With only a week until the release of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a new poster has been released online, now emphasising the film’s two Oscar nominations for Best Film and Best Supporting Actor for Max von Sydow.

Adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel of the same name, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is an upcoming drama starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock as the parents of a ten-year-old amateur inventor.

Focusing on the young boy, Oskar (Thomas Horn), the film isn’t your every day family drama as it deals with the World Trade Center attack on September 11th 2001, after Oskar’s father (Hanks) is killed in the attack. Finding a key that belonged to him, Oskar becomes obsessed with figuring out what the key opens, as his search brings him into contact with others around the city, played by the likes of Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright.

The new poster shows a still from the film with Oskar happily sat with his parents before the tragedy, taglined: “This is not a story about September 11th, it’s a story about every day after.”

Directed by Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close looks like it’s going to be a great film, and is set to be released on 17th February.

Here’s the new poster in full, via IMP Awards.

Oscar Nominated “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” starring Academy Award® winners Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock is in cinemas everywhere from 17^th February. Adapted from the acclaimed bestseller by Jonathan Safran Foer “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”   tells the story from inside the young mind of Oskar Schell an inventive eleven year-old New Yorker.

Oskar’s discovery of a key in his deceased father’s belongings sets him off on an urgent search across the city for the lock it will open.  A year after his father died in the World Trade Center on what Oskar calls “The Worst Day,” he is determined to keep his vital connection to the man who encourages him into confronting his wildest fears.

To celebrate the release, we are giving you the chance to win a beautiful digital photo frame courtesy of Prezzybox.com!

The star of the film Oskar saves photographs to remember his journey, so to celebrate this release we have teamed up with Prezzybox.com to offer you a fantastic Digital Photo Frame to store your favourite photos and memories. Prezzybox.com have 1000′s of unusual, comical and quirky, yet extremely useful presents for all of the family.

To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, simply click next to be taken to the entry form and question….

Catherine Keener (Where the Wild Things Are) is in early talks to star opposite Tom Hanks (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) in Captain Phillips.

Based on true events, Captain Phillips centers on Richard Phillips (Hanks), a sea captain who allows himself to be taken hostage by Somali pirates when his ship comes under attack.

Kenner is rumoured to be playing Hanks’ wife, Andrea Phillips, who remains strong and devoted to her husband throughout the entire ordeal.

Paul Greengrass (Green Zone) is attached to direct from a screenplay penned by Billy Ray (The Hunger Games), while Scott Rudin, Kevin Spacey, Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti will executive produce.

Kenner will next be seen in Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, opposite Jane Fonda (The Morning After) and Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene).

Source: Variety

David Yates and Emma Watson, who worked together on the last four Harry Potter instalments, are set to reunite for Your Voice in My Head.

Written by Emma Forrest, Your Voice in My Head centres on a young woman (Watson) who attempts suicide before being saved by a New York-based psychiatrist who’s dying of cancer.

It is yet unknown who will play the psychiatrist, but such prolific actors as George Clooney (The Descendants) and Tom Hanks (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) are said to be in the mix.

Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the rights late last week, and have made it a top priority.

Expect production on this to start before the end of the year, before Yates moves over to Sony to direct A Reliable Wife.

Source: Deadline

We’ve just been sent these two new posters for Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock’s new Oscar nominated movie, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It comes to UK cinemas 17th February, is directed by Stephen Daldry and co-stars John Goodman, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright and Max von Sydow.

If you’d like to see a trailer for the movie, fear not as we have one for you right here!

Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” tells the story of one young boy’s journey from heartbreaking loss to the healing power of self-discovery, set against the backdrop of the tragic events of September 11.

Eleven-year-old Oskar Schell is an exceptional child: amateur inventor, Francophile, pacifist.  And after finding a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, he embarks on an exceptional journey—an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York.  As Oskar roams the city, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity, who are all survivors in their own ways.  Ultimately, Oskar’s journey ends where it began, but with the solace of that most human experience: love.

