<b>Actor:</b> Tom Hanks

You died on a Saturday morning. And I had you placed here under our tree. And I had that house of your father's bulldozed to the ground. Momma always said dyin' was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn't. Little Forrest, he's doing just fine. About to start school again soon. I make his breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I make sure he combs his hair and brushes his teeth every day. Teaching him how to play ping-pong. He's really good. We fish a lot. And every night, we read a book. He's so smart, Jenny. You'd be so proud of him. I am. He, uh, wrote a letter, and he says I can't read it. I'm not supposed to, so I'll just leave it here for you. Jenny, I don't know if Momma was right or if, if it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time. I miss you, Jenny. If there's anything you need, I won't be far away.


Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright-Penn, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Running time: 142 minutes




My review:

My number 2 favourite film of all time. Forrest Gump is truly a worldwide phenomenon that touches peoples hearts in all sorts of different varieties of ways. Forrest Gump is a film that always makes me feel absolutely fantastic and inspires me every single time I watch it. This film changed my life a lot because of its beautiful story with beautiful characters and such a beautiful script with beautiful quotes and taglines. I find a lot of things hard in life but this is the one film that encourages me to overcome all of the obstacles that lie in front of me. I have a few problems with myself because I was born with a disability (not like Forrests disabilities and I don?t talk anything like him). I talk normally. Forrests childhood was sort of similar to mine as far as the bullying and how people treated me is concerned. That is one of the main reasons why Forrest Gump is my favourite film character of all time. When he looses things and yet earns things that is a very similar way that I would react particularly when Forrest finds out he has a son. Tom Hanks is perfect for that and he like portrays my emotions on occasions which has confirmed Tom Hanks as my favourite actor and Robert Zemeckis as my fourth favourite director. Enough about me with this film, I am going to write about Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump (Hanks) is short on I.Q. points but long on heart, a pure and simple soul who follows a straight path through the world, ever true to the homely advice of his mother (Field) - the source of guiding Gumpisms such as Stupid is as stupid does - and to his elusive lifelong love Jenny (Wright). He begins his serendipitous skirmishes with destiny in childhood by unconsciously giving ideas to the as-yet-unknown Elvis Presley, and goes on to become, unintentionally, a professional American-football player, a college graduate, a war hero, a professional ping pong player, a national celebrity, a long runner and a shrimping boat captain. Forrest has a dream life that everyone wishes to have. I could easily tell that Forrest was like blessed with having this well achieving and yet tragic life. He has a mother who appreciates him for who he is and tries her very best to help him, he has a very good childhood friend Jenny who treats Forrest like her only friend and also without Forrest she acts really lonely which is what Jenny is really like in this film. Also, he meets Bubba and Lieutenant Dan and he becomes great friends with both of them. Now, I am going to say about the characters, Forrest Gump is a innocent young boy who has a low I.Q. of 75. Because of this, he cant go into an ordinary public school until his mother has sex with the principal and he reconsiders. Forrest was born with extremely strong legs but with a crooked spine so he had to wear leg braces so support his back. Despite of his physical and mental conditions, his mother told him not to let anyone tell him they are better than him and that he is the same. Basically stating the famous quote Stupid is as stupid does. Forrest always was close to his mother and didnt just treat her like his mother but as a very close friend. His lifetime journey into the world began when he started dancing to Elvis Presley and it gave Elvis a brilliant dancing style. When he first starts school, he meets Jenny Curran who he completely falls in love with the first time he sees her. Jenny is young little girl who helped and accepted Forrest for who he was by helping him to read and help him stand up to the bullies who were harassing him. She lives with her father and sisters (it doesnt confirm how many sisters she has). Her father was an abusive and aggressive alcoholic who molested Jenny and her sisters. She eventually went to live with her grandmother. Because of her fathers abusive ways, Jenny becomes drug addicted and became a prostitute which wreaks her life and her friendship with Forrest. She goes back to visit Forrest but she cant keep away from the drugs and the sex. When she finds out she is pregnant her life changes but not for long. She marries Forrest and meets Forrest great friend Dan Taylor. Lieutenant Dan Taylor is a Lieutenant during the Vietnamese war. Many of his previous ancestors have died in wars with honour and Dan wanted to achieve that but when Forrest saves him from death, Dan refers that Forrest cheated him out of his destiny to die in battle with honor and then rendering him crippled. After that moment, they both become great friends. They both have something in common and that is that they both have problems with how they act and appear. Dan has no legs and Forrest has a low I.Q. When they both reunite near the end of the film, they both smile at each other and see that both of them have got a wonderful life and have made their destinies. Well, Dans destiny really wasnt to die in battle but to get married and life with his wife and possibly have children. Dan gets appreciated for who he is by his fiancé because of him being legless and disabled. Another great friend that Forrest makes is a young black man named Benjamin Buford Blue with the nickname Bubba