Besides Sandra Bullock, the newly Oscar nominated Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close also stars Tom Hanks. Now he might not have had the best couple of years but he is still frigging Tom Hanks. The legendary actor, producer, writer, and director has been around for over 30 years, so quite a career. Since he is just as much an international star (and has been for a long time) we’re going to count his top 10 biggest box office hits worldwide, unfortunately unadjusted for inflation.

10. Catch Me if You Can (2002) $352.1 million – Directed by Steven Spielberg and also starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Abagnale Jr., a teen that successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks. Tom Hanks plays the FBI agent assigned to catch Frank. Catch Me if You Can is great film from start to finish, never boring, definitely worth your time.

9. Apollo 13 (1995) $353.5 million – Tom Hanks plays Jim Lovell in this Ron Howard film about the true story of the troubled Apollo 13 mission. Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon and Ed Harris also star in this great movie.

8. Toy Story (1995) $362 million – The first big screen feature film of now famous animation studio Pixar, Toy Story is a wonderful movie that answers a simple question: What happens with your toys when there’s no one around? I was 8 when I first saw this in theaters and 23 when I last saw it at home. Still a great movie regardless of age. Tom Hanks voices the lovable cowboy Woody and two more equally fantastic sequels followed over the next 15 years.

7. Cast Away (2000) $429.6 million – “Wilson! Wilson!” Screams that, 11 years later, I still remember. Wilson is a Wilson Sporting Goods volleyball and Tom Hanks’ co-star in the movie Cast Away. It sounds crazy if you haven’t seen the film, I know, but Wilson really was for Tom Hank’s character, Chuck, what Friday was for Robinson Crusoe. This is obviously a castaway story and for fear of not spoiling anything else, I’ll stop here by saying that you simply must watch Cast Away.

6. Saving Private Ryan (1998) $481.8 million – A World War 2 epic set during the invasion of Normandy, it tells the story of a group of soldiers lead by Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and their search for private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), the last surviving of four brothers. Directed by Steven Spielberg, it’s one of the best war movies of all time, in my opinion.

5. Toy Story 2 (1999) $485 million – Often enough sequels don’t live up to expectations but that wasn’t the case with Toy Story 2, considered by some actually superior. Personally, I’m split here; it’s like having to choose between your kids. So again, Woody, Buzz and the rest of Andy’s toys return for a new adventure.

4. Angels & Demons (2009) $485.9 million – Based on the Dan Brown mystery novel with the same name, Angels & Demons is a prequel to The Da Vinci Code and a superior flick in every way. Ron Howard directs Tom Hanks again here.

3. Forrest Gump (1994) $677.4 million – A fantastic movie that won Tom Hanks his second Oscar, Forest Gump is based on the novel with the same name by Winston Groom. While not the smartest tool in the shed, Forest Gump lived quite a life, he taught a young Elvis how to dance, became part of the All-American Collage Football Team, meet John F. Kennedy, joined the army, fought in Vietnam, received the Medal of Honor, meet another president (Lyndon B. Johnson), played ping-pong for the US Army Team against China, meet yet another president (Richard Nixon) and so on. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away), Forest Gump is a phenomenal movie that can’t be missed by anyone.

2. The Da Vinci Code (2006) $758.2 million – Now this is a movie you can miss. It’s the very definition of how to spoil a good premise with a mediocre and boring movie. Yeah sure, it’s controversial and stuff but is that enough? If so then go right ahead, The Da Vinci Code is not a bad movie but I’m certainly not one to recommend it.

1. Toy Story 3 (2010) $1,063.2 million – 11 years worth of expectations and Toy Story 3 did not disappoint one bit. The end of a trilogy and a series, at least until rumors of Toy Story 4 started circling. You know, Pixar hasn’t failed us yet, why start now, Cars 2 be damned.

Two Oscars and five Golden Globes later, there are many other noteworthy Tom Hanks movies that didn’t make this top 10 but only two of those have a special spot in my heart. One is The Green Mile, a superb film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. The other is Sleepless in Seattle, a heart-warming film just as great now as it was 19 years ago. Now that I think about it, I really love Big also. So what’s your favorite Tom Hanks film? Comment below!

