmore: I saw… its thoughts. I saw what they’re planning to do. They’re like locusts. They’re moving from planet to planet… their whole civilization. After they’ve consumed every natural resource they move on… and we’re next. Nuke ‘em. Let’s nuke the bastards.

President Thomas Whitmore: Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom… Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution… but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night!” We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!

Jaws -

Quint: Y’all know me. Know how I earn a livin’. I’ll catch this bird for you, but it ain’t gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin’ bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin’, little tenderizin’, an’ down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that’ll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin’ basis. But it’s not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I’ll find him for three, but I’ll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you’ve gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don’t want no volunteers, I don’t want no mates, there’s just too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.

Quint: [singing] Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain. For we’ve received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so never more shall we see you again.

Chief Brody: We’re gunna need a bigger boat.

Gettysburg -

General Robert E. Lee: We are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair. A salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on and the men die and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to loose some of us, but we are never prepared to loose all of us. And there is the great trap General. When you attack, you must hold nothing back. You must commit yourself totally. We are adrift here in a sea of blood and I want it to end. I want this to be the final battle.

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: Many of us volunteered to fight for the Union. Some came mainly because we were bored at home and this looked like it might be fun. Some came because we were ashamed not to. Many came because it was the right thing to do. … This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, power, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we’re here for something new. This has not happened much, in the history of the world: We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, all of it, from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow, no man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here is the place to build a home. But it’s not the land. There’s always more land. It’s the idea that we all have value, you and me. What we’re fighting for, in the end… we’re fighting for each other.

Sergeant ‘Buster’ Kilrain: Colonel, you’re a lovely man. I see a great difference between us, yet I admire you. You’re an idealist, praise be. There’s many a man alive of no more value than a dead dog. What I’m fighting for is to prove I’m a better man than the others. There’s many a man worse than me, and some better. But I don’t think race or country matters a damn. What matters is justice. And that’s why I’m here. I’ll be treated as I deserve, not as my father deserved.

(All quotes courtesy of IMDb.com)

Short Take: Pretty solid all around, though Cruise' playful attitude towards the material makes the film

Director: James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line)

Screenwriter: Patrick O’Neill (Début Film)

Cast: Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder, Mission Impossible III), Cameron Diaz (Shrek Forever After, My Sister’s Keeper), Peter Sarsgaard (Orphan, An Education) Paul Dano (Taking Woodstock, There Will Be Blood)

Length: 1 hour 50 minutes

Synopsis: June Havens (Diaz) meets Roy Miller (Cruise), seemingly by accident, when they bump into each other at the airport.  June and Roy end up on the same flight and start a casual flirtation.  Things take a turn for the dangerous when Roy kills everyone else on the near-empty flight explaining that he’s a CIA agent on the lam because he stole a valuable new invention called the Zephyr.  June’s involvement with Roy puts her in danger and he insists that she must trust him in order to survive.  However, everything from Roy’s unpredictable behavior to the appearance of FBI Agent Fitzgerald (Sarsgaard) leads June to question Roy’s sincerity.  As June and Roy encounter ever more dangerous scenarios, she must decide whether Roy is endangering her life or protecting it. Read the rest of this entry »

Gossip magazines like this Photoplay have been around since the dawn of the film industry, but why are they so popular?

For as long as I can remember I have been enormously bewildered as to why so many people find gossip publications like The Inquirer, People Magazine, Star Magazine, and US Weekly so appealing. Beyond having a lack of interest in fashion I fail to recognize the purpose behind holding celebrities’ figures and overall looks under a microscope; praising one on a given week and criticizing them the next. And aside from all of this I also fall short of understanding the undying interest in celebrities’ social and romantic lives. This is not all to say that I consider celebrities uninteresting, quite the contrary, however the sex life of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt is not anywhere near the top million interests I have in the film industry and the people who are part of it.

But why is this? Why do so many people follow the romantic storylines of celebrities’ lives? All judgments aside, because for many the interest is indeed a guilty and harmless pleasure, the answers could lie in the history of the film industry – particularly the history of the “star system.” Read the rest of this entry »

Brad Bird is now being considered to direct the next "Mission: Impossible"

Star of the hit Mission: Impossible franchise Tom Cruise has pegged the series’ next installment as his next picture, which has meant that him and fellow producer J.J. Abrams (director of M:I 3) have been on the hunt for the fourth film’s director.

Candidates include but are not limited to Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), and now Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, Pixar’s The Incredibles, Ratatouille). What makes Bird an unorthodox candidate is the fact that he’s never directed a live-action film before, although his two Pixar films have both won Oscars for Best Animated Picture. For these movies Bird has been praised by critics for his storytelling skills and choreographing skills for stunts and chase sequences.

Details about M:I 4‘s story are being kept under wraps, but J.J. Abrams is said to have worked with writers Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum (who Abrams knows from working with them on TV’s Alias) to formulate the script.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Quick Opinion: If Bird is hired to direct M:I 4 it would obviously mean that he would have the blessing of J.J. Abrams, which should be exciting news for fans of the series. Although M:I III didn’t do as well at the box office as Paramount would have liked (which many attribute to negative publicity regarding Tom Cruise’s television antics about his wife Katie Holmes and professed allegiance to Scientology), many fans (such as myself) regarded the film as the best yet in the series. If this is in fact the case, then J.J. Abrams’ involvement should only be considered positive, as well as the news about whoever is hired to direct the fourth film. As proficient as Bird might be at storytelling (I’m assuming this compliment is regarding his prowess with narrative construction, pacing, and emotional wherewithal) I would suggest there be concerns about his ability to direct the type of gritty project that M:I 4 is likely to be. Aside from having to be more hands-on with actors and the whole filming process (as opposed to primarily using computers and voice recordings), he’ll be tested to expand is aesthetic style into the realm of visceral violence and visual maturity. This isn’t all to say that Bird would be a poor choice, but because of these reasons he would definitely make an unusual one.