Tom Hanks Defence Force

Over a million films are listed on IMDB, and over 800,000 TV shows are available for your viewing pleasure. However, we at THDF had an epiphany, because do you know what there truly isn’t enough of? TV shows about films. So, we put our heads together and came up with some delightful and diabolical new shows that examine your favourite films in ways never seen before. From Star Wars retrospectives...

“Every film has the potential to be the most terrifying thing you’ve ever seen.” Jack and Alex, at some point, probably. In this episode, Jack and Alex imagine what if our favourite franchises had the likes of Blumhouse, Del Toro, Carpenter, or King at the helm. What if, instead of fantastical, they were frightening? What if, instead of hilarious, they were horrifying?  How about a disaster horror...

Ay Caramba! The Simpsons is now in its astonishing 36th season. It’s the longest-running primetime scripted show in American history, second only to WWE Raw in the highest number of episodes. So this begs the question: When and how will The Simpsons actually end? For our stupid, sexy final episode of the year, Alex, Jack and Sideshow Ala delve into the storylines of its most beloved characters and...

The Ring, The Fly and Vanilla Sky - often considered the scariest remakes of all time. But what if there were more, frightful and fantastic, lurking in the depths of possibility? In today’s horror feature, Jack, Alex and an unexpected guest pay tribute to the art of reimagining. Delving into potentials and pitfalls alike, they ask ‘What could be remade now?’ and, perhaps more importantly, ‘What sh...

What’s the most famous line from the entire Pirates franchise? “I love weddings! Drinks all around.” But what Captain Jack Sparrow didn’t realise was that in the wacky world of Tom Hanks Defence Force, weddings are far from conventional, especially when the reception is a Mystery Pitch. To celebrate co-host Jack’s upcoming nuptials, the boys ask questions and improvise to create your dream wedding...

First there was France. Then there was Frank Sinatra. Now, there is Franchise. And they’re everywhere! Those dinosaurs didn’t just escape from their pens. Harry Potter spends seven years at Hogwarts. There’s more than one Hunger Game. But even for the world’s most diehard fans of palaeontology, capes, Jennifer Lawrence, 18th Century piracy and Gamorrean guards, is this all getting a bit too much? ...

Nobel laureate William Faulkner once wrote: “The past is never dead. It isn’t even past.” Can this explain why you, a 32-year-old, skipped your uncle’s birthday to binge Dawson’s Creek? Why the older you get, the more you see yourself as Citizen Kane? And does the key to an industry competing to define the future lie embedded in the lyrics to Nickelback’s ‘Photograph’?  Featuring the nostalgic ret...

BAFTA, commonly mistaken for British After-Fart Trapped Air, has awarded the finest craftspeople in cinema since 1947. But does it still hold sway over the films we watch? Does the accomplishment of Best Film draw you in to click play? And how could the most prestigious of awards evolve in an age of constantly morphing audience tastes? Find out in BAFTA Defence Force.

Why has the Halloween franchise, and in particular Michael Myers, withstood such a stirring test of time? Is it a fascination with ‘why’ he came home? Is it because he inspired Slipknot’s fashion? (Well, hopefully). Is it because we’re all secretly afraid of William Shatner? Let’s find out. And yet, the prevailing influence of this 1978 masterpiece leaves us with even more questions. How did it ki...

Everyone loves birthdays - especially your parents’, partner’s and friends’ debit cards. So on Jack’s birthday, we decided to treat him with a very special gift - a Mystery Pitch so random and chaotic, it makes The Joker’s brainstorming session look like Winston Wolf’s Netflix cleaning special. Joined by special guest and seasonal expert Eleanor Winterbottom, we pitch those mysteries like we’re pi...

There’s a lot of things merging in the 4 billionth, 545 millionth year of our great wet rock. The virtues of stoicism with your 12-year-old neighbour creating their TikTok account. The cost of living with the feeling of touching mould down the back of your sofa. The mixing of emotions when Mr Incredible finally becomes truly uncanny. But none are as complex and as fascinating as the mergers and ac...

Great things come in 50s. Jack Daniels’ alcohol percentage. Fines issued to the Conservative government under PartyGate. And shades of grey. But perhaps most importantly, Tom Hanks Defence Force episodes. In our 50th episode special, Jack and Alex finally ask a question that Oxford and Cambridge will be debating for years to come: What truly is the best Tom Hanks film? And using bespoke data scien...

