Tag: Tom Hanks

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2 Stars

Here (2024)

There has always been a special place in my heart for Forrest Gump.

It was always that “gateway” movie for me when I realized that movies are more than just kids entertainment (Disney or otherwise): they could also be for grown ups. While many a cynic may have dismissed it at the time (and in the following years), it’s straightforward charm has not diminished on all of us. That makes it all the more clear why marketers are pushing the new movie Here as one by the stars, director, and writers of the 1994 classic.

Regretfully, that is where the similarities end, as Here strives for the cinematic magic, and misses the mark by a fair amount. The idea of how this movie would be presented would have totally sounded like a wonderful idea at the pitch meeting. Based off of a graphic novel of the same name by Richard McGuire, the film is basically one long take from the corner of a living room (or where it would be in moments when we are in the past before the house was built).

Like many a Robert Zemeckis film, it is impressive on a technical level (each scene is interlocked with these blocks on screen connecting the different scenes/time periods). Also like many of his films, it stars Tom Hanks, playing Richard Young. He is married to Margaret (Robin Wright), who he has been with since High School.

The film decides to jump back and forth in time to other families, including time spent with the inventor of the lazy boy chair (David Fynn), a romantic pair of indigenous people (Joel Oulette and Dannie McCallum), a modern day African American family with a teenage son, and the times of Benjamin Franklin himself along with his family. And that is just to name a few of them.

I have no problem with a movie having multiple story lines and characters to follow, yet one of my main issues with the film is that each segment is on screen for no more than a few minutes, each one ending just before we are able to have any connection to the characters. It also does not help when the stories are not in any specific order, jumping both forward in time and backward in time as well.

As I mentioned before, it is impressive at a technical level, but not entirely. This is another film that uses AI to de age certain characters (mainly Hanks and Wright), yet it runs into the same problem seen in movies like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) and The Irishman (2019). While they look younger, they don’t always move as a young person (there are also times when Hanks clearly does not sound young at all when he is supposed to.) The same cannot be said for Paul Bettany as Hanks’ father. Bettany is a good actor of course, but he barely seems to age at all in this film (both physically and in his voice).

Parents, aside from swearing (one F bomb), minor sexual content (no nudity), and thematic elements, there is nothing else to watch out for. Middle Schoolers and up would be fine (if it appeals to them).

Robert Zemeckis is indeed a very talented filmmaker, but his movies since winning Oscars for Forrest Gump three decades ago have not been able to match his earlier work. Since Gump, the only movies of his I’ve actually liked (that I have seen) are Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004), and Flight (2012). Again, good movies, but since Flight, he has not done much to be proud of (while I have not seen Allied (2016) or Welcome to Marwen (2018), I have heard not the best of reports about them). Mainly, I think I am still recovering from his abomination that was the 2022 Disney Live Action remake of Pinocchio.

I have nothing at all against movies that take place in a single location (who could dislike movies like Rear Window or 12 Angry Men?), but not when the idea of staying in one location (no matter how it is filmed) is the main selling point. I remember in the intro of his first Great Movies book, Roger Ebert talked about the masterful Japenese director, Yasujiro Ozu (who very seldomly moved his camera). Ebert mentioned about how, when a movie lover gets to Ozu (as all eventually do, he says), then one learns that cinema is not about moving, but about when to move.

By the time Here learns this, it is too late.

Overall:

Rating: 2 out of 5.
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3 1/2 Stars Movies

Asteroid City (2023)

As much admiration that I have for Wes Anderson and his films, it wasn’t until recently that I found out I haven’t actually done a proper review of one of his films in some time. 

Much of this I will attribute to cowardice on my part: I admit to not being able to completely dissect all he is as an artist. Still, it should not give off the idea that I am not a fan of his films. Very few filmmakers are as unique and eclectic as Anderson is. So distinct is his style that many a youtuber (AI or otherwise) have made their own WA trailers for a menagerie of classic movies, though that joke does not last long after the second or third one viewed. Basically, AI can’t compete with the original.

In any case, there is still enough here in Anderson’s 11th film, Asteroid City, to satisfy all fans of this brilliant filmmaker (I myself was surprised to see so many fans in my viewing.) The story centers around a play named Asteroid City, and the back and forth between the making (so to speak of the play) with scenes of the play itself.

Said play takes place in a very remote desert town in 1955, where the visitors for a Junior Stargazer Convention. Events in the play occur that will greatly shift the lives and relationships of the characters.

As is the case with every film by Anderson, the cast is not only stacked quantity wise, but quality wise (thought this is his first film not to star Bill Murray: he reportedly had to back out due to catching COVID). Here are just a few of the stars: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johanson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Liev Schreiber, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Hong Chau, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe, and Margot Robbie. It would take too long to describe each of the performers’ roles, and would (more importantly) rob you of finding them out for yourself. The cast is more proof that Anderson is one of the most respected director’s in an actor’s eyes, and to read just a few lines of dialogue is a chance to jump upon.

Admittedly, Anderson was one of the first directors I discovered to show me how a shot could be framed. When the camera is still (which is a majority of the time), you can admire all the detail centered around the character, from the backgrounds to the angles of the walls to a single cup on the floor. It is always quietly breathtaking, especially on a big screen.

