Ten Movies: Recent Episodes
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Welcome to Ten Movies, the podcast that digs into the work of one actor through 10 of their most popular movies.
THIS SEASON: An in-depth look into the movies of The Rock, including Fast Five, San Andreas and more!
So many iconic Tom Cruise movies one could choose from. Why the 2017 flop ‘The Mummy? Wouldnt it have been better to just watch the Brendan Fraser version for the fifth time?
But it has become so rare for Tom Cruise to star in a commercial failure. The man is a certified box office draw - he makes the great big movies America loves. Sadly, though, America did not love ‘The Mummy. Not only did it lose a pile of money and receive - quite justifiably - critical derision, it single-handedly tanked Universal Pictures planned shared universe series rebooting classic movie monsters and teaming them up, Avengers-style. Though upon reflection, that seems like a bad idea, so perhaps we cant lay all the blame at the mummys feet.
But indeed, at least, the film is a fun romp. Or, perhaps, a terrifying thrill ride? Or the sort of high-octane action movie for which Tom Cruise is so well known? Unfortunately, its a bit of a mish-mash of all those things, switching from one to another without rhyme or reason.
It does, however, feature a lot of Tom Cruise doing that thing where he runs with his knees up high - and a couple of times Russell Crowe comes on screen to explain the plot, so thats all right.
Whether he's running from aliens, infiltrating enemy lairs, or breaking the sound barrier, Tom Cruise's characters are always the best of the best. Here he's a hotshot young attorney, fresh out of law school, the best of the best. And the boutique Memphis law firm that hires him away from Wall Street? It turns out THEY WORK FOR THE MOB! Dang, it.
Luckily he sorts it all out, via a highly convoluted plot that requires him to run all over Memphis in his suit, being pursued by an albino assassin and a menacing, gun-toting Wilford Brimley. At the same time, Holly Hunter flies to the Cayman Islands and photocopies files at a furious clip. You'd think that part would be dull, but Holly Hunter somehow makes it exciting.
If you like a tense thriller, ‘The Firm' will be right up your alley. It's a white knuckler. Brian and Hemal both enjoyed it - and felt that Tom Cruise was going beyond his usual skill set (running! grinning! running!) to give us an honest-to-goodness character.
Even better, this movie is chock-a-block full of terrific character actors, from Holly Hunter's sassy working-class broad with a heart of gold to David Strathairn's crookedly wise ex-con to Wilford Brimley with his gun and a scowl. And, of course, the inimitable Gene Hackman as Tom Cruise's charmingly corrupt mentor wreathed in doom.
On the one hand, one regrets the recent, Twilight-era trend towards making cinematic vampires moody and emo, instead of soulless monsters of the terrifying dark. On the other hand, it's possible to lean a little too hard into the horrible - ‘Interview with the Vampire' is a seriously dark movie. Way darker than you'd expect a mid-90s Hollywood blockbuster starring the likes of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt to be.
In the previous Tom Cruise movies we've watched this season the Last Great American Movie Star has been in his usual mode: the confident, handsome leading man righting wrongs and battling evildoers. Here, though, he plays a melodramatic, campy vampire in a bad wig who has a thing for Brad Pitt. And he's not even the lead!
Hemal and Brian agreed that this wasn't necessarily a movie we enjoyed watching, but has a certain weight to it. It's weird, genuinely horrifying in many (many) places and campy in others, but it has a sort of integrity - these fellas set out to make a for-real old-school vampire movie, that's for sure.
Two titans of popular American cinema, together for the first time! We are referring, of course, to Max von Sydow and Tim Blake Nelson. Ha! We joke. 'Minority Report', released in 2002, marks the first time that famed director Steven Spielberg worked with Tom Cruise. (Though Max von Sydow and Tim Blake Nelson do appear in the movie, the latter as a delightfully weird future prison warden who plays the pipe organ and spouts aphorisms.)
