• The Art Of Aleksey Pollack

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    The Art Of Aleksey Pollack
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    The Art Of Aleksey Pollack
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  • Forge Your Legacy in EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 With True College Football Gameplay

    May 29, 2025

    Enhanced Gameplay, Deeper Immersion in Fan-Favorite Modes, and 300+ Real-World Coaches Bring Players Authentic College Football Like Never Before

    REDWOOD CITY, Calif.----
    Electronic Arts Inc.and EA SPORTS™ today released the official reveal trailer and game details of EA SPORTS™ College Football 26, which delivers more than 2,700 new plays, thousands of real college athletes, and authentic coaching styles from more than 300 real-world coaches. From iconic traditions to heart-pounding road game environments at all 136 FBS schools, every day feels like game day. Fans can rise from high school recruit to Heisman legend in Road to Glory, or lead their dream program to dominance in Dynasty mode when College Football 26 launches worldwide on July 10 for PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S.EA SPORTS Celebrates Enhanced Gameplay, Deeper Immersion in Fan-Favorite Modes, and 300+ Real-World Coaches Bring Players Authentic College Football Like Never Before in its Feature Reveal“The return of EA SPORTS College Football struck a chord with fans last year by capturing the heart of college football—its authenticity, passion, and unforgettable game day energy,” said Daryl Holt, SVP and Group GM, EA SPORTS. “With EA SPORTS College Football 26, we’ve deepened that experience, delivering more dynamic gameplay, vibrant stadium atmospheres, and modes that let players craft their own stories. From classic rivalries to the chase for championship glory, this game celebrates what fans love most about the sport and takes it to new heights.”College Football 26 empowers fans to strategize like never before with authentic college gameplay, delivering unmatched realism to prove their program’s dominance on the field. With over 2,700 new plays, thousands of athletes, and more than 300 real-world coaches bringing their true-to-life schemes, players can master enhanced offensive and defensive mechanics, execute new stunts and twists, and make dynamic substitutions when it counts. Dive into the action with these game-changing features:Over 300 Real-World Coaches: Suit up for Dan Lanning. Compete against Kirby Smart. Recruit as or against James Franklin. Go toe-to-toe with current coaches who bring distinctive playstyles to the field. Strategize like they would with their unique playbooks for a more authentic coaching experience.Expanded Player Types & Abilities: Recruit and develop athletes with 84 abilities and 10 new archetypes, giving you more ways to dominate on either side of the ball.Wear & Tear Everywhere: Manage fatigue and injuries dynamically with no need to pause the action. Customize the system to match your playstyle and save your stars for when it matters most.Foundational Football Advancements: Enhanced AI, dynamic play-calling adjustments, improved blocking and coverages plus new features like Dynamic Substitutions and custom zones give you more control on both sides of the ball, so you can show your opponent what your program is made of.From the roar of Death Valley to the lights in Tuscaloosa, the pageantry and chaos of college football Saturdays come alive with unprecedented depth. Be immersed in the authentic traditions, customized PA tracks, team-specific chants, and atmospheric upgrades that capture the pulse of every game.Next-Level Homefield Advantage: The revamped Stadium Pulse system introduces new crowd-based challenges like clock distortion, extreme screen shake, and rattled HUDs in rivalry and playoff games.More Like Saturday: With over 160 new school-specific chants, 10 new PA tracks including Metallica’s electric “Enter Sandman”, and tradition-rich visuals like Texas Tech’s Double T Saddle Monument and Coastal Carolina’s King of Turnovers, every school’s spirit is alive and unique.Broadcast & Commentary: Legendary voices return—Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, Desmond Howard, and David Pollack—bringing dynamic, situation-specific commentary tailored to your season.College Football 26 delivers an immersive experience with a variety of dynamic game modes that embody the spirit of college football. From building a legendary program in Dynasty to rising as a student-athlete in Road to Glory, each mode offers unique challenges and deep customization. Compete for playoff glory, assemble dream rosters, and navigate the modern landscape of college football with the following exciting modes:Dynasty: Build a coaching powerhouse from the ground up. Recruit based on location, fit your roster to your scheme, and navigate today’s college football world—from the high school pipeline to the transfer portal. Customize playbooks and staff archetypes, then chase glory in the expanded College Football Playoff with cross-play support in Online Dynasty across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation®5†. Keep your promises with all-new Dynamic Dealbreakers to avoid transfers and preserve team chemistry, and upload your program using advanced Team Builder customization tools.Road to Glory: The unmatched student-athlete experience returns. Start in high school, build your highlight tape, and secure offers from your top schools. Make key decisions about your academics, NIL opportunities, playing time, and even when to decommit. Rise to become a Heisman winner—and easily continue your football journey into the NFL inEA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 26.Road to the College Football Playoff: Compete across consoles in a new online progression format where every win matters. Represent your university or take over a powerhouse program, climb the polls, and earn your way into the playoff bracket.College Football Ultimate Team: Build your dream roster with Legends from the past and current college stars. Lead your Ultimate Team to greatness by taking on the competition in H2H matchups and themed challenges meant to put your skills to the test.Fans can pre-order their copy of EA SPORTS College Football 26 now or connect their football journeys with the EA SPORTS™ MVP Bundle on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S, which includes the deluxe editions of EA SPORTS College Football 26 and Madden NFL 26 with 3-day early access and an array of benefits across both titles‡.EA Play members can Bring Glory Home in EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 with the EA Play* 10-hour early access trial, starting July 7, 2025. Members also score member rewards including monthly College Football Loyalist Ultimate Team™ Packs, as well as receive 10% off EA digital content including pre-orders, game downloads, Season Passes, College Football Points, and DLC. For more information on EA Play please visit tuned for more on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube as College Football 26 news unfolds in the coming months.†Internet connection, all game updates, EA Account, and platform account required.
    ‡Conditions & restrictions apply. See for details.
    *Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details.For College Football 26 assets, visit: EAPressPortal.com.EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 is developed in Orlando, Florida and Madrid, Spain by EA Tiburon and will be available worldwide July 10 for PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S.About Electronic ArtsElectronic Artsis a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company develops and delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, mobile devices and personal computers.In fiscal year 2025, EA posted GAAP net revenue of approximately billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality brands such as EA SPORTS FC™, Battlefield™, Apex Legends™, The Sims™, EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ College Football, Need for Speed™, Dragon Age™, Titanfall™, Plants vs. Zombies™ and EA SPORTS F1®. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS FC, Battlefield, Need for Speed, Apex Legends, The Sims, Dragon Age, Titanfall, and Plants vs. Zombies are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. John Madden, NFL, and F1 are the property of their respective owners and used with permission.Category: EA Sports

    Erin Exum
    Director, Integrated CommsSource: Electronic Arts Inc.

    Multimedia Files:
    #forge #your #legacy #sports #college
    Forge Your Legacy in EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 With True College Football Gameplay
    May 29, 2025 Enhanced Gameplay, Deeper Immersion in Fan-Favorite Modes, and 300+ Real-World Coaches Bring Players Authentic College Football Like Never Before REDWOOD CITY, Calif.---- Electronic Arts Inc.and EA SPORTS™ today released the official reveal trailer and game details of EA SPORTS™ College Football 26, which delivers more than 2,700 new plays, thousands of real college athletes, and authentic coaching styles from more than 300 real-world coaches. From iconic traditions to heart-pounding road game environments at all 136 FBS schools, every day feels like game day. Fans can rise from high school recruit to Heisman legend in Road to Glory, or lead their dream program to dominance in Dynasty mode when College Football 26 launches worldwide on July 10 for PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S.EA SPORTS Celebrates Enhanced Gameplay, Deeper Immersion in Fan-Favorite Modes, and 300+ Real-World Coaches Bring Players Authentic College Football Like Never Before in its Feature Reveal“The return of EA SPORTS College Football struck a chord with fans last year by capturing the heart of college football—its authenticity, passion, and unforgettable game day energy,” said Daryl Holt, SVP and Group GM, EA SPORTS. “With EA SPORTS College Football 26, we’ve deepened that experience, delivering more dynamic gameplay, vibrant stadium atmospheres, and modes that let players craft their own stories. From classic rivalries to the chase for championship glory, this game celebrates what fans love most about the sport and takes it to new heights.”College Football 26 empowers fans to strategize like never before with authentic college gameplay, delivering unmatched realism to prove their program’s dominance on the field. With over 2,700 new plays, thousands of athletes, and more than 300 real-world coaches bringing their true-to-life schemes, players can master enhanced offensive and defensive mechanics, execute new stunts and twists, and make dynamic substitutions when it counts. Dive into the action with these game-changing features:Over 300 Real-World Coaches: Suit up for Dan Lanning. Compete against Kirby Smart. Recruit as or against James Franklin. Go toe-to-toe with current coaches who bring distinctive playstyles to the field. Strategize like they would with their unique playbooks for a more authentic coaching experience.Expanded Player Types & Abilities: Recruit and develop athletes with 84 abilities and 10 new archetypes, giving you more ways to dominate on either side of the ball.Wear & Tear Everywhere: Manage fatigue and injuries dynamically with no need to pause the action. Customize the system to match your playstyle and save your stars for when it matters most.Foundational Football Advancements: Enhanced AI, dynamic play-calling adjustments, improved blocking and coverages plus new features like Dynamic Substitutions and custom zones give you more control on both sides of the ball, so you can show your opponent what your program is made of.From the roar of Death Valley to the lights in Tuscaloosa, the pageantry and chaos of college football Saturdays come alive with unprecedented depth. Be immersed in the authentic traditions, customized PA tracks, team-specific chants, and atmospheric upgrades that capture the pulse of every game.Next-Level Homefield Advantage: The revamped Stadium Pulse system introduces new crowd-based challenges like clock distortion, extreme screen shake, and rattled HUDs in rivalry and playoff games.More Like Saturday: With over 160 new school-specific chants, 10 new PA tracks including Metallica’s electric “Enter Sandman”, and tradition-rich visuals like Texas Tech’s Double T Saddle Monument and Coastal Carolina’s King of Turnovers, every school’s spirit is alive and unique.Broadcast & Commentary: Legendary voices return—Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, Desmond Howard, and David Pollack—bringing dynamic, situation-specific commentary tailored to your season.College Football 26 delivers an immersive experience with a variety of dynamic game modes that embody the spirit of college football. From building a legendary program in Dynasty to rising as a student-athlete in Road to Glory, each mode offers unique challenges and deep customization. Compete for playoff glory, assemble dream rosters, and navigate the modern landscape of college football with the following exciting modes:Dynasty: Build a coaching powerhouse from the ground up. Recruit based on location, fit your roster to your scheme, and navigate today’s college football world—from the high school pipeline to the transfer portal. Customize playbooks and staff archetypes, then chase glory in the expanded College Football Playoff with cross-play support in Online Dynasty across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation®5†. Keep your promises with all-new Dynamic Dealbreakers to avoid transfers and preserve team chemistry, and upload your program using advanced Team Builder customization tools.Road to Glory: The unmatched student-athlete experience returns. Start in high school, build your highlight tape, and secure offers from your top schools. Make key decisions about your academics, NIL opportunities, playing time, and even when to decommit. Rise to become a Heisman winner—and easily continue your football journey into the NFL inEA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 26.Road to the College Football Playoff: Compete across consoles in a new online progression format where every win matters. Represent your university or take over a powerhouse program, climb the polls, and earn your way into the playoff bracket.College Football Ultimate Team: Build your dream roster with Legends from the past and current college stars. Lead your Ultimate Team to greatness by taking on the competition in H2H matchups and themed challenges meant to put your skills to the test.Fans can pre-order their copy of EA SPORTS College Football 26 now or connect their football journeys with the EA SPORTS™ MVP Bundle on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S, which includes the deluxe editions of EA SPORTS College Football 26 and Madden NFL 26 with 3-day early access and an array of benefits across both titles‡.EA Play members can Bring Glory Home in EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 with the EA Play* 10-hour early access trial, starting July 7, 2025. Members also score member rewards including monthly College Football Loyalist Ultimate Team™ Packs, as well as receive 10% off EA digital content including pre-orders, game downloads, Season Passes, College Football Points, and DLC. For more information on EA Play please visit tuned for more on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube as College Football 26 news unfolds in the coming months.†Internet connection, all game updates, EA Account, and platform account required. ‡Conditions & restrictions apply. See for details. *Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details.For College Football 26 assets, visit: EAPressPortal.com.EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 is developed in Orlando, Florida and Madrid, Spain by EA Tiburon and will be available worldwide July 10 for PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S.About Electronic ArtsElectronic Artsis a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company develops and delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, mobile devices and personal computers.In fiscal year 2025, EA posted GAAP net revenue of approximately billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality brands such as EA SPORTS FC™, Battlefield™, Apex Legends™, The Sims™, EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ College Football, Need for Speed™, Dragon Age™, Titanfall™, Plants vs. Zombies™ and EA SPORTS F1®. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS FC, Battlefield, Need for Speed, Apex Legends, The Sims, Dragon Age, Titanfall, and Plants vs. Zombies are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. John Madden, NFL, and F1 are the property of their respective owners and used with permission.Category: EA Sports Erin Exum Director, Integrated CommsSource: Electronic Arts Inc. Multimedia Files: #forge #your #legacy #sports #college
    NEWS.EA.COM
    Forge Your Legacy in EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 With True College Football Gameplay
    May 29, 2025 Enhanced Gameplay, Deeper Immersion in Fan-Favorite Modes, and 300+ Real-World Coaches Bring Players Authentic College Football Like Never Before REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and EA SPORTS™ today released the official reveal trailer and game details of EA SPORTS™ College Football 26, which delivers more than 2,700 new plays, thousands of real college athletes, and authentic coaching styles from more than 300 real-world coaches. From iconic traditions to heart-pounding road game environments at all 136 FBS schools, every day feels like game day. Fans can rise from high school recruit to Heisman legend in Road to Glory, or lead their dream program to dominance in Dynasty mode when College Football 26 launches worldwide on July 10 for PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S.EA SPORTS Celebrates Enhanced Gameplay, Deeper Immersion in Fan-Favorite Modes, and 300+ Real-World Coaches Bring Players Authentic College Football Like Never Before in its Feature Reveal“The return of EA SPORTS College Football struck a chord with fans last year by capturing the heart of college football—its authenticity, passion, and unforgettable game day energy,” said Daryl Holt, SVP and Group GM, EA SPORTS. “With EA SPORTS College Football 26, we’ve deepened that experience, delivering more dynamic gameplay, vibrant stadium atmospheres, and modes that let players craft their own stories. From classic rivalries to the chase for championship glory, this game celebrates what fans love most about the sport and takes it to new heights.”College Football 26 empowers fans to strategize like never before with authentic college gameplay, delivering unmatched realism to prove their program’s dominance on the field. With over 2,700 new plays, thousands of athletes, and more than 300 real-world coaches bringing their true-to-life schemes, players can master enhanced offensive and defensive mechanics, execute new stunts and twists, and make dynamic substitutions when it counts. Dive into the action with these game-changing features:Over 300 Real-World Coaches: Suit up for Dan Lanning. Compete against Kirby Smart. Recruit as or against James Franklin. Go toe-to-toe with current coaches who bring distinctive playstyles to the field. Strategize like they would with their unique playbooks for a more authentic coaching experience.Expanded Player Types & Abilities: Recruit and develop athletes with 84 abilities and 10 new archetypes, giving you more ways to dominate on either side of the ball.Wear & Tear Everywhere: Manage fatigue and injuries dynamically with no need to pause the action. Customize the system to match your playstyle and save your stars for when it matters most.Foundational Football Advancements: Enhanced AI, dynamic play-calling adjustments, improved blocking and coverages plus new features like Dynamic Substitutions and custom zones give you more control on both sides of the ball, so you can show your opponent what your program is made of.From the roar of Death Valley to the lights in Tuscaloosa, the pageantry and chaos of college football Saturdays come alive with unprecedented depth. Be immersed in the authentic traditions, customized PA tracks, team-specific chants, and atmospheric upgrades that capture the pulse of every game.Next-Level Homefield Advantage: The revamped Stadium Pulse system introduces new crowd-based challenges like clock distortion, extreme screen shake, and rattled HUDs in rivalry and playoff games.More Like Saturday: With over 160 new school-specific chants, 10 new PA tracks including Metallica’s electric “Enter Sandman”, and tradition-rich visuals like Texas Tech’s Double T Saddle Monument and Coastal Carolina’s King of Turnovers, every school’s spirit is alive and unique.Broadcast & Commentary: Legendary voices return—Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, Desmond Howard, and David Pollack—bringing dynamic, situation-specific commentary tailored to your season.College Football 26 delivers an immersive experience with a variety of dynamic game modes that embody the spirit of college football. From building a legendary program in Dynasty to rising as a student-athlete in Road to Glory, each mode offers unique challenges and deep customization. Compete for playoff glory, assemble dream rosters, and navigate the modern landscape of college football with the following exciting modes:Dynasty: Build a coaching powerhouse from the ground up. Recruit based on location, fit your roster to your scheme, and navigate today’s college football world—from the high school pipeline to the transfer portal. Customize playbooks and staff archetypes, then chase glory in the expanded College Football Playoff with cross-play support in Online Dynasty across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation®5†. Keep your promises with all-new Dynamic Dealbreakers to avoid transfers and preserve team chemistry, and upload your program using advanced Team Builder customization tools.Road to Glory: The unmatched student-athlete experience returns. Start in high school, build your highlight tape, and secure offers from your top schools. Make key decisions about your academics, NIL opportunities, playing time, and even when to decommit. Rise to become a Heisman winner—and easily continue your football journey into the NFL inEA SPORTS™ Madden NFL 26.Road to the College Football Playoff: Compete across consoles in a new online progression format where every win matters. Represent your university or take over a powerhouse program, climb the polls, and earn your way into the playoff bracket.College Football Ultimate Team: Build your dream roster with Legends from the past and current college stars. Lead your Ultimate Team to greatness by taking on the competition in H2H matchups and themed challenges meant to put your skills to the test.Fans can pre-order their copy of EA SPORTS College Football 26 now or connect their football journeys with the EA SPORTS™ MVP Bundle on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S, which includes the deluxe editions of EA SPORTS College Football 26 and Madden NFL 26 with 3-day early access and an array of benefits across both titles‡.EA Play members can Bring Glory Home in EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 with the EA Play* 10-hour early access trial, starting July 7, 2025. Members also score member rewards including monthly College Football Loyalist Ultimate Team™ Packs, as well as receive 10% off EA digital content including pre-orders, game downloads, Season Passes, College Football Points, and DLC. For more information on EA Play please visit https://www.ea.com/ea-play.Stay tuned for more on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube as College Football 26 news unfolds in the coming months.†Internet connection, all game updates, EA Account, and platform account required. ‡Conditions & restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/games/madden-nfl/madden-nfl-26/legal-disclaimers for details. *Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details.For College Football 26 assets, visit: EAPressPortal.com.EA SPORTS™ College Football 26 is developed in Orlando, Florida and Madrid, Spain by EA Tiburon and will be available worldwide July 10 for PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S.About Electronic ArtsElectronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company develops and delivers games, content and online services for Internet-connected consoles, mobile devices and personal computers.In fiscal year 2025, EA posted GAAP net revenue of approximately $7.5 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality brands such as EA SPORTS FC™, Battlefield™, Apex Legends™, The Sims™, EA SPORTS™ Madden NFL, EA SPORTS™ College Football, Need for Speed™, Dragon Age™, Titanfall™, Plants vs. Zombies™ and EA SPORTS F1®. More information about EA is available at www.ea.com/news.EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS FC, Battlefield, Need for Speed, Apex Legends, The Sims, Dragon Age, Titanfall, and Plants vs. Zombies are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. John Madden, NFL, and F1 are the property of their respective owners and used with permission.Category: EA Sports Erin Exum Director, Integrated Comms [email protected] Source: Electronic Arts Inc. Multimedia Files:
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  • A firefighter-invented hydrant for helicopters is boosting response times for urban fires

    Mark Whaling and a crew raced up and down a hill in a tanker truck as they battled a wildfire in Los Angeles County, scrambling to get water from a street hydrant in time to stay ahead of flames moving up a ridge. A helicopter flew in to drop water, but it had to fly a long distance to refill—and a fire that might have been stopped went on to destroy homes.

