The Last Star In Hollywood

Oct 17 2024 48 ep. 87 mins 21

The Last Star In Hollywood Podcast artwork

A weekly podcast exploring the films, influence and cultural iconicity of Tom Cruise.

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45: End Of Part One

Oct 17 2024 45 mins

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

44: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

Sep 18 2024 98 mins

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 Question

43: Top Gun: Maverick

Sep 13 2024 118 mins

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

42: Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Sep 05 2024 109 mins

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 ser

41: American Made

Aug 28 2024 60 mins

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 famil

40: The Mummy

Aug 16 2024 79 mins

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 readin

39: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Aug 08 2024 67 mins

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

38: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Jul 31 2024 83 mins

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

37: Edge Of Tomorrow

Jul 24 2024 99 mins

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 j

36: Oblivion

Jul 17 2024 73 mins

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