'Minority Report' concerns itself with the lofty concept of free will. In the not-so-distant future, police can detect murders before they happen, thanks to the telepathic abilities of the “pre-cognitives”, a trio of bald people floating in goo. Is this arrangement moral? Is it fallible? We'll find out when Tom Cruise, the lead detective in charge of the “pre-crime” unit, is himself marked as a would-be murderer.
The movie was well received upon release and seems to have gone on to achieve a degree of even more positive retrospective appraisal. It's certainly a plotful film - you really have to pay attention to this one. Brian and Hemal did not entirely agree on whether that was a good thing, but they did both appreciate Tom Cruise zipping around the future being chased by proto-fascist police and feeling sad about his dead son.
You want the truth? You can't handle the truth! No truth-handler, you. Bah! I deride your truth-handling abilities!
It's all here in ‘A Few Good Men', the iconic military legal thriller courtroom drama. Tom Cruise as a cocky young hotshot lawyer! Demi Moore as an idealistic, impassioned career military attorney (who, as the only woman in a world of competent men, is herself strangely incompetent)! Jack Nicholson as the menacing, authoritarian Marine colonel who ordered the Code Red! You're goddamn right he did!
Hemal and Brian went long on this one. There's a lot to unpack! At its heart, ‘A Few Good Men' is less a mystery or a legal thriller than an extended philosophical exercise, putting the classical liberalism of virtue ethics against cold-eyed utilitarianism if you like that sort of thing. Mostly, though, we had a lot to say about Kevin Bacon's haircut.
If you haven't seen 'Days of Thunder', it's basically the exact plot of 'Top Gun', except all the airplanes are racecars and the story is significantly slower and more ponderous.
Tom Cruise leans heavily into type here, playing a cocky young hotshot racecar driver who is (say it with us) the best of the best. With the help of Robert Duvall, the world's greatest pit crew chief, Tom Cruise wins a lot of races and dates Nicole Kidman, but then he gets in a wreck and is sad, but then he's the best of the best again. A simple, age-old tale, perhaps, but it takes a long time to get through because they show a LOT of car races.
Released in 1990, 'Days of Thunder' reunited Tom Cruise with Tony Scott, director of 'Top Gun' and producer Jerry Bruckheimer for a legendarily troubled production. There was also a Mello-Yello promotional advertising campaign.
Brian and Hemal had mixed feelings about the film. Brian objected to all the interminable car racing, while Hemal was more upset that they got the pace car rules wrong. Either way, you should probably listen to this episode.
Is there a more iconic Tom Cruise movie than 'Top Gun'? If there is, it's 'Mission: Impossible', the film that launched his longest-running and best-loved franchise - and steered him from the dramatic roles of the 80s and early 90s to the high-octane action films of his later career.
The movie was released in 1996 and directed by Brian De Palma, which struck Hemal and Brian as an odd choice, given the slightly creepy and weirdly intimate tone he brings, a direction very much at odds with the later, glossier entries in the Mission: Impossible series.
But the template for those future movies is all here from the get-go: the constant betrayals and counter-betrayals, Tom Cruise going rogue, the iconic action set pieces, Ving Rhames, and, of course, the stupid masks they're always putting on. Rather than the generically serviceable 90s action-thriller it might have been, 'Mission: Impossible' is actually a strong opening to one of the biggest (and most lucrative) movie franchises around.
If you're a fan of strong-jawed confident men making American military hegemony look fun and awesome, then Top Gun is the movie for you. Most of the time they're flying their cool fighter jets, but sometimes they're having intense but controlled confrontations in their underwear.
But whether the boys are in each other's faces making terse statements, playing shirtless volleyball, or going Mach 2 with their hair on fire, one thing is for sure: Maverick is the best of the best. He wins the dogfights, he drives the coolest motorcycle and he gets the ladies - even when his generally insufferable behavior gives one reason to question the ladies' judgment.
Released in 1986 and directed by Tony Scott, 'Top Gun' is a genre- and era-defining classic, so beloved by moviegoers that they made another one, like, 20 years later. Also starring Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, and Val Kilmer as the unforgettably cool, jaw-clenching Iceman.
