Tag: Tom Hanks (31-40 of 52)

Mar 22 2012 12:44 PM ET

Tom Hanks apologizes for Bill O'Reilly fundraiser jab

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Image Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Celebrity feud averted! Yesterday, footage was made public that showed Tom Hanks emceeing a 2004 school fundraiser in which a fellow parent donned blackface and a stereotypical (read: racist) costume. Hanks explained that he had been “blindsided” by the “hideously offensive” gag, but a conservative civil rights group called for President Obama to repudiate the actor, who provided the narration on a recent Obama 2012 campaign video.

But that wasn’t the end of the story for the two-time Oscar winner. While hosting the 2004 event, Hanks made an awkward off-hand joke about the taste-challenged interloper: “Who would have thought that Bill O’Reilly would join us?” The implication being that Fox News pundit O’Reilly was racist. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 21 2012 01:10 PM ET

Tom Hanks blackface controversy: Conservative group calls for Obama to replace actor as campaign video narrator -- VIDEO

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Though Barack Obama is not yet in full-tilt campaign mode, the President’s aspiring Republican opponents have been on the attack throughout their primary season. There’s even an effort to ding Obama through an unlikely intermediary: Tom Hanks. In response to Hanks’ involvement in an Obama campaign video called “The Road We’ve Traveled,” conservative civil rights group the Congress of Racial Equality sent Tucker Carlson’s website The Daily Caller a video of Hanks emceeing a 2004 school fundraiser where a fellow parent donned blackface.

The two-time Oscar winner was, by his own admission, “blindsided” by the bit, in which James Montgomery wore a leopard-print outfit and an Afro wig, and carried a stuffed gorilla, among other stereotypical garb. Hanks explained the situation with this statement: “For many years I emceed the annual fundraising auction for my kids’ school. In 2004, I was blindsided when one of the parents got up on the stage in a costume that was hideously offensive then and is hideously offensive now. What is usually a night of food and drink for a good cause was, regrettably, marred by an appalling few moments.”

Though Hanks swiftly condemned the costume as “hideously offensive then and… hideously offensive now,” CORE Spokesperson Niger Innis deemed the skit “heinous” and “racist,” and demanded Obama dissociate himself from Hanks. See the video and weigh the possible consequences for Hanks below. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 23 2012 01:15 PM ET

Oscars Myth Busting: Do presenters have a connection to the winner?

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Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Put down those Pop Rocks and Diet Cokes. We’ve got some A-list myths to examine! Ahead of this Sunday’s Oscars, we’ll be taking a look at some of the most famous myths to rise out of the annual awards ceremony. Want to know if being nude will get you a Best Actress statue? Or if the Best Supporting Actress trophy is indeed a curse? You’re in luck -- we’ll be investigating one Oscars-related urban legend each day this week. Today, we’ll see if we can bust the presenter-winner nepotism myth: Over the past 25 years, has everyone been as connected as, say, 1994 presenter and winner Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg? Read on to find out. (And click here for more of EW’s Oscars Myth Busting.)

Oscar myth: Presenter-winner nepotism

What Is It?: In some quarters, there is a belief that Oscar presenters are handpicked to deliver the award to their A-list buddies or former costars. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 16 2012 04:00 PM ET

Inside the Best Picture Nominees: A deep dive into 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close'

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Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

There are a whopping nine films nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards. And between your work, family, and constant USA marathons of Law & Order: SVU (when will those ever stop being addictive?!), you simply may not have time to catch all nine in the theaters or on DVD. But never fear, dear PopWatchers — that’s why we’re here! Each day leading up to the Academy Awards Feb. 26, we’ll be providing you with a deep dive into one of the nine Best Picture nominees. Fear showing up to your Oscars party unprepared to discuss the year’s most notable films? We’ve got you covered. (Just beware: SPOILERS AHEAD!) And if you’ve already seen all nine films, even better — our inside look at each nominee will serve as a handy guide to remind you of the best and worst moments from every Best Picture candidate this year. Today, we take an extremely close look at Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. (Be sure to click here for more deep dives into this year’s Best Picture nominees!) 

