#and that's on being rita vratasky

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

man imagine being caught in a seemingly neverending loop of the same day over and over again and no matter what you do you just can't win and everything except for restarting the day is completely out of your control and it's confusing and frustrating and terrifying and then you get out of it, which is also completely out of your control, and you have to live with all that and then some random dude turns up and he gets it. he's in the same thing. and you're inadvertently sucked back into a loop again but this time you can't remember it, you have to take this guy's word for it, trust everything he's telling you about how you're going to die in his effing loop, how to act and what he's telling you to do and how to avoid your own seemingly-inevitable death, and that's terrible, just awful, on so many levels one of which is putting your life in the hands of someone you have only one reason to trust, but at the same time, for the first time in who knows how long, someone else gets what you've been through, knows how your world works now, the ways you've had to adapt and what is now the reason you tick, and for the first time in the longest time, you're understood

[below-average-fangirl]

I'm halfway through Tom Cruise's filmography, and one aspect of his acting which stood out to me is that he's unafraid to show vulnerability on screen, be it fear, silliness, or embarrassment, i.e.

- Jerry Maguire face-planting onto the floor when he rushes back into the office after being fired. 

 - Ethan Hunt in Fallout after the bathroom fight when Ilsa tells him he doesn't know what he's involved with. "I don't know what I'm involved in. I don't know what I'm involved in... What am I involved in?"

- Ethan Hunt in Rogue Nation when he attempted to jump over the hood of the car, slipped and face-planted onto the floor. 

- Bill Cage when he is wiped out by a car while running to Rita in Edge of Tomorrow. 

- Jack Reacher looking at the knife when he has to face off with the bad guys who have assault rifles.

I couldn't help but think of Harrison Ford. It’s been said somewhere by someone that one of the great traits Ford has as a screen actor is the ability to show fear without undermining his hero status, and I think Tom Cruise shares this trait, as well as humor. Their characters are funny and they will often lean into the humor without undercutting it, and that makes them more relatable. However, despite those similarities, the way I respond to them as an audience member is very, very different.

Harrison Ford is an actor I grew up watching, and Star Wars and Indiana Jones were the main staples. While I did enjoy those films, even as a kid, there was an energy Ford brought to the screen which felt dangerous. Thankfully, this is all brilliantly examined by Pop Culture Detective in this video, and jumping off the back of that, I want to talk about the power dynamics between Tom's characters and the female leads in his action films.

Let’s start with Nick Morton in The Mummy, who is an adventurous type in a similar vein to Indiana Jones. Both characters go around stealing artifacts. Although Indiana Jones would claim he’s preserving them by putting them in a museum, he's still stealing them from the indigenous culture. Nick is more honest with himself about being a thief. Another distinction between Nick Morton and Indiana Jones is how they interact with their respective heroines. Our first introduction to Jenny Halsey in The Mummy is when she, without hesitation, slaps Nick across the face and calls him out for stealing some papers from her. Nick plays dumb because he thinks she won’t want to admit that they slept together. However, Jenny is not at all embarrassed by this and instead uses it to get in a dig about Nick’s prowess in bed. In response to this, Nick makes a quip that she didn't complain the night before about his performance. The key difference between what you would see from a character like Indiana Jones in this scene is that at no point during this exchange does Nick get in Jenny’s face or manhandle her to try and intimidate her physically to reassert his masculinity. 

Then there's Bill Cage in Edge of Tomorrow, who, like Nick Morton, is a morally ambiguous character. Cage is a coward who finds himself a safe job far away from the fighting, but is suddenly stripped of his rank and thrust onto the frontline after the attempted blackmail of an army general backfires. When he first comes across Rita Vrataski on the beach, he is lying on his belly, out of his depth in battle and looking up at her with bewilderment and awe, the Angel of Verdun. Rita is then immediately killed by a rocket blast right in front of him. The second time Cage meets Rita on the beach, he saves her life by pushing her out of the way of the rocket and getting hit instead. This is where we see Rita’s determination and single-minded focus to win the war; she does not stop to mourn or thank the man who saved her life; instead, she steals Cage’s power back and leaves him for dead on the beach. This ruthlessness does not deter Cage from seeking her out again on the battlefield. He knows Rita is his way off this beach. Once Rita understands that he has the power to reset the day, this is where Cage’s purpose changes from trying to save himself to serving Rita. We witness this with the scene at the farmhouse where he is kneeling at her feet serving her coffee.

By this point in the film, Cage is as well trained as Rita, but his authority never supersedes hers; he is only ever subservient. He does try to deter her from the mission by not admitting that they have been at the farmhouse before. He already knows that no matter what he does, he can’t save her, he can’t get her past this point, and what gives him away is three sachets of sugar. That one caring act of being prepared to make her coffee as she likes it is enough for Rita to realize that he’s lying, that they have been at this farmhouse multiple times. Here is where something shifts in Cage, because after witnessing Rita’s death this time, instead of telling her in the next loop that he can reset the day, he decides to find the omega on his own, knowing that if he succeeds, Rita will be dead.

"I’m a soldier. Why does it matter what happens to me?"

Cage is learning that in war you can’t save everyone, something Rita knew when in one loop she unceremoniously took his power pack after saving her. This is when he begins to be on an equal footing with Rita, demonstrated in the scene where they both realize, and agree without words, that they have to break into Whitehall to steal the transponder. While they had been a team before, Cage is now fully onboard with the job of finding and killing the omega. They then only have one shot left at succeeding, because Cage has lost the ability to reset the day anymore, but Rita trusts Cage to do it. This finally shows that they are equals.

In contrast to Nick Morton and Bill Cage, there’s Ethan Hunt, a morally good character who is intelligent, highly capable, and most importantly, empathetic. I won't go through all six Mission Impossible films, but instead, solely focus on the dynamic between Ethan and Ilsa. Ilsa saves Ethan on multiple occasions in Rogue Nation.

The first time the audience and Ethan meet Ilsa is at a moment when Ethan is incredibly vulnerable. He just witnessed the murder of a fellow IMF agent before being gassed and kidnapped, where he wakes up tied to a pole in a basement under threat of torture. It is only because of Ilsa that Ethan makes it out alive. The second time they cross paths is after the opera in Vienna, where we learn that Ilsa is an MI6 agent who is deep undercover.

