Oh Brother
Real brothers, Reel Talk: Dan & Mike Smith cover film, TV, & artist interviews 🍿📺🎤
My brother Mike and I launched the “Oh Brother” podcast in 2020. The show’s primary objective is to share our enthusiasm for film and cinema in an informative and entertaining way. We also enjoy interviewing artists with diverse backgrounds in film and television who work both in front of and behind the scenes.
We invite you to join us each week and follow the podcast so you never miss an episode. We’d love to hear from you, so email us or text us some fan mail to share your feedback on the show!
Oh Brother
Risky Business: Why Tom Cruise Should Have an Oscar
What if one of Hollywood's biggest stars has never received the recognition he truly deserves? In this episode, we journey through Tom Cruise's remarkable career, starting with his humble beginnings and early struggles, including his battles with dyslexia and turbulent family life. We promise an in-depth look at his rise to stardom, his breakthrough roles in "Endless Love" and "Taps," and the pivotal moments that defined his path in the film industry. From tales of perseverance to his impressive filmography, this conversation unveils the man behind the movies.
During our discussion, we fondly remember our own home video parody of "Rain Man," a testament to our lifelong admiration for Cruise's work. We'll explore his collaborations with Hollywood legends like Scorsese and Spielberg, his ability to bring complex characters to life, and how films like "Top Gun," "The Color of Money," and "Rain Man" left an indelible mark on cinema. Our chat also takes a candid look at Cruise's public controversies, his unwavering dedication to film, and the high-stakes moments that shaped his career, including his intense commitment to the "Mission: Impossible" series.
Join us as we tackle the more controversial aspects of Tom Cruise's life, such as his outspoken views on mental health and his association with Scientology. We also discuss his highly publicized relationships and the infamous incidents with Matt Lauer and Oprah. Through all the highs and lows, we celebrate Cruise's enduring legacy, culminating in his recent triumph with "Top Gun: Maverick." This episode is a heartfelt tribute to a Hollywood icon and an invitation for you to share your thoughts on why Tom Cruise truly deserves an Oscar.
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Welcome to the oh Brother podcast. I'm your host, Dan Smith. Alongside me, as always, my brother from the same mother, Mike Smith. How's it going, Dan? Good man, we're back. We're going to do so. This is kind of a concept piece that we've done in the past and it's changed shape. Yeah, a little bit, A little bit. We did an episode on why you should love the Godfather 3, very controversial episode that we did. Right.
Speaker 2:And the Godfather coda did not listen to us.
Speaker 1:They did not. No, they clearly missed the episode. And then we did another episode of why you Should Love Solo, a Star Wars story, another very controversial episode, right, and we haven't really done anything in that vein since then. And then this kind of this idea popped up is very topical, timely and we'll get into all that. But I'm calling this I think I have the perfect title for the episode which is risky business why Tom Cruise should have an Oscar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1:Right business. Why tom?
Speaker 2:cruise should have an oscar. Yeah, that's good. Right, and that was the original thought was let's focus on the movies he was nominated for and he didn't get. But we're going broader than that a little broader than that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're gonna again. Uh, tom born thomas cruise mapather, the fourth, fourth, yes, the fourth. Born July 3rd 1962. Not July 4th, born on the 4th of July, which is one of his films we'll talk about.
Speaker 2:And I guess the reason he doesn't use that name. I guess his dad was a real jerk, yeah, and bullied the kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there doesn't seem to what you can find about that. It doesn't seem like that was a good relationship at all and I know that you know. If you you read into it a little bit, you know his, his mom took them and left.
Speaker 2:Yeah, uh, at some point when they were pretty young sisters, correct? Yeah?
Speaker 1:and so he's born in syracuse, spends a little time there, but then very quickly ends up in canada for quite a bit of time and that's really where I think he first gets into drama school. Right, he said he's going to. What did he go to? It was like 14 high schools in 15 years or something crazy like that, moving around a lot you know what he was going to be, what his focus was?
Speaker 2:yeah, the seminary he was going to be a priest.
Speaker 1:He aspired to the priesthood, yeah I would have thought that I thought about that at one point too. Believe it or not, you know we had a heavy influence in the household and, yeah, not to mention, you know, our neighbors growing up. That was a lot of pressure and he's a bishop now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's got a little higher I always said to mom you know I'd be a priest, but I like girls too much, sorry yeah, was that your excuse, that was my excuse so about sixth grade, he comes back to the us and then he graduates from high school in new jersey. Uh and uh, he was going to also take a shot at playing sports.
Speaker 1:He was a linebacker football, believe it or not I didn't know that with his yeah and uh got an injury, so that's also part of the story, but you know ends up. You know, like I said, getting into some uh theater and you know drama through school. It doesn't take very long for this guy to land. You know a couple of fairly big roles, not the first certainly. I don't know if anybody would know the first movie he was in you, of course I'm sure know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Endless Love.
Speaker 1:Do you have that on?
