You won’t trick Tom Cruise into naming his four favorite films
As is his wont, Tom Cruise diplomatically champions all cinema rather than come out in favor of any one film
Aux News Tom Cruise
Cinema diplomat Tom Cruise loves movies, but don’t ask him which ones, because he will not tell you. Cruise spoke with everyone’s favorite film rating site, Letterboxd, on the red carpet for Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One, but if you’re hoping he participated in a classic “four favorites,” think again. “Sorry he didn’t do one bestie,” Letterboxed revealed on Twitter. “‘Mission completed,’ but wasn’t accomplished.”
That may be because Cruise doesn’t actually like to tell people what his favorite films are. In a recently resurfaced interview that appears to be circa 2018, the actor refused to be pinned down into naming a single most memorable moviegoing experience. “Boy, that’s hard to say because I can basically look at my whole life in terms of films I’ve seen,” he said in part. “Drama. Comedy. That’s what I love. I love the cinema experience. I prefer it with a packed audience.”
Cruise expressed similar vague sentiments when asked on the MI:7 carpet if he’d be seeing Barbie or Oppenheimer first. The answer is Oppenheimer, but ideally, he’ll see both with—you guessed it—“a packed audience.” In a video posted to Twitter, he explained, “I used to plan my days where you’d start out early in the morning and you’d go to movies all day, and I like doing that. I’d go from one cinema to the next.” Just don’t ask him what he’s seeing!
What Cruise is willing to say is how long he’s been passionate about the business. “I remember being four years old, thinking, ‘This is what I want to do. I want to go make movies. I wanna travel the world, I wanna make movies,” he told Letterboxd. “What’s amazing is that, as the years go on, now I’m working with Paul Newman. I was able to work with [Martin] Scorsese. These legends that I studied their films. That was my education. I knew movies before I started making them.”
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I don’t think he’s being cagey; I think he just literally can’t even remember all of the movies he’s seen. The guy’s a huge movie buff and has probably seen more movies than all of us combined.I also kinda feel like having favorites of anything is just dumb, honestly. At one point in my life I could say my favorite all-time films were Fight Club and Memento. I wouldn’t say the same thing now, though, so how can they be “all-time” favorites? …actually scratch that: Dead Alive is an all-time favorite and if that ever changes please put me in the cold, cold ground because I’ve clearly gotten…THE BITE!
“The guy’s a huge movie buff and has probably seen more movies than all of us combined.”Yeah and he can heal people just by touching them! Christ, what a weird thing to say.
“Christ, what a weird thing to say.”
Not really.
Why is it a weird thing to say? He’s said in interviews he watches a movie a day, sneaks out to see every movie that releases in theaters, etc. I’m being hyperbolic obviously but the dude is a huge movie fan.
Probably a member of OSA (Office of Special Affairs) Scientology’s “dirty tricks” division, known to troll the internet and drop “positivity” into comments.
Point of order, it wasn’t weird for Christ to say that.
Favorite movie: Sneakers. And that will never change.
The way I think of it now is that there’s a Top Shelf of movies in my mind. I consider everything on that shelf to be perfect, or at least perfectly itself, and ranking or comparing them is impossible. Is Killer of Sheep ‘better’ than Deadpool? It’s a meaningless question.
You could have your own Criterion Collection closet!
I listed Dead Alive in my VIS 201 class audition (because they made us audition). I even listed Last Crusade but my professor immediately went into a tangent about how Spielberg was overhyped schmaltz, so Dead Alive (and maybe Amelie) definitely got me that slot.
My top-four on Letterboxd has never been and will never be my four favorite movies. It’s just four movies I like that I feel like spotlighting at the moment for whatever reason.
I don’t begrudge anyone for saying they have a favourite movie (or novel, or song, etc.), but at the same time I do think it’s a weird question to ask. Movies all do such different things and suit different moods. There are times I’d want to see ‘Groundhog Day’ more than any other movie in the world, but I wouldn’t say it’s a better film than ‘Moonlight’.
