SUBMITTED BY Timbo

December 3, 2003 — Tom Cruise led the parade of stars at the premiere of "The Last Samurai" in Los Angeles on Monday.

An army of Cruise-gawkers including Alyssa Milano, Anne Archer, Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., JAG's Catherine Bell, Evan Rachel Wood, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and, of course, David Hasselhoff, assembled for the Westwood screening.

The movie, which stars Cruise as a Civil War veteran who embraces the way of the samurai warrior in 19th-century Japan, opens Friday.

Heavy praise was lavished on Cruise, with no one cooing more than lady love Penelope Cruz. "I have learned so much from Tom," said Cruz, wearing black Ungaro. "Integrity. Respecting yourself. It's not a coincidence that he has been (on top) for so long and that people love him so much."

Dressed in a black turtleneck with a close-cropped haircut, Cruise arrived looking very much like hisMission Impossible character, Ethan Hunt, although MI:3, he says, won't shoot until he nails the script: "It's a Rubik's Cube we're banging our heads against the wall trying to crack."

Read the article at the link below.