Ep. 101 – Tom Cruise: Part II (feat. Ritchie Filippi)

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today, we go back to where it all started: Tom Cruise! This time we explore the three of the four movies he made in between Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation. The films are Rock of Ages, Jack Reacher, and Oblivion. To do this, we bring on filmmaker and Gerard Butler enthusiast Ritchie Filippi to discuss these three kinda-sorta B-Sides. Filippi worked on Rock of Ages himself - in the role of travel coordinator - and tells us a couple of tales from the set. Also be sure to check out his film The Eve, now streaming on Roku and Vudu! We dive into Cruise’s voice in the rock musical, his stoic tenor in the crime thriller, and his sci-fi stiltedness in the sci-fi almost-epic. Additionally, we marvel at how far director Joseph Kosinski has come from the days of Tron: Legacy, we admire how Jack Reacher has aged, and we get nostalgic about those songs from the ‘80s. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!