Box Office Improbable: III

So, who is going to see MI:III this weekend? Who, despite all the positive writeups, will obstain for Little Boy Cruise reasons?

I'm going--probably early this afternoon. For me the positives outweigh the negatives:

• J.J. Abrams - Writer/Director
  Can you say Alias (well, prior to season 4) and Lost? Of course, I've been excited about a previous director involved with MI -- and most of us know how that turned out. Still, Abrams rocks. This is a positive.
   
  
• Keri Russel - Actress (Lindsey)
  Another hot, intelligent girl with guns. Rumor has it that she does really well in this role, keeping pace with the high octane stunts. Of course, most of the feedback is from fan-boys that have had no life since Felicity went off the air... Still, Keri provides a big positive.
   
  
• Tom Cruise - Actor (Ethan Hunt)
  When did Cruise become today's Brando? I'm not talking about his erratic, egotistical, eccentric behavior, although that's a factor too. The boy hasn't had a real hit in years, but somehow runs around with a hammer in Hollywood. Diane Sawyer, in the online webcast of the Cruise interview, even says that he is “quite possible the top box office star in the world.” Now lets add in his behavior. At least that doesn't seem to affect his interaction with others on-set--Brando was prone to all kinds of crap: from showing up erratically and doing his own thing for his role in Apocalypse Now, to barring a director from the set of one of his films. Everyone that works for (er, with) Tom reports that he is very professional and a joy to work with. Still, I can't get his smirky look from the Sawyer interview out of my mind... This one's a negative.
   
  
• Philip Seymour Hoffman - Actor (Owen Davian)
  Once I got past Capote as MI3's villain, I embraced Philip in this role. The man is an enigma and I'm looking forward to his performance here. It's a positive.
   
  
• Simon Pegg - Actor (Benji Dunn)
  Yep, Shaun of the Dead. This boy's a goin' places--just look at his bio on IMDB. Even though he only has a supporting role, this is a positive.
   
   
  
• Ving Rhames - Actor (Luther Strickell)
• Laurence Fishburne - Actor (John Brassel)
• Michelle Monaghan - Actress (Julia)
  All positive.

So, I'm going this afternoon. Report shortly thereafter. You?