lauren bacall tells it like it is

Bacall doesn't mince words about Tom Cruise in this flash from the Drudge Report:

LAUREN BACALL: 'VULGAR' TOM CRUISE IS NOT A GREAT ACTOR
Sun Jul 31 2005 11:06:05 ET

New York -- Lauren Bacall tells TIME Tom Cruise is not a great actor. "When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise," Bacall says.

"His whole behavior is so shocking. It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but I think it's kind of a sickness."

I don't care if Cruise uses his private life to sell things, but what he is selling, the pseudo-scientific pseudo-religion known as Scientology, is itself a sickness. And I think she is too kind about his acting - not only is he not a great actor, he is barely a mediocre one. This is unlike Bacall, who not only has great acting talent, but was one of the most beautiful (with a sexy voice to boot) of her day. She gains bonus points in my book for appearing in several film noirs, one of my favorite genres. And I don't know about you, but I can never hear her name without thinking of The Clash song "Car Jamming": "I thought I saw Lauren Bacall, I thought I saw Lauren Bacall..."