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.

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?
• Should the structure of the movie be more emphatic, or less?
• Is the film’s treatment of race conscious and satirical, or not?

Further reading:

• Pete’s Dragon (2016)
• Barefoot In The Park
• The Dish
• The Piano
• Isaac And Ishmael (The West Wing)
• 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 as we cross every possible line in Les Grossman’s satirical action movie Tropic Thunder (2008)!

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 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 movie as a response to the Bourne series?
• How do we read the treatment of women throughout the film, specifically in terms of the combination of physical empowerment and innocence?

Further reading:

• Angus McPhail
• MacGuffin
• Super 8 (2011)
• The 99p Challenge
• Man Up (2015)
• “Life And Death” (Michael Giacchino)
• “Impossible” (Kanye West)
• Casino Royale (2006)
• “Not While I’m Around” (The Morning Show)
• 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 as we resurrect United Artists and seek Academy validation with Robert Redford’s Lions For Lambs (2007)!

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 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 the IMF in this movie and the preceding installments in the franchise?
• In what ways is Dead Reckoning compromised by the pandemic, and compromised by being the first half of a two-part story?
• How does Grace rank alongside the strong women we saw in Fallout?

Further reading:

• The Bechdel Test
• Women In Refrigerators (Gail Simone)
• Christopher McQuarrie Breaks Down the Making of ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ and Why AI is the Villain in Exclusive Q&A (Collider)
• 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!

Join us in two weeks for a wrap-up show, and come on back in May of 2025 for Mission: Impossible – Shenanigans Ensue!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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 and the War on Terror?
• Does the compressed production schedule hurt the clarity of the film’s plot?

Further reading:

• H.G. Wells
• IF (2024)
• It’s Complicated (2009)
• 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 as we go back to the well with JJ Abrams’ Mission: Impossible 3!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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?

Further reading:

• Red Table Talk
• Pat Kingsley Finally Talks: Tom Cruise, Scientology and What She’s Doing Now (Hollywood Reporter)
• Music in an empty mall
• 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 for the end of the world as we know it in Steven Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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 longer?

Further reading:

• Gladiator (2000)
• The Sakoku Period
• Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019)
• The Line Of Action
• 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 for Michael Mann’s hitman drama, Collateral!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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 we meaningfully resolve the free-will paradox?

Further reading:

• Grey’s Anatomy
• The Haunting
• The Basics of Film Camera Lenses Explained
• 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 for Edward Zwick’s 2003 period drama, The Last Samurai!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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 culture ephemera, or to reject those things for something more human and authentic?
• Is there anything to be gained if we believe Crowe’s suggestion that the events of the movie are the events Brian’s book?

Further reading:

• Nicole Kidman Post-Divorce
• Abre Los Ojos (1997)
• Sleeping With Other People (2015)
• Vanilla Sky Secrets
• 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 as the biggest movie star and the biggest director join forces for Steven Spielberg’s 2002 sci-fi thriller, Minority Report.

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

This week, we get as close as we can to killing a franchise with John Woo’s 2000 action drama Mission: Impossible 2! Who is this Ethan Hunt? Does the movie love Nyah like we do, or not? Why did Dougray Scott never quite make it?

Content warning: violence, gun violence, objectification of women, misogyny

Unanswered Questions:

• Is John Woo’s style a bad match for Hollywood, or just for this film?
• How does Nyah compare to Claire from the first Mission: Impossible movie?
• Is there a narrative explanation for the change in both Ethan and Luther?

Further reading:

• Hard Target (1993)
• Face/Off (1997)
• List of James Bond movies
• 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 as we celebrate Cuise and Cruz in Cameron Crow’s 2001 Vanilla Sky!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

This week, we realize that everything is connected in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Is this the best cast that Cruise has ever worked with? How does redemption clash with guilt in our understanding of this film’s metaphysics? Is Magnolia a work of genius?