Every season the Ten Movies podcast picks one actor and watches ten of their most iconic movies. Join your delightful hosts Hemal and Brian for a brand-new season featuring The Last Great American Movie Star - Tom Cruise himself. The confidence. The boyish charm. The disappointing haircuts. It's all here!
This season we will be covering: Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, Days of Thunder, Interview with the Vampire, Minority Report, and so much more. (Cocktail, perhaps?)
This season of 10 Movies will come out Tuesdays this Fall!
Brian and Hemal bid farewell to the Dwayne Johnson season of Ten Movies, sharing the insights they have gleaned into the dark quotidian heart of America during this season's journey. More importantly, they rank the ten movies from this season and disagree strongly on a definitive ordering of The Rock's movies.
What did we watch this season? San Andreas, The Scorpion King, Fast Five, Hercules, Red Notice, Moana, Central Intelligence, Jumanji, Rampage, and Hobbs & Shaw.
And what did we learn? The Rock's perch upon the loftiest heights of American consumer culture is wide but shallow; a carefully-calibrated thing that traffics heavily in explosions, fistfights, car chases, idealized masculinity, and a studied ideological vagueness. Yet behind it, a meek faintheartedness - for all the movies he makes (2.15 feature films a year; we did the math) and the untold cultural and commercial power he wields, Dwayne Johnson is deeply wary of doing anything that might cause even the slightest brow-furrowing among his vast consumer segments.
But then again, who are we to fault him? Do the explosions, fistfights, and car chases not delight us? Are we not entertained?
Whether you're a regular listener or a first-time visitor, this is a not-to-miss episode. And if all the highbrow prattle isn't to your liking, just skip ahead to the rankings.
As Dwayne Johnson's cultural appreciation exceeds even his legendary physical might, he breaks free from the confines of the Fast & Furious franchise to team up with Jason Statham and fight the evil robot, Idris Elba.
Technically the movie is called ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw'. How they exercised enough restraint to avoid adding “Brought to You By Mountain Dew Code Red” we will never know. Of course, the Fast & Furious movies concern the exploits of a band of action heroes who do crimes, drive fast cars, and talk about how they are a family. The Rock first joined the series back in ‘Fast Five', but word on the street is that he and series producer / main star Vin Diesel get along less than famously, so this spinoff film is a way for the studio execs to have their cake and eat it too: Dwayne Johnson, reliable draw that he is, stays in the Fast & Furious-iverse but doesn't have to do movies with Vin Diesel, preventing the two from clashing over who is bigger, balder and more ethnically ambiguous.
Dwayne Johnson plays Hobbs, a great big tough guy federal agent turned outlaw, who teams up with Shaw, played by Jason Statham, a great big tough guy who was always an outlaw, and they run around battling evildoers who are chasing Shaw's sister, played by Vanessa Kirby, because she has ingested some sort of virus, maybe? Or nanotech? It's not critical.
Hemal, of course, is extremely loyal to the Fast & Furious movies, largely because the late Paul Walker was so darn handsome. Brian could barely finish this one, so if our hosts disagreeing upsets you, you have been warned.
The Rock doesn't just fight giant monsters in this one, he fights giant monsters and has an enormous monkey for a best friend. Hard to see how it could miss.
If you're a Gen Xer, you may remember the beloved arcade game on which 'Rampage' was based. They've added some stuff, but the story is the same - giant mutant animals fighting and smashing up a city.
In the movie, Dwayne Johnson plays a primatologist - his usual turn as a strong, silent, confident, supremely competent ex-military guy. Due to the machinations of some sort of evil biotech company, his money friend George is mutated into King-Kong proportions, along with a couple of other animals. The Rock and an attractive lady scientist must track the mutant animals to Chicago, whence the evil biotech company has summoned them, in defiance of all logic.