Speaker 2:4K. No, no, I don't own that one. It's amazing, having gone to so many high schools, because it takes a lot of confidence and I know this firsthand. When I was in junior high, I had a teacher saying Mike, you need to act, you need to go to the theater, blah, blah, blah. I was just too nervous, I was too scared and then when I finally got the confidence, I was too old.
Speaker 1:So for him.
Speaker 2:That's remarkable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And he's also struggling with dyslexia Right, which he says he claims that Scientology has fixed that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he's also struggling with dyslexia Right, which he says he claims that Scientology has fixed that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he is quoted as saying such yeah, guy's made nearly 50 films.
Speaker 2:Hasn't directed a feature film yet. Right Hasn't directed a feature film yet.
Speaker 1:That's odd. He's been nominated three times for Best Actor and then once for best picture, which of course was top gun, maverick, and we'll get into that as we as we go along. But you know, I think I I first came to know him or was aware of him when taps came out in 81, and I don't know that you were familiar with it until more recently uh, no, I knew it back then, but not sure I saw it front to end in a while because I was on the road at that time.
Speaker 1:I was touring right, it resonated with me. I was very young at the time, but it resonated with me and had an unbelievable cast at the time. Yep, and we talked about it on the, on the podcast before, but you know sean penn and ron and Ronnie Cox. George C Scott is in the damn thing Right right, and Cruise had a pretty standout performance in that film.
Speaker 2:A little bit over the top, he did, and then the person who noticed him, or I would say, discovered him in a way, was Sean Penn. Say discovered him in a way, was Sean Penn. Nancy Klopper, who's a casting director, a very famous casting director was casting for what came after Tapped a risky business, and Sean Penn calls her and says you got to look at this kid, tom Cruise. I mean he was a kid. So was Sean Penn.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, he was not quite even 20, I don't think at that point, so very young. It's funny you mention that because I had recently learned I saw an interview with Cruz, which he doesn't do a ton of interviews, you know, he does the late show circuit.
Speaker 2:Here and there, right On his videos, he'll do commentaries.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I mean he doesn't do a lot of sort of sit down kind of in depth, you know one-on-ones I think uh oprah killed that well, it wasn't just oprah.
Speaker 1:We'll get into that. Mike, jump on ahead. But yeah, we'll get into that there was. There was a couple of uh standout moments, let's say in the uh mid-2000s, where you know that that kind of became an issue. But the risky business you mentioned that because in this interview he talked about he was actually going to do rumble fish yeah, because he had worked with Coppola, of course, on the outsiders he was actually he was working on the outsiders when he got the call for risky business and he just got on a plane.
Speaker 2:He didn't he didn't even tell Francis.
Speaker 1:He just said I'm going to go check this out he had a very short window of time to be able to go up and do a taping and he says they saw like 1,000, 2,000 people for the role. It was something kind of absurd, but he was planning to do Rumble Fish. I didn't know that, mike holding up risky business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the brand new just came out Criterion Collection, stuffed with extras and a lot of him talking, which is, you know, really different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Is it one of these. Is he watching it in real time?
Speaker 2:No, he's giving an interview, yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't love that. I don't love that. I want to see them watching but he does both. I think him and rebecca do a commentary rebecca de mornay, thanks for folks that don't know. So it taps the outsiders. Risky business, uh. And then you know another. We've recently talked about ridley scott too. On on the show and the film legend comes out in 85 never seen that to this day doesn't?
Speaker 1:it's a basically a flop. Then 1986 hits, and we all know the rest of that story, which of course was, yeah, top, top gun at this point, dan I'm not a fan right, I don't like him. No, and you won't become a fan for a few more years. Yes, and he will go out of his way to make sure that you're not a fan based on some of the things he continues to do after Top Gun. You know he's got color of money cocktail.
Speaker 2:You know where he's portraying this very arrogant cocky hockey with the big smile Right, just, I hated it. I hate all the right moves came earlier, right, yeah, and I think perhaps you know you're a little bit envious it could be, I'm not, I'm not above saying that's true, absolutely.
Speaker 1:But he did lean into that in those in the portrayal of those characters in those films. I mean, he spent, like color, color money, right. So over the top, even his hair is obnoxious, you know, in the film. And is there, is there a director he hasn't worked with, like orson welles? Maybe is the only director he never had a chance to work with? I mean, yeah, I'm really wild but you know, scorsese coppola, um, uh sy, sidney Pollack and Spielberg, spielberg, yeah, all the top directors of the time. You know?
Speaker 1:So, right, so as you said he's getting this kind of reputation as this sort of, you know the charming good looks, the charisma, you know the, you know the winning smile and all that, the winning smile and all that. And then 1988, the film Rain man comes out, which of course stars him and Dustin Hoffman, which for us now, this could have been an episode just about Rain man, correct, and we've contemplated that in the past.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But there's too much to say about his career overall and of course, this whole episode is making a case as to why he should already have an Oscar right and that should have been the first, it should have been, and so not. So 1988. Uh, I'm in high school at this point.