who grew up knowing everything about the shrimping business. Bubba asks Forrest to be his first mate on the shrimping boat when they get out of the army. Unfortunately, it wasnt to be because Bubba gets killed in combat so Forrest becomes the shrimping boat captain with Lieutenant Dan as his first mate. Enough about the characters, I am now going to write about the acting in this masterpiece. Tom Hanks isnt just playing Forrest Gump, he is Forrest Gump. Tom was the perfect choice for the character and there is no actor in the world that could have portrayed Forrest Gump any better than Tom Hanks. His performance as Forrest Gump is my all time favourite leading male performance of all time because Forrest Gump and Tom Hanks are the perfect match for me. Anthony Hopkins and Hannibal Lecter are a perfect match aswell. Tom Hanks very much deserved his second back-to-back Oscar in this film which he won the previous year for his performance as Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia. Everything of how Forrest appears like his hair, the nerdy clothes and his voice and accent really suits Tom Hanks as a person which is one of the reasons why I truly idolise Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks makes iconic images like him sitting on the bench of where he tells his life story to complete strangers and also when he is sitting on the muddy floor with Jenny. They wouldnt be iconic images and this film wouldnt be a masterpiece without Tom Hanks. I was impressed with Robin Wright-Penns performance as Jenny Curran because I thought she really was depressed and was in great depth with drugs and sex. Jenny is imagined to look like Robin Wright-Penn. I cant believe she wasnt even a contender for an Oscar nomination in this film but she did deserve a Golden Globe nomination as Jenny. Gary Sinise deserved his Oscar nomination as Lieutenant Dan Taylor. Gary Sinise = Lieutenant Dan. Just like Tom Hanks = Forrest Gump. I loved the scene where Dan pulls Forrest out of his bed and onto the floor. At that moment, Dan is angry at Forrest because he saved him but he is also crying at the same time. That is the most emotional performance Gary gives and it is his best scene as Dan. Also, that is one of my favourite emotional scenes of all time. I could easily tell that Gary was acting really devastated about not dying with honor in battle. Gary was absolutely awesome but wasnt good enough to win Oscar. Despite of how good I thought he was in this film he wasnt as good as Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction who was one of the Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actor in 1994 but was better than actual winner Martin Landau in Ed Wood (not saying that Landau was good). I really liked Sally Field as Mama Gump because I really liked Sallys typical American accent. It made me laugh in some ways. I think Sally Field was better than Robin Wright-Penn because Sally Field delivers a more emotional performance and a funnier performance. If I had to choose who should have the Oscar nomination between the two women I would go for Sally Field. It is quite weird because Sally portrays Forrests mother and Forrest is Tom Hanks. It is very weird also because in real life Sally Field is only 10 years older than Tom Hanks who plays her son in the film. But they both made a very good partnership in this film. Their best scene together I thought was when Mama Gump revealed that she was going to die and she tells Forrest about making your own destiny. That is my favourite emotional scene of the film but favourite scene is where Forrest finds out he has a son. Despite of how depressing this film sounds, this film is really funny aswell because of what Forrest says and because of some of the mistakes he says aswell. I would probably say that this film has 80% drama and 20% comedy. I went to New York City about 4 years ago and went inside the Bubba-Gump Shrimp restaurant. I didnt eat anything, I hadnt seen the film that time and yet I never knew anything about it either. It was a tight year for the Oscars because a lot of people were unsure what would win Best Picture 1994. The favourites were Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction but The Shawshank Redemption was a close one too. I sort of knew that Forrest Gump was going to win because it had a lot of things in this film that make us think of a lot of things in life and teaches us a lot of lessons about what could happen in the future in your life. But Pulp Fiction was more original and it was cooler. That is one of my favourite films too. Forrest Gump made me cry not just with dramatic twists but because of the beauty of it and the real inspiration that it made change my life forever. I watch this film every single time when I am either upset or nervous about anything because it makes me feel strong and more confident aswell. I have passed exams and tests just from watching Forrest Gump. I can make an easy guarantee that Forrest Gump will always be my favourite drama film, my favourite Zemeckis film, my favourite Hanks film and my favourite film from the 1990s. At the moment, this film is my number 2 favourite film of all time. Masterpiece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's as good a word as any. He infected us both, didn't he, Mr. Jingles? With life. I'm a hundred and eight years old, Elaine. I was forty-four the year that John Coffey walked the Green Mile. You mustn't blame John. He couldn't have what happened to him... he was just a force of nature. Oh I've lived to see some amazing things Elly. Another century come to past, but I've... I've had to see my friends and loved ones die off through the years... Hal and Melinda... Brutus Howell... my wife... my boy. And you Elaine... you'll die too, and my curse is knowing that I'll be there to see it. It's my torment you see; it's my punishment, for letting John Coffey ride the lightning; for killing a miracle of God. You'll be gone like all the others. I'll have to stay. I'll die eventually, that I'm sure. I have no illusions of immortality, but I will await your death... long before death finds me. In truth, I wish for it already.