'Rampage' came out in 2018, and was directed by Brad Peyton, who you may remember from such Dwayne Johnson vehicles as 'San Andreas' - a reactionary disaster epic we reviewed earlier in the season - and 'Journey 2: The Mysterious Island' - a low-budget kid's thriller that is honestly not worth the time it takes to watch. The Rock, in his desire to produce multiple feature films a year, has a notable fondness for directors like Peyton and Rawson Marshall Thurber. They may not bring much of an artistic perspective to the project, but they know how to produce content.
The Rock isn't just immense, he's charming and funny, cinematic gifts on display in this family-friendly action-comedy. Worth your time? Hemal and Brian agreed, for once.
In "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," a band of mismatched high school students are sucked into an evil video game, where they inhabit the bodies of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan. Also one of the Jonas Brothers, eventually.
Much of the movie's comedy derives from this conceit - a nerdy 17-year-old suddenly finds himself in the body of a gigantic action hero. The Rock pulls this off with a confident joie de vrie, as do his co-stars, especially Jack Black, channeling a queen bee cheerleader
Technically this is the third Jumanji movie, building on the oddball two Robin Williams movies from the 90s - Jumanji and Zathura, but the filmmakers have wisely elected to mostly starting from scratch, keeping only the outward trappings of the earlier films.
Hemal and Brian, your beloved co-hosts, have been bitterly divided on the cinematic works they've watched for this season of Ten Movies, but Jumanji was a rare point of concurrence.
Teaming up with Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson tries his mighty hand at slapstick comedy. Is it an instant classic or a tonally incoherent mess? Brian and Hemal have your answer.
Kevin Hart is a boring middle-class accountant and The Rock is a weirdly naive man-child who is also somehow a merciless CIA operative. Because Hart was nice to him in high school, The Rock gets him involved in a confusing high-stakes game of murder and subterfuge. Presumably, someone is trying to sell the top-secret codes to ruthless international terrorists, because in these kinds of movies someone is always trying to sell the top-secret codes to ruthless international terrorists.
Hard to say “these kinds of movies”, though, because ‘Central Intelligence' is all over the map. It's a spoof, it's an action-comedy, it's a buddy-comedy, it's a lowbrow gross-out satire; it's a great many things, possibly to the detriment of its coherence as a cinematic work.
Released in 2016, this marks the third film Dwayne Johnson has made with director Rawson Marshall Thurber, a man who relentlessly shoots for the middle. But at least The Rock is doing something more than his usually stoic hero routine here, putting in a largely comic turn as a foil to Kevin Hart's protagonist. Did we buy it? Listen and see.
Dwayne Johnsons most beloved role as an animated Polynesian demigod - if, that is, you are a nine-year-old girl or the father of one. But did Hemal like it?
In a bit of a departure from our usual fare, this week were looking at an animated film. But for many Americans (ie - nine-year-old girls and their parents), this may very well be the movie The Rock is best known for. Released in 2016 by everyones favorite multinational entertainment conglomerate, the Walt Disney Corporation, Moana tells the story of a plucky young girl venturing into the forbidden and dangerous seas of a fictional Polynesian ocean world to save her beloved island village from a mysterious corruption.
In another departure, unable to rely on his mighty physical presence to do the heavy lifting for him, The Rock is forced to bring depth, charm, and interiority to a lovable but flawed character through voice acting. Who knew?
In addition to Dwayne Johnsons vocal talents in the role of Maui - who antagonizes but eventually befriends and aids our young hero, Moana - the movie also features some absolute best-in-class musical numbers from Lin Manuel Miranda.
A fun-filled romp with beloved A-list stars or a soulless exercise in branded entertainment products? Brian and Hemal discuss - you decide.
Released almost as a surprise directly onto Netflix in 2021, Red Notice stars Dwayne Johnson as a heroic federal agent (when does the man NOT play a heroic federal agent?) who is forced to team up with Ryan Reynolds as a smarmy art thief. Together they battle various antagonists - chiefly Gal Gadot, who does a lot of twirling around in a fancy dress and jumping out of windows.
