I Saw It, I saw It, I Saw Valkyrie!

Contrary to what some reviews have written, I found Tom Cruise excellent, beaming out confidence, authority, insight and integrity into the main character. I can hardly think of a better way to play that role.

I was surprised also to find out that the story was not just about a bomb that did not kill Hitler. The whole Operation Walkyrie was in fact more than that, it also consisted of a whole plan to take over power after Hitler's death. That was not the intention of the Operation as written but that was how it was used. Almost half of the film deals with what happens after the bomb goes off. Eventually it fails because it turns out that Hitler did not die, and was able to win back a few key allegiance that turned the situation against the plotters.

Lastly, I was wondering why people who don't really have the historical background would go and see the film. I was with my Asian girl friend (OK I was not in Belgium) and she understood little to nothing of the film, even as I tried to explain her bits of it. The cultural gap was just way too wide to cross. In this respect, it certainly is not a mass-friendly movie, and it's amazing that the movie had the success it had taken that into account. No doubt, the fact that it's Tom Cruise is for a big part in the attraction the movie has out of the US and Europe. I doubt it would be enough to make it a real success on foreign market, though.

On the whole, great realization and acting, and a very instructive movie from a historical perspective, but it's not going to be a second Top Gun.

Tom Cruise Takes Son Connor on Track

Last Feb. 17, I blogged about Tom Cruise getting back on the racing road. Seeing the article below, I believe that guy on the photo I webbed at the time is not Keith Urban but Connors, the son of Tom Cruise.

PHOTO: Tom Cruise Delights Son Connor - Celebrities - Javno:

"Tom Cruise used a free weekend and took his fourteen year old son Connor to the automobile race Daytona 500, which is very popular in the USA. The famous actor and his company watched the event from a VIP section."

Katie Holmes Italian Style

Italian gossips about Tom and Katie losing weight, but a nice pic of Holmes in a Pierrot outfit :-)

Problemi di peso per Katie Holmes. Si teme l’anoressia | BlogGente

Princess Suri valentine's Day with Mickey

Princess Suri Finally Meets Those Aliens Dad Always Talks About” at The Insider

"Tom surprised Katie & Suri with a Valentine’s Day Disney Extravaganza at Walt Disney World where Suri was dressed like a fairy princess. "

Tom Cuise Back on Thunder Road

Nicole Kidman's New and Old Husbands Meet at the Racetrack

Tom Cruise, ex of Kidman, went back to Thunder Road this weekend, together with Keith Urban, current of Kidman. The Valkyrie actor was racing cars at a NASCAR Auto Race in Daytona Beach on Sunday, while Keith Urban provided musical entertainment.

Hollywood's Most Valuable Actors - Forbes.com

Hollywood's Most Valuable Actors - Forbes.com

Forbes ventures in a new field, with a ranking they have never done before - that of the most bankable actor. The ranks were determined by statistics and also through interviews with members of the entertainment industry.

The top 10:

1 Will Smith 10.00
2 Johnny Depp 9.89
2 Leonardo DiCaprio 9.89
2 Angelina Jolie 9.89
2 Brad Pitt 9.89
6 Tom Hanks 9.87
7 George Clooney 9.81
8 Denzel Washington 9.76
9 Matt Damon 9.69
10 Jack Nicholson 9.68

Through a compound of different criteria, Esquire still found Cruise to be the most bankable star in Jun. 2008, , though he is not in the top ten of the Forbes ranking.

Tom Cruise, however, is still on the number 13 spot (out of 1,400 actors) of Forbes, with a score of 9.60 - which shows the fragility of such a ranking, where the the distances between ranks are really tight.

Take into account that the survey was conducted from Sep. 3, 2008 through Nov. 16, 2008 - in other words, before the release of Valkyrie.

I am quite confident that in a survey conducted now, Cruise would easily overtake people like Clooney, Denzel Washintong, and Matt Damon, if not raise considerably higher.

Valkyrie made $82 million (and counting) on the domestic market, whereas the latest film of Will Smith, Seven Pounds, only made $69 million. And what about Adam Sandler? That stunning guy is only nr 12, whereas his latest film (released after the survey too), Bedtime Stories, made $108 million!

One also has to take into account that, in spite of the difficult position Cruise found himself, he still tackled with a controversial movie, taking considerable risks, which is all to his credit. If Forbes had added an integrity factor in the mix, there is no doubt Cruise would have come up as number one again.

You can search the name of other actors here.

