Hola, Snarkarinos! Guess what happens when Auntie Snarky has a lot of chores for the weekend and wants to procrastinate? Yep, that’s right - she watches movies. Here are a few movies that have come out on DVD lately, my reviews, and whether or not you should cough up the dough to buy ‘em. Ready? Okay:

Nobel Son

First of all, anything starring Alan Rickman is going to be good. Shoot, he could be in a “My Little Pony” flick and somehow pull it out of the gutter, know what I mean? “Nobel Son” is the story of Barkley Michaelson’s father receiving the Nobel Prize, Barkley is kidnapped and the requested ransom is the $2,000,000 in Nobel Prize money. When his father refuses to pay it starts a venomous tale of familial dysfunction, lust, betrayal and ultimately revenge. So, yeah, not a real light-hearted movie, but really good story. And did I mention Alan Rickman? Should I buy it?: Sure, why not?

Taken

“Taken” was difficult for me to watch because of the subject matter. The story is of a CIA man whose daughter is kidnapped by a terrorist organization, and he has to get her back by a certain time or they will kill her. Starring Liam Neeson. Should I buy it? Not one I would want to watch again, so maybe not.

Valkyrie

Yep, this is THAT movie from Tom Cruise, the one that got so much bad press, the one that took like forever to make because of little things like government objections, stuff like that. Anywho, it’s about the German Resistance’s attempted coup and assassination of Adolf Hitler, and guess who leads the gang that’s going to do this? Yep, Top Gun himself. Other than a truly horrible attempt to do a German accent by Tom, it’s not a bad movie; actually pretty entertaining. Then again, I’m a sucker for that million dollar smile. Should I buy it If you’re a Cruise fan, you’ll want this for your collection.

El Dorado and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

One word: John Wayne. That’s all you need to know. “El Dorado” is about a crusty gunfighter for hire who ends up helping a family in need, and “The Man who Shot Liberty Valance” is about a senator who killed a famous outlaw in his long ago past and finally tells a friend about it at a funeral. Should I buy these? John Wayne is the original Jack Bauer, only with a cowboy hat and chaps. It is your duty as an American to purchase and watch John Wayne movies. So, yes.

How about you? Have you seen these movies? Want to share? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Yesterday (Monday) was Memorial Day, and in Washington DC celebrities turned out for the 20th Anniversary of the National Memorial Day Concert. It’s actually a very moving event; I try to watch it every year (or catch it later on PBS!). Here’s some great pics of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes; Katie was part of the concert, giving a dramatic reading of the story of Iraq war veteran Jose Pequeno, hismother Nellie Bagley and sister Elizabeth. Here are the pics:

I know that Tom Cruise has had his moments in the last few years - including a side visit to Crazytown - but I like him regardless. And I bet that there’s a lot more out there that do, right? Here’s Tom with Katie Holmes out for a romantic dinner sans Suri:

image: Bauer-Griffin

Here are some great pics of the Tom Cruise family enjoying a family outing at the beach, which looks SO GOOD right now, since it’s 20 degrees where I’m at and I’m freezing my tushie off. Literally. Like if I get up, it’s going to fall off me. Which isn’t such a bad idea, quite honestly.

image: Bauer-Griffin

Here’s Tom Cruise looking dapper with a new haircut at the Rome premiere of “Valkyrie”. I just watched him yesterday in an oldie but goodie: “Far and Away”, LOVE that movie!

image: Bauer-Griffin

Gosh, hasn’t this movie already been out for a while? Hmm. Anyway, here’s Tom Cruise and wife Katie Holmes at the UK premiere of his latest project, “Valkyrie”. So far, it’s gotten some pretty dismal reviews, mostly of Tom’s performance, but the story itself is solid.

image: Bauer-Griffin

Tom Cruise, who is a longtime friend of both John Travolta and Kelly Preston, talked about the death of their son Jett this morning on “The View”, calling it “horrific”. You can see he’s trying to control himself as he speaks…..this whole thing is just the saddest tragedy imaginable. Watch:

Gosh, I didn’t realize that bell bottoms were back in style, but then again, I tend to hang out in my jammies all day (like right now). Katie Holmes likes the big ol’ jeans, as you can see in these pics of her and baby Suri, out for a movie in NYC.

katie holmes with suri

Image: Pacific Coast News

Nothing says Christmas like a feel-good movie about killing Nazis, am I right? Right? So this new movie from Tom Cruise, “Valkyrie”, is probably a win-win. Surprisingly, it’s getting horrible reviews, centered around the miscasting of Tom himself in a role that could have been better acted by, oh, pretty much anyone. Here’s an excerpt from just one review I read this morning:

Turns out Cruise is both the central figure in “Valkyrie” and its weakest link. He’s distractingly bad in this, the iconography of his celebrity so strongly overshadowing his performance. He’s just too powerfully contemporary. With his hard, flat American accent, he stands out in every single scene. And he’s not a good enough actor to immerse himself in this kind of period piece, or allow us to do the same.

- source

Ouch! Now, I actually like Tom Cruise, but he needs to stick with what he’s good at: action movies with simple plots in which we see a lot of things blow up. Complicated dialogue or subtle plots are just not his specialty.

Here’s Tom Cruise at the premiere of his new movie “Valkyrie”; basically, it’s about a bunch of Nazis who suddenly realize that Hitler might be nuts and decide he needs to be taken out. It looks pretty goofy to me, if you want to know the truth!

ELIOT PRESS/bauergriffinonline.com