Just so you know, I have been knitting. In fact, I’ve got 4 finished things that you haven’t seen yet. However, the weather, the light, the availability of a photographer, and various other things have been conspiring against me and I just haven’t gotten these things photographed. I’m really hoping to get them all done by the end of this week and maybe next week it can be all knitting all the time over here.
In the meantime, you get more “stuff I’ve done on vacation” from me. Yesterday we went to see Valkyrie. We both liked it very much. It’s funny because right before it started Dale leaned over and said, “I can’t believe you agreed to see a war movie with me.” And that’s true, I’m usually not a big fan of war movies. But Valkyrie is so much more than a war movie. Sure, it’s military in nature, and there are some fight scenes, but it’s more about values and principals than war. It’s a movie about heroes who were willing to give up everything for their principals. And even though you know going in that they failed, well, it still managed to be tension filled and suspenseful. I found myself routing for the men trying to rid Germany of Hitler – even though I knew that wasn’t how it all turned out. And it made me reevaluate what I think of Germany and WWII and Hitler’s regime. I didn’t really know there were people who recognized that he was crazy. People who knew that he didn’t really want what was best for Germany. People who were willing to risk everything to stop him. It seems weird to say the movie filled me with hope but in a strange way that’s exactly what it did.
The bottom line is that I’d recommend it and I’d love to hear what you think of it if you’ve seen it.
The end.
I haven’t seen it yet, but the trailer looked good. Thanks for the review.
My husband loves war movies and added this to our queue. After your review I guess I will be looking forward to it too. Thanks!
I saw it on Friday because my son wanted to see it. Tom Cruise was definitely out of place in that movie. There were really good Dutch actors from a great movie called The Black Book. The woman Carice van Houten that played Tom’s wife in the movie is very talented. I think the movie could have been so much more without Tom Cruise.
I can’t get past Tom Cruise in any roll – every time I see him in a movie I think – “Look, it’s Tom Cruise”. I think I’ll wait for the DVD but I’m interested in seeing it now.
Oopps – typo in my post I meant role not roll – guess I better go get some coffee.
That you were able to write this review with out commenting on Tom Cruise’s Tom-Cruiseyness gives ME hope that the movie is actually worth watching. Thanks for the review!
Smith might like it, but I don’t think we can get past that Tom guy.
When you mentioned rooting for the men ploting against Hitler even though you know they would lose reminded me of when I saw Titanic. During the scene where they are trying to turn the boat away from the iceburg I was hoping they would succeed even though I knew they didn’t. It is weird how our brians work sometimes.
I am definitely interested in seeing the movie. Thanks for the review!
I too think it would be good, except for the Tom Cruise part. If it was any other actor playing a German, they would have an accent. I don’t know if I am going to be able to get past that to be able to enjoy the movie. I’m sure I’ll see it on DVD though, cause my fiance loves his war movies (the tv is on the military history channel 24-7!).
I’ve read a fair amount about Nazi Germany and the plot to kill Hitler. A ton of people realized he was crazy, especially by then, but very few people had the guts to oppose him — not unreasonably, since he had all the power. Sort of like Oskar Schindler — a lot of people felt bad about what was happening to the Jews, but didn’t think they could do anything about it. It’s human nature to get used to whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, and even thinking about trying to change things is extremely tiring. Movies like that always make me look at what I’m accepting without thinking about it.
I really enjoyed reading your post and the comments.
We never go to the movies, but I think I’d really like to go to see this. Looks very good.
That movie sounds good. I don’t mind Tom Cruise (maybe because I am so out of touch with entertainment *news*) and I like a good movie based on history.
Tom Cruise? Ummm… no thank you.
I’m glad you and Dale enjoyed it, though.
In our house, I like the war movies. I wondered about seeing a movie where you already know how it winds up – but then, I knew the ship sunk in Titanic!!
If you want to see a movie that really inspires hope, and not at all in a sappy way (in fact, it’s occasionally brutal to watch), go see Slumdog Millionaire. Best movie I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Tried to see VALKYRIE on Christmas Day, but it was sold out with two ahead of us in line… we saw DOUBT instead. Having just watched Meryl Streep in MAMA MIA, it was… quite a switch. The movie was okay — it was good — lacked a little something for me — it was not as compelling as I thought it would be. Weird camera angles now and then didn’t have the desired effect… left me wondering, “Why the weird camera angles now and then?” I’ve always liked war movies, so I’m looking forward to VALKYRIE and hope I like it… it’s in the plan for New Year’s Day!
I haven’t seen it yet. We went to see The Day the Earth Stood Still on Christmas Day, but I didn’t care for it very much. I thought it was really boring.
It’s definitely on our list of movies to see. 🙂
I should see this. I saw the trailer, and have been thinking about the Hitler regime since. It always seems odd to me that he could exert so much influence to make so many people do such bad things.
My husband and my dad went to see this movie the other evening. They both came home with great things to say. Guess I should have joined them!
For New Year’s Eve, my SO and I took my 17-year-old son to see Valkyrie. Since we homeschool, this also counted as history class. I do enjoy movies on WWII and this one is definitely worth buying when it comes out on DVD. I am not a Tom Cruise fan, but I didn’t have a problem with him in this movie. At the beginning when he is shown writing in German and narrating what he is writing, it slowly fades into the English language and that was fine as far as the transition from the accent to a lack of one. Anyway, you had plenty of British accents running around in the movie, too, so I really didn’t have an issue with Cruise’s non-German accent.
I totally got caught up in the movie, to the point that I cried at the end even though I knew the plan wasn’t going to succeed. I was emotionally drained. I’m currently reading the book in order to fill in the gaps – but let me note something. There are two versions of this book and one is abridged. I didn’t know that at the time and I bought the abridged version. I plan to buy the other one but may have to order it.
Also, may I add that I was delighted to see Eddie Izzard in a serious role. Most people write him off as just a comedian, but the man did a good job in this movie.
Thanks for the review — on the strength of it DH and I went to see the movie over the weekend. I’m not a Tom Cruise fan, but is was good to see him in a mature heroic role, with a strong supporting cast and deft film craft.
I want to see it. JR is on the fence just because Tom Cruise doesn’t have a German accent. …I wonder how that would be?