Tom Hanks Archive

Dave’s Collection – Saving Private Ryan (1998)

By
Dave
Published: February 9, 2010Posted in: Action, Drama, Theme of Month, WarTags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of the greatest war films ever made is reason enough for me to disregard anything I have against Steven Spielberg. Spielberg is awesome, but he has annoyed me from time to time with his way of sugar coating film endings. I guess I am kind of partial to movies with odd abrupt endings that either make you think or just catch you off guard so that you go out of the theater with a “wow” face. That is another story entirely though; the point is, Spielberg has a tendency to make clean and happy endings to his films which sometimes feels almost boring. Thankfully he is so good at directing that usually the rest of the film makes up for that. Saving Private Ryan is still one of my all time favorites with the powerful story written by Robert Rodat and the excellent directing I already mentioned.

I am sure you have all seen this one before, but if for some reason you did not check it out, then you need to rent this one. My only regret is that I do not own this on Blu-ray and therefore I am tempted to purchase a second copy just to have the HD. Getting on with the reason this movie is so good. The acting is tremendous by Tom Hanks; he always plays parts with amazing talent, but this one really strikes me as one of his best. If you do not feel the passion in that final scene with Hanks and Damon then, well you should probably stop watching movies. The cast is very impressive to say the least. The cast includes Matt Damon, Giovanni Ribisi, Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Paul Giamatti, and Ted Danson. I am sure there are a lot more, but those are the ones that stuck out in my mind. It is always amazing how many different big names they can get in these war movies. Barry Pepper is his natural edgy character in this one and Sizemore has a good time as well. I could have gone for a little more of Damon, but that obviously would not have worked well with the story. Overall, the acting is excellent and that is just one more thing to add to the already great film.

The directing is where this movie really gets to me. The film is gritty and powerful just like a war movie should be. There are plenty of slow parts to build the depth of characters and give you reason to care about them, but then it is back into the action and Spielberg made it look awesome. The D-Day recreation is a perfect example of Spielberg’s directing talent. It is painful to watch because it is so realistic. One thing I find odd is how big blockbusters often come out in pairs as far as theme goes. Like Volcano and Dante’s Peak, Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line came out around the same time. The Thin Red Line is a great movie as well, but it is very different from Saving Private Ryan. Even the sounds of weapons firing seem completely different and it is not nearly as flashy as Spielberg’s creation. My guess is that they held it until January of the next year so that it would not be overshadowed completely by Saving Private Ryan and was still in the running for some awards.

If you are a fan of war films and you have not seen this one then you are truly missing a remarkable film. I rarely find movies that I would consider to be a 9 out of 10 or higher, but when I do I have no problem adding them to my collection. That is no doubt the case with this one. The writing, directing, and acting are all some of the best. It is definitely a war movie more than anything else, so if you are not the kind that can sit through a couple hours of realistic war carnage then this one will not be for you. In fact, if that is difficult for you to watch then you will likely have to quit watching right in the beginning where they start with D-Day. The language and violence is as bad as it gets, but that is to be expected in a war film. Not surprisingly, at the time of writing this movie is at #46 on imdb’s list of top movies of all time.

The Skinny Version

Raw Score: 912,998
Sharon Movie? No

Director: Steven Spieberg
Writer: Robert Rodat
Genre: Action/Drama/War

Movie Review – Angels and Demons (2009)

By
Dave
Published: June 27, 2009Posted in: UncategorizedTags: , , ,

Angels and Demons 1

Director: Ron Howard
Writer: David Koepp and Akiva Goldsman
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Thriller

Anticipation of the expected controversy of Angels and Demons after seeing The Da Vinci Code left me with complete disappointment. Not to say that Angels and Demons was a bad movie or that The Da Vinci Code was a great film, but Angels and Demons was certainly not as interesting as Da Vinci Code. Still this film managed to be well made and well acted from almost all respects. What it lacks is simply a compelling story.

