Pick Six- Tom Hanks
With this week’s release of Cloud Atlas, we figured it would be a good time to do a Pick Six for the great Tom Hanks. I was excited about this particular project, because unlike Tim Burton, I have loved Tom Hanks and the movies he was in for about as long as I can remember. I’m also fascinated by the man himself. I was delighted to learn, for instance, that he collects typewriters. Picking my top six Tom Hanks wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be – the hardest part, in the end, was deciding what films wouldn't make the final cut. Here are my top six favorite (favorite, not “best” or most Oscar toting) Tom Hanks movies.
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis, Rated: PG-13, 143 minutes
Directed by: Nora Ephron, Rated: PG, 105 minutes
Sleepless in Seattle was a film that I avoided for far too long. I’d heard a few times that the film was “weird,” and disagreeably so. As a result, I didn't see it until I was 22, sitting alone in my college apartment. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was the blanket, but regardless, this movie made me cry and laugh in equal turn. Tom Hanks plays a man haunted by the loss of his wife with remarkable dexterity, all the while keeping his trademark humor. The collision of American cities in the background give this film a remarkable flavor, blending bits of Chicago, Seattle, Baltimore and even the top of the Empire Building. Touching, funny, Sleepless in Seattle is my second favorite romance film, right after Casablanca.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg, Rated: R, 169 minutes
Saving Private Ryan is the war movie that redefined war movies. The attack on Normandy beach single-handedly readjusted the lens on World War II in a way that, really, was never undone. Gone are the days of simple good versus bad, of John Wayne clutching a Thompson Submachine gun. Gone are the days of slow motion derring do (indeed, movies like Behind Enemy Lines, while still cool end up feeling forced). Saving Private Ryan focuses on a rescue operation aimed at saving a certain Private Ryan, whose other brothers were killed in the war. The pursuit reveals to us an excruciatingly personal look at World War II, with Tom Hanks as the uncomfortable and believable leader of the outfit. If there was ever a person unfamiliar with the genre of “war movie” this is the one I would tell them to start with.
Directed by: Mike Nichols, Rated: R, 102 minutes
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis, Rated: PG-13, 142 minutes
Directed by: John Lasseter, Rated: G, 81 minutes
Honorable Mentions:
Philadelphia: This is a great film. Tom Hanks (in particular) put on his best performance. I couldn't bring myself to put this on my top six because...well, I just didn't like the movie that much. I think the message (especially for when they released it) is important, but the movie left me not as impressed as I wanted to be. So cry foul, but this one didn't break in. Even though Tom Hanks was incredible in it.
Catch Me if You Can: I love this movie. A lot. But I don’t love it more than Cast Away, which was at the bottom of the Pick Six.
Apollo 13: This one suffered from Catch Me if You Can Syndrome. Loved it, loved it, loved it. But not more than Cast Away. And not more than anything above Cast Away on the list.
The Green Mile: Based on a Stephen King story, this was another one of the movies that I had to wince as I kept it off the list. In the end, I love this movie, but had to keep it off the final collection.
Nick's Pick Six for Tom Hanks: (no order)
Catch Me if You Can
Castaway
Saving Private Ryan
Toy Story
Forrest Gump
Road to Perdition
Labels: cast away, charlie wilsons war, forrest gump, pick six, ries, saving private ryan, sleepless in seattle, tom hanks, toy story
8 Comments:
Tom Hanks is brilliant. He kills me every time I watch Forrest Gump...any scene...any line. His performance in that is possibly the best I've ever seen by an actor of that decade, or ever. Maybe that's a bold statement, but he carries that movie with every scene, statement and facial expression.
Hey Courtney,
I totally agree with you. I think his portrayal of Forrest in this movie is top notch. The scene where Jenny tells him about Jr. obliterates me and awes me every time I see it. So glad someone agrees... :)
I really like that you included Charlie Wilson's war. I think that movie is vastly underrated. The only change I'd make would be to include Apollo 13 over Castaway.
The scene where he's talking to Jenny in the end of the movie (after he buried her under their tree) kills me every time. Cannot. Handle.
Hey Thomas,
Apollo 13, Catch Me if You Can and Castaway all fought for that last spot. It was a gruesome struggle, but in the end I chose Castaway for the simple reason that it made me weep over a volleyball...
Me too...can't do it. A tissue box is a prerequisite for watching Forrest Gump.
The point of the port-a-potty comment - the door to the potty said Bakersfield! We had a part in Castaway, we Bakersfieldians. I believe we may have cheered in the theater when that scene played. Small excitements here.
Susan, I know that I definitely cheered. Fun trivia - did you know that in Hitchcock's Psycho, Janet Leigh swaps out her car for a new one in - you guessed it - Bakersfield? Who knew we were so famous! Also, in The Cell, the victim is being held prisoner in Bakersfield. It's everywhere! Thanks for commenting! ;)
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