Slowly, the film is building a connection between Ilsa and Ethan, but one that doesn’t override either one's main objective. As much as Ilsa has a sense of loyalty to an agent from an allied country, and saves Ethan again from the water tank, to escape from Ethan in the bike chase, she steps into his path suddenly, causing him to fall off and skid into the dirt. In any other film, this would be a humiliating moment for the main character, and there would almost certainly be a scene to balance it out and give the upper hand back to the male hero, but not in Rogue Nation.

There is not one scene where Ethan tries to reassert control or dominance over Ilsa, like the kind you would see in a Harrison Ford film where he gets into the personal space of a woman to sexually intimidate her. Instead, it is established that Ilsa, throughout the film, is Ethan's equal, and his masculinity is not threatened by this; nor is he humiliated in being rescued by her; and he feels no need to try and assert his dominance.

This is something which continues into Fallout, where once again Ilsa saves Ethan, and once again they are starting from opposite objectives. Ethan has to break Lane out, Ilsa has to kill him, and the essence of their relationship is distilled beautifully by Christopher McQuarrie.

There is emotional maturity and understanding between the two of them that elevates their relationship above what you would normally find in this genre of film between two spies of the opposite sex.

However, the character who is the most interesting to look at in terms of male/female power dynamics is Jack Reacher, as he is probably the most traditional action hero Tom Cruise has played. Reacher is a gruff, no-nonsense man of few words, and as the book outlines, his philosophy is: Hit early, hit hard. Kill with the first blow. Get your retaliation in first. This man is dangerous. Yet, at no point do I feel that the female characters are in danger around Reacher simply because they are women.

First off, the waitress who clears away Reacher’s table. It’s a small but, I think, important interaction. All Reacher does is give her a "fancy it" kind of look, but there's nothing aggressive or leary about it, and when she rejects him, he's disappointed but quickly moves on.

Secondly, the dynamic between him and Sandy in the first scene at the bar; he is being tough on her, but we know that he’s seen her argue with some guy before coming to sit at his table, so he’s probing. He’s trying to work out what her angle is. He’s mean, but he’s never intimidating. Then later, when he goes to Sandy's work, he’s pissed that she tried to set him up, but at no point do I ever feel Sandy is in danger, and at no point does Reacher try to exert information out of her by getting into her personal space. He never uses the threat of sexual violence to get that. His whole attitude is much more that of a disappointed dad. When he understands what is going on with her, and that she is a victim too, he softens toward her because she is just a kid.

Then there’s the main relationship between Jack and Helen. From the get-go, there’s an attraction but also competitiveness. Two very intelligent and competent people who are good at what they do spend the first half of the film trying to get a handle on one another and their motives. But in terms of sexual power dynamics between the two, I think there is one part where the film has Reacher lean into an action film trope, but then pulls away from it. 

It’s the scene with Helen in the hotel, where Reacher is shirtless and says they need some sleep. He reaches across her, and for a moment, Helen thinks he’s suggesting sex, but instead he puts her keys in her hand. I think that was Reacher playing with her a bit, teasing her about something possibly happening to see how she would react, but it never feels threatening. He doesn’t linger in her personal space because he knows that nothing can happen between them. He will leave town once the mystery is resolved. The one scene where they do get close, where they linger and lock eyes, is the moment in the lobby where Helen gives Reacher the address to the gun range. That scene feels very different to what you would normally see in this kind of film. They feel very much like equals, like they’ve come to understand one another at last, and while they both feel the attraction, Reacher is never dominating.

To me, it feels like Reacher is thinking about more than sex between them. To me, there is a hint that he’s thinking he could have a different kind of life and that if he wasn't who he was, he could have a normal life with her.

TL:DR: Ultimately, what I find reassuring about Tom Cruise’s characters in action films and how they relate to the heroine is that they avoid the standard trope of sexual banter or intimidation. There may be sexual tension between them, but it’s not the dominating force in their interactions. The films respect the abilities and agency of the heroine and never tell us that the male hero is emasculated for being rescued or held accountable by a woman.

Thank you to @indifferentvincent for letting me ramble in the DMs and helping me make this coherent.

[kajaono]

Why MCQ is wrong when he says that Ilsa and Ethan would be boring as a love couple

Ilsa and Ethan, Rita Vrataski and Bill Cage. MCQ has a thing for couples who love each other but can be never together. And what happens after the movie ends is up to the viewer. That is of course perfectly fine and I actually also like it. Its kinda thrilling

And he wrote those couples so perfectly and nuanced. This is why I was so surprised to see how boring and bleak the love relationship was in Top Gun Maverick.

NOW knowing that he thinks established love relationships in action movies are boring, explains A LOT.

But I think in his whole „love couples in action movies are boring“ attitude he overlook something really important. The problem starts with Ilsa and Ethan being not a „one movie - will they/won't they“-couple. They have an established relationship over the course of three movies. They might have started as yet another one of MCQs "They can't be together“-couples but they devloped a dynamic. They proved that they work together really well. Not only as a romantic couple but also as indivual characters.

Especially the finale scene in MI6 showed how well Ilsa and Ethan can work together as an agent couple (without „omg, pleas keep save *sobbing* don’t hurt yourself *good boys kiss* ) but as real professionals and then switching to a tender love couple once the danger is over. And I think fans wanted that and nothing more for Ilsa and Ethan. No one wanted to see them going on dates, because eventually we are still here for Tom Cruise jumping out of airplanes because Benji is asking him to. What fans expected to get in Mi7 was a: Tender opening scene with Ethan and Ilsa (we kinda got that with the desert hug), then fighting together, maybe holding hands once (we also got that) then action - action - one anxious long and a nod - action - action - action - kiss - the end. Nothing more. Like The Old Guard f.e.

And I think that is the most confusing thing about this whole situation. There are AMAZING action movies out there with a romantic lead couple. The old Guard, ant man 2 (who are also aiming at an more adults viewers) and dare I to say, even Vampire Academy, the tv show? which yes, has a lot of love drama but it honestly boils down to: how can we be guardians, who put the mission above everything and love each other at the same time?“ and they find a solution. There is this beautiful scene in the final fight where Rose tells Dimitri to run, he shortly struggles, stands stills, looks at her, anxious, and then runs away. And we didn’t asked for more for Ethan and Ilsa

That MCQ appearently thinks Action love couples are boring tells us a lot how he views fictional love in general

Also, the moment where he decided he didn’t wanted to write a boring love relationship, the woman had to die. Not the man, the woman.. which …. Yeah they can not replace Tom Cruise… (yet) but either the woman dies first to give a man character motivation or is left as a mourning widow. Nothing else… wow, groundbreaking. We really haven’t moved a bit in female representation huh?

