Tom Hanks

Toy Story 3

Pretty much every Pixar animation release is an event for our family. This time it was even a bigger one than usual. “Toy Story 3” was the first 3D for Maxim. All three of us went together – Olga, Maxim, and myself. While Maxim can sit through a full length feature with no problem, we were worried a bit that he could get distracted by the glasses a lot. So we went for the both parents combo, just in case. Gladly, we were able to enjoy it from beginning to end with no interruptions. Maxim did experimented with the glasses for a bit, putting them on and off, but eventually he settled and started watching.

We were actually waiting for this movie to come out. Maxim is a big fan of the previous two parts, which we have on DVD, and which he watched more than a trillion times by now. He also owns at least Buzz Lightyear toys, one Woody toy, and a bunch of other accessories. And, of course, he quotes both animations quite a bit.

As with many other Pixar works, this one was even better than we expected. Even with raised expectations. Everything was awesome – the story, the animation, the score, the voices, the attention to each and every tiny detail. As always, there was a good combination of action, comedy, and morale, engaging both kids and adults.

The 3D was great! Unlike other 3D titles which flood the movie industry these days, this one is an animation. Which means that it can be rendered to quality 3D much easier, than re-shooting the film.

Overall, all three of us enjoyed it quite a bit, and I am sure this is not the last time we saw it. So I’ll give it a 5 out of 5. This is a must see family entertainment.

P.S.: Traditionally, Pixar opens its features with a short animation. This time it was “Day & Night” and it was awesome too!

Road to Perdition

I’ve seen “Road to Perdition” when it came to the movies. A couple of years later I bought the DVD and saw it few more times. But somehow it happened that I never described on this blog how beautiful this movie is.

It’s a piece of art. Nothing more, nothing else. It feels like nothing happened by itself in this movie. Everything has its reason, and everything has been placed appropriately by the makers of this film. The story, the acting, the directing, the sound and visuals – all of these work in harmony with each other. And like any other talented piece of art, “Road to Perdition” can be watched over and over and over and again.

I particularly enjoy the atmosphere of the 1930s. Clothes, hats, cars, buildings – these all worked very well for the film. It was also interesting to see how modern faces could be transformed into personalities of the past – Tom Hanks, Daniel Craig, and even Paul Newman, although he is a bit of a veteran.

Overall, a solid 9 out of 10.

The Ladykillers

“The Ladykillers” is one of the recent movies that I missed. I didn’t want to see it as the rating was a bit low and the title was vague, but when I learned that Tom Hanks is in it, I decided to watch it.

Directed by: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Genres: Animation, Comedy, Crime, Horror
Cast: Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, Marlon Wayans, J.K. Simmons, Tzi Ma, Ryan Hurst, Diane Delano, George Wallace, John McConnell, Jason Weaver, Stephen Root, Lyne Odums, Walter K. Jordan, George Anthony Bell, Greg Grunberg
IMDB raintg: 6.4
My rating: 6.5 [rate 6.5]

This film is a nice criminal comedy. It is a very styly one as well. The cinematography is excellent as is the acting. The story is interesting too. I wish there was more humor in it though. As it is, the movie can be seen as sad at some places. But a very good overall.

The DVD contained an interesting mini-film about the making of musical instruments. There were few intervies with the guy who was making all sorts of musical instruments for almost 30 years, and who made guitars for such famous people as George Harrison and Kurt Cobain. I found this minifilm surprisingly informative and educational.

There were also a few gospel songs which didn’t make it into the movie, but which were very fine aswell.

Band of Brothers

Band of Brothers (2001) Olga and I finally finished watching “Band of Brothers” series. We partially saw it before on TV and it was so good that I bought the DVD set and we watched all of them.

Directed by: David Frankel, Tom Hanks
Genres: War, Drama
Cast: Damian Lewis, Donnie Wahlberg, Ron Livingston, Matthew Settle, Rick Warden, Frank John Hughes, Scott Grimes, Neal McDonough, Rick Gomez, Eion Bailey, James Madio, Kirk Acevedo, Michael Cudlitz, Richard Speight Jr., Dexter Fletcher
IMDB raintg: 9.6
My rating: 10.0 [rate 10.0]

Continue reading Band of Brothers

The Terminal

Olga and I watched “The Terminal” today. I’ve been looking forward for this movie and I wasn’t wrong. The film is excellent.

Somehow this movie reminded me about all those films I watched while being a kid. They were from those times when movies mostly weren’t about the special effects or technology. They were about people and their relations. “The Terminal” is exactly that kind of movie. It shows how screwed up is the way that society is going. People don’t have time to enjoy themselves and things around them. Beurocracy is getting in the way instead of helping out. Noone cares about noone. Damn. This points of this film are very applicable to Cyprus, which is a small island with small number of people on it and very strong family relations. It is not that bad, but it surely is heading that way. I can only imagine what is going on in big cities and countries, such as film’s place – New York’s airport.

Anyway, back to the film. It is an excellent piece of work. Two people made the biggest contritubion to it – Steven Spielberg directing and Tom Hanks acting. Catherine Zeta-Jones was episodical, nice to look at, but she didn’t add too much to the film.

I’ll rate it as 10 out of 10. I don’t think that everyone will like it. It’s just that I do. And that’s all that matters.