    As they fought that early 2000s blaze, Whaling says, he spotted a sealed, million-gallon water tank nearby that firefighters had no way of accessing. He thought that was ridiculous.

    “We don’t tell fire engines, ‘Protect the city and go find your own water.’ We put fire hydrants every 600 feet all around cities,” said Whaling, who has since retired from the county fire department. “But when it comes to the helicopters, we weren’t supporting them as robustly as we should.”

    His frustration sparked an idea: the Heli-Hydrant, a relatively small, open tank that can be rapidly filled with water, enabling helicopters to fill up faster for urban fires rather than flying to sometimes distant lakes or ponds.

    As wildfires become more frequent, Whaling’s invention is getting the attention of officials eager to boost preparedness. First used for the 2020 Blue Ridge Fire in Yorba Linda, 10 Heli-Hydrants have been built across Southern California and 16 more are in progress, according to Whaling.

    Helicopters are essential for firefighting. They can drop 1,000 gallonsof water at once—some much more. That is far more than hoses can get on a fire all at once, and can be the best way to attack fires that are difficult for ground crews to reach.

    But pilots sometimes have to fly a long way to scoop up water. And in drought-prone areas, natural sources can sometimes dry up or diminish, so they’re hard to draw from. In Southern California’s Riverside County, helicopters have had to fly up to 10 milesto find water, eating critical time from battling fires.

    An innovative solution

    On a remote plot in the Southern California town of Cabazon, contractor Glenn Chavez stood on a ladder and peered into an empty Heli-Hydrant. A radio in hand, he clicked a button to activate the system and watched as water roared into the tank. In about six minutes, it filled with 8,500 gallons.

    Chavez, a general contractor, was testing the Cabazon Water District’s latest investment—a second Heli-Hydrant that local officials are counting on to help protect the town. At it cost slightly less than the average price of a single home in Cabazon.

    “Living in a beautiful desert community, you’re going to have risks of fire,” said Michael Pollack, the district’s general manager. “And to have these Heli-Hydrants is a major advantage. People will have a little bit of comfort knowing that they have another tool for fighting fires in their community.”

    Pilots can remotely activate the tanks from half a mile away, with the tank typically filling quickly from a city’s water system. Helicopters can fill up in less than a minute. Once it’s activated, solar panels and backup batteries ensure the system can still be used during power outages. And at night, lights from the tank and a tower nearby guide pilots toward it.

    In November, fire responders in San Diego put the product to the test when the 48-acre Garden Fire in Fallbrook, a community known for its avocado groves, prompted evacuation orders and warnings. Helicopters tapped the tank nearly 40 times.

    Pilot Ben Brown said its proximity to the fire saved not just time but fuel.

    “They’re great for when you don’t have other water sources,” he said. “The more dip sites, especially in some of the more arid environments in the county, the better.”

    But they don’t always help

    Heli-Hydrants have raised some concerns about their placement in urban areas where houses, buildings, and power lines can be obstacles to flight and they might have to squeeze into tighter spaces.

    In those cases, firefighters may choose to fly farther to a natural source that gives the helicopter more room, said Warren Voth, a deputy pilot with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. A pilot’s goal is to always to face the wind while entering and exiting an area, for safety, and they need room to accomplish that.

    In some cases, the municipal systems needed to fill Heli-Hydrants could go empty during major fires. As the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles burned, three 1-million gallon tanks that helped pressurize city hydrants in the Pacific Palisades ran dry as demand soared and burning pipes leaked water.

    Other times, helicopters just can’t access them. When winds are fierce, flying is nearly impossible; hurricane-force winds that supercharged the Los Angeles infernos initially grounded firefighting aircraft. When multiple helicopters respond to large blazes, they can’t all use the Heli-Hydrant. And smoke can make it hard to see it.

    Portable water tanks can accomplish some of the things that Heli-Hydrants do, but can require time, people, and equipment to set up.

    A Heli-Hydrant gives one community hope

    Areas where wildland vegetation intersects with human development have always been vulnerable to fires, but more people are living in them today, and climate change is creating conditions that can make these regions drier and more flammable.

    Jake Wiley has seen intensifying wildfires devastate his community. Two blazes—in 2007 and 2017—collectively scorched more than 400 structures in San Diego. The last one forced Wiley, now general manager for the Rainbow Municipal Water District, to evacuate.

    That fire also prompted local agencies to install a Heli-Hydrant—and when the Garden Fire erupted in November, it played a big role helping firefighters protect homes.

    “It seems like when you’ve seen the worst, you haven’t yet,” Wiley said. “Anything we can do helps.”

    The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit .

    —By Dorany Pineda and Brittany Peterson, Associated Press
    #firefighterinvented #hydrant #helicopters #boosting #response
    A firefighter-invented hydrant for helicopters is boosting response times for urban fires
    Mark Whaling and a crew raced up and down a hill in a tanker truck as they battled a wildfire in Los Angeles County, scrambling to get water from a street hydrant in time to stay ahead of flames moving up a ridge. A helicopter flew in to drop water, but it had to fly a long distance to refill—and a fire that might have been stopped went on to destroy homes. As they fought that early 2000s blaze, Whaling says, he spotted a sealed, million-gallon water tank nearby that firefighters had no way of accessing. He thought that was ridiculous. “We don’t tell fire engines, ‘Protect the city and go find your own water.’ We put fire hydrants every 600 feet all around cities,” said Whaling, who has since retired from the county fire department. “But when it comes to the helicopters, we weren’t supporting them as robustly as we should.” His frustration sparked an idea: the Heli-Hydrant, a relatively small, open tank that can be rapidly filled with water, enabling helicopters to fill up faster for urban fires rather than flying to sometimes distant lakes or ponds. As wildfires become more frequent, Whaling’s invention is getting the attention of officials eager to boost preparedness. First used for the 2020 Blue Ridge Fire in Yorba Linda, 10 Heli-Hydrants have been built across Southern California and 16 more are in progress, according to Whaling. Helicopters are essential for firefighting. They can drop 1,000 gallonsof water at once—some much more. That is far more than hoses can get on a fire all at once, and can be the best way to attack fires that are difficult for ground crews to reach. But pilots sometimes have to fly a long way to scoop up water. And in drought-prone areas, natural sources can sometimes dry up or diminish, so they’re hard to draw from. In Southern California’s Riverside County, helicopters have had to fly up to 10 milesto find water, eating critical time from battling fires. An innovative solution On a remote plot in the Southern California town of Cabazon, contractor Glenn Chavez stood on a ladder and peered into an empty Heli-Hydrant. A radio in hand, he clicked a button to activate the system and watched as water roared into the tank. In about six minutes, it filled with 8,500 gallons. Chavez, a general contractor, was testing the Cabazon Water District’s latest investment—a second Heli-Hydrant that local officials are counting on to help protect the town. At it cost slightly less than the average price of a single home in Cabazon. “Living in a beautiful desert community, you’re going to have risks of fire,” said Michael Pollack, the district’s general manager. “And to have these Heli-Hydrants is a major advantage. People will have a little bit of comfort knowing that they have another tool for fighting fires in their community.” Pilots can remotely activate the tanks from half a mile away, with the tank typically filling quickly from a city’s water system. Helicopters can fill up in less than a minute. Once it’s activated, solar panels and backup batteries ensure the system can still be used during power outages. And at night, lights from the tank and a tower nearby guide pilots toward it. In November, fire responders in San Diego put the product to the test when the 48-acre Garden Fire in Fallbrook, a community known for its avocado groves, prompted evacuation orders and warnings. Helicopters tapped the tank nearly 40 times. Pilot Ben Brown said its proximity to the fire saved not just time but fuel. “They’re great for when you don’t have other water sources,” he said. “The more dip sites, especially in some of the more arid environments in the county, the better.” But they don’t always help Heli-Hydrants have raised some concerns about their placement in urban areas where houses, buildings, and power lines can be obstacles to flight and they might have to squeeze into tighter spaces. In those cases, firefighters may choose to fly farther to a natural source that gives the helicopter more room, said Warren Voth, a deputy pilot with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. A pilot’s goal is to always to face the wind while entering and exiting an area, for safety, and they need room to accomplish that. In some cases, the municipal systems needed to fill Heli-Hydrants could go empty during major fires. As the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles burned, three 1-million gallon tanks that helped pressurize city hydrants in the Pacific Palisades ran dry as demand soared and burning pipes leaked water. Other times, helicopters just can’t access them. When winds are fierce, flying is nearly impossible; hurricane-force winds that supercharged the Los Angeles infernos initially grounded firefighting aircraft. When multiple helicopters respond to large blazes, they can’t all use the Heli-Hydrant. And smoke can make it hard to see it. Portable water tanks can accomplish some of the things that Heli-Hydrants do, but can require time, people, and equipment to set up. A Heli-Hydrant gives one community hope Areas where wildland vegetation intersects with human development have always been vulnerable to fires, but more people are living in them today, and climate change is creating conditions that can make these regions drier and more flammable. Jake Wiley has seen intensifying wildfires devastate his community. Two blazes—in 2007 and 2017—collectively scorched more than 400 structures in San Diego. The last one forced Wiley, now general manager for the Rainbow Municipal Water District, to evacuate. That fire also prompted local agencies to install a Heli-Hydrant—and when the Garden Fire erupted in November, it played a big role helping firefighters protect homes. “It seems like when you’ve seen the worst, you haven’t yet,” Wiley said. “Anything we can do helps.” The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit . —By Dorany Pineda and Brittany Peterson, Associated Press #firefighterinvented #hydrant #helicopters #boosting #response
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    A firefighter-invented hydrant for helicopters is boosting response times for urban fires
    Mark Whaling and a crew raced up and down a hill in a tanker truck as they battled a wildfire in Los Angeles County, scrambling to get water from a street hydrant in time to stay ahead of flames moving up a ridge. A helicopter flew in to drop water, but it had to fly a long distance to refill—and a fire that might have been stopped went on to destroy homes. As they fought that early 2000s blaze, Whaling says, he spotted a sealed, million-gallon water tank nearby that firefighters had no way of accessing. He thought that was ridiculous. “We don’t tell fire engines, ‘Protect the city and go find your own water.’ We put fire hydrants every 600 feet all around cities,” said Whaling, who has since retired from the county fire department. “But when it comes to the helicopters, we weren’t supporting them as robustly as we should.” His frustration sparked an idea: the Heli-Hydrant, a relatively small, open tank that can be rapidly filled with water, enabling helicopters to fill up faster for urban fires rather than flying to sometimes distant lakes or ponds. As wildfires become more frequent, Whaling’s invention is getting the attention of officials eager to boost preparedness. First used for the 2020 Blue Ridge Fire in Yorba Linda, 10 Heli-Hydrants have been built across Southern California and 16 more are in progress, according to Whaling. Helicopters are essential for firefighting. They can drop 1,000 gallons (about 3,785 liters) of water at once—some much more. That is far more than hoses can get on a fire all at once, and can be the best way to attack fires that are difficult for ground crews to reach. But pilots sometimes have to fly a long way to scoop up water. And in drought-prone areas, natural sources can sometimes dry up or diminish, so they’re hard to draw from. In Southern California’s Riverside County, helicopters have had to fly up to 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) to find water, eating critical time from battling fires. An innovative solution On a remote plot in the Southern California town of Cabazon, contractor Glenn Chavez stood on a ladder and peered into an empty Heli-Hydrant. A radio in hand, he clicked a button to activate the system and watched as water roared into the tank. In about six minutes, it filled with 8,500 gallons (32,176 liters). Chavez, a general contractor, was testing the Cabazon Water District’s latest investment—a second Heli-Hydrant that local officials are counting on to help protect the town. At $300,000, it cost slightly less than the average price of a single home in Cabazon. “Living in a beautiful desert community, you’re going to have risks of fire,” said Michael Pollack, the district’s general manager. “And to have these Heli-Hydrants is a major advantage. People will have a little bit of comfort knowing that they have another tool for fighting fires in their community.” Pilots can remotely activate the tanks from half a mile away, with the tank typically filling quickly from a city’s water system. Helicopters can fill up in less than a minute. Once it’s activated, solar panels and backup batteries ensure the system can still be used during power outages. And at night, lights from the tank and a tower nearby guide pilots toward it. In November, fire responders in San Diego put the product to the test when the 48-acre Garden Fire in Fallbrook, a community known for its avocado groves, prompted evacuation orders and warnings. Helicopters tapped the tank nearly 40 times. Pilot Ben Brown said its proximity to the fire saved not just time but fuel. “They’re great for when you don’t have other water sources,” he said. “The more dip sites, especially in some of the more arid environments in the county, the better.” But they don’t always help Heli-Hydrants have raised some concerns about their placement in urban areas where houses, buildings, and power lines can be obstacles to flight and they might have to squeeze into tighter spaces. In those cases, firefighters may choose to fly farther to a natural source that gives the helicopter more room, said Warren Voth, a deputy pilot with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. A pilot’s goal is to always to face the wind while entering and exiting an area, for safety, and they need room to accomplish that. In some cases, the municipal systems needed to fill Heli-Hydrants could go empty during major fires. As the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles burned, three 1-million gallon tanks that helped pressurize city hydrants in the Pacific Palisades ran dry as demand soared and burning pipes leaked water. Other times, helicopters just can’t access them. When winds are fierce, flying is nearly impossible; hurricane-force winds that supercharged the Los Angeles infernos initially grounded firefighting aircraft. When multiple helicopters respond to large blazes, they can’t all use the Heli-Hydrant. And smoke can make it hard to see it. Portable water tanks can accomplish some of the things that Heli-Hydrants do, but can require time, people, and equipment to set up. A Heli-Hydrant gives one community hope Areas where wildland vegetation intersects with human development have always been vulnerable to fires, but more people are living in them today, and climate change is creating conditions that can make these regions drier and more flammable. Jake Wiley has seen intensifying wildfires devastate his community. Two blazes—in 2007 and 2017—collectively scorched more than 400 structures in San Diego. The last one forced Wiley, now general manager for the Rainbow Municipal Water District, to evacuate. That fire also prompted local agencies to install a Heli-Hydrant—and when the Garden Fire erupted in November, it played a big role helping firefighters protect homes. “It seems like when you’ve seen the worst, you haven’t yet,” Wiley said. “Anything we can do helps.” The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment. —By Dorany Pineda and Brittany Peterson, Associated Press
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  • A definitive ranking of Tom Cruise’s 26 best action movies

    After spending several months doing not much besides watching Tom Cruise movies, I now spend a lot of time wondering about Tom Cruise running.

    The Mission: Impossible star is a high-cadence runner. He’s famously short of stature, low to the ground and with short legs. But that build is perfect for cinema, because those arms swing and those legs churn and convey a viscerality, a violence, a constant labored activity that translates perfectly to the screen. What they convey is a man of action, a man summoning all of his energy and will in a single direction: to move as quickly as he can.

