Thanks for mentioning that Tom Cruise bit, liftrocks; of all the roles in fims I can actually stand to watch Tom Cruise in, near 100% are of him, sub-24 years of age. After that, he never really progressed to "wow" me anymore.
And while this has now morphed into a discussion of acting merits and film criticism, (which is fine, as that's the eventual way most starting topics on actors go) I still don't see how bad the
Matrix sequels were. As much press as I'm now being enlightened to as them being
horrible, I never saw them that way. It was enjoyable to see the plot unravel, but I still wouldn't call watching them, at the time, a "total waste".
Best to remember the good times (and as a note, I watched for the first time
Point Break yesterday; it's a wonder it took me so long to watch this film... it even has a cameo by Tom Sizemore in it, which is always a bonus).