Its 2022 and Netflix has just revved up two investments: Another addition to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, and nostalgic content. As Leatherface began slicing his way through cornfields (and in our nostalgia-crazed minds: Korn-fields), Jack and Alex couldn’t help but wonder two things: What if all this madness was concocted by none other than Alfred Hitchcock with a lawnmower? And do we k...

It’s no secret that we at Tom Hanks Defence Force can talk horror – probably until Jason Blum “remembers” he left a light on in the original Paranormal Activity house and needs to an excuse to leave. So, we doubled down on this obsession with demonic possession and invited two devilishly special guests to join us in our latest episode. Our topic? The value of horror in this day and age. Our broadc...

Batman Begins is over 15 years old. Would you believe it? We can’t! That’s why in this episode, Alex, Jack and special guest Kathleen delve deep into Christopher Nolan’s masterful trilogy. Together, they discuss their strengths, weaknesses and how the trilogy transformed public perceptions of what superhero films should look and feel like. Why so serious? The new Tom Hanks Defence Force episode is...

It’s no secret that Covid-19’s impact on the film and TV industry has been nothing short of colossal. Productions have halted, often starting up again with completely transformed models. Across the globe, cinemas have closed down, their chains struggling to survive. But with a vaccine now being distributed, how exactly could the industry look moving forward? Will certain genres now lead the way? H...

Only a handful of names have become synonymous with Hollywood. Spielberg, Scorsese, Lucas, and perhaps in recent years, Iger. Few executives have had as much impact on an industry as the current Chairman and former CEO of Disney. Alongside bringing Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilm and 21st Century Fox under the Disney banner, and increasing the entertainment giant’s stock value by 429%, Iger is also known...

Last year, Todd Phillips’ Joker took not only Gotham, but the world, by storm. The film rapidly became the highest grossing R-rated film of all time, and was lauded as a mesmerising cinematic conversation about austerity, mental health disorders, and 21st century social cohesion. But would it have had the same impact if it was released earlier than 2019? Is Joker’s success the product of the growi...

Ryan Murphy’s ‘Hollywood’ may be Netflix’s hottest new release, but whack on your 3D glasses and hold onto your fruit loops because this is Jack and Alex’s Hollywood! In this Mystery Pitch, Tom Hanks’ fighting Uruk Hai Alex and Jack ask such intellectual questions as “What happens after The Room 2 wins the Academy Award for Best Picture?” and “What happens when Lars Von Trier teams up with Jerry B...

In 2018, the Spider-Man film we didn’t know we wanted hit the silver screen. The lovechild of Sony Pictures Imageworks, hand-drawn comic art and the mind-boggling Lord-Miller imagination, the film is a masterclass in animation, voice acting, character development and humour. To help analyse the film, Alex and Jack have brought in special guest, politico and fellow film fanatic Henry Mendoza. Also...

Other than Nanny McPhee, the thing that stole the hearts, minds and free time of adolescent teenagers in the late 00s, was Warhammer. From Space Marines to Tyranids, Skaven to Lizardmen, Games Workshop was as immersive as it was educational (at least for us ex-collectors). But apart from 2010s ‘Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie’, Warhammer rarely made its way to the silver screen. That’s wher...

We now have to accept the insane and amazing reality that there are now more Star Wars films than there are planets in the solar system. But regardless of whether you hate sand, find your lack of faith disturbing, or you love democracy, chances are you’ve already dreamt up your perfect Star Wars film, scene, or characters. Recorded in Dex’s Diner (so excuse the background noise), before The Rise o...

The first two months of 2020 have left us with some very serious questions. What new opportunities will Parasite’s extraordinary Oscar success bring to non-English films? What does Rosemary’s Baby look like now? Ed Balls? But most importantly, why are Mystery Pitches such prime real estate? Well, the countdown is over, as we’re bringing the you back into Yourope by giving you our first mystery pit...

In the 1720s, Blenheim Palace was gifted to the Duke of Marlborough for his role in the Battle of Blenheim. In the 1820s, Beethoven gifted us his glorious ninth symphony. In the 1920s, Disney gifted us the marvellous Mickey Mouse. So, in the 2020s, we decided our gift to you would be more episodes, completing the decade with the formation of the Houston Hanks’ (don’t hold us to this). But what els...

So what will the 2010s be known for? From Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter, it changed the way we talk about power. From Serial to Disney+, did it convince us that too much choice can be problematic? And we’re pretty sure everyone considered deleting their Facebook account at least once. But amongst the turbulence, the unpredictability, and the origins of our children’s history textbooks,...