Speaker 1:You're I think you're in florida already at that point yeah, 86 but it's interesting because I remember, like you and I connected through this film quite a bit at the time, but I wouldn't move to florida until two years later, right about a year or two, but I was visiting here and you and I shot a video.
Speaker 2:Oh, is that what it was?
Speaker 1:yes, it's so funny because I didn't know I was going to bring this up. So mike and I we used to do home videos all the time growing up, right before anyone knew of home, and this is one that it may live on some tape somewhere buried that we can't get access to right now, but I was going to bring it up because I wondered if you remembered this. So mike's visiting boston at the time, yeah, and we shoot this really ridiculous but hilarious uh skit parodying. You know rain man, and it's the leaving walbrook, correct?
Speaker 2:walking and we were walking the same five feet exactly. We were in a very small space and I wondered if you were walking in circles, but you cannot tell on the video that we're walking just in circles back in the day there was, uh, you remember, the Groucho Marx glasses.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, the big mustache and the nose, the beagle puss. Now the beagle puss, the nose. This is not derogatory against Tom, because it runs in the family, so we can relate to this. But the schnoz on those glasses if you remember we pulled that off of one of the beagle puss I know glasses and and I taped it on to my onto my face and we had the the barracuda jackets. That's right, I was wearing the barracuda jacket, you had the suit on, you were playing tom cruise, of course, right, exactly relegated me to being uh yeah, because I'm the director, I'm always going to give myself younger brother and I was passed over.
Speaker 2:You did a great dustin hoffman, and all I had to do was put on dark shades and walk right and I think I was holding the camera and doing the camera.
Speaker 1:I think that's true yeah, it's just me and you.
Speaker 2:I would love to see that. And we had the music going from the movie.
Speaker 1:Yes, that matched that scene done by hans zimmer, leaving walbrook hysterical. It was hysterical and it's. It's so burned into my brain I can see it like it was yesterday.
Speaker 2:I can, too, doing that, and you were behind me with the glasses real serious and then I think I just like cut off to the side at one point, started yelling son of a bitch, yes, that's right.
Speaker 1:There's a famous scene where it echoes through the canyon when, right right, cruise gets frustrated. And you know, and it's funny because I don't know if you've seen recently, uh, fiscal and Ebert, of course, uh, reviewed the film and both, you know, thumbs up, and but one of the things they talked about was they they kind of they didn't go full into it, but they sort of started to kind of make a similar argument about the film, right and but saying, but then they just talked about, like dustin hoffman and how it was a very thankless role that he took on. But what I, what I thought was interesting is is Ebert mentions, you know, what's very typical in fiction is it's about change. And what was fascinating about Rain man is you've got one character who can't change Right Because he's got he's got autism right, correct?
Speaker 1:and then you have like this you've got charlie babbitt cruz's character who refuses to change but eventually has this arc where he does change, and I don't even think they gave him enough credit in the review.
Speaker 2:If you, if you watch, you can pull it up on youtube, yeah I'll have to pull it out because, for for people who don't know who we're talking about, siskel and ebert were the premier movie critics of the 70s, 80s, 90s until about may of 2020, when, when the oh brother, truly yeah, we just yeah, the thing about rain man is, first of all, if you look at it, it's a little bit offensive the way Dustin Hoffman portrays autism because he takes everything to the extreme.
Speaker 2:And the reason I know that is because in college a professor we both had she was my chairperson she had a practice where it was all autistic and we visited and there wasn't somebody anywhere close. These were all people who were housed in this facility. We got to interact with them and talk with them and there was one guy out of the 25 that was all focused on nail polish. You could see him just looking at everyone's nails. You know Dustin Hoffman took on characteristics of probably multiple autistic people he had studied Sure.
Speaker 2:And I think that was over the top. I think today people might be a little bit.
Speaker 1:Well, it was based on a real guy. It was based on a real guy.
Speaker 2:It was based on a conglomerate of people, sure.
Speaker 1:But I don't care what they say. I don't, but I don't think that there's anything wrong with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I don't know, maybe because of that experience it changed it for me, but I always thought Dustin Hoffman's one note, he's one note the whole time, he's one note the whole time. Cruise goes from this total jerk to hatred, to spite, to get to this arc where he finally bonds with Rain man or Raymond, and then they come down and the end is quite melodrama, you know.
Speaker 1:But I went on too much with that. Yeah, you, I said this is not a rain man episode, but um, but that was a game changer in his career. I mean, we could end the argument right here and in our opinion, if you go back and watch that film, or if you haven't seen it for that matter, his performance is just, it's phenomenal, and I don't you. There's been little flashes here and there in film since where he leans into some dramatic pieces, but to me this still is his best dramatic performance.
Speaker 1:I agree and that includes Jerry Maguire, which was good.
