Another original, interesting, thoughtful movie. Sure, it had its slow moments, but all-in-all, it worked both as a concept and in the nuts-and-bolts of plot, acting, script, directing, etc. It did take a while for me to get into it, but after a couple rotations of the story, I couldn’t wait for the next cut.
Tag Archives: Tom Hanks
Bachelor Party
I dunno what to say about this one. It definitely had it’s moments, but it’s hard to say that it was a great movie. It was more a series of funny gags & stand-up comedy. It was fun, but I don’t know that I’d like to view it again.
Angels and Demons
This goes deeper than you could ever have imagined. It goes right to the top… Back to the beginning… Nothing you think you know is what’s really true. Or something like that. Does that even make sense?
Apollo 13
No surprises here. Spacemen come through. I guess NASA used to be the pinnacle of creative science. Now, they’re just really good at spending money.
The DaVinci Code
I was certain I would find this really dumb, but I actually liked it. Maybe it was just the effect of low expectations? I cared about the characters, and enjoyed the performances. Even though the general ending was fairly obvious about half-way through, there were still enough surprises along the way to keep one’s interest. Of course, the general premise… with the giant conspiracy, and all the puzzles, etc. is just well… kind of stupid. But, you just have to put that aside for a couple hours.
Cast Away
Any movie that can get people to cry over a volleyball can’t be too bad.
Big
Sure, it was a cute movie, but it wasn’t that great. I think the idea of this movie would have worked better if it wasn’t a comedy/drama. It would have been a great black comedy or sad drama. Careful what you wish for!
You’ve Got Mail
Sleepless in New York
Splash
I guess I kind of liked it. It was fresh anyway, I guess now the “mermaid in NY” movie has been done, so we can all die happy.
Sleepless in Seattle
Another chance for Meg Ryan to be cute, although she almost meets her match with Tom Hanks (playing with his boy at the park?). I have to say though, these movies try to make life look so difficult, but when you look at the life these people have, give me a break! (other than the untimely death of the kid’s mom).
Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg’s latest. This movie was about what I expected. All the bare ‘grit’ of war. I can’t really think of anything too critical to say about this movie… it was quite good. I really liked the camera work, it added a bit more realism and was not overdone like some MTV video. I especially liked the lack of fiery explosions and the lack of any slow-motion violence sequences. For some reason, the movie industry seems to think that we can’t relate to explosions unless there is a lot of fire involved, even though almost all explosions are really fireless. Also, Hollywood seems to think that we “get more out of” slow motion sequences. I think slow-motion totally ruins the reality of a scene (with some exceptions). Real life is not in slow motion. Unlike a lot of people, I didn’t think this movie was necessarily ‘too much’ for some younger people (say… kids over ~13 depending on their maturity level… ) I’m sure a lot of people will disagree though, and I can understand why. It is very graphic, but I don’t think it will do permanent harm to anyone’s character. A lot of movies tend to make violence and death overly glamorous and dramatic – I think that’s a lot worse than just telling the truth about it. This movie shows what real violence does to people – there’s nothing glamorous about it. A lot of real soldiers get killed in agonizing ways, and luck has more to do with survival than skill. Who wants to bet their life that they’ll be lucky? War does indeed suck. Maybe people who see this movie will be less inclined to start them. (Oh, I think there was one plot screwup: Pvt. Ryan talks about the last time he was together with his brothers – back on the farm in Iowa. But, we learned earlier that they were all stationed together, and only split up after a different (and real-life) tragedy happened. )
The Man with One Red Shoe
I don’t really remember much about this movie – it was from back in the days when Tom Hanks still did comedies. Kind of your “normal guy gets mixed up in big conspiracy” thing. It was pieced together pretty well.
Joe vs. The Volcano
The key to making Meg Ryan “not as cute”? Put her in disguise. She’s not a bad actor actually. I liked this movie, many people have never seen it even though it stars a couple of the biggest stars in Hollywood. It’s just on the other side of reality, perhaps the way the world would be if Christo was god.
The Green Mile
A decent movie that had a hard time going somewhere. They did an excellent job creating a mood and building characters, but then it was almost like they didn’t know what to do next…. Ummm, let’s make the guy a magical, mystical being that can cure diseases! I think it would have been a better movie if the Tom Hanks character just discovered that the big guy was innocent, and struggled with “what to do”. Instead, they turned a really good movie into an OK one.
Forrest Gump
Mama always said life is like a box of hand grenades… you never know when it’s gonna explode. Sure, this was a good movie. The thing which scares me is that there are some people who think Forrest Gump is a real person. What a pathetic bunch of morons we humans are.