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In Larry Crowne Tom Hanks plays an ordinary, blue-collar kinda guy who gains a new set of life skills when he enrolls in his local community college. Which got us thinking -- what has this star taught moviegoers over his many years in Hollywood? Here are some of the suggested courses eager students could audit at the Tom Hanks College of Arts & Sciences.
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It's been easy to forget that a possible Screen Actors Guild strike is looming over Hollywood like a cloud of L.A. smog. We haven't even talked about it in almost a month. But just because no one is paying attention doesn't mean it's gone away. Quite the contrary in fact.
The latest development (really more of a non-development) was on Saturday, when the SAG board backed its negotiators' efforts to gain more control (and money) from web content that features SAG actors. -
The Screen Actors Guild turned 75 this weekend, but there was not much for the guild to celebrate, as the contract deadline is looming with no deal in site.
The guild probably didn't celebrate Tom Hanks urging ratification of the AFTRA contract, either. See, the leadership is urging AFTRA (a sister union; many actors are in both unions) not to ratify, because ratification might make it more difficult for SAG to negotiate. In fact, it's become something of a battle between SAG and AFTRA. Two weeks ago, in fact, SAG falsely claimed Hanks and George Clooney were anti-AFTRA. If there was any lingering doubt, I think Hanks' signature on the email shattered that.
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Letterbox of Recommendations, Separate but Sequel, The Kongs of Comedy, When Animal Movies Attack
Tom Hanks: Angel... or Demon? His Best and Worst RolesAngels and Demons opens this weekend, and boy, does it look... exactly the same as The Da Vinci Code, except this time Tom Hanks has a decent haircut. And when the defining characteristic of your lead character is his haircut, you may be in trouble. (In other words, don't expect to beat Star Trek, Tom.) We're kinda disappointed, because usually Hanks delivers memorable, distinctive performances, whether good (Philadelphia) or bad (Bosom Buddies). Putting aside his famously Oscar-winning performance and his first steady cross-dressing job, we thought we'd run down the five roles that make Hanks a saint in our eyes, and the five that make him the devil.
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Is it really newsworthy that the Vatican won't let The Da Vinci Code prequel Angels & Demons film in Rome churches? I mean, the Catholic Church hated the books and the first movie, so why would the Vatican be expected to let Ron and Tom run around their churches shooting another "godless" film? The answer is they wouldn't. Thus this is a non-news news item.
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It's June 30th, and we all know what that means: The deadline for a deal between the Screen Actors Guild and studio owners is at midnight, so a strike is imminent, right?
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If Robin Williams can become an actor -- and win an Oscar doing so -- then his Awakenings co-star Robert De Niro can do stand-up comedy. The Defamer has a video clip and several quotes from Travis Bickle's speech at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 50th tribute to Meryl Streep. Unlike his work in Eddie Murphy's Showtime, Bobby D turned in an incredibly funny performance, dissing Meryl and his former agents at CAA. He was loose, warm and off the cuff despite having more 3 x 5 cheat index cards than all the presidential candidates combined. Streep, whom I love in comedies but find occasionally overprocessed in dramas, couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable tribute from a most unlikely source.
This video got me thinking. What actor would I most love to see doing stand-up? Tom Hanks and Sally Field tried it, to terrifying effect, in a movie called Punchline. So they're out; anybody who'd want to see The Flying Nun tell penis jokes on Def Comedy Jam needs psychiatric care. Streep's Angels in America cohort "Screamin'" Al Pacino would top my list. Pacino has done comedies before, like
He'd come out with "Say hello to my little friend!" [Laughter] "They keep pulling me back in!!! " [More laughter, followed by someone heckling him -- probably Beverly D'Angelo] "C'mon! Gimme Whatcha Got!" [Heckler says something unintelligible] "You're out of order! You're out of order!" [Laughs and applause as heckler quiets down] "Free Will, It is a bitch!" [Laughter] "I'm just getting' warmed up! Hoo-ah!!"
Even in that patched-together configuration, he'd be a lot funnier than Dane Cook.
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