Content warning: nudity, suicide, violence, emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children, drugs, alcohol, blood and gore, dead animals

Unanswered Questions:

• How does the film engage and alienate the audience?
• What, if anything, are we supposed to take from the return of Jim’s gun?
• Is this the best performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman?

Further reading:

• Seduce & Destroy Infomercial
• Aimee Mann
• 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 as we make it through the roughest spot in Cruise’s biggest franchise: John Woo’s 2000 spy thriller Mission: Impossible 2!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

This week, we dream our way through Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut. How much of this film is real? What does real even mean? Is anything here supposed to be sexy?

Content warning: nudity, graphic sex, sex work, drugs, nonconsensual sex, violence against women

Unanswered Questions:

• Was Mandy one woman or two?
• To what extent is Ziegler telling the truth?
• Is Kubrick condemning conservative sexuality, or celebrating it? Both? Neither?
• Does the film responsible in its reference to HIV?

Further reading:

• Room 237 (2012)
• Mulholland Drive (2001)
• Kubrick: The Definitive Edition
• The Mysterious Eye
• 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 as we stay in our auteur phase with Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 drama Magnolia!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

This week, Cameron Crowe’s 1996 romantic comedy Jerry Maguire had us at hello! Has Cruise ever been more charming? Is Crowe’s dialogue good, or is there just a lot of it? What does a movie need a structure for anyway?

Content warning: brief discussion of sexual violence

Unanswered Questions:

• Who were the athletes and commentators who we either didn’t notice or neglected to mention?
• How does Dorothy compare to other mid-’90s rom-com heroines?
• How does the film articulate that actions matter more than words?

Further reading:

• James L. Brooks
• The 69th Academy Awards
• Jerry Maguire: Music From The Motion Picture
• 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 as we explore the world of super-secret high-society sex in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut.

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

This week, we disavow any knowledge of Brian de Palma’s 1996 spy thriller Mission: Impossible. How does 1996 reimagine the 1960s’ spycraft of the original TV series? How does a labyrinthine plot collapse into three big actions sequences? Is this the Tom Cruise franchise we were waiting for?

Content warning: violence, drugs, betrayal

Unanswered Questions:

• Does this film function as a response to GoldenEye? If so, in what ways?
• What are the politics of the IMF, of individual heroism, and of American treason in a pre-9/11 world?
• What is the function of a blockbuster franchise at this point in Cruise’s career?

Further reading:

• The 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs of All Time (Rolling Stone)
• Carrie (1976)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
• Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
• Weak (Skunk Anansie)
• TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse)
• 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 as we show you the money in Cameron’s Crowe’s 1996 rom-com Jerry Maguire!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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 marketing and production material mythologize the making of the film?
• Is there anything thematic happing in Maverick’s technological regression from the fictional DarkStar to the Boeing F/A-18E to the Grumman F-14?

Further reading:

• Playboy (January, 1990)
• Budweiser, PBR, Coop F5 Grapefruit, Voodoo Ranger IPA
• F1 Official Trailer
• Regal 4DX
• “‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Cinematographer Pushed Camera Technology Limits to Put Audiences in Pilot’s Seat” (Variety)
• Tenet
• “3 Rounds with the Cast of ‘Top Gun: Maverick'” (Entertainment Weekly)
• “Garth Marenghi – Writing“
• 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 as we close out Tom Cruise’s filmography — for now — with Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

This week, we slip into gothic melodrama with Neil Jordan’s 1994 movie Interview With The Vampire. Is it a good adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1976 novel? How does it change the ways vampires are treated in the popular culture? Has Kirsten Dunst ever been better than this?

Content warning: violence, violence against animals, violence against children, blood and gore, nudity, fire and burning, slavery

Unanswered Questions:

• What happened to Lestat after Louis and Claudia leave New Orleans?
• What do the theatrical vampires in Paris get from the public performance of violence?
• Does the film anticipate the audience response with Malloy’s desire to be turned by Louis?

Further reading:

• Meet Joe Black
• Claire Forlani
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl
• Paddington star Sally Hawkins says she won’t appear in next film (The Independent)
• The 67th Academy 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!

