Oh Boy It Never Ends: Tom Cruise and his long career in bad vehicles

I marvel over the standards at outlets like LOOPER and their 'reporting':

These days, whenever Tom Cruise comes up, it's expected that the Oscar-nominee will be labeled as Hollywood's "last movie star." There's certainly some truth to that title, especially as our perpetually online culture becomes more obsessed with fictional characters and IPs rather than performers and personalities. While Cruise is one of the few surviving Hollywood stars (recent box office receipts confirm that Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are still partial draws) it seems more appropriate to label him as Tinseltown's last great action star.

The 60 year old has a face that's had way too much work and looks inhuman. He's really not anything to praise. He went from humping the couch (RISKY BUSINESS) to jumping on the couch (Oprah's show) to snoozing on the couch (all of his recent films).

There is nothing of promise in Cruise's filmography after RISKY BUSINESS. He has made one shallow flick after another. That includes COLOR OF MONEY -- his performance (and same storyline - a mentor teaches Tom to be a man) kill that movie.

VANILLA SKY is an abomination.

Joan Crawford was a movie star. She still managed to make some classic films: MILDRED PIERCE, A WOMAN'S FACE, GRAND HOTEL, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS, POSSESSED (at WB, not the MGM film of the same name), HUMORESQUE, SUDDEN FEAR, THE DAMNED DON'T CRY, JOHNNY GUITAR, QUEEN BEE, WEST POINT, FLAMINGO ROAD, etc. Not just popular films, they also were classics.

Tom Hanks has some classics: PUNCHLINE, BIG, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, YOU'VE GOT MAIL, etc. Julia Roberts has classics: STEEL MAGNOLIAS, RUNAWAY BRIDE, NOTTING HILL, MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING, WONDER, ERIN BROCKOVICH, THE PELICAN BRIEF, FLATLINERS, SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY, PRETTY WOMAN . . .

Tom's got RISKY BUSINESS and that's it -- and as with most of his films, it's someone else doing the heavy lifting (Rebecca De Mornay).

TOP GUN: MAVERICK was a piece of forgettable nonsense. A vehicle, not a film. That's all he does is make vehicles and his talents are so limited that, unlike Joan Crawford in STRANGE CARGO, he can't elevate them above the paint-by-number flicks that they are.

All this time later, if you're going to write about Tom, you might think you could focus on the reality that -- although he's sold a lot of tickets -- he's not produced anything that's going to be treasured.

I mentioned what I was writing about to C.I. (she just called to find out what my A1C was -- it's gone down thankfully) and she pointed out, "What about Keanu Reeves?"

Good point. THENUMBERS notes, "Best known as a Leading Actor based on credits in that role in 43 films, with $3,976,037,643 worldwide aggregate box office (rank #46)" -- good point.

And Keanu's made some classic films: SPEED, THE MATRIX films, I LOVE YOU TO DEATH, PARENTHOOD, DRACULA, SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE, DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, POINT BREAK, etc. It's really just Tom Cruise that keeps making the same vehicle over and over again.

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Joe Biden needs to do his job and stop delegating the presidential role to others, Marianne Williamson needs to get her act and her campaign together or stop wasting everyone's time, does Marjorie Taylor Green really want to live by her interpretation of the Bible, and much more.

As we noted in yesterday's snapshot, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III made an unannounced trip to Baghdad.

All this time later, US officials have to sneak into Iraq. REUTERS notes:

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, making an unannounced trip to Iraq on Tuesday nearly 20 years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, said Washington was committed to keeping its military presence in the country.

The 2003 invasion led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and created instability that eventually paved the way for the rise of Islamic State militants after the US withdrew its forces in 2011.

I'm sorry, Lloyd ran for what office? The American people voted him to be what?

Nothing.

He's nothing.

Why the hell is he making the announcement?

He's an appointee, he's not been elected anything by the American people, let alone President of the United States. That's who an announcement like that needs to come from.

An announcement that US troops are still going to be in Iraq needs to come from the US President, not some flunky that no one ever voted for. The secretary?

If DISNEY has a big announcement to make, it's coming from Bob Iger, not Susana Barraza.

The news itself is disgusting, the manner of delivery was shameful. If Joe doesn't want to get honest with the people himself, I think he's just made clear he shouldn't be running for re-election.

Sadly, there doesn't seem to be much choice on the Democratic side.

What's that? Oh, well she's going to need a thicker skin. Marianne Williamson ran for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination. She did make some strong comments in one debate. The business woman with no political experience has now announced she is running for the 2024 Democratic Party presidential nomination. This makes her the first -- and only -- candidate to announce that they're running. Her name came up in Monday's White House press briefing. She is not amused.

