Eyes wide shut (released in 1999) - A drama movie, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, this drama is adapted from the 1926 novella Traumnovelle (Dream Story), which was written by Arthur Schnitzler. This was Kubrick's last movie and is an intense film starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
Bill and Alice Hartford are an up-market couple who seem to have a perfect marriage. Bill is a successful doctor and is invited to his superior's mansion for a party. Here the couple successfully resist attempts to seduce them and reach home. Back at home, Alice casually mentions her urges for having an affair, especially when she has a passionate glance from a handsome sailor. This sends Bill in to fits of jealousy and he storms out in to the night. A late night phone call from a patient helps him to meet Marion, the daughter of the patient, who implores him to take her as his own wife. Bill with his head full of demons aimlessly walks in the street and bumps in to an acquaintance Nick at the Jazz Club. Here he cleverly wiggles out information about a party in Long Island Mansion which has a select invitee list. He also gets Nick to reveal the password for entry. After acquiring the venetian mask and costume Bill reaches the mansion for the party.
At the party Bill observes bizarre orgies being conducted on the participants. The women are made to stand in the circle and are disrobed by the master of ceremonies wearing a red mask. Each women then move forward and randomly choose the men. Bill is chosen by a model who warns him to get out of the place as he was in danger. Bill does not pay heed to her and wanders around the place where orgies are taking place in all the rooms. He is soon caught and unmasked. The man in the red mask warns him against talking about the orgies to anyone and throws him out in to the night.



Bill reaches home to Alice, who again tearfully tells him about her nightmares about having sex with other men while he is watching. A distraught Bill sets out next morning to check out the events of the night. He soon finds a sinister plot to keep him away from the truth. He finds Nick beaten up and kidnapped and the model he helped to revive in Ziegler's place murdered. He reaches Ziegler to get some answers and is warned again for his life. Ziegler tells him that the orgies involved powerful men of the society and unmasking them would invite their wrath. He also informs him that the dead model was the girl who warned him at the party.
Bill reaches home tired and frightened only to find Alice sleeping with the mask. He breaks down and tells her about his journey. Both make love and reconcile to give their relationship another chance.
Eyes wide Shut was also Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's last movie together. This movie opened to mixed reviews. Some critics found the dream like movie very alluring and many others find it one of Kubrick's lesser efforts. The box office reaction was unremarkable and many parts of America gave it an R rating. Controversies about using Bhagavat Gita Shlokas in Orgy scenes also dogged the DVD versions.
A typical art house cinema, it is strictly for film institute students who can appreciate the nuances of a Kubrick movie which gives forth the dream like state.

The Color of Money (1986) - Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise

The Hustler was a film released in 1961, starring Paul Newman in the role of the pool hustler Edward "Fast Eddie" Felson. Then in 1984, a novel was published with the title of 'The Color of Money', based on the same character, and with the story of the continuation of the life of Felson. After a period of 20 years, he is back into the pool world; and like many such sequels, the only continuation of the story is in terms of the same character, without needing to watch the previous movie. The novel was written by author Walter Tevis; and he was hired to write a screenplay for a movie based on the novel; and then the screenplay was not used at all. Instead the movie finally used a new screenplay (written by Richard Price); and if you have seen the movie 'The Baltimore Bullet', you will find many sub-plots to be similar (The Baltimore Bullet was a pool comedy released in 1980). The Color of Money is an interesting title, and seems very logical if you consider that a dollar note is based on a green background, and so is the color of the cloth used to cover a pool table. The movie was directed by Martin Scorsese and also starred, besides Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver and John Turturro.



Scorsese also appears in 2 cameo instances in the movie, once while walking a dog, and playing pool in the other instance. The movie also included many real life top pool players from the 1980's with them having small roles. The movie is not only about pool, since pool is only the instrument, it is actually about human behavior and what drives people, and if you were to compare the pool shots with the earlier, "The Hustler", you would find the quality of pool shots to be much better in the previous movie.
Newman is no longer in the game, but at heart, remains connected to the game. He is now a liquor salesman; but then comes across a brash cocky young kid, Vincent (Tom Cruise), and decides to take him on the circuit, teaching him how to hustle money, which makes for interesting viewing, since you have 2 people with egos against each other and having to work with each other. And you have seen what happens after this in numerous movies, where the protege moves away the mentor (with his own brash confident manner combined with the influence of the girlfriend) and then they have a show-down with the game (you see this in the Rocky movie where Rocky promotes a kid who moves away from him and they have a final street fight); and then he learns that Vincent really did learn the full contours of making money, including when to fold and when to win.