Join us next time for the beginning of Cruise’s biggest franchise: Brian de Palma’s 1996 spy thriller Mission: Impossible!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we finally get the full, authentic Tom Cruise Run in Sydney Pollack’s 1993 movie The Firm. Are we all encumbered by hospitality? Did John Grisham ever write about a ghost? What’s up with Nordic assassins in the ’90s?

Content warning: sexual assault, reference to sex work, gun violence

Unanswered Questions:

• Is Mitch McDeere typical of 1990s heroes?
• How does the film distinguish between what is moral, what is legal, and what is necessary?
• Does Avery know that Mitch is on to him?

Further reading:

• The 66th Academy Awards
• The Firm (2012)
• The Memphis Pyramid
• The X-Files

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 as we take a swing into gothic excess with Neil Jordan’s 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we prove that we can handle the truth in Rob Reiner’s 1992 movie A Few Good Men. Who is victorious over the Aaron Sorkin dialogue? What does the film have to say about the American military machine? Whatever happened to Noah Wyle?

Content warning: violence, murder, homophobic language, misogynistic language, cult activity, human trafficking, child abuse, domestic abuse, kidnapping, Scientology

Unanswered Questions:

• Is Daniel Kaffee a hero?
• How does the film feel about the Marine Corps? Does it see Jessup as a bad apple, or the product of a flawed system? Do we see Sorkin’s conservative belief in the system, in America, in action in this story?
• Is Jo Galloway a typical Sorkin heroine?
• Is Daniel Kaffee… spunky?

Further reading:

• Rooney Mara in The Social Network
• L. Ron Hubbard
• Jack Parsons
• David Miscavige
• The Flag Building
• Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me (Ron Miscavige)
• Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology (Leah Remini)
• Guantanamo Bay
• “Allow myself to introduce… myself.”
• “Not While I’m Around” (From Sweeney Todd) (From The Morning Show)
• Hogwarts Legacy

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 as we continue our run of courtroom dramas with Sydney Pollack’s adaptation of John Grisham’s The Firm!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, the movie that’s often considered the first flop of Cruise’s career: Ron Howard’s Far and Away! Is the movie — or are the accents — as bad as we thought? How can a movie work at the highest and lowest levels, but kind of miss the middle? How do we make our peace with the big political choice that Howard makes?

Content warning: indigenous erasure, colonialism, physical violence, sex work, harm to animals

Unanswered Questions:

• Was it the right decision to avoid the issue of native populations entirely?
• Can we understand the Christie storyline as being that of an Englishman coming under the romantic spell of America?
• Given the Irish immigrant story and the talk of destiny, why is there so little religion in this film?

Further reading:

• Native Land Digital
• Joy Harjo
• Copper Yearnings (Kimberly Blaeser)
• Ron Howard Interview (The Guardian)
• Far and Away Review (Roger Ebert)
• Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America (Leslie Zemeckis)

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 as we finally find out if Tom Cruise can handle the truth in Rob Reiner’s 1992 drama A Few Good Men!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, it’s Top Gun on the ground as Tony Scott returns with 1990’s Days of Thunder. Is this film as bad as its reputation? What happened to kill the era of the producer-led blockbuster? How does it feel to go back to the well?

Content warning: injury, trauma, sex work, sexual assault

Unanswered Questions:

• Was there a version of this film — one of the many drafts, perhaps — that would have connected with audiences?
• Are the comparisons to Top Gun justified?
• How do we judge Nicole Kidman’s first American blockbuster in the context of the rest of her career?

Further reading:

• How Days of Thunder Changed Hollywood (Slate)
• Fast Cars, Fast Women, Slow Producers: Days Of Plunder (Spy)
• Nicole Kidman for AMC
• Saturdays of Thunder (The Simpsons)
• 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 as we begin the new year with Ron Howard’s sprawling romantic epic, Far and Away!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, things get grim with Oliver Stone’s 1989 anti-war biopic Born on the Fourth of July. Is Stone on the side of the angels? How does political criticism work in a film about a real person’s life? Has Willem Dafoe ever been less enjoyable?

