This week, we slip into gothic melodrama with Neil Jordan’s 1994 movie Interview With The Vampire. Is it a good adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1976 novel? How does it change the ways vampires are treated in the popular culture? Has Kirsten Dunst ever been better than this?

Content warning: violence, violence against animals, violence against children, blood and gore, nudity, fire and burning, slavery

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Join us next time for the beginning of Cruise’s biggest franchise: Brian de Palma’s 1996 spy thriller Mission: Impossible!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we finally get the full, authentic Tom Cruise Run in Sydney Pollack’s 1993 movie The Firm. Are we all encumbered by hospitality? Did John Grisham ever write about a ghost? What’s up with Nordic assassins in the ’90s?

Content warning: sexual assault, reference to sex work, gun violence

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Join us next time as we take a swing into gothic excess with Neil Jordan’s 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we prove that we can handle the truth in Rob Reiner’s 1992 movie A Few Good Men. Who is victorious over the Aaron Sorkin dialogue? What does the film have to say about the American military machine? Whatever happened to Noah Wyle?

Content warning: violence, murder, homophobic language, misogynistic language, cult activity, human trafficking, child abuse, domestic abuse, kidnapping, Scientology

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Join us next time as we continue our run of courtroom dramas with Sydney Pollack’s adaptation of John Grisham’s The Firm!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, the movie that’s often considered the first flop of Cruise’s career: Ron Howard’s Far and Away! Is the movie — or are the accents — as bad as we thought? How can a movie work at the highest and lowest levels, but kind of miss the middle? How do we make our peace with the big political choice that Howard makes?

Content warning: indigenous erasure, colonialism, physical violence, sex work, harm to animals

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Join us next time as we finally find out if Tom Cruise can handle the truth in Rob Reiner’s 1992 drama A Few Good Men!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, it’s Top Gun on the ground as Tony Scott returns with 1990’s Days of Thunder. Is this film as bad as its reputation? What happened to kill the era of the producer-led blockbuster? How does it feel to go back to the well?

Content warning: injury, trauma, sex work, sexual assault

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Join us next time as we begin the new year with Ron Howard’s sprawling romantic epic, Far and Away!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, things get grim with Oliver Stone’s 1989 anti-war biopic Born on the Fourth of July. Is Stone on the side of the angels? How does political criticism work in a film about a real person’s life? Has Willem Dafoe ever been less enjoyable?

Content warning: graphic violence, medical trauma, militarism, disability, sex work and sex workers, religious iconography and language, riots and civil disobedience

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Join us next time as we begin the 1990s with a return to Scott, Bruckheimer and Simpson — and introduce Nicole Kidman — with Days of Thunder!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we’re taking a swing at Oscar credibility with Barry Levinson’s 1988 movie Rain Man. Does the film treat its subject matter well? How badly has it aged? Can Cruise hold his own opposite a heavy-hitter like Hoffman?

Content warning: insensitive language related to Autism Spectrum Disorder, brief mentions of sex work

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Join us next time as we close out the ’80s and discuss Oliver Stone’s 1989 anti-war biopic Born on the Fourth of July.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we need a stiff drink after Roger Donaldson’s 1988 movie Cocktail. How does a film get such a terrible reputation? Is there anything more ’80s than a protagonist who really, really wants to start a franchise? What did The Beach Boys do to deserve “Kokomo”?

Content warning: excess consumption of alcohol, suicide

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Join us next time as we watch the most successful Cruise movie of all time — according to the Academy, at least — Barry Levinson’s 1988 drama Rain Man.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

This week, we invent the legacyquel with Martin Scorsese’s 1986 movie The Color Of Money. How does Tom Cruise match up against the legendary Paul Newman? Does Scorsese’s technical excellence leave space for narrative and theme? Is Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio the smartest female lead we’ve seen so far?

Content warning: physical assault

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Join us next time as we see Cruise’s movie-star persona turned to eleven in Roger Donaldson’s 1988 romantic comedy Cocktail.

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.

For this month’s Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, our listeners voted for an all-time favorite: Dirty Dancing! We spent almost two hours discussing the development, production and story of this all-time classic film, including its soundtrack. To hear the whole episode, visit Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

Thanks for listening! For bonus shows, extra content and more, support The Last Star In Hollywood on Patreon.com/LastStarPod!

The Last Star In Hollywood is an independent podcast produced by Elizabeth Rae and Alastair Stephens.

Copyright © 2023 The Last Star In Hollywood. All Rights Reserved.