Directed by: Frank Darabont
Starring: Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Clarke Duncan, James Cromwell

Genre: Crime/Drama/Fantasy

Running time: 188 minutes





My review:

Miracles happen in unexpected places, even on death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. There John Coffey, a prisoner with supernatural powers, brings a sense of spirit and humanity to his guards and fellow inmates. Tom Hanks leads a stellar cast in this emotional, uplifting story of guards and captives; husbands and wives; prisoners and a remarkable moues named Mr. Jingles; and, on another level, of a moviemaker and his source. Frank Darabont returns after his 1994 directional debut The Shawshank Redemption to adapt another Stephen King tale into crowd-pleasing entertainment nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clarke Duncan, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing. Paul Edgecomb is a happily married man who is the boss of E Block on Cold Mountain and he arranges the executions of the inmates in the ward. He is suffering from a bladder infection which is apparantly as painful as childbirth. That is until he meets John Coffey. Brutus Brutal Howell is Pauls best friend and his like back-up incase there are any fights and problems with the inmates of the prison. There are three other prison guards in the Block. They are Harry Terwilliger who is portrayed by Jeffrey DeMunn, Dean Stanton is portrayed by Barry Pepper who appears with Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan as one of the 8 men who were on the search for Private Ryan. There is also Percy Wetmore who is the mean and cruel one of all of the prison guards. Percy is a young arrogant man who is the nephew of the governor of the Cold Mountain prisons. He feels like he is the most powerful man because of his uncle governor. He always causes trouble between the inmates and the other prison guards. He always acts like he is going to easily snap with anger especially when he notices the mouse for the first time. Despite of that Percy is a vile bully, he is a real coward especially when something humiliating and embarassing happens to him which made me laugh a lot and I am sure it made the other characters laugh inside but not actually laughing out loud and I am sure that it made the cast laugh aswell even the actor who portrayed Percy. John Coffey is a large black man who I personally think is mildly retarded and has some sort of disability. I can easily guess that because of the way John speaks and also of how he behaves too and he is a very sensitive character like John is afraid of the dark so he basically cries a lot in his cell. Despite of who he is physically and emotionally, he brings a level that nobody ever expected from him. That he can heal things and that he can hear and feel pain from other people in the world every day. There are a few other prisoners in this film. There is Eduard Del Delacroix and William Wild Bill Wharton. Del is a French prisoner whos crime isnt actually mentioned in this film. I have a strong feeling it was murder. He befriends a mouse who he calls Mr. Jingles as a little pet to comfort him until his execution. He teaches Mr. Jingles how to play fetch and sort of treats him like a dog. He calls Mr. Jingles a circus mouse. Del seems like a really kind man to get along with and is a man who seems to regret the crime he commited and the people he hurt. Despite of his friendship with the little mouse he has an enemy. That enemy is Percy. Percy hits his hand and breaks three fingers in it and they both always seem to take the piss out of each other. Like