[theroseandthebeast]

Yuletide 2022 Recs, Batch Two

15 recs for the Dark Angel Trilogy, Dune, Edge of Tomorrow, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Exorcist, and The Expanse

The Heart With Which He Loved You

Aeriel, Sabr, Erin - Sabr, Queen of Avaric, makes the journey to see an old rival with one last demand.

Future Tense

Paul Atreides/Duncan Idaho - “If I became Emperor, would you still serve me?” (Duncan lives!AU)

Three Deaths

Paul Atreides - Three times Paul faces death.

hear them chant (burn the witch)

Leto Atreides I/Jessica - the witch had to die.

this is how you loop the time war

William Cage & Rita Vrataski - what if you were stuck in someone else's time loop?

or: the movie, told from Rita's pov

There Is No Courage Without Fear

William Cage & Rita Vrataski - After the war, Rita pays Bill a visit.

which world will it take (for you to see me)?

Evelyn Wang & Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki, Evelyn Wang & Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki & Waymond Wang - “Mom, that’s Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a roleplaying game. DnD,” Joy finally speaks up, her tone restrained. “ADHD is different.”

(Or: Joy tries to explain to Evelyn what ADHD is, multiverse-style.)

In Search Of Evelyn

Alpha Evelyn Wang/Alpha Waymond Wang - As Alpha Waymond searches the multiverse for an Evelyn to defeat Jobu Tupaki, he muses on the events of his life in the Alphaverse that have led him to this point. Mostly pre-canon leading to beginning events of the movie, so there will be spoilers.

nihilism and you

Evelyn Wang & Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki & Waymond Wang - Kindness is strategic and necessary.

Making Nothing

Joy Wang | Jobu Tupaki, Evelyn Wang, Waymond Wang - Joy and Evelyn attempt to make everything bagels the old fashioned way.

never taken for granite

Evelyn Wang & Joy Wang, Evelyn Wang/Waymond Wang, Joy Wang/Becky Sregor - After everything that's happened, Joy and Evelyn create space to build on their historically rocky relationship, one conversation at a time.

Ex Luce Ad Tenebras

Marcus Keane/Tomas Ortega - It’s not that Marcus hasn’t made peace with this part of himself. It was no secret. He’s always known, same as the Heavenly Father knew, and even his own bloody dad had some idea. If Marcus been born a blank sheet, as a man he’d grown over to be inked with the shapes of desire; heavy hands, rawbone chests, deep timbre notes and Adam’s apples. He was dripping with that ink by now, all the overwritten lines too-stained to clear away. He made no apology. His hunger came from above; left him made to be all-hungering for Christ and brotherhood and love.

In You I Take Refuge 

Marcus Keane & Tomas Ortega - As they head west, tired and adapting to their new circumstances, Tomas and Marcus seek a night's refuge at an inclusive guest-house. Tomas doesn't like hiding his profession, nor Marcus cheerfully pretending they're a couple, but is pleasantly surprised by the welcome they receive and taken aback by the truths revealed and emotions brought to the fore.

Agricultural Rituals

Amos Burton/Praxidike Meng - "You talk to a shrink, ever?"

Prax raised his head and blinked once, twice. "Not advice I'd expect from you," he said, half-questioning, all anxious. As though he expected Amos to take that the wrong way.

Takes place after the end of the TV show (S6).

beneath a different light

Amos Burton/Praxidike Meng - “How long do you have?” Prax asks, but Amos shrugs and takes a seat at the table, stretching booted feet out as he slouches. “Okay, well, the couch pulls out into a bed, if you don’t mind being in the middle of things.”

Amos looks over, then, his eyes sharp, his mouth tugged up in one corner. “I’ve slept in worse places.”

“Yeah, there’s no one chasing or shooting at us, so it’ll probably rate pretty high, I’d imagine,” Prax says. “You stay there, I’ll go get you some blankets.”

[batri-jopa]

10 Characters and 10 Fandoms

Rules: name 10 of your favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people to do the same.

Thank you @figuringthengsout for tagging me! Since it's not my first "favorite characters" tag game I'm going to play with it a little:

So there's that ONE character who's usually in the background, because he's way too smart to throw himself directly into the main plot. He already knows it all. Seen it all, lived it all, he suffered enough to have his skin thick as an armour. And he is terminally ill or already nearly died few times (or actually died multiple times if he's immortal) so he simply can't care anymore. He's too tired to laugh at the danger, he's more like: come on danger, I don't have whole day. He's wise and smart, he's rude and grumpy, all his advices are cynical and sarcastic, but you'd rather hear from him that you're a pathetic shithead than never meet him again. Apart from losing faith in humanity and despite his efforts to fuck it all already - deep inside he's still the most rightous and skilled person around. And if he have no other option but do things by himself as a main character - he makes the best of it just running on pure insolence and morbid humour, knowing right from the start there's no happy ending for him...

So here's just few examples of this guy:

Doktor Szlangbaum from The Doll / Lalka (book by Bolesław Prus first published in 1889, also 1978 TV series) - old grumpy jewish doctor full of life wisdom and sarcastic comments. When still young and stupid he once tried to kill himself out of love but been rescued and since then he used to say suicidal people should not be disturbed.

Gaius Petronius from Quo Vadis. He's too cool to act. But if he have to - he kicks ass. He kicks all the asses. With Neron the caesar being the biggest ass of them all.

Mendoza from The Mysterious Cities Of Gold (TV series, 1982-1983). They'd love to kill him in second episode already - if not for the fact it is XVI century and on the ocean, and he is the Navigator, and they would literally die without him... So he's aware of it, he can play with his privileges and their expectations. Always being himself. You never know if he's good or evil, he's always working on his own terms and for his own good, he seems to change sides of the conflict quite fluently... In one episode one of his stupid sidekicks asks him who they are working for right now because he got really confused... That's the character trait, ladies and gents🤣

Hobson from Arthur (1981). What a vicious, grumpy, cynical old man! Terminally ill, of course. You got to love him, no other option.

