We took a weekend at the
Vashon Island Hostel with friends to camp, swim, walk on the beach--and watch a movie. I've never completely understood the popularity of
Tom Cruise, though I find his movies entertaining.
The Outsiders was a decent novel adaptation,
Top Gun had action,
Rain Man was
award-winning,
Far and Away was romantic,
A Few Good Men was humorously
quotable ("My client's a moron, that's not against the law."),
The Firm had action,
Mission: Impossible had gadgets, and
Minority Report is one of a series of adaptations of
Philip K. Dick short stories (of which my favorite is
Blade Runner based upon
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). Only
Magnolia and
Jerry Maguire stand out in my memory, though not because of Tom Cruise:
Magnolia I recall because of the poignant, quirky story line and great
Aimee Mann music, and
Jerry Maguire I remember because afterwards my then-wife asked, "Why can't you be more like him?"
I was pleasantly surprised by the
Vanilla Sky story line. Consequently I plan to accept the two recommendation I received today for the Spanish original,
Abre los ojos, also starring Penélope Cruz (and her breasts).
Minor spoiler: I like movies in which it is difficult to distinguish appearance and reality.