    What is he thinking about when he’s running? I like to think the answer is nothing. That Tom Cruise is able to empty his head when he runs, blanking out his career, his cultural meaning, his past and present personal relationships, and move in a state of pure being. Maybe he’s doing one of his infamous stunts, a run towards a large dangerous vehicle, or off the side of a cliff. Maybe that makes him run faster. Maybe he feels a drive toward oblivion, to make the ultimate sacrifice to cinema, resulting in a cultural afterlife even longer than eternal stardom allows.

    This, in many ways, has been Tom Cruise’s career-long relationship with action movies. They’re his port in the storm, a safe harbor, a place to go and find love and acceptance when there seemingly is none to be had elsewhere. When the press is digging into your religion or snickering about your failed marriages or accusing you of being awkward or crazy or scary, you can find refuge in a MacGuffin to track down, a bad guy’s plot to foil, a world to save.

    The challenge each writer and director must face is how to handle Cruise’s well-known persona. Do they lean in or subvert? And to what end? When gifted with perhaps the most charismatic, committed movie star ever, are you willing to grapple with this stardom, how it explains the actor at a given point in his career, and what our response to him means? Or do you run?

    The following is a ranking of Tom Cruise’s greatest action films. In the interest of gimmicky symmetry, we’ve once again capped ourselves at 26 titles. We didn’t cheat… much. The films below all contain shootouts, fistfights, corpses, and missile crises. Most importantly, they aretense, suspenseful, violent, escapist popcorn, not to be confused with the other half of Cruise’s equation: the pool-playing, the bartending, the litigating, and the deeply felt character work with auteurs, intended to get him the ultimate prize, which has eluded him for nearly half a century. Let’s run the numbers.

    26. ValkyrieDirector: Bryan SingerWhere to watch: Free on Pluto TV, Kanopy, Hoopla

    You could make a decent argument that this piece of shit doesn’t even belong on this list. It’s mostly a plodding chamber drama about “good Germans” ineffectually plotting to not kill Hitler at the end of World War II. But there’s an explosion, a dull shootout, and a bunch of executions at the end, so it seems to qualify as an action movie. Making Valkyrie is one of the most baffling decisions in Cruise’s entire career. And yet it’s also one of the most important films of his career, one that arguably defines his late period, because it’s how he first met his future M:I steward Christopher McQuarrie.

    Run report: Ominously, Tom Cruise doesn’t run in this movie.  

    25. Oblivion Director: Joseph KosinskiWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    Like Valkyrie, Oblivion technically qualifies as an action movie, but there’s little actual action or narrative tension to any of it. Cruise essentially plays the source code for a clone army created by a weird super-intelligence in space that runs Earth via killer droids, and the clones to service them. It comes out of a filmmaking period packed with sci-fi puzzlebox movies that were all atmosphere and often led nowhere, though this is probably the “best” example of that tiresome trend. The silver lining is that, like Valkyrie, this film led to Cruise meeting an important future collaborator: Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski.

    Run report: Cruise literally exercises by running on a giant sleek modern hamster wheel in this. It’s the physical manifestation of everything I hate about this film.

    24. Legend Director: Ridley ScottWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    This 1985 fantasy movie has its defenders, but I am not one of them. The action is completely disjointed and chaotic, a fractured fairy tale composed of an incoherent, weird/horny unholy union of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Henson, Peter Greenaway, Ken Russell, and a handful of psilocybin mushrooms. Legend looks like something pieced together by Jack Horner on a camcorder, so it’s hard to fault Cruise for looking clunky and uncomfortable. Who knows what a good performance in that role would look like? 

    Run report: A lot of odd almost skipping around in this, which adds to the “high school play” quality of the film. Cruise has a proper run toward the end, but it’s not fully baked yet. 

    23. The Mummy Director: Alex KurtzmanWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    Rewatching 2017’s The Mummy actually made me slightly disappointed we didn’t get the Dark Universe Universal Pictures briefly promised us. The setup had potential: Cruise as Indiana Jones, with Jake Johnson as Short Round and Courtney B. Vance as the archetypal no-bullshit sergeant? Potential. But Alex Kurtzman’s take on Karl Freund’s 1932 Boris Karloff Mummy needed less plot and more screwing around. This is an instance where Spielbergian pacing actually ruins a blockbuster, because it entirely lacks Spielberg Sauce. It becomes a horror movie after the first act, with Cruise as a largely personality-free, mentally unsound Black Swan/Smile protagonist. Then they spend all this time with Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll, introducing this universe of monsters that never gets off the ground. No fun!

    Run report: Notable because co-star Annabelle Wallis did a ton of press speaking to how much thought Cruise puts into his on-screen running. She specifically said he initially didn’t want to run on screen with Wallis, because he doesn’t like to share his on-screen run time. He relented, to little effect. 

    22. Mission: Impossible II Director: John WooWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus

    Folks, I rewatched this recently. I really wanted to love it because some close and valued colleagues sing its praises, and I love a good, hot contrarian take. Respectfully, I don’t know what the hell they’re on. The camera work in Mission: Impossible II is so berserk, it borders on amateurish. The series hadn’t figured out what it was yet, but not in an interesting exploratory way: This installment is more like trying on a pair of pants that are not your vibe.

    The idea that Ethan Hunt lost his team in Mission: Impossible and now he’s a broken lone wolf, an agent with the weight of the world on his shoulders, is not a bad premise. But in the role that ruined his career, Dougray Scott is a wooden, toothless bad guy. And somehow, the stakes feel impossibly low, even with a world-killing bioweapon on the line.

    Mission: Impossible II does, however, get points for being far and away the horniest movie in the franchise.

    Run report: Unsurprisingly, Woo is great at filming running, and there’s a lot of clay to work with here: Cruise’s long hair flopping in the wind, slow motion, a rare mid-run mask-rip, the inevitable dove-release: It’s all good!

    A definitive ranking of love interests and partners in the Mission: Impossible movies

    6. Claire Phelpsin Mission: Impossible5. Julia Meadein Mission: Impossible III and Fallout4. Gracein Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning3. Nyah Nordoff-Hallin Mission: Impossible II2. Ilsa Faust in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Fallout, and Dead Reckoning1. Jane Carterin in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

    21. American Made Director: Doug Liman Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    It’s a funny idea: What if Top Gun’s Maverick was a schmuck pilot turned drug-runner? It’s clearly Cruise reaching for a Blow of his own, but decades into this type of narrative, we know the beats by heart. American Made is sorely lacking in depravity. Cruise’s affected good ol’ boy Southern accent both has nothing to do with the film’s disposability, and explains everything. It’s a sanitized drug narrative in which we never see Cruise blow a line or fire a gun. We don’t even see his death on screen — Cruise dying in a movie is a big deal, and has only happened a few times. It’s almost like he knew this nothingburger wasn’t worth the distinction.

    Run report: Not much running, which is indicative of a larger problem with this film. But at one point, Cruise runs after a car with Caleb Landry Jones in it, and it explodes, in arguably the highlight of the film, for whatever that’s worth. 

    20. The Last Samurai Director: Edward ZwickWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    The one’s a weird movie about a mercenary who, after participating in the genocide of Native Americans, goes native in 19th-century Japan, in the wake of the Meiji Restoration. But it’s a somewhat unusual approach to the standard Cruise narrative arc. In this, he begins as a broken, drunken husk, a mercenary arm of the growing American empire who belatedly regains his honor by joining up with some samurai. The aspects of that plotline which feel unusual for a Cruise movie don’t make up for all the story elements that have aged terribly, but they’re something. 

    Run report: Less running than you’d expect, but running with swords while wearing leather samurai armor.

    19. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back 

    Director: Edward ZwickWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    A lot of the films in the lower ranks of this list suffer from the problem of filmmakers settling, simply putting Cruise on screen and letting his iconography do the heavy lifting, sans interesting backstory or dialogue. In this sequel, thanks to Lee Child’s blunt dialogue, the deep-state rogue-army plotting in the source material, and Cruise’s typical level of meticulous fight choreo, it’s simply really entertaining, solid, replacement-level action. This sequel to 2012’s Jack Reacher gives the title troubleshootera surrogate daughter and a foil in Cobie Smulders, which is great. But its primary sin is replacing Werner Herzog, the villain from the first movie, with a generic snooze of a bad guy.

    Run report: Some running and sliding on rooftops with guns, as fireworks go off in the night sky. Impressive for some action movies, a bit ho-hum compared to the bigger hits on this list. 

    18. TapsDirector: Harold Becker Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    Fascinating film. A Toy Soldiers riff interrogating the military-school system, and suggesting that it’s probably not a bad thing that former American ideals like patriotic honor, duty, and masculinity are fading. It’s Cruise’s first major role, and you’ll never believe this, but he plays a tightly wound, thrill-addicted, bloodthirsty maniac.

    Run report: Great characterization via run here. Cadet Captain David Shawn is a hawkish conservative dick, and Cruise’s running reflects that. He’s stiff, carrying an automatic rifle that he looks like he’s going to start firing wildly at any minute. 

    17. Mission: Impossible III 

    Director: J.J. Abrams

    Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus

    In the last Mission: Impossible installment made before the filmmakers really figured out what the series was doing, J.J. Abrams assembles a mostly incoherent, boring clunker that has a few very important grace notes. It’s a film about Ethan Hunt trying to carve out a normal life for himself, with the great Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the bucket of ice water dumped on his domestic fantasy. Hoffman’s Owen Davian is the greatest bad guy in the Cruise filmography, and there’s really no close second.There are many moments I could point to in Hoffman’s wonderful performance, but the one I’d recommend, if you want to feel something, is when Hoffman gets to play Ethan Hunt playing Owen Davian with a mask on for a few scenes during the Vatican kidnapping, roughly 50 minutes in. He was so fucking great. 

    Run report: A lot of running, but none of it is very good. No knock on Cruise, but Abrams is doing perfunctory work, shot poorly via shaky cam that has trouble keeping Cruise in the frame, from a perfunctory director making a perfunctory action film. There are two notable exceptions. “The Shanghai Run,” which we may have more on later, and Cruise running straight up a wall.

    A definitive ranking of Mission: Impossible villain performances

    10. Dougray Scott in Mission: Impossible II9. Eddie Marsan in Mission: Impossible III8. William Mapother — that’s right, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV’s cousin! — in Mission: Impossible II7. Lea Seydoux in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol6. Sean Harris in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout5. Jean Reno in Mission: Impossible4. Esai Morales/The Entity in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning3. Jon Voight in Mission: Impossible2. Henry Cavill in Mission: Impossible – Fallout1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Mission: Impossible III

    16. Mission: Impossible – The Final ReckoningDirector: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: In theaters

    The franchise potentially falls with a thud — or is it an AI-generated death fantasy that plays out entirely in Ethan Hunt’s head when he gets trapped in a digital coffin early in the movie? Either way, the resulting film is something the McQuarrie-Cruise collaboration has never been before: clunky and imprecise, a disjointed watch that delivers some high highs, but is unfortunately thin on story.

    McQuarrie seems unconcerned with character arcs, or any substantive grand narrative that might land in any meaningful way. This movie plays out like an aimless succession of beats, allowing boredom to creep in. That hasn’t been a part of the franchise since M:I 3. It’s a Simpsons clip show masquerading as a Mission: Impossible film, signaling that this iteration of the franchise is exhausted, with little left to say or explore. Perhaps there was no other way for this series to go out than on its back. 

    Run report: A run through the tunnels to save Luther, oddly reminiscent of the run attempting to save Ilsa Faust, followed by the run out of the tunnels, allowing Ethan to escape the film’s first trapA definitive ranking of Ethan Hunt’s “best friends/allies”17. Wes Bentley16. Greg Tarzan Davis15. Aaron Paul14. Jonathan Rhys Meyers13. Maggie Q12. Shea Whigham11. Hannah Waddington 10. Katy O’Brian9. Pom Klementieff8. Rolf Saxon7. Vanessa Kirby6. Keri Russell5. Simon Pegg4. Jeremy Renner3. Emilio Estevez2. Bogdan1. Luther15. War of the WorldsDirector: Steven Spielberg Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus

    A curious movie I liked better on a rewatch than I did on my initial watch 20 years ago. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is often misremembered as Spielberg’s darkest movie, but I’d argue that War of the Worlds beats it: It’s a divorced-dad-anxiety horror movie that has the most nightmare-inducing, traumatic, post-9/11 visuals in the master’s oeuvre. It can be read as Spielberg wrestling with his relationship with his son Max, who would’ve been around the age of Cruise’s disgruntled, estranged son in the movie.

    War of the Worlds has issues: Cruise never works when he’s cast in a “just some guy” role, as he’s meant to be here, and the plot goes off the rails in the third act. But it has some of the best set pieces Spielberg ever directed. What will haunt me for the rest of my life is a scene where Cruise’s character is forced to essentially make a Sophie’s Choice between his son and daughter, and lets his son go. The ominous music at the end when he’s magically reunited with his son is completely bizarre and unsettling, and I don’t think is meant to be taken at face value. 

    Run report: This is why Cruise is the king. He’s playing a supposed normal, everyday schmoe in this movie. When you focus on the running, compared to other roles, you can see he’s running like a mechanic who is still a little athletic, but doesn’t know where he’s going, or what is happening from one moment to the next. It’s building character through running. Incredible.

    14. Knight and DayDirector: James Mangold 

    Where to watch: Free on Cinemax; rent on Amazon, Apple

    Knight and Day is a sneakily important film in the Cruise action canon because it’s the first time a movie really puts Cruise into the role of the creepy, charismatic, psychotically intense, beleaguered, put-upon invincible cartoon character he became in the Mission: Impossible franchise as of Ghost Protocol. This movie is based around a funny idea: It’s basically a Mission: Impossible movie from the perspective of a clueless civilian. It helps that the civilian is phenomenal, physical, funny, and fucking ripped: Cameron Diaz plays the world’s hottest mechanic, and makes me wish she had gotten her own Atomic Blonde-style vehicle.

    Run report: Some co-running with Cameron Diaz here, which is as you might imagine, is good. 

    13. The FirmDirector. Sydney PollackWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    It’s easy to put The Firm on a pedestal because of Sydney Pollack, the jazz score, the ’90s outfits, Gene Hackman, and every other significant gravitas-oozing “That Guy” as a mobster, shady lawyer, or Fed in a great “They don’t make them like that anymore” legal thriller. But what really stood out to me on a recent rewatch is this movie is two and a half hours about the now laughably quaint notion of rediscovering purity in the law. It isn’t much more than a story about a shady law firm that gets hit with mail-fraud charges, plus several deaths and a few smartly tied up loose ends.

    Run report: A clinic in Tom Cruise running, a draft-version highlight reel of his running scenes. In my memory, this contains some of his most iconic early runs, and it signals the moment when “Tom Cruise running” became a whole cultural thing. 

    12. Top GunDirector: Tony Scott Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    Top Gun set the template for Tom Cruise’s on-screen narrative, and it took a decade before filmmakers were willing to start subverting that narrative again. This is straight-up hero porn, without any of the humbling that the sequel eventually dishes out. Tom Cruise as Maverick is the best pilot on Earth. He loses his best friend and co-pilot Goose, due to a combination of a mechanical failure and another pilot’s fuck-up. He then has to find the courage to fly with the exact same lack of inhibition he did at the outset of the film, which he finally does, based on essentially nothing that happens in the plot. Scott makes the wise decision to center the actionof the film on pure Cruise charisma and star power, and it works.

    Run report: Believe it or not, Tom Cruise does not run in this movie. 

    11. Days of ThunderDirector: Tony Scott Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    Scott and Cruise’s Top Gun follow-up is essentially Top Gun with cars instead of jets — but yes, it’s marginally better. Why? Because this is a quintessential “We didn’t know how good we had it” classic. It’s the film where Cruise met his future spouse Nicole Kidman on set. Robert Duvall is swigging moonshine. It’s Randy Quaid’s last performance actually based on planet Earth. Plus there’s John C. Reilly, Michael Rooker, Cary Elwes, Fred Thompson, Margo Martindale, and a rousing Hans Zimmer score. Need I say more?

    Run report: They cut the climatic race off, but Cruise’s character Cole potentially gets smoked by 59-year-old Robert Duvall?!

    10. Mission: Impossible – Dead ReckoningDirector: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    The metaphor that the Mission: Impossible franchise is a manifestation of Tom Cruise’s deep-seated need to save blockbuster filmmaking and the Hollywood star system has never been more overt. Cruise is literally up against AI, which is always a step ahead of him, dismantling his every gambit. It’s an update/remix of Ghost Protocol’s premise: The only antidote to the world-spanning AI known as The Entity is becoming a refusenik anti-tech Luddite in the spirit of John Henry, and using the raw materials of humanity to defeat an invincible machine. 

    Run report: Cruise running in confined spaces is a lot of fun, but the heavily CGI’d running up the side of a train losing its battle with gravity isn’t. 

    A definitive ranking of Mission: Impossible MacGuffins

    8. Ghost Protocol’s Russian launch codes7. Fallout’s plutonium cores 6. Rogue Nation’s billion Syndicate bankroll5. M:I2’s Chimera Virus4. Final Reckoning’s Sevastopol3. M:I’s NOC list 2. Dead Reckoning Part One’s cruciform key1. M:I3’s rabbit’s foot

    9. Jack Reacher 

    Director: Christopher McQuarrie Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    I loathe hyperbole: it’s a shortcut for unimaginative writers. I’ve never resorted to it in my entire life. So I hope you’ll take me at my word when I say that this movie is a fucking masterpiece. Amazon’s great Reacher series is made more in the image of Lee Child’s books, with a distinctive breakout lead in Alan Ritchson, who appears to have been designed in a lab to draw striking contrast to Tom Cruise in this role. But Reacher made us forget how good Jack Reacher gets.

