Viktor Navorsky (sp?) is detained at a New York airport because a "coup" caused a rebellion in his country while he was en route to the U.S. Since the U.S. is not recognizing his country he has fallen into a "crack" in the system, where he can't step foot onto American soil until he has a valid passport, but because he doesn't have a recognized country, he does not have a valid passport. So he basically lives at the airport for almost a year. (Make sense?)
This was actually a very good movie, it was funny and sad and romantic all wrapped into one. I think Tom Hanks was very believable as a pseudo-Russian, his supporting cast of virtually nobodies (except Zeta-Jones whom I like less and less every time I see her) were excellent.
LamW - 0
A much-sought after, many-times published journalist is exposed as a fraud. It is also supposed to be proof that Hayden Christensen can act.
I liked this movie. It was very interesting, especially since it was a true story. I remember reading The New Republic to use as research in high school and college. The magazine had no pictures, which they make reference to in the movie, so it was boring to me. But I had to use it because it had some article I needed.
Anyway, I don't want to give too much away in case anyone sees it, but it's funny how they find out he made up stories and how he went out of his way to cover it up. So much effort! You think it would have been easier to just write the truth, but I guess it wouldn't have been as interesting. That's when you go into fiction instead of journalism.
The movie was a tad slow, and there isn't any action, but I still thought it was tense at times when everything came crashing in at the end.
Also if you see this on Netflix, I recommend watching the 60 Minutes interview with the real Stephen Glass and the people he used to work with. He's sleazy and at the very end of the interview former editors call him a worm and the best line was, "If I was standing outside next to Stephen on a sunny day, and he said it was a sunny day, I would double-check that fact with two other people before believing him."
Rating: A-
Lullaby
Author: Chuck Palahniuk
A middle-aged newspaper reporter is doing a series of stories on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome when he comes across the realization that a certain poem book is found at all the scenes. Do one of the poems have the power to kill? After not-so-unintentionally killing a few people that annoy him, he teams up with a real estate agent to do something about the powerful poem.
This book isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as Choke was, nor is it nearly as graphic in its accounts of everything, but it is still twisted and good read. Palahnuik loves to have an antogonist that you don’t necessarily like, but you still read to find out what happens to him laughing at all the good and bad things that come his way. The ending is too funny.
Civil War guys train the Japanese how to use guns so they can wipe out the last of the samurais until Tom Cruise goes and gets himself kidnapped by them. Then he rethinks his thoughts.
I thought this movie was pretty good. I didn’t think it was spectacular or the best movie of last year (even if you don’t count LOTR) or anything like that. I actually was expecting a bit more from it, but I still thought it was a good movie. It wanted to be an epic movie by being long, but it still didn’t have that epic feel. With each movie that I watch him in, the more I don’t think Tom Cruise has any acting range. He just acts the same in each movie, no matter what. Cocky, self-assured guy that has a troubled past or something hidden deep inside him that needs to get out.
Ken Watanabe who played Katsumoto was awesome. He’s the reason to see the movie. I think they should have had the movie centered around him and from his point of view more. He didn’t talk as much, but he did a much better job of acting. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at last year’s Oscars. Tim Robbins won it, which I still agree with, but he definitely deserved to be nominated.
There was also some random love story thrown in there with Katsumoto’s sister and Tom Cruise and that’s exactly what it felt like–thrown in.
I fell asleep in the beginning a bit and then woke up for some fight scenes. Then fell asleep during some of the romance stuff but woke up at the end for some more fight scenes. The ending made me very sad. Even though I knew what was going to happen, Katsumoto still made me sad. Also, the emperor of Japan was a huge wuss!
Rating: B-
