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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

M:i:III

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D Terminator XXXIII

11:59 / 30.04.06

Movie the first was not De Palma's best, annoyingly old-skool, tame and slooooow.

Movie the second was not Woo's best, annoyingly edited, tame and misjudged.

This one, movie the third, seems genuinely exciting and has an inspired cast. Agree?

I'm Michelle Monaghan's bitch, she owns me.

13:06 / 30.04.06

I liked the first movie, but the second was beyond lame. So I´ll probably rent the DVD, if there´s nothing better on my visit to the rental store.

The cast is quite nice: Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup, Simon Pegg and Michelle Monaghan are reason enough for a rental. But TC´s crazy behaviour is so off-putting, that I won´t watch it at the theatre.

And Michelle Monaghan should get more work. She was really cool in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

14:18 / 30.04.06

The movie poster on bus shelters over here looks like it reads 'Tom Cruise - M:i:iii'. As in, 'Tom Cruise - Meeeee!'. I think that's strangely fitting.

23:28 / 30.04.06

Do you think it's sponsored by Nintendo?

I'm not sure what to make of this film. I'm with Mistoffelees in that I liked the first and thought the second sucked beyond sucky.
On the one hand it's directed by J.J. Abrams and I think he handles over the top action really well in Alias when he directs so it should be a lot of fun.
On the other hand it's directed by J.J. Abrams and I think he's maybe only good enough to direct over the top action in Alias.
Time will tell, I guess.

00:21 / 01.05.06

This is how I've been describing the flick:

M:I:III: Two hours of Tom Cruise leaping from explosions!

I lurve the first one and am ever-annoyed by the second. I have moderately medium hopes for this flick because of Hoffman and Michelle.

And Shaun of the Dead is in it for five minutes.

D Terminator XXXIII

06:39 / 01.05.06

If we dont preserve our A list movie stars by throwing money at them, then the critics will have won. At a Vendetta screening, got the goose bump when the trailer went on, and the theme commenced. Abrams has, with the 4th season characterizationfest of Alias, proven himself of being able to handle other things beyond the ridiculous over the top action trademark.

Have faith that Cruise wont stand on couches any time during it, and salivate at the prospect of a Hoffman/Cruise fight.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

07:01 / 01.05.06

The prospect of this film is so depressing that it makes me want to unwatch practically every film I've seen ever. Tom Cruise doing his 'serious face'. I think I'll just watch the Scientology episode of South Park repeatedly instead.

08:40 / 01.05.06

Or you could rewatch the scene in WOTW, where Cruise gets sucked into the alien anus.

08:43 / 01.05.06

I really enjoyed the first film, the second one - well it was dull as, only got good when Dougary pulls the mask off and reveals that it isn't Ethan, music up, running, fighting, shooting etc.

apart from PSH acting nasty in the trailer and just coming across a little too 'sixth form drama class' and Crusies serious face, I'm looking forward to it. Plus it's got Pegg in it, who must be filling the role that David Brent himself turned down - but it's Pegg, Sean himself 'you've got red on you' 'it's time at the bar' etc

08:47 / 01.05.06

I think the trouble is that this film won't get past the fact that it's main star, Oh Cruise, is The Man In The Limelight at the moment.

I'm not saying that it would be a better film if an unknown actor took over the role... No, wait, maybe I am... But still, I want to go and see this maybe only for the Simon Pegg cameo.

The first film was, agreed, good - but the second film felt like John Woo phoned in the direction from a long way away, in my humble opinion, and the massive metal soundtrack helped in no way. Note that last time, cod-rockers Limp Bizkit provided the opening theme; this time, it's Kanye West, although the article leaves me with doubts;

"As a fan of Kanye's work, I was thrilled at the prospect of him contributing his talents to M:i:III", states the franchise's star Tom Cruise. "We wanted to take this installment of Mission to the next level and Kanye's music definitely added to accomplishing that goal. As we've done with the film, what he's done with the Mission theme is going to blow people away."

Oh, Lord.

I want to see it in some ways purely as an exercise to see if I can differentiate the Tom Cruise on the screen with the Tom Cruise who is a Scientologist, plans to eat placentas, jumps on couches on national television etc...

Well, everyone should have a plan.

09:58 / 01.05.06

I'm well excited about this. For many of the reasons above (Hoffman, Pegg, Abrams). I think it's going to be a stunner, and I don't think it will rely too much on Cruise' ability to hold a picture together. Advance word is it's much more of an ensemble piece. Can't wait, Proper Action Movie!

10:51 / 01.05.06

Do you know, that's pretty much exactly how I'm feeling about it.

11:39 / 01.05.06

It's like the feeling you get when a really decent rock album is about to be released, and you have a sixth sense that it's going to be ace. And then you buy it and it rules, not because it changes your life, but because it's great fun.

