Well, I haven't had internet service at my house since Thursday night. The technician was supposed to come on Friday and I came home from work early, but he never showed up. Now it's the holiday weekend and I'm away, so who knows exactly when I'll have it back. It's making posting a little tricky, but I've been getting some other things done that I've been putting off. I've also pulled a couple movies off my shelf that I hadn't watched in years: Apollo 13 and That Thing You Do! Very different films, though they both star Tom Hanks. The 1995 film Apollo 13 of course tells the story of the ill-fated moon mission of 1970. Due to a faulty wire causing an explosion, the moon excursion was aborted and the astronauts were in grave danger of not being able to make it back to earth. The film depicts the stress and danger on board the space ship, and also the drama on the ground at NASA as the scientists struggle to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it, determined not to strand the men in space. It also depicts the agony the families of the astronauts suffered, especially Marilyn Lovell, the wife of Jim Lovell whom Tom Hanks was portraying. Apollo 13 was nominated for numerous Academy Awards and won a couple, but lost out to Braveheart for Best Picture. That Thing You Do! is from the following year- 1996- and is about a small town band which breaks into well, if not the big time, then the semi-big, when they- against all odds- record a hit song. The film follows the adventures/ misadventures of playing in restaurants and country fairs, and then bigger and better venues. Then, just as the band's prospects are looking up, conflicting personalities, viewpoints and ambitions threaten to tear them apart. The movie is funny and frothy, and the tunes- especially the titular one- are catchy. Not an award winner, but definitely a feel-good film which is a lot of fun to watch. Tom Hanks isn't the only actor who appeared in both pictures; so did Clint Howard, in character roles. He is, of course, Ron Howard's brother, and Star Trek fans may recognize him from the episode "The Corbomite Maneuver" in the original series, in which he plays an alien by the name of Balok. In Apollo 13, he plays a NASA employee, and in That Thing You Do! he's the owner of a small radio station. I always enjoy him in whatever role, however small, that he's in.
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About MeI'm a lover of good books, classic movies, and well-written shows (as well as some pretty cheesy ones, to be completely honest). Categories
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