Speaker 2:I agree. In fact, at the end of this, I want to ask you for your top three cruise movies. Okay, not my top five, my top three. No, I want to ask you for your top three cruise movies.
Speaker 1:Okay, not my top five, my top three, no, I'm only giving you three. Okay, so you know, let's move away from Rain man, as much as an impression as that left on us. Yeah, but then you have like just go through the series of films after that, the Board of the Fourth of July Right Nominated, of films. After that the born of the fourth of july right nominated. Then days of thunder in 1990, where of course he meets, you know, his future wife, nicole kidman.
Speaker 2:No, not in days of thunder, that was, that was uh okay, they had already met, but paul newman turned him on to race cars.
Speaker 1:Yeah, robert duvall starred in, uh, days of thunder, okay, I mean, I don't know. Leading up to that, I mean, I guess top gun, he was driving motorcycles and all that, so he wasn't new to that, and I think he was a risk taker from a young age too. He talks about jumping off the roof as a kid and doing all this sort of stuff, so he had it in his dna anyway he's done some crazy shit he has. He has um a few good men, the firm.
Speaker 1:Uh, that's 1992, 1993 you know, there's a look at the diversity, the the versatility of the roles that he's choosing here. It's phenomenal, and the firm.
Speaker 2:He played a character, mitch mcdeere, and you know why I went to law school. It was based on an actor, not cruise, but it was based on al pacino's performance and all um mike making it about injustice for all no, I'm. I just want to draw a parallel because cruise I think he played mitch mcdeer in the firm. I think he did the same thing for people probably younger than me got them to go to law school because of the way how good he portrayed being a lawyer yeah, yeah and being a good guy lawyer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that movie again and there's a.
Speaker 2:There's a sequel out now.
Speaker 1:Grisham wrote a sequel to it speaking of it, so sydney pollack directed that? Yeah, am I remembering correctly, was Sidney Pollack in Eyes Wide Shut, absolutely Right, big, big role. So there's a connection there. I had forgotten about that. Then 1996, big, big year. We've got Mission Impossible franchise kicks off right. And then, of course, jerry Maguire, which, as we mentioned at the top, this is one of the three actor noms that he has.
Speaker 2:Uh, have you mentioned all three? Uh board of the fourth of july magnolia and jerry mcguire okay, and for all three of those he won the golden globe. But he gave them back, and this is way before the inclusion stuff that's going on right now. He gave them back because he felt the academy wasn't diverse enough. They had no african-american members period, so tom cruise gave away his three golden globes, gave him back for that reason well, so 1996 I just mentioned.
Speaker 1:So then he disappears for a few years right him and his wife and why, something's going on between 96 and 1999, which is, of course, the filming of eyes wide shut with stanley kubrick, who you, of course, are. You've got your uh, clockwork orange poster behind you yeah, and you can see in this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you see eyes wide shut behind you and this was a whole. This could be again a whole episode on just eyes wide shut and all the controversy and the stories that came out about. You know his and nicole kidman's marriage and you know the filming of the. The movie led to the demise of their marriage. Like nobody really knows the truth other than them. So right, and in fact they dispute that uh in in some interviews that I've read.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I don't. They don't take shots at each other in the press, they're no, you know they still have a couple of kids together. You know um that they adopted and right, so they're still co-parenting yeah.
Speaker 1:So now let's bring it to some controversy. 2005 now we've talked about on the podcast a lot. Okay, so to make this argument you got to separate the art from the artist which we always talk about. Well, it was 2002. He's starting to be a little outspoken. It's probably too much of a word, but you mentioned earlier his involvement with the church of scientology. So his publicist at the time is kind of like don't lean into that kind of keep that quiet, probably not going to do good for your image. So he fires his publicist at that point and hires his sister Leanne, you mentioned earlier he's got three siblings and then 2005 happens and it's just really heated exchange, very awkward exchange when him and Matt Lauer on the Today Show. Matt lauer would end up in his own controversy years after that yeah, much worse who's who's got the last laugh on that one right?
Speaker 1:so there's this real heated exchange on on during that interview. Yeah, I got into this whole conversation about psychoanalysis and part of it was bro Brooke Shields had come out talking about taking medication to help her through, as you said, postpartum depression and he was opposed to it. He didn't believe in it and he said as much in that interview with Matt Lauer. So they go back and forth and they never really agree to disagree. It just got more and awkward and katie holmes was in the wings on the couch watching this whole thing. That was his girlfriend or wife. I don't know if they were married, but no, not yet no it's his girlfriend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were getting married yeah then he's on the oprah show where he does this kind of, you know, sort of wild, sort of jumping up on the couch and professing his love to katie holmes, which you look back now. It's so innocent, so ridiculous. The guy was in love like who cares why did they make such a? Big deal about it. I don't even turned off people a lot, I don't even know why. Yeah, who cares? You know? Of all the things that have been done in the world.
Speaker 2:You know, before you mentioned matt lauer, I mean God. This is nothing Exactly right.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure that did any favors for War of the Worlds, which of course was out. He was on the circuit promoting it Spielberg right and then also at that time that leads to the end of what had been about a 14-year deal with Paramount Right. Because of the like you know what this guy, we got to get a step away from this Too much Scientology nonsense.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. He fires his sister Leanne at that point, you know, because of all the stuff going on, and then he gets into a partnership with MGM United Artists and, you know, goes on to make, you know, some other films, of course.
Speaker 2:Do you know the woman he partnered with to take over the Mission Impossible series?
Speaker 1:Paul Wagner. That was his producing partner. Okay, that's who it is, because it was Cruise Wagner Productions.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, it's who I think you're thinking about. And I really think you mentioned he hasn't directed a film yet. I think those Mission Impossible films are his babies I think, he calls every shot you know what's interesting about that?
Speaker 1:they talk about the james bond franchise. Right, this the mission possible's his james bond. But the interesting difference is how many different actors over the years have played james bond.
Speaker 2:Ethan hunt, you got one right right and he's about our next year, his eighth iteration too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah so it's pretty phenomenal. But so he splits from um paula wagner as well. At that's around that same time, 2011, he enters back into a deal with paramount and then goes, protocol comes out, which, at that time, coming off of mi3, that had been the worst in the franchise I liked mi3.
Speaker 2:Believe it or not, with um, a lot of people didn't but ghost protocol was a game changer.
Speaker 1:Mi4 was that was a game changer. In fact, it's funny. You remember I think it's in the beginning of that film when he's running away from an exploding, whatever the, wherever he was the car.
Speaker 2:I don't know what it was, but he's doing the from an exploding whatever the, wherever he was, the car.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it was, but he's doing the typical Tom Cruise run that he does in every film he's in and he's wearing a Bruce Springsteen concert shirt. That blew my mind when I was in the theater and saw it for the first time, because it was a bootleg shirt that you and I bought in the parking lot of giant stadium in 1985. That's funny. And there he was where it's the same one that courtney cox is wearing in the dancing in the dark video.
Speaker 2:Go google it I gotta check that out and I was just.
Speaker 1:It was so random that he was wearing.
Speaker 2:He's running and the explosion hits and he gets like thrown into the car. I think so.
Speaker 1:I think that's the sequence. Yeah, that looked brutal to me. I don't know if they had a sponge car or whatever.
Speaker 2:But right, that looked brutal, um, you know.
Speaker 1:So we've been talking about a lot of the films that he's been in, but you you mentioned, uh, you were going to bring up some of the roles that he's turned down famously in his career and I've got some of those.
Speaker 2:I've got eight, wow. Okay, I could see him in all of these roles.
Speaker 1:I only wrote down three. I only have three. I got eight. Okay, a Beautiful.
Speaker 2:Mind, okay, I didn't know that Wound Up Going to Russell Crowe, right, edward Scissorhands.
Speaker 1:Oh, I can't see that at all.
Speaker 2:Wound Up. I can't see that at all.
Speaker 1:I could.
Speaker 2:I can't see that as a younger him Maybe, but went to Johnny Depp, donnie Brasco.
Speaker 1:That would have been interesting Leo right. I don't think he's ever worked with Pacino. That would be a nice casting. I'd love to see them pair up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would too. I don't think he ever has. Footloose is probably on your list. Yes is probably on your list. Yes, kevin bacon, right ghost patrick swayze they didn't want patrick swayze because he was coming off of dancing, whatever. And the?
Speaker 1:two of them were in the outsiders together.
Speaker 2:That's right that's right um indecent proposal. I don't know if it must have been the woody harrelson part right I would assume yeah I would assume here's here's one. He would have kicked off the mcu iron man, iron man, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I, I, I could see him as tony stark, like I could see I could too.
Speaker 2:And the last one, which went to tim robbins, shawshank redemption redemption wow, okay, interesting.
Speaker 1:That probably would have been an oscar for him. Wow, yeah, that's wow, that's wow, okay, that's a pretty good list, uh, but he's not okay for himself. I mean, the guy's films have amassed billions of dollars, billions of dollars just top gun maverick, which let's talk about that for a second. So covet hits right, 2020. We all know what happened. You know, I don't think it's too far-fetched to say he was at the center of getting us back into theaters. Now you could say Christopher Nolan, because Christopher Nolan's Tenet was, I think, one of the first big films to be released in the theaters. You know, I forget what year that came out. In fact, tom Cruise's video of him going to see the premiere of it oh, right, with a mask on and everything, and uh, but you know this, we talk about controversy. I think this worked in Tom Cruise's favor, which is this audio that gets released while he's, uh, on the set of um, while he's on the set of Mission Impossible. Was it Dead Reckoning? Yeah, you know, there's some crew that are violating the protocols.
Speaker 2:Not wearing masks. Right, they're all hovered around a computer.
Speaker 1:Right, and there's this famous audio that got released of him just berating them, screaming, yelling, screaming yelling. But if you, if you listen to it, you know he's talking about. He says at one point they're back in hollywood making movies because of us, right, what we're doing here, and you know he's looking out for people's families and their livelihood and all of this and that production. If it gets shut down, there's a lot of people out of work that can't, you know, buy groceries and pay the bills and whatnot. So, and it did, get shut down.
Speaker 2:That movie did get shut down for a short period of time, as did everyone at that point.
Speaker 1:But this was different than, say, christian bale going off on a lighting guy, correct?
Speaker 2:and I think you're right. I heard heard him. You know one thing when you any interview with him, his passion for what he does comes through, and his passion is strong.
Speaker 1:It's specifically for films, making films intended to be seen in the theater. That's what he's all about.
Speaker 2:People are like cause he hasn't been doing drama lately? You know Top Gun, maverick Right, the Mission Impossible stuff has been almost every year. He's making movies that people want to go see instead of something like Far and Away and we talk about risky moves.
Speaker 1:You know, top Gun, maverick, he, he holds on to it, right, could have released it to streaming, like so many studios were disney, that's all they were doing, right? You know, fucking disney, plus every other goddamn movie, they, they, you know, let's put it on the streaming. He said, no, this film and and this is not a film to be seen, like, on a small screen, even if you have a large TV, even if you have a large TV, right, this is made for the cinema. So he says no, holds out. And the thing has made what?
Speaker 2:almost a billion and a half dollars at this point you know that whole holdout time. I'm like it's Top Gun. Come on, because I was a big fan of Top.
Speaker 1:Gun, but this is what I'm saying in it. Right, a movie, it's what, 36 years later or whatever it is? Um, that usually doesn't go very well. No, but clearly, I saw it in the theater, you saw it and we liked it. Yeah, as as those as sequels go and he's been, he has not been one to be a fan of sequels clearly no.
Speaker 2:Other than Mission Impossible.
Speaker 1:Minus Mission Impossible, right, the franchise there, but but this just worked. It just worked it and you know it was. I don't know it was something about. Usually, when you lean into the nostalgia like that, it doesn't work For some reason. They got it right in this film and val kilmer coming back right.
Speaker 2:It was really emotional and yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:So there was some drama, jennifer connelly um it.
Speaker 2:It was just an overall good film, but again, the box office uh supports that and for people who think that wow, his name jumped right out of my head Tom Cruise.
Speaker 1:No, Val Kilmer.
Speaker 2:Val Kilmer. For people who think Val Kilmer was acting, he was not. No, that's his real voice. He has a voice box, the whole thing, and at one point he had to use the computer to.
Speaker 1:he types a message that you know yeah we need maverick something yeah in the scene and it worked it got me.
Speaker 2:It got me too, and I you know me I'm about as emotional as exactly a carrot so I you know look the guy, the number of pictures he's been in, like I.
Speaker 1:I said he's almost been in 50 films. He's got another film in production or in development, the Gauntlet, which he's doing with Christopher McQuarrie. Didn't he do a film? They did Valkyrie together in 2008, which was kind of sort of a resurgence and a real strong partnership that they filmed because they would do several movies together after that. Um, to get out of that quagmire he got into with all the 2005 controversy, says it was kind of a very important relationship creatively right that he formed. So there they've got a film that that is slated to be coming out. It's I think it's in like pre-production or something how that goes yeah, I mean you you mentioned dead.
Speaker 1:Reckoning 2. Um, also, uh, the sequel to a film I finally just watched, right, that came out like 2014 or something, which was, uh, edge of tomorrow. Live, die, repeat it's. Live, die, repeat, repeat.
Speaker 2:Right is in and that was in development. That was lost to covid, but they're still, they still, all of them. Emily blunt yeah, tom, they all talk about doing it and top gun three yeah, I saw. You know that once maverick was a huge smash.
Speaker 1:It wasn't hard to green it wasn't, but, man, they're gonna. You think they had to get this right, right, really gonna have to get this story right, the only problem I had was uh you think no kelly mcgillis not being in it.
Speaker 2:You know she was such uh, I agree, I agree, and I think they could have used her in some way I agree.
Speaker 1:I I think that's a slight there. I don't know the story or what happened there. She was even reached out to like who knows? But listen, this guy, I mean you could argue single handedly save the movie making business with one argument berating on a film set. I don't know.
Speaker 2:You know, 50 years from now, tom Cruise is going to be like Gregory Peck, jimmy Stewart, right, you know those iconic Humphrey Bogart? He kind of is in present day, but can you imagine that 20 years from now, looking back on some of the stuff he's done and god knows what he's got in store for us?
