Ep. 148: Tom Cruise – Top 6 Movies

July 28, 2024 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on one of the biggest Hollywood stars of all time Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise was born on the 3rd of July, 1962, in Syracuse, New York to parents Thomas Cruise Mapother III an electrical Engineer, and Mary Lee, a special education teacher.

During his childhood he struggled with dyslexia and the frequent moving of his family. He used sports, in particular wrestling, to fit in, but when forced out by injury he tried out for a school musical and subsequently found his love for acting.

His first breakthrough came in his leading role in “Risky Business” in 1983 where he played the high-achieving high school student Joel Goodsen. This was then followed up in 1986 by the hugely successful action film “Top Gun”.

From here he has challenged himself in a myriad of different roles and genres and has pushed the boundaries in terms of the stunts he has undertaken.

He has formed the production company Cruise/Wagner Productions which has given him more creative freedom and the opportunity to spread his wings even further and produce and direct.

Today’s mnemonic will be on Tom Cruise’s top six movies.

So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TomCruiseDec08MTV_cropped.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and producer. Regarded as a Hollywood icon,[1][2][3] he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for four Academy Awards. His films have grossed over $5 billion in North America and over $12 billion worldwide,[4] making him one of the highest-grossing box-office stars of all time.[5] He is one of the world's highest-paid actors.[6]

Cruise began acting in the early 1980s and made his breakthrough with leading roles in the comedy Risky Business (1983) and the action film Top Gun (1986). Acclaim came with his roles in the dramas The Color of Money (1986), Rain Man (1988), and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). For his portrayal of Ron Kovic in the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. As a leading Hollywood star in the 1990s, he starred in commercially successful films, including the drama A Few Good Men (1992), the thriller The Firm (1993), the horror film Interview with the Vampire (1994), and the romance Jerry Maguire (1996). For the latter, he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and received a second Academy Award nomination. Cruise's performance as a motivational speaker in the drama Magnolia (1999) earned him another Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Cruise established himself as a star of science fiction and action films, often performing his own risky stunts. He has played agent Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible film series since 1996. His other films in the genre include Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Knight and Day (2010), Jack Reacher (2012), Oblivion (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016), and The Mummy (2017). Top Gun: Maverick (2022) is Cruise's highest-grossing film, and earned him a Best Picture Award nomination at the Academy Awards for his role as a producer.

Cruise was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1990,[7] and received the top honor of "Most Beautiful People" in 1997.[8] He has been married to the actresses Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes. He adopted two children during his marriage to Kidman, and has a biological daughter with Holmes. He is outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology, which he credits with helping him overcome dyslexia.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cruise]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Cruise_in_Dec_2012_(1_av_3).jpg

Mnemonic

Tom Cruise – Top 6 Movies Mnemonic – JiM RATT

(Picture Tom Cruise incessantly at the gym to keep fit for all his parts and stunts)

1. Jerry Maguire - 1996

2. Mission Impossible Series

3. Rain Man - 1988

4. A Few Good Men - 1992

5. Top Gun - 1986

6. Top Gun: Maverick - 2022

Five Fun Facts

1. Tom Cruise’s full name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV and he was raised a devout Catholic. As a boy he wished to become a priest later attending a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati on a scholarship. He was no role model though, skipping school to drink and smoke, and stealing alcohol from the priests.

2. Not many will know (well at least I didn’t) but Tom Cruise was the visual basis for Aladdin. Disney modelled the face of Aladdin on Tom Cruise who was having a purple patch at the box office with movies such as “A Few Good Men,” “Days of Thunder,” and “Born on the Fourth of July.”

3. Tom Cruise has a national day in Japan! The day is October 10 and has been held annually since 2006 to celebrate Tom Cruise’s many visits to the “land of the rising sun”, no doubt helped by his movie “The Last Samurai”.

4. As Tom said in “Top Gun” “I feel the need … the need for speed,” and so he does in his personal life as well. He has his own commercial pilot’s license, he owns a P-51 Mustang, he raced for Paul Neman’s racing team around the time of filming “The Color of Money”, he recorded a very fast lap on the “Top Gear” test track, and while filming “Days of Thunder” he recorded a lap at Daytona in which he hit 205 mph.

5. Tom Cruise usually plays the hero on screen, but off the screen he has been the hero as well. In 1996 he witnessed a hit and run on the way home from dinner. Heloisa Vinhas had been hit by a car and was lying in the street. Cruise rang for help and made sure she got to the hospital as well as paid for all her bills when he found out that she had no medical insurance.

And just another little factoid to finish off. Now, we all know the story back in June 2012, when Tom and Katie split up, leaving Tom Cruise homes-less! But apparently, she had a very good reason for the split with a few rumours going around, that Tom, had been in, “A Few Good Men!!”

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Cruise_(48364137131)_(cropped).jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. How many Oscars has Tom Cruise won?

Q.2. In Top Gun, Maverick’s real name is what?

Q.3. In “The Outsiders,” what was the name of the gang that included other up-and-coming actors such as Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, and Rob Lowe?

Bonus Q. Name the song that was featured in the 1988 movie Cocktail by The Beach Boys that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

Bonus Q. Who was Tom Cruise’s first wife?

Mnemonic Recap

Tom Cruise – Top 6 Movies Mnemonic – JiM RATT

(Picture Tom Cruise incessantly at the gym to keep fit for all his parts and stunts)

1. Jerry Maguire - 1996

2. Mission Impossible Series

3. Rain Man - 1988

4. A Few Good Men - 1992

5. Top Gun - 1986

6. Top Gun: Maverick – 2022

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. How many Oscars has Tom Cruise won?

A. Zero, though he has been nominated four times

Q.2. In Top Gun, Maverick’s real name is what?

A. Pete Mitchell

Q.3. In “The Outsiders,” what was the name of the gang that included other up-and-coming actors such as Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, and Rob Lowe?

A. The Greasers

Bonus Q. Name the song that was featured in the 1988 movie Cocktail by The Beach Boys that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

A. Kokomo

Bonus Q. Who was Tom Cruise’s first wife?

A. Mimi Rogers and they got married back in 1987

Word of the Week

nebulous

[ neb-yuh-luhs ]

adjective