Dirty Harry (nuff said). Saving the suicide jumper is my most favorite scene. Yes, it's wrong, yes, it's against all the rules, but OMG how authentical it was... And Man with No Name from Dollars Trilogy is actually the same guy so yeah, count him too.

Duńczyk from Vabank (1981) - "Z wiekiem spada zapotrzebowanie na zysk, a rośnie popyt na święty spokój" (With age, the demand for profit is falling and there's a growing demand for peace of mind)

Bob Cody from Interstate 60 - "Say what you mean, mean what you say". And he MEANS IT. For real... Terminally ill has no scruples

Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) from Live, Die, Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow. I am a little sorry that she's the only female on this list but how can I help that kind of woman characters are so rare? It's like every Ghibli Studio girl with her "fuck off I have the world to save" attitude but Rita is not a minor. And everytime Tom Cruise's character comes to her presence to lose his head and get hard (he's basicly a stupid dick with legs) she's like: "We're trying to avoid apocalypse here, can you focus?" And kills him. Again and again. She literally kills the handsome prick every damn time unless he comes back good enough to save the world with her. So yeah, she have that ultimate AroAce energy that I adore 🧡💛🤍🩵💙

So now for two characters of different trait - villains:

Shere Khan from Jungle Book (1967) - he's a villain but he's so awesome. Like: everybody around knows he's the most dangerous killer around so he simply doesn't need any show off or flexing muscles. Whenever he appears each and every animal already shits their pants (regardless of no pants) and he is sooo aware of that effect that he plays with it. Being just so casual and courteous. And when anyone still needs more persuasion he's like: oh, we're both gentlemen here and I surely don't need to remind you of my CLAWS for that would be improper... He's such a killer🤣

Frank Burns from M.A.S.H. TV series. He's a villain too. And he's sooo evil. But sooo stupid. He's a human louse. He's so pathetic it's almost cute. And whenever he does something really wrong you know he's going to be punished and humiliated - and it's such a relaxing ritual of restoring your faith in humanity...🥲

Okey, that'll be it. Tagging @notasapleasure and @morulezopelforever and... if you're reading this and would like to dust off your drafts and notes you can feel tagged too👍

[denimbex1986]

'Whether it's stealing scenes or commanding the frame, actress Emily Blunt proves time and time again that she can do it all. Drama, comedy, singing, dancing, or even narrating the heck out of a documentary, she makes it look easy. By all accounts, Blunt positively shines alongside a ridiculously talented ensemble of actors in Christopher Nolan's upcoming historical biography, Oppenheimer, playing biologist and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, wife of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), aka the "father of the atomic bomb."

In Blunt's 20 years of making films, large swaths of her resume include some very choice sci-fi, fantasy, and genre films. Obviously, SYFY WIRE lives in that genre lane, so we've long admired her taste and commitment to participating in some truly memorable genre projects. And we love that Blunt consistently returns to genre projects amongst her meaty dramatic roles and more light-hearted comedies. As such, with Oppenheimer opening wide this weekend, SYFY WIRE presents our favorite Blunt genre films.

Emily Blunt's Best Roles in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Other Genre Films

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

The sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) pits Blunt's Princess Freya against Charlize Theron's Queen Ravenna, and that match-up is gold in our eyes. Essentially, the sisters aren't great at coping when dire things go down, so these messed up sisters wreak a lot of havoc in the kingdom. Per usual, Theron and Blunt pull out all the stops playing broken queens of magic, and the movie works best when they're in the frame, together or apart.

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Blunt and her Oppenheimer castmate Matt Damon worked together before in this under-the-radar, sci-fi gem. Blunt plays the mysterious Elise Sellas, who keeps popping up in the life of Brooklyn Congressman David Norris. The story has a lot of fun twists, turns, and themes explored regarding destiny. But their flirty chemistry is another big reason to watch.

Jungle Cruise (2021)

On the other hand, the chemistry between Blunt's Dr. Lily Houghton and The Rock's Frank Wolff in Jungle Cruise is barely tepid at best. However, Blunt returning to action-heroine mode is always a good time. Houghton's extremely competent character (and Blunt, the actress) look like their having the most fun throughout the movie.

Into the Woods (2014)

Not a lot of folks were aware that Blunt has a top-notch voice until she got to show it off beautifully playing the Baker's Wife in this adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's stage musical. She's paired with James Corden's Baker, and together they play out one of the best arcs in this cautionary tale about dreams coming true in a haunting way.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Who could imagine anyone filling the spit-spot shoes of Julia Andrews as Mary Poppins? Most audiences couldn't contemplate someone being a worthy recast of Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns, but then Blunt's name was announced, and everyone shut up because she just nailed it. Equal parts austere and loving, Blunt is maybe the only actress today who could so ably run with the baton given by the legendary Andrews.

A Quiet Place Part II (2020)

Blunt returns to play ultra protective, post-apocalyptic mom, Evelyn Abbott, in A Quiet Place Part II. She's just as great in this sequel, but there's less for her to play outside of the major action beats. However, if you want to get a taste of her on-screen chemistry with her Oppenheimer hubby, Cillian Murphy, there's plenty to appreciate here as Evelyn and Emmett thrown down.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Much like Linda Hamilton became a bad-ass, sci-fi legend after playing Sarah Connor in Terminator 2, so too did Blunt after playing Rita Vrataski in Edge of Tomorrow. The sci-fi, time travel twister features Blunt stealing scene after scene from blockbuster poster boy, Tom Cruise. She's intense, mercurial, frightening, and heroic, and she kicks the action star's butt for half of the movie. You have to have some chops to sell that, and she does.

Looper (2012)

Poker Face creator Rian Johnson's complex time travel film, Looper, stars a trio of fantastic performances from Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Blunt. It's a high-concept story that remains incredibly grounded because of those performances. And Blunt still manages to standout, especially for her shattering performance as the very protective mother, Sara.

A Quiet Place (2018)

In the fantastic sci-fi, horror thriller, A Quiet Place, Blunt plays matriarch and feral mom, Evelyn Abbott. Married to Lee (John Krasinski), the couple have two kids, with another one on the way. A lovely life, except they now exist in the nightmare reality of trying to survive aliens who have landed and wiped out huge swaths of the population. Sonically-tuned to even the most subtle of noises, the aliens force the Abbotts to exist in silence. Blunt is amazing as the terrified mom, and executes the harrowing scenario of giving birth in utter silence with chilling perfection.

