The Last Star In Hollywood

This week, Ethan Hunt returns for the eighth (and probably ultimate?) time in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning ! Does the movie recover from its broken first act? Is this really going to be the last mission? Does this feel like The Most Expensive Movie Ever Made? Unanswered Questions: How do we understand Luther's arc in this film, and in the series as a whole? Whatever happened to Marie...

This week, we wrap up the first part of The Last Star In Hollywood, and look ahead to what’s next for Tom Cruise. What’s the definitive Cruise performance? Which unmade sequel would we like to see? What are the chances of Cruise taking home an Academy Award within the next five years? Further reading: The Secret Video The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films The Last Star In...

This week, Ethan Hunt returns for the seventh (and penultimate?) time in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning ! Did the production delays harm the final film? Are we warming up to something great in part eight, or all we falling apart before the finish line? Do we really need to motivate Ethan with another dead woman — or worse, two dead women? Unanswered Questions: Is there any way to reconcile t...

This week, we feel the need for speed all over again with Joseph Kosinski’s much-delayed, hugely successful Top Gun: Maverick ! Is Pete Mitchell the same guy, so many years later? How does the film respond to the legacy of the original? Is Kosinski maybe too good at his job? Unanswered Questions: Is Top Gun about patriotism? Militarism? Commercialism? All or none of the above? How does the marketi...

This week, Christopher McQuarrie returns to M:I with the biggest, splashiest, most ankle-breaking adventure so far. Is this who Ethan Hunt has been all along? Has Paris ever looked better? How do Henry Cavill’s arms even work? Unanswered Questions: In what way is Ethan Hunt is a scalpel? Does the disillusioned spy still have power as an archetype within this series? Why was the remote-control car...

This week, a rare Tom Cruise character-actor performance in Doug Liman’s stylish satire American Made . Is this the Gen-X Forrest Gump ? Who expected a Liman/Cruise movie to be this different from Edge of Tomorrow ? Unanswered Questions: Is there value in so comprehensively fictionalizing a true story? Does American Made work for audiences which aren’t familiar with the Reagan-era war on drugs? Ho...

This week, we venture into the Dark Universe — but not for long — in Alex Kurtzman’s 2017 reboot The Mummy . Is it broken at a conceptual level? How much do we miss Brendan Fraser? Does Elizabeth come up with the best ever Trailer Game joke? Unanswered Questions: Is the Dark Universe, narratively, a coherent shared universe? Is there a feminist reading of Ancient Egypt presented in this film? Does...

This week, Jack’s back in Edward Zwick’s 2016 franchise-killer Jack Reacher: Never Go Back . Is this a feature-length TV pilot in disguise? Can we feel the absence of Christopher McQuarrie? What’s the best time to go make a snack? Unanswered Questions: Does Reacher work as a hero when he’s integrated with his community? What is the metaphorical significance of The Hunter? Does the Reacherverse pro...

This week, Ethan Hunt returns for a fifth time, this time (mostly) written and (completely) directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Is Ilsa Faust an all-time Hall of Fame female lead? What is a Mission: Impossible solution for a Mission: Impossible problem? Is “green-screened briefing scene” the best phrase in the English language? Unanswered Questions: What does the political reframing of the nature o...

This week, the second in Cruise’s high-concept sci-fi double-header: Doug Liman’s Edge Of Tomorrow ! Are time-loop stories still a fun idea? Is Cruise at his best when he’s playing a con man? Are the Olympics the unexpected cradle of optimism for the modern world? Unanswered Questions: Let’s talk about the kiss! Is it justified emotionally? Is it justified for the audience? Is it defensible simply...

This week, twists and turns in Joseph Kosinski’s 2013 high-concept sci-fi adventure Oblivion ! How many twists is too many twists? Is Vica a cute nickname? Is this film completely overshadowed by Edge of Tomorrow , or jut mostly overshadowed? Unanswered Questions: Is Andrea Riseborough good is this movie? Is there a way to make the movie work while keeping all the twists? What’s the thematic signi...

To mark American Independence Day, and because Elizabeth is away in LA making movie magic, we’re unlocking our Patreon bonus episode on Rob Reiner’s 1995 political rom-com The American President ! Unanswered Questions: What is Sorkin’s deal with women? Is there a place for idealism and privacy in modern American politics? What’s the future for the Hollywood romantic comedy? Further reading: Sorkin...

This week, Tom Cruise explores the road not taken with Christopher McQuarrie’s 2012 action-thriller Jack Reacher . Is Cruise a bad match for Lee Child’s drifter hero? How can a car chase be so boring? What’s harder: walking, or talking? Unanswered Questions: What is the political or philosophical connection between Reacher and the Zek? How does Lee Child’s British perspective on Americanism manife...

