HOT: Saving Private Ryan

I have never been in an actual war. I have heard tales. I have had relatives fight in the war and for our country. But, even through those you never actually grasp what war is truly like.

Saving Private Ryan, from what I hear, is the best representation of what actual war looks and feels like as we have ever had on film. And, it's as close as I will ever, or ever want to, be.

During World War II, a mother is about to find out that three of her sons have all been killed in action. She has four sons, one is still missing somewhere in the war. Commands come down the chain for Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) to put together a small crew and find Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) so that he can be sent home.

Captain Miller has just been part of the invasion of Normandy on Omaha Beach where a lot of men were killed or injured, including one of Ryan's brothers.

Miller puts together a team of Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Private Reiben (Edward Burns), Private Jackson (Barry Pepper), Private Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Private Caparzo (Vin Diesel), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi) and Corporal Upham (Jeremy Davies).

Upham is a translator and typist who has never been in action until he is asked to join Miller's crew to head across the country tracking down Ryan. His fear and lack of experience ends up hurting many of the other members of the crew, at least in someway.

Though a bit hard to watch in some parts as it is so close to actual war and you find it hard to stomach what people had to go and live through, the film is brilliantly put together. A film about founding a 'needle in a haystack' probably doesn't sound that entertaining, but mixed within this war film it definitely was.

The acting is superb up and down the line. You begin to feel for all of these characters and it pulls at your heart strings if anything happens to them. Plus, the film is riddled with amazing actors in just very small parts - like Bryan Cranston, Ted Danson, Dennis Farina, Dylan Bruno, Paul Giamatti, Ryan Hurst, Leland Orser and Nathan Fillion.

The film runs two hours, 49 minutes, but you can never tell. There isn't a dull moment in any of it. Even when there is a bit of time when the action has subsided and it's just the guys sitting around - the conversation and dialogue is so interesting and at times fun that you hang on every word.

Grade:

12 Movie Meme

So, while I was away on vacation Nick at Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob tagged me for a 12 Movie Meme blog. The idea came from Piper at Lazy Eye Theatre, who then chose five others to participate, including Fletch at Blog Cabins, who then tagged five more, including R2D2, who tagged me.

Apparently, I am supposed to act as if I am in charge of a movie theater for a six-day period. In those six days, I am to play 12 movies in total. Here are the 'guidelines'.

1) Choose 12 Films to be featured. They could be random selections or part of a greater theme. Whatever you want.

2) Explain why you chose the films.

3) Link back to Lazy Eye Theatre so I can have hundreds of links and I can take those links and spread them all out on the bed and then roll around in them.

4) The people selected then have to turn around and select 5 more people.

So, I have given it some thought and did a little bit of a theme night. Here are my picks:

Monday: College Night

The greatest college movie of all-time Animal House, must launch this six-day film fest. That film would be followed by what I would consider the best college film of the 2000's, Accepted. Each film is based around a single incident, and the characters from the lead all the way through the background, each give the movie something special.

Tuesday: Family Night

Tuesday will kick-off with one of the greatest films ever made, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That will be followed by The Wizard of Oz, the mack-daddy of fairy tale stories.

Wednesday: Disaster Night

Wednesday a couple of disaster movies will be shown. The first follows a group of tornado chasers as they search for the true reasoning for a tornado in Twister. 1998 gave us a pair of comet-to-end-the-world movies in Armageddon and Deep Impact. Armegeddon received most of the notoriety due to its stars, but Deep Impact gave a more believable scenario and is my choice to wrap up Disaster Night.

Thursday: Heist Night

I have become a huge fan of the heist films when done correctly. When a group goes in to do a job with their brains instead of their fists. In both The Italian Job and Ocean's 11 the 'thieves' are always two-steps ahead of their victims - and showing exactly how they were able to get away with it is always a fun and exhilarating journey.

Friday: War Night

The Great Escape is not your typical war movie, as there isn't very many scenes that actually deal with the war. For most of the movie, a group of POW's are trying to figure out how to escape from their prison. In Saving Private Ryan, again the focus isn't on the war, but you see a whole lot of it - and in probably the most realistic view of war ever seen in film.