Besides, I like Tom Cruise. He's embarrassed himself a lot lately, but that doesn't change the fact that I often enjoy him in a movie. Hope he does well in this.

20:49 / 01.05.06

I know Aint It Cool News is often rabid, looney and bizarre, but the movie has received some pretty lucid, intelligent and very positive reviews over there, so I'm thinking that maybe it might be pretty decent, what with the cast and director/writer J.J. "Lost/Alias" Abrahams' stated focus on action through character concerns.

The Return Of Rothkoid

00:42 / 02.05.06

I wonder, though: does anyone go to a Tom Cruise movie (now, more than ever) expecting anything other than Big! Movie! Action!? I'm suspecting not, and it'll be no different with this one - it'll be a big, dumb action movie, and it'll be awesome at the time, though when I think about it later, I'm sure I'll think it was a bit shithouse.

Why? 'Cause it's a popcorn flick. Short-term good, long-term meh. Like James Bond movies, that I invariably end up seeing (why, God, why?), I love 'em at the time, but find that my cringe factor goes up remarkably when it's all over. Guilty pleasures, I suppose. Though this one will be slightly less guilty due to the PSH factor, methinks.

So yeah. I think it'll be great. My partner has threatened to disown me if I see it, but fuck - VING RHAMES. You know what I mean?

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

01:08 / 02.05.06

What is this preciousness that people cling to with regard to other people enjoying - SHOCK - teh blockbuster action film?

Oh noes! 'tis not a proper film said they, for 'tis full of explosions and Tom Cruise and nothing more. Boo hoo.

Get one over it.

Keith, like a scientist

01:41 / 02.05.06

I dunno. I sort of like Cruise as an actor, as others have said.

but more importantly, Abrams + Spies + Budget likely = TEH AWSUM.

That shot of Cruise jumping off the top of the building alone makes me hyper for this movie.

02:33 / 02.05.06

I have to admit that the explosion on the bridge with Tom being thrown into the side of the car fills me with teh joycre. I like realistic explosions (like in Munich, which everybody hated)

D Terminator XXXIII

09:17 / 02.05.06

Or you could rewatch the scene in WOTW, where Cruise gets sucked into the alien anus.

(Resists cheap 'Tom is gay for ET' joke)

Keith, like a scientist

03:19 / 03.05.06

a friend surprised me with a sneak preview ticket tonight, so i got to see this earlier.

Whoa, lots of 'SPOLSIONS. The action set pieces in this movie are totally insane. The "team" aspect is brought out in interesting ways. This is certainly a JJ Abrams story. You can see the Alias marks all over it. It's sort of a gigantic long big budget good Alias story, complete with all the hallmarks of that show. Secret agendas, role reversals, thievery, gadgets, with a strong tether on the person involved in these things throughout. It's definitely a "personal" story. Not just a crazy heist or gadget fest. That stuff is in there, but it all seems to have a purpose of a sort.

If you like Alias, you'll likely like this a lot.

Hoffman is pretty rockin, if maybe played a little TOO low-key in places, and a little TOO animated in other places, which doesn't make sense...but it does, kinda.

Oh yeah, and... Weiss!

08:15 / 03.05.06

Sounds interesting. If they release an edit without Tom Cruise I might consider thinking about possibly seeing it.

11:18 / 03.05.06

There supposedly is a fan cut of Matrix reloaded with all the uncool (rave, trinity/neo, pseudo-philosophical babble, etc) stuff cut.

Maybe some gentle soul will recut mi3, too.

Keith, like a scientist

12:03 / 03.05.06

Sounds interesting. If they release an edit without Tom Cruise I might consider thinking about possibly seeing it.

that would be...difficult. He is probably onscreen for 80% of the movie.

Hmm...I've never quite understood the problem with Cruise as an actor. Risky Business, Eyes Wide Shut, Vanilla Sky, he's good in all of those, at least. Even Top Gun, as silly as it is, he's good in.

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

13:43 / 03.05.06

Sometimes, I like to imagine he is TJ Mackey from Magnolia in every one of his movies.

ORA ORA ORA ORAAAA!!

14:47 / 03.05.06

Rothkoid, I'm sure I'll be seeing this movie, possibly with friends, probably at broadway. You're welcome to join me/us. We can be horrifically depressed about What We Have Done afterwards, too.

I am irritated with this movie, despite not having seen ANYTHING about it anywhere, because at my work, the trailer has been playing on repeat on the home theatre systems. Really loudly. But not anywhere I can see it. So I might have heard the new Kanye theme, but that's about it. The theme irritates me.

Yet I will see this movie. I cannot explain it.