The movie was written, directed, and produced by Rawson Marshall Thurber - his third time working with The Rock (he was also responsible for Central Intelligence and Skyscraper). Despite the comical implausibility of his name, Thurber seems to have his thumb on the pulse of the American cultural zeitgeist - giving the people what they want, some might say, or perhaps delivering tepid lowest common denominator fare. It's a fine line, friends.
Another Dwayne Johnson movie about swords and wizards? Yeah, but this one is straight-up terrible. This week, Brian and Hemal watch 'Hercules' - and they are not pleased about it.
Director Brett Ratner seems to specialize in the lowest common denominator filmmaking, and this is certainly that. 'Hercules' features one inspired act of casting - get the biggest, mightiest actor to play the iconically biggest and mightiest hero of Greek myth - but not much else.
An almost cynical exercise in giving the audience nothing to challenge or interest them, the movie strips the original tale of all its darkness and emotional weight, takes the story out of the realm of the supernatural, and then - an insult to injury - doesn't even give us cool fight scenes.
There's a host of other great actors on board, including Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Rebecca Ferguson, and John Hurt, but none of them are given much to do other than shout corny dialogue and be indistinguishable from one another. Even The Rock is wasted here, as the movie is interested solely in his physique, not his performance or humor. The dude doesn't even get a sword.
Fast Five, released to cheering moviegoers in 2011, is The Rock's debut in the Fast and Furious franchise, where he towers as the only man bigger, balder, and more ethnically ambiguous than Vin Diesel. Engines on, family.
The fifth installment in the ever-escalating Fast & Furious franchise was directed by Justin Lin, who presumably understood what was being asked of him. In addition to Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel, the movie stars a veritable menagerie of beloved actors, including Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Tyrese Gibson, and Ludacris. Some of them are mostly only famous for being in the Fast & Furious movies, but even that is a significant commitment since they make a new one of these every year.
As has often been the case during this season of Ten Movies, Brian and Hemal were somewhat divided on the merits of the film, but Brian did agree to speak as respectfully as possible of Paul Walker, who has passed on from this mortal realm, but not from Hemal's heart or the inside of her locker.
Also, it turns out that you need to be well-steeped in the extensive lore of the Fast & Furious cinematic universe to truly appreciate this movie. Who knew? So if you're thinking you'll just jump right in and understand what all these emotionally inert people are doing and how they relate to one another, you have another thing coming, friend.
Swords! Wizards! Loincloths! Dwayne Johnson's 2002 debut feature film is a D&D game set to a heavy metal soundtrack and if you are a 14-year-old boy, or simply have a taste for the simple yet earnest cultural products that might appeal to a 14-year-old boy, then The Scorpion King may be for you. After watching The Scorpion King, Hemal and Brian (the co-hosts of Ten Movies) both agreed that, whatever its faults, the movie was a romp.
Those faults include the movie's dismissive treatment of its (lone) woman character, though we could not, in good conscience, object her to skimpy costume, as no one is wearing a whole lot in this movie.
The Scorpion King was directed by Chuck Russell, and stars Steven Brand, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and the late Michael Clarke Duncan, in addition to Dwayne Johnson. Also, spoiler alert, The Rock has a full head of hair in this movie, so if you are used to thinking of him as canonically bald, as we are, it's a bit of a shock.
Dwayne Johnson rescues his family while a million buildings fall down.
The first episode of the Dwayne Johnson 10 Movies season focuses on the 2015 release, San Andreas. In addition to the Rock, the film stars Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Archie Panjabi, and Paul Giamatti. It was directed by Brad Peyton and written by Carlton Cuse, with Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore receiving story credit.
San Andreas grossed $474 million worldwide.
Is it fun? Is it reactionary? Brian and Hemal get into it.
One iconic actor, ten of their most iconic movies. This season: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Join Hemal and Brian each week as they argue, have some laughs and reach startling insights about the dark, quotidien heart of America."