#CruiseClub: The Tom Cruise Podcast Joey Lewandowski and Mike Manzi

Tom Cruise has returned to save movie theaters once again by delivering another perfect movie: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. We compare Dead Reckoning to other "part one" movies from this summer (especially Fast & Furious, over and over), talk about how the movie nails the blend of returning and new characters, and revel in the franchise's confidence to not overly rely on characters issuing quip after quip. We talk about the retcon that doesn't strain credulity, the movie balancing "fridging" (bad) with impactful deaths and emotional stakes (better), and the confidence in both its action scenes and its more dramatic scenes. We admire the practical effects and stunts on display. We look ahead to Dead Reckoning Part Two (which will save theaters once again) and the new actors in the fold. Joey issues an important apology/correction. 

For the first time in four years, Tom Cruise has felt the need... the need to make a new movie! He's back with Top Gun: Maverick, and we're here to cover it in full spoilery detail. We talk about Tom Cruise's triumphant return to movies in a role that seems to reflect back on his career and in a movie that seamlessly continues the story from 36 years ago. We talk about the new pilots in Top Gun: Maverick (like Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro, and Glen Powell) and wonder where Manny Jacinto was hiding. We praise the character development (and Lady Gaga's musical contributions!), explore the "lore" of the shirtless beach football scene, and admire the extent to which these actors traveled to fly these planes. We also share some slight Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness spoilers (from 34:15 to 34:55) and then look ahead to both Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning - Part One and Elvis (for our sister show #HANX for the Memories).
Update: We hope Lady Gaga becomes "two-time Academy Award winner Lady Gaga."

At long last, the time has come to (once again) don our tuxedos and roll out the red carpet. Welcome to The Cruisies: The Tom Cruise Awards! All podcast long, we’ve talked about our favorite (and least favorite) parts of Tom Cruise’s movies, and we announced our official selections for the best and worst of what Tom Cruise’s filmography has to offer and opened the voting to the public. Now, your votes have been tallied, our very special guest Juhi Khemani has verified the results, and it’s finally time to reveal our picks — as well as the fans’ selection — for each and every category. Live, from the internet, it’s The Cruisies: The Tom Cruise Awards!

Before we take a few weeks off to let the votes tally up for the Cruisies (The Tom Cruise Awards), we're working our way through one more episode, and we're ranking Tom Cruise's movies. As always, there's a weird alchemy here that doesn't quite make sense, as we combine the movie's "quality" with Cruise's performance, add a dash of how much we like him in the movie, and toss in some other hints and touches of things we can't quite articulate, and wind up with a comprehensive list of his films and roles in an order that only makes sense to us. 

We may have covered every movie that stars or features Tom Cruise, but there's a whole body of work that he's done that we haven't covered. Welcome to the Tom Cruise Clip Show! In this episode, we're working our way through a cameo appearances in movies and TV shows, as well as some stunt videos and late night appearances that surfaced on YouTube. 
Watch all of the clips we're talking about here!

We've watched and podcasted about all 42 movies that Tom Cruise has made so far. Each episode, we've talked about our favorite and least favorite moments, and we've ended each episode by nominating that movie for awards that showcase the very best (and very worst) that Tom Cruise's filmography has to offer. We've pared down our lists, and -- at long last -- the time has come to announce the official selections for the Cruisies: The Tom Cruise Awards. Sit back, relax, listen to all of the films, roles, moments, and actors nominated, then go to cageclub.me/bracket and cast your votes on who's taking home those sweet Cruisies awards! (Voting closes on Wednesday, July 15.)