In all the talk of SNL Season 42's breakout year and political impressions, poor David Pumpkins seems like a world gone-by. Tom Hanks briefly resurrected the character for the finale, but the actor might now be teasing a full return in Season 43. Any questions?
In the second act of The Circle (a film so poorly structured that it feels like it has five acts instead of three), Emma Watson’s painfully earnest protagonist Mae Holland decides to go “transparent” and have her entire life live-streamed around the clock, save for the occasional three-minute bathroom break. Throughout these sequences, CGI text boxes appear on screen to display viewer comments in “real-time,” with half-baked thoughts ranging from “I just ate cheese from last year” to “My girlfriend dumped me.” Those comments, often irrelevant and ineloquent, are the only part of The Circle that feels remotely relevant or clever…or entertaining. The rest, like the titular shape, is hollow.
Tom Hanks had us a bit worried that SNL would forgo its Wednesday promos for a look back at the Inferno star’s eight previous hostings, but the man always delivers. See for yourself, as Hanks and Leslie Jones enjoy a round of mimosas, before being chased off of NBC’s roof.
Time will tell if SNL manages to up its Season 42 ratings surge with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, but the latter two weeks of October are shaping up nicely as well. Not only is Emily Blunt confirmed for October 15, but so too will Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga make their SNL returns.
When Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg last made a war film, they produced Saving Private Ryan, which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and features what’s widely considered one of the greatest battle scenes ever captured on film. They’ve worked together since, including on Catch Me If You Can, one of the best movies of either man’s career, but Bridge of Spies might be considered a kind of spiritual sequel to Ryan. That was Hanks and Spielberg’s World War II picture. This is their Cold War one.