Check out another amazing performance by Blunt when Oppenheimer arrives exclusively in theaters everywhere this Friday, July 21. Get tickets now!'

[litcityblues]

'Edge of Tomorrow' --A Review

I have heard great things about this movie for a long time and I think I feel safe to say that it's generally thought out of as one of Tom Cruise's best movies full stop and I might be inclined to agree with that assessment. It's also so refreshing to see a science fiction movie that while it's based a Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, it's not based on a video game or some other already existing franchise that a studio is milking every last drop of value out of. As a result (even though I am woefully ignorant about manga, light novels and anime in general, so it could have quite the franchise going in Japan), this feels right off the bat, extremely fresh and original.

In 2015, aliens called 'Mimics' arrive via asteroid in central Europe and quickly overrun most of the continent. The world quickly forges a global military alliance to fight the alien incursion- the United Defense Force (UDF) and finally gets a victory at Verdun five years later in 2020 thanks to newly developed mech-suits.

The movie opens with the UDF planning a massive invasion of France and General Brigham (Brenden Gleeson) orders Press Affairs Officer Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) to go the front to cover it. Cage has no combat experience whatsoever and has no intention of going anywhere near actual combat and tries clumsily to blackmail the General and blame him if the invasion fails. For his troubles, Brigham has Cage arrested, demoted and shipped off to the front where he's labelled a deserter and assigned to Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton) and the misfits of J-Squad who all hate and belittle him.

On the morning of the invasion, it seems the Mimics knew they were coming and J-Squad is quickly ambushed and cut to pieces-- Cage uses a mine to kill a large blue one, but is wounded by the explosion and covered in the aliens blood and he then dies.

But, he wakes up back on the morning of the invasion and tries to warn J-Squad about what's coming, but no one believes him. Loop after loop happens and gradually, Cage becomes better at combat and he spots and tries to save the hero of Verdun, Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) she realizes that he can loop time and orders him to find her when he wakes up.

Together the two of them figure out what needs to be done: the blood is what causes the ability to loop time, but the Mimics are being controlled by an Omega that's hidden somewhere and if they can destroy that, they can destroy the Mimics once and for all. After many, many time loops and deaths and resets, they locate the Omega- but not before Cage is stripped of his ability to reset time and the last chance attempt at once final reset is for the highest of stakes.

Overall: Who doesn't love a good mech suit? Honestly, this might be the best use of mech suits since Sigourney Weaver did her "get your hands of her you bitch" thing way back in Aliens-- (you can't really call them giant mechas like in Pacific Rim, but my familiarity with the ins and outs of Kaiju, mecha, etc. is limited). Love the alien invasion aspect of this movie. The combat scene are excellent and made even more excellent by the mecha suits everyone uses.

I like Star Trek, so I'm a bit dubious about time loops as a concept, because Trek can overuse them sometimes, but in this case, it works- and I think what makes it work so well is that they die and that's what causes the reset. In that, there's a parallel to the way video games works.

I love that this is a fairly simple concept: they keep repeating time until they can figure out how to kill the Omega and end the war. They get bad ass at mecha-suit combat and become really really good at killing aliens. The filmmakers don't even try to get cute with the alien invasion-- why reinvent the wheel when humanity has launched massive invasions of Europe before and you can draw on that imagery real easy (because there are some very obvious parallels to D-Day).

The cast is excellent. Bill Paxton is awesome in just about anything he does, but I like that Tom Cruise is kind of a little weasel at first- trying to get out of combat duty by blackmailing the General means his character is kind of running against type, which I sort of dug. Emily Blunt is excellent and could definitely pull off more action/sci-fi movies if she wanted too.

Best part of all about this movie: I don't think there was an obvious set-up for a sequel, which is so nice and refreshing. This (as of right now) appears to be a 'one and done' movie, which I love. Not everything needs a sequel, after all and I love that instead of laying down the foundation for a franchise, they focused on making the best movie possible instead, because they succeeded. My Grade: **** out of ****

[bronva]

Tom Cruise told Emily Blunt to ‘stop being such a p***y’ after breaking down on set for Edge Of Tomorrow

Tom Cruise told Emily Blunt to ‘stop being such a p***y’ after breaking down on set for Edge Of Tomorrow

Tom Cruise had a harsh way of lifting Emily Blunt’s spirits on set (Picture: PA) Tom Cruise had some strong words of advice for Emily Blunt. The actors worked together in 2014 on sci-fi movie Edge of Tomorrow, with Emily playing warrior Rita Vrataski who is on a mission to same the Earth from aliens with the help of Major William Cage, played by Tom. As you can imagine, like with any Tom Cruise…

[morganayenneferburnham]

I would just like to say…

Emily Blunt in Edge of tomorrow

[superbatson]

i’m alright i’m seeing you for the first time

[pheedraws]

Finally got around to doing the character inspiration meme for Vic this evening so I now present to you: angry disaster (affectionate) 

Rick Deckard (Blade Runner) I am a shameless name thief. Also prone to snark and wearing cool coats. 

Kate (Kate) Stubborn assassin with an expiration date who sets out on a bloody path of revenge.... y eah. 

Yoon Ji Woo (My Name)   Grief pushing you into insidious circles, in too deep to really realise you were being played for a fool all along? cries in corpo

Rita Vrataski (Edge of Tomorrow)  I had a more in-depth response in mind, but consider: a r m s 

Logan Delos / Dolores Abernathy (Westworld)  I couldn’t decide who had more of an impact on how I write Vic so I cheated and stuck both in. Influence entirely depends on where Vic falls on the disaster bisexual <    > distinguished bisexual scale at any given time. 

John Wick (John Wick)  Not to spiral into an appreciation post about the combat choreography in the John Wick films, but like.... They were a very strong visual in my head when first creating Vic. Also, I’m not saying she would burn Night City to the ground if something happened to Nibbles, but maybe don’t test that theory...

[twotwinks]

a thing i was tagged in a long time ago by @rochc93. i am, believe it or not, attempting to catch up on these things. i always intend to do them but it’s either not a good time when i think about them or i’m not thinking about them. sorry i’m a mess

Who were you named after?

