Events Calendar
In This Section
Cleveland R&B vocalist to make Akron debut
Actor Bernsen enjoying ride of derby movie project
End of an era: Oprah ending show after 25 years
Ohio native takes second place on 'Project Runway'
'New Moon' casts spell on fans
'The Blind Side' scores as feel-good crowd-pleaser
'Planet 51' is sci-fi animation lite
Barrymore's 1945 film co-stars Garson, Peck
Most Read Stories
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Poor machine maintenance blamed for fire at Akron business
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Indians add 7 players to 40-man roster
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Body with gunshot wounds found in Canton Township creek
Blogs:
Pets:
Sick Pets Get High-tech Health Care
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
The proposed new LeBron mural doesn't do it for me
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Hey, somebody's gotta stick up for the Browns
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
All Da King's Men:
Attention Haters, Palin And Hannity Together
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Muslim McCarthyism & Death Prayers
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Norma asks if Barkitecture is still at Stan Hywet.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Many stars have site, but this one fills a need to protect actor's brand
By Jake Coyle
Associated Press
Published on Friday, May 30, 2008
Tom Cruise has launched a Web site devoted to himself: http://www.tomcruise.com.
Many stars have their own sites for fans, but Cruise's belated entry to the Internet is of particular interest.
Few stars have seen themselves pilloried more on the Web than Cruise, who has watched numerous embarrassing moments ricochet around the Internet at warp speed. Who can forget watching the clips of Cruise appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show way back in June 2005, in the early days of Web 2.0?
The event — the beginning of Cruise's publicity crisis — is alluded to on the new site, which links to his recent interview with Winfrey. Sitting at his Telluride, Colo., home, the talk show host refers to it as ''the sofa incident.''
More than that, though, videos of Cruise speaking passionately about Scientology became viral hits earlier this year, prompting many parodies, including one by actor Jerry O'Connell.
So it makes sense that Cruise might want to protect his brand a little bit by using the great powers of the Internet. The site is in many ways standard for a celebrity. Among the features are a ''message from Tom,'' a glowing biography and handsome photographs.
The actor explains: ''I created this site as a thank you, to you, for sharing the journey with me and to invite you to continue to explore what the future will bring.''
The occasion for his reflection is the 25th anniversary of Risky Business, his first starring role and the one that immediately made him a star. Posted for streaming is a video edited by the Museum of the Moving Image looking back on Cruise's career.
''My hope with this site is to bring you in and share with you the fun I experience every day during the filmmaking process, from working with the script, to the making of the film through to what we finally see when we settle in our seats and the lights go down,'' Cruise writes.
If Cruise really does this — if he uses his Web site like a filmmaking journal — it could be a delightful and illuminating perspective on what it's like for a true megastar to make a movie. More likely, though, is infrequent postings and a less intimate perspective.
After all, even Cruise himself says he's now more guarded after so much criticism over his religion and personal beliefs.
''When I'm dealing with my humanitarian issues, I'll talk about my humanitarian issues,'' Cruise told Winfrey. ''And when I'm promoting a film, I'm just going to promote the film. And that's just the way it's going to be.''
His next starring role is as a World War II German officer in Valkyrie. Its release was recently pushed back four months until Feb. 13, 2009, which many read as a bad sign for the film. The buzz has been much better for a cameo he makes in the upcoming Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder.
Tom Cruise has launched a Web site devoted to himself: http://www.tomcruise.com.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