when Percy does that thing that is humiliating and embarassing for him, Del cannot stop laughing. The other prisoner is William Wild Bill Wharton. He is a real troublemaker and hellraiser in the prison that causes a lot of problems and makes some really dangerous situations for the other characters. Wild Bill is a real mean man but despite that, he really really makes me laugh not just of what he says but the way he says it aswell. He acts like really hyper. It made me laugh when he spat the moon pie in Brutals face. That really made me laugh and when he pissed on Harry Terwilligers feet. It is the character that I just love aswell. There is a moment that Wild Bill gets involved in that makes the whole film change and twists everything within it. Paul Edgecombs wife Jan Edgecomb is a middle aged woman who is a very supporting wife to Paul, mostly when he meets John Coffey and advices Paul of his decisions. Mr. Jingles is a lucky mouse. He seems like a real minor character in this film because he is just a small mouse but he is a main key character that becomes a main factor in most of the characters in this film and teaches us a main key point about John Coffey. Now onto the performances, My favourite actor Tom Hanks delivers a really good performance as Paul Edgecomb but I dont think he was quite good enough for an Oscar nomination but should have had the Golden Globe nomination. I expected Tom to act like a really powerful man who has the power over all of the other prison guards in this film. David Morse is really good as Brutus Brutal Howell because he acts like a really nice man and a very large a strong aggressive man. He sort of makes me laugh in some scenes. Michael Clarke Duncan delivers an absolutely outstanding performance as John Coffey. Michael showed the terrible and painful emotion that John goes through in the prison and yet Michael show us the beauty of what the heals can do to some of the people in the film. Michael is the best in the whole film and the most emotional aswell. Bonnie Hunt was really good as Jan Edgecomb because she was a beautiful middle aged woman who really looked like she cared for Paul and what his hard work is and that the bladder infection really hurts him. Doug Hutchinson is awesome as Percy Wetmore because when Doug is Percy he really acts like a real little shit that needs a good smack around the face and a really hard beating up. Sam Rockwell made me laugh as Wild Bill because Sam really looked like a murdering and troublemaking man who hates everybody and enjoys teasing people. He should have been a close nominee for the Oscars. James Cromwell was really good as Warden Hal Moores who is Pauls boss. I would say that the best performances in order are: Michael Clarke Duncan, Bonnie Hunt, Sam Rockwell, Tom Hanks, David Morse, Doug Hutchinson, James Cromwell and more. I love Stephen Kings novels that are made into films. Two of my favourite films are King novels. I have seen Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, The Shining and Secret Window out of the other King novels. But The Green Mile is my favourite Stephen King novel. The Green Mile is my favourite biblical story. This film teaches us about life, death and tells us a bit more about God and the gifts he gives us. Out of the 5 nominees for Best Picture, I would say that American Beauty is the best winner but if I had to choose, it would be The Green Mile. American Beauty is my 7th favourite film right behing The Green Mile. This is one of the 5 films that have made me cry in a film. Loved Shawshank Redemption but The Green Mile is an awful lot better!! Masterpiece!!