She had a lot of words in the news cycle yesterday.

I supposed we could spend time stringing them together into a coherent statement but I don't work for her.

You're begging for jokes, Marianne, and I'm trying to be nice to you. You make a statement several sentences long? Then you issue it as a press release. It's not anyone's job to do the transcription that you and your campaign are too lazy to do. Do you have campaign workers or are you just farming it out to your assistant?

Let's go to an actual transcript, this is from Monday's White House press briefing:

Q All right. And one other topic. Former President Trump said over the weekend in his CPAC comments mul- — multiple things. One thing he said to his supporters was, “I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” Does the White House have a response to that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: As you know, because of — he is a 2024 candidate and we are covered here by the Hatch Act, I’m just not going to comment on those — on the words that he — the speech that he made — the speech this weekend.

Due to The Hatch Act, she's not commenting. Wise move. Much later in the briefing, this exchange took place:

Q Okay. And then, just real quick —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q — I know you’re probably going to say Hatch Act is restricting you in this, but is the President annoyed, frustrated with Marianne Williamson for jumping in the race ahead of him? Did he want to clear field to run against the Republican nominee in 2024?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Just not tracking that. I mean, if I had a — what is it called? — a little — a little globe here —

Q Crystal ball.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — a crystal ball that I can tell you. But I — I —

Q A Magic 8 Ball.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: A Magic 8 Ball, whatever. (Laughter.) If I could feel her aura. I just — (laughter) — I just don’t have anything. I just don’t have anything to share on that.

(Laughs.) Gosh, you guys are making me laugh now. (Laughter.)

Is it respectful?

No, it's not. Guess what, SNL mocked you repeatedly in 2020. No one has to take you seriously. No one owes that to you. The spokesperson and the press were being silly.

It really wasn't the end of the world. And you should be glad they were talking about things that don't have anything to do with you (you've never spoken or written of crystal balls) and not about your 'medical' belief on AIDS, for example. I think, honestly, that will kill your campaign if the press decides to go there. It's all in the head, right, Marianne? Just need that positive thinking -- COURSE OF MIRACLES and all that. You're one of Oprah's spiritual advisors -- so was Jeremiah Wright. Don't think either of you have earned all that much respect in the eyes of many Americans.

You want respect? Get your act together and issue an actual statement and not a Tweet. Issue it and post at your campaign website.

Marianne Williamson 2024 | Official Presidential Campaign Website

Create a new beginning. Support profound, positive, peaceful change in America for generations to come. Marianne...

If you don't take yourself seriously, don't whine that others refuse to.

Again, I could assemble a statement based upon media reports. But that's not my job. And let me make clear for this presidential cycle: I don't care.

"I'm ignored." "I'm shunted to the side." "I'm . . ." Just shut up. Every presidential election cycle I have wasted my time treating everyone equal. Even handsy John Edwards got treated equal until he dropped out and then I noted it wasn't a surprise that he'd cheat on Elizabeth. While he was in the race, I hinted but never wrote about the pass that he seemed to think I would enjoy and that he seemed to think was how you 'reward' a donor. I was not impressed and, in real life, I wasn't silent. Told Elizabeth she needed to lock him in the backyard and put him on a leash.

I'm done with pathetic candidates who say they want to be president but go a whole week or two without a single press release, video or even Tweet. I'm sick of having to dig around to include your campaign when we note other presidential campaigns -- usually daily in the snapshots.

I'm done. And I'm also done covering everything equally.

We're in the midst of a war on LGBTQ+ people. Saturday, I believe it was Saturday, some vets for Trump sent a press release. In the past, I would've posted it. I would've seen it as information people needed to be aware of. I'm not there now. Donald attacked the LGBTQ+ community.

Done with it.

Don't care about your Libertarian campaigns. Done with those. (The only exception being Adam Kokesh. He did so much with regards to Iraq that I will always note him.)

Don't care about any Jill Stein campaign. What a loser.

We were supposed to, for example, infer that presidential candidate was against wars -- infer since neither she nor her campaign -- in 2012 or 2016 -- could note the ongoing wars.

I'm not interested in your fake assery. If I do start to cover a 2024 campaign and they start fake assing, I'm done.

Not going to cover any WSWS candidate because they don't run serious campaigns. If you're not talking about real issues and trying to get them into the campaign conversation by using your own media platform, I'm not wasting time doing it for you.

I've had with these lazy candidates that I'm expected to coddle and baby just because I believe in fairness.

Done.

It's over.

Run a real campaign if you want to be covered. Jill Steins, Dario Hunters, et al, you can continue to waste your own time but I'll be damned if I'm going to let you ever again waste mine. You whine very good after the fact, you just don't know how to run.