Check out the posters below and click to enlarge.

I love the word canoodle, so was very happy to see this new clip from Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close appear.

Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks are joined by Thomas Horn to tell the tale of Oskar, an young boy who loses his father in the 9/11 attacks and then goes on a journey of discovery, following clues he believes his father left him.

Steel yourself for a synopsis so moving there may be tears,

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell​ is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies.

When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he disovers in his father’s closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

Here’s your clip, all the way from The Sun, thanks Sun! (in case the clip doesn’t work – it’s a little tempremental – click the link above to see it.

A handful of new photos for Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close have been released this week, an upcoming drama starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock as the parents of a ten-year-old amateur inventor.

Focusing on the young boy, Oskar (Thomas Horn), Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close isn’t your every day family drama as it deals with the World Trade Center attack on September 11th 2001. When Oskar’s father (Hanks) is killed in the attack, he becomes obsessed with figuring out what a key belonging to his dad opens, as his search brings him into contact with others around the city, played by the likes of Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright.

After a limited release in the US over Christmas, the film is set to be released on 17th February.

(Source: Empire)

Two-time Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks is without a doubt one of the biggest and best-known stars to come out of Hollywood, and over the years, he’s had some pretty diverse roles.

The world-renowned actor’s credits include films like Big, You’ve Got Mail, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Cast Away, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Road To Perdition, The Da Vinci Code, The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan, and plenty, plenty more.

THR report that the actor’s latest project is coming to life this year online, having created an animated sci-fi series called Electric City that he’ll star in, which is to be shown exclusively on Yahoo, marking their first venture into scripted programming. It’s a co-production of Reliance Entertainment (whose credits include The Fighter, The Help, and War Horse), and Playtone, Hanks’ and producer Gary Goetzman’s own production company, perhaps best known for their work producing Band of Brothers and The Pacific.

Hanks will be voicing the lead character, and Yahoo will be putting out about 20 episodes, each roughly 4 minutes long, starting this spring. And according to Ross Levinsohn, Yahoo’s Executive Vice President of “Americas,” there are more things in development at the moment for Yahoo:

“Not just shows, but real experiences. We’re looking to build franchises.”

It’s a pretty ambitious move, and here’s to hoping it will go really well for them. Kicking things off with a show that’s been created by Hanks, whom many would describe as being the quintessential America, is definitely a strong way to start.

Yahoo also partnered last week with Funny or Die, to bring a 13-minute parody of a Republican presidential online debate that was hosted by Larry King himself, which included a cast of John C. McGinley (Scrubs’ Dr. Cox) and Patrick Warburton (Family Guy’s Joe Swanson), and which you can watch right here.

Hanks has of course become very well-known over the years for lending his voice to that little-known character, Woody, from Pixar’s Toy Story, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what Electric City will be like. An animated sci-fi series with Hanks voicing the lead is more than a little intriguing.

The actor will next be seen in Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which is one of the many Oscar contenders in the current awards season, and will be coming to UK cinemas on 17th February.

The US Library of Congress maintains the National Film Registry, into which is admitted any film considered to be culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. Despite those criteria being very much in the eye of the beholder, few would question the wisdom of the decision to add Jonathan Demme’s imperious 1990 chiller, The Silence of the Lambs, to the Registry.

25 new additions have been made, including somewhat obvious choices such as Forrest Gump and welcome left-field inclusions like Robert Rodriguez’s debut El Mariachi. James H Billington, who has been librarian of the Library of Congress for the best part of quarter of a century, had this to say:-

“These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture. Our film heritage must be protected because these cinematic treasures document our history and culture and reflect our hopes and dreams.”

Critically lauded and adored by film-fans, The Silence of the Lambs is an absolute gem of a film, menacing, atmospheric, disturbing and compelling. But does it belong in a treasury of culturally or historically significant films? So far, Forrest Gump is the newest film to be included, but are there other more recent films that deserve to be added, or are there films already added that have no place there? You can see 2011′s new additions here and the full list of films in the archive here. Please feel free to comment below.

