Bottom Line: Effective jolts await in this ultra-low-budget haunted-house tale, but audiences will need extraordinary patience.
Hoping to catch lightning in a bottle (or the ghost in the machine), Paramount Pictures has been treading carefully with its release of “Paranormal Activity,” a pickup from Slamdance 2008 whose ridiculously low budget of $15,000 and Read the full story

Tom Cruise
Age:
46
Role:
Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder
Character:
A desperate director named Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) trying to make a Vietnam war movie drops his pampered actors into the heart of the jungle.
Cockburn’s stars include Stiller as an action hero who’s starting to make bad career choices, Jack Black as an insecure low-brow comedy star going through heroin withdrawals, and Robert Downey Jr. as an Australian Oscar winner so lost in his “craft” he underwent a procedure to become black for his role.
In the jungle, they remain under the delusion that they are still being filmed even after they encounter a dangerous gang of druglords.
Previous Golden Globe Wins:
Tom Cruise has two previous Golden Globe wins: One Best Actor for Born on the Fourth of July, One Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Jerry Maguire
Previous Golden Globe Nominations
He also has three other nominations: One for Best Actor in a Comedy for Risky Business Two for Best Actor for The Last Samurai and A Few Good Men.
Awards for Role:
This is the first award nomination for the role.
Critics
‘But its better moments of self-referential snark, such as an ace cameo from Tom Cruise as an obnoxious studio exec, have the feel of a superior end-of-term revue.’ (Time Out)
‘Apparently actors are narcissistic and Hollywood is ruthless… Stiller doesn’t say anything we don’t know, but stand-out turns from Downey Jr and Cruise make Tropic Thunder very funny for all its flaws.’ (Total Film)
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

Director: David Fincher
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Jared Harris, Elias Koteas.
Synopsis:
‘I was born under unusual circumstances.’ And so begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, adapted from the 1920′s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: A man, like any of use, who is unable to stop time.
We follow his story set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as an man’s can be.
Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a grand tale if a not so ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the love he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
Critics:
‘A richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling.’ (Variety)
‘Superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date, the audience for this Paramount/Warner Bros. co-production is large. Strong boxoffice should ensue.’ (Hollywood Reporter)
‘At nearly three hours, it’s too long by a third…and that’s where the quibbles end. The film is rich and intelligent, beautifully shot and just as well acted. Not the year’s best movie, but among them.’ (Bangor Daily News)
Awards/Nominations:
The film has been nominated for eight Broadcast Film Critics awards, including Best Picture, and was nominated for four Satellite Awards.