If Howie Hawkins runs, we'll note it.

He ran a real campaign in 2020. And find one Green Party candidate that has ever done what he did after the election.

Disappear?

No, that's what all the others did.

Howie has spent every week raising real issues on YOUTUBE. He continued his campaign channel and has not tried to play like he's the little brother of the Democratic Party. He's addressed real issues and he's done that at least once a week -- sometimes more than that. If the Green Party ever expects to get anywhere in the United States, it needs to have that kind of drive.

Marianne's starting out a joke. It doesn't help that Krystal Ball felt the need to spit on everyone while screaming, "GROW UP!" You first, Krystal, you first. People like her never grasp how their drama and flame wars impact their candidate and impact how people see the candidate.

"Is it about any woman who speaks out of turn."

Marianne's quoted saying that and insisting that she's running as a woman.

Huh?

Were you previously non-binary? How else would you, a cis gender woman, run for office if not as a woman?

I can't wrap my functional brain around your vast stupidity.

It appears she just kept throwing around the term "woman" because she wanted to draw attention to the fact that while others would take on a political rival for office, she's going to be petty and go after an underling. If that's not the case, that's why you issue a full statement in text form, so that if you're words are misconstrued -- intentionally or accidentally, your supporters can find out exactly what you were saying.

You clearly jumped the gun announcing a campaign that is non-functional at present. Stop embarrassing yourself on the national stage -- meaning: Get your act together or drop out of the race.

I thought you were embarrassing, Marianne. I've just been told, as I dictate this, that on your campaign site on "Issues," you don't even have war listed. Or peace. Because you're a [insert curse word of choice here] idiot.

I have no interest in your race at all. The US has been starting wars for decades now and not finishing them. If you can't address that, you're not fit to run as the 'alternative' to Joe Biden -- Joe who at least ended the Afghanistan War.

If you need another perspective on Marianne, you can refer to THE VANGUARD clip below.

Gavin and Zac are trying to make her happen. I'm not. If she wants to get her act together and actually run a real campaign, she might be of value. I'm not aware of how her whining "I am woman" in that inept manner is helping anyone. Is she calling out the collapse of reproductive rights? No. Is she offering a way out of these forever wars? No. She's wasting her time.

Let's note her Tweet.

First off, I'm not sure that selective editing of the spokesperson words qualifies as 'respectful.' But let's note her defender. She might seem like kind of a joke but so did --

Who do you think your audience is? I didn't vote for Reagan and I didn't vote for Donald. Nor would I ever. So telling me "seriously" that she could be another Donald or Ronnie isn't winning me to your side, they weren't qualified.

Second, Ronald Reagan wasn't "a retired cowboy movie star." As an actor, you're your most famous role. That's not a cowboy. On film, it's BEDTIME FOR BONZO or THE HASTY HEART -- and those aren't cowboys. Maybe HELLCATS OF THE NAVY. Certainly, the most watched film he made was his small role in Bette Davis' DARK VICTORY.

Third, when he ran for the presidency, he was a former two term governor of the state of California. Though not a film role, that's kind of a big credit to have on your resume.

Marianne's followers are coming off as stupid as she is.

And where there is stupidity, there is MTG.

Yesterday, Majorie Taylor Greene took her sad, unhappy and pathetic life (that divorce really isn't helping) to the floor of the House of Representatives to rage against drag queens because they are, after all, much, much prettier than her. Sweat dripping from the oversized pores of her pock marked face, Marjorie yelled that God didn't make mistakes. Prior the emergence of Marjorie Taylor Greene on the public stage, I would've agreed with that statement. Now? I mean, look at her. Poor thing. If God doesn't make mistakes, Marjorie, what was your marriage? And if you're so enthralled with the words of the Bible, why are you divorcing? Doesn't that make you an adulteress, Marjorie? That is what Matthew 5: 31 through 32 says. And, Marjorie, isn't the Bible very clear on what happens to adulteresses? Stoning, I believe. Am I wrong, Marjorie?

You want to bring your interpretation of religion into America's House of Representatives? Fine. Let me know when to show up with rocks and pass them out to your peers so they can stone you. It's what God wants - right, Marjorie?

I expect Marjorie to be a good little Christian soldier and stand there patiently while Lauren Boebert and Marjorie's other fellow Christian illiterates take the time to stone her.

The Bible is not a buffet, Marjorie. If you're going to be a strict interpreter of it then live by the page, die by the page.

Of course, she won't.

She's a hypocrite who wants mercy for herself but the harshest punishment for anyone else. I need to know who the fools are that keep voting this monster into Congress. She's not representing you and she's not working for you. If you honestly embrace the hate she's preaching, you better grasp that the country long ago passed you by.

The following sites updated: