The Last Samurai (Or, Why does Everything Make me Cry?)

OK, I frickin' loved The Last Samurai. I can't stand Tom Cruise, but I mean, c'mon most people wouldn't waste the piss to pee on Eminem, but lots of people think he's good at what he does. I'm not so sure that Cruise made the film, but I know that the film was moving and beautiful. It took a long time and the first fight scene was like in the middle or some shit, but that first fight was fantastic. And, what's really awesome about a film like this is that it had both fight scenes and battle scenes. Well, one. The final battle scene is powerful. I so want to find out how much of it was based on a true story (I'd heard that it was) and where I can find some primary sources. The film depicts Cruise's character as keeping a journal. I would love to look at some of those pages. It would be cool to see his initial dabbling into Japanes Kanji. I'm sure license was taken in that Cruise's character was depicted as this sort of undisciplined loose cannon that found the discipline of the Japanese Samurai culture to be awe-inspiring. This would be the Man vs. Self part of the story. OK, well, anyway, good film. I highly recommend it, but maybe you can steal it or something, so that no money goes to that douche Tom Cruise.