The Last Star In Hollywood

Next Word

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

  1. 44: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

    09/19/2024

    44: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

    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. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

    1h 38m
  2. 43: Top Gun: Maverick

    09/13/2024

    43: Top Gun: Maverick

    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. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

    1h 58m

Ratings & Reviews

3.9
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

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