Source: BBC Entertainment.

The sound of those rapid-fire, squeaky voices are enough to send some grown-ups running for the hills. Others will take a deep breath and prepare for the super-cute onslaught at the cinema – there has been a two-year respite after all. But once you’ve tuned into the inane Chipmunk banter, film three in the series, Chipwrecked, still manages to charm while thrilling the kids, what with its intrepid little adventurers and energetic musical numbers.

This time, Alvin (Justin Long on helium) and his band, The Chipmunks, including smart Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and gullible Theodore (Jesse McCartney), are on their way to some music awards with the Chipettes – Eleanor (Amy Poehler), Jeanette (Anna Faris) and Brittany (Christina Applegate). They travel overseas via cruise ship with their weary guardian Dave (Jason Lee), and although have been warned numerous times to behave, end up accidentally going overboard and getting marooned in a tropical paradise. But the island isn’t as deserted as it seems…

Squarely aimed at the U market, watching the on-deck antics of The Chipmunks, the Chipettes and mentor Dave is very much like watching an extended children’s TV episode about the trials and tribulations of family vacationing, with very tame goofs and pranks – usually involving the haphazard Dave – from a seasonal pantomime. The narrative is straightforward, as are the set-piece setups for kids to see the punch line coming a mile off coast. Once ‘chipwrecked’, there’s precious little that goes on, on the desert island that you wouldn’t want to leave behind, to be honest, but mischievous Alvin – however irritatingly over enthusiastic – still manages to coax a giggle out of you. There is also a nice role reversal between Alvin and Simon that keeps things interesting.

In fact, it’s Simon’s adventure this time that gets the biggest laughs from the kids when he turns all Franglais on us (with the help of Alan Tudyk’s brilliant vocal skills), allowing Alvin to learn a few life lessons in his coming-of-age experience, and for comedy director Mike Mitchell and team to open up the naughty squirrels’ shenanigans and feature other members of the cast in the limelight.

Mitchell’s writing team’s rather odd ode to Tom Hanks’s film Cast Away feels somewhat mismatched and remotely dark for a kiddies’ film, but does create the film’s anti-villain who isn’t at all scary, actually – just plain bonkers, allowing the Chipmunks to go on an Indiana Jones-style rescue through the jungle undergrowth. For adults, there is the added glee of watching the whole cast – and ex-manager Ian – marooned (finally), far away from civilisation and doing harm to reassess their actions on all of us.

The infectious and lively musical numbers will have you toe-tapping your way throughout, too, which are basically high-pitched, often a capella versions of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Pink and Willow Smith’s hits. Indeed, the phrase, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” certainly rings true as your senses are flooded with the Chipmunk drug. The ending is naturally an excuse for another grand musical Glee-style finale so there are no great surprises, and you are well and truly under the spell by then anyway to really care.

Some might argue about how ‘harmless’ a Chipmunk film is on the impressionable young mind, but this adventure takes the cast away from their natural habitat of previous films and shakes things up for anything to happen and some important rules to be learnt. Plus with its catchy musical interpretations, Chipwrecked has to be the best Chipmunk film so far for the uninitiated to be exposed to, offering wholesome family entertainment and a welcome glimpse of the sun, sea and sand on these chilling winter days.

***~~ (3/5)

The Wachowski brothers and Tom Tykwer’s adaptation of David Mitchell’s novel, Cloud Atlas, is set to be one of the most intriguing films to look forward to next year. With a notoriously labyrinthine plot, the possibility of adapting it for the big screen sounds as though it is a mammoth task not to be taken lightly.

We got our first look at the film when some photos surfaced from the set back in September, followed by the image of the directors and the novelist on the set just before Christmas, having wrapped production. We’ve now got a new image – the first official look at a character – to share with you, along with some terrific concept art for the film, courtesy of HanCinema via Collider.

