Big (1988)

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It's taken a damn long time to get around to posting this! Right before the world fell apart and we all started isolating, I had my brother and nephews over to watch Big. It was a lovely evening! We ate like 12 year olds at a carnival - Corn dogs, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and snow cones! 

The state of the world has really thrown us for a loop and I've been trying to stay sane while homeschooling 2 kids on top of all the other mom duties. We totally fell off of our Hanks mission, but we're back at it now!

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If you've been living under a rock and haven't ever seen this movie, then you should know the premise is that a young boy, Josh Baskin, wishes on a fortune teller machine at a carnival that he wants to be big. The next morning he wakes up as a full grown adult - our beloved Tom Hanks. There are very few people who could have pulled off this role. Hanks performed so well that you never question there was a 12 year old's mind on the inside. He has to flee his house, his mother terrified of a grown man in her house and her young boy missing. He goes to the city and manages to find a place to live, get a job at a toy manufacturer, and land himself a girlfriend.

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The story follows Josh's journey navigating the adult world - what it's like to get a paycheck, paying for rent, learning how to dress up for fancy events, how to conduct himself in meetings, how to talk to women, and eventually, what it's like to *ahem* become a man. It's a little twisted, that essentially a 12 year old sleeps with a grown woman, but somehow its not an issue? Oh, 80's! You so crazy! In the end, he chooses to go back to being a kid, with a wealth of knowledge to get him through his adolescence. What I want to know is what story did he tell his mom when he got back home?!

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Dragnet (1987)

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Can we get some love for freaking Dan Aykroyd?! He's a comedy legend and he was such a delight to watch in this movie. He stars as Joe Friday, the nephew of the original Friday from the 1960's tv crime series, and also co-wrote the movie. Aykroyd was a huge Friday fan and even played him in an SNL sketch in the 70's. Hanks costars as his rookie partner Pep Streebek. Since it's a buddy cop movie, naturally I had to make donuts.

For me, the bar was honestly kind of low going into this. Usually remakes/sequels/prequels rub me the wrong way, especially when it's going off of something so classic. But this movie really surprised me with how damn funny it was! I really would like to give you a quick synopsis of the plot, but I don't know how to! The easiest way to describe it is that straight-laced, by-the-book Friday is partnered up with loosey goosey, shoot-from-the-hip Streebek to solve a mystery. I honestly didn't even care much about the plot as we were watching it. It was one of those movies that you can laugh at even if you're not paying much attention to it. And as much as I love and adore Hanks, and how funny he was, nothing really compares to Aykroyd's performance in this. It was perfection. 10/10 would watch again.

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Every Time We Say Goodbye (1986)

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Alright ladies and germs, here we have Hank's first official romance/drama - and his first official film where he's in a shot with boobies. Immature, but I had to mention it. I mean, I didn't, but I wanted to. Every Time We Say Goodbye takes place in Jerusalem in the 1940's during World War II. Before watching I was trying to think of what we could pair with this, so I started reading up on local cuisine in Jerusalem/Israel during this time frame. It was actually pretty interesting research and has since inspire me to do a monthly Global Dinner Party with my mom friends. Anyway, the hubby and I cuddled up to this romance on the living room floor with a platter of hummus, falafel, toasted pita bread and some roasted vegetables. I was in heaven - this was the best dinner (with the best company).

In this film Hanks stars as Lt. David Bradley, an American pilot who has recently recovered from a leg injury. He soon meets a Jewish girl of Spanish decent named Sarah, played by the adorable Cristina Marsillach. He pretty much immediately falls for her. And Sarah, being of modest and religiously strict upbringing, shuns him and his flirtations. Multiple times. She's got her creepy cousin breathing down her neck wanting to marry her (ew) and David making his repeated attempts to win her affection. She eventually caves (I mean come it, it's 80's Hanks) and falls for him, despite knowing that her family won't approve and there's no way for them to be together. This doesn't stop her from getting some passionate necking (get it girl). Her family eventually finds out and pretty much disowns her and treats her like she's used trash. In the end, she basically realizes that their disapproval isn't worth it and love triumphs over all.

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I've got to be honest, this was an unconventional role for Hanks. Up until this, he was pretty much only doing comedy. We didn't expect to see him in more dramatic roles for another decade or so. He definitely doesn't seem like the first pick for this role. He's also the only recognizable character in this movie. My research shows that the budget for this Israeli-made movie was $3.7 million with a worldwide gross of $278,623. Yikes. It's the lowest grossing theatrically released film of his career. So that's a fun stat! Honestly though, I'd watch this again over Nothing in Common. But I'm also a sucker for a good romance story.

Nothing in Common (1986)

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Here we have another Hanks film we've never seen before, or even heard of! Nothing in Common stars Hanks alongside the legendary Jackie Gleason, who plays his skirt-chasing, self-destructive father. Gleason, it turns out, was actually severely ill with colon and liver cancer during the filming of this movie, and admitted to his daughter that he didn't think he had much time to live. This was his last film before passing away in 1987. And it wasn't a bad one to go out on. This was definitely more of a drama than a comedy, and dealt a lot with father/son relationships, honesty, love, and redemption.

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Since we do a goofy pairing with our Hanks movies, we chose to have a couple things that literally have nothing in common; Banh Mi sandwiches and Mint Juleps.

So, let's get down to it. Nothing in Common stars Hanks as David Basner, a young hot-shot in the advertising world who's presumably on his way up in the company. His life gets derailed when he finds out his parents are splitting up. Gleason, playing Max Basner, calls his son to tell him the news and doesn't exactly grasp why his wife of 30+ years suddenly decided to leave. As the story unfolds, David is struggling to find a balance between taking care of his dad, dealing with his mom, trying to nail a big ad campaign that will make or break his career, and nailing the boss's daughter, the movie seemed to skew quite a bit and break off into 3 or more plot lines. It was a bit scattered, a bit disjointed, but came together quite beautifully in the end.