Angels and Demons made attempts in the previews to make it seem as though it would be controversial and exciting, but in the end it was a mediocre thriller/drama. Ron Howard still directs with confidence and the cinematography was beautiful. The acting was excellent by Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor even if a little laid back by Hanks. Hanks has certain style that is universal across all of his films and that is part of what makes him so great. He looks comfortable in his characters and that is what true acting is about. McGregor almost seemed out of place as McKenna, but he still comes through. Unfortunately the directing allowed some of the things that were supposed to be more subtle in the acting shine their ugly head out on the film. You can quite easily see what is coming next and if you can’t then you will likely feel like it was obvious once you see it played out.
Angels and Demons 2

In spite of its flaws it does manage to be entertaining. The most frustrating thing about the film is how it feels like everything just plays out so perfectly. It did not feel like Hanks had to do much to figure out the next move of the antagonist. Every move we are one step behind, yet so close. It almost feels like if they had just taken a couple more minutes trying to figure something out they could have caught the bad guy earlier on rather than stringing it out into this huge spectacle. But alas, then there would not be a movie. Drama? Yes. Thriller? Well, maybe. It has its exciting moments and it is fast paced, but it almost runs more like an action adventure like Indiana Jones or National Treasure. This is not what I expected at all.
Angels and Demons 3

The verdict is that it is mediocre. It is not at all controversial like the Da Vinci Code was (which is what that one had going for it) and it is not as thrilling as most thrillers. The fact that it follows The Da Vinci Code may be its biggest downfall. I was expecting more and received less. Ron Howard is not always the best, but he is fairly consistently good and he happens upon greatness from time to time. Unfortunately we will have to wait until Howard’s next film to see if we can have greatness again. As far as the whole family being able to watch Angels and Demons it is pretty close to that clean. There are certainly some intense scenes and a little bit of blood, but it isn’t Die Hard or anything especially from a language aspect. This is a take or leave type movie; don’t rush to see it.

The Skinny Version

Raw Score: 702,091
Sharon Movie? No

Review Blitz #7

By
Dave
Published: May 12, 2008Posted in: Review BlitzTags: , , , ,

Walk Hard (Director’s Cut) (2007)

I have certainly let this one sink in enough to talk about it on a clear mind now. I liked it a lot, but still feel it could have been much better without all of the gross humor and unnecessary crudeness. This is something I have found others to simply not care about and certainly I can get over it fairly easily, but it never adds to the film in my opinion. Aside from that I found John C. Reilly to be about as good as a lead as I was expecting; he can do it, but he is better in a supporting role. I like the guy a lot and maybe some other movie could give him a better presentation as a lead. This movie made me laugh a lot though.

One note on my comments about the crudeness though you may have noticed that I watched the director’s cut so a lot of the crudeness may not have been present in the theatrical release.

Raw Score: 731,292
Sharon Movie? No

Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)

Still not sure exactly why I waited so long to see this one. I think it really came down to seeing the making of video at the theaters so many times that really turned me off. In the end though, I really liked this one and had to see it for the performances of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Hanks, and Julia Roberts. They are all top notch and did their usual great performances here. I would have liked to see some decent special effects in Charlie Wilson’s War rather than the terrible special effects we received, but that was not the real point of the movie so I won’t hold it against them. The movie was funny, moved fairly quickly, and seemed like an accurate retelling of true events (as if I really know anyway). This all put together provided a good movie which should not be missed.

Raw Score: 787,596
Sharon Movie? No

The Nines (2007)

The Nines would have been overlooked if it had not been for the review I read by Fletch over at Blog Cabins (thanks for your review). I liked The Nines a lot and it is becoming more and more apparent that Ryan Reynolds has enough talent to carry a lead role in a movie these days. With his last performance in Definitely, Maybe I was impressed and he certainly does a good job here in different characters throughout The Nines. I liked The Nines for its quirky style and the way things were mixed up with each story having the same actors playing different parts. I would recommend The Nines for anyone looking for something that is a little out of the ordinary and not very well known.

Raw Score: 765,293
Sharon Movie? No

The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

Although The Jane Austen Book Club provided enough entertainment to keep me satisfied, the ending made me wish I had turned the movie off 5 minutes before it was over. Aside from the ending though it was fairly good and funny at times. It is definitely a chick flick and one that I would consider a Sharon Movie. The acting overall was good, but the scripting was not as good as it could have been and at times seemed unrealistic. Check it out if you are looking for a chick flick that has a way too happy ending.

Raw Score: 684,394
Sharon Movie? Yes