Tom Hanks - Articles - Zimbio

Tom Hanks @ Angels & Demons - 1st Look

Mon, 28 Oct 2008 03:10:12 GMT

posted by ReserveResult
Tom Hanks returns to his Da Vinci Code's Robert Langdon character - to try to solve a murder and unravel a plot by an ancient group, the Illuminati, to blow up the Vatican during a papal conclave - in producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard's Angels & Demons.

Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Kristof Konrad and August Fredrik co-star in the big screen adaptation of author Dan Brown's first novel on Robert Langdon series.

Ron Howard is repped by Risa Gertner and Richard Lovett @ Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and is a co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment at 9465 Wilshire Boulevard 7th Floor in Beverly Hills.

Zade Rosenthal / Sony Pictures

Angels & Demons hits theaters on May 15th of 2009.

Scott Garfield / Sony Pictures

Tom Hanks is repped by Jimmy Darmody, Richard Lovett, Carin Sage and Brian Siberell @ Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and a partner of Playtone @ P.O. Box 7340 in Santa Monica , California 90406

Our First Look at Tom Hanks in 'Angels & Demons'

Tue, 29 Oct 2008 09:00:44 GMT

posted by bigpicture
The Dan Brown adaptation The Da Vinci Code made an embarrassing amount of money. So when the time came to make the prequel, Angels & Demons, all of that money went back into the new production for two things: To give Tom Hanks a raise ($35 million) and to buy him a better hairpiece.

If the new photos from Angels & Demons prove anything, it's that the right wig can make all the difference. I mean, Hanks was not terribly good in the first movie, not by his standards, anyway. To a certain extent, you can blame the dialogue, which is Brown's great weakness as a writer, but I'd say 60 - 60% of his discomfort in the first movie was that terrible Nic Cage hand-me-down on top of his head.

Hanks looks more action-y in the first pic, and if you look a little further down, why that's Ewan McGregor! I forgot he was in this. What a nice surprise.

Philadelphia (1993)

Thu, 14 Nov 2008 19:18:00 GMT

posted by klawedkillerkitten
Philadelphia is a truly amazing movie and a touching story. Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who has been stricken with a horrible disease. He plays a convincing role as Andrew Beckett, a man who knows the meaning of justice and knows what exactly his rights are. What Mr. Hanks also accomplishes with this role is he breaks free from the stereotypes society has dictated on the average gay man. Andrew

That Thing Tom Hanks Do!

Thu, 7 Nov 2008 15:00:43 GMT

posted by dluberts

Over the years I’ve had this really strange relationship with Tom Hanks. No dudes, I’m straight, okay? And get your minds out of the friggin’ gutter. This is an audience/performer kind of thing that’s strange because, while I’m not necessarily a Tom Hanks fan, his films are at the top of my favorites lists in a number of genres.

It probably took a while for me to recognize Hanks as a major talent because I just never really liked most of his early work … Bosom Buddies (1980), Splash (1984), Big (1988), weren’t projects I could get into. It wasn’t until Sleepless in Seattle (1993) that I really started warming to his films. Tom’s work with Nora Ephron and Meg Ryan will be the topic of another article, but I just wanted to reference the work where I really started feeling a connection with his acting talents.

In the years since then he’s done some amazing, and incredibly diverse, work in films such as Philadelphia (1993), Forrest Gump (1994) and The Green Mile (1999) to name but a few.

My favorite of Tom Hanks’ contributions to the Cinema came in the form of a sweet little packaged confection that he wrote and directed in 1996, called That Thing You Do!

That Thing You Do! is the story of a little rock band from Erie, PA, called The Wonders. As in One-hit Wonders. They are a garage band that rises from obscurity after a burst of adrenaline from their new drummer, Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott in his break-out role), turns a sleepy little ballad into a run-away pop hit.

Set in 1964, the film captures a lot of the innocence still lingering in the United States just after the Kennedy Assassination, and before the escalation in Vietnam started dividing the country. It’s a pastel-colored world filled with hope, and possibilities, and, yeah, wonder.

The story told is Guy Patterson’s story, and we see the band, and their rise to the top of the Billboard charts through his eyes. There’s the added element of a love story between Patterson and the lead singer’s girlfriend, Fay, played to delicate perfection by Liv Tyler, that comes to a head as the band reaches the height of their success, and implodes at the same moment. Through the entire adventure they are guided by their all-knowing promoter/manager/matchmaker, Playtone music executive, Mr. White, played by Hanks.

Hanks’ conceived the film, and did an amazing job of realizing it. There’s meticulous attention paid to both period detail, and, as one would expect from a director who is an actor of Hanks’ caliber, great nuanced performances from the entire cast.

Also noteworthy is Steve Zahn’s performance as Lenny, the lead guitarist. A basic party boy who learned how to play the guitar so he could pick up girls … and it worked. He gets most of the best comedy bits in the film, but rightfully so.

The self-titled pop song that drives the movie, “That Thing You Do!”, is also kind of remarkable. There is a book of songs performed in the film by The Wonders, as well as other artists in the “Playtone Galaxy of Stars” that are all faithfully created period pieces in a variety of styles. ”That Thing You Do!” is played at least 4 times during the movie but, for some reason, as an audience member you never get tired of hearing it. It is a totally infections ’60s pop tune that lifts the film up and moves along with it throughout.

That Thing You Do! didn’t do big business at the box office during its initial release, with a domestic gross of only $25mm. In fact, I didn’t pick up on it until seeing on HBO after the threatrical run … A discovery a lot of people apparently made, as the film was a hit on pay cable for a couple of years. I’ve watched the entire film no less than a dozen times, and it never gets tired.

In 2006, Fox Home Video released, That Thing You Do! - The Director’s Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition), which I recently picked up. It includes an extended director’s cut of the movie which, while interesting as it fills in some back story, especially some revelations about Mr. White, it really doesn’t improve on the original story (face it, most, good, Hollywood narratives are lean … They tend to loose any cruft that isn’t essential to advancing the story. Rarely does a film benefit by adding the removed footage back in.) The bonus disk has got over an hour of features and documentaries, including a reunion with most of the cast, talking about the making of the film.

The Polar Express 3-D / 2 DVD SET ~ Tom Hanks Christmas

Thu, 7 Nov 2008 01:24:02 GMT

posted by fncyfet

US $11.50 (17 Bids)
End Date: Thursday Nov-13-2008 17:24:02 PST
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