It's revealed that David's mom, played by Eva Marie Saint, left because Max never really cared about her. He never talked, he never listened, she was completely unloved and unappreciated. And the bastard had been cheating on her for years. We get to see her rebuild her life. At one point, Max is terribly ill and in the hospital - I was afraid they were going to do mom dirty and make her go back to him to be his nursemaid. But thankfully they didn't! She walked away and washed her hands of it all. Is it weird to be proud of a character? Because I was proud of her! David and Max work out their issues, David finds love, and they all live happily every after.

The Money Pit (1986)

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What a freakin classic this movie is. This is another one that's been collecting dust on our shelves for far too long. This is a must-see for any new homeowner. This was one of our fears when we were house-hunting years ago. We'd end up with a pit that suck up all of our money and sanity. Thankfully it didn't end up that way! When I was thinking about what to make for this movie, I found myself looking up old superstitions and good-luck rituals for new houses. I came across one that said you should always sprinkle salt in a new home for good luck. Another said that burning sage will cleanse the house and clear it of bad energy. So I made a cocktail that combines the two! It's a Blackberry Sage Tequila Smash (with a salted rim of course).

The Money Pit has Hanks as Walter Fielding, and Shelley Long as his girlfriend Anna Crowley. They're getting booted out of the apartment they've been living in and are pushed into buying this lemon of a house that basically no contractor wants to touch. Everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. It tests the limits of their relationship, and of their own mental health. From door frames falling out and sludge spewing from the pipes, to wiring catching fire in the walls and a bathtub crashing through the floor, this movie is every homeowner's worst nightmare. And we laughed our asses off the whole way through. Hanks really nailed his performance in this. His physical comedy, down to simple mannerisms, really made the movie what it is. Both the husband and I agreed that literally nobody else could have done this role. It wouldn't be the same movie. 

I leave you now with the best laugh in cinematic history. You're welcome.

Volunteers (1985)

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I bought this movie on DVD easily over 10 years ago. I cannot tell you how long its been since I actually watched it. Turns out there was very little that I even remembered, so it was basically like watching it for the first time all over again.

Can I just say how freaking stupid I am for not watching this ALL THE TIME?! It was so much funnier than I remembered and it made so happy that I started this blogging adventure.

The movie takes place in Thailand, so we decided to make some Pad Thai to go with it. And you know what? For being a white girl who doesn't know what the hell she's doing...it turned out pretty damn good! It was so good, in fact, that the two of us ate all 4 servings while we watched the movie, and in a food coma, I accidentally deleted the pictures I took of it. Derp.

So, Volunteers stars (obviously) Tom Hanks as the wealthy and arrogant Lawrence Bourne III, Rita Wilson as Beth Wexler, and John Candy as Tom Tuttle from Tacoma. This is Hanks and Candy's second movie together and they really do make a great pair. Hanks and Wilson first met on the set of the TV show Bosom Buddies, and met for the second time filming Volunteers. They married 3 years later and are still together today. Looking at them together too is sickeningly sweet. When Hanks was speaking at the Golden Globes, and they cut to Wilson, she had freakin stars in her eyes. They are so clearly still in love and damnit, it just gives you hope!

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But enough of the mushy stuff. This movie was excellent. From the casting, to the writing, to the acting - even all the extras. Hanks has this godawful accent and is the most conceited, entitled SOB you've ever seen, but he still is so lovable! His character is in a pickle because he gambled away his father's wealth, and Daddy Moneybags isn't doing a thing to help him. He ends up taking his college roommate's place on a Peace Corps mission to Thailand in order to escape his gambling debts - a choice he immediately regrets when he gets on the plane and everyone is singing "Michael Row the Boat Ashore". Had I been in the same shoes, I would have jumped out the freakin emergency exit.

Of course, since he's charming as hell, he manages to schmooze all the villagers where they're working to build a bridge, he learns the language, bonds with the locals, almost gets his hands dirty, and really just ends up being the project manager for the build. All of this manages to win over Beth Wexler and just like us, she falls head over heels for him. Even when he's a pompous asshole, we just can't walk away.

The Man with One Red Shoe (1985)

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This is one of those movies where I thought "Oh yeah, I've totally seen this before!"  No. I hadn't. I've never seen this before. Which is a shame, because what a silly adventure it was! To ring in our 4th Hanks movie, I made us come cocktails called The Red Shoe (which also contains a booze I've never had before) - Pisco, Campari, Vermouth, blood oranges, simply syrup, and some muddled Luxardo cherries, because everyone needs more Luxardo cherries in their lives.

The Man with One Red Shoe stars Hanks as Richard, a violin player who is randomly picked out of a crowd to be framed as a spy - it's kind of a weird plot. The entire movie consists of lots of unnecessary surveillance and a huge waste of government resources, and is peppered with an affair, subtle physical comedy, and dumb pranks. The cast is rounded out with eternally lovely and brilliant Carrie Fisher, and and the adorably obnoxious Jim Belushi. Hanks was quoted as saying, "Not a very good movie. It doesn't have any real, clear focus to it. It isn't about anything in particular that you can honestly understand." A bit harsh, I'd say! It's definitely not his best movie, but it had a lot of great moments - weirdly, some of the best involved no dialog at all. Others involved Hanks in tiny red briefs and Fisher in leopard print underthings. Just adorable.