Follows my personal comments - you can skip this part if you want :-)

• Scientology rumors, and him using Scientology tech in his schools, has not prevented Smith from gaining a perfect 10/10 score
• Many of the top 20 actors participated in Ocean's Eleven and benefited from the high scores the film made. This is cheating a bit as they just surf on the wave of Bratt Pitt and Julia Roberts. I did not see Ocean's Eleven but I saw Ocean's Twelve, which, for me, was frankly superficial and bad. I hated it, and skipped Ocean's 13 altogether on that basis.
  
• Johnny Depp has indeed created a stunning character in Pirates of the Caribbeans, but apart from that nothing outstanding really comes to mind. He was average in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, frankly boring in Finding Neverland, but good in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, though the show on this one has been stolen by an outstanding performance of Antonio Banderas (now only 127th on Forbes, with a score of 6.66!)
• Yes, Leonardo DiCaprio had a super hit with the Titanic, but, frankly, he's not looking as sexy anymore, IMO. I saw him in Blood Diamonds - still a great actor but nothing worth a second place, still IMHO
• Angelina Jolie - of course fabulous in Tomb Raider, but overall I have to question her choice of scripts. I can't name another film I really liked from her, apart maybe Original Sin. She was just good in Wanted and frankly boring in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Nevertheless, she's a truly stunning woman - both for her look and her personality, and fully deserves to be at the top. Besides, she is the only woman in the top ten! Is this normal or what? Where is Julie Andrews now? Number 729 with a score of 3.02!
• Bratt Pitt - same remark as for Angelina. Troy was good, Ocean's Twelve and Mr. & Mrs. Smith terrible.
• Tom Hanks - I need to see more movie from this guy. I only saw Lady Killers and the Da Vinci Code. The later was good. I never got around to watch Forest Gump (a shame). And, BTW, where is Travolta now? Number 31, with a score of 8.47. Still passes...

Katie Holmes New Haircat

Katie Holmes in the Brazilian Valyrie opening has a strange new haircat, sorry, haircut.

Am sure her dress is worth a fortune but IMHO it looks terrible (in the sense of no good). And Tom himself seems to have gained back a few kilos since his last appearance.

ITN - Valkyrie Cruises into Brazil

Valkyrie Tops Foreign Box Office

Germans flock to see Tom Cruise's Valkyrie | Metro.co.uk: "But the public have ignored the naysayers with the film topping the foreign box office and performing best in Germany."

Screen Daily - News: "Tom Cruise sits atop the Hollywood overseas releases after the MGM/UA release Valkyrie plundered an estimated $13.2m through Fox International from 2,283 screens in 13 markets.

The wartime thriller opened strongly in all its markets, ranking number one in Germany on $3.4m from 689, Australia on $1.3m from 233 and Holland on $825,000 from 96. The film ranked second in the UK and South Korea on $2.7m"

Related Links: Valkyrie (2008) - International Box Office Results - to keep track of International box office gross.

Daily Star - Another British Tabloid

It's incredible how British tabloids manage to turn absolutely anything into gloom.

Here is another example. Titled "The truth behind...", which "truth" is in fact nothing more than their interpretation that in spite of all the red carpet glamor "the zombified wife’s eyes screamed “Help”", that her smile was "faked", etc...

I actually stopped reading the article half-way.

Daily Star: Simply The Best 7 Days A Week :: The Goss :: Truth behind Tom and Katie's red carpet capers

Anonymous Chased by Police

Report from the WhyWeBWAAA forum. Only 9 anons present (30 Scientologists). Remember, Amsterdam was the place where a peak of 112 anons protested.

Apparently, the police were chasing anons indeed as soon as they put on their mask or pull off their sign, like it seems may have happened in Germany and the UK. They let them cool off in jail but didn't bother asking for their ID

Another mask signed, again with the peace sign.

Now the "Epic epic big win" for anons is a mask signed by Cruise! Pretty soon they'll start joining rank with Scientologists too...

One anon thinks that shouting to Cruise "Miscavige is your SP" is a way to get his mask signed.

Ah well... what else is new?

Amsterdam Valkyrie opening night - Why We Protest | Activism Forum

Anonymous Absent Presence in Berlin and London

As I wrote in my German and UK review of Cruise's premiere, Anonymous was all but absent from the press, except when Cruise signed a mask.

One of my regular commentators commented: "Well, they had two TV appearances in german TV. One in the news and one in a 45 min. documentary about Anonymous and Scientology."

Well, OK. We'll no doubt hear about that more from critics then.

Today, I read two references in the UK news outlets:

Cruise Wont Buy Into Jonathan Ross Scandal (from Evening Times): "Among the crowd were a small group of anti-Scientology protesters - Cruise is a Scientologist - wearing masks and waving banners."

So at least something...

