Just got back from seeing Valkyrie.

[jbane]

I really liked it. I love history and this is a good story. Very well done. I think T. Cruise is an idiot but he plays this part so well I'm ready to
forgive him for his "jump the couch" antics of the past few years. Well done Tombo.

[SharonRB]

1. I typically stay away from Tom's movies, but I really want to see this one

We saw "Milk" today. It was excellent (and timely)! Valkyrie is definitely on our list of must-sees, though.

[jbane]

2. Go check it out.

You'll enjoy it.

[SharonRB]

5. I definitely will!

Unfortunately, the only theatre it's playing at around here so far is one my husband hates to go to because they always have a lot of broken seats, so we'll have to wait until it's released at more theatres. Hopefully that will be next week or so.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SharonRB]

6. It takes a lot to get me to go to one of his movies

but this is one I don't want to miss, in spite of him.

[DutchLiberal]

4. How did you like Carice van Houten? (Tom's wife)

Dutch actress of whom 'we' are all very proud. :)

[jbane]

7. She was not on screen that much.

[xenussister]

18. I love Carice! Unforgettable in Black Book

She should have gotten nominated for an Oscar for Black Book. The movie as a whole deserved a slew of awards.

Unfortunately though, she's barely in this movie, and when she is there, she barely says a word. It's a shame to have such a vibrant actress as a blank screen, nothing there. Maybe other scenes with her were filmed but cut out of the movie. I think Tom Cruise is an idiot cult dupe, but I do like him as an actor. He was ok in this average movie. It could have been better.

On the plus side, the story is fascinating (I knew of it before), and all the supporting players are terrific. I did find it tense and intense when it needed to be. I'd like to see a good German director make a movie about these people, using German actors, speaking German. I felt the same about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a movie that cries out for a German remake.

I'd rate it a 6 of of 10.

[RamboLiberal]

8. Thanks - I'm another lover of history and want to see this one

Despite Tom Cruise. Maybe tomorrow. Want to see Milk as well.

[liberalmuse]

9. I do not like Tom Cruise...

but must admit that some of his movies have really been KICK ASS! Thank you for posting your most honest critique.

[GreenPartyVoter]

45. "A Few Good Men" is one of my faves of his. "Born on the Fourth of July" was him too, wasn't it?

[bemildred]

10. Nothing is good enough to make me watch Cruuze. nt

[xenussister]

22. You missed some good movies (Magnolia and Tropic Thunder)

if nothing else.

[bemildred]

24. I expect I can deal with the "loss". nt

[xenussister]

26. He only has small roles in those movies, he's not lead

They're not "Tom Cruise movies" is what I mean. They're good movies, and he's not the main focus.

[bemildred]

39. He got a lot of time in Magnolia, lots in the special material too.

Didn't see "Tropic Thunder".

[kentuck]

11. My wife and I just got back from watching Valkurie

I think it will be very interesting for history buffs but for average, action-filled movie fans, I don't know that they will find it that interesting. We did notice that 3 actors from the Rome HBO series was in the movie. The guy that played Cicero in Rome, David Bamber, played Hitler in this movie.

We do not dislike Tom Cruise but we did not think he was the best choice for this role.

[CatWoman]

19. did you recognize this guy?

:)

[kentuck]

21. Yes..

Also, Kenneth Cranham played Pompey and was in the movie also. Ian McNiece played the town crier. And David Bamber was Cicero.

[Donnachaidh]

12. Cruise incapable of even attempting a German Accent?

This is as ludicrous as Brad Pitt playing Achilles with his Oklahoma accent. That being said, I think I'll read about the actual event before I see yet another movie by a hack actor fulfilling his *gotta be a hero* dream.

:shrug:

[northernlights]

37. you noticed that too?

I saw a teevee ad for it the other day, with Tom in an eyepatch attempting to sound German. It was sooo embarrasingly bad...and I figure that they tried to pick the best clip from the movie. Oy! :eyes:

[doc03]

13. The USA paper sure gave it a bad review yesterday

especially Tom Cruise, they gave it 2 stars. Sometimes though I find the ones the critics hate I like. I saw The Day The Earth Stood Still, it was OK. The local critic said Keanu Reeves was so bad he showed no emotion, well that was the character, he was playing an alien with no emotion like Mr. Spock. I don't know of any Tom Cruise movie I liked, I just can't buy that little chump as an action hero.

[cabluedem]

31. Mr.Reeves did a great job but TDTEST movie really blew, IMO.

[MannyGoldstein]

14. You Might Enjoy A Book Written By One Of The Plotters

http://www.amazon.com/Bitter-End-Hans-Bernd-Gisevius/dp/0306808692/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230263688&sr=8-1">To The Bitter End, a memoir by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Bernd_Gisevius">Hans Gisevius. Gisevius was a very-high-ranking Nazi who turned against the Party, fled to Switzerland where he befriended the US ambassador to Switzerland (who was also running the OSS, before it was the CIA). Gisevius returned to Germany to aid in the plot against Hitler, and fled back to Switzerland when it failed. He was a key witness at the Nuremberg trials.