The Blues Brothers and Aliens for me.It’s also when you see it as well that can determine your favourites. When you’re twelve, quite a lot of things can be the best thing ever that otherwise might not be!
I’m not sure I believe he’s seen a movie in the past 30 years. Mr. Cruise, for a dollar, name a movie you’re not in. Any movie you’re not in.
I really want to see those weird films L. Ron Hubbard directed in the 70s while riddled with amphetamines but never released. There’s a science fiction one that sounds absolutely bonkers, and if it’s anything like his absolutely terrible “Revolt in the Stars” “screenplay”… oof.Xenu pried himself erect with his cane
and limped to the bar. He was smiling, more
cheerful than he had been for days. He took
down a bottle and began to prepare drinks.
Chi gloomily followed him to the bar.
He let out a deep sigh, ”We are crashed.”
Xenu uttered a short vicious laugh and
continued to pour drinks. ”Not so, my
friend. The game has not ended. It has only
now begun!”
Not a movie, but there’s a great “Trainwreckords” episode about the all-but-forgotten album Hubbard wrote with Edgar Winter:
Ah the Power of SOURCE!
Remember when Xenu used to post on the AV Club?** END TRANSMISSION **
can someone see if they did an article about this same tweet back in 2018?
Battlefield EarthThe MasterTop Gun: MaverickSalo
I don’t think a Scientologist would like The Master (even though it’s great) because the sad pathetic Philip Seymour Hoffman character is based on Hubbard.
So fucking what? Having “favourite” entertainment is fucking childish.
Enough with the softball interview bullshit; get this man on Hot Ones. I want to see that crafty elf Sean Evans gently guide Cruise into the formless depths of Da Bomb Beyond Insanity.
It really, really is the best interview format.
I’m always surprised at who handles the wings well. As I recall, pasty Englishman Daniel Radcliffe was not particularly bothered by the heat.
British lads are raised on extra spicy curries washed down with pints of lager.
“So Tom, since you’re probably not on Instagram, for this next segment I’m gonna ask you questions about these old auditing session forms from the 90s.”
“This is a segment we call ‘Explain That Thetan’”
really hope they get him at some point. it’s gotta be on his radar.
Are Scientologists allowed hot sauce? For all we know, the capsaicin clogs up their third eye or some bullshit.
No, it opens their third eye. Quite violently in some cases.
I assume he’s into cult films.
I think that’s Clear.
Diplomatic non-answers are great at Thanksgiving when you’re trying not to rile up your drunk racist uncle, but they’re really boring on the celebrity interview circuit.
I remember this coming up when he was interviewed on the Nerdist Podcast several years ago. He wouldn’t name anything, basically saying he loved all movies.The Nerdist trio briefly discussed this afterward, with Chris Hardwick essentially saying that it was a diplomatic answer because Cruise can or may work with everyone. Why ruffle feathers?When you’re trying to have a real conversation with someone, though, it feels dodgy or hollow. Like at that point the person no longer wants to have a conversation.
He could name films where the stars have since died.Maybe he should’ve made a film with Shelly Miscavige when he had the chance.
That’s funny. I’d love if he started rattling off silent-era films because there’s no chance he’d be working with a star, writer, director, etc.
“The films of silent movie star Harrison Ford.”https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Ford_(silent_film_actor)
What about Where’s Shelly Miscavige? Will he answer that?
“I remember being four years old, thinking, ‘This is what I want to do. I want to go make movies. And hopefully help legitimise the dangerously coercive pseudo-religion of a tax-cheating maniac, but mostly make movies.’”
Oh, I know movies. They feel like a bag of sand.
I genuinely do not believe that Tom Cruise has seen a film.
This is the second film news story this week about “no comment” replies to interview questions. I encourage you to keep it up. See how many you can get past your chatbot overlords.