You would expect that London, being the place that, by far, held the biggest number of Anonymous protesters, would come up with a sizable bunch for the premiere, one of their few remaining opportunities to get their masked face in the press.

So what happened? Did just a handful really come, or where there removed by the police?

The next press entry leaves me to think that something like that may have happened:

The 9 0'Clock News – Thu 22 Jan: "Famed for his mammoth meet and greet walkabouts on the red carpet, Tom didn't disappoint last night and the only hiccup was when one protestor had to be forcibly removed after holding up a 'Scientology is Evil' poster in reference to Tom's religious beliefs."

Ross Having to Read the Daily Mail as Punishment

The Independent has a much better article than the mailonline (now what do you expect...) about Ross' avant-premiere return.

I just love that line of Ross from the article:

'I have realised the error of my ways. For next three weeks I will sit in uncomfy chair and read the Daily Mail. That's punishment enough.'

More excerpts:

'Where were we?' The return of Jonathan Ross - TV & Radio, Media - The Independent: "Prancing on to the set of his chat show to the tune of Take That's "Never Forget", Jonathan Ross began his long-awaited public comeback yesterday with four words: "So where were we?" [...] Cruise made no reference to his host's misdemeanours, while Ross observed the strict no-questions-asked policy regarding Cruise's Scientology beliefs. [...] Since his suspension, Ross has tried to build bridges with his fans by chatting to them on social networking websites. Writing under the pseudonym 'Wossy', he has accumulated 14,000 followers on one site alone, discussing with them everything from his family holiday in Florida to his dismay at the demise of Woolworths and his abiding hatred of tabloid journalists."

Cruise and Ross Avant-Premiere

Cruise Wont Buy Into Jonathan Ross Scandal (from Evening Times)

"TOM CRUISE has brushed off speculation over his appearance on disgraced Jonathan Ross's comeback TV show.

The actor, speaking at the UK premiere of his new film Valkyrie, said he had heard about the prank phone calls scandal involving Ross but thought it was time to move on from it.

Cruise said he had been briefed about the affair but added: 'I know a little bit about it and have done interviews with Jonathan Ross before, so I'm looking forward to seeing him.'"

Gossip tabloid rag mailonline has an avant-premiere article of the show in which it claims a lot of swearing was made by Ross. We'll have to watch the end result to make an idea for ourselves.

The rag typically slips into gossips towards the end, and even adds "the Mission Impossible star is notoriously unwilling to discus his religion" - see? That's a double bind and shows that you can never win with these tabloids. Either you speak about the religion and are mocked or don't and this in turn leads to more accusations and innuendos.

Tom Cruise in Amsterdam

You know, I literally love the Dutch people, and Amsterdam is my favorite town in Europe. Dutch are notoriously open-minded, but they are also a cheerful bunch, really joyful and very straight (in character, huh...!). I also love to work with them. They are disciplined and competent. And I love the Dutch accent too, particularly that of Amsterdam (as a Belgian I understand Dutch).

OK - that's a lot of generalities and I am sure there are also assholes, but frankly, the vast majority of Dutch I encountered have been most entertaining and pleasant.

And now, Cruise is in Amsterdam for Valkyrie 's premiere, and there are two Dutch actresses in the film, one of whom (Carice) I blogged about already.

Tom Cruise in Amsterdam for movie premiere - Radio Netherlands Worldwide - English:

"Hollywood Actor Tom Cruise is in Amsterdam to attend the Dutch premiere of his latest film Valkyrie on Thursday evening. There's great interest in the movie in the Netherlands, as it features two Dutch actresses, Carice van Houten and Halina Reijn. [...]

Carice van Houten plays Von Stauffenberg's wife Nina, and her fellow Dutch actress and longtime friend Halina Rein plays the secretary Margarethe von Oven. [...]

Halina Reijn:

'Everyone was unbelievably kind and inspiring."

Carice van Houten:

'the next day was completely normal, and Tom Cruise is a great compliments machine. Every day he said 'Carice, you're a great actress'.' [...]

Cruise:

'When I read the script, it was entertaining and informative to know what the challenges were and what it was like to be in the environment. I've never heard of this story before... It turned out to be an incredible adventure, just to be there and shoot at these locations where Stauffenberg was. It was a very powerful experience and hopefully it will communicate with the audience. It has certainly influenced my life, just knowing that there were people who tried to stop him [Hitler]'"

Scoop: Cruise Autographs Anonymous' Mask!

YouTube - Tom Cruise signs Anonymous-mask

You have to watch attentively what happens at the beginning because it is not obvious in first view. A security guard gets the mask of an anon and does not seem to want to hand it back. Cruise asks the mask from the guard, draws a peace sign, autographs it, and give it back to the anon!!!

Quote of the Day - Cruise the Vampire

Ball of Fluff :

"Cruise is an actor. He was also in Interview with the Vampire. He wasn't a vampire either. Go figure."

Jonathan Ross and... Tom Cruise

johnalexwood: Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and... Tom Cruise

Funny this Scientologist had ticket for Ross' show but could not attend because it ended up being canceled after the BBC suspended Ross' show for three months in the wake of his antics together with Russel Brand. And now his ticket will be valid for the new show, opening up with... Tom Cruise! Now that's an OT win :-)

Ironically Russel Brand's new UK show - titled Scandalous - is starting to tour the country in the same week that Ross resumes his BBC shows after his suspension.

Now something telling me we will be hearing more from those two... and, to start with, the Ross/Cruise combination may be an explosive one... hold on to your seat this Jan 23!

Success of 'Valkyrie' Proves Critics Wrong

SHOWCASE :: Erie's Entertainment Web Site!

Thinking back at the risk of getting this movie out in Christmas and all it involved, I continue to be stunned by the success it has on the contrary encountered. I mean, compare what I wrote back in Dec. 1 and this kind of article:

It's already earned more than $72 million in the United States, which means "Valkyrie" is far from the flop many critics predicted it would become.

The film, which cost a reported $90 million to produce (director Bryan Singer has pegged it at closer to $75 million) and perhaps more than half that to market it, has performed solidly if not quite spectacularly at the box office.

"The fact that it's still attracting filmgoers totally robs the naysayers of their ability to deem it a flop, because it's not," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It does show the renewed star power of Tom Cruise."

And it's only starting. Believe me, because I do know a thing or two on this topic, the star power of cruise in Asian and other foreign continent is tremendous. And doesn't he look just amazing? I know my friend Rebecca is not going to agree with me on this one but I think at 46 he almost looks better than he ever did. The photo above was taken during his very recent visit to Seoul, Korea, promoting the movie. His look alone will be reason enough for 80% of Asean to go and see the film. As to whether or not they will get into the historical intricacies of the film, I am not sure. Often times I find myself having to explain where Europe is, and that no, Brussels is not very far from Belgium!

Ledger Links Tom and Jett

Heath Ledger's Family 'Overjoyed' By Golden Globe Win - Movie News Story | MTV Movie News

Heath Ledger won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his work as the joker in "The Dark Knight."

I am overjoyed by this news.

Ledger was up against veteran actors like Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Ralph Fiennes and Philip Seymour Hoffman, but Heath performace in the Batman motion picture was stunning and, besides, he passed away tragically.

So where is the link?

I already wrote before about the irony of both Jett Travolta and the son of Dr. Dre passing away around the same time, one of a seizure about which much is being talked about in terms of drugs, and the other of an overdose of heroine!

Now what was the cause of death of Heath last January? Of an accidental overdose of prescription medication!

So there's a distant link there between Cruise, contender to Heath for the Globe, and Jett...

It also brings up in the news, again! that drug theme...

This should remind us that the number of death and disabilities related to prescribed medicines went from 35,000 in 1998 to 90,000 in 2005, according to the Archives of Internal Medicine, and that 50,000 Americans die every year of seizures,

So much for critics trying to split hair in trying to force-fit a cause celebre death by seizure into the evil tentacle of Scientology and its supposed absence of drugs treatment.

Box Office Predictions for Valkyrie

Now that the new set of movies for this week-end have come out, all the previous contenders have slipped down, though still going relatively strong.

So where do we go from now?

Erik Lomis, who oversees worldwide film distribution for MGM have said that "As the long holiday plays out, high-profile movies can expect to collect total domestic tickets sales of four to six times their first three-day weekend".

Valkyrie's box office result for the first three days was $21.5 million. Say five times 20 is $100 on domestic market alone. with $70 so far, and keeping up to speed in the tail of Marley, the film is slowly reaching that target.

Now this is telling nothing of the International market, where Cruise star power is way more considerable than in the US. To wit, even the "flop", "Lions for Lambs" achieved a stunning $50 on the foreign market, compared to only $15 on the domestic market. With a budget of only $35, that should leave Cruise enough to build a few more bunkers on that "flop" alone.

However, it is very unusual for a film to make three times the cash it does at home. More typically, it would be 2 to 2.5 times.

With this in mind, I think the film should relatively easily reach $200-$250 world-wide, not counting the benefit made through DVD and other sideline outlets. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if it would reach eventually $300 to $350, which would be stupendous.

By all means, even just $200 or somewhat less would be completely unexpected as a result for what was a very risky film from many point of view, and would be cause for celebration on the Cruise camp.