Tom Hanks

The only thing that saves ‘A Hologram for the King’ from reaching disaster status is the luminous presence of Sarita Choudhury.

The Ladykillers is the forgotten Coen brothers project. Released in early 2004, the star-studded (as per usual) picture was met with a tepid reception and to this day is looked upon on with dubious eyes, if mentioned at all when discussing their career. More to the point, the entire period between O Brother Where Art Thou and No Country for Old Men is not one that film fans in general or Coen fans in particular are very fond of bringing up

‘Bridge of Spies’ is Spielberg at his wonky best, aided by some first-rate cinematography and a predictably wonderful performance from Tom Hanks

In Steven Spielberg’s continuous efforts to recreate historic wars on the big screen, he’s chosen a seemingly less visual war this time around. While the Cold War can make for compelling cinema, a substantial amount of effort is required to make a convincing and successfully engaging Cold War drama.

We first reported on Clint Eastwood taking on the story of Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger last week, an adaptation of Captain Sully’s book accounting for how he emergency landed a passenger plane on the Hudson River after a flock of geese caused an engine accident. Eastwood was a natural to take on the story, but it …

Last night on late night, Tom Hanks and Dave talked dodging drones with Ron Howard, a “sex mathematician” explained hormones to Conan, Hugh Jackman and Nick Offerman were on The Tonight Show, Mariah Carey went on Kimmel, and The Men in Blazers broke down Premier League relegation battle drama.

10. Waterworld Directed by: Kevin Reynolds It could be the flop of all flops. At the time, “Waterworld” was the most expensive film ever made. Starring Kevin Costner, “Waterworld” is a science-fiction/fantasy film taking place roughly 500 years after the polar ice caps melted in the beginning of the 21st century, effectively covering the entire …

Joe Versus the Volcano Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley USA, 1990 Once upon a time, Tom Hanks was a comedic actor. From the early 1980s until about the early 1990s, Hanks made a name for himself as a goofy, fun-loving everyman. This streak continued until about 1993 when he won his first Academy Award …

The opening and closing images in the Toy Story trilogy are one and the same: a picture-perfect blue sky with a couple of carefully placed, nonthreatening fluffy clouds in the middle. While both are computer-generated facsimiles, the former is a facsimile of a facsimile: the comforting wallpaper in the bedroom of a little boy named …

Saving Mr. Banks Written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith Directed by John Lee Hancock USA, 2013 “They said only God could make a tree,” Walt Disney says proudly as he strolls down Main Street, U.S.A. in the Disneyland theme park, late in Saving Mr. Banks. Walt, as he prefers to be known, gladhands all …

The answer ranges from “not a lot” to “not the right things,” depending on how closely you observe. In the generation (30 years) since HIV/AIDS became a maligned social epidemic, only two American studio films, Philadelphia and now Dallas Buyers Club, have addressed the disease forthrightly. Other films have touched on it, of course. Larry Clark’s Kids and …

Tom Hanks has reached an important turning point in his career, and if Captain Phillips is any indication, we may not have to worry about him taking the wrong path. There is the path of least resistance and effort, the path of once-great acting titans like Robert de Niro and Al Pacino, who have replaced quality with quantity. De Niro and Pacino still have talent within them, burrowed beneath all the cash-grabs, as do other actors reaching AARP status, like Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford.

In 2009, the U.S. container vessel Maersk Alabama, while transporting food cargo bound for Mombasa, was hijacked by a group of rebel Somali pirates. Captain Phillips examines the events that transpired on that fateful day in this intelligent geopolitical thriller, done so exquisitely by former legendary documentarian Paul Greengrass.

If you think back to some of the most successful Hollywood blockbusters of the last three decades, chances are that Tom Hanks has starred in a fair few of them. Hanks may have debuted as a comic actor with his feel-good all-American persona, but he’s also shown himself to be a complex and sensitive artist …

Cloud Atlas Directed by Tom Tykwer, Andy and Lana Wachowski Written by Tom Tykwer, Andy and Lana Wachowski Germany/USA/ Hong Kong/Singapore, 2012 Beyond its unparalleled ambition, Cloud Atlas is a film that carries too little emotional heft to truly resonate. In what will easily go down as the most divisive film-going experience of the year, and potentially live on …

*Disclaimer: the following is based on and an expansion of an article written by Peter Howell, the Toronto Star Movie Critic. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a film of the lowest common denominator adds nothing to the institution of cinema. But as profiteers like Adam Sandler have already understood, when money speaks, truth is …

It is the second week of the contest, and this is traditionally when we first start feeling a little horror burnout. This year was no exception, but I managed to trudge through it and watch 13 films, and some were even good. The week started on a high note with Lucio Fulci’s City of The …

It is horror season again, my favorite time of year, which means my dear friend Justine and I reprise our rivalry and do our best to out-watch each other, for no other prize other than bragging rights for the year. Really, it is an excuse for two horror fanatics to cram their brains with as …

Angels and Demons Directed by Ron Howard There’s a nebulous threat looming on the horizon in director Ron Howard’s latest Dan Brown adaptation, and it’s not the antimatter that powers the film’s obnoxiously rigid ticking-clock device. Rather, it’s the needless exposition and mannered overplotting (much of it courtesy of frequently awful screenwriter Akiva Goldsman) that …