It is one of the best history book I've ever read: the plot to kill Hitler is only a part of the book, which methodically covers the way in which the Nazis came to power - prior to the Nazi rise to power, Germany had been perhaps the most liberal and tolerant country in the world. In just a few years, it turned into Hell on Earth. It's an amazing story, and Gisevius saw it all from the inside, but came to realize how awful it had become.

I see that the publisher has excerpted the book into a much smaller volume, http://www.amazon.com/Valkyrie-Insiders-Account-Plot-Hitler/dp/0306817713/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230263688&sr=8-2">Valkyrie: An Insider's Account of the Plot to Kill Hitler, probably to take advantage of the movie's publicity.

[leftstreet]

20. Hey, thanks for that recommendation

Looks interesting

:thumbsup:

[liberalhistorian]

15. I don't care how good it is, I have no desire

to see Tom Cruise in anything ever again. I've never cared for him in the first place, considering him a grossly overrated actor as well as human being, with an ego the size of Jupiter. But the final straw for me was his bullshit dissing of those of us with depression and other mental illnesses, saying that we only need "vitamins and exercise", no medicines, and psychiatry was bullshit. As someone who's moderately bipolar with a tendency toward depression, I know from experience that no amount of vitamins and exercise, despite their undoubted benefits, will really ease the condition and I'm grateful for the necessary medications. Fuck him and his ignorant fake scientology bullshit. I'm not giving him a dime of my money.

[xenussister]

23. I agree 100% (about $cientology), but...

I've been a $cientology critic for a few decades, and I will not pay to see anything a $cieno stars in, but he's got smaller roles in Magnolia and Tropic Thunder, and they're both worth seeing. I'm a Paul Thomas Anderson fangirl and love everything he's done, but I realize that not everyone would appreciate Magnolia.

Tropic Thunder, otoh, is hilarious and shouldn't be missed, if only for Robert Downey Jr's performance.

[cabluedem]

32. Amen to that! Scientology is a dangerous cult, banned in Germany too. Tom-cat wont see my money!

[Liberal In Texas]

16. Did they kill Hitler in this one?

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. The plot failed, this is historically correct`

so no

[ProfessorGAC]

40. Did They Overdo The Tension Building?

One of my problems with this sort of history flick is that they often take so much license to build tension. I understand part of that is movie making, but when we know the outcome, i find it annoying when they try so hard to build tension as if "they might get away with it" this time.

How did they handle that? (On Edit: An example is that i thought Ron Howard overdid it in Apollo 13. Tried to hard to create tension when it's a historical fact that they came back alive.)
GAC

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. Didn't watch the movie, like Titanic I knew the ending

just like you these movies bother me at the most basic of levels.

The studio system rarely makes justice to the events

[CatWoman]

17. I saw it tonight too

and I agree with you 200 percent.

It was very well done!!

[jonnyblitz]

25. I want to see it. nt

[Joe the Liberal]

27. I just got back too......

well about an hour ago actually at 9 here in CO, I thought it was great.

[ZombieHorde]

29. Does jumping on a couch require forgiveness?

[1]

30. i love movies. i don't boycott artistic talent. i don't blacklist...

i watch all movies. i listen to all music. i watch tv.

i am attentive to all performers.

some i love. some i hate.

show me what you got.

thrill me. make me cry. move me. bore me. i don't care about your political, religious or sexual persuasions.

act. make me laugh. make me hate you. make me love you. make me feel.

that is what i look for...

[Adsos Letter]

33. My daughter and I saw it today and thought it was great!

I was afraid it would be less than compelling because I already knew the story, but it kept a great level of tension thruout the film.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[earth mom]

34. I will have to wait for it on DVD. We just don't get out to the movie theatre these days.

But I love Tom Cruise and hope this is an Oscar worthy film for him. It's about time.

[DailyGrind51]

35. I heard Cruise was upstaged by all the Shakespearean Brit actors?

[mmonk]

36. We are planning to see it. We separate actors from personal flaws

because sometimes, the movies are well done.

[K Gardner]

38. I won a movie ticket and decided to see Valkyrie last night, thought it was very well done. Even

tho I knew they didn't succeed, I kept waiting to see what happened. Its a story not told often enough - that there WERE many that vehemently opposed Hitler and tried to stop him.

[bushmeister0]

42. I'm sorry, every time I see a trailer for the movie and see Cruise

with that eye patch . . . ugh, I just can't see him as Claus Von Stauffenberg. No F'in way! What an insult to the German resistance.

This isn't some conniving way for Scientology to ingratiate itself with the German gov., is it? Because, you know, it is outlawed in Germany as a dangerous cult. I'm just wondering.

Who plays Goebbels, BTW? I'm hoping it's Lush Bingbong.

[CatWoman]

46. so many ignorant comments on this thread

are you aware that Cruise is the spitting image of von Stauffenberg?

[arcadian]

43. Are there any couches in the movie?

Or were they removed?

[rhett o rick]

44. Can't get me to see Tom's bad acting. Go see "Slumdog Millionaire", now there's a good

movie. I stay away from movies with "movie stars". I like acting and very few "movie stars" can act. I also love history, but hate to see it butchered by bad acting. Glad you liked it.