comment #1

Breedlove says ...

Reshoots or no reshoots, chances are this movie will be one of the year's best, as Cruise's films almost always are.

comment #2

Balthazar says ...

I think this is the movie that sinks Cruise.

Amazingly, I think his window for an acting Oscar has now passed him by. He'll not get one.

comment #3

nemo says ...

Didn't Tom Cruise say recently that he never carries a cell phone?

Well, here you can see why. He multi-tasks by employing not one but two flunkies to receive and dial his cell calls for him simultaneously!

He never has to carry a cell in his pocket, he never has to remember to recharge it, he never has to fumble to answer it. He never has to figure out the cryptic menus on a new cell phone. Hell, he never even has to talk to the losers on the other end! He just waits for the executive summary.

comment #4

ZacharyTF says ...

Balthazar,

The guy on the left is Bryan Singer and the lady on the right is Tom's producing partner, Paula Wagner. It's sad that I know that. :)

comment #5

nemo says ...

Hey, just kidding. I know perfectly well that's Bryan SInger and Paula Wagner with the cell phones clamped to their ears.

But I still bet you'll never see Tom Cruise with a cell phone on his ear unless he's playing a character in a movie. In the old days, before computers and cell phones became ubiquitous, no self-respecting executive would answer his own phone, do his own photocopying, or let his fingers touch a keyboard. That's his secretary's job.

She's supposed to screen his calls heavily. And she makes all his calls for him, only putting him through when the other party is waiting on the line, cooling their heels. No big shot ever wants to endure the humiliation of not getting through, or even worse, getting put on hold. In real life Cruise probably still feels that way.

comment #6

ZacharyTF says ...

nemo,

I thought you might have been sarcastic, but I couldn't tell.

Time to go recalbrate my sarcasm-o-meter. :)

comment #7

nemo says ...

It took me a few seconds to recognize Singer and Wagner. What I wrote was truly the first thought that came into my head when I saw that picture.

Those two posts were cathartic for me. I get to take out my hostility on two hated subjects at once, Tom Cruise and cell phones. I loathe other people's cell phones, but I loathe my own cell phone even more. Tom Cruise doesn't even rank.

comment #8

T. Holly says ...

This better be one mother of an North African battle scene because two weeks is a TV drama's worth of shooting.

comment #9

hiviper says ...

So the N. Africa scenes weren't deemed necessary at first, but now they are? OK - maybe no big deal.

Breeedlove, I have a hunch you're correct. I'll never count Cruise completely down, but his judgement hasn't been the same since War of the Worlds (we all know why), and there's too much wacky shit leaked from the podium from Scientology HQ

comment #10

hiviper says ...

whoops- I meant Balthazar's assessment above, not Breedlove's. Two completely opposite opinions.

comment #11

actionman says ...

Nothing will ever "sink" Tom Cruise in Hollywood. The guy is bascially running a fucking studio.

Have high hopes for the film; Singer can be great when he wants too. Love the cast overall.

comment #12

Joe Leydon says ...

You know -- I wish I had not known this. Seriously. What difference will it make if the movie is great?

I am glad Jeff and the Internet were not around back in the day of The Big Sleep....

comment #13

hiviper says ...

how much money of that is Tom's and who are is investors/partners in running this studio? How many bombs can his studio withstand? Is his box office pull the same as it was 10 years ago? Is his judgement as good for picking films that he's not starring in?

just some questions that have yet to be answered

comment #14

Hi Hitler says ...

I saw the film, as it stands, a few days ago.

All I can say is that a lot of people are gonna choke on their words when they see this.

The additional photography has been planned since the beginning.

And it's only going to enhance an already intricate, compelling, intelligent, surprisingly moving film.

Anyone not teary-eyed at the end of this movie doesn't possess a soul..

comment #15

JaySmack says ...

Both Cruise and Singer have a lot riding on this film. Cruise is trying to make a legitimate hit and Singer is desperate to reclaim some of the luster and "serious artist" prestige he lost with Superman.

I'm not too optimistic though, mainly because no matter how well tolf the story the audience already knows how it will end.
Unless the story is amazingly and the performances electrifying this one will have a mediocre opening weekend then fall off from there. But I'll go see it anyway.

comment #16

MASON says ...

Cruise is hilarious in Tropic Thunder.

comment #17

p.Vice says ...

Hitler - You are referring to tears of pain, correct?

comment #18

Don Murphy says ...

Lol, the buzzards are flocking and they don't know shit.
I was privileged to watch thirty minutes of this two weeks ago- it was riveting, pulse pounding and brilliant. Mock away kids, the film is terrific and Cruise pulls it off.

------------------
IRON MAN
from the director of ZATHURA

comment #19

Balthazar says ...

What, exactly, is the target audience for this film?

Teens? Nope. Women? Probably not. Discerning filmgoers who prefer heavier dramas? Maybe, maybe not. There's going to be competition for them.

It's one of, what, 4 or 5 WW2 films coming out this year? We know the ending will be a downer.

I expect this to be a solid, interesting film. But it doesn't seem that it will be a member of either the moneymaker or Oscar-contender universes.

comment #20

ZayTonday says ...

First of all nemo, those people at cruise's sides are not "flunkies" who take his calls, they are Valkyrie director Bryan Singer and Cruise's producing partner Paula Wagner.

Second, I don't see why some of you think Valkyrie is going to be a bad movie. It's from both the writer AND the director of The Usual Suspects, it's got an all-star cast and it's based on a true story.

I honestly think all the other positives outweigh the fact that the batshit-insane body thetan-auditing Xenu fearing Tom Cruise is the lead.

comment #21

RMBurnett says ...

Folks,

Anyone who knows their history knows that Tom Cruise's character, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, lost an arm, an eye and fingers from his remaining hand in a battle in North Africa. The majority of VALKYRIE takes place after these events, so I'd say the scene is crucial. It was planned to be shot from the very beginning of production. There's also additional material being shot the production also wasn't able to capture in Berlin.

There's no re-shooting going on here.

Although I'm incredibly biased, like Mr.Murphy, I can assuredly say the film will wind up as one of the best of 2008.

Finally, as to the question of who is the audience for this film...I can answer (with apologies to Mr. King); anyone who enjoys a great story, well told.

And let's not forget...a wartime John Ottman score!

comment #22

Balthazar says ...

Well, an eyepatch is easy enough. But will Cruise be without an arm and various fingers for most of the film, or will the eyepatch be enough and the rest will be justified in "taking some liberties with history"?

comment #23

BurmaShave says ...

These reshoots make perfect sense. Singer and Cruise have been watching the Jeremiah Wright criticism from Buchanan, Hewitt and Medved and realized the Nazis may actually have won.