    It’s a perfect elevated action programmer with a remarkable cast: David Oyelowo! Richard Jenkins! Rosamund Pike! A Days of Thunder reunion with Robert Duvall! Werner Herzog showing up in a completely brilliant, bonkers heel turn! McQuarrie made this one in vintage Shane Black ’90s style, with a dash of Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood. I totally get why Cruise decided to turn his career over to McQuarrie after this. I don’t understand why he didn’t let McQuarrie direct the sequel.

    Run report: There isn’t much running in this. At one point, Cruise is darting from shelter point to shelter point because a sniper is trying to pick him off, but that’s it. It’s because Jack fucking Reacher doesn’t have to run, which is simply good writing and filmmaking. 

    8. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation 

    Director: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus

    This film famously opens with Tom Cruise hanging from the side of a plane as it takes off. But to me, the key moment comes when he’s broken into the plane, attached himself to a package which isn’t named, but looks like a crate of rockets the size of a minivan. He gives a final raised eyebrow and shrug to a gobsmacked henchman, who watches helplessly as Cruise deploys a parachute and falls out the back of the plane’s cargo bay with a ton of atomic weapons, and no plausible way to land without killing himself and creating a Grand Canyon-sized nuclear crater in Belarus. This scene was practically drawn by Chuck Jones, which sets the tone for a film that repositions Ethan Hunt on the border of superherodom, in a film about Tom Cruise as the literal manifestation of destiny. 

    It also marks the return of Alec Baldwin, the firstM:I handler who carried over from one film to the next. Evaluating the handlers’ position in the franchiseis challenging: They’re constantly shifting allegiances, at times working in service of Hunt’s mission, at times in direct opposition to it, either attacking him with governmental red tape, or colluding with nefarious forces.

    Run report: A lot of different looks when it comes to the running in this. Shirtless running, running with Rebecca Ferguson, running across the wing of a moving plane. It’s all good.

    A definitive ranking of the “most fun” M:I handlers

    6. Theodore Brasselin Mission: Impossible III5. Erika Sloanein Mission: Impossible – Fallout and The Final Reckoning4. Eugene Kittridgein Mission: Impossible3. John Musgravein Mission: Impossible III2. Commander Swanbeckin Mission: Impossible II1. Alan Hunleyin Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout

    * One of my only lingering complaints about the M:I movies is that aside from Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, we don’t get enough big family continuity. The Fast & Furious franchise is an exemplar/cautionary tale of how found-family dynamics can be a great source of fun and emotion — and also tank the series, if creators keep piling on new recurring elements. It sounds like Baldwin didn’t want to stay on board, but I would love to live in a world where he didn’t jump ship — or where, say, Henry Cavill’s August Walker joined Ethan’s team at the end of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, as he would have if he’d had a similar role in an F&F installment.

    7. Minority ReportDirector: Steven SpielbergWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    I’m guessing this placement on this ranking will upset some people. I’m surprised it’s this low in the rankings too — but that’s how good the next six films are. And honestly, Minority Report doesn’t hold up as the masterpiece I remember it being. It’s a very cool story. It marks the first fantasy-team matchup of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. They’re adapting a paranoid Philip K. Dick story, and largely delivering on the promise that implies. Minority Report is an inventive, dark, weird future horror movie, made with Spielberg’s standard stunning visual economy.

    But among the perfect elements in this film, I have to call out some aspects that didn’t age well. Janusz Kaminski’s lighting effects feel like the whole movie is stuck inside an iPod halo. and this dutch-angled high melodrama, sauced with a dash of Terry Gilliam dystopian/gross wackiness, which lends the film a degree of occasionally atonal, squishy gonzo elasticity you’ve likely forgotten.  

    Run report: Mileage may vary on white pools of light, but running through them in futuristic uniforms is decisively cool. 

    6. Mission: Impossible Director: Brian De PalmaWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus

    Because MI:2 and MI:3 struggle with tone, and because it’s actually Brad Bird that sets the template for the McQuarrie era of the franchise, you could argue the first Mission: Impossible is the strangest, most personal vision of what this series is and what it can be. DePalma is asserting himself with every practical mask and stylized shot. Your mileage may vary with that approach to what has become this Swiss set piece machine, I love it.

    A few things stand out nearly three decades on: Of course, how ridiculously young Cruise looks, but perhaps crucially, how collegial, intimate, and even tender the first act is before his first team is eliminated and the movie becomes a DePalma paranoid thriller. It’s an element we never quite get from Mission: Impossible again, one that brings the arc of the franchise into focus and explains Ethan Hunt if you extend continuity: He’s a character betrayed by his father figure and his government in the first film, and spends the rest of the franchise running from this largely unspoken trauma, determined to never let that happen again. In the wake of this, he reluctantly pieces together a life, semblance of a family, and all the risks that come with those personal attachments. In honor of my favorite set piece in any of the films, one of DePalma’s finest taught masterpieces:

    A definitive ranking of the top 10 M:I set pieces 

    Honorable Mention: The Sebastopol Extraction-The Train Fights– MI:1 & Dead Reckoning

    10. The Plane Door- Rogue Nation9. The “Kick In The Head” Russian Jail Break- Ghost Protocol8. The Water Vault Ledger Heist Into The Motorcycle Chase- Rogue Nation7. The Handcuffed Car Chase- Dead Reckoning6. The Red Baron Plane Fight- Final Reckoning5. The Burj Khalifa- Ghost Protocol4. Kidnapping At The Vatican- MI:33. The Opera House Hit- Rogue Nation2. The Louvre Halo Jump Into the Bathroom Fight- Fallout1. The NOC List Heist- MI:1

    Run report: Fitting that this franchise opens with Cruise putting on a running clinic, as that first op falls apart, then of course his run away from Kittridge and the massive fish tank explosion. 

    5. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol 

    Director: Brad Bird Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus

    Nothing is working like it’s supposed to. Not the Impossible Mission Force, not the mask machine, not the radio comms, not the magnet gloves keeping Ethan Hunt tethered to the side of the world’s tallest building, not the Mission: Impossible franchise, and not Tom Cruise’s at-the-time fading movie stardom. But somehow, one incredible film made by a career animation director solves all of these problems, by stripping down, getting back to basics and reminding us what we always loved about these films and its star. It was supposed to be the beginning of a franchise reboot, with Jeremy Renner stepping in. Birdfights this decision off, gets away from trying to figure out the character Ethan Hunt and lets him be a superhero, more annoyed than concerned by the escalating difficulty of the impossible problems he has to solve. Through this, Bird correctly identifies the difference between Cruise and these other Hollywood candy asses: He’s a reckless warrior with a death wish who will do whatever is necessary to win, and he does. The team concept is back in full force with a genuinely showstopping stunt, and without the masks and tech, Cruise has to do it all with his wits, his hands, and his pure bravado. The series, and Cruise, never looked back. 

    Run report: Some of the most fun, imaginative set pieces built around running in this installment.

    A definitive ranking of who should replace Tom Cruise in the inevitable M:I reboot

    10. Aaron Taylor Johnson9. Charlie Cox8. Sterling K. Brown7. Florence Pugh6. John David Washington5. Haley Atwell4. Miles Teller3. Jeremy Renner2. Aaron Pierre 1. Glen Powell

    4. Top Gun: Maverick 

    Director: Joseph Kosinski Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    It’s a death dream, it’s red meat nationalist troopaganda, it’s the greatest legacyquel ever made that no one asked for and you didn’t realize you desperately needed, it’s nostalgia porn, it saved the movie going experience post-COVID, it’s a finely calibrated joy machine. Cruise is downright mystical, shimmering in the sun’s reflection off the surf, dominating an endless football game with no rules that doesn’t make sense. He has actual chemistry with Jennifer Connelly, and he has the grace to cede the floor to his old nemesis — both in the first Top Gun and as a once contemporary Hollywood star/rival — the late Val Kilmer, to drive home the crush of time and destroy everyone in the theater, no matter how many times they went to see this monster hit that first summer back in theaters. 

    Run report: Immediately coming off of the stunning, emotional high point of the film, we get Cruise running in salt water soaked jeans shirtless on the beach. Are you not entertained?

    3. Collateral 

    Director: Michael Mann Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus

    An elemental, visceral faceoff that is radical in its simplicity of purpose. A film made by the second-best director on this list, and on a very short list of Cruise’s finest performances ever. He’s the salt and pepper terminator in a taxi, playing a pure evil bad guy, a classic Mann anti-hero samurai nihilist that also lives by a code and values being good at his job. Of course Cruise retains a kind of charm, but is also willing to get slimy and be deeply unlikeable and die on screen. Well worth the sacrifice. 

    Run report: Incredible running on display here. Once again he is running like a professional killer probably runs, almost always holding a gun, the hair matches the suit, so fucking bad ass. 

    2. Mission: Impossible – Fallout 

    Director: Christopher McQuarrie Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus

    As much time and energy as I just expended exalting Ghost Protocol, at a certain point you have to eschew poetic narratives and tip your cap, by the slightest of margins, to a fucking perfect movie. Ghost Prot is close, but you can feel its lack of a nailed-down shooting script at certain points towards its conclusion, as the action begins to wind down. McQuarrie becomes the first director in the franchise to get a second bite of the apple, and the result is a finely cut diamond. Fallout is about exhaustion and the impossibility of that manifestation of destiny idea from Rogue Nation. It makes the argument that you can’t actually save the day and save everyone without making any sacrifices forever, and because of that, sets up The Trolly Problem over and over again to try and get Ethan Hunt to compromise and/or give up. But, of course, he won’t, and neither, seemingly, will Cruise. 

    Run report: You can tell McQuarrie loves watching Cruise run as much as we do. He frames the runs in these wide shots and takes his time with them. It’s not conveying any additional information, a beat or two less would suffice, but the camera lingers and you get to just sit and appreciate the form and it really connects. It’s why he was the logical choice to take control of this franchise. He understands how a Tom Cruise action flick operates and what makes it special. And of course:

    A definitive ranking of the best runs in the franchise

    10. The Opening Plane Run- Rogue Nation9. The Sandstorm Run- Ghost Protocol8. The Mask Rip Run- MI:27. Running through the alleys of Italy- Dead Reckoning6. Running Through the Tunnels for Luther- Final Reckoning5. Running down the Burj Khalifa- Ghost Protocol 4. Running from the fishtank explosion- MI:13. The Rooftop Run- Fallout2. The Shanghai Run- MI:31. The Kremlin Run- Ghost Protocol

    1. Edge of Tomorrow 

    Director: Doug Liman Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple

    Edge of Tomorrow is the best Tom Cruise action film had to be made in his late period of action stardom. You need the gravity and the gravitas, the emotional baggage earned through those decades of culture-remaking roles, the toll that exerted effort took on him, and the time spent and time passed on his face. The late, largely perfect Mission: Impossible films that dominate the top 10 of this list do much of that work: They feint, they allude, they nod to the realities of stardom, of life and death. But Ethan Hunt is a superhero, an inevitability, so the outcome is never in doubt — until, perhaps someday, it is.

    But for now, the masterpiece from Doug Liman — a director who either hits dingers or strikes out looking, with no in between — is a movie that punctuated Cruise’s post-Ghost Prot action renaissance: Edge of Tomorrow, or Live. Die. Repeat. It’s the unlikely on-paper melding of Starship Troopers and Groundhog Day, but in practice it’s the action film equivalent of Jerry Maguire, a movie that relies on your history with Maverick, and Mitch McDeere, and Ethan Hunt, and uses it to dismantle and subvert Tom Cruise, the infallible hero. 

    Liman is at the top of his game, particularly in editing, which uses repetition and quick cuts masterfully to convey the long and slow transformation of a public relations major named Cage — who becomes trapped in a disastrous, endless intergalactic Normandy scenario — from a marketing clown in a uniform to an alien killer badass while he falls in love and saves the world. We watch as Cruise has all his bravado and bullshit stripped away by “a system”with no time for that, a woman smarter and stronger than he is and immune to his charms, and an invading force that tears him to pieces over and over again. We watch the five-tool movie star — robbed of all his tools — regroup, rebuild, and in the process, grow a soul. It’s the platonic ideal of what a great blockbuster action film can be, one that only could’ve been made by one of its most important, prolific, and talented stars. 

