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SHADE-OFF Once Tom Cruise was the undisputed sunglasses king. Any shades he wore in a movie took off like fireworks. Can he be unseated?

TOM CRUISE

Signature Shades: Ray-Ban Wayfarers in 1983's Risky Business Price: $55

Reflection on Sales: On the brink of discontinuation before Cruise wore them; sales soared after the film

Signature Shades: Ray-Ban Aviators in 1986's Top Gun Price: $100

Reflection on Sales: The 50-year-old style's sales had been flat; after the film, they shot up 40%

Caveat: In Eyes Wide Shut, Cruise wears no signature shades, but he does spend much of the film wearing a mask. New merchandising opportunity?

WILL SMITH

Signature Shades: Ray-Ban's Predator 2, in 1997's Men in Black Price: $99

Reflection on Sales: In six months, sales tripled; Ray-Ban says it was like $25 million in free ads

Signature Shades: Custom-made oval shades in Wild Wild West, which opened last week

Reflection on Sales: Millions more Whoppers sold, if Burger King has it its way. It's selling knock-offs of the glasses for $1.99

Caveat: When Keanu Reeves' slightly slanted specs from The Matrix become publicly available in August, they could also be contenders

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DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, a history professor at Rice University, on why former President George W. Bush is displaying the pistol that was seized when Saddam Hussein was captured in Iraq in 2003 at Bush's presidential library
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DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, a history professor at Rice University, on why former President George W. Bush is displaying the pistol that was seized when Saddam Hussein was captured in Iraq in 2003 at Bush's presidential library