Tom Hanks Hustle: Apollo 13

Tom Hank's 20th starring role in film is the classic film Apollo 13. 

This has become one of those films that you just have to see. Regardless if you like Mr. Hanks of not you just have to see this film. After my first viewing I understand why. 

First off, Ron Howard did an excellent job at directing this film. Nothing seemed forced, nothing seemed boring, all of the action was had you equal on the edge of your seat but nothing seemed like it was over the top. 

When doing a bit of research for the film I found that Ron Howard did not want to use any actual footage from the Apollo 13 mission. On top of that the actor who would be portraying flight controllers went to flight controller school. On top of all of that he actors studied hundreds of materials from the mission and took a crash course in physics to just the could make each scene as authentic as possible. 

The drama of this film is something to be truly marveled at! In a lot of films that involve a crash, wreck, or some over the top situation there always seems to be mass panic. There is always people freaking out, there are always people screaming and running around not knowing what to do. There always seems to be a handful a people who keep their cools and get everyone together. To my shock that was not the case in this film. 

This film everyone was very calm, very well put together, and very much focused on what needs to be done next. There is no mass hysteria, there is no screaming, there is no one loosing their cool. When I saw that they had a problem I was expecting everyone to go nuts but when it didn't happen I realized something amazing. That this film is supposed to portray the real events that happened and Mission Control not panicking was very much what would have happened. They are all very well trained professionals who have to be ready for something to go wrong and to train that panicking would be the wrong move.

Even though I know that is real seeing everyone so calm during that scene made the drama that much more real. It made it that much more intense. This creepily eerie silence while people work on a solution to save these three men who may be lost in space is one of the most powerful moments in movie history.

I am ashamed of myself for not seeing this movie earlier in life. It has to be one of the best movies I have every seen. I am talking top 15 movies for sure. 

Do yourself a favor is you have yet to see Apollo 13 see it as soon as possible!

  

Year of Courage: Watch A Scary Movie

As we start to come to the end of the month of May I move on to my next scary adventure. Up until this point all of the things that I have made myself do required me to be adventurous/ courageous. They all have made to go and do something. This month is a little different. This month's scary situation is watch a scary movie.

Since, I HATE scary movies I got my friend Austin to help me out with this one. He is a lover of scary movies and he was the perfect/ worst person to ask for help. He did his job a little too well. The movie he picked for me to watch is The Conjuring. 

Now according to Austin this is one of the best scary movies ever to be made. Again, my lack of scary movie knowledge can not agree or disagree with it, however this movie was terrifying! 

Here is the reason that I added this task to my list. The reason I don't like scary movies is because, well yes they scare you, but I don't like the feeling of something is out to get me while watching a movie. I watch movies to escape reality and I don't want to be thrown into a fantasy that is scarier that my reality. I don't get the point of spending good money to have a heart attack every five minutes. 

As you can see in these two videos I did not handle the stress of these movies very well...

What Austin failed to get was I actually did gather enough courage to watch the last 30 minutes of the film without hiding under the pillow. Something that he was super impressed by! At least I was brave during some part of this film....

Since I have been watching a movie that is somewhat related to the scary task every month you would think that I would have counted the Scary Movie as the movie I would watch. That is not the case. I didn't want to watch the scary movie and be left with that. I ended up watch Hocus Pocus after I watched The Conjuring. The reason was because Hocus Pocus is hilarious but a "haunting" movie. Mainly I watched it because it was going to get my mind off of the scary movie for a bit. 

I have to say that watching a scary movie was hard in the way of I hate knowing something is about to scare me and the suspense is worse than the actual scare. I am glad that I did it (and that it's over) because it helps me to appreciate a none generic scary movie more. It' helps me o see why people love them even though I hate them. It also shows me that I can handle much more suspense in a short amount of time that I originally thought.

Will I be watching a scary film sometime again soon... more than likely NEVER but if I have to watch one I will be able to give it a try at the very least.

Tom Hanks Hustle: Toy Story

Toy Story what can we say about this movie? I think that we would have to say that there is a good chance that this is the most well known role that Mr. Hanks has ever done that 90's babies would know.

While Toy Story is not my all time favorite Disney movie I have to say I might quote this Disney film the most. The one liners in it are hilarious, and they get funny when you grow up and understand what they are saying better. I can not tell you the number of time is have told someone that "you are a sad, strange, little man" or when I talk about a film no one has heard of they are "uncultured swine".

I mean if any child was like I was you constantly watched the same movie over and over again. You get to know Woody's voice really well. To the point where it bugs you and you have to ask your dad how do I recognize him! I don't think you really realize how recognizable his voice is until you see this movie.

You also have to give it up for the animation of this film! Boy, we didn't know how revolutionary it was in 1995 but look at all the animated movies now! They all look like Toy Story. Kids today don't know what the classic cartoon movies looked like. They might know but it doesn't grab their attention like it newer cartoon do.

I will say that I am very glad that I have the guiding words or Mr. Hanks growing up. I have to say learning from him was a lot of fun!

Tom Hanks Hustle: Forrest Gump

Ladies an Gentlemen! With this movie we enter into the era in which 90's babies know Mr. Hanks from the best. My friends, it really doesn't get much better than Forrest Gump.

I LOVE this movie. I said it in my blog from Best Picture last year. I find something new a special about this film every time I watch it! Mr. Hanks impresses every time this movie comes on. I think what really impressed me this time around was the CGI in this film. It's every where in the film and it's insanely good! The scene where Forrest is taking Bubba out of the wilderness and he is running in front of the explosion, Forrest and Bubba were made to look like they were running that closely in front of the explosion with the use of CGI.


Then of course you can not forget about Lieutenant Dan's legs! That is still impressive that in 1994 they were able to CGI his legs away. The fact that after everything was filmed they had to go and "paint" out his legs in every scene he was in to get that effect is artistry in that of itself.

I love their relationship! I love how Lieutenant Dan is so reluctant to have Forrest be is friend. I love how crazy he is that Forrest doesn't know how much he means to Dan.


We can't talk about this movie and not say anything about him and Jenny! Everything he does is this movie is for her! Even if is doesn't always know it. I love that every time she sees him in the newspaper she cuts out the clippings and puts them in a binder. It shows how much he means to her but she never really stopped a see that. She thought the farther she got away from him and the place where she lived that she would be able to be something different. Even though Forrest always loved her just the was she is.

Like I said in the last post Mr. Hanks was the Best Actor Award for his role as Forrest Gump. I have to say that it was totally deserved. This role was wonderful, it compelling, and it's beautiful! I will never tire of seeing Mr. Hanks in this role!


This movie is deserving of every award it ever received, and deserving of every award it was nominated for and did not win. There is something special about this film, something that is hard to fully explain. I hope that the explanation never comes because that would mean that I have grown tired of the film, and I never want that to happen!