He Knows You’re Alone (1980)
Jan 25, 2003Slasher Film
A derivative and fairly lacklustre entry in the 1980s slasher film that is clearly imitative of Halloween featuring a killer who stalks brides-to-be
Tom Hanks
Splash! (1984)
Nov 24, 2002Mermaid Comedy
One of the earliest films from Ron Howard as director, a bubbly infectiously light comedy with Tom Hanks in a romance with mermaid Daryl Hannah. This was a hit and offered major career breakthroughs for Howard, Hanks, Hannah and John Candy.
Big (1988)
Mar 6, 2000Boy Wakes Up in a Man's Body
The most charming among the spate of bodyswap fantasies of the 80s. Tom Hanks was Academy Award nominated for his role as a boy who makes a wish to "be big" and wakes up to find himself in a man's body
The ‘Burbs (1989)
Jan 3, 2000Suburban Paranoia Black Comedy
Joe Dante black comedy about a neighbourhood where everybody becomes paranoid about the weird new people moved in. The film's bite gets lots amid everything being pitched at a clumsily shrill level of hysteria
Radio Flyer (1992)
Jan 3, 2001Childhood Abuse/Fantasy of Flight
Rare flop from Richard Donner, a Coming of Age story where a young Elijah Wood receives visions from a buffalo and dreams of flying away from an abusive childhood
Apollo 13 (1995)
Jul 31, 2000True-Life Space Mission Disaster
Probably the best among Ron Howard's mostly undistinguished films, a dramatisation of the real-life Apollo 13 space mission disaster. Once the film gets the capsule up into orbit, the drama is gripping
Toy Story (1995)
Dec 16, 2001Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
The first film from Pixar and a breakthrough in being the first computer-animated film. Even aside from its technical innovations, this is enormously good fun with extremely well-constructed character arcs
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Dec 2, 1999Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
Pixar's sequel to their first film and arguably an even better work where they get the plaintive emotion, character arcs and witty humour down perfect
The Green Mile (1999)
Dec 24, 1999Miracle-Healing Death Row Inmate/Stephen King Addaptation
Frank Darabont had a hit with the Stephen King adaptation The Shawshank Redemption. Here he makes another King adaptation about a Death Row inmate with healing powers
The Polar Express (2004)
Nov 28, 2004Animation/Train Journey to the North Pole
This broke ground in being the first animated film made using the motion-capture process. Robert Zemeckis directs with a quite magical touch
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Jun 21, 2006Secret History of Christianity/Historical Conspiracy
Ron Howard directed film version of Dan Brown's best-selling book. This is historical nonsense woven into a fancifully absurd conspiracy theory where Howard does no more than offer an illustrated version of the book
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
Jul 31, 2007The Simpsons Film Spinoff
Film spinoff from the long-running animated tv series. The familiar gags are there but show feels awkward extruded out to a full-length plot. You keep feeling the film should have been more than it is.
Angels & Demons (2009)
May 19, 2009The Da Vinci Code Sequel
Ron Howard and Tom Hanks follow up their adaptation of The Da Vinci Code by turning to an earlier Dan Brown novel concerning conspiratorial goings-on in The Vatican but the show collapses amid absurdly contrived plotting
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Jun 19, 2010Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
After such high standards with the previous two films, there is considerable onus on Pixar when it comes to this third entry nevertheless they manage to wring some strong and effective new twists on the familiar
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Oct 24, 2012Cross-Historical Epic
A cross-historical epic from The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. An uneven film driven more by its determination we view it as an epic. Surely a studio publicist's nightmare, it grasps at the meaning of it all yet eludes telling audiences what it is about
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Dec 20, 2013The Making of Mary Poppins
Dramatisation of the prickly relationship between P.L. Travers, the creator of Mary Poppins, and Walt Disney during the making of the 1964 film. While the true story may have been cleaned up somewhat, this is a film of enormous charms that is largely made through a triumphant performance from Emma Thompson
Inferno (2016)
Dec 3, 2016Dan Brown Adaptation/Trail of Clues to a Deadly Virus
The third film based on Dan Brown's Robert Langdon books. This is essentially the same plot as The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks following clues to a deadly virus hidden in classic artworks around Europe
The Circle (2017)
Jul 16, 2017Online Mass Surveillance Thriller
Hollywood tries to make a big message film about online mass surveillance but renders anodyne straw arguments. Meanwhile, back in the real world you cannot help but think things the film depicts things might happen very different
Spielberg (2017)
Oct 23, 2017Steven Spielberg Documentary
Documentary made for HBO about director Steven Spielberg in which he reflects on his life and films. The documentary tends to focus more on his major hits and skips his minor films but does give worthwhile insight into Spielberg, his life and formative years
Toy Story 4 (2019)
Oct 12, 2019Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
Pixar sequelise their very first film for a third time but the surprise is a film that creates a range of eccentric characters and finds the wit and warmth that has been missing through their last few films
Finch (2021)
Nov 13, 2021Man and a Robot
Unexpectedly delightful film about a man and a robot. With Tom Hanks alone with a robot for company in the aftermath of civilisation, it becomes in effect Cast Away meets Wall-E
Pinocchio (2022)
Sep 16, 2022Living Puppet Boy/Disney Remake
The first of two Pinocchio adaptations of 2022, Here Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis delivers a live-action remake of the Disney animated film
Asteroid City (2023)
Jul 21, 2023Retro 1950s Comedy/Alien Visitor
Wes Anderson’s quirky individualistic films can be an acquired taste. This is set in a stunningly designed retro 1950s town as various oddball characters intersect in between the appearance of an alien visitor
Here (2024)
Dec 7, 2024One Room Across Multiple Eras of Time
A unique experimental film from Robert Zemeckis where the camera sits in a single spot in a room and tells is story, covers across history from the dinosaurs to the present day. Based on an acclaimed graphic novel