The official synopsis for the film is yet to be released, so we don’t know how much, if at all, it will differ from the book, but the original novel’s synopsis looks a little like this, courtesy of Amazon:

“A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation — the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.”

The adaptation has a tremendous cast, including Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Susan Sarandon, James D’Arcy, and Doona Bae, the last of whom we get to see in this new image. The cast have been announced as interestingly taking on multiple roles through the course of the film, which is certainly something that has peaked our interest.

Tykwer and the Wachowski brothers worked together to co-write the screenplay adaptation of Mitchell’s novel, and with production now wrapped, things are looking good to meet the expected release towards the end of next year. No word yet on a specific release date, but if all goes well in post-production, we should have seen it on the big screen here by this time next year. I can’t wait. That should give me just enough time to read the original novel. Without further ado, here are the great new images. As usual, with the concept art, click to enlarge. That the synopsis makes mention of a traveller in 1850 and the second of the concept images is titled ‘Seoul, 2144′ should give you an idea of the scope we can look forward to with this next year.

Posed like a Christmas card from that family down the street no one really likes to make eye contact with, Empire have got their grubby little mitts on the first official image from the people behind the film adaptation of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas.

It all looks rather perplexing.

Now as someone who knows nothing whatsoever about the book  - other than it’s affinity for the eclectic – the image pretty much delivers the bewilderment I expected:

Amongst the mayhem at least the people are easily identifiable. In the middle there’s (from right to left) Tom Twyker, Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski and there’s author David Mitchell popping a squat behind them. Everyone else hasn’t merited a mention in any press coverage but I can confirm that they look satisfied that the film has finally wrapped. So that’s nice.

Apparently all of the assorted and seemingly meaningless ephemera that surrounds the talented types does have relevance to the novel so helpfully Empire in all of their grace have included an explanation with their scoop:

If you know the book, you’ll also recognise props from the six interlinking tales. We’ve spotted the VW Beetle of crusading journo Luisa Rey (Berry), the ’70s thriller that should inject serious voltage into the film’s middle act (if you really know the book, you’ll spot that it’s drab green not rust orange).

Also on display are a pair of Chatham Island totems, a piano belonging to the composer of the ‘Letters from Zedelghem’ chapters, some dystopian gadgetry from near-future Korea, and a cart that we’re guessing gets used to carry post-apocalyptic veggies around Hawaii.

Sounds like I have a lot to catch up on:

The book concerns a reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation — the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

The sheer volume of plot to tackle here becomes apparent when one looks at the production schedule. The cast is huge featuring Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy and Jim Sturgess to name but a few. The six stories involved span multiple continents and centuries with everyone playing multiple roles. To make things even more complicated alongside the Wachowski’s unit director Tom Twyker ran a second unit in parallel in a bid to get the sprawling material filmed in time for its approximate release date of ‘late 2012’. Pleasingly they seem to have succeeded.

Another piece of good news was that the film got made at all, even better when you consider that it’s with the Wachowski’s co-helming. Famously selective in their interactions with the media (and seemingly their projects) since rising to eminence with The Matrix, they have had the transient media presence of an odourless gas. Well it’s good to see them back. After the steaming wreckage of Speed Racer’s LSD tinted mayhem skidded into a cinema near you and then straight back out again a few years ago it’s great to see that the twosome can still cobble together a budget to rival the GDP of a small country.

Let’s just hope they use it wisely and for once equal the potential they showed way back in 1999.

Source: Empire

Judging by the first and second trailers that we’ve seen for Tom Hanks’ next film, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, we’re certainly due for a powerful cinema experience when this comes to our screens early next year.

Directed by Stephen Daldry (The Reader, Billy Elliot), the film is an adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel of the same name by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), led by the young Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, and Sandra Bullock, with a supporting cast that includes Max von Sydow, John Goodman, Jeffrey Wright, and Viola Davis.