First name, nobody bitch. That’s all me. Middle name, like twenty different characters who are important to me but all on accident because I didn’t realize we shared the name until after I’d picked it. Notable instances include Rita Rose Vrataski from Edge of Tomorrow and also Amy Rose (a recent discovery). Last name, Gary King and also because I like confusing people about my gender by deliberately using a “male” title while presenting female (though hopefully not for much longer) and also being nonbinary. (Also s/o to ladies who call themselves king instead of queen. Yes I’m thinking of Kagamine Rin in the WanOpo songs Death Should Not Have Taken Thee and Our Adventure Log Has Vanished.)

Last time you cried?

two weeks ago to the day, when my dad let our dog Koko get hit by a car, things have been Extra Bad around here since then

Do you like your handwriting?

No. When I was little everyone always used to tell me how pretty it was but then I started trying to be a Serious Writer and my penmanship degraded as a result of how fast I had to get the words out of my head. Now my mom whines all the time about how messy and illegible my writing is.

What is your favorite lunch meat?

TURKEY

Longest relationship?

Umm....about two years ago for about three months-ish? I think? Maybe two months? I don’t know, we were dating for Christmas and then I broke up with him right before Valentine’s Day because my mental health couldn’t take it. I realized I was aro shortly after. Who would’ve guessed, huh?

Do you still have your tonsils?

Yep!

Do you bungee jump?

no and i never will

What is your favorite kind of cereal?

Dude this changes like monthly. Sometimes Honey Bunches of Oats. Sometimes Frosted Flakes. Sometimes I get a ridiculously strong craving for Strawberry Awake or Lucky Charms or Honey Nut Cheerios. I just get to eat cereal so infrequently that I can’t really have a favorite, I just have to indulge whatever craving I currently have because I only get the chance to eat one box every three months or so.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Yes because when I was little my mom ingrained into me that not untying my shoes first would ruin the backs of them way faster than they should. In all fairness we were poor and couldn’t afford to buy me new shoes that often because my feet are so sensitive that an actual comfortable pair costs $100.

Do you think you’re strong willed?

oh fuck no i mean have you ever spoken to me??? i’m the biggest baby pushover to ever live

Favorite ice cream?

Either that Death by Chocolate stuff they serve at Purdue’s dining courts sometimes or mint chocolate chip. It has to be green though or it loses something sdkhsdhk

What is the first thing you notice about a person?

Usually like their shirt, I guess? I don’t know, this isn’t something I’ve ever really thought about. Maybe it’s also if they have one of those annoying faces or voices. Or if they have a queer vibe. Look I’m not good with people ok.

Football or baseball?

Football but only because marching band and/or soccer

Favorite doughnut?

Okay this is going to sound weirdly specific but. Chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Also on a related note I once let a girl in high school copy my homework (that I myself had found the answers to on the internet, it was a really unfair English assignment). She was so happy that she said she’d buy me a donut for breakfast the next day (she made a donut run for herself once a week as a special treat). I gave her my oddly specific request, but since I knew it was kind of a rare donut to find I told her anything chocolate would work. The next day, lo and behold, she showed up with the perfect donut. She had them make it special for me (insert Discord’s pleading face emoji). That was the day I learned my lesson about judging “dumb blondes”.

What music are you listening to?

I’ve been back into Touhou doujin arrangements again lately, especially eurobeat. However I’m also hyperfixating on Sonic the Hedgehog again so the game soundtracks and the Crush 40 albums are starting to show up in my frequent rotation on Spotify.

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

The obvious choice is mint green but I could also very easily be a lime green or a glittery ruby slippers red.

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

I believe I talked to my grandma a little bit on my mom’s phone not that long ago? Other than that according to my phone it looks like I took a call from my dad back in April?

Hair color?

that real deep almost black brown. i nearly got into a fistfight with some boys in second grade who insisted my hair was black. it’s not black it’s just very thick. it actually looks much lighter if you just separate a smaller chunk and look at it.

Eye color?

Hazel. Brown with some green flecks. Or possibly green with some brown flecks. Also both of my irises look different up close but you can’t tell unless you’re really up in my face.

Favorite food to eat?

pasta but it can’t have red sauce

Scary movies or happy endings?

happy endings all the way

Last film you watched in the cinema?

do you really expect me to remember this. i honestly do not fucking know. i have no brain when it comes to movie theaters. i was gonna do a double feature of birds of prey and the sonic movie the tuesday before spring break (cheap prices for students!!!) but i ended up having a headache that day so i couldn’t go and then shit hit the fan and there was no theatergoing. i have tried and failed to get my parents to rent the sonic movie since. i’m very unhappy about it now that i’m hyperfixating again.

What color shirt are you wearing?

well i think it used to be white but it’s really old so now it’s like off-white. also it has a big snake on the back. i don’t even like snakes i just enjoy this shirt.

Favorite holiday?

Christmas!!! I don’t necessarily actually enjoy celebrating the holiday (thanks fam) but I love the idea behind it and the aesthetics. Also it’s peppermint season!

Beer or wine?

Listen I am super picky about alcohol. I haven’t liked any of the wine I’ve tried, but the first two wines I had other people told me it was bad (and then they took me out and bought me alcohol I would actually like because I’d never drank before and apparently getting me tipsy in Ireland over spring break was an Honor for them I literally didn’t pay for a single drink that night) and the third wine I had was paired with the wrong type of food (we couldn’t get the Right wine bottle open). I didn’t really mind the beer I tried in Ireland though, so I guess beer? I really like cider best though, and apparently I can also handle vodka.

Night owl or morning person?

night owl i wish i could be nocturnal

Favorite day of the week?

Friday. It has all the joy and anticipation of the coming weekend without the curse of my dad being home or the responsibility of homework looming over everything.

Favorite animal?

HEDGEHOG yeah i never really got past that from when i was little. but i also just love pretty much all animals. except like. snakes and spiders but sometimes snakes have their moments.

Do you have a pet?

Yeah. We have a lot of “family” pets but I consider Patches (cat) and Gabby (dog) to be Mine Specifically. If my mom hadn’t forced me out of therapy I’d probably be bringing Patches with me to college next year as an emotional support animal.

Where would you like to travel?

Europe babey. I just wanna hang out in France and England and Scotland and also go back to Ireland. I miss Ireland so much y’all.

ok that’s it. that’s all for this one. i’m not tagging anyone because i’m sure it’s already made the rounds among everyone. but if it missed you and you still wanna do it go for it. consider yourself tagged. poof.

