Who doesn’t love Tom Hanks?

Tom Hanks celebrated his birthday this week.  Here’s a few of his films that you can find online.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Sully (2016) features Tom Hanks in the role airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger.  The film not only recreates Sullenberger’s famous landing in the Hudson but also the subsequent attempts by the government to scapegoat Sully for the incident.  This film features one of Hanks’s best performances, bringing humanity to a man who, on cultural level, was viewed as being almost a mythological hero.  Hanks is likable and, this being an Eastwood film, the government is portrayed as being both corrupt and incompetent.  What’s not to like?  Sully is on HBOMAX.

When it comes to Tom Hanks, it’s hard to pick his best performance.  I would probably go with Captain Phillips (2013), featuring Hanks as the captain of a boat that is taken prisoner by modern-day pirates.  Like Sully, this film is based on a true story and, as he did in Sully, Hanks brings to life a character based on a real-life person.  The final scene is devastating and features some of the best acting that I’ve ever seen from anyone.  Somehow, Hanks was not nominated for Best Actor for his performance here.  Captain Phillips can be viewed on Netflix.

Punchline (1988) is a bit of an oddity.  Sally Field is miscast as a housewife trying to make it as a stand-up.  That said, Tom Hanks gives a strong and dramatic performance as a self-centered and self-destructive comic.  Punchline can be viewed on Tubi.

It’s Summer!

It’s summer!  I just got back from my vacation.  (I took it a month early because I needed to be back here to start my summer job of covering Big Brother for the Big Brother Blog.)  If you can’t get to the beach this summer, you can at least watch both Beach Party (1963) and Bikni Beach (1964) on Tubi and discover how people used to celebrate the summer months.  Yes, both of these films are undeniably dated and a bit corny but who cares?  Sometimes, it’s fun to watch something from a more innocent era.  Beach Party and Bikini Beach are both on Tubi.

If you want a slightly racier beach party, The Beach Girls (1982) is a Crown International production that features all of the nudity (male and female), raunchy humor, and drug jokes that you could hope for.  That said, it also features a very likable and energetic cast.  It can be viewed over at the Internet Archive.

If you’re looking for a slightly more sinister vacation, Last Summer (1969) features Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison, and Barbara Hershey as three rich kids and Catherine Burns as the insecure girl who tries to hang out with them.  Hershey and Burns both give outstanding performances and the end result is a creepy and disturbing coming-of-age story.  It can be viewed at the Internet Archive.

Odds and Ends

Enter The Ninja (1981) features my man, the one and only Franco Nero, as a ninja!  This is a film that represents everything that made Cannon great.  Plus, how can you resist Franco, literally winking at the camera?  Enter The Ninja is on Prime.

Skatetown USA (1979) is the greatest film that “ever rolled!”  Okay, maybe not the greatest but can you resist Patrick Swayze cracking a whip while rolling around on roller skates?  Skatetown USA can be viewed at the Internet Archive.

Finally, if you want to see just how strange fame can be, check out Ringmaster (1998), a film that “celebrates” Jerry Springer.  (Jerry appears as a version of himself.)  Bizarrely enough, this film does feature two truly good performances, from Jaime Pressly and Molly Hagan as a trailer park mother and daughter who appears on Jerry’s show.  Ringmaster is on Prime.

Click here for last week’s recommendations!