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The 82nd Academy Awards will be held next March and the 15 movies nominated for the Visual Effects Oscar have been revealed. Here they are:

Angels & Demons
Avatar
Coraline
Disney’s A Christmas Caro
District 9
G-Force
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Sherlock Holmes
Star Trek
Terminator Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2012
Watchmen
Where the Wild Things Are

In early January the list will be narrowed down to 7, then later in the month members of the visual effects branch will watch excerpts from the movies, and the list will be narrowed down to 3. Earlier this year it was a showdown between Iron Man, The Dark Knight and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with Button’s ageing effects coming out on top.

Since Avatar Day when we got a glimpse at 15 minutes of footage I’ve had my money on Avatar winning, and from the early reviews it seems it will be a serious contender. I’m glad District 9 got a nod. Out of all the films nominated it had the lowest budget ($30 million) and the guys at WETA did a great job with those financial constraints.

Which visual effects wowed you in 2009? Who do you want to win the Visual Effects Oscar?

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Sony have released a new video for Angels & Demons which consists of a collection of clips from the film, combined with the films score by Hans Zimmer. Even if the film ends up being rubbish, at least we can sit with our eyes closed and just listen to the music.

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Columbia Pictures have released a new TV spot for Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons, which you can watch below!

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Sony Pictures have released a new poster for Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons via their Twitter account. This seems to be the latest trend, as Lionsgate have been revealing new stuff on their account also.

Earlier this month the Catholic League announced that they would be boycotting the film. This will no doubt drum up some controversy as we saw with The Da Vinci Code, so expect Angels & Demons to do rather well at the box office.

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The Catholic League are at it again. After protesting against The Da Vinci Code back in 2006, they are putting on their protesting robes yet again for Angels & Demons.

From The Guardian:

The League, which is led by controversial president William A Donohue, said it would be pointing out what it says are a number of falsehoods in the new film and the Dan Brown book on which it is based. It also claimed Angels and Demons, which arrives in cinemas on 15 May, had an anti-Catholic agenda.

The League’s determination to repeat its campaign against 2006′s The Da Vinci Code is slightly surprising because statements it made in the run-up to the film’s release were widely suspected to have helped, rather than hindered, the movie’s gargantuan $758m (£540m) global box office.

In the new film, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, played once again by Tom Hanks, discovers the existence of the Illuminati, a powerful secret organisation that has been pitting itself against the Roman Catholic church for centuries. Together with Italian scientist Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) he follows a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols to the heart of “the most secretive vault on Earth”.

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During the credits of the 81 Academy Awards we got a ton of footage from upcoming movies, including our first looking at many. The clips included Sherlock Holmes, Public Enemies, Up, Terminator Salvation, Inglourious Basterds, Monsters vs. Aliens, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Angels & Demons, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and G-Force (to name a few).

Watch the footage below!

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We have a new trailer for Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons, and it looks quite good. The trailer is just an extra long version of the Super Bowl TV spot we got a week or two ago. It looks a lot better than The Da Vinci Code.

Directed by Ron Howard, with Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, and Ewan McGregor. Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.

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Explosions aren’t just limited to movies such as Transformers 2 or G.I. Joe, Angels & Demons can get in on the action too! There aren’t too many explosions mind, most of it is religious woffle troffle and Ewan McGregor in a dress, but it still looks good. Check out the Super Bowl spot below!

Directed by Ron Howard, with Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, and Ewan McGregor. Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.

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The teaser trailer for Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons has just worked it’s way online, and is probably one of the best teaser’s I have seen in a while. Watch it below!

The team behind the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code returns for the highly anticipated Angels & Demons, based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard religious expert Robert Langdon, who once again finds that forces with ancient roots are willing to stop at nothing, even murder, to advance their goals. Ron Howard again directs the film. When Langdon discovers evidence of the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati — the most powerful underground organization in history — he also faces a deadly threat to the existence of the secret organization’s most despised enemy: the Catholic Church.

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