We talk with Jay Elliott (Philosophy, Bard College) about RISKY BUSINESS! White boys off the lake, Tom Cruise, sexual anxiety, capitalism, authenticity, Hitchcock, and more! You know, Bill, there’s one thing I learned in all my years. Sometimes you just gotta say, “What the fuck, make your move.” Joel Goodson
Tag Archives: tom cruise
TOP GUN (1986)
We stuff into a tiny F14 cockpit with Sean Burns (WBUR’s The ARTery) and fly into the danger zone to discuss why Top Gun is a sports film that forges a new American myth with dazzling imagery and zero subtlety. We consider the view that Tom Cruise is America’s son and get into the trenches with KellyContinue reading “TOP GUN (1986)”
COLLATERAL (2004)
Join us and Katie Walsh (LA Times, Miami Nice) for one night in L.A. as we journey through deserted streets with a meek cabbie dreamer (Jamie Foxx) and his assassin fare (Tom Cruise). We discuss cities and alienation, indecision and action, order and chaos, psychopaths and empaths, coyotes and subways. We gush about Cruise andContinue reading “COLLATERAL (2004)”
EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)
It’s the holiday season, and what better way to start than with a veritable Christmas classic, Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut! We sit down with Carly Severn (KQED San Francisco) to discuss noble lies in relationships and society, Tom and Nicole’s challenging (and, ultimately destructive) performances, and the interrelations between power, anonymity, powerlessness,Continue reading “EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)”
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1996)
The cows are joined by friend Adam Kane to talk about Tom Cruise’s first outing as Ethan Hunt. We discuss what makes spy movies so appealing and fun, and situate the movie in the broader cultural context of the post-Cold War nineties. We explore the weird and wonderful career of Tom Cruise and how heContinue reading “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (1996)”
Cows in the Field 