Speaker 1:and this is not to say that tom hasn't had a few dogs in his resume. He certainly has night and day for one oh, that was terrible, cameron I couldn't even get through the film, so bad but uh, which I think was filmed up in boston actually, if I'm not mistaken, or some of it anyways, but I would. I would go back and argue just his performance and Rain man alone should have garnered him an Oscar win, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Not a nominee. He wasn't even nominated for it, mike, exactly Not even nominated for it, and you and I have talked about this so many times over the years and I think it was just. I don't want to say a sympathy, that's not the word I'm looking for, but this. You mentioned Dustin Hoffman, one note that might be a bit harsh, but to to just discount Tom's performance in that film because of the focus on Hoffman's character.
Speaker 2:I just don't think that's and he couldn't have gotten the supporting actor role because it wasn't a supporting role he was.
Speaker 1:If anything, they could have given Dustin Hoffman the supporting role Well and therein, I think, lies the rub, is that they weren't going to do that Right. Dustin Hoffman's too big an actor at that point and Tom Cruise was obviously a superstar at that time but didn't certainly have a resume as Hoffman had at that point. You know the graduated midnight cowboy and all that stuff. Correct, but I stand by that. I still think that was a huge oversight, do I?
Speaker 1:get your top three now Rain man is right at the top. It's really tough, though when I look, I mean there's so many, there's so many good ones and and I don't want to do something like taps or the outsiders where he's just kind of a support, an ensemble player, right, it's hard not to pick jerry mcguire, uh, and I'm and I'm not, I'm going, you're going to see, I'm not going for like the mission impossible. Right, you know that really isn't going to be. I'm not going for like the Mission Impossible.
Speaker 1:Right, you know that really isn't going to be on my list. Those are more popcorn eater movies. Yeah, I would say I would say Rain man, god, I really liked the firm. I really, really liked the firm and I love risky business. So that's a hard toss up right there for me, but I'm going to go with the firm. And then my third is Eyes Wide Shut, a film that most people wouldn't pick.
Speaker 2:No, I just rewatched it. It diverted me on a Stanley Kubrick kick. I started to watch his movies because I was so fascinated by the extras. But for me, rain Man's number one, eyes Wide Shut number two. It's just a different, it's a rhythm that is unlike any other film that he's done, and even Kubrick.
Speaker 1:Now, he and Nicole should have been both nominated for that, I agree. Let's just say that.
Speaker 2:How tough was it for her? She's half the movie. She's nude, with all this crew around. Well, I think everybody in the film is nude at some point, yeah, at some point I think sydney pollack was probably one of those guys in the corner right right exactly, but he was a great. He was great in it so good, such a good actor he's the one who introduced cruise and and kubrick, but the third one I struggle with but I'm gonna land on the firm wow, that's unbelievable.
Speaker 1:I can't believe you picked those three. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:I love it I love it, believe it, uh you heard it here first.
Speaker 1:Folks on the your brother podcast and I'll say this.
Speaker 2:You know, people always say the book is always better than the movie. In this case, the movie was better than the book. Yeah, and I've read all of grisham's book.
Speaker 1:Grishams, yeah, uh, you know, and you think of, uh, the, you think of the people he's had the good fortune to work with. I mean, right, the list is so long. Yeah, nicholson and and pollock and paul newman, and just on and on and on. Yeah, yeah, but not Pacino. We got to get Tom and Al together in a film and maybe, who knows, maybe he'll finally get that Oscar win. But the first?
Speaker 2:Well, ironically, gene Hackman. And the first, I know God, is he good. Ironically, al Pacino wins his one and only Oscar. Yeah, for one of the worst movies he's done.
Speaker 1:Well, it's because they knew he should have won it long before that.
Speaker 2:He should have won for Godfather Part II easily. Of course that shouldn't have even been a debate. What was the name of that movie when he was? Scent of a Woman. Scent of a Woman.
Speaker 1:Come on.
Speaker 2:Chris O'Donnell.
Speaker 1:Right yeah, that was Chris O'Donnell's big star vehicle and yeah, look where he is now maybe the last one too.
Speaker 2:The last one, yeah, I think the resume.
Speaker 1:The resume is long and now we haven't. We didn't even speak about the guy's literal risk taking in life. So yeah, if, if anybody goes to an extreme to bring you entertainment, it's Tom Cruise. Nobody holds a candle to this guy when it comes to action. I mean, he's an unbelievable pilot. You saw him in the building in Dubai in Mission Impossible and the Top Gun Maverick, that's him. It's just insane the things, like you said, that he's doing. And they could have picked anybody, mike, anybody at all, to conclude the Paris Olympics, but they chose Tom Cruise.
Speaker 1:Right, he did the handoff from Paris to LA, which is kind of phenomenal when you think about it, why it's been a couple of years as of this recording that Top Gun Maverick came out.
Speaker 2:It could have been anybody out how many stars. How many stars are iconic, as he is.
Speaker 1:Okay, you know that I think you know that's it, beyonce, like I mean, there's other people they could have no, but you know he, he made a stunt out of it, jumping off the roof he did, and I guess that's where it comes down to yeah, yeah, now there's some genres that he has not. Well, you know what he actually now say he's got an uncredited role in Young Guns, that's right.