Keith, like a scientist

15:56 / 03.05.06

they play the Kanye "theme" over the credits at the end, and it's pretty terrible, IMO. kind of a mess.

10:03 / 04.05.06

Sometimes, I like to imagine he is TJ Mackey from Magnolia in every one of his movies.

That's what I love about that performance. Ridiculously misogynist superalphamale overachiever, just not quite convinced enough about his own self-belief/self-deception until the cracks start to show and you can see into the self-hatred inside, icky icky cult involvement…

He’s playing himself. That’s why there’s is a little Frank Mackey in all his other performances. It’s a startlingly brave performance, and that’s while I’ll always have a little time for him.

Jawsus-son Starship

14:05 / 05.05.06

I thought it was actually pretty good. Ok, all the 'twists' were too obvious for words, but for the kind of film I wanted, I pretty much got it. Big guns, I found the action impressive, Tom Cruise being the most rediculous alpha-male on earth - but look, when his wife might get shot, he can cry, so he has a sensetive side. The cast was pretty impressive too, some might say inspired. I probably will go to see it again, if only as some kind of self-medication.

Phex: Dorset Doom

04:56 / 07.05.06

Looks like MI:III is underperforming at the box office. Apparently people no longer want to see a closeted, couch-jumping fruitcake in movies. Who would have guessed?
Hail Xenu!

D Terminator XXXIII

07:57 / 07.05.06

In Hollywood, where perception is everything, an estimated 45-46 freakin' million dollars gross is indeed not much. However, you're still talking about an estimated 45-46 freakin' million dollars! In the US alone.

So, you're not entirely right when you state that people no longer want to see Tom in movies.

09:16 / 07.05.06

Well, remember also that a gross is, well a gross, not a net - the cost of making the film (not to mention the cost of Tom Cruise) kind of needs to be factored in here

It kind of reminds me of the Brosnan Bond films, every single one of them has been profitable, but the cost on each film progrssively rises while the gross gradually falls...

09:57 / 07.05.06

Thoroughly enjoyable trash. Simon Pegg steals every scene he's in (two-and-a-half) and Ving Rhames gets a character (he's ace). Very good fun and very silly, but tense in all the right places. A bit disappointed with PSH after all the reviews, but he's still solid. A bit like a remake of True Lies, eh?

11:37 / 07.05.06

Most blockbusters these days make their profit through DVD sells. And the worldwide box office is important, too.

I don´t care, if this movie flops or not, I only wanted to say, it´s too soon to tell.

20:22 / 07.05.06

Seth is on the money.

I went expecting undemanding, popcorn fare; was surprised by how much fun it was. The team works, so to speak; I really felt throughout that JJ Abrams was desperately trying to make this exciting ensemble drama with a lot of likable characters (cf: Serenity, another TV director at the movies) and yet the rest of the team kept being brushed aside by Tom's ego. Which is a shame; Maggie Q was lots of fun, as was the usually patchy Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Ving Rhames, as ever, keeps his head above the surface.

Hoffman: yes. Nice. Well, not nice; fucking evil, actually. He's not really in it as much as you'd expect: Owen Davian is as much a MacGuffin as the Rabbit's Foot. But he works; he's menacing, he's scary, and the fight with Cruise at the end (although brief) is nicely brutal. Hoffman certainly packs a punch, which was nice to see.

Oh, and another tip of the hat to Simon Pegg. Despite effectively having a cameo, he gets the best lines in the film ("whenever I see a sort of rogue organisation, willing to spend this amount of money on a mystery tech, I always assume it's the anti-god. End of the world kind of stuff, you know. But no, I don't have any idea what it is. I was just speculating.") and gets to save the day. Awesome.

The real star, for me, though, was Abrams. Wow. That guy can direct. Bar a few patchy moments - didn't like the opening credits/party sequence - it was tight; just non-stop action, and really well directed action, too. You get the feeling in the trailers that the action sequences will be obvious, stand-alone fare, but they're actually really well integrated. You see the convoy hitting the bridge, and you think, "oh, this is the bridge exploding bit"... except that action sequence begins mid-sentence. Really well paced.

In short: a good start to blockbuster season. Entertaining, nicely self-aware - it knows the genre convetions, but it never takes the piss, merely makes entertaining nods - and cracking pace. Only complaint: more team, less Tom, please. Every time I saw him emoting at the lovely, lovely Michele Monaghan, I couldn't help but think "stop thinking about Katie".

Here's to more JJ at the movies, anyhow.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

15:25 / 08.05.06

I have to admit that the explosion on the bridge with Tom being thrown into the side of the car fills me with teh joycre. I like realistic explosions

Ah yes, the explosion which happens directly behind him and yet blows him directly to his left into a car. Gotta love the realism.

You should hear the physics kids at work going nuts over that. WTF is an understatement.

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