Tom Cruise

I liked Oblivion a lot, too. I was really confused by a review I heard where they claimed the plot was hard to follow.

Another review pointed out how Cruise, who was once propelled by this constant swagger, has now sort of descended into middle-aged glum, an the swagger, when it appears, seems almost mechanical or artificial. Piece also pointed out that Cruise is not that old, yet has sort of boxed himself into these soulless roles. I'm sure he'll bounce back, since he does well when pushed, but he's simply too big an actor for most directors to push around.

I haven't seen it, but was frankly surprised by the amount of vitriol sent its way, either as the first of the summer's stupid dystopian action films or as one of the worse sci-fi exercises since "Battlefield Earth" (courtesy Edelstein).

I kind of feel like he was always a stand in for a charismatic, energetic type and our society associates those with youth and he's destined to be cast as more of an empty shell as years go on

we need an oblivion thread so I can post spoilers

Everybody likes the look of this, though. In fact, Edelstein iirc notes how surprised he was that the movie was bad enough to render the awesome look and design and DP work boring.

Was Cruise trying to beat out fellow Scientologist John Travolta for the honor of starring in the dumbest sci-fi epic ever? Thank heavens, he lost — nothing will ever be as shatteringly inane as the L. Ron Hubbard–based Battlefield Earth. But joining forces with the director of Tron: Legacy was like checking “d” on the form that said, “I want my space movies more (a) incoherent, (b) plodding, (c) migraine-inducing, or (d) all of the above.” Oblivion spins the same kind of paranoid futuristic fantasy as Battlefield Earth, in which a man must learn the true nature of his identity: that his body is but a temporary vessel, his soul immortal. Only then can he take on an evil empire of plundering anti-individualists from an unnamed planet that sounds like Xenu.

Cruise was on a roll for a while with Magnolia and his two Spielberg pictures — his acting was grounded. But he must be shedding brain cells like wives. After all of these years, he still indicates rather than feels, signaling thought by wrinkling his brow and squinting real hard and looking like a caveman encountering fire for the first time. He looks less like mankind’s savior than like a harbinger of devolution — the last stage before we’re back at lungfish.

It's kind of plodding but completely coherent to the point where I could predict the next plot revelation a few scenes ahead. It was Edelstein's review I heard on NPR and I was really wondering if he watched the same film

i really totally forgot about that whole tron fiasco

Mh otm. Oblivion isn't incoherent, just kinda dull and predictable.

Tron Legacy was flat-out terrible.

Like, I have a high tolerance for sci-fi gobbledygook but that was nearly unwatchable

ive talked about this on ilx before i always get the feeling im watching tom cruise play tom cruise playing john anderton, can never feel like im watching john anderton, always one level of removal, kinda like tom cruise offset controlling a tom cruise simulacrum onset,

yeah it's like a fellow up and comer in the early eighties handed him a copy of Real Men Don't Quiche but instead of laughing he treated it like The Four Agreements.

Turtleneckin' it at the Oblivion premiere.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/c49f5e366e88229e66c50715f94bec73/tumblr_ml3w50qb1g1qmik36o1_1280.jpg

i like the touch of middle-aged weariness he has in his recent roles. thought it was perfect for ghost protocol

yeah hes been a roll lately. the barely perceptible exhaustion behind all the smirky charm is good for oblivion too

also:

It is one of the most visually spectacular movies I have seen. The first half is a very good movie in its own right. The second half is mostly narcissistic trash, only periodically compelling, in which Cruise also rewrites the story of his break-up with Nicole Kidman, in what seems to me an unseemly manner.

Most of all, it is a Straussian commentary on Scientology (and Kidman), you can start your research here. I am stunned but not surprised that very few reviews have picked on this angle at all (so far it seems that none have and even Quora fell down on the job). Without such knowledge, the movie makes no sense whatsoever. With such knowledge, the movie is entirely coherent but in some regards more objectionable.

There are also some nice references to other Cruise movies, such as Top Gun and Eyes Wide Shut, not to mention some of the non-Cruise classics of science fiction cinema, including Star Wars and 2001 and Solaris.

I am very glad I saw this movie, but your mileage may vary. The Wikipedia entry is here.

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/04/oblivion.html

I kind of thought the villain was a cross between HAL and v'ger

yeah. almost all of this was lifted from better movies, but lifted well i thought

was kind of surprised at how much star wars was in it, actually, i feel like its been a while since ive seen star wars ideas & designs in a big sci-fi movie

not even the Star Wars prequels had sw ideas and designs in them

i heard oblivion was good from a friend w solid taste in sci-fi?