Name: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Release date: Limited: Dec. 25, 2011; wide: Jan. 20, 2012

DVD release date: N/A

Run time: 2 hours, 9 minutes READ FULL STORY »

Jan 24 2012 12:50 PM ET

'Extremely Loud' and incredibly disliked: The critical gap in this year's most surprising Best Picture nominee

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Image Credit: Francois Duhamel

Something is Rotten in Hollywood. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises at this morning’s Best Picture nominations was the nod for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. The 9/11-related drama, which was just released wide Jan. 20, was admittedly a hit with audiences (it merited an A- CinemaScore), but critics… not so much. The film scored a paltry 48 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes the B- grade from EW’s own Lisa Schwarzbaum (“A polarizing load of quirkiness in Extremely Loud gunks up … what is at heart a piercing story”) seem practically charitable. Compare to the other eight Best Picture nominees, which ranged critically from a low-end 76 percent RT score (The Help, which had 196 reviews to Extremly Loud‘s 119) to a near-perfect 97 percent (The Artist, with 175 reviews). And yet! The film scored a Best Picture nom. Where does Extremely Loud fit into this mix? READ FULL STORY »

Jan 19 2012 12:15 PM ET

Johnny Depp tops 'Favorite Movie Star' list for second year, is a surprise Republican darling

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Johnny-Depp

Image Credit: Jean Baptiste Lacroix/FilmMagic.com

Despite some reported personal turmoil this week, Johnny Depp can rest easy that America’s still got his back. The Pirates of the Caribbean star has topped Harris Interactive’s “Favorite Movie Star” poll for a second year in a row. There were plenty of surprises on the list, like how the reclusive Depp beat out four of Hollywood’s most charismatic A-listers and a Westerns legend, the complete absence of Tinseltown’s ultimate power couple, and the demographic breakdown of Depp’s fan base that shows his supporters are truly a silent majority. See who Depp bested for the title and which Oscar-winning actresses dropped off the list entirely after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

Jan 9 2012 06:42 AM ET

Tom Hanks' Web series to stream on Yahoo

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Tom Hanks’ long gestating Web series is coming to Yahoo.

Electric City, an animated futuristic series Hanks has been developing for years, will premiere on Yahoo this spring. The series includes 20 episodes, each three- or four-minutes long.

Yahoo, along with Hanks and production partners Playtone and Reliance Entertainment, are set to formally announce plans for the series Tuesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 16 2011 11:25 AM ET

One more thing to cross off your list: Tom Hanks plants a big, wet holiday kiss on America -- VIDEO

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While Thanksgiving is technically Tom Hanks’ holiday (T-Hanksgiving… get it?!) that doesn’t mean the Oscar-winning actor can’t partake in all the frivolity of Christmas. Especially when that fun includes hanging mistletoe over your own head and planting a big, wet smooch for all of America to enjoy. Which is exactly what the Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close star did during his visit to The Late Show with David Letterman on Thursday night. Hanks shared his very intimate holiday greeting with viewers by giving a huge smooch into, well really, on the camera and sending out his wish, “Merry Christmas, baby!” Watch the moment below. (And hey, if you’re going to kiss him back, don’t forget your own Windex, either!) READ FULL STORY »

Jul 5 2011 04:40 PM ET

Who is the 'Next Tom Hanks'?

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Image Credit: Everett Collection

Some of the analysis of Larry Crowne‘s disappointing opening-weekend box-office performance reads like obituaries. “Are America and Tom Hanks Out of Step?” asked the Los Angeles Times. “Why Won’t Tom Hanks Just Stop Already?” whined Toronto’s Globe and Mail. Crowne grossed only $13.1 million over the three-day weekend, an unimpressive but hardly a surprising result. (His last film with Julia Roberts, 2007′s Charlie Wilson’s War, grossed only $9.7 million in its opening frame.)

Stars simply aren’t what they used to be — ask anyone except Will Smith — and Hanks, at 54, can’t compete with his own resume of success that includes two Oscars and 17 films that topped more than $100 million. Not everyone is Clint Eastwood. But for the first time, perhaps, there’s finally an opening for “The Next Tom Hanks.” READ FULL STORY »

Jun 27 2011 03:33 PM ET

Tom Hanks says Pixar is working on 'Toy Story 4'; Should Woody and Buzz make sequels to infinity and beyond?

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Image Credit: Pixar

When a movie grosses more than a billion dollars at the global box-office, you better believe there’s going to be a sequel (or two). So I know I shouldn’t have been surprised when Tom Hanks, currently in England promoting Larry Crowne, let slip that the Toy Story gang was not about to be packed away in the Disney/Pixar attic. “Yeah, I think they’re working on it now,” he answered interviewer Tim Muffett when asked whether fans can expect another helping of Woody and Buzz. Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about any plans for a Toy Story 4, but after seeing them in the short that played before Cars 2, it’s clear these characters are still very much in play. READ FULL STORY »

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