Tag: Tom Hanks

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Are you old enough to remember Mister Roger’s Neighborhood?

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” is based on the TV show Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. The movie illustrates the real-life friendship of Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.

Tom Junod is a jaded journalist who is assigned to profile Fred Rogers. As Tom goes about writing the story he finds out that spending time with Fred Rogers introduces many life lessons such as empathy, kindness and decency and that Fred Rogers is America’s most beloved neighbor.

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” is very entertaining, eye-opening and thought-provoking. The movie is loaded with “Life Lessons” that no matter your age or lot in life everyone can learn something from Mister Roger’s Neighborhood.

This is a 5 Star Movie!!

Toy Story 4 in AMC Dolby

Woody and the gang are back!! Nine years ago Bo Peep was separated from Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang. As time moves along Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang are now the favorite toys of a little girl named Bonnie. Bonnie plays with them all every day. Soon it’s time for Bonnie to go to Kindergarten. She doesn’t want to go, but after some prodding from her parents off she goes. Bonnie doesn’t realize that Woody is in her back pack to help make sure her first day is a success.

During Arts and Crafts Bonnie makes a new friend. She actually builds a friend using a plastic fork, some felt tubing, glue, clay and some toy eyes. Bonnie calls her new friend “Forky”. Bonnie absolutely loves “Forky” and refuses to be separated from him.
“Forky” meets Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang, but “Forky” soon decides he is better off if he’s in the trash, so he constantly puts himself in the trash while Woody gets him out. The story and adventure starts from there…

“Toy Story 4” is fun, cute, lighthearted and very entertaining. The cinematography is great. I honestly did not think this franchise would go on this long, but the story continues to have meat. There is a life lesson in “Toy Story 4”.
Pixar has managed to keep us adults all engaged in this franchise. There was definitely more adults in the theater than children. I am not sure if there will be a “Toy Story 5”, but if there is I will go.

If you like the “Toy Story” franchise than “Toy Story 4” is a must see.

This is a 5 Star Movie!!

The Post

“The Post” is a “Thrilling Drama” about the unlikely partnership between Katherine Graham (Meryl Streep) and Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) both of the Washington Post. The two together race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that cover three decades and four U.S. Presidents. The two allies must over-come their differences to help bring deeply buried truths to light. The story unfolds from there…

Plain and Simple…Meryl Streep portrayal of the first ever female publisher of an American Newspaper was Brilliant!!

“The Post” gives you “Old School” reporting and reminds you of times long since passed where Newspaper Reporters pound the pavement to get the scoop. The story moves along quickly and shows an accurate account of the events that occurred.

“The Post” is an excellent collaboration between Spielberg, Streep and Hanks.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

The Circle

“The Circle” was an utter waste of my time. It’s a let-down considering the cast!

Mae (Emma Watson) gets hired by the world’s largest and most successful Tech Social Media Company. Mae grips this opportunity like it’s a life line. She starts off slow, but soon rises thru the ranks. The Company Founder, Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) encourages Mae and her ideas. Mae soon embarks on an experiment that is groundbreaking and also pushes the boundaries of how we live life today, but this new experiment could also alienate her from her family. The story unfolds from there…

“The Circle” is one dimension. There is no plot and no story. The movie just goes along its merry way. You could take from the movie that not everyone is going to like you on social media, not everyone is going to agree with your opinions on social media and not everyone cares what you do on social media even if your millions of so-called friends are watching your every move every single day on social media…

“The Circle” has great actors in a bad movie. “The Circle” is the late Bill Paxton’s last movie.

This is a 1 Star Movie!

Inferno

“Inferno” lacks fire. It’s like riding on a runaway freight train without actually being on the train.

In this adaptation of the fourth Dan Brown novel, the opening finds Professor Langdon (Hanks) in a hospital with no recollection of how he got there or how he sustained his injuries. The doctor taking care of him is trying to extract information, but having no luck.

The police arrive at the hospital to speak with Professor Langdon, but it turns out to be the same people who actually kidnapped the Professor. Sensing something is about to go down, the doctor gets Professor Langdon out of his hospital bed and they flee the hospital in a cab.

