Hanks-athon

Last updated on 19 June 2019

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Whatever that is, right? Right. Wrong. A Hanks-athon is (obviously…come on guys, duh), a day where you watch only Tom Hanks films. Which is what happened last Thursday, and it was the best day ever. A bunch of friends and I got together, grabbed 6 Hanks movies, a projector and a whole bunch of snacks for a blobbing day of brilliance. We ended up watching 3 movies I hadn’t seen and 3 I had so it was the perfect mix. While I didn’t take any pictures of the day (it would just be pictures of a huge screen/wall projection), other than the one I shared on Instagram, I thought I’d share with you guys the movies we saw. I’ll pop in whether I’d seen it before, how many stars out of 5 I’d give it, a short IMDB provided description of the movie, and briefly what I thought. Sound good?

Big (1988)
Seen before: No
Star Rating: 4/5

IMDB: “When a boy wishes to be big at a magic wish machine, he wakes up the next morning and finds himself in an adult body.”

My thoughts: How fun is this movie?! I had seen it around, and knew it existed, but hadn’t seen it until last week. Tom Hanks is amazing in this movie, and even though he looks like adult, you can tell there’s a kid in there. The way he portrays his kid self is just brilliant, and really well done.

 

Forrest Gump (1994)
Seen before: Yes
Star Rating: 5/5

IMDB: “Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny Curran, eludes him.”

My thoughts: This movie is wonderful. It’s powerful, and heart warming, and sad and funny all at the same time. It’s definitely a classic that everyone needs to see at least once…but probably many many times. It won 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, so you know it’s a good one even before you see it.

Cast Away (2000)
Seen before: No
Star Rating: 4/5

IMDB: “A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive a crash landing on a deserted island.”

My thoughts: This is one of those movies that I should have seen years and years ago. Well, 15 to be exact. But I just hadn’t seen it yet. I knew it was about a guy who got stuck on an island, and had a volleyball called Wilson for company, but I didn’t know how he got there, or the story around the island part. It was really good, though I did find the lack of music a tad weird…but it did definitely add something to the movie. Hanks is great in it, and is hardly recognisable at the end of his time of the island. Crazy.

Toy Story (1995) 
Seen before: Of course
Star Rating: 4/5

IMDB: “A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman figure supplants him as top toy in a boy’s room.”

My thoughts: You can’t have a Hanksathon without Toy Story in it. That description though. Haha! I was only 4 when this movie came out so I don’t think I saw it at the cinema. In fact, no I wouldn’t have because I was in Mongolia, but how great is this movie?! It’s not my favourite kids’ movie, but it is definitely up there near the top! We actually watched this movie on VHS video player (which I still have, yes), because we couldn’t find it at the shop, nor at the DVD hire place. What is the world coming to!? But it was still great, and I’m super glad I’ve kept our video player!

Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Seen before: No
Star Rating: 4/5

IMDB: “A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars’ worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor.”

My thoughts: Really enjoyed this movie! Hanks, of course, is brilliant, as is DiCaprio. It was a lot of fun, and it’s crazy to think it’s a true story! Amazing.

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
Seen before: Yes
Star Rating: 5/5

IMDB: “A recently widowed man’s son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.”

My thoughts: I’ve seen this movie many times, but every time it’s still wonderful. I love love love this movie. It’s so sweet, and funny, and naw. This would definitely be a part of a Meg Ryan-athon too. So good.

 

 

 

It was a bit difficult just picking 6 movies to watch. We were originally only going to watch 5, but threw in Catch Me If You Can at the last minute, because we had it in the house, so thought might as well do a longer marathon. But there are so many movies we could have added, like the other Toy Story movies, or You’ve Got Mail, Charlie Wilson’s War, Apollo 13, Road to Perdition, The Terminal, Saving Mr. Banks, Larry Crowne,  Captain Phillips, Cloud Atlas…etc etc. So many! It was a really fun day; we started just after 9am and I didn’t get home until about 1am. So great!