Content warning: graphic violence, medical trauma, militarism, disability, sex work and sex workers, religious iconography and language, riots and civil disobedience

Unanswered Questions:

• Do Oliver Stone’s personal politics help or hinder the narrative of the film?
• Is it acceptable to fabricate real-life events in the service of a political point?
• How do we feel about the treatment of race in this film?

Further reading:

• Born of the Fourth of July
• The Sad Decline of Oliver Stone
• Meryl Streep and Martin Scorsese on Woman’s Language
• 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 as we begin the 1990s with a return to Scott, Bruckheimer and Simpson — and introduce Nicole Kidman — with Days of Thunder!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we’re taking a swing at Oscar credibility with Barry Levinson’s 1988 movie Rain Man. Does the film treat its subject matter well? How badly has it aged? Can Cruise hold his own opposite a heavy-hitter like Hoffman?

Content warning: insensitive language related to Autism Spectrum Disorder, brief mentions of sex work

Unanswered Questions:

• How has the depiction of ASD changed in the thirty-five years since Rain Man? To what degree can we credit Rain Man with that change?
• How effective is Hoffman’s method approach to playing Raymond?
• Does the somewhat unfocused, shaggy-dog middle of the film improve the overall effect, or detract from its emotional impact?

Further reading:

• Hollywood Autism: the good, the bad, and the downright insulting (Outtake)
• Rain Man made autistic people visible. But it also entrenched a myth (Guardian)
• Remembering ‘Rain Man’: The $350 Million Movie That Hollywood Wouldn’t Touch Today (Grantland)
• 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 as we close out the ’80s and discuss Oliver Stone’s 1989 anti-war biopic Born on the Fourth of July.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we need a stiff drink after Roger Donaldson’s 1988 movie Cocktail. How does a film get such a terrible reputation? Is there anything more ’80s than a protagonist who really, really wants to start a franchise? What did The Beach Boys do to deserve “Kokomo”?

Content warning: excess consumption of alcohol, suicide

Unanswered Questions:

• Would the film have been improved by keeping the darker elements present in earlier drafts of the script?
• Are the tensions between theory and practice irresolvable?
• Who should we credit with the relatively strong, well-rounded female characters in this film?

Further reading:

• Cocktail: A Novel (Internet Archive)
• Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide: How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks
• Flair Bartending: A Brief History
• Vieux Carre
• Corpse Reviver #2
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we watch the most successful Cruise movie of all time — according to the Academy, at least — Barry Levinson’s 1988 drama Rain Man.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we invent the legacyquel with Martin Scorsese’s 1986 movie The Color Of Money. How does Tom Cruise match up against the legendary Paul Newman? Does Scorsese’s technical excellence leave space for narrative and theme? Is Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio the smartest female lead we’ve seen so far?

Content warning: physical assault

Unanswered Questions:

• Is there a secret hustle happening through the course of the film?
• Is the allegation that Martin Scorsese has little to say about or to women a valid criticism of this film, or of his work in general?
• What do we make of Eddie’s arc? Does it effectively mirror the way that Vincent changes?

Further reading:

• The Hustler (1961)
• The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)
• The Man Who Fell To Earth (2022)
• Title Design: The Making of Movie Titles
• “Vince” Shirt
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we see Cruise’s movie-star persona turned to eleven in Roger Donaldson’s 1988 romantic comedy Cocktail.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

For this month’s Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, our listeners voted for an all-time favorite: Dirty Dancing! We spent almost two hours discussing the development, production and story of this all-time classic film, including its soundtrack. To hear the whole episode, visit Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

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 introduced?