[academicgangster]

2, 3, and 24 for the ask meme

2. have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who?

Robert Ludlum came pretty fucking close. @vegetarianvampireduck and I are in A Lot Of Sync, but there's still enough variation between us for things to be exciting.

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with.

Babe (but like platonically)! We're gonna be here all night. 😅 (I'm making this a random selection, and keeping it restricted to fandoms that have at least some fandom presence beyond me and, uh, the people I've yelled at to watch the thing, because otherwise you're just gonna hear about how I identify with nearly all the Tommy Lee Jones characters I've ever met.)

• The Fugitive: Sam 'I Don't Care, I Say Caringly, As I Care Deeply' Gerard

• Mission: Impossible: Ethan 'it hurts, I know, said to a villain who absolutely does not deserve to hear it' Matthew Hunt. (Also Jane 'I'm Fine, said while definitely not fucking fine goddamnit Jane' Carter)

• Men in Black: Agent Kay (who will keep all his emotions right here, and then one day he'll die)

• Oblivion: Jack 49, who clearly does not yet believe that he Did Not Deserve the pain he suffered at the hands of his intimate partner

(• And, though it doesn't count by my own criterion imposed up there, I need to mention it anyway - Blue Sky: Maj. Hank Marshall, for pretty much the same reason)

• Edge of Tomorrow: Sgt Rita Vrataski, a Fighty, Tired Introvert

• Top Gun: this is interesting because I sort of know, deeply, how both Mav and Ice tick, and though I seem a lot more like Ice, there are a lot of sad, miserable ways in which I also really get Mav.

• Jack Ryan & Related Fandoms: Baldwin's Ryan, who does Not Know Shit But Is So Damn Happy To Be Here Riding A Hunch Anyway.

• Star Trek: TOS: Jim Kirk, beautiful passionate nerd who convinced me I could have value while being a passionate nerd

• Marvel Cinematic Universe: Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff, who tried their best to figure out who they were while also keeping their friends together, and who got done dirty by the narrative in the end.

• Ocean's Eleven Trilogy: Rusty Ryan, who's good at his job and suffers in silence and takes a pointed sort of pleasure in dressing to indicate that he's Not One Of The Elite Class, Because The Elite Class Can Go Fuck Itself

• Collateral: fuck Vincent a Lot, but the thing is I also Get It and I only sometimes wish I Didn't

24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?

Nah. I kind of wish I had? But also that would be a little creepy? I'm iffy on this concept.

[azure7539arts]

Tentative

[A crossover with Edge of Tomorrow (2014)]

Pairing: Rita Vrataski/Eve Moneypenny

Rating: PG

Summary: Rita was an enigma in and of herself.

Genre: Hurt/comfort

Warnings: None

Collab prompt table fill: @castillon02​ requested “Eve/Rita, post-war.”

Notes: I don’t really how this one turned out, Cas. I hope you still like some of it!

-

She didn’t really smile—this was the first thing that Eve had learnt about Rita Vrataski.

Which was a shame because Rita was a beautiful woman, but then, Eve supposed that this was one of those luxuries that Rita just simply hadn’t been able to afford. Not when the title “The Angel of Verdun” was forged out of nothing but blood, fire, and tears, and possibly one too many sacrifices.

“You don’t talk a lot,” Eve said on one of those times they had gone out for a drink.

Rita peered at her from over the rim of her pint of beer then shrugged, the perfect picture of nonchalance.

“I don’t suppose I do,” she conceded easily, and that was that. For the time being, anyway.

Eve was fascinated by this woman, not only as an agent but also as a person. 

She was fascinated by the quiet storm in her blue eyes, the temper that she sequestered away even as it simmered just there beneath her skin, and the secrets that she definitely had hidden away behind the curves of her lips. 

The rebuilding of Europe was happening all around her, now that the mimics had been defeated and vanquished from the land, and all Eve could think about was what Rita would look and sound like had she laughed… even just for a little bit.

-

“Still no news of them?”

Eve didn’t start, even when Rita’s voice had come out of nowhere, having already seen a flicker of her shadow reflected in the screen before her.

She cleared her throat and shook her head. “No.”

Rita leant over from behind Eve’s chair, her intense eyes focusing on the information displayed on the monitor, and for a wild, instinctive moment, Eve had the urge to cover up everything… Up until the moment she recalled that Rita Vrataski, once the most decorated soldier of the United Defence Force, had enough clearance even for this. 

“007 going rogue to find MI6’s quartermaster,” she whispered under her breath, something shifting minutely in the undercurrent of her emotions, and Eve suddenly realized that she couldn’t quite tear her eyes away.

Eventually, Rita turned away, looking as though she had taken careful mental notes, and looked at Eve. “I’ll call some trusted people,” she said. “They’ll be discreet and won’t ask questions. If they know or see anything, they’ll let us know.”

Eve sucked in a quiet breath. Their information network had suffered a severe toll after the war, what with hundreds and thousands of people either dead or still missing, including their own quartermaster, and there hadn’t been much of anything that Eve could do… save for not giving up hopes.

(It was a weak and futile thing, hoping, considering that it was within the nature of people like her, people who had seen killings and had killed themselves, to be pessimistic.

But what else could she do when they had already lost so much? Not just of themselves, but of everyone around them as well.)

And so Eve swallowed and said, “Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem at all.” Rita smiled.

It was as beautiful as Eve had always imagined it to be, if not even more. And this time, Eve had couldn’t stop herself from trying to kiss her.

In another time, she would’ve called herself rash. And it really was rash, but... 

But they had been through an actual alien invasion, and with unknown, entirely possible probabilities of death hanging over their heads everywhere, Eve didn’t want to waste any more time.

No agents had been trained to waste an opportunity, after all.

[funkymbtifiction]

Edge of Tomorrow: Rita Vrataski [ISTP]

UNOFFICIAL TYPING BY: anonymous

Functional Order: Ti-Se-Ni-Fe

Introverted Thinking: Rita is first and foremost a logical being who proceeds according to what makes sense in the moment. She doesn’t feel jealous or cheated that Cage has the power she had, nor does she feel any grief over killing Cage, either to reset a loop, or even just to get a spare battery pack for her suit when she knows he’s dead weight. She knows what tools she has to work with and is constantly seeking the most efficient route to victory, while being totally merciless in her action. 

