The Last Star In Hollywood – Details, episodes & analysis

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 and Alanna Mitsopolis and the other dropped elements from Dead Reckoning?
• Is Ethan really changed by his confrontation with The Entity?

Further reading:

• How They Pulled Off Those Stunts In Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (GQ)
• Hannah Waddingham: ‘I’m ravenous for the fun of it all’ (The Times)
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

A huge and sincere thank you to all our listeners for coming on this journey with us! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

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 Hollywood: Production Schedule

A huge and sincere thank you to all our listeners for coming on this journey with us! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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 significance of Jack’s Secret Cabin?

Further reading:

• “What are the most common character names in movies?” (Stephen Follows)
• Tron: Legacy
• Tron 2.0
• Batman Forever Warner Bros. Logo
• Batman & Robin Warner Bros. Logo
• Dwayne Johnson Can’t Lose Fights
• Christina’s World (Andrew Wyeth)
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

Join us next week for Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day: Doug Liman’s Edge Of Tomorrow!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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:

• Sorkinisms 
• The West Wing (1999-2006) 
• Anyone But You (2023) 
• Ticket To Paradise (2022) 
• The 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards 
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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 manifest itself in the text?
• How indebted is the script to the original novel?

Further reading:

• Lee Child
• One Shot (2005)
• Gone Girl (2014)
• In The Heat Of The Night (1967)
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

Join us next week for the first of Cruise’s back-to-back high-concept sci-fi adventures, Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion.

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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 Spinal Tap (1984)
• Darling Buds Of May (1991)
• Julia Tries Everything (Delish)
• Burlesque (2010)
• Axl Rose
• Empire Records (1995)
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

Join us next week for the launch of a new franchise, a new hero, and the start of Tom Cruise’s most successful professional partnership: Christopher McQuarrie’s Jack Reacher!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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 first three movies?
• Does this film improve the franchise’s record with women, or not?
• Why is Tom Wilkinson uncredited?

Further reading:

• Disney’s Nine Old Men (Wikipedia)
• “Do The Bartman” (1991)
• The Iron Giant (1999)
• Tomorrowland (2015)
• Ayn Rand (Wikipedia)
• Objectivism
• Este Haim
• Playing With The Boys (Top Gun)
• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

Join us next week for tight pants, big hair and all bangers, no skips in Adam Shenkman’s 2012 jukebox musical Rock of Ages!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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?
• Could Knight And Day have launched a franchise?
• What would be a better title?

Further reading:

• Salt
• The Tourist
• James Mangold (Wikipedia)
• Gambit (1966)
• Gambit (2012)
• Inside Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard’s Brooklyn Home (Architectural Digest)
• Inside Vanessa Hudgens’s Enchanting L.A. Home (Architectural Digest)
• Imagine (Gal Gadot and friends)
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

Join us next week for a return to form — or at least a return to the well — for the M:I franchise: Brad Bird’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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, death

Unanswered Questions:

• Should Cruise have attempted a British accent to better fit with the rest of the cast?
• Are the changes to the documented history of the Valkyrie plot justified?
• Does Carice van Houten the best sexual chemistry with Cruise?

Further reading:

• Tom Cruise Wearing A Butt Pad Is Honestly My New Sexual Preference (BuzzFeed)
• Bryan Singer’s Accusers Speak Out (The Atlantic)
• Bryan Singer’s Traumatic ‘X-Men’ Set: The Movie “Created a Monster” (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Olivia Munn Says Bryan Singer Went Missing for a ‘Thyroid Issue’ While Shooting ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ (Variety)
• Disgraced Hollywood director Bryan Singer said living in Israel, planning comeback (The Times of Israel)
• Actress Roundtable: Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Corrin, Michelle Williams & More (YouTube)
• The German officer who tried to kill Hitler (BBC)
• Broadcast News (1987)
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

Join us next week for the very silly James Mangold action comedy Knight and Day (2010)!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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 controversial elements of the film have aged the worst? Which have aged the best?
• Is Stiller a convincing leading man?
• Should Robert Downey Jr. have been nominated for the Academy Award?

Further reading:

• Robin Hood: Men In Tights
• Empire Of The Sun
• The Frat Pack
• The 81st Academy Awards
• Maria Menounos
• The Last Star In Hollywood Definitive List Of Tom Cruise Films
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood and the Next Word network by visiting Patreon.com/NextWord!

Join us next time we return to very serious and worthy film-making with the World War II drama Valkyrie (2008)!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

Copyright © 2024 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.