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” tells the story of one young boy’s journey from heartbreaking loss to the healing power of self-discovery, set against the backdrop of the tragicevents of September 11. Eleven-year-old Oskar Schell is an exceptional child: amateur inventor, Francophile, pacifist. And after finding a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, he embarks on an exceptional journey–an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. As Oskar roams the city, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity, who are all survivors in their own ways. Ultimately, Oskar’s journey ends where it began, but with the solace of that most human experience: love.

Yahoo Movies have now got five new clips from the film to share with us, entitled ‘Strawberry Fields’, ‘Amateur’, ‘Swings’, ‘Odd’, and ‘My Story Is My Story’, respectively. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will be with us on 3rd February next year, after getting a Christmas Day release in the States this month, setting itself up for the 2012 Oscars in February. Until then, here are the new clips to enjoy. There really is no other actor quite like Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock head up Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s powerful novel of a young boy who loses his father in the World Trade Center attacks and searches the greiving city of New York for a message he believes his father left for him.

This is a far more emotionally involving trailer than we’ve seen before. Not least the shots of the Twin Towers cloaked in smoke and the phone call that is made. Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock look to be on fine form here, though it is the relationships between Oskar (the young boy played by Thomas Horn) and the disparate people he meets on his sad journey through the film which are of more interest.

Check out the trailer and synopsis below,

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” tells the story of one young boy’s journey from heartbreaking loss to the healing power of self-discovery, set against the backdrop of the tragicevents of September 11. Eleven-year-old Oskar Schell is an exceptional child: amateur inventor, Francophile, pacifist. And after finding a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11, he embarks on an exceptional journey–an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. As Oskar roams the city, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity, who are all survivors in their own ways. Ultimately, Oskar’s journey ends where it began, but with the solace of that most human experience: love.

The mighty Apple cart have a shiny HD version or you can suffer in SD below,

The Muppets is in US cinemas today and we have to wait flippin ages until February 2012 to see it. No, we are NOT happy! Another reason that we are not happy is that the short film which will sit in front of The Muppets is a new one from Pixar using Toy Story and has the name Small Fry. We’ve seen a couple of images and a clip already but I think this one might be my favourite as it shows Mini Buzz getting to meet Mini Zurg. I guess if he met normal-sized Zurg it would be an unfair fight!

The voice cast is comprised of Tom Hanks​, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger​, Wallace Shawn​, Joan Cusack​, Estelle Harris​,Don Rickles, Jane Lynch, Teddy Newton, Emily Hahn, Angus MacLane, Lori Alan​, Josh Cooley, Jess Harnell​, Bret Parker, Emily Forbes, Kitt Hirasaki, Peter Sohn, Carlos Alazraqui​, Bob Bergen​, Timothy Dalton, Jason Topolski, Jim Ward with Angus MacLane helming the short.

Buzz Lightyear is left behind at a fast food restaurant when a kids’ meal toy version of Buzz takes his place. While Bonnie’s toys are stuck with the annoying three-inch-tall Buzz impersonator, the real Buzz is trapped in the restaurant at a support group for discarded toys. As Woody and the gang devise a way to rescue their friend, Buzz tries to escape the toy psychotherapy meeting.

This image comes from the Toy Story official Facebook page.

HBO Home Entertainment have recently released two of the greatest TV Mini Series of all time together as one box set and we’ve been given the chance for one lucky person to win one. Band of Brother and The Pacific, Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are two of the most real series you could ever watch. If you’ve never seen them, you simply must. You can order your copy here or scroll down for your change to win a copy.

Get ready for the ultimate gift this Christmas as the award winning BAND OF BROTHERS and THE PACIFIC, are both released together in a stunning DVD and Blu-ray limited edition gift set for the first time ever on 7 NOVEMBER 2011 from HBO HOME ENTERTAINMENT.

Ten years after Band of Brothers first came to our screens, this beautifully packaged limited-edition gift set includes every visually stunning and heart-pounding episode, along with the exclusive to the gift set bonus disc of the never seen before 60-minute documentary “Called to Service” and hours of special features and comes in a fold-out collector’s piece.