Parents, this is one of the rare examples of a PG-13 movie with graphic female frontal nudity (although it is very brief and non sexual). The rest is casual swearing. Make of that what you will (remember that Titanic was the same rating and had more nudity in it.)

I am still not sure what it is entirely that does not completely work about the film. Perhaps it is just not in the same league of Anderson’s best works, like The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). It could be that the director threw much at the window before he saw what stuck. 

Either way, even if it isn’t his best, that does not mean it is unenjoyable.

Overall:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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1 Star Movies

Pinocchio (2022)

There is no way I can discuss the live action remake of Pinocchio without talking in depth about the 1940 animated masterpiece. 

Maybe I just can’t see past the end of my nose, but it is what it is.

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3 Stars

Elvis (2022)

Weirdly, I can’t remember the first time I heard of Elvis, but I do remember the first time I recognized him. It was when a young Forrest Gump recognized him on TV after meeting “the King” earlier on in life. Needless to say, of course I have always been a fan of him.

This just goes to show that Elvis, one of the top five or so most popular entertainers in American history, is almost as embedded into that history as Washington or Lincoln. A truly larger than life stage presence indeed would deserve a biographical film of that caliber. Enter director Baz Luhrmann, and you get Elvis.

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5 Stars Movies Vintage

Apollo 13 (1995)

In the 2000s, one of my favorite review sites to go to was that of “Mr. Cranky”. It was a satirical site (now no longer available), in which the reviews would state how bad the film really was (the highest rated were for films deemed “almost tolerable”).

Of the many reviews I had seen, my favorite header came from the review of Apollo 13, which read along the lines of “Spoiler: They survive.”

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3 1/2 Stars Movies

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

For one reason or another, I was very worried when I first heard that Tom Hanks would be playing “Mister” Fred Rogers, especially only a year after the superb documentary Won’t you be my Neighbor? (which I am surprised was not nominated for an Oscar). The great Fred Rogers was someone we all, to some extent, truly took for granted. A soul of pure kindness that everyone would have given anything to have called neighbor, and ended up being the host of one of the greatest children’s programs in TV history (probably second only to Sesame Street). Truly one of a kind, I did not even think someone like Tom Hanks could replicate the aura of Rogers.

Obviously, I was wrong. It is the best Hanks has been in years, even though he is not the true center piece of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. That falls on Lloyd Vogel (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys), a journalist known for writing profiles that seem to always bring the negative out in the subject. When asked to do a piece on heroes, no one wants him to do the profile. No one, that is, except Mr. Rogers. When he mentions it to his wife Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson from the TV show This is Us), she begs her husband, “Please don’t ruin my childhood”.

It does not take long for the viewer to realize Lloyd’s own troubles, as he has a rather rocky (to say the least) relationship with his father Jerry (Oscar winner and always reliable Chris Cooper), resulting in some punches thrown at the beginning of the film (he assures others who see his wounds that it was a softball incident). This part of the plot does teeter a bit towards the mundane, if only because experienced movie goers will know the expected outcome. Thankfully, that does not mean it is not effective at times. This mainly occurs when Lloyd finally begins to open up about his feelings, first with Rogers.

One of the more interesting things of the film is how director Marielle Heller (who was at the helm of 2018’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?) structures it like an actual episode of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I found this both effecting and sometimes perplexing. It is how we are introduced to the Lloyd Vogel character (who is based on real life journalist Tom Junod), as Rogers asks us if we know what it means to “forgive” (something all ages need to remember these days). I was okay with the fourth wall breaks that occurred, but some segments seemed almost superfluous, such as Rogers spending a few minutes showing us how a magazine is made.

There is no way for me to continue with the review without talking about Tom Hanks. It must have been truly inevitable that, when the time came for Mr. Rogers to be portrayed on screen, only Hanks could have done so. When looking back, perhaps I was worried about the casting because Hanks does not show much of a physical resemblance to Fred (my expectations can be high at times). Thankfully, I soon realized that did not matter, because the attributes of Mr. Rogers’ character were the crucial part, and Hanks has those in spades. The kindness. The smile. The heart. The unrivaled sense of decency.

There are very few (if any) celebrities who have been labeled as being one of the nicest people ever than Hanks. Think about it: When was the last time you heard Tom Hanks in the headlines for a scandal, or seen in the tabloids? His quality of the “every man” has resonated with him for years, similar to acting icon (and also acclaimed nice guy) James Stewart. This is not to even mention his highly underrated sense of humor (he is one of the funnier guests I have seen on late night talk shows). In a nutshell, my little brother Connor put it best: “When Tom Hanks dies, the world will be sad.”

Parents, the film is a rather soft PG rating. Along with the one brief early fight scene, I counted only a couple of the most minor of swearing, and nothing else. This is the type of film families are perfectly fine with seeing.

The film did not hit me in the feels as much as the documentary Won’t you be my Neighbor? (though few films have done so like that in the last few years), but the lessons are still clear (Rogers clearly is breaking the fourth wall when he asks Lloyd to take one minute to think of all the people who have helped him in life, something the real Rogers did many times). The lesson of everyone needing to give a little kindness. The lesson of how to forgive. The lesson of how (as Rogers says in the film),

“Fame is a four-letter word. What matters is what we do with it.”

Overall:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.