    Run report: A beautiful physical metaphor for this film is watching the evolution of Cruise’s ability to move in that ridiculous mech suit. 
    #definitive #ranking #tom #cruises #best
    A definitive ranking of Tom Cruise’s 26 best action movies
    After spending several months doing not much besides watching Tom Cruise movies, I now spend a lot of time wondering about Tom Cruise running. The Mission: Impossible star is a high-cadence runner. He’s famously short of stature, low to the ground and with short legs. But that build is perfect for cinema, because those arms swing and those legs churn and convey a viscerality, a violence, a constant labored activity that translates perfectly to the screen. What they convey is a man of action, a man summoning all of his energy and will in a single direction: to move as quickly as he can. What is he thinking about when he’s running? I like to think the answer is nothing. That Tom Cruise is able to empty his head when he runs, blanking out his career, his cultural meaning, his past and present personal relationships, and move in a state of pure being. Maybe he’s doing one of his infamous stunts, a run towards a large dangerous vehicle, or off the side of a cliff. Maybe that makes him run faster. Maybe he feels a drive toward oblivion, to make the ultimate sacrifice to cinema, resulting in a cultural afterlife even longer than eternal stardom allows. This, in many ways, has been Tom Cruise’s career-long relationship with action movies. They’re his port in the storm, a safe harbor, a place to go and find love and acceptance when there seemingly is none to be had elsewhere. When the press is digging into your religion or snickering about your failed marriages or accusing you of being awkward or crazy or scary, you can find refuge in a MacGuffin to track down, a bad guy’s plot to foil, a world to save. The challenge each writer and director must face is how to handle Cruise’s well-known persona. Do they lean in or subvert? And to what end? When gifted with perhaps the most charismatic, committed movie star ever, are you willing to grapple with this stardom, how it explains the actor at a given point in his career, and what our response to him means? Or do you run? The following is a ranking of Tom Cruise’s greatest action films. In the interest of gimmicky symmetry, we’ve once again capped ourselves at 26 titles. We didn’t cheat… much. The films below all contain shootouts, fistfights, corpses, and missile crises. Most importantly, they aretense, suspenseful, violent, escapist popcorn, not to be confused with the other half of Cruise’s equation: the pool-playing, the bartending, the litigating, and the deeply felt character work with auteurs, intended to get him the ultimate prize, which has eluded him for nearly half a century. Let’s run the numbers. 26. ValkyrieDirector: Bryan SingerWhere to watch: Free on Pluto TV, Kanopy, Hoopla You could make a decent argument that this piece of shit doesn’t even belong on this list. It’s mostly a plodding chamber drama about “good Germans” ineffectually plotting to not kill Hitler at the end of World War II. But there’s an explosion, a dull shootout, and a bunch of executions at the end, so it seems to qualify as an action movie. Making Valkyrie is one of the most baffling decisions in Cruise’s entire career. And yet it’s also one of the most important films of his career, one that arguably defines his late period, because it’s how he first met his future M:I steward Christopher McQuarrie. Run report: Ominously, Tom Cruise doesn’t run in this movie.   25. Oblivion Director: Joseph KosinskiWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Like Valkyrie, Oblivion technically qualifies as an action movie, but there’s little actual action or narrative tension to any of it. Cruise essentially plays the source code for a clone army created by a weird super-intelligence in space that runs Earth via killer droids, and the clones to service them. It comes out of a filmmaking period packed with sci-fi puzzlebox movies that were all atmosphere and often led nowhere, though this is probably the “best” example of that tiresome trend. The silver lining is that, like Valkyrie, this film led to Cruise meeting an important future collaborator: Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. Run report: Cruise literally exercises by running on a giant sleek modern hamster wheel in this. It’s the physical manifestation of everything I hate about this film. 24. Legend Director: Ridley ScottWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple This 1985 fantasy movie has its defenders, but I am not one of them. The action is completely disjointed and chaotic, a fractured fairy tale composed of an incoherent, weird/horny unholy union of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Henson, Peter Greenaway, Ken Russell, and a handful of psilocybin mushrooms. Legend looks like something pieced together by Jack Horner on a camcorder, so it’s hard to fault Cruise for looking clunky and uncomfortable. Who knows what a good performance in that role would look like?  Run report: A lot of odd almost skipping around in this, which adds to the “high school play” quality of the film. Cruise has a proper run toward the end, but it’s not fully baked yet.  23. The Mummy Director: Alex KurtzmanWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Rewatching 2017’s The Mummy actually made me slightly disappointed we didn’t get the Dark Universe Universal Pictures briefly promised us. The setup had potential: Cruise as Indiana Jones, with Jake Johnson as Short Round and Courtney B. Vance as the archetypal no-bullshit sergeant? Potential. But Alex Kurtzman’s take on Karl Freund’s 1932 Boris Karloff Mummy needed less plot and more screwing around. This is an instance where Spielbergian pacing actually ruins a blockbuster, because it entirely lacks Spielberg Sauce. It becomes a horror movie after the first act, with Cruise as a largely personality-free, mentally unsound Black Swan/Smile protagonist. Then they spend all this time with Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll, introducing this universe of monsters that never gets off the ground. No fun! Run report: Notable because co-star Annabelle Wallis did a ton of press speaking to how much thought Cruise puts into his on-screen running. She specifically said he initially didn’t want to run on screen with Wallis, because he doesn’t like to share his on-screen run time. He relented, to little effect.  22. Mission: Impossible II Director: John WooWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus Folks, I rewatched this recently. I really wanted to love it because some close and valued colleagues sing its praises, and I love a good, hot contrarian take. Respectfully, I don’t know what the hell they’re on. The camera work in Mission: Impossible II is so berserk, it borders on amateurish. The series hadn’t figured out what it was yet, but not in an interesting exploratory way: This installment is more like trying on a pair of pants that are not your vibe. The idea that Ethan Hunt lost his team in Mission: Impossible and now he’s a broken lone wolf, an agent with the weight of the world on his shoulders, is not a bad premise. But in the role that ruined his career, Dougray Scott is a wooden, toothless bad guy. And somehow, the stakes feel impossibly low, even with a world-killing bioweapon on the line. Mission: Impossible II does, however, get points for being far and away the horniest movie in the franchise. Run report: Unsurprisingly, Woo is great at filming running, and there’s a lot of clay to work with here: Cruise’s long hair flopping in the wind, slow motion, a rare mid-run mask-rip, the inevitable dove-release: It’s all good! A definitive ranking of love interests and partners in the Mission: Impossible movies 6. Claire Phelpsin Mission: Impossible5. Julia Meadein Mission: Impossible III and Fallout4. Gracein Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning3. Nyah Nordoff-Hallin Mission: Impossible II2. Ilsa Faust in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Fallout, and Dead Reckoning1. Jane Carterin in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol 21. American Made Director: Doug Liman Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple It’s a funny idea: What if Top Gun’s Maverick was a schmuck pilot turned drug-runner? It’s clearly Cruise reaching for a Blow of his own, but decades into this type of narrative, we know the beats by heart. American Made is sorely lacking in depravity. Cruise’s affected good ol’ boy Southern accent both has nothing to do with the film’s disposability, and explains everything. It’s a sanitized drug narrative in which we never see Cruise blow a line or fire a gun. We don’t even see his death on screen — Cruise dying in a movie is a big deal, and has only happened a few times. It’s almost like he knew this nothingburger wasn’t worth the distinction. Run report: Not much running, which is indicative of a larger problem with this film. But at one point, Cruise runs after a car with Caleb Landry Jones in it, and it explodes, in arguably the highlight of the film, for whatever that’s worth.  20. The Last Samurai Director: Edward ZwickWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple The one’s a weird movie about a mercenary who, after participating in the genocide of Native Americans, goes native in 19th-century Japan, in the wake of the Meiji Restoration. But it’s a somewhat unusual approach to the standard Cruise narrative arc. In this, he begins as a broken, drunken husk, a mercenary arm of the growing American empire who belatedly regains his honor by joining up with some samurai. The aspects of that plotline which feel unusual for a Cruise movie don’t make up for all the story elements that have aged terribly, but they’re something.  Run report: Less running than you’d expect, but running with swords while wearing leather samurai armor. 19. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back  Director: Edward ZwickWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple A lot of the films in the lower ranks of this list suffer from the problem of filmmakers settling, simply putting Cruise on screen and letting his iconography do the heavy lifting, sans interesting backstory or dialogue. In this sequel, thanks to Lee Child’s blunt dialogue, the deep-state rogue-army plotting in the source material, and Cruise’s typical level of meticulous fight choreo, it’s simply really entertaining, solid, replacement-level action. This sequel to 2012’s Jack Reacher gives the title troubleshootera surrogate daughter and a foil in Cobie Smulders, which is great. But its primary sin is replacing Werner Herzog, the villain from the first movie, with a generic snooze of a bad guy. Run report: Some running and sliding on rooftops with guns, as fireworks go off in the night sky. Impressive for some action movies, a bit ho-hum compared to the bigger hits on this list.  18. TapsDirector: Harold Becker Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Fascinating film. A Toy Soldiers riff interrogating the military-school system, and suggesting that it’s probably not a bad thing that former American ideals like patriotic honor, duty, and masculinity are fading. It’s Cruise’s first major role, and you’ll never believe this, but he plays a tightly wound, thrill-addicted, bloodthirsty maniac. Run report: Great characterization via run here. Cadet Captain David Shawn is a hawkish conservative dick, and Cruise’s running reflects that. He’s stiff, carrying an automatic rifle that he looks like he’s going to start firing wildly at any minute.  17. Mission: Impossible III  Director: J.J. Abrams Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus In the last Mission: Impossible installment made before the filmmakers really figured out what the series was doing, J.J. Abrams assembles a mostly incoherent, boring clunker that has a few very important grace notes. It’s a film about Ethan Hunt trying to carve out a normal life for himself, with the great Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the bucket of ice water dumped on his domestic fantasy. Hoffman’s Owen Davian is the greatest bad guy in the Cruise filmography, and there’s really no close second.There are many moments I could point to in Hoffman’s wonderful performance, but the one I’d recommend, if you want to feel something, is when Hoffman gets to play Ethan Hunt playing Owen Davian with a mask on for a few scenes during the Vatican kidnapping, roughly 50 minutes in. He was so fucking great.  Run report: A lot of running, but none of it is very good. No knock on Cruise, but Abrams is doing perfunctory work, shot poorly via shaky cam that has trouble keeping Cruise in the frame, from a perfunctory director making a perfunctory action film. There are two notable exceptions. “The Shanghai Run,” which we may have more on later, and Cruise running straight up a wall. A definitive ranking of Mission: Impossible villain performances 10. Dougray Scott in Mission: Impossible II9. Eddie Marsan in Mission: Impossible III8. William Mapother — that’s right, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV’s cousin! — in Mission: Impossible II7. Lea Seydoux in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol6. Sean Harris in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout5. Jean Reno in Mission: Impossible4. Esai Morales/The Entity in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning3. Jon Voight in Mission: Impossible2. Henry Cavill in Mission: Impossible – Fallout1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Mission: Impossible III 16. Mission: Impossible – The Final ReckoningDirector: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: In theaters The franchise potentially falls with a thud — or is it an AI-generated death fantasy that plays out entirely in Ethan Hunt’s head when he gets trapped in a digital coffin early in the movie? Either way, the resulting film is something the McQuarrie-Cruise collaboration has never been before: clunky and imprecise, a disjointed watch that delivers some high highs, but is unfortunately thin on story. McQuarrie seems unconcerned with character arcs, or any substantive grand narrative that might land in any meaningful way. This movie plays out like an aimless succession of beats, allowing boredom to creep in. That hasn’t been a part of the franchise since M:I 3. It’s a Simpsons clip show masquerading as a Mission: Impossible film, signaling that this iteration of the franchise is exhausted, with little left to say or explore. Perhaps there was no other way for this series to go out than on its back.  Run report: A run through the tunnels to save Luther, oddly reminiscent of the run attempting to save Ilsa Faust, followed by the run out of the tunnels, allowing Ethan to escape the film’s first trapA definitive ranking of Ethan Hunt’s “best friends/allies”17. Wes Bentley16. Greg Tarzan Davis15. Aaron Paul14. Jonathan Rhys Meyers13. Maggie Q12. Shea Whigham11. Hannah Waddington 10. Katy O’Brian9. Pom Klementieff8. Rolf Saxon7. Vanessa Kirby6. Keri Russell5. Simon Pegg4. Jeremy Renner3. Emilio Estevez2. Bogdan1. Luther15. War of the WorldsDirector: Steven Spielberg Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus A curious movie I liked better on a rewatch than I did on my initial watch 20 years ago. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is often misremembered as Spielberg’s darkest movie, but I’d argue that War of the Worlds beats it: It’s a divorced-dad-anxiety horror movie that has the most nightmare-inducing, traumatic, post-9/11 visuals in the master’s oeuvre. It can be read as Spielberg wrestling with his relationship with his son Max, who would’ve been around the age of Cruise’s disgruntled, estranged son in the movie. War of the Worlds has issues: Cruise never works when he’s cast in a “just some guy” role, as he’s meant to be here, and the plot goes off the rails in the third act. But it has some of the best set pieces Spielberg ever directed. What will haunt me for the rest of my life is a scene where Cruise’s character is forced to essentially make a Sophie’s Choice between his son and daughter, and lets his son go. The ominous music at the end when he’s magically reunited with his son is completely bizarre and unsettling, and I don’t think is meant to be taken at face value.  Run report: This is why Cruise is the king. He’s playing a supposed normal, everyday schmoe in this movie. When you focus on the running, compared to other roles, you can see he’s running like a mechanic who is still a little athletic, but doesn’t know where he’s going, or what is happening from one moment to the next. It’s building character through running. Incredible. 14. Knight and DayDirector: James Mangold  Where to watch: Free on Cinemax; rent on Amazon, Apple Knight and Day is a sneakily important film in the Cruise action canon because it’s the first time a movie really puts Cruise into the role of the creepy, charismatic, psychotically intense, beleaguered, put-upon invincible cartoon character he became in the Mission: Impossible franchise as of Ghost Protocol. This movie is based around a funny idea: It’s basically a Mission: Impossible movie from the perspective of a clueless civilian. It helps that the civilian is phenomenal, physical, funny, and fucking ripped: Cameron Diaz plays the world’s hottest mechanic, and makes me wish she had gotten her own Atomic Blonde-style vehicle. Run report: Some co-running with Cameron Diaz here, which is as you might imagine, is good.  13. The FirmDirector. Sydney PollackWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus It’s easy to put The Firm on a pedestal because of Sydney Pollack, the jazz score, the ’90s outfits, Gene Hackman, and every other significant gravitas-oozing “That Guy” as a mobster, shady lawyer, or Fed in a great “They don’t make them like that anymore” legal thriller. But what really stood out to me on a recent rewatch is this movie is two and a half hours about the now laughably quaint notion of rediscovering purity in the law. It isn’t much more than a story about a shady law firm that gets hit with mail-fraud charges, plus several deaths and a few smartly tied up loose ends. Run report: A clinic in Tom Cruise running, a draft-version highlight reel of his running scenes. In my memory, this contains some of his most iconic early runs, and it signals the moment when “Tom Cruise running” became a whole cultural thing.  12. Top GunDirector: Tony Scott Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus Top Gun set the template for Tom Cruise’s on-screen narrative, and it took a decade before filmmakers were willing to start subverting that narrative again. This is straight-up hero porn, without any of the humbling that the sequel eventually dishes out. Tom Cruise as Maverick is the best pilot on Earth. He loses his best friend and co-pilot Goose, due to a combination of a mechanical failure and another pilot’s fuck-up. He then has to find the courage to fly with the exact same lack of inhibition he did at the outset of the film, which he finally does, based on essentially nothing that happens in the plot. Scott makes the wise decision to center the actionof the film on pure Cruise charisma and star power, and it works. Run report: Believe it or not, Tom Cruise does not run in this movie.  11. Days of ThunderDirector: Tony Scott Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus Scott and Cruise’s Top Gun follow-up is essentially Top Gun with cars instead of jets — but yes, it’s marginally better. Why? Because this is a quintessential “We didn’t know how good we had it” classic. It’s the film where Cruise met his future spouse Nicole Kidman on set. Robert Duvall is swigging moonshine. It’s Randy Quaid’s last performance actually based on planet Earth. Plus there’s John C. Reilly, Michael Rooker, Cary Elwes, Fred Thompson, Margo Martindale, and a rousing Hans Zimmer score. Need I say more? Run report: They cut the climatic race off, but Cruise’s character Cole potentially gets smoked by 59-year-old Robert Duvall?! 10. Mission: Impossible – Dead ReckoningDirector: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus The metaphor that the Mission: Impossible franchise is a manifestation of Tom Cruise’s deep-seated need to save blockbuster filmmaking and the Hollywood star system has never been more overt. Cruise is literally up against AI, which is always a step ahead of him, dismantling his every gambit. It’s an update/remix of Ghost Protocol’s premise: The only antidote to the world-spanning AI known as The Entity is becoming a refusenik anti-tech Luddite in the spirit of John Henry, and using the raw materials of humanity to defeat an invincible machine.  Run report: Cruise running in confined spaces is a lot of fun, but the heavily CGI’d running up the side of a train losing its battle with gravity isn’t.  A definitive ranking of Mission: Impossible MacGuffins 8. Ghost Protocol’s Russian launch codes7. Fallout’s plutonium cores 6. Rogue Nation’s billion Syndicate bankroll5. M:I2’s Chimera Virus4. Final Reckoning’s Sevastopol3. M:I’s NOC list 2. Dead Reckoning Part One’s cruciform key1. M:I3’s rabbit’s foot 9. Jack Reacher  Director: Christopher McQuarrie Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus I loathe hyperbole: it’s a shortcut for unimaginative writers. I’ve never resorted to it in my entire life. So I hope you’ll take me at my word when I say that this movie is a fucking masterpiece. Amazon’s great Reacher series is made more in the image of Lee Child’s books, with a distinctive breakout lead in Alan Ritchson, who appears to have been designed in a lab to draw striking contrast to Tom Cruise in this role. But Reacher made us forget how good Jack Reacher gets. It’s a perfect elevated action programmer with a remarkable cast: David Oyelowo! Richard Jenkins! Rosamund Pike! A Days of Thunder reunion with Robert Duvall! Werner Herzog showing up in a completely brilliant, bonkers heel turn! McQuarrie made this one in vintage Shane Black ’90s style, with a dash of Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood. I totally get why Cruise decided to turn his career over to McQuarrie after this. I don’t understand why he didn’t let McQuarrie direct the sequel. Run report: There isn’t much running in this. At one point, Cruise is darting from shelter point to shelter point because a sniper is trying to pick him off, but that’s it. It’s because Jack fucking Reacher doesn’t have to run, which is simply good writing and filmmaking.  8. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation  Director: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus This film famously opens with Tom Cruise hanging from the side of a plane as it takes off. But to me, the key moment comes when he’s broken into the plane, attached himself to a package which isn’t named, but looks like a crate of rockets the size of a minivan. He gives a final raised eyebrow and shrug to a gobsmacked henchman, who watches helplessly as Cruise deploys a parachute and falls out the back of the plane’s cargo bay with a ton of atomic weapons, and no plausible way to land without killing himself and creating a Grand Canyon-sized nuclear crater in Belarus. This scene was practically drawn by Chuck Jones, which sets the tone for a film that repositions Ethan Hunt on the border of superherodom, in a film about Tom Cruise as the literal manifestation of destiny.  It also marks the return of Alec Baldwin, the firstM:I handler who carried over from one film to the next. Evaluating the handlers’ position in the franchiseis challenging: They’re constantly shifting allegiances, at times working in service of Hunt’s mission, at times in direct opposition to it, either attacking him with governmental red tape, or colluding with nefarious forces. Run report: A lot of different looks when it comes to the running in this. Shirtless running, running with Rebecca Ferguson, running across the wing of a moving plane. It’s all good. A definitive ranking of the “most fun” M:I handlers 6. Theodore Brasselin Mission: Impossible III5. Erika Sloanein Mission: Impossible – Fallout and The Final Reckoning4. Eugene Kittridgein Mission: Impossible3. John Musgravein Mission: Impossible III2. Commander Swanbeckin Mission: Impossible II1. Alan Hunleyin Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout * One of my only lingering complaints about the M:I movies is that aside from Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, we don’t get enough big family continuity. The Fast & Furious franchise is an exemplar/cautionary tale of how found-family dynamics can be a great source of fun and emotion — and also tank the series, if creators keep piling on new recurring elements. It sounds like Baldwin didn’t want to stay on board, but I would love to live in a world where he didn’t jump ship — or where, say, Henry Cavill’s August Walker joined Ethan’s team at the end of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, as he would have if he’d had a similar role in an F&F installment. 