I always suspected Tom Cruise was a Nazi ...

Well, this being a Hollywood movie, he's not really a Nazi of course, or at least not an evil one.

The picture below is just so crazyfunnycool that it really needs no introduction, but I'll set it up just in case anyone doesn't know what "Valkyrie" (or, as the IMDB is now referring to it, "Rubicon") is.

In the upcoming Bryan Singer flick (penned by Chris McQuarrie, huzzah!), Cruise will play Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, the German officer who lead an attempt to bring down the Nazi regime and end World War II by planting a bomb in Hitler's bunker.

Along with Mr. Cruise, all the rumored cast members have signed on, giving this one a simply stellar lineup. On board so far are Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Patrick Wilson, Stephen Fry, Tom Wilkinson and Carice van Houten (who, just because I believe in the principle of including at least one gratuitous picture of a beautiful woman with each post, is pictured at right.) Eddie Izzard is also somehow involved, but I can't imagine that's gonna be a terribly good thing.

But, enough of that. Here, courtesy of the great Rope of Silicon site, is Col. Tom in full regalia. Enjoy!


A new candidate for the best cast ever?

I've always had a soft spot for D.C. political potboilers for one simple reason: If you've ever lived or even visited there for any amount of time, you know that it really is a pretty sleepy place. Since it's almost just a big town, it always amazes that most of the most important things that happen in the world originate there.

Don't get me wrong. I love D.C. Of all the places I've lived, it remains my favorite, especially the Northeast neighborhood around Georgia Avenue, where the great George Pelecanos sets his crime novels. It's just a truly odd place.

Rod Lurie, who had mixed success with this genre with "The Contender," is getting back in the game with a juicy topic, the Valerie Plame case. "Nothing But the Truth" (my God is that a bad title!) will be about "a female newspaper reporter who outs a CIA agent and is imprisoned for refusing to reveal her source," according to Variety.

Well, assuming the reporter is based on Judith Miller, we now know she wasn't much of a heroic figure, but it could still make for a compelling flick, especially with this cast: Kate Beckinsale as the Miller journalist, Matt Dillon as the prosecutor, Vera Farmiga as the CIA agent, Edie Falco as the editor of the newspaper that published the story and Alan Alda as the attorney who tries to free the reporter from jail.

Assuming he doesn't shy away from it, Lurie, who also wrote the script, gets the chance to play a fun game of palace intrigue: Guessing just what went on in W's mind when he decided to pardon Scooter. Definitely keep your eyes on this one.

A slew of "Simpsons" pics

Any doubts I had that the "Simpsons" flick wouldn't just serve up a huge pile of funny were erased by the bombastic trailers I've seen so far. This is just gonna be goodness on a grand scale.

The great Comics Continuum site has posted a new series of pics from the flick. I've included one here, of course, but click on the link to see a whole load of them.

What did they do to deserve this?

For a country founded on the principle of religious freedom, America definitely does like to heap scorn on the assorted religious groups that call this usually great country home. Now, apparently, it's the Mormons' time to step up for their dose of abuse, and with Mitt Romney on the rise I don't expect it to stop any time soon.

An example is this truly bizarre trailer for the upcoming "September Dawn." As far as I can tell it's some kind of Mormon horror film that somehow stars both Jon Voight and Terrence Stamp. Now, I know next to nothing about Mormons except that they don't particularly care for R-rated movies, but I'm sure they deserve better than this. Remember, I'm just the messenger, and have an entirely bearable Thursday. Peace out.