Extroverted Sensing: From fighting aliens, to using a piece of a helicopter blade as a sword, to relaxing by doing advanced yoga, Rita is clearly a woman of action. She demonstrates extreme understanding of her environment even when there’s no other option than death. She has a reckless streak, most notably when she starts a helicopter despite Cage’s warning that she’s guarenteed to die if she does so. Her armor also is notably colored red, distinguishing it from her comrades.

Introverted Intuition: Rita is able to quickly deduce that Cage has the power she had from just a few actions in the heat of battle. She is also able to figure out, using just the fact that he knows how she likes her coffee, that he has the keys to the abandoned helicopter and knows how to fly it. She also has farsight in her goals. Not only does she sacrifice Cage multiple times knowing he’ll reset, she’s willing to sacrifice herself for victory, even with no hope of resetting to life again.

Extroverted Feeling: Rita is very down to business, and she rarely shows emotion, aside from quick moments, such as when she punches a soldier for attempting to call her by her nickname, or when giving Cage a good luck kiss before sacrificing herself. She only opens up to Cage in one loop, where she makes it clear that Hendricks was important to her, and his death impacted her to the point that she refuses to get close to anyone again.

[sagarbiswas]

Edge of Tomorrow(Movie Review)

MAKAUT MANDATORY ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS(MAR)

NAME OF THE ACTIVITY: MOVIE'S REVIEW

NAME OF THE MOVIE: EDGE OF TOMORROW

"Edge of Tomorrow" is less of a time travel movie than an experience movie; that statement might not make sense now, but it probably will after you've seen it. Based on Hiroshi Sikurazaka's novel "All You Need is Kill", it's a true science fiction film, highly conceptual, set during the aftermath of an alien invasion. Maybe "extra-dimensional being invasion" is more accurate. The fierce, octopod-looking beasties known as Mimics are controlled hive-mind style by a creature that seems able to peer through time, or rupture it, or something. When the tale begins, we don't have exact answers about the enemy's powers (that's for our intrepid heroes to find out), but we have a solid hunch that it can see possible futures through the eyes of specific humans, then treat them as, essentially, video game characters, following their progress through the nasty "adventure" of the war, and making note of their tactical maneuvers, the better to ensure our collective extermination.

Tom Cruise, who seems to be spending his fifties saving humanity, plays Major William Cage, an Army public relations officer. Cage is a surprising choice for the role of hero. He's never seen combat yet inexplicably finds himself thrown into the middle of a ferocious battle that will decide the outcome of the war. The film begins with Cage en route to European command headquarters in London, waking up in the belly of a transport chopper. The rest of the movie may not be his dream per se, but at various points, it sure feels as though it is. The world is wracked by war. Millions have died. Whole cities have been reduced to ash heaps. The landscapes evoke color newsreel footage from World War II, and much of the combat seems lifted from that era as well. When Cage meets the general in charge of that part of the world's forces, he's told he's being sent right into this movie's version of D-Day and is to report for duty immediately. No amount of protest by Cage can halt this assignment, and soon after he joins his unit and learns the rudiments of wearing combat armor (this is one of those science fiction films in which soldiers wear clumping bionic suits festooned with machine guns and other weapons) he dies on the battlefield. Then he wakes up and starts all over. Then he dies again and starts over again. He always knows he's been here before, that he met this person, said that thing, did that thing, made a wrong choice, and died. Nobody else does, though. They're oblivious to the way in which Cage, like "Slaughterhouse-Five" hero Billy Pilgrim, has come unstuck in time. Cage's only allies are a scientist (Noah Taylor) who believes the creatures are beating humanity through their mastery of time, and Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), an Audie Murphy or Sgt. York type who's great for armed forces morale in addition to being an exceptionally gifted killer. Rita has experienced the same temporal dislocation that Cage is now experiencing, but at a certain point, it stopped. She recognizes his maddening condition but can no longer share in it. She can, however, offer guidance (and a key bit of information that defines his predicament), and speed up the learning curve by shooting him in the head whenever it becomes obvious that they're going down a wrong road that'll lead to the same fatal outcome.

Although the film's advertising would never dare suggest such a thing, for fear of driving off viewers who just want the bang bang-boom boom, Cage is a complex and demanding role for any actor. It is especially right for Cruise, in that Cage starts out as a Jerry Maguire-type who'll say or do anything to preserve his comfort, then learns through hard (lethal) experience how to be a good soldier and a good man. He changes as the story tells and retells and retells itself. By the end he's nearly unrecognizable from the man we met in the opening.Cruise is hugely appealing here, not just in the early scenes opposite Gleeson in which he's in Tony Curtis mode—he's always fantastic playing a smooth-talking manipulator who's sweating on the inside—but later, where he exhibits the sort of rock-solid super-competence and unforced decency that Randolph Scott brought to Budd Boetticher's westerns. He was always likable, sometimes perfect in the right role, but age has deepened him by bringing out his vulnerability. There's an existential terror in his eyes that's disturbing in a good way, and there are points in which "Edge of Tomorrow" seems to simultaneously be about what it's about while also being about the predicament of a real actor trying to stay relevant in a Hollywood universe that's addicted to computer generated monsters, robots and explosions. Cruise deserves some sort of acting award for the array of yelps and gasps he summons as he's killed by a Mimic or shot in the head by Blunt and then rebooted into another version of the story.The rest of the cast has less to do because this is Tom Cruise's movie through-and-through, but they're all given moments of humor, terror, or simple eccentricity. Taylor often gets cast as brilliant but haunted or ostracized geniuses, and he's effective in another of those roles here. Gleeson, as is so often the case, invests a rather stock character with such humanity that when the character's motivations and responses change, you get the sense that it's because the general is a good and smart man and not because he's just doing what the script needs him to do. Emily Blunt is unexpectedly convincing as a fearless and elegant super-soldier, and of course a magnificent camera subject as well. Director Doug Liman is so enamored with the introductory shot of her rising up off the floor of a combat training facility in a sort of downward-facing dog yoga pose that he repeats it many times. The film's only egregious flaw is its attempt to superimpose a love story onto Cruise and Blunt's relationship, which seems more comfortable as a "Let's express our adoration for each other by killing the enemy" kind of thing.