7. Minority ReportDirector: Steven SpielbergWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus I’m guessing this placement on this ranking will upset some people. I’m surprised it’s this low in the rankings too — but that’s how good the next six films are. And honestly, Minority Report doesn’t hold up as the masterpiece I remember it being. It’s a very cool story. It marks the first fantasy-team matchup of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. They’re adapting a paranoid Philip K. Dick story, and largely delivering on the promise that implies. Minority Report is an inventive, dark, weird future horror movie, made with Spielberg’s standard stunning visual economy. But among the perfect elements in this film, I have to call out some aspects that didn’t age well. Janusz Kaminski’s lighting effects feel like the whole movie is stuck inside an iPod halo. and this dutch-angled high melodrama, sauced with a dash of Terry Gilliam dystopian/gross wackiness, which lends the film a degree of occasionally atonal, squishy gonzo elasticity you’ve likely forgotten.   Run report: Mileage may vary on white pools of light, but running through them in futuristic uniforms is decisively cool.  6. Mission: Impossible Director: Brian De PalmaWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus Because MI:2 and MI:3 struggle with tone, and because it’s actually Brad Bird that sets the template for the McQuarrie era of the franchise, you could argue the first Mission: Impossible is the strangest, most personal vision of what this series is and what it can be. DePalma is asserting himself with every practical mask and stylized shot. Your mileage may vary with that approach to what has become this Swiss set piece machine, I love it. A few things stand out nearly three decades on: Of course, how ridiculously young Cruise looks, but perhaps crucially, how collegial, intimate, and even tender the first act is before his first team is eliminated and the movie becomes a DePalma paranoid thriller. It’s an element we never quite get from Mission: Impossible again, one that brings the arc of the franchise into focus and explains Ethan Hunt if you extend continuity: He’s a character betrayed by his father figure and his government in the first film, and spends the rest of the franchise running from this largely unspoken trauma, determined to never let that happen again. In the wake of this, he reluctantly pieces together a life, semblance of a family, and all the risks that come with those personal attachments. In honor of my favorite set piece in any of the films, one of DePalma’s finest taught masterpieces: A definitive ranking of the top 10 M:I set pieces  Honorable Mention: The Sebastopol Extraction-The Train Fights– MI:1 & Dead Reckoning 10. The Plane Door- Rogue Nation9. The “Kick In The Head” Russian Jail Break- Ghost Protocol8. The Water Vault Ledger Heist Into The Motorcycle Chase- Rogue Nation7. The Handcuffed Car Chase- Dead Reckoning6. The Red Baron Plane Fight- Final Reckoning5. The Burj Khalifa- Ghost Protocol4. Kidnapping At The Vatican- MI:33. The Opera House Hit- Rogue Nation2. The Louvre Halo Jump Into the Bathroom Fight- Fallout1. The NOC List Heist- MI:1 Run report: Fitting that this franchise opens with Cruise putting on a running clinic, as that first op falls apart, then of course his run away from Kittridge and the massive fish tank explosion.  5. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol  Director: Brad Bird Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus Nothing is working like it’s supposed to. Not the Impossible Mission Force, not the mask machine, not the radio comms, not the magnet gloves keeping Ethan Hunt tethered to the side of the world’s tallest building, not the Mission: Impossible franchise, and not Tom Cruise’s at-the-time fading movie stardom. But somehow, one incredible film made by a career animation director solves all of these problems, by stripping down, getting back to basics and reminding us what we always loved about these films and its star. It was supposed to be the beginning of a franchise reboot, with Jeremy Renner stepping in. Birdfights this decision off, gets away from trying to figure out the character Ethan Hunt and lets him be a superhero, more annoyed than concerned by the escalating difficulty of the impossible problems he has to solve. Through this, Bird correctly identifies the difference between Cruise and these other Hollywood candy asses: He’s a reckless warrior with a death wish who will do whatever is necessary to win, and he does. The team concept is back in full force with a genuinely showstopping stunt, and without the masks and tech, Cruise has to do it all with his wits, his hands, and his pure bravado. The series, and Cruise, never looked back.  Run report: Some of the most fun, imaginative set pieces built around running in this installment. A definitive ranking of who should replace Tom Cruise in the inevitable M:I reboot 10. Aaron Taylor Johnson9. Charlie Cox8. Sterling K. Brown7. Florence Pugh6. John David Washington5. Haley Atwell4. Miles Teller3. Jeremy Renner2. Aaron Pierre 1. Glen Powell 4. Top Gun: Maverick  Director: Joseph Kosinski Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus It’s a death dream, it’s red meat nationalist troopaganda, it’s the greatest legacyquel ever made that no one asked for and you didn’t realize you desperately needed, it’s nostalgia porn, it saved the movie going experience post-COVID, it’s a finely calibrated joy machine. Cruise is downright mystical, shimmering in the sun’s reflection off the surf, dominating an endless football game with no rules that doesn’t make sense. He has actual chemistry with Jennifer Connelly, and he has the grace to cede the floor to his old nemesis — both in the first Top Gun and as a once contemporary Hollywood star/rival — the late Val Kilmer, to drive home the crush of time and destroy everyone in the theater, no matter how many times they went to see this monster hit that first summer back in theaters.  Run report: Immediately coming off of the stunning, emotional high point of the film, we get Cruise running in salt water soaked jeans shirtless on the beach. Are you not entertained? 3. Collateral  Director: Michael Mann Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus An elemental, visceral faceoff that is radical in its simplicity of purpose. A film made by the second-best director on this list, and on a very short list of Cruise’s finest performances ever. He’s the salt and pepper terminator in a taxi, playing a pure evil bad guy, a classic Mann anti-hero samurai nihilist that also lives by a code and values being good at his job. Of course Cruise retains a kind of charm, but is also willing to get slimy and be deeply unlikeable and die on screen. Well worth the sacrifice.  Run report: Incredible running on display here. Once again he is running like a professional killer probably runs, almost always holding a gun, the hair matches the suit, so fucking bad ass.  2. Mission: Impossible – Fallout  Director: Christopher McQuarrie Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus As much time and energy as I just expended exalting Ghost Protocol, at a certain point you have to eschew poetic narratives and tip your cap, by the slightest of margins, to a fucking perfect movie. Ghost Prot is close, but you can feel its lack of a nailed-down shooting script at certain points towards its conclusion, as the action begins to wind down. McQuarrie becomes the first director in the franchise to get a second bite of the apple, and the result is a finely cut diamond. Fallout is about exhaustion and the impossibility of that manifestation of destiny idea from Rogue Nation. It makes the argument that you can’t actually save the day and save everyone without making any sacrifices forever, and because of that, sets up The Trolly Problem over and over again to try and get Ethan Hunt to compromise and/or give up. But, of course, he won’t, and neither, seemingly, will Cruise.  Run report: You can tell McQuarrie loves watching Cruise run as much as we do. He frames the runs in these wide shots and takes his time with them. It’s not conveying any additional information, a beat or two less would suffice, but the camera lingers and you get to just sit and appreciate the form and it really connects. It’s why he was the logical choice to take control of this franchise. He understands how a Tom Cruise action flick operates and what makes it special. And of course: A definitive ranking of the best runs in the franchise 10. The Opening Plane Run- Rogue Nation9. The Sandstorm Run- Ghost Protocol8. The Mask Rip Run- MI:27. Running through the alleys of Italy- Dead Reckoning6. Running Through the Tunnels for Luther- Final Reckoning5. Running down the Burj Khalifa- Ghost Protocol 4. Running from the fishtank explosion- MI:13. The Rooftop Run- Fallout2. The Shanghai Run- MI:31. The Kremlin Run- Ghost Protocol 1. Edge of Tomorrow  Director: Doug Liman Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Edge of Tomorrow is the best Tom Cruise action film had to be made in his late period of action stardom. You need the gravity and the gravitas, the emotional baggage earned through those decades of culture-remaking roles, the toll that exerted effort took on him, and the time spent and time passed on his face. The late, largely perfect Mission: Impossible films that dominate the top 10 of this list do much of that work: They feint, they allude, they nod to the realities of stardom, of life and death. But Ethan Hunt is a superhero, an inevitability, so the outcome is never in doubt — until, perhaps someday, it is. But for now, the masterpiece from Doug Liman — a director who either hits dingers or strikes out looking, with no in between — is a movie that punctuated Cruise’s post-Ghost Prot action renaissance: Edge of Tomorrow, or Live. Die. Repeat. It’s the unlikely on-paper melding of Starship Troopers and Groundhog Day, but in practice it’s the action film equivalent of Jerry Maguire, a movie that relies on your history with Maverick, and Mitch McDeere, and Ethan Hunt, and uses it to dismantle and subvert Tom Cruise, the infallible hero.  Liman is at the top of his game, particularly in editing, which uses repetition and quick cuts masterfully to convey the long and slow transformation of a public relations major named Cage — who becomes trapped in a disastrous, endless intergalactic Normandy scenario — from a marketing clown in a uniform to an alien killer badass while he falls in love and saves the world. We watch as Cruise has all his bravado and bullshit stripped away by “a system”with no time for that, a woman smarter and stronger than he is and immune to his charms, and an invading force that tears him to pieces over and over again. We watch the five-tool movie star — robbed of all his tools — regroup, rebuild, and in the process, grow a soul. It’s the platonic ideal of what a great blockbuster action film can be, one that only could’ve been made by one of its most important, prolific, and talented stars.  Run report: A beautiful physical metaphor for this film is watching the evolution of Cruise’s ability to move in that ridiculous mech suit.  #definitive #ranking #tom #cruises #best
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    A definitive ranking of Tom Cruise’s 26 best action movies
    After spending several months doing not much besides watching Tom Cruise movies, I now spend a lot of time wondering about Tom Cruise running. The Mission: Impossible star is a high-cadence runner. He’s famously short of stature, low to the ground and with short legs. But that build is perfect for cinema, because those arms swing and those legs churn and convey a viscerality, a violence, a constant labored activity that translates perfectly to the screen. What they convey is a man of action, a man summoning all of his energy and will in a single direction: to move as quickly as he can. What is he thinking about when he’s running? I like to think the answer is nothing. That Tom Cruise is able to empty his head when he runs, blanking out his career, his cultural meaning, his past and present personal relationships, and move in a state of pure being. Maybe he’s doing one of his infamous stunts, a run towards a large dangerous vehicle, or off the side of a cliff. Maybe that makes him run faster. Maybe he feels a drive toward oblivion (and for Oblivion), to make the ultimate sacrifice to cinema, resulting in a cultural afterlife even longer than eternal stardom allows. This, in many ways, has been Tom Cruise’s career-long relationship with action movies. They’re his port in the storm, a safe harbor, a place to go and find love and acceptance when there seemingly is none to be had elsewhere. When the press is digging into your religion or snickering about your failed marriages or accusing you of being awkward or crazy or scary, you can find refuge in a MacGuffin to track down, a bad guy’s plot to foil, a world to save. The challenge each writer and director must face is how to handle Cruise’s well-known persona. Do they lean in or subvert? And to what end? When gifted with perhaps the most charismatic, committed movie star ever, are you willing to grapple with this stardom, how it explains the actor at a given point in his career, and what our response to him means? Or do you run? The following is a ranking of Tom Cruise’s greatest action films. In the interest of gimmicky symmetry, we’ve once again capped ourselves at 26 titles. We didn’t cheat… much. The films below all contain shootouts, fistfights, corpses, and missile crises. Most importantly, they are (mostly) tense, suspenseful, violent, escapist popcorn, not to be confused with the other half of Cruise’s equation: the pool-playing, the bartending, the litigating, and the deeply felt character work with auteurs, intended to get him the ultimate prize, which has eluded him for nearly half a century. Let’s run the numbers. 26. Valkyrie (2008) Director: Bryan SingerWhere to watch: Free on Pluto TV, Kanopy, Hoopla You could make a decent argument that this piece of shit doesn’t even belong on this list. It’s mostly a plodding chamber drama about “good Germans” ineffectually plotting to not kill Hitler at the end of World War II. But there’s an explosion, a dull shootout, and a bunch of executions at the end, so it seems to qualify as an action movie. Making Valkyrie is one of the most baffling decisions in Cruise’s entire career. And yet it’s also one of the most important films of his career, one that arguably defines his late period, because it’s how he first met his future M:I steward Christopher McQuarrie. Run report: Ominously, Tom Cruise doesn’t run in this movie.   25. Oblivion (2013) Director: Joseph KosinskiWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Like Valkyrie, Oblivion technically qualifies as an action movie, but there’s little actual action or narrative tension to any of it. Cruise essentially plays the source code for a clone army created by a weird super-intelligence in space that runs Earth via killer droids, and the clones to service them. It comes out of a filmmaking period packed with sci-fi puzzlebox movies that were all atmosphere and often led nowhere, though this is probably the “best” example of that tiresome trend. The silver lining is that, like Valkyrie, this film led to Cruise meeting an important future collaborator: Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski. Run report: Cruise literally exercises by running on a giant sleek modern hamster wheel in this. It’s the physical manifestation of everything I hate about this film. 24. Legend (1985) Director: Ridley ScottWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple This 1985 fantasy movie has its defenders, but I am not one of them. The action is completely disjointed and chaotic, a fractured fairy tale composed of an incoherent, weird/horny unholy union of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Henson, Peter Greenaway, Ken Russell, and a handful of psilocybin mushrooms. Legend looks like something pieced together by Jack Horner on a camcorder, so it’s hard to fault Cruise for looking clunky and uncomfortable. Who knows what a good performance in that role would look like?  Run report: A lot of odd almost skipping around in this, which adds to the “high school play” quality of the film. Cruise has a proper run toward the end, but it’s not fully baked yet.  23. The Mummy (2017) Director: Alex KurtzmanWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Rewatching 2017’s The Mummy actually made me slightly disappointed we didn’t get the Dark Universe Universal Pictures briefly promised us. The setup had potential: Cruise as Indiana Jones, with Jake Johnson as Short Round and Courtney B. Vance as the archetypal no-bullshit sergeant? Potential. But Alex Kurtzman’s take on Karl Freund’s 1932 Boris Karloff Mummy needed less plot and more screwing around. This is an instance where Spielbergian pacing actually ruins a blockbuster, because it entirely lacks Spielberg Sauce. It becomes a horror movie after the first act, with Cruise as a largely personality-free, mentally unsound Black Swan/Smile protagonist. Then they spend all this time with Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll, introducing this universe of monsters that never gets off the ground. No fun! Run report: Notable because co-star Annabelle Wallis did a ton of press speaking to how much thought Cruise puts into his on-screen running. She specifically said he initially didn’t want to run on screen with Wallis, because he doesn’t like to share his on-screen run time. He relented, to little effect.  22. Mission: Impossible II (2000) Director: John WooWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus Folks, I rewatched this recently. I really wanted to love it because some close and valued colleagues sing its praises, and I love a good, hot contrarian take. Respectfully, I don’t know what the hell they’re on. The camera work in Mission: Impossible II is so berserk, it borders on amateurish. The series hadn’t figured out what it was yet, but not in an interesting exploratory way: This installment is more like trying on a pair of pants that are not your vibe. The idea that Ethan Hunt lost his team in Mission: Impossible and now he’s a broken lone wolf (plus Ving Rhames’ Luther and Thandiwe Newton’s Nyah), an agent with the weight of the world on his shoulders, is not a bad premise. But in the role that ruined his career, Dougray Scott is a wooden, toothless bad guy. And somehow, the stakes feel impossibly low, even with a world-killing bioweapon on the line. Mission: Impossible II does, however, get points for being far and away the horniest movie in the franchise. Run report: Unsurprisingly, Woo is great at filming running, and there’s a lot of clay to work with here: Cruise’s long hair flopping in the wind, slow motion, a rare mid-run mask-rip, the inevitable dove-release: It’s all good! A definitive ranking of love interests and partners in the Mission: Impossible movies 6. Claire Phelps (Emmanuelle Béart) in Mission: Impossible5. Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan) in Mission: Impossible III and Fallout4. Grace (Hayley Atwell) in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning3. Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandiwe Newton) in Mission: Impossible II2. Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Fallout, and Dead Reckoning1. Jane Carter (Paula Patton) in in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol 21. American Made (2017) Director: Doug Liman Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple It’s a funny idea: What if Top Gun’s Maverick was a schmuck pilot turned drug-runner? It’s clearly Cruise reaching for a Blow of his own, but decades into this type of narrative, we know the beats by heart. American Made is sorely lacking in depravity. Cruise’s affected good ol’ boy Southern accent both has nothing to do with the film’s disposability, and explains everything. It’s a sanitized drug narrative in which we never see Cruise blow a line or fire a gun. We don’t even see his death on screen — Cruise dying in a movie is a big deal, and has only happened a few times. It’s almost like he knew this nothingburger wasn’t worth the distinction. Run report: Not much running, which is indicative of a larger problem with this film. But at one point, Cruise runs after a car with Caleb Landry Jones in it, and it explodes, in arguably the highlight of the film, for whatever that’s worth.  20. The Last Samurai (2003) Director: Edward ZwickWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple The one’s a weird movie about a mercenary who, after participating in the genocide of Native Americans, goes native in 19th-century Japan, in the wake of the Meiji Restoration. But it’s a somewhat unusual approach to the standard Cruise narrative arc. In this, he begins as a broken, drunken husk, a mercenary arm of the growing American empire who belatedly regains his honor by joining up with some samurai. The aspects of that plotline which feel unusual for a Cruise movie don’t make up for all the story elements that have aged terribly, but they’re something.  Run report: Less running than you’d expect, but running with swords while wearing leather samurai armor. 19. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)  Director: Edward ZwickWhere to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple A lot of the films in the lower ranks of this list suffer from the problem of filmmakers settling, simply putting Cruise on screen and letting his iconography do the heavy lifting, sans interesting backstory or dialogue. In this sequel, thanks to Lee Child’s blunt dialogue, the deep-state rogue-army plotting in the source material, and Cruise’s typical level of meticulous fight choreo, it’s simply really entertaining, solid, replacement-level action. This sequel to 2012’s Jack Reacher gives the title troubleshooter (played by Cruise) a surrogate daughter and a foil in Cobie Smulders, which is great. But its primary sin is replacing Werner Herzog, the villain from the first movie, with a generic snooze of a bad guy. Run report: Some running and sliding on rooftops with guns, as fireworks go off in the night sky. Impressive for some action movies, a bit ho-hum compared to the bigger hits on this list.  18. Taps (1981) Director: Harold Becker Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Fascinating film. A Toy Soldiers riff interrogating the military-school system, and suggesting that it’s probably not a bad thing that former American ideals like patriotic honor, duty, and masculinity are fading. It’s Cruise’s first major role (with George C.Scott, Sean Penn, and baby Giancarlo Esposito!), and you’ll never believe this, but he plays a tightly wound, thrill-addicted, bloodthirsty maniac. Run report: Great characterization via run here. Cadet Captain David Shawn is a hawkish conservative dick, and Cruise’s running reflects that. He’s stiff, carrying an automatic rifle that he looks like he’s going to start firing wildly at any minute.  17. Mission: Impossible III (2006)  Director: J.J. Abrams Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus In the last Mission: Impossible installment made before the filmmakers really figured out what the series was doing, J.J. Abrams assembles a mostly incoherent, boring clunker that has a few very important grace notes. It’s a film about Ethan Hunt trying to carve out a normal life for himself, with the great Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the bucket of ice water dumped on his domestic fantasy. Hoffman’s Owen Davian is the greatest bad guy in the Cruise filmography, and there’s really no close second. (I suppose, if there was a gun to my head, I would point to Werner Herzog in Jack Reacher, or Jay Mohr in Jerry Maguire.) There are many moments I could point to in Hoffman’s wonderful performance, but the one I’d recommend, if you want to feel something, is when Hoffman gets to play Ethan Hunt playing Owen Davian with a mask on for a few scenes during the Vatican kidnapping, roughly 50 minutes in. He was so fucking great.  