Vanilla Sky

Vanilla Sky

Cruise/Wagner

December 14, 2001

Sci-Fi?

DVD
C-

The music and the performers other than Cruise aren't bad.  (I tagged the ones I recognized.)  Cameron Crowe directed and co-wrote.

Taps (1981)

Taps (1981)

20th Century Fox

December 25, 1981

Drama?
DVD
D

Dull but also a bit creepy.  This is based on Devery Freeman's novel Father Sky and directed by Harold Becker.

Rain Man

Rain Man

United Artists etc.

December 16, 1988
Dramedy
DVD
D+

I didn't care about the Cruise character and the Hoffman character hadn't shown up yet.  Barry Levinson directed.

The Mummy (2017)

The Mummy (2017)

Universal etc.

June 9, 2017

Action, Fantasy

DVD
D-

I briefly thought I might like this, when it was BBC news reports, but then it gave us sexism, racism, boring action, and of course Tom Cruise with a somehow more annoying sidekick.  Alex Kurtzman directed.

Mission Impossible II AKA M:i-2

Mission Impossible II AKA M:i-2

Paramount

May 24, 2000

Action
DVD
D+

Yeah, you knew I wasn't gonna go for this, since even the theme music is just kinda meh.  John Woo directed.

Magnolia

Magnolia

New Line

January 7, 2000

Drama?

DVD
D+

Deliberately unfocused, although I did like the extended cover version of "One Is the Loneliest Number."  Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed.

Interview with the Vampire

Interview with the Vampire

Warner Bros.

November 11, 1994

Horror, Historical Drama

DVD
D

Boring and violent.  Of course based on the Anne Rice novel, and directed by Neil Jordan, almost twenty years before Byzantium.

Far and Away

Far and Away
Universal
May 22, 1992
Historical Drama
DVD
C-

Cruise is a young Irish farmboy, and the Irish scenery is of course lovely.  Ron Howard directed and co-wrote.  I tuned out before Kidman showed up.

Collateral

Collateral
DreamWorks
August 6, 2004
Romance, Drama
DVD
C-

I mean, I know IMDB says "Crime, Drama, Thriller," but it honestly isn't much of an action movie in the first quarter hour.  It's mostly about the meet-cute between a male cabbie and a female lawyer.  And Tom Cruise shows up a bit to be vaguely creepy, taking this down from a C.  Michael Mann directed.

Born on the Fourth of July

Born on the Fourth of July
Universal
December 20, 1989
War Drama
DVD
D+

I just watched this up to the mid '60s, with a very saccharine opening in a stereotypical '50s town and then a slightly darker view of family life with the main character's strict parents and schooling.  I know the gist of the story though and didn't really care about following the protagonist into the Vietnam War.  Oliver Stone directed and co-wrote the script with Ron Kovic, whose autobiography this is based on.