Podcasts · TV & Film

Tom Hanks Defence Force

Tom Hanks Defence Force

38 episodes · Explicit

A film and TV podcast discussing the past, present and future of the film and TV world. Tom Hanks worshipers Alex and Jack have survived Death Star superlasers and asteroids the size of Texas to tackle its most pressing questions. Discussing everything from writing and audience influence, to technology and the studio system; the pair are joined by an exciting diversity of fellow fans and industry insiders, bringing fresh insight to the films and shows we love, hate and know surprisingly little about.

Episodes

  1. Mystery Pitch - Creating New TV Shows About Films

    · 41 min · Explicit

    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…

  2. What if The Lord of the Rings was a Horror?

    · 1 h 12 min · Explicit

    “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…

  3. How Will The Simpsons End?

    · 49 min · Explicit

    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:…

  4. Horror Remakes: What could and should be reimagined?

    · 44 min · Explicit

    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…

  5. Mystery Pitch: Wedding Season

    · 41 min · Explicit

    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…

  6. Franchise Overkill? Not All Who Makes Sequels Are Lost

    · 52 min · Explicit

    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…

  7. Back to the Future - Is Nostalgia the Saviour We've Not Been Waiting For?

    · 1 h 01 min · Explicit

    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…

  8. What is the Future of BAFTA?

    · 1 h 00 min · Explicit

    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…

  9. Ad-Myersable: The Mad World Of What Halloween Almost Was

    · 50 min · Explicit

    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…

  10. Amazon Spooky: The Treat Before Halloween

    · 10 min · Explicit

    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…

  11. MergersBowl: The Tom Hanks Defence Force Take

    · 55 min · Explicit

    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…

  12. T-Hanks For The Memories

    · 28 min · Explicit

    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…

  13. Mystery Pitch: Alfred Hitchcock's Lawnmower Massacre & I Know What You Did in 2005

    · 55 min · Explicit

    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…

  14. Horror - What Influences Us And Why We Keep Coming Back

    · 4:28 · Explicit

    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…

  15. Batman Reimagined - What Nolan Brought to the Knight

    · 1 h 30 min · Explicit

    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…

  16. An Industry Reborn: What will cinema look like after Covid?

    · 1 h 04 min · Explicit

    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…

  17. Mystery Pitch: Bob Iger

    · 50 min · Explicit

    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…

  18. Would Joker have worked before 2019?

    · 27 min

    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…

  19. Mystery Pitch: Film Industry

    · 37 min

    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…

  20. Into The Hanksverse: What the Defence Force thought of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

    · 30 min

    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…

  21. Late Night With Warhammer

    · 52 min

    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…

  22. How We'd Make Our Perfect Star Wars Film

    · 40 min

    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…

  23. Mystery Pitch: Special Guest

    · 35 min

    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…

  24. A Jazzier Age: What can we expect in the 20s?

    · 13 min

    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…

  25. Film in the 10s: How did we rate it?

    · 53 min

    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…

  26. So what movies changed our brains in 2019?

    · 36 min

    2019 was one hell of a year. Climate change awareness grew rapidly, David Attenborough came to Netflix, and bucket hats made a comeback. But it was also an extraordinary year for film. From Joker to Star Wars, and…

  27. Christmas With The (Cr)Hanks

    · 42 min

    ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all over the house, everyone was watching films, especially Mickey Mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Tom Hanks soon would be there. Jack and…

  28. Mystery Pitch: Pot Luck

    · 28 min

    From genres to newspaper headlines, and beginnings to endings, Mystery Pitch has become a several-headed hydra, where no concept is safe from Alex and Jack taking ridiculous synopses and turning them into the most…

  29. Mystery Pitch Meets Spooky Season

    · 51 min

    It’s almost Halloween - the fourth scariest time of the year after April Fool’s Day, Black Friday, and the day when everyone forgets it’s their mum’s birthday next week. And, surprise surprise, it’s the time when a…

  30. It-Cast: The Return of Pennywise and the Infinite Power of Human Fear

    · 52 min

    In 2017, Pennywise – a name synonymous with fear, clowns, and fiscal responsibility – returned to the big screen for the first time since 1990. Earning over $700 million at the box office, it quickly became the…

  31. Mystery Pitch Hits The News

    · 42 min

    Newspaper headlines are designed to make your eyeballs bulge. Their one and only goal - suck you in and make you want to read more. So in this episode of mystery pitch, Alex and Jack decided to task each other with…

  32. Amazon's Lord of the Rings: What our Elf Eyes Would Like to See

    · 42 min

    Before the announcement that Amazon's Lord of the Rings series will be set in the 2nd Age, Jack and Alex sat down to chat about the history of the show’s development, the franchise itself and what they want from the…

  33. The Fandom Menaced: 20 Years of The Phantom Menace in the UK

    · 42 min

    20 years ago, a ground-breaking sci-fi movie starring Keanu Reeves came out that changed cinema forever. That film was The Matrix. But that's not the film we're talking about today. That;s right, also celebrating its…

  34. Bank Robbers and Boo-Boos: A Mystery Pitch Episode

    · 30 min

    The most important part of the film is the beginning (arguably). If the opening doesn’t make your audience sound like the aliens from Toy Story, they’ll immediately lose interest and switch over to something delicious,…

  35. Slash of the Titans: An examination of the Slasher genre

    · 1 h 05 min

    When you think of horror films, a masked knife-wielding serial killer is probably one of the first images that comes to mind. But despite being one of the most iconic sub-genres in the horror pantheon, the slasher has…

  36. Bird Box Unleashed & Jamie Vardy's Party: A Mystery Pitch Episode

    · 37 min

    To make a film memorable, filmmakers must go all out for their endings. That's why in this episode of mystery pitch, Alex and Jack give each other endings - endings which they then have to build the rest of their film…

  37. Breaking the Wheel: Game of Thrones and Life Afterwards

    · 1 h 02 min

    Game of Thrones is arguably the biggest and most important TV show of our time. Since its humble beginnings, it has grown to become the most anticipated show on the planet. But what does the future hold once the final…

  38. Four Hobbits & The Lord of the Rings: A Freestyle Episode

    · 39 min

    Freestyle is a new show from Tom Hanks Defence Force. We take one topic and let the conversation lead us anywhere. In our debut, we discuss the Lord of the Rings trilogy with special guests Euan Brook and Freddie…

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