Further reading:

• The Crown
• James Bond’s BMW 750iL
• “The Real Reason Behind Henry Cavill’s Infamous, $3 Million Justice League Mustache”
• The Witcher
• 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 as we once again feel the need for speed: Joseph Kosinski’s 2022 COVID-delayed mega-sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

This week, we could tell you all about Tony Scott’s 1986 military rollercoaster Top Gun, but then we’d have to kill you. Is this film nothing more than a macho fantasy? Is there a queer subtext — or text? Where is the danger zone, and who built this highway?

Content Warnings: militaristic violence, death of a loved one

Unanswered Questions:

• Does Maverick really change in the course of the film, or does the narrative confirm that he right all along?
• What are the queer dimensions to the film? What do we make of the exaggerated performance of masculinity?
• Is Charlie’s independence sufficient? What happens to her after the film?

Further reading:

• Roger Ebert on Days of Thunder
• Top Guns by Ehud Yonay
• Nothing On Earth Comes Close (Tony Scott, Saab)
• Flying High With Top Gun (American Cinematographer)
• Rewrite Man: The Life and Career of Screenwriter Warren Skaaren by Alison Macor
• Top Gun script draft by Chip Proser
• Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we get back to some old-fashioned Hollywood prestige – and the film that gets Paul Newman his Academy Award for Best Actor after being nominated for six previous movies – with Martin Scorsese’s 1986 film The Color Of Money. 

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we reach the first milestone in the filmography of Tom Cruise with Ridley Scott’s 1985 fairy tale Legend. How did this film make Elizabeth who she is? Do we prefer the music of Tangerine Dream or Jerry Goldsmith? How long would it take Tim Curry to seduce us to the dark side?

Content Warnings: sexual coercion, violence against animals

Unanswered Questions:

• Is there a way in which Lily is responsible for the “death” of the unicorn, and the taking of the horn?
• What are we to understand about the difference between the mortal world and the faerie realm?
• Who — or what — is Jack?

Further reading:

• Ridley Scott’s Napoleon Complex (The New Yorker)
• Napoleon Trailer (YouTube)
• Lisa Frank
• Rocky Horror Show Opens In London (Guardian)
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we feel the need for speed in Tony Scott’s 1986 propagandistic military fantasy — and the film that makes Cruise an undisputed movie star — Top Gun.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we have clear eyes, full hearts and we can’t lose as we discuss Michael Chapman’s 1983 football drama All The Right Moves. Is this quiet film of small-town desperation maybe too quiet? Is football the perfect metaphor for American life? Was Craig T. Nelson born to be a coach?

Content Warnings: sexual assault, racist language

Unanswered Questions:

• Stef is a fairly inactive protagonist. What are the right moves, and how many of them does he make?
• Is Lisa’s unresolved story careless screenwriting, or an intentional commentary on the hopelessness of young women in these circumstances?
• Does the film work as well if Stef and Lisa don’t have sex on the night of the last game of the season?

Further reading:

• Films About American Football
• Films About Animals Playing Sports (Wikipedia)
• Doc Hollywood
• Lea Thompson on Dancing With The Stars
• How Guys Vs. Girls Take Off Their Shirts
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we discuss the first film in which Tom Cruise doesn’t play a high-schooler: Ridley Scott’s 1985 fairy tale Legend.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, Tom Cruise becomes a star in Paul Brickman’s tale of capitalist ennui and sock-slides, Risky Business. Is it all a dream? What happened to the original cut of the ending? Has Alastair already peaked at the trailer game?

Content Warnings: misogyny, sexually explicit language, sex work

Unanswered Questions:

• Was it all a dream? But… was it?
• How does the film work as a teen empowerment fantasy?
• How much of Cruise’s on-screen persona is already evident? Which elements are still missing?

Further reading:

• Our bonus discussion of the director’s cut of the ending
• At 20, Risky Is Still Frisky (Variety)
• Moonlighting (Hulu)
• The House Of Gentle Men: A Novel
• Page 3 (Wikipedia)
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we study the last Tom Cruise movie of 1983, Michael Chapman’s All The Right Moves!

