Valkyrie

Valkyrie

Who's in it: Tom Cruise, David Bamber

What's it about: The war against the Allied forces is starting to take a toll on Germany. Colonel Stauffenberg(Cruise) lose his right hand, two finger on his left hand, and his left eye. Battered and bruised, he joins a band of men who are plotting against the life of Adolf Hitler(Bamber). Stauffenberg has changed Operation Valkyrie to help the group take over Berlin and get rid of the SS army. A bomb is set off in the presence of Hitler in an attempt to kill him. With everyone thinking the dictator had been blown to bits, Operation Valkyrie is put into effect. However, Hitler is very much alive and the plan starts to go south after this is revealed and proven true.

What I Think: I love movies about WW2, the Holocaust, or Hitler. I know that might sound weird, but it amazes me how quickly a population can follow such a wicked man and believe his every word. Cruise did a wonderful job as the confindent Stauffenberg. I think that they could've found someone who looked more like Hitler but Bamber did an amazing performance with the personality of Hitler. The action in the story was really great. I was just watching with amazement. The plan that Stauffenberg had and the way that all of it fell into place was just great. Loved the action filled scenes.

The Reader

The Reader

Who's in it: David Kross, Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes

What's it about: As a boy, Michael Berg(Kross) met Hanna Schmitz(Winslet) and they had a love affair together. He would read to her what he was studying in school. One day, when Michael went to her house, Hanna was gone. As it does, life moved on, but he never forgot about his romance with Hanna. During his years in law school, he went to a trial where 6 female guards from Auschwitz. Sure enough Hanna was in there. Every memory of her is brought back in the few days of the trial. Michael knows the truth behind Hanna but the court doesn't see it. Years later, Michael(Fiennes) sstill thinks of Hanna but doesn't know if she thinks of him.

What I Think: This was originally a novel by Bernhard Schlink. This was possibly the best movie I've seen all year! Winslet is one of my favourite actresses and she did not cease to amaze me. At first the story kind of disgusted me, but then I took a liking to it. The innocence of Kross' character was so wodnerful. I loved Kross by the way! He did such an amazing job at acting like a child and then like a young man. The transition was wonderful. He still had his innocent look, but his emotions and the way only the audience knew he was feeling was so mature. The ending was surprising to me, but I guess that it had to be done.