Run report: A lot of running, but none of it is very good. No knock on Cruise, but Abrams is doing perfunctory work, shot poorly via shaky cam that has trouble keeping Cruise in the frame, from a perfunctory director making a perfunctory action film. There are two notable exceptions. “The Shanghai Run,” which we may have more on later, and Cruise running straight up a wall. A definitive ranking of Mission: Impossible villain performances 10. Dougray Scott in Mission: Impossible II9. Eddie Marsan in Mission: Impossible III8. William Mapother — that’s right, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV’s cousin! — in Mission: Impossible II7. Lea Seydoux in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol6. Sean Harris in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout5. Jean Reno in Mission: Impossible4. Esai Morales/The Entity in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning3. Jon Voight in Mission: Impossible2. Henry Cavill in Mission: Impossible – Fallout1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Mission: Impossible III 16. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) Director: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: In theaters The franchise potentially falls with a thud — or is it an AI-generated death fantasy that plays out entirely in Ethan Hunt’s head when he gets trapped in a digital coffin early in the movie? Either way, the resulting film is something the McQuarrie-Cruise collaboration has never been before: clunky and imprecise, a disjointed watch that delivers some high highs, but is unfortunately thin on story. McQuarrie seems unconcerned with character arcs, or any substantive grand narrative that might land in any meaningful way. This movie plays out like an aimless succession of beats, allowing boredom to creep in. That hasn’t been a part of the franchise since M:I 3. It’s a Simpsons clip show masquerading as a Mission: Impossible film, signaling that this iteration of the franchise is exhausted, with little left to say or explore. Perhaps there was no other way for this series to go out than on its back.  Run report: A run through the tunnels to save Luther, oddly reminiscent of the run attempting to save Ilsa Faust, followed by the run out of the tunnels, allowing Ethan to escape the film’s first trap (or does he?) A definitive ranking of Ethan Hunt’s “best friends/allies” (non-love interest/boss division) 17. Wes Bentley16. Greg Tarzan Davis15. Aaron Paul14. Jonathan Rhys Meyers13. Maggie Q12. Shea Whigham11. Hannah Waddington 10. Katy O’Brian9. Pom Klementieff8. Rolf Saxon7. Vanessa Kirby6. Keri Russell5. Simon Pegg4. Jeremy Renner3. Emilio Estevez2. Bogdan (Miraj Grbić)1. Luther (Ving Rhames) 15. War of the Worlds (2005) Director: Steven Spielberg Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus A curious movie I liked better on a rewatch than I did on my initial watch 20 years ago. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is often misremembered as Spielberg’s darkest movie, but I’d argue that War of the Worlds beats it: It’s a divorced-dad-anxiety horror movie that has the most nightmare-inducing, traumatic, post-9/11 visuals in the master’s oeuvre. It can be read as Spielberg wrestling with his relationship with his son Max, who would’ve been around the age of Cruise’s disgruntled, estranged son in the movie. War of the Worlds has issues: Cruise never works when he’s cast in a “just some guy” role, as he’s meant to be here, and the plot goes off the rails in the third act. But it has some of the best set pieces Spielberg ever directed. What will haunt me for the rest of my life is a scene where Cruise’s character is forced to essentially make a Sophie’s Choice between his son and daughter (a great Dakota Fanning), and lets his son go. The ominous music at the end when he’s magically reunited with his son is completely bizarre and unsettling, and I don’t think is meant to be taken at face value.  Run report: This is why Cruise is the king. He’s playing a supposed normal, everyday schmoe in this movie. When you focus on the running, compared to other roles, you can see he’s running like a mechanic who is still a little athletic, but doesn’t know where he’s going, or what is happening from one moment to the next. It’s building character through running. Incredible. 14. Knight and Day (2010) Director: James Mangold  Where to watch: Free on Cinemax; rent on Amazon, Apple Knight and Day is a sneakily important film in the Cruise action canon because it’s the first time a movie really puts Cruise into the role of the creepy, charismatic, psychotically intense, beleaguered, put-upon invincible cartoon character he became in the Mission: Impossible franchise as of Ghost Protocol. This movie is based around a funny idea: It’s basically a Mission: Impossible movie from the perspective of a clueless civilian. It helps that the civilian is phenomenal, physical, funny, and fucking ripped: Cameron Diaz plays the world’s hottest mechanic, and makes me wish she had gotten her own Atomic Blonde-style vehicle. Run report: Some co-running with Cameron Diaz here, which is as you might imagine, is good.  13. The Firm (1993) Director. Sydney PollackWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus It’s easy to put The Firm on a pedestal because of Sydney Pollack, the jazz score, the ’90s outfits, Gene Hackman, and every other significant gravitas-oozing “That Guy” as a mobster, shady lawyer, or Fed in a great “They don’t make them like that anymore” legal thriller. But what really stood out to me on a recent rewatch is this movie is two and a half hours about the now laughably quaint notion of rediscovering purity in the law. It isn’t much more than a story about a shady law firm that gets hit with mail-fraud charges, plus several deaths and a few smartly tied up loose ends. Run report: A clinic in Tom Cruise running, a draft-version highlight reel of his running scenes. In my memory, this contains some of his most iconic early runs, and it signals the moment when “Tom Cruise running” became a whole cultural thing.  12. Top Gun (1986) Director: Tony Scott Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus Top Gun set the template for Tom Cruise’s on-screen narrative, and it took a decade before filmmakers were willing to start subverting that narrative again. This is straight-up hero porn, without any of the humbling that the sequel eventually dishes out. Tom Cruise as Maverick is the best pilot on Earth. He loses his best friend and co-pilot Goose, due to a combination of a mechanical failure and another pilot’s fuck-up. He then has to find the courage to fly with the exact same lack of inhibition he did at the outset of the film, which he finally does, based on essentially nothing that happens in the plot. Scott makes the wise decision to center the action (or non-action) of the film on pure Cruise charisma and star power, and it works. Run report: Believe it or not, Tom Cruise does not run in this movie.  11. Days of Thunder (1990) Director: Tony Scott Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus Scott and Cruise’s Top Gun follow-up is essentially Top Gun with cars instead of jets — but yes, it’s marginally better. Why? Because this is a quintessential “We didn’t know how good we had it” classic. It’s the film where Cruise met his future spouse Nicole Kidman on set. Robert Duvall is swigging moonshine. It’s Randy Quaid’s last performance actually based on planet Earth. Plus there’s John C. Reilly, Michael Rooker, Cary Elwes, Fred Thompson, Margo Martindale, and a rousing Hans Zimmer score. Need I say more? Run report: They cut the climatic race off, but Cruise’s character Cole potentially gets smoked by 59-year-old Robert Duvall?! 10. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023) Director: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus The metaphor that the Mission: Impossible franchise is a manifestation of Tom Cruise’s deep-seated need to save blockbuster filmmaking and the Hollywood star system has never been more overt. Cruise is literally up against AI, which is always a step ahead of him, dismantling his every gambit. It’s an update/remix of Ghost Protocol’s premise: The only antidote to the world-spanning AI known as The Entity is becoming a refusenik anti-tech Luddite in the spirit of John Henry, and using the raw materials of humanity to defeat an invincible machine.  Run report: Cruise running in confined spaces is a lot of fun, but the heavily CGI’d running up the side of a train losing its battle with gravity isn’t.  A definitive ranking of Mission: Impossible MacGuffins 8. Ghost Protocol’s Russian launch codes7. Fallout’s plutonium cores 6. Rogue Nation’s $2.4 billion Syndicate bankroll5. M:I2’s Chimera Virus4. Final Reckoning’s Sevastopol3. M:I’s NOC list 2. Dead Reckoning Part One’s cruciform key1. M:I3’s rabbit’s foot 9. Jack Reacher (2012)  Director: Christopher McQuarrie Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus I loathe hyperbole: it’s a shortcut for unimaginative writers. I’ve never resorted to it in my entire life. So I hope you’ll take me at my word when I say that this movie is a fucking masterpiece. Amazon’s great Reacher series is made more in the image of Lee Child’s books, with a distinctive breakout lead in Alan Ritchson, who appears to have been designed in a lab to draw striking contrast to Tom Cruise in this role. But Reacher made us forget how good Jack Reacher gets. It’s a perfect elevated action programmer with a remarkable cast: David Oyelowo! Richard Jenkins! Rosamund Pike! A Days of Thunder reunion with Robert Duvall! Werner Herzog showing up in a completely brilliant, bonkers heel turn! McQuarrie made this one in vintage Shane Black ’90s style, with a dash of Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood. I totally get why Cruise decided to turn his career over to McQuarrie after this. I don’t understand why he didn’t let McQuarrie direct the sequel. Run report: There isn’t much running in this. At one point, Cruise is darting from shelter point to shelter point because a sniper is trying to pick him off, but that’s it. It’s because Jack fucking Reacher doesn’t have to run, which is simply good writing and filmmaking.  8. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)  Director: Christopher McQuarrieWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus This film famously opens with Tom Cruise hanging from the side of a plane as it takes off. But to me, the key moment comes when he’s broken into the plane, attached himself to a package which isn’t named, but looks like a crate of rockets the size of a minivan. He gives a final raised eyebrow and shrug to a gobsmacked henchman, who watches helplessly as Cruise deploys a parachute and falls out the back of the plane’s cargo bay with a ton of atomic weapons, and no plausible way to land without killing himself and creating a Grand Canyon-sized nuclear crater in Belarus. This scene was practically drawn by Chuck Jones, which sets the tone for a film that repositions Ethan Hunt on the border of superherodom, in a film about Tom Cruise as the literal manifestation of destiny.  It also marks the return of Alec Baldwin, the first (but not last) M:I handler who carried over from one film to the next. Evaluating the handlers’ position in the franchise (see below) is challenging: They’re constantly shifting allegiances, at times working in service of Hunt’s mission, at times in direct opposition to it, either attacking him with governmental red tape, or colluding with nefarious forces. Run report: A lot of different looks when it comes to the running in this. Shirtless running, running with Rebecca Ferguson, running across the wing of a moving plane. It’s all good. A definitive ranking of the “most fun” M:I handlers 6. Theodore Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) in Mission: Impossible III5. Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) in Mission: Impossible – Fallout and The Final Reckoning4. Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) in Mission: Impossible3. John Musgrave (Billy Crudup) in Mission: Impossible III2. Commander Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins) in Mission: Impossible II1. Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin*) in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fallout * One of my only lingering complaints about the M:I movies is that aside from Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, we don’t get enough big family continuity. The Fast & Furious franchise is an exemplar/cautionary tale of how found-family dynamics can be a great source of fun and emotion — and also tank the series, if creators keep piling on new recurring elements. It sounds like Baldwin didn’t want to stay on board, but I would love to live in a world where he didn’t jump ship — or where, say, Henry Cavill’s August Walker joined Ethan’s team at the end of Mission: Impossible – Fallout, as he would have if he’d had a similar role in an F&F installment. 7. Minority Report (2002) Director: Steven SpielbergWhere to watch: Free on Paramount Plus I’m guessing this placement on this ranking will upset some people. I’m surprised it’s this low in the rankings too — but that’s how good the next six films are. And honestly, Minority Report doesn’t hold up as the masterpiece I remember it being. It’s a very cool story. It marks the first fantasy-team matchup of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. They’re adapting a paranoid Philip K. Dick story, and largely delivering on the promise that implies. Minority Report is an inventive, dark, weird future horror movie, made with Spielberg’s standard stunning visual economy. But among the perfect elements in this film, I have to call out some aspects that didn’t age well. Janusz Kaminski’s lighting effects feel like the whole movie is stuck inside an iPod halo. and this dutch-angled high melodrama, sauced with a dash of Terry Gilliam dystopian/gross wackiness, which lends the film a degree of occasionally atonal, squishy gonzo elasticity you’ve likely forgotten.   Run report: Mileage may vary on white pools of light, but running through them in futuristic uniforms is decisively cool.  6. Mission: Impossible (1996) Director: Brian De PalmaWhere to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus Because MI:2 and MI:3 struggle with tone (and long, listless patches), and because it’s actually Brad Bird that sets the template for the McQuarrie era of the franchise, you could argue the first Mission: Impossible is the strangest, most personal vision of what this series is and what it can be. DePalma is asserting himself with every practical mask and stylized shot. Your mileage may vary with that approach to what has become this Swiss set piece machine, I love it. A few things stand out nearly three decades on: Of course, how ridiculously young Cruise looks, but perhaps crucially, how collegial, intimate, and even tender the first act is before his first team is eliminated and the movie becomes a DePalma paranoid thriller. It’s an element we never quite get from Mission: Impossible again, one that brings the arc of the franchise into focus and explains Ethan Hunt if you extend continuity: He’s a character betrayed by his father figure and his government in the first film, and spends the rest of the franchise running from this largely unspoken trauma, determined to never let that happen again. In the wake of this, he reluctantly pieces together a life, semblance of a family, and all the risks that come with those personal attachments. In honor of my favorite set piece in any of the films, one of DePalma’s finest taught masterpieces: A definitive ranking of the top 10 M:I set pieces  Honorable Mention: The Sebastopol Extraction- (Tie) The Train Fights– MI:1 & Dead Reckoning 10. The Plane Door- Rogue Nation9. The “Kick In The Head” Russian Jail Break- Ghost Protocol8. The Water Vault Ledger Heist Into The Motorcycle Chase- Rogue Nation7. The Handcuffed Car Chase- Dead Reckoning6. The Red Baron Plane Fight- Final Reckoning5. The Burj Khalifa- Ghost Protocol4. Kidnapping At The Vatican- MI:33. The Opera House Hit- Rogue Nation2. The Louvre Halo Jump Into the Bathroom Fight- Fallout1. The NOC List Heist- MI:1 Run report: Fitting that this franchise opens with Cruise putting on a running clinic, as that first op falls apart, then of course his run away from Kittridge and the massive fish tank explosion.  5. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol  Director: Brad Bird (2011) Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus Nothing is working like it’s supposed to. Not the Impossible Mission Force, not the mask machine, not the radio comms, not the magnet gloves keeping Ethan Hunt tethered to the side of the world’s tallest building, not the Mission: Impossible franchise, and not Tom Cruise’s at-the-time fading movie stardom. But somehow, one incredible film made by a career animation director solves all of these problems, by stripping down, getting back to basics and reminding us what we always loved about these films and its star. It was supposed to be the beginning of a franchise reboot, with Jeremy Renner stepping in. Bird (and McQuarrie, in for a pass at the troubled screenplay and on deck to become Cruise’s Guy For Life) fights this decision off, gets away from trying to figure out the character Ethan Hunt and lets him be a superhero, more annoyed than concerned by the escalating difficulty of the impossible problems he has to solve. Through this, Bird correctly identifies the difference between Cruise and these other Hollywood candy asses: He’s a reckless warrior with a death wish who will do whatever is necessary to win, and he does. The team concept is back in full force with a genuinely showstopping stunt, and without the masks and tech, Cruise has to do it all with his wits, his hands, and his pure bravado. The series, and Cruise, never looked back.  Run report: Some of the most fun, imaginative set pieces built around running in this installment. A definitive ranking of who should replace Tom Cruise in the inevitable M:I reboot 10. Aaron Taylor Johnson9. Charlie Cox8. Sterling K. Brown7. Florence Pugh6. John David Washington5. Haley Atwell4. Miles Teller3. Jeremy Renner2. Aaron Pierre 1. Glen Powell 4. Top Gun: Maverick  Director: Joseph Kosinski (2022) Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus It’s a death dream, it’s red meat nationalist troopaganda, it’s the greatest legacyquel ever made that no one asked for and you didn’t realize you desperately needed, it’s nostalgia porn, it saved the movie going experience post-COVID, it’s a finely calibrated joy machine. Cruise is downright mystical, shimmering in the sun’s reflection off the surf, dominating an endless football game with no rules that doesn’t make sense. He has actual chemistry with Jennifer Connelly, and he has the grace to cede the floor to his old nemesis — both in the first Top Gun and as a once contemporary Hollywood star/rival — the late Val Kilmer, to drive home the crush of time and destroy everyone in the theater, no matter how many times they went to see this monster hit that first summer back in theaters.  Run report: Immediately coming off of the stunning, emotional high point of the film, we get Cruise running in salt water soaked jeans shirtless on the beach. Are you not entertained? 3. Collateral  Director: Michael Mann (2004) Where to watch: Free on Paramount Plus An elemental, visceral faceoff that is radical in its simplicity of purpose. A film made by the second-best director on this list, and on a very short list of Cruise’s finest performances ever. He’s the salt and pepper terminator in a taxi, playing a pure evil bad guy, a classic Mann anti-hero samurai nihilist that also lives by a code and values being good at his job. Of course Cruise retains a kind of charm, but is also willing to get slimy and be deeply unlikeable and die on screen. Well worth the sacrifice.  Run report: Incredible running on display here. Once again he is running like a professional killer probably runs, almost always holding a gun, the hair matches the suit, so fucking bad ass.  2. Mission: Impossible – Fallout  Director: Christopher McQuarrie (2018) Where to watch: Free on Hulu, Paramount Plus As much time and energy as I just expended exalting Ghost Protocol, at a certain point you have to eschew poetic narratives and tip your cap, by the slightest of margins, to a fucking perfect movie. Ghost Prot is close, but you can feel its lack of a nailed-down shooting script at certain points towards its conclusion, as the action begins to wind down. McQuarrie becomes the first director in the franchise to get a second bite of the apple, and the result is a finely cut diamond. Fallout is about exhaustion and the impossibility of that manifestation of destiny idea from Rogue Nation. It makes the argument that you can’t actually save the day and save everyone without making any sacrifices forever, and because of that, sets up The Trolly Problem over and over again to try and get Ethan Hunt to compromise and/or give up. But, of course, he won’t, and neither, seemingly, will Cruise.  Run report: You can tell McQuarrie loves watching Cruise run as much as we do. He frames the runs in these wide shots and takes his time with them. It’s not conveying any additional information, a beat or two less would suffice, but the camera lingers and you get to just sit and appreciate the form and it really connects. It’s why he was the logical choice to take control of this franchise. He understands how a Tom Cruise action flick operates and what makes it special. And of course: A definitive ranking of the best runs in the franchise 10. The Opening Plane Run- Rogue Nation9. The Sandstorm Run- Ghost Protocol8. The Mask Rip Run- MI:27. Running through the alleys of Italy- Dead Reckoning6. Running Through the Tunnels for Luther (then out)- Final Reckoning5. Running down the Burj Khalifa- Ghost Protocol 4. Running from the fishtank explosion- MI:13. The Rooftop Run- Fallout2. The Shanghai Run- MI:31. The Kremlin Run- Ghost Protocol 1. Edge of Tomorrow  Director: Doug Liman (2014) Where to watch: Rent on Amazon, Apple Edge of Tomorrow is the best Tom Cruise action film had to be made in his late period of action stardom. You need the gravity and the gravitas, the emotional baggage earned through those decades of culture-remaking roles, the toll that exerted effort took on him, and the time spent and time passed on his face. The late, largely perfect Mission: Impossible films that dominate the top 10 of this list do much of that work: They feint, they allude, they nod to the realities of stardom, of life and death. But Ethan Hunt is a superhero, an inevitability, so the outcome is never in doubt — until, perhaps someday, it is. But for now, the masterpiece from Doug Liman — a director who either hits dingers or strikes out looking, with no in between — is a movie that punctuated Cruise’s post-Ghost Prot action renaissance: Edge of Tomorrow, or Live. Die. Repeat. It’s the unlikely on-paper melding of Starship Troopers and Groundhog Day, but in practice it’s the action film equivalent of Jerry Maguire, a movie that relies on your history with Maverick, and Mitch McDeere, and Ethan Hunt, and uses it to dismantle and subvert Tom Cruise, the infallible hero.  Liman is at the top of his game, particularly in editing, which uses repetition and quick cuts masterfully to convey the long and slow transformation of a public relations major named Cage — who becomes trapped in a disastrous, endless intergalactic Normandy scenario — from a marketing clown in a uniform to an alien killer badass while he falls in love and saves the world. We watch as Cruise has all his bravado and bullshit stripped away by “a system” (maybe the single best Paxton performance?!) with no time for that, a woman smarter and stronger than he is and immune to his charms, and an invading force that tears him to pieces over and over again. We watch the five-tool movie star — robbed of all his tools — regroup, rebuild, and in the process, grow a soul. It’s the platonic ideal of what a great blockbuster action film can be, one that only could’ve been made by one of its most important, prolific, and talented stars.  Run report: A beautiful physical metaphor for this film is watching the evolution of Cruise’s ability to move in that ridiculous mech suit. 
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  • This Lamp Just Became the Most Expensive Object Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Ever Sold at Auction