The next day Professor Langdon slowly starts to put the pieces together. He figures out that there is a plot to release a deadly virus into the world. This virus would kill millions of people. After accessing his email on the doctor’s computer, the professor is tracked to the building where the doctor lives, so they both flee again. The story unfolds from there…

The absolute best elements of “Inferno” is the cinematography and the camera angles. There are some great shots of Venice Italy and Istanbul Turkey. Beyond that the story is very weak. The plot is almost non-existent and the movie has no substance.

This is by far the worst installment of the Dan Brown series and not a great outing for Ron Howard as the director.

This is a 1 Star Movie!

Sully

“Sully” recounts the events that led up to US Airways Flight 1549 landing in the Hudson River. The flight’s destination was Charlotte, NC, but a “Bird Strike” hit the Airbus 320 Engines as it was climbing to reach its cruising altitude. The “Bird Strike” caused both engines to fail. The airplane was not able to make it to Teterboro or back to LaGuardia, so the next best option was to land in the Hudson River. The story unfolds from there…

The movie at times is a “Nail Biter”, but that is to be expected given what the movie is about. There is definitely some suspense and tense moments.

Tom Hanks gives a wonderful performance as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger the Captain on US Airways Flight 1549.

This is actually a very well executed 96 minutes. The movie could have actually gone a bit longer as the ending was a bit strange. Kudos to Clint Eastwood. He still has the directing bug and he is excellent at it.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

Bridge of Spies

“Bridge of Spies” is “Cold War Espionage at its finest!!”

It’s basically “we got spies”, “they got spies”. We got their spies, they got our spies. We want ours back, they want theirs back. Let’s make an exchange on a bridge. That is the simplest unabridged version. Here are the details.

“Bridge of Spies” is based on factual events. Tom Hanks is James Donovan an American attorney in a major NY law firm. He gets tasked with providing legal counsel for a man who was captured in the US believed to be a Russian Spy. The man is convicted and sentenced to 30 years in a Federal Prison.

On another front, the military has a U-2 Spy plane that can fly at 70,000 feet in altitude. The plane is deployed, but during the mission the American pilot is shot down over hostile territory during the Cold War and is taken prisoner.

Attorney James Donovan and a team of CIA agents go to Germany and Russia to negotiate the release of the American Pilot. The story unfolds from there…

“Bridge of Spies” is excellent. The only problem I had with the movie is that some times it dragged a bit.

This is a 4 1/2 Star Movie!

Saving Mr. Banks

Walt Disney promised his daughters that he would obtain the rights to make a movie from the bestselling novel P.L. Travers “Mary Poppins”. The only problem is that it would take over 20 years to accomplish.

Author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) wasn’t really interested in allowing her book and beloved magical nanny Mary Poppins to become part of the Hollywood Mauling machine.
But after a while the book stopped selling and finances became a strain so P.L. Travers agree to come to Holly wood to meet with Walt Disney. The story unfolds from there…

The story is very well told. We see P.L. Travers childhood through her eyes throughout the movie via flashbacks that she has during her time at the Disney Studios.

This is a very delightful movie. It’s sweet in that Disney way, but not too sweet. Just think “Saving Mr. Banks” is a Disney movie about the making of a Disney movie. How can you go wrong with that?

Captain Phillips

“Captain Phillips” is an extremely well executed movie. It’s like waiting for a rose bud to bloom. It happens slowly, but oh very much worth the wait.

“Captain Phillips” is based on the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. Container Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The movie is meticulous in its execution. Showing you every layer and angle of the story as it unfolds from the relationship between Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi) to the U.S. Navy coming to the rescue.

As the events occur you will be on the edge of your seat. There is no pause or “dead space” in this movie. Director Paul Greengrass is excellent at providing you a scintillating thriller with “on the edge of your seat” intrigue. Remember Paul Greengrass is the director of all of the Bourne movies that Matt Damon starred in. Tom Hanks is masterful in his portrayal of “Captain Phillips”.

“Captain Phillips” is definitely worth a look.