The Last Samurai (2003)

The Last Samurai (2003)

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly

This is actually a really good movie. I mean, it’s exactly the same as Dances With Wolves, but that was a good movie, too. Also like Dances With Wolves, this is easily the best performance of Tom Cruise’s career. I never really thought about it before, but he and Kevin Costner actually do have quite a bit of similarities in their acting styles (bad).

A drunken Civil War captain is brought to Japan to train the Emperor’s soldiers in the workings of the new rifles they just bought from America. He gets captured by the rebels who are opposing the Emperor and he slowly gets acclimatized to their way of life and the ways of the samurai. When he returns to the Emperor, he’s gained a new lease on life, and no longer wants to be a part of oppressing these people’s rich heritage for the sake of Americanization.

Yeah, exactly Dances With Wolves, only with Japanese guys instead of Native Americans. Which is actually a pretty interesting comparison. I’m not going to get into it here, I don’t want to get all rambley and philosophical and shit, but this movie definitely left me thinking afterward, which I think is a great thing for a film to do. Plus you get to see dudes chopping each others’ heads off with swords. Can’t go wrong with that.

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Josh Gad

For being a quirky/depressing romantic comedy with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, I was surprised that there were points in this movie where I didn’t completely want to kill myself. Very, very surprised.

Gyllenhaal is a man-slut who works as a salesman for a pharmaceutical company who meets Hathaway, a drug-addled early-onset Parkinson’s patient. Against all odds, their relationship that starts out as only being for sex turns into true love and they live happily ever after. That sort of thing would NEVER happen in a movie! Also, there’s some anecdotal stuff about viagra coming out, which has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

Yeah, this a really dumb romantic comedy with a really depressing second plot point, but there are some moments that are genuinely sweet, and if that’s not your sorta thing, the first half of this movie is just chock-full with sweaty, naked Anne Hathaway (and Jake Gyllenhaal, if that’s your bag). So it’s not terrible, but I sure as hell wouldn’t watch it twice.