Speaker 1:He hasn't really done a Western, but anyways. But his resume is so diverse, he's done almost everything you think of and again, they haven't all been hits.
Speaker 2:I don't think you've seen Lions for lambs, which is he plays a senator. I like that one, right, right you.
Speaker 1:That was the first film, I think, when he got with mgm and united artists maybe, yeah, was that film? Yeah?
Speaker 2:there was a chunk of time where it seemed like he was going after the oscar. Jerry mcguire, born in the usa, um why did I say that?
Speaker 1:born on the fourth of july?
Speaker 2:and magnolia I. I was gonna watch just his stuff when I watched it recently. Yeah, but, he's in almost every sequence. So I was like, screw that, I'm just gonna have to put in the three hours right, but yeah it's more. Hoffman was in that with him and they teamed up in mission impossible three and I thought he was a great villain.
Speaker 1:Well, and we didn't even talk about the, but yeah, we didn't even talk about the fact that. You know, this is one of the things I like about Tom is his ability to kind of poke fun at himself, Right and like he can do comedic roles too.
Speaker 2:He was funny in jerry mcguire. He's been funny in a lot of films. That tropic thunder was shockingly funny. It was so funny. Most people didn't get him at first, didn't know it was him all right.
Speaker 1:I think he had a part one of the austin powers films too, I believe you know he was when paltrow was in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a lot of scars, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I like that about him too, but you know, he's just so damn charming you know, you can't help, but like the guy.
Speaker 2:I would have never thought like behind me there's 13 of his films that I laid out. I would have never thought I would own 13 of Tom Cruise's films when I saw him and say risky business, which I now appreciate much more than I did back then. Um, or, you know the guy from cocktails.
Speaker 1:That's probably the epitome of where I disliked him and I think that was part of the hockey. That was the point. That's the point of that character you know, same with color of money, you know you. Yeah, it's a little bastard that you hate, you know, yeah, but just a great career. I mean he's ageless wonder.
Speaker 2:And he's only. He just turned 62. He's young, so Right, he's got another 20 years to go.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to see what else he's got coming. I would like to see another Rain man type film me too, just a pure drama, um that that he takes on, because he's kind of steered away from that as of late um, you know, I don't know, it looks like a couple more action films in the queue, so it doesn't look like we're going to get anything like that anytime soon. I also saw if you look at his imdb page I mentioned this to you like he's going to space, tom cruise is going to be on mars or whatever.
Speaker 2:At some point he's already you know something with space flight on spacex, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So if anybody's gonna do, it's gonna be him. But I love tom cruise. I've loved him since I was about eight years old when I saw him in taps. Uh and uh and rain man just was a game changer, just an absolute game changer. It's one of the best films ever made, I will argue too.
Speaker 2:I'll go that far and say it's one of the best films ever made.
Speaker 1:I did a 180. I hated him, loved him. You got to credit some of that to Barry Levinson.
Speaker 2:I mean, the directing in that film is so good that film is so good coming down the escalator, it's so good there's so many scenes, the one we tried to recreate or did recreate. I wish we could dig that up for the episode but we could go through that movie and splice out pieces, yeah, and have an hour of highlights.
Speaker 1:So let's wrap this up. So where are you guys? If, uh, where are you? You like tom cruise? You hate tom cruise.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm a huge fan.
Speaker 1:No, I'm asking the audience like where are they? You know, drop in like Tom Cruise, do you hate?
Speaker 2:Tom Cruise oh, I'm a huge fan.
Speaker 1:No, I'm asking the audience, like where are they? You know, drop in the comments. Like what do you think? What are your favorite Tom Cruise films? If you don't like them, why don't you like them? Do you agree with us that he should have an Oscar?
Speaker 2:And do you think that his faith gets in the way or has gotten in the way? That's right. We didn't really mention that, but that's a good point to make. Is is I? I know it's not like in the daily headlines, no, and. But it was for a little while when lee or remedy, came out and really railed against the whole scientology and him.
Speaker 1:But I'm sure if we went back and looked at some of the people that were nominated um and I think I think would be remiss or people would think we were dodging it if we didn't bring up katie holmes and that divorce and the fact that he doesn't see suri, his daughter we don't know the story, okay, and and, and what you're going to get from wikipedia isn't the truth right thoroughly, or facts, but it seems as though there was just maybe a desire there to not have her get swept up in that whole scientology thing, correct, um, and her dad was a lawyer, but I I wouldn't go so far as to say that that he doesn't see her. I don't think that that's maybe true, I don't know. I wouldn't make my claim because I don't know that, but it's time to head out, and that's been another episode of the Oberta Podcast. I've been your host, dan Smith. Alongside me is always my brother and same mother, mike Smith, and he still wants to say something, folks.
Speaker 2:Bye everyone.