I'm a schoolteacher. I teach English composition... in this little town called Adley, Pennsylvania. The last eleven years, I've been at Thomas Alva Edison High School. I was a coach of the baseball team in the springtime. Back home, I tell people what I do for a living and they think well, now that figures. But over here, it's a big, a big mystery. So, I guess I've changed some. Sometimes I wonder if I've changed so much my wife is even going to recognize me, whenever it is that I get back to her. And how I'll ever be able to tell her about days like today. Ah, Ryan. I don't know anything about Ryan. I don't care. The man means nothing to me. It's just a name. But if... You know if going to Rumelle and finding him so that he can go home. If that earns me the right to get back to my wife, then that's my mission.


Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Barry Pepper

Genre: Action/Drama/War

Running time: 170 minutes




My review:

This is another very close favourite of mine too because I love the characters in the film. The acting is very good. I am not surprised that it won Oscars for the sound and visual effects. Tom Hanks deserved his Oscar Nomination for Best Actor. Matt Damon, Jeremy Davies or Tom Sizemore should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor but Steven Spielberg deserved its Oscar for Best Director. The story is really mad that 8 men are risking their lives to save ones life. This film is very well directed by Steven Spielberg as he has directed some of the most famous films of all time, e.g. Jaws, E.T, Indiana Jones trilogy and more. This is probably the best war film of all time. I love all of the battle scenes. The best are definitely Omaha Beach and the one in the town towards the end of the film. This is my favourite Steven Spielberg film. This film also proves a point of how serious war is and how horrible it was for all the families in those days, particularly the soldiers who died/survived in the film and the real WWII. I think Tom Hanks is with Spielberg and Zemeckis like Johnny Depp is with Tim Burton and Robert De Niro is with Martin Scorsese (actor co-starring in most of directors films). I could watch this film over and over again. This is my favourite action film that involves guns, cannons, bombs, etc. Captain John Miller, a decent school teacher in another life, is among the unfortunates storming Omaha Beach. As men are mown down and blown apart, the visceral editing and urgent camera work tug us into the heart of chaos. No viewer can doubt that war, however justified, is hell. Only after 30 minutes does the pace ease and the story begin, with Miller and his platoon assigned to find and bring back Private James Ryan, the brother of three soldiers killed in the same week, whos missing behind enemy lines. Thereafter the film becomes more conventional and mercifully, less relentlessly gory, at least until Ryan and a few other soldiers are finally found, and Miller and his surviving men join them in defending a bridge, at which point the nightmare begins again. Except for a redundant epilogue, sentimentally is mostly held at bay, but the film remains an utterly American take on WWII, with the lack of political, ethical and historical perspective which that implies. Why did Spielberg make it? He wants us to imagine we can feel the terror of being there, but does that make us wiser about this or any other conflict?

How long will it last, Woody? Do you really think Andy is going to take you to college, or on his honeymoon? Andy's growing up, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's your choice, Woody. You can go back, or you can stay with us and last forever. You'll be adored by children for generations.


Directed by: John Lasseter
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammar, Don Rickles

Genre:Animation/Adventure/Comedy/Family/Fantasy

Running time: 92 minutes




My review:

Toy Story 2 is another animated legend just like the first one is. I enjoyed this one more because I thought the plot was more exciting and one that is quite intense. The plot also proves more than one point about natural life between people and toys. That point being that as young children grow up they begin to forget their toys and then sell them which happens quite often in this world. It happened to Jessie in this film as she was telling Woody about it. I think that the characters are a lot better and a lot stronger in this one than the first one because I think Jessie and Bullseye rock and I think Emperor Zurg is cool aswell but he is a bit of a weird character aswell because he is a total rip off of Darth Vader. This also involves the return of my favourite actor Tom Hanks and my favourite film studio PIXAR Animation Studios. I think that Al is a better villain than Sid is. And also I think it is really cool that they have a toy villain in this one who is Stinky Pete The Prospector.

Right now, poised at the edge of the galaxy, Emperor Zurg has been secretly building a weapon with the destructive capacity to annihilate an entire planet! I alone have information that reveals this weapon's only weakness. And you, my friend, are responsible for delaying my rendezvous with Star Command!


Directed by: John Lasseter
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallae Shawn

Genre: Adventure/Animation/Comedy/Family/Fantasy

Running time: 81 minutes




My review:

Most people would say that this is the greatest animated film of all time. I think most critics and viewers think that because of the plot in general and the film sort of argues with nature that children destroy toys and get bored of them in which they really do. Also some of the toys in the film are real life toys like Mr. Potato Head, Woody, Buzz and toys like Rex, Slinky, Hamm and the barbies which appear in the sequel. Also the general board games involved like Battleship which Hamm and Mr. Potato Head play together and also the card games aswell. This is without a doubt one of the greatest family films ever made. Another reason why I love this film is because it has my favourite actor Tom Hanks voiced as Woody. This film is a legend and as popular as ever just like the sequel. This is a little overrated though. I used to have all of the toys of this film and still have them somewhere in my house of Woody and Buzz Lightyear. I couldnt stop watching this film when I was a little kid and still love it now. Always have and always will. I think this was the first film I ever saw.

We both had done the math. Kelly added it all up and... knew she had to let me go. I added it up, and knew that I had... lost her. 'cos I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there, totally alone. I was gonna get sick, or get injured or something. The only choice I had, the only thing I could control was when, and how, and where it was going to happen. So... I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I-I - , I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over *nothing*. And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that's what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I'm back. In Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass... And I've lost her all over again. I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly. But I'm so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?


Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Nick Searsy, Chris Noth, Lari White

Genre: Adventure/Drama

Running time: 143 minutes




My review:

Review coming soon. . .