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Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Help! Save Tom Cruise!
No, he’s not abusing couch springs again, but the latest news about Cruise isn’t exactly good.
His latest movie, Valkyrie, directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, the first two X-Mens) was originally supposed to come out this summer. Then, it got pushed to the fall.
Now, word has come the that the movie has been pushed back yet again - to February 2009. Granted, the date is on the lucrative President’s Day weekend, but this is not a good sign any way you slice it. When you release in the summer, that means “Hey, we’ve got a fun adventure movie like The Great Escape!” When you release in the fall, that means, “Hey, maybe we can win an Oscar like Schindler’s List” But when you move to February, that’s like saying “Uhhh - well, maybe we’ll have more to offer than Jumper?”
Film bloggers David Poland and Jeffrey Wells proclaim the film all but dead. That might be a little dramatic, as no one’s actually seen the film yet, and with Singer aboard, one suspects the film will be good no matter when it comes out.
Even so, as Anne Thompson of Variety states, “pushing the movie’s release date back twice has made it look like tainted goods.” At the very least, Valkyrie is a “troubled” film - and that’s not where Cruise needs to be at this point- not when he’s still trying to shake off a general perception as a moonbat.
Poland goes so far as to suggest Cruise needs to cue up Mission: Impossible 4, ASAP, with Peter Berg (The Kingdom) or Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) directing. I’m not so sure about that. MI: 3 did good businesses, but still underperformed - which was too bad, as it was the best of the three.
Others might suggest Cruise needs to take smaller parts in prestige projects, like he did with Magnolia, which earned him an Oscar nomination. Then again, he tried that with Lions for Lambs (out on DVD today) to less than great results, although that had to do more with anti-war movie fatigue than Cruise himself.
So what should Cruise do? Are you anxious to see him playing a Nazi commander who works against the Third Reich? If you grew weary of him, what could he do to get back in your good graces? MI: 4? Or maybe a remake of Top Gun, with Cruise in the Tom Skerritt part?
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New Release Tuesday: Last year’s best film
It’s a busy week for DVD’s starting today, with the release of the best film of 2007. So first thing’s first:
There Will Be Blood: Daniel Day-Lewis’ towering performance is an immoral and amoral oil man richly deserved all the awards attention it got, and as good as No Country for Old Men is, this enthralling, hypnotic film should have won Best Picture. In a way, it may very well be this year’s best film too, because it didn’t reach the Dayton area until this year. Only disappointment: the DVD extras look awfully skimpy, especially for a two-disc set. GRADE: A+
Lions for Lambs: Robert Redford’s “anti-war” film is actually more of a “pro-get involved” movie that’s a bit too talky and didactic for its own good, but it’s at least worth a look, particularly with Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise also in the cast. Full review: GRADE: B-
Walk Hard - The Dewey Cox Story: Here’s a rarity - a funny movie that saved all its worst jokes for the trailer. Maybe that’s why this Judd Apatow project flopped at the box office last year. Most obviously it’s a parody of Walk the Line, but that’s the weakest material in the movie. It’s when the film parodies everything from Don’t Look Back to Yellow Submarine to Pet Sounds that it becomes manically inspired. GRADE: B
From the catalog
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen: This was the film that sealed Terry Gilliam’s reputation as a “problem” director as the budget and production spiraled out of control. Much of the chaos wasn’t Gilliam’s fault, but he has admitted he wishes he could go back and tighten the film a bit. But even in its flawed form, it’s a fabulously entertaining if occasionally messy journey. A new DVD issue features an extensive batch of extras. GRADE: A
Also out today
P2: Refers to a parking lot number. PU indicated the level of interest.
Reservation Road: Suburbanites, including Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino, cope with the consequences when one of them commits a hit and run.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep: The true nature of the Loch Ness Monster is revealed, and he turns out to be rather cute. From a story by the author that inspired Babe.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: On Video/DVD