    This Lamp Just Became the Most Expensive Object Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Ever Sold at Auction
    The double-pedestal light fixture brought in million. It was designed around 1903 for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, a 12,000-square-foot residence in Springfield, Illinois

    The lamp features the "sumac pattern," which Wright also used elsewhere throughout the Susan Lawrence Dana House.
    Sotheby's

    American architect Frank Lloyd Wright is most famous for the hundreds of structures he designed over his seven-decade career. But in addition to sketching out buildings, Wright also created custom furnishings, many of which bear the hallmarks of his signature Prairie style.
    “It is quite impossible to consider the building as one thing, its furnishings another and its setting and environment still another,” he once wrote. “The spirit in which these buildings are conceived sees all these together at work as one thing.”
    On May 13, Sotheby’s sold one of Wright’s furniture pieces—a rare double-pedestal lamp—for a record-breaking million. After a seven-minute bidding war, the lamp became the most expensive Wright object ever sold at auction.
    The lamp broke the record set by a 1902 ceiling light Wright designed for the Francis W. Little House in Peoria, Illinois, which sold for million in 2023.
    The sale celebrates “not only a remarkable piece of American design but a landmark moment in the legacy of one of the most visionary architects in history,” says Jodi Pollack, an expert in 20th-century design at Sotheby’s, in a statement, as reported by Artnet’s Min Chen.

    Why This Lamp Is Worth Millions: Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece Heads to Auction | Sotheby's
    Watch on

    Wright created the lamp for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, a 12,000-square-foot residence in Springfield, Illinois. Only two known examples of the lamp still exist: the one that just sold at auction, and another that remains in the house’s collection.
    The home was purchased by the state of Illinois in 1981 and is maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a museum. Docents offer public tours daily.
    Dana was a “forward-thinking socialite” who wrote Wright a blank check to renovate her late father’s home, according to the museum’s website. In the end, he created a sprawling dwelling with 35 rooms.
    Wright also designed numerous items to decorate the home, including more than 100 pieces of custom furniture and more than 450 art glass windows, doors and light fixtures, according to Sotheby’s. Today, the museum boasts the largest collection of site-specific, original Wright art glass and furniture.
    “When Susan Lawrence Dana commissioned Wright to oversee the transformation of an existing home in Springfield, Illinois, the result was not just a building—it was a complete work of art,” Eric Rogers, a spokesperson for the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, tells Hyperallergic’s Maya Pontone in an email.
    One of those pieces was the double-pedestal lamp, which features colorful stained glass panes, geometric patterns and a rectilinear base. Its main motif is known as the “sumac pattern,” which appears throughout the house. Wright designed the lamp around 1903 and had it made by Linden Glass Company in Chicago around 1904, per Sotheby’s.
    The last time the lamp came to auction was in 2002, when it sold for million.
    “A true testament to his genius, the lamp stands as a beacon of the American pursuit of design, innovation and progress that reflects Wright’s lasting influence on American architecture and culture,” says Pollack in the statement.

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    #this #lamp #just #became #most
    This Lamp Just Became the Most Expensive Object Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Ever Sold at Auction
    This Lamp Just Became the Most Expensive Object Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Ever Sold at Auction The double-pedestal light fixture brought in million. It was designed around 1903 for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, a 12,000-square-foot residence in Springfield, Illinois The lamp features the "sumac pattern," which Wright also used elsewhere throughout the Susan Lawrence Dana House. Sotheby's American architect Frank Lloyd Wright is most famous for the hundreds of structures he designed over his seven-decade career. But in addition to sketching out buildings, Wright also created custom furnishings, many of which bear the hallmarks of his signature Prairie style. “It is quite impossible to consider the building as one thing, its furnishings another and its setting and environment still another,” he once wrote. “The spirit in which these buildings are conceived sees all these together at work as one thing.” On May 13, Sotheby’s sold one of Wright’s furniture pieces—a rare double-pedestal lamp—for a record-breaking million. After a seven-minute bidding war, the lamp became the most expensive Wright object ever sold at auction. The lamp broke the record set by a 1902 ceiling light Wright designed for the Francis W. Little House in Peoria, Illinois, which sold for million in 2023. The sale celebrates “not only a remarkable piece of American design but a landmark moment in the legacy of one of the most visionary architects in history,” says Jodi Pollack, an expert in 20th-century design at Sotheby’s, in a statement, as reported by Artnet’s Min Chen. Why This Lamp Is Worth Millions: Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece Heads to Auction | Sotheby's Watch on Wright created the lamp for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, a 12,000-square-foot residence in Springfield, Illinois. Only two known examples of the lamp still exist: the one that just sold at auction, and another that remains in the house’s collection. The home was purchased by the state of Illinois in 1981 and is maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a museum. Docents offer public tours daily. Dana was a “forward-thinking socialite” who wrote Wright a blank check to renovate her late father’s home, according to the museum’s website. In the end, he created a sprawling dwelling with 35 rooms. Wright also designed numerous items to decorate the home, including more than 100 pieces of custom furniture and more than 450 art glass windows, doors and light fixtures, according to Sotheby’s. Today, the museum boasts the largest collection of site-specific, original Wright art glass and furniture. “When Susan Lawrence Dana commissioned Wright to oversee the transformation of an existing home in Springfield, Illinois, the result was not just a building—it was a complete work of art,” Eric Rogers, a spokesperson for the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, tells Hyperallergic’s Maya Pontone in an email. One of those pieces was the double-pedestal lamp, which features colorful stained glass panes, geometric patterns and a rectilinear base. Its main motif is known as the “sumac pattern,” which appears throughout the house. Wright designed the lamp around 1903 and had it made by Linden Glass Company in Chicago around 1904, per Sotheby’s. The last time the lamp came to auction was in 2002, when it sold for million. “A true testament to his genius, the lamp stands as a beacon of the American pursuit of design, innovation and progress that reflects Wright’s lasting influence on American architecture and culture,” says Pollack in the statement. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. #this #lamp #just #became #most
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    This Lamp Just Became the Most Expensive Object Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Ever Sold at Auction
    This Lamp Just Became the Most Expensive Object Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Ever Sold at Auction The double-pedestal light fixture brought in $7.5 million. It was designed around 1903 for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, a 12,000-square-foot residence in Springfield, Illinois The lamp features the "sumac pattern," which Wright also used elsewhere throughout the Susan Lawrence Dana House. Sotheby's American architect Frank Lloyd Wright is most famous for the hundreds of structures he designed over his seven-decade career. But in addition to sketching out buildings, Wright also created custom furnishings, many of which bear the hallmarks of his signature Prairie style. “It is quite impossible to consider the building as one thing, its furnishings another and its setting and environment still another,” he once wrote. “The spirit in which these buildings are conceived sees all these together at work as one thing.” On May 13, Sotheby’s sold one of Wright’s furniture pieces—a rare double-pedestal lamp—for a record-breaking $7.5 million. After a seven-minute bidding war, the lamp became the most expensive Wright object ever sold at auction. The lamp broke the record set by a 1902 ceiling light Wright designed for the Francis W. Little House in Peoria, Illinois, which sold for $2.9 million in 2023. The sale celebrates “not only a remarkable piece of American design but a landmark moment in the legacy of one of the most visionary architects in history,” says Jodi Pollack, an expert in 20th-century design at Sotheby’s, in a statement, as reported by Artnet’s Min Chen. Why This Lamp Is Worth Millions: Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece Heads to Auction | Sotheby's Watch on Wright created the lamp for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, a 12,000-square-foot residence in Springfield, Illinois. Only two known examples of the lamp still exist: the one that just sold at auction, and another that remains in the house’s collection. The home was purchased by the state of Illinois in 1981 and is maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a museum. Docents offer public tours daily. Dana was a “forward-thinking socialite” who wrote Wright a blank check to renovate her late father’s home, according to the museum’s website. In the end, he created a sprawling dwelling with 35 rooms. Wright also designed numerous items to decorate the home, including more than 100 pieces of custom furniture and more than 450 art glass windows, doors and light fixtures, according to Sotheby’s. Today, the museum boasts the largest collection of site-specific, original Wright art glass and furniture. “When Susan Lawrence Dana commissioned Wright to oversee the transformation of an existing home in Springfield, Illinois, the result was not just a building—it was a complete work of art,” Eric Rogers, a spokesperson for the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, tells Hyperallergic’s Maya Pontone in an email. One of those pieces was the double-pedestal lamp, which features colorful stained glass panes, geometric patterns and a rectilinear base. Its main motif is known as the “sumac pattern,” which appears throughout the house. Wright designed the lamp around 1903 and had it made by Linden Glass Company in Chicago around 1904, per Sotheby’s. The last time the lamp came to auction was in 2002, when it sold for $2 million. “A true testament to his genius, the lamp stands as a beacon of the American pursuit of design, innovation and progress that reflects Wright’s lasting influence on American architecture and culture,” says Pollack in the statement. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.
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  • Frank Lloyd Wright's Double-Pedestal Lamp Breaks Records With $7.5 Million Sale

    At Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction last night, Frank Lloyd Wright's double-pedestal lamp broke a record when it sold for million after an 11-minute battle between bidders. The iridescent lamp, in shades of gold, green, blue, and purple, is now the most valuable Wright work ever sold at auction, more than doubling his previous record. The price is four times what the lamp sold for when it was last on the block in 2002. Courtesy Sotheby'sFormally titled "An Important Double-Pedestal Lamp for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, Illinois," the piece was initially commissioned for one of Wright's early residential homes. There are just two versions of this lamp in existence: the one that sold last night and one that Illinois Governor Jim Thompson and the Dana-Thomas House Foundation acquired in 1988 for the permanent collection of the Dana-Thomas House, which is now a museum.Courtesy Sotheby'sThe lamp is made from iridized and opalescent glass and bronze in a brass-plated “colonial” zinc frame. Wright designed the work in 1903 and it was executed by the Linden Glass Company in Chicago the next year. The lamp's gold, amber, and green shade features geometric patterns and the "sumac motif," a prairie plant Wright used as design inspiration throughout the Dana-Thomas House. Parts of the lamp gently move: the two vertical blue-green glass panels on each side have hinges. Sotheby's notes that these panels may reference Japanese “shoji” screens—believed to repel evil spirits—which Wright admired during visits to Japan.Courtesy Sotheby's Overall, this sale is a boon to the architect's already storied legacy. Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th century design notes that the sale, "celebrates not only a remarkable piece of American design but a landmark moment in the legacy of one of the most visionary architects in history."She continued: "A true testament to his genius, the lamp stands as a beacon of the American pursuit of design, innovation and progress that reflects Wright’s lasting influence on American architecture and culture." Annie GoldsmithSenior EditorAnnie Goldsmith is the senior editor and digital lead at ELLE Decor, where she covers design, culture, style, and trends. She previously held positions at The Information, covering technology and culture, and Town & Country, writing about news, entertainment, and fashion. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, and the SF Standard. 
    #frank #lloyd #wright039s #doublepedestal #lamp
    Frank Lloyd Wright's Double-Pedestal Lamp Breaks Records With $7.5 Million Sale
    At Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction last night, Frank Lloyd Wright's double-pedestal lamp broke a record when it sold for million after an 11-minute battle between bidders. The iridescent lamp, in shades of gold, green, blue, and purple, is now the most valuable Wright work ever sold at auction, more than doubling his previous record. The price is four times what the lamp sold for when it was last on the block in 2002. Courtesy Sotheby'sFormally titled "An Important Double-Pedestal Lamp for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, Illinois," the piece was initially commissioned for one of Wright's early residential homes. There are just two versions of this lamp in existence: the one that sold last night and one that Illinois Governor Jim Thompson and the Dana-Thomas House Foundation acquired in 1988 for the permanent collection of the Dana-Thomas House, which is now a museum.Courtesy Sotheby'sThe lamp is made from iridized and opalescent glass and bronze in a brass-plated “colonial” zinc frame. Wright designed the work in 1903 and it was executed by the Linden Glass Company in Chicago the next year. The lamp's gold, amber, and green shade features geometric patterns and the "sumac motif," a prairie plant Wright used as design inspiration throughout the Dana-Thomas House. Parts of the lamp gently move: the two vertical blue-green glass panels on each side have hinges. Sotheby's notes that these panels may reference Japanese “shoji” screens—believed to repel evil spirits—which Wright admired during visits to Japan.Courtesy Sotheby's Overall, this sale is a boon to the architect's already storied legacy. Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th century design notes that the sale, "celebrates not only a remarkable piece of American design but a landmark moment in the legacy of one of the most visionary architects in history."She continued: "A true testament to his genius, the lamp stands as a beacon of the American pursuit of design, innovation and progress that reflects Wright’s lasting influence on American architecture and culture." Annie GoldsmithSenior EditorAnnie Goldsmith is the senior editor and digital lead at ELLE Decor, where she covers design, culture, style, and trends. She previously held positions at The Information, covering technology and culture, and Town & Country, writing about news, entertainment, and fashion. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, and the SF Standard.  #frank #lloyd #wright039s #doublepedestal #lamp
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    Frank Lloyd Wright's Double-Pedestal Lamp Breaks Records With $7.5 Million Sale
    At Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction last night, Frank Lloyd Wright's double-pedestal lamp broke a record when it sold for $7.5 million after an 11-minute battle between bidders. The iridescent lamp, in shades of gold, green, blue, and purple, is now the most valuable Wright work ever sold at auction, more than doubling his previous record. The price is four times what the lamp sold for when it was last on the block in 2002. Courtesy Sotheby'sFormally titled "An Important Double-Pedestal Lamp for the Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, Illinois," the piece was initially commissioned for one of Wright's early residential homes. There are just two versions of this lamp in existence: the one that sold last night and one that Illinois Governor Jim Thompson and the Dana-Thomas House Foundation acquired in 1988 for the permanent collection of the Dana-Thomas House, which is now a museum.Courtesy Sotheby'sThe lamp is made from iridized and opalescent glass and bronze in a brass-plated “colonial” zinc frame. Wright designed the work in 1903 and it was executed by the Linden Glass Company in Chicago the next year. The lamp's gold, amber, and green shade features geometric patterns and the "sumac motif," a prairie plant Wright used as design inspiration throughout the Dana-Thomas House. Parts of the lamp gently move: the two vertical blue-green glass panels on each side have hinges. Sotheby's notes that these panels may reference Japanese “shoji” screens—believed to repel evil spirits—which Wright admired during visits to Japan.Courtesy Sotheby's Overall, this sale is a boon to the architect's already storied legacy. Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th century design notes that the sale, "celebrates not only a remarkable piece of American design but a landmark moment in the legacy of one of the most visionary architects in history."She continued: "A true testament to his genius, the lamp stands as a beacon of the American pursuit of design, innovation and progress that reflects Wright’s lasting influence on American architecture and culture." Annie GoldsmithSenior EditorAnnie Goldsmith is the senior editor and digital lead at ELLE Decor, where she covers design, culture, style, and trends. She previously held positions at The Information, covering technology and culture, and Town & Country, writing about news, entertainment, and fashion. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, and the SF Standard. 
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