“Called to Service” includes historian interviews and reunites veterans from Easy Company (European front) and the 1^st Marine Division (Pacific theatre) in a conversation revealing their experiences after World War II. Organised in a four-act structure, the documentary captures how these soldiers re-acclimatised to normal life and the transitions these men went through coming back home.

These two critically acclaimed 10-part miniseries, both filmed nearly a decade apart, have won multiple awards between them including fourteen Emmys^®, a Golden Globe^® and a Peabody. Individually they are two of HBO’s biggest selling titles and still prove popular amongst fans and newcomers alike.

BAND OF BROTHERS

Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose and made up of an all-star cast including Michael Fassbender (X-Men First Class, Inglorious Bastards), Damian Lewis (Your Highness, The Escapist) and Scott Grimes (Robin Hood, E.R), the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army.

Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers’ journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite rifle company that parachuted into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered vast casualties, and whose lives became legend.

They were ordinary men, swept up in the most extraordinary conflict in history.  With the eyes of the world upon them, they found their greatest source of strength in one another.

THE PACIFIC

The ten-part adventure tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S Marines – Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda) – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. From the very first scene witness the reality of war with disorientating and historical accuracy, set against a breath-taking and often harrowing backdrop. The series follows these men and their fellow comrades from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the bloody sands of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

Costing an incredible $200m to create, THE PACIFIC is a cinematic blockbuster for the small screen, representing a revolution in television and further cements HBO’s position as a pioneer of innovative and challenging programming.

To be in with a chance of winning thsi awesome prize, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who plays the character Maj. Richard D. Winters in the Mini Series, Band of Brothers?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 28th November at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks is a man who truly needs no introduction, every bit deserving of the fame and reverence that follows his name. Though his last film, Larry Crowne, wasn’t particularly well-received, his next film, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, has some Oscar buzz surrounding it that I’m really interested by, and could see Hanks earning another nominations come the awards season.

According to The Playlist, an offer is now out to Hanks to take the leading role in Paramount’s upcoming action-thriller Patriot Down, which is being produced by Kevin Walsh and Brad Weston.

“[T]he thriller centers on a U.S. president on board Air Force One when it gets shot down over Afghanistan, and of course, he has to go on the run.”

Ian Stone – who’s worked as a second assistant director on huge films like There Will Be Blood, Munich, War of the Worlds, and most recently The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn – will be making his writing debut with Patriot Down, which certainly sounds like it has some potential if Hanks were to take the leading role.

The premise itself perhaps has the potential, as many do, to be handled poorly. But when you attach the right people – of which Hanks is most definitely one – you get the impression that things are just going to turn out brilliantly for a film like this. Hanks is a brilliant and immensely talented actor, and this kind of role sounds perfect for him. His patriotic turns in Saving Private Ryan and Forrest Gump won him an Oscar nomination and an Oscar win, respectively, and there’s no doubt that the audience loves to see him play the role of the American hero.

Personally, if Hanks does take the role, this is definitely something I could get on board with (plane-related pun unintended), and I’m looking forward to hearing more on this project, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Larry Crowne (director/writer/star Tom Hanks), once a cook with the US Navy, now a dedicated and mild-mannered employee with a large department store, is laid off due to constrained financial times and his lack of a college degree. Initially shell-shocked, he quickly adjusts by enrolling in a local community college in the hope of making himself both employable and sack-proof. He makes two acquaintances, the young free-spirit Talia who teaches him to be cool and the lecturer in his Speech class (Mercedes – Julia Roberts) who is deeply depressed and struggling in her marriage to a blogger/porn-surfer.

