The Non-Risky Business: How Tom Cruise Neutered Himself to Remain a Hollywood Staple

In his 2005 book The Game, author and journalist for Rolling Stone magazine Neil Strauss discusses the week he interviewed Tom Cruise for a magazine cover story. Strauss had just written an article for The New York Times about the underground community of Pick Up Artists (it's also the basis for The Game) which piqued Cruise's interests, and asked to spend time with the author. As Strauss writes in this book, "Tom Cruise was the perfect specimen. He was the [Alpha Male of the Group] that... everyone in the seduction community had been trying to emulate. He had a natural ability to remain dominant, physically and mentally, in any social situation without seeming to exert any effort... Nearly everyone in the community had studied his films to learn body language and regularly used terminology from Top Gun in the field."

This is the persona of Tom Cruise. By almost all accounts, Tom Cruise is the absolute best. As Strauss writes, "He was the first person I'd met since joining the seduction community who didn't let me down." The person who walks in a room and allows his charisma to brighten it. You don't know what "it" is but you're 100% sure Tom Cruise has it. He is the epitome of a movie star. Tom Cruise is Maverick from Top Gun. He is Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible franchise. He is Cole Trickle from Days of Thunder.

Part of the reason Tom Cruise wanted to sit down with Neil Strauss for the aforementioned interview was because Strauss's New York Times article mentions a fellow Pick Up Artist who claims to be the basis for Frank T.J. Mackey. Mackey is the seduction artist played by Cruise in Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 magnum opus Magnolia. Mackey's first lines uttered in the movie, in a close up shot of Cruise speaking to a crowded seminar filled with desperate men, are, "Respect the cock and tame the cunt." Magnolia came out in the same year as Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, a film where Kubrick seemingly wanted to fuck with the real life marriage of Cruise and his then-wife Nicole Kidman while Cruise spends most of the movie in an orgy in the middle of a mansion. Tom Cruise willingly starred in films that would seem to destroy his Good Boy Persona. Who wants to see their charming leading man act like an Incel on a 4-chan subreddit or sneaking around during a sex party?

100 Greatest Films of the 2010's

Trying to create a list of the 100 best films within a 10 year span is a daunting task. I have been working on this post for the past 8 months, and I will continue to tweak it as the year goes along (as I consider your feedback as well as to include more films from 2019 on the list). However, it is not the inherent time it takes to think and rank and write about 100+ films, it's knowing that you're going to be inherently wrong. Even when I floated my top 10 to my friends, people with similar movie tastes to me, I couldn't get a consensus. Yet despite this, I persevered, and moved forward. Every year I create my own personal Best Of lists, but that's not what I wanted this list to be. I wanted this list to be as objective as possible. I wanted to rank films solely on their quality and how well they've pierced our pop culture. I included my own biases of course, but I looked at many outside factors as well. How well received and talked about is the film on Twitter? Are YouTube videos or podcasts made to discuss the film? How often is it a cable rewatch? What did critics think of the film? What did the Academy Awards think of it? My friends? My parents? All of this went into consideration in trying to determine the absolute best films of the decade. Although I know you think I'm wrong, we're going to give it a shot anyways.


1) The Social Network (2010)
Directed By: David Fincher
Written By: Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, & Armie Hammer
RT Score: 95%

Why It's Great: It's pretty easy to have a great film when it's written by the premiere screenwriter of our time and directed by one the greatest working directors of our time. That collaborative marriage of David Fincher's perfectionism pushing Aaron Sorkin to justify his script and snappy dialogue helped create probably the best work each of them has ever done. The Social Network is a master class in writing, directing, acting, editing, and score. If you needed proof of that, just look at the film's best scene - a regatta race between the the Winklevoss twins and the Dutch. The way the cuts get quicker and the tempo of Trent Reznor's and Atticus Ross' score builds to create a mesmerizing scene on its own and to show how this is partly a story of how the brothers Winklevii are always a step behind is mesmerizing. It's no surprise that Sorkin, Reznor, Ross, and editors Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall all won Academy Awards for their work. 

I'm impressed with the film's casting choices as well. At the time, Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Savarin), Armie Hammer (Winklevoss twins), Rooney Mara (Erica Albright). Max Minghella (Divya Narendra), and Brenda Song (Christy) were all relatively unknown, and have all since gone on to various levels of fame and fortune. Even Eisenberg, who had a few films under his belt at the time, wasn't a household name at the time, is now one thanks to this film. It's even fun to see Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson pop in for a brief cameo. The film's cast had aged beautifully over time, but The Social Network's ability to have its themes and story be so resonant ten years later about the preeminent company of our generation is what separates this great film from the rest. A movie about Facebook's expansion and need for growth, despite the harms that come in its wake, is sadly still just as relevant now in 2020 as it was when it came out in 2010. Because The Social Network is the perfect emblematic representation of the 2010's, it's the #1 film of the decade. 

2) Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Co-Written & Directed By: George Miller
Starring: Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, & Nicholas Hoult
RT Score: 97%

Why It's Great: I have only seen this film once, and I was not the biggest fan of it, but even I can marvel at its technical brilliance and realize how Mad Max: Fury Road has cemented this film as probably the best film of this generation. The film is basically one giant car chase scene, but it's so much more than that. Miller is able to introduce us and immerse us in this patriarchal world. The film is a feminist anthem about destroying a system and starting anew. We know so much about this world system without any overt exposition dialogue or clunky narratives. Miller shows us bits and pieces and nuances together to create something fully formed yet brief. It just is, and then we're thrust into action. It's no surprise this film took home 6 Oscars, because it is a technical sensation. Just a treat all around.

3) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Directed By: Martin Scorsese
Written By: Terence Winter
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, & Margot Robbie
RT Score: 78%

Why It's Great: Whether it's the excess run time of the film, or the excess, abhorrent lifestyle of the real life of the main character (played by DiCaprio in the film) and how he's portrayed in The Wolf of Wall Street, you can't say that Jordan Belfort isn't at least interesting. I understand the criticisms, and truthfully they are all pretty much valid, but Martin Scorsese has created such a brilliant work of art that the film he gifted to us that we need to treat it like the bona fide masterpiece that it is. There have been so many films that have tried to be Scorsese (like Todd Phillips' War Dogs or Craig Gillespie's I, Tonya) or many films that would have been improved had Scorsese been behind the wheel (like Scott Cooper's Black Mass) that we need to reward Scorsese when he creates a quintessential classic for his oeuvre.

The Top 10 Best Films of 2018

1) Black Panther
Co-Written & Directed By: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, & Lupita Nyong'o
STARS: 3.5 out of 4

Brief Description: Having seen Black Panther three times now, I can confidently say this film is my favorite of the year. Sure we have traditional Marvel action set pieces like a car chase through Busan, Korea or a third act fight sequence that involves genetically engineered rhinos, but we also have thoughtful discussions about what it takes to be a man and a leader, and what is the best approach to rule a country that is obviously the most powerful in the world. We sympathize with the villain Erik Killmonger because we agree with his approach for how Wakanda should run (and because Michael B Jordan can convince us to do anything), if not knocking the execution. There are so many ideas and themes in Black Panther that it easily rises to the top of being one of Marvel's best and earning the top spot on my list for the top ten films of 2018.

2) Minding The Gap
Directed By: Bing Liu
Starring: Zach Mulligan, Kiere Johnson, & Bing Liu
STARS: 4 out of 4

Brief Description: Minding The Gap is a beautiful and haunting documentary about the generational cycle of abuse through the lens of three skateboarders from Rockford, Illinois. Director Bing Liu set up his camera in front of his friends as we watch the extremely charismatic Zach and the thoughtful Kiere as we're painted a picture of life skateboarding in the middle of the country. Quickly we learn that the skateboarding is a way to mask the pain of the harsh reality. All three of of these boys have been physicallyu and emotionally abused, and it's soul crushing to watch how this abuse has manifested itself as these three boys become men. Bing uses the film as therapy whereas Zach turns to alcoholism and Kiere tries to push past it as a way to build a life for himself. Zach impregnates his young girlfriend and we see the cycle start all over again. You can watch the film exclusively on Hulu, and I highly recommend seeking this one out.

3) Vice
Written & Directed By: Adam McKay
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, & Steve Carell
STARS: 3.5 out of 4

Brief Description: I love the fact that Vice has it's own unique style and that you can tell this is an Adam McKay feature. Besides the quick cuts to Jesse Plemmons as our narrator or a lion chasing down and killing a gazelle, you know you are watching an Adam McKay feature has he has an incredible knack for turning mundane history lessons into entertaining works of art. Dick Cheney the man is not very interesting, and is in fact very, very secretive, but by telling his rise parallel to the rise of the Republican Party and how they created the America we see today, we leave the theater is equal parts awe and disgust. I find any criticism that McKay ends up humanizing Dick Cheney or that we find sympathy for the man, because the film obviously loathes the man, but Adam McKay loathes someone in the only way he knows how: by making great movies.

#TheAcademyHatesAmy Why Doesn't Amy Adams Have An Oscar Yet?

In 2005, a movie barely anyone saw called Junebug was released. It's a better-than-average Indie fish-out-of-water character study about a couple who spends time with the husband's family in North Carolina. The film has not stood the test of time in the fact that still no one has heard of it or seen it. But it did have one stand out performance in it, a young woman by the name of Amy Adams who popped every time she was on screen. She clearly had "it" and The Academy awarded her for it by giving Amy Adams her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2005, you knew Amy Adams was going to be a huge star, and by 2019, she has proven it time-and-time again. Adams had to "earn" her shot thanks to bit roles in The Office, Talladega Nights, and The Ex (and a whole lot of nothing starting in 1999). This laid the groundwork for her rise to stardom by starring in Enchanted, Leap Year, and Sunshine Cleaning. Now, Adams has the chance to work with any director she wants to. She has made the most of her opportunities starring in a pair of David O Russell pics The Fighter and American Hustle, Clint Eastwood's Trouble With the Curve, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, Spike Jonze's Her, Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals and Denis Villenueve's Arrival. That's a murder's row, '27 Yankees esque line up of incredible directors. She's even managed to cash in from Hollywood along the way by playing Lois Lane in the DCEU and starred alongside Jason Segel in a Muppets movie.

The Disappointment of a Green Book Best Picture Win

We were told this version of The Academy is different. This version is younger, this version is more diverse, and this version is more in sync with Hollywood and culture. That's why we saw films like Get Out and Lady Bird earn major Oscar nominations last year like Best Picture and Best Director. Now we still ended up with another terrible Best Picture winner in The Shape of Water, but hey, they're trying and they're getting better!

The narrative around Get Out felt like that of "you should just happy to be here" but there was no reason it couldn't or shouldn't have won it all. It's widely original and entertaining, it's artfully done, it resonated with the youth and taste-makers in this Country, and it forever cemented itself among the ranks of Brokeback Mountain and Pulp Fiction on the annual lists of "which films deserved to win Best Picture but didn't" that gets written every year.