Saturday: Psychological Thriller Night

To complete my six-day film festival I wanted to leave the audience thinking. I enjoy films where you have to follow every last detail of the movie to understand the ending, and The Sixth Sense and The Game are both perfect examples of that. If film is supposed to be art, than each and every aspect of it should be important - and with these two they are.

So there they are, my six-day film festival. Obviously, I would have a ton more choices - I could have a year-long festival I am sure - but I feel this event would be pretty successful.

Due to my not being a full-fledged movie blog site, and that most of the blogs that I read have already done this, I am only tagging one person: Aimee at The Refutation Process. Give it a whirl, it should be fun.

Top 10: Tom Hanks Roles

Alright, I figured it out. I have decided to do a Top 10 list about my all-time favorite actor, Tom Hanks. I pretty much like all of Mr. Hanks' work, although he has had a few duds in the mix. So, getting just 10 characters was a bit difficult. But, I did do it.

When I wrote down the characters he has played I actually came out with 12 that were my favorites, so I have to give Lawrence Whatley Bourne III from Volunteers and Scott Turner from Turner & Hooch an honorable mention.

So here is the list (reverse order as always):

10) Robert Langdon - Da Vinci Code

Synopsis: Based on the best-selling novel, Hanks takes over as Dr. Robert Langdon, a symbologist who is called into action of tracking down hidden clues inside Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings.

9) Jim Lovell - Apollo 13

Synopsis: Lovell is named captain of the Apollo 13 moon mission, and along with two other astronauts, will be one of the first few people on the moon. An explosion within the shuttle, however, makes this mission into a rescue mission.

8) Carl Hanratty - Catch Me If You Can

Synopsis: Hanratty is the main investigator in catching the con man Frank Abagnale Jr. During his pursuit he sort of develops a relationship with the young man - as sort of a father figure.

7) Chuck Noland - Cast Away

Synopsis: In one of Hanks' most brilliant performances, Noland is stranded on a remote island after a plane accident. For 2/3's of the movie, Hanks is forced to keep the audience interested with only his actions and his interactions with a volleyball named Wilson.

6) Mr. White - That Thing You Do

Synopsis: Mr. White of PlayTone Music is the new manager of The Wonders, whose hit single "That Things You Do" is climbing up the charts. But, friction between the band members soon puts an end to the magical run and the band becomes a one-hit wonder.

5) Josh Baskin - Big

Synopsis: The movie that really moved Hanks into the mainstream. Hanks plays Baskin, a 12-year old boy looking to grow up a little too fast. Making a wish on a Zoltar Machine, Baskin wakes up as an adult and is forced to figure things out on his own.

4) Forrest Gump - Forrest Gump

Synopsis: Easily one of the most quotable movies of Hanks' career. Hanks plays Gump, a man with a well-below average IQ, but even with his lack of smarts, Gump lives an extraordinary life and meets many fascinating people along the way.

3) Jimmy Dugan - A League of Their Own

Synopsis: Dugan is a retired baseball player, who during his prime was one of the greatest hitters of all-time. Drinking, however, got in the way of his playing career and he is given the chance to manage the Rockford Peaches of the All-American Baseball League - a woman's league. But it could very well be the best thing that ever happened to him.

2) Capt. John Miller - Saving Private Ryan

Synopsis: Hanks plays Miller, a school teacher who is in charge of men's lives during World War II. He is given the assignment of tracking down Private Ryan, whose three bothers had already been killed in the war. It's a gripping tale and one of the most realistic (so I'm told) war movies ever created.

1) Sheriff Woody - Toy Story

Synopsis: As stunning a career as Tom Hanks the actor has had, it's his voice work that has truly made the biggest splash. Hanks lends his voice to Woody, the jealous cowboy doll, in Toy Story. Which, along with being the first all-computer generated film in history, is also one of the best all-around movies.