*****

The credentials of this film are impeccable – Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, George Takei and Bryan Cranston on acting duties, Hanks himself directing for the big screen for the first time since That Thing You Do!, working from a script that Hanks and Big Fat Greek Wedding’s Nia Vardalos developed – but that only makes it all the more frustrating for the end product to be so limp. There are some worthwhile elements, including an effort to deal with the human fall-out from the credit crunch and global recession, some witty and enjoyable cameos and a general feeling of warmth about the whole project, but it doesn’t translate into a compelling or satisfying experience. The conclusion is so crushingly obvious and inevitable that it removes anything remotely resembling dramatic tension and none of the characters (even Hanks’ protagonist) are given enough back story for us to care deeply enough about what happens to them.

Everyone looks like they’ll be fine, everyone winds up doing fine and although not every film needs grit and bleakness to be worthwhile, the feeling one is left with is akin to eating candy floss – sweet, enjoyable enough, but ultimately empty and unsatisfying. There’s not enough snap to the script, which needs to zing, but trundles instead. Likewise the narrative and pacing plod along like a personification of Crowne. Clearly everyone concerned can do better and has done on more occasions than we can count, which makes the laziness displayed in drifting from one plot point to the next with no difficulties for any of the characters along the way all the more galling. Fun to watch, but instantly forgettable and a missed opportunity for a much more compelling comedy drama about an important and timely issue. You can rent or buy Larry Crowne here, but you might just want to watch Up in the Air again instead.

**~~~ (2/5)

Extras: Fluffy and disposable, like the film itself. Some deleted scenes, rightly excised, an interview with Hanks that is quickly over, a making-of and an “on set fun” featurette. Poor.

**~~~ (2/5)

Disney Pixar have just sent over the first clip from Small Fry, the Short that will sit in front of The Muppets when it’s released next year on 10th February. Last week we got to see the first two images it and now we get our first clip which is just as awesome as every other Toy Story movie that we’ve seen! In it, we get to see Buzz trying to escape the fast food restaurant and ending up in a support group for ‘Discarded Fun Meal Toys’.

The voice cast is comprised of Tom Hanks​, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger​, Wallace Shawn​, Joan Cusack​, Estelle Harris​,Don Rickles, Jane Lynch, Teddy Newton, Emily Hahn, Angus MacLane, Lori Alan​, Josh Cooley, Jess Harnell​, Bret Parker, Emily Forbes, Kitt Hirasaki, Peter Sohn, Carlos Alazraqui​, Bob Bergen​, Timothy Dalton, Jason Topolski, Jim Ward with Angus MacLane helming the short.

Buzz Lightyear is left behind at a fast food restaurant when a kids’ meal toy version of Buzz takes his place. While Bonnie’s toys are stuck with the annoying three-inch-tall Buzz impersonator, the real Buzz is trapped in the restaurant at a support group for discarded toys. As Woody and the gang devise a way to rescue their friend, Buzz tries to escape the toy psychotherapy meeting.

Disney Pixar have just sent over the first image (and Stitch Kingdom provided the second) and some new details about the brand new Toy Story short, ‘Small Fry’ which will sit in front of The Muppets when it’s released February 10th in the UK.

Buzz Lightyear is left behind at a fast food restaurant when a kids’ meal toy version of Buzz takes his place. While Bonnie’s toys are stuck with the annoying three-inch-tall Buzz impersonator, the real Buzz is trapped in the restaurant at a support group for discarded toys. As Woody and the gang devise a way to rescue their friend, Buzz tries to escape the toy psychotherapy meeting.

The voice cast is extensive and includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, Joan Cusack, Estelle Harris,Don Rickles, Jane Lynch, Teddy Newton, Emily Hahn, Angus MacLane, Lori Alan, Josh Cooley, Jess Harnell, Bret Parker, Emily Forbes, Kitt Hirasaki, Peter Sohn, Carlos Alazraqui, Bob Bergen, Timothy Dalton, Jason Topolski, Jim Ward with Angus MacLane helming the short.

We CANNOT WAIT to see it and it feels so good to be writing about Toy Story again!

Love this image, click it below to enlarge.