Your favorite Tom Hanks roles (pick 3)

[kittyjake5]

Philadelphia, Big, Green Mile and of my favorite silly Hank movie is Turner and Hooch. I loved that dog.

[Carmen Ovsiannikov]

1.Castaway
2.Philadelphia

The third one probably wouldn't gain him much critical acclaim and I wonder if he even lists it in his resume any longer.

3.The Burbs

The first Tom Hanks film I recall seeing; I thought it was really funny but looking back would never have forseen that he would have the kind of career he's had.

[AnnieBgood]

Sleepless in Seattle, Big, and That Thing You Do.

[duane]

Am I the only person in the world who isn't a Tom Hanks fan?

I like Hanks the comedic actor. Not impressed with Hanks the dramatic.

Top 3 roles:
A League of Their Own
Bachelor Party
Splash

[Eden]

Am I the only person in the world who isn't a Tom Hanks fan?

No. Count me in as one who is not a big fan of his acting.

[topaz]

I voted for Forrest Gump, A League Of Their Own and Sleepless in Seattle.

Forrest Gump is one of my favorite movies ever. Its tied with Gone With the Wind.

Forrest Gump, favorite quote..

Forrest Gump: I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it's both, maybe both happening at the same time.

[Tinami Amori]

Am I the only person in the world who isn't a Tom Hanks fan?

On this board I guess you're not the only one. I also am not a fan. I did enjoy his movie "Terminal", because I used to visit and talk to Mehran Karimi Nasseri when I was transiting at CDG in the 1990's and early 2000's. But Hank's character was not Mehran Karimi Nasseri.....

[Rex]

I so agree: How did "The Shawshank Redemption" lose the Oscar to Gump?

But back to Hanks--has he ever played the antagonist/bad guy in any film?

Shawshank is one of those films I could watch over and over and over...Forrest Gump? Meh, not so much. Even Sally Field got on my nerves in this movie. She annoyed me in this almost as much as she did in Steel Magnolias, another film which I despise.

[gingercrush]

Shawshank's reputation grew over time and wasn't the heralded film it was today whereas Gump was widely acclaimed on release but over time has become the lesser film.

Besides 1997 saw Titantic over LA Confidential. The latter was a far better film.

Ideally someone should do awards where the awards are given out after 10 years of release. It'd sure change a number of those who won.

[mrr50]

A League of Their Own

I liked Charlie Wilson's War, but I'm not fond of Julia Roberts.

[PeterG]

Besides 1997 saw Titantic over LA Confidential. The latter was a far better film.

I saw L.A. Confidential, it was good. No need for further viewing, though. Titanic, however...I could watch that every few years. (And I feel the same way about The Hurt Locker and Avatar...guess I'm James Cameron's beyotch! )

[gingercrush]

LOL I like Titanic as well. And have watched it multiple times. My brother had the video. But LA Confidential really was amazing.

[Vash01]

Oh, I forgot about the one in the airport - it was called "The Terminal." We liked it so much, we bought the DVD. Alas, I voted for the romantic comedies. Although he was excellent in Forrest Gump. Splash was awesome, too. My kids loved him in League of Their Own - they were fascinated.

He's done a lot of good movies.

Just got done watching The Terminal. I really enjoyed it. How did it fall through the crack? I missed it completely when it was running in theaters and I don't even remember when that was. I am glad that I rented the DVD.

[Cyn]

I saw L.A. Confidential, it was good. No need for further viewing, though. Titanic, however...I could watch that every few years. (And I feel the same way about The Hurt Locker and Avatar...guess I'm James Cameron's beyotch! )

Back when Titanic was still in theatres (and right after it came out on VHS), I absolutely loved it. Between seeing it in the theatre 5 times, watching it on VHS/DVD, and (in the years since) getting sucked into watching after stumbling onto it while channel surfing, I've seen Titanic more times than I'd like to admit . Although I'd seen I'd seen L.A. Confidential a couple of times back in 1997-1998 and liked it a lot, at the time it IMO couldn't compare to the former.

Over the years, though, my opinion has changed - I now think L.A. Confidential blows Titanic out of the water (well, not "out of the water" so much as buries it in the water ).

They're both enjoyable movies, but that's pretty much where any similar thoughts and feeling about these movies ends. From a technical perspective, Titanic is a masterpiece -- for years I've said that I consider it to be one of the most perfect technical movies ever made -- but overall it can't hold a candle to L.A. Confidential. Both films had great costuming, make-up/hair, set design, and musical scores, but when it comes to the screenplays, characters, plot, theme, etc., the former falls way short of the latter. There's no doubt that Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslett, Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Gloria Stuart, and many others in Titanic are talented actors, but the same can be said about the cast of L.A. Confidential -- Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce, Kevin Spacey, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, and Kim Basinger (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress).

The screenplay for Titanic was a steaming turd, rife with trite, tired, clichéd dialogue and characters lacking depth and who weren't fleshed out. The cast, who deserved so much more from the screenplay (and James Cameron, who wrote it) to best portray their parts, did their best with what they were given; IMO, however, the biggest stars of Titanic were the special effects (which earned *their* Oscar ). Although there were certain moments during the movie when the use of SFx, lavish sets, costume designs, hair/makeup, and the musical score* took front-and-center and were more effective than dialogue/conversation would have been, there were, unfortunately, several occasions when this should not have happened but did, and they overshadowed the actors, which took the focal point away from the acting during significant and crucial scenes.

The screenplay for L.A. Confidential, OTOH, was far superior to the one for Titanic, with characters that were complex yet fully thought out, and well-written dialogue, reducing the need to rely on technical effects, aspects, and/or additions during filming to make scenes "work." While the sets, costumes/makeup, and score in L.A. Confidential definitely set the mood and tone of L.A./Hollywood in the late 1940s - early 1950s, they served as a very effective backdrop that enhanced and complemented the acting without overshadowing and dominating the scene(s). As for the acting in L.A. Confidential, the cast took a well-written screenplay, and like jewelers with an uncut, unpolished diamond, they took that script and, working with a great director, turned it into a film noir gem.

I firmly believe that without all of the SFx, costuming/hair/makeup, the "action" scenes, the musical score, and the violent, destructive "death" the ship (plus the added bonus of "Propeller Guy" ), Titanic would have sunk at the box office much like the original Titanic did in the North Atlantic in 1912 .

*Along with that damned Celine Dion song earworm that hijacked the radio and MTV/vh1 for an entire year .

[FigureSpins]

Just got done watching The Terminal. I really enjoyed it. How did it fall through the crack? I missed it completely when it was running in theaters and I don't even remember when that was. I am glad that I rented the DVD.

We said the same thing - how did we miss this movie in theatres? It was released in 2004, a few weeks after Harry Potter PoA, but there were a lot of other movies competing for viewers:

http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aa2004jun.htm

In our case, it was timing with graduations and illnesses.