Bailey, a preening prima donna who can’t play nice with all the down-to-earth craftsmen populating Hanks’ imagination. Once we’re on set, things liven up a little, in part because the book introduces its only villain: movie star O.K. One chapter, in which two little old ladies have a grand old time during their two days on set, knitting and waving from a porch, is a wonderful little nugget of storytelling.Īt least he’s not doing crypto commercials. And it’s true that many of the most enjoyable moments in this novel are about those little people: the makeup artists, the spouses, the production assistants, the day players.

Hanks clearly prides himself on being an on-set mensch, someone who pulls his weight every day, shows up on time, notices the little people. A movie set, in Hanksworld, is a place of doggedly professional, kind people who are all working arm in arm to make magic. Even the studio suits only show up on the first day of shooting, then make themselves scarce.

There are no nepo babies on a Tom Hanks–written film set, and hardly any assholes. Succession’s Funeral Episode Has a Pointed Message for the Bad Fans.HBO Max Launched Its Rebrand in Just About the Grossest Way PossibleĪ Great New Show Finally Gives Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne Their Own Rom-Com Most improbably, that final cut comes in under two hours. The stars exude sexual chemistry, despite their leather gauntlets and whatnot.

(Acclaimed blockbusters, Oscar noms, one notorious flop, the deep respect of the industry, a high Q-rating.) In this auteurist superhero epic, actors give the performances of a lifetime. Sikoryak, Knightshade is a unicorn that has never existed in any era of Hollywood: a superhero movie, yes, part of a Marvel-esque cinematic universe, but one made for a streaming network, written and directed by a fictional auteur with a resume like Spielberg’s in 1986. As it’s described by the book’s characters, and also drawn in brief comics sequences by the great R. Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall itself is a movie out of time. Hanks’ characters idolize the heroes of yore-watch Bette Davis movies in their trailers, refer to Casablanca lore-but they also observe COVID protocols, depend on expensive CGI, and guard against toxic fans. It might be the most charmingly old-fashioned detail in a portrait of the industry that, like Hanks’ recent career, sits uneasily on the edge of the old Hollywood and the new.

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