It's ok. Just kinda...flat? It might play better on TV.

Most of all, it is a Straussian commentary on Scientology (and Kidman), you can start your research here. I am stunned but not surprised that very few reviews have picked on this angle at all (so far it seems that none have and even Quora fell down on the job).

not buying economics website!

it looks like something out of heavy metal (comics) to me which is cool

I liked it a lot vahid! Go see it on the big screen if you're gonna see it though--visuals are by a long shot the most compelling thihg

I got zero Scientology commentary but idk I am kind of obtuse

I saw it, enjoyed it, ridiculous dialogue & plotholes but visuals were worth it.

Seriously extreme Scientology riffing throughout, amplified by the 'Making of After Earth' featurette played beforehand with Will Smith & son, which had a shot of Smith explaining how fear is an internal enemy to be eliminated over a full-screen close up of an exploding volcano

it surprised me how much i liked it

I am not surprised, max.

a shot of Smith explaining how fear is an internal enemy to be eliminated over a full-screen close up of an exploding volcano

:-O

Roman: I’m Roman. I’m a writer. I write movies and books. I have a blog. It’s pretty cool. So what kind of stuff are you in to?

Porn star: All of it. What I really like is dragons.

Romans: Dragons? Dragons are fantasy. If there’s magical talismans or a magic sword or wizards or fucking crazy not-real animals…. all these basic things that break laws of reality: that shit’s all fantasy. I’m into hard sci-fi. Fantasy is bullshit.

??????

hard sci-fi

Tom Cruise is into hard sci-fi.

Makes you think.

this movie was pretty with good sound design stuff. max otm in re star wars stuff.

honestly i thought morgan freeman did more to drag shit down than cruise. why does he have those weird sunglasses.

Tom Cruise's star shines too brightly

Watched Oblivion tonight. Joseph Kosinski should stick to making video game trailers.

Didn't want to watch the Spurs lose, so I went to a last-night screening of Oblivion instead. Couldn't make any sense of the circular plot, but that's pretty much automatic with me. (Not that I try all that hard.) I got a few things out of it. 1) The lead actress was truly beautiful; 2) Procol Harum ("too low!" as the saying goes on polls); 3) the Andrew Wyeth painting, which I've used in class; 4) at least one funny line: Cruise parks the space vehicle in the middle of a vast desert, looks over at the woman and says "Wait here"; and 5) second flipping-through-albums scene I've seen in a month. I really like the idea that piles of albums on the floor is now cinematic shorthand for the past, whether the past is Paris '68 or Earth 2017.

can't believe oblivion is the firs movie where tom cruise fights with himself

he did not JUMP on the couch, he STOOD on the couch

How YouTube and Internet Journalism Destroyed Tom Cruise, Our Last Real Movie Star

http://www.laweekly.com/2014-05-22/news/the-last-movie-star/?showFullText=true

i love tom cruise our last real movie star

Cruise Jump & Dean Scream

LA Wkly chuckly curiosity is the next week's Village Voice cover

I thought Edge of Tomorrow was pretty solid! it's no Groundhog Day, but it did have a couple of nice twists on that formula (namely that you have to die to reset, and that there's a lot at stake). Tons of Aliens, a bit of District 9, some Matrix, a bit of Starship Troopers ... I thought that LA Weekly save-a-Cruise piece was pretty silly, but I get that movie stars have their place. I'm not sure there are many dudes who could hold a movie like this together quite as well. Also, it wasn't too long, it didn't take itself too seriously, and the FX were really strong.

Was looking for a thread on it, but couldn't find one and was too lazy to look for a Cruise thread. I really enjoyed it. It borrows a ton from other movies like you mentioned but the execution is pulled off well. Hit the right balance of humor/action for me. My biggest complaints were that it takes a little while to get going (especially if you are aware of the Groundhog Day premise) and the ending was really drab-looking in comparison to the rest of the movie.

i loved this, the humor especially, and the riffing on video game respawning. blunt and cruise didn't really seem to have any chemistry? but i've been recommending this to people all weekend.

Yeah, who would have guessed that Andie MacDowell and Bill Murray would have better chemistry? I really liked the toll coming back seemed to take on Cruise. The relationship between the two had this feeling of not love but genuine affection. Who knows how much cumulative time he ends up spending with her, but he's his one constant companion in a weird scenario that only she understands, so he wants her to be OK. Cruise I thought was really good at conveying his concern for her well-being not as a lust object but as a friend and fellow traveler.

knight and day was alright tbh

I really liked the toll coming back seemed to take on Cruise

yeah the london seq. in particular i thought was well handled

that's just the congestion charge tbf