The Last Samurai (2003) - starring Tom Cruise

The Last Samurai is set during tumultuous times in both the United States and Japan. The movie is set during the 1870's, a decade after the American Civil War, a time when the United States fought an intense internal war between the forces of the Union and the Confederates. Similarly, there were dramatic changes going on in Japanese society at that time. The 'samurai' (warrior class) that were a major elements in Japanese society were losing their position and influence, and a proper military was starting to form. This was the time of the Meiji Restoration of 1867-1868 (wikipedia).
The story of the movie is about an old warrior, named Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who is a veteran of the Indian wars (where the United States Army fought the Native Indian tribes), and who is traumatized by his role in a massacre of Native Indians. He is wandering around pretty aimlessly, making a living by recounting his adventures in gun shows, something that earns him a living, but does nothing to enliven his life.



However, he is a perpetual drunk, and is finally fired from his job; now he has pretty much no options other than to accept an offer to train the Imperial Japanese army (part of the growing western influences in Japan post the Meiji Restoration). This offer is made to him by his former commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn). Algren pretty much blames Bagley for his transgressions during the war, and has no love lost for him. This offer from Bagley is made on behalf of a Japanese businessman who has stakes in the restoration, called Mr. Omura (Masato Harada).
Algren goes about this task, training peasants and farmers in how to handle rifles as part of this training. However, in their first conflict, they come into battle with a group of rebel samurai warriors, led by Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe); the army is unequal to the battle and gets defeated by the samurai. One of Algren's colleagues is killed in this attack, and Algren himself fights valiantly, defeating and killing the brother-in-law of the samurai leader. In this fight, he uses a spear with a flag of a white tiger, and Katsumoto believes that to be an omen, and spares Algren's life and takes him prisoner.
Algren is now prisoner at a remote village, living in the house of Hirotaro, whom he had killed. In this village, Algren finally starts to become more at peace him himself, and also starts to really learn the art of wielding the samurai sword as well as learn the Japanese language. In a fight with ninja assassins who had attacked the village, Algren fights along with the samurai, and manages to give a good account of himself even though the samurai take several losses.
With spring, Algren is now back in Tokyo, but now refuses to support Omura in his battle with the samurai, and at the same time, Katsumoto is arrested even after offering advice to the emperor. Algren manages to help Katsumoto regain his freedom, even though in this effort, Katsumoto's son, Nobutada (Shin Koyamada) is killed. After regaining his freedom, Katsumoto learns that a better equipped army unit is going to attack a much smaller samurai force, and it is there that Algren recalls the Battle of Thermopylae, where a much smaller force used better technology and the advantage of terrain to defeat a much larger army.
This comes true as the samurai are able to lead the larger army into a trap, however, soon the samurai realize that the army will get backup units, and another such battle will mean defeat. They resolve to make an attack of their own. However, they face canon fire, something that proves murderous, and then a second unit of infantry. In a battle, Algren kills Bagley when Bagley attacks Katsumoto; but then the second line of Gatling guns hit the samurai as they advance. The Japanese army, then ceases fire in respect of the samurai. Katsumoto ends his life.
In the end, as the emperor prepares to sign a deal with American ambassadors that would make the US as the exclusive dealers for firearms, Algren presents Katsumoto's sword to the emperor; the emperor understands the message and refuses to sign the deal, and also reduces Omura's powers and influence when he objects. Algren returns for the peace he finally found to the small Japanese village.

Track listing:
"A Way of Life"– 8:03
"Spectres in the Fog"– 4:07
"Taken"– 3:36
"A Hard Teacher"– 5:44
"To Know My Enemy"– 4:48
"Idyll's End"– 6:40
"Safe Passage"– 4:56
"Ronin"– 1:53
"Red Warrior"– 3:56
"The Way of the Sword"– 7:59
"A Small Measure of Peace"– 7:59