“Boogie Party” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced
by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we head south of the border with Curtis Hanson’s 1983 sex comedy Losin’ It. What makes Tom Cruise so gee-shucks wholesome? Is a ’57 Chevy Bel Air the best-looking American car? Does this film know what it’s doing?

Content Warnings: racism, misogyny, sexually explicit language, discussion of non-consensual sex, sex work, violence

Unanswered Questions:

• How do we feel about the resolution for Kathy and her husband?
• Are Woody, Spider and Dave all in the same film? If not, which do we prefer?
• Does Kathy understand how to drink tequila, or is she faking it? How do we read her character as the quote-unquote “sophisticated older woman”?

Further reading:

• Siskel & Ebert: Teen Sex Comedies
• LA Confidential
• All The Pretty Horses
• Y Tu Mamá También
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we study the first real hit of Cruise’s career, Paul Brickman’s 1983 comedy Risky Business!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced
by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we discuss an American classic: Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film The Outsiders. How does the film compare against Tom Cruise’s other literary adaptations? Why does this film feel so comfortably old-fashioned? What does it mean to stay gold?

Content Warnings: gun violence, domestic violence, violence against children, death of children

Unanswered Questions:

• Is there, in theory, a better cut of the film than The Complete Novel?
• What is the influence of S.E. Hinton over the original text, and over the film?
• What is Dallas’ story, and is it a tragic arc?
• Do we believe that things will change for Ponyboy Curtis?

Further reading:

• The version of the book from which Elizabeth removed the cover
• The Outsiders filming locations in Tulsa, OK
• The Circle Cinema
• Distance. Trailer
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we head down Mexico way with Curtis Hanson’s 1983 film Losin’ It.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced
by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we discuss Tom Cruise’s first take on masculinity and militarism in Harold Becker’s 1981 film Taps. Are we sympathetic to the wrong execution of the right idea? How has our relationship to the military changed in the last forty years? Is “General Harlan Beche” the best name in the popular culture?

Content Warnings: gun violence, violence against children, death of children, homophobic language

Unanswered Questions:

• What are the Sean Penn performances that might change our minds?
• Is Roger Ebert right about this film being more of a fantasy story?
• Is there a narrative value to doubling-up on inciting incidents? Do we need the school to be under threat and for General Beche to be arrested?
• Most importantly, can we support Brian Moreland’s actions?

Further reading:

• Roger Ebert’s review of Taps
• WGA Screen Credits Manual
• Valley Forge Military Academy and College
• Bunker Hill Military Academy
• J. R. R. Tolkien’s Letter 71
• The Bechdel-Wallace Test
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time as we play fast and loose with the timeline and discuss Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 movie, The Outsiders.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced
by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we discuss the melodramatic (and controversial) excesses of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1981 film Endless Love. What has changed in our depiction of teen sexuality? How badly can a director misunderstand his source material? What kind of impression can Tom Cruise make in forty-five seconds?

Spoiler for the last one: it’s a lot.

Content Warnings: sexual exploitation and abuse of a child; insensitive treatment of mental illness; sexual assault; incest themes

Unanswered Questions:

• What are the biggest movies to misunderstand the novels from which they were adapted?
• Is the a negotiated reading, per Hall, which lets us connect Zeffirelli’s vision with that of Spencer?
• The song “Endless Love” was nominated for an Academy Award, alongside “For Your Eyes Only” from the 12th James Bond film, “The First Time It Happens” from The Great Muppet Caper and “One More Hour” from Ragtime. The winner was “Arthur’s Theme” from Arthur. Did it deserve to win?

Further reading:

• Long Island Mansion Where 1981’s ‘Endless Love’ Was Shot on the Market for $1.7M (Realtor.com, 2017)
• Spoiler Alert by Scott Spencer (The Paris Review)
• Romeo and Juliet Was a Tragedy. In 1968, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were the world’s most famous teens. In 2023, they sued Paramount for abuse. (Vulture)
• Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (Hulu)
• Suddenly Susan (Wikipedia)
• 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 on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time for a discussion of Harold Becker’s 1981 movie, Taps.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced
by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome to The Last Star In Hollywood! In this introductory episode, we set out our plans for the podcast, discuss what makes a star, and ask the tough questions: Has Hollywood outgrown the need for stars? What is the least Downey performance that we’ve seen Downey do? Is Tom Hanks hot?