This week, Tom Cruise rawks in Adam Shankman’s 2011 adaptation of the jukebox musical Rock of Ages . Does this movie have anything to say? Is Cruise the secret sauce? What’s the opposite of a flex? Unanswered Questions: Would this movie be better is Stacee Jaxx were the protagonist? Is there a theme to be found? What’s the best song on the soundtrack? Further reading: Mamma Mia! (2008) This Is Spi...

This week, Ethan Hunt returns to save both the world and Tom Cruise’s career in Brad Bird’s 2011 spy thriller, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Is this a high point for the franchise? Did Josh Holloway deserve better? Is every action sequence better when it’s scored with a Dean Martin track? Content warning: gun violence, peril , heights Unanswered Questions: Does this Ethan make sense of the...

This week, Cruise and Cameron are reunited in a chaotic, excessive, and surprisingly fun action-comedy, James Mangold’s Knight And Day . How many writers is too many? Is this an example of perfect casting? Can real-life beauty compensate for 2010-quality CGI? Content warning: gun violence, peril, drugs, sexual assault Unanswered Questions: Is there an edit which can make more sense of this film? C...

This week, a rare late-period swing at legitimacy by Cruise in Bryan Singer’s World War II drama Valkyrie . Did Cruise’s personal reputation doom this movie before it hit theatres? Does the film succeed despite Singer, or because of him? Who is the best British character actor out of the dozen or more in this ensemble? Content warning: sexual assault, sexual assault of a minor, violence, suicide,...

This week, let’s be controversial with Ben Stiller’s 2008 action-movie satire, Tropic Thunder ! How do we talk about comedy? Is friction inherently interesting? Who can stick the landing on double-reverse satire? Content warning: discussions of racism, ableism, antisemitism, hate speech, drug use, gun violence, military violence, gore, misogyny, profanity Unanswered Questions: Which of the controv...

This week, let’s get angry – but not in the way the movie wants – with Robert Redford’s 2007 political drama Lions For Lambs ! Does Redford have a directorial style? Is there depth and nuance to the arguments made in the film? Is Andrew Garfield cuter than Michael Peña? Content warning: gun violence, military violence, death Unanswered Questions: Does the movie have anything to say about hypocrisy...

This week, Ethan Hunt returns with more guns in JJ Abrams’ 2006 action sequel Mission: Impossible 3 ! What is the Rabbit’s Foot? Why add extra team members if you’re going to do nothing with them? Does Philip Seymour Hoffman deliver an actually perfect performance? Content warning: violence, imprisonment Unanswered Questions: Is Abrams a good fit for this series? Can we read the militarism of this...

This week, Cruise is a bad dad in Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds (2005)! Is too much structure a bad thing? Does this film contain the worst character in Cruise’s entire filmography? What is the title convention for the Lilo & Stitch sequels? Content warning: violence, gore, child endangerment Unanswered Questions: Does Ray arc as a protagonist? How is this film in conversation with 9/11...

This week, Cruise plays the villain in Michael Mann’s 2004 thriller Collateral . Has Jamie Foxx ever been better? Is Los Angeles a cinematic city? Does the film have anything to say? Content warning: violence Unanswered Questions: Does Vincent’s character work? Is it authentic within the movie? What happens to Max and Annie after the film is over? Is the twist with Ray worth the investment of time...

This week, Cruise shoots for Oscar recognition in Edward Zwick’s 2003 historical drama The Last Samurai . Is this an overlooked classic? How does it stand with the other historical epics of the 2000s? Has anyone ever been better than Ken Watanabe? Content warning: violence, suicide , racism Unanswered Questions: Is this a white savior story? Who is — or are — the last Samurai? Should the movie be...

This week, a glimpse of the future with Steven Spielberg’s 2002 sci-fi thriller Minority Report . What are the big ideas? When did Cruise start running? Where can we buy one of those holographic computers? Content warning: violence, suicide, body horror, surgery, gore, drugs, dystopia Unanswered Questions: Is there anything to the deification of the pre-cogs? What actually happened to Sean? How do...

This week, it was all a dream — or was it? — in Cameron Crowe’s 2001 movie Vanilla Sky . Do Cruise and Cruz have chemistry? Does four times mean something? Is anything really anything? Content warning: sexual assault, sexual violence, misogyny, nudity, drug use, car crash, physical trauma Unanswered Questions: So… what really happened? Is the film’s ultimate lesson to embody ourselves in pop cultu...