Valkyrie: From my perspective

The movie opens with Stauffenberg (Cruise) penning in a journal his thoughts about World War II, and how he feels Hitler's destroying Germany.

Personally, it works that the opening dialogue's a voiceover of Tom Cruise speaking in German and to see his writings flow smoothly in German, I can't help but wonder how much practice did it take to (finally) write eloquently? Were there any missed vowels, diphthongs or consonants? I seriously and knowingly doubt so but somehow, it would be something to ponder on - especially when you're one who has no idea what's being written in the first place! (read:ME)..Moving along, I'd say the opening from German to English allows the viewers to recognise that the characters are German and that's a point to keep in mind throughout the whole film.

There were reviews that Tom Cruise shouldn't be playing this role due to his obvious American accent, as well as it devalues the authenticity of a historical production to have him in a Nazi war uniform ---- Errmm...I can't understand what's all the fuss about the accent. It's simply irrelevant. The accent shouldn't be detracting from the film at all. It's the history that you should be interested in, not on how he or any of them speak. To me, so long as the speech's clear and makes sense, then there's no reason to be making a big hoohaa out of it.

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At the end of all this, true enough Adolf Hitler was, without doubt, an influential individual of the 20th century. Was he evil? Well, that depends greatly on the people but I'm not sure if "evil" is the word for him. Mentally ill maybe. The way he went about killing millions of innocent lives, he seemed to me as someone with "extreme" views and power hungry over other things. To me, Operation Valkyrie seemed to be all about saving Germany and its people and with that, Stauffenberg has revealed himself as a noble German and a hero.

Because the movie's still on screen, I don't want to be spoiling the details or elaborate further for those who haven't seen it. As what I had mentioned once, "Valkyrie I'd say has shown a truth-based story that simply deserves to be repeated. True enough it's interesting on the expectation of an action-thriller wartime movie..it touched me on how much the conspirators had sacrifced in order to try and change their nation for the better. I teared on the last part, obviously."

Smile for a Reason, For a Season, For a Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason. They've come to assist you through difficulty, guidance and support. But most of the times, they're there for the reason you need them to be. And in whatever ways it may be, they never fail to add in smiles to your life.

And here I shall smile - in good times, bad times, all times. It's not easy but nobody said it's impossible, even if it's from a distance.