Alastair’s impromptu, informal criteria for stardom:

• Profitability – how much money has the actor made, and how consistent are those profits?
• Longevity – how long has has the actor been acting, and how consistent has their career been?
• Exclusivity – to what degree is the actor primarily or exclusively a leading actor in feature films?
• Iconicity – to what degree is the actor’s off-screen persona recognizable in or compatible with their on-screen performances?

Unanswered Questions:

• Are there any other current movie stars who fulfill the criteria?
• Are there any other criteria we might apply?
• Are movie stars good or bad for the industry? Are they good or bad for our shared cultural landscape?

Further reading:

• Tom Cruise (TheNumbers.com)
• Top 100 Stars In Leading Roles (TheNumbers.com)
• The Last Star In Hollywood: Production Schedule

For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Join us next time for a discussion of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1981 movie, Endless Love.

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?
• How does the Tom Cruise movie-star persona help (or hinder) the satirical intent of this film?

Further reading:

• Mena, Arkansas
• Barry Seal
• “The Awful Accident That Happened While Filming Tom Cruise’s ‘American Made’” (Collider)
• Hooked On Classics
• “National Anthem” (Lana Del Rey)
• Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)
• McGruff The Crime Dog
• 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 as we bring the M:I franchise to new heights with Vanessa Kirby and Henry Cavill: Mission: Impossible – Fallout!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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 Tom Cruise unbalance the film, or does he save it from being an even greater disaster?

Further reading:

• The Mummy! A Tale Of The Twenty-Second Century (Jane Webb)
• The Mummy (1932)
• Universal Monsters
• The Mummy, Or Ramses The Damned (Anne Rice)
• The Mummy (1999)
• The Mummy Returns (2001)
• Atomic Blonde (2017)
• Drunk History
• Drinking Buddies (2013)
• Mythic Quest
• Minx
• The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
• The Mummy IMAX Trailer
• 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 as we round out Cruise’s penultimate, experimental trilogy with Doug Liman’s 2017 action-comedy American Made!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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 properly interrogate the responsibility of the military to civilian society, and vice-versa?

Further reading:

• Numb3rs
• Slap Bet
• “‘Hidden Figures’ Star Aldis Hodge, Painter Harmonia Rosales to Debut Collab Works at L.A. Art Show”
• Alan Ritchson
• 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 as Universal loses $100m on a bet on monsters: Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy.

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 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 of international espionage mean for our understanding of this franchise?
• Is Solomon Lane a convincing antagonist? Is the Syndicate?
• What is the nature of American exceptionalism in the world of M:I?

Further reading:

• Bridget Jones says “Chechnya” (YouTube)
• Wayne’s World Product Placement (YouTube)
• 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 as Cruise ignores his own advice as goes back to Jack Reacher in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back!

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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

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 because people should kiss more in movies?
• Is there anything to be made of the connections to World War II? Does the concealed, ambush-heavy environmental warfare of the mimics evoke more modern conflicts?
• If the movie were smarter, would it be worse?

Further reading:

• All You Need Is Kill
• Doug Liman hopes his wild loop means a hit with ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ (LA Times)
• Emily Blunt Says Living With a Stutter Is Like Having an ‘Imposter’ in Your Body ‘Who Doesn’t Pay Rent’ (Variety)
• Twisters
• Starship Troopers
• The Danger Room
• The Louvre Pyramid
• Paris mayor swims in Seine as river is cleaned up just in time for Olympics (The Guardian)
• Kevin Piette
• 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 return of Ethan Hunt and Christopher McQuarrie’s first directorial effort in Cruise’s biggest franchise: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

The Last Star In Hollywood is a Next Word production.

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