Snapshot · The Rest Is Entertainment
Tom Hanks argues the 1990s may have been the last great decade of cinema, combining artistic daring with matching economics, before sequels and franchises took over.
Where this was said
At 14:38 · chapter starts 14:15
Listener Neil Anderson flags the 'frankly ridiculous' graphic of Tom Hanks's 1990s run and asks whether Hanks knew at the time that he was in the middle of something once-in-a-generation. Hanks says no — he was simply fascinated by each subject as it came along. But looking back, he's willing to make a sweeping claim: the 1990s may have been the last great decade of cinema, a rare alignment of artistic daring and matching economics that the franchise era has since foreclosed. [1] — Tom Hanks "The 1990s as cinema's last great decade: Tom Hanks argues the 1990s may have been the last great decade of cinema, combining artistic darin…" 14:38 He's blunt about what happened next: sequels and franchises took over. He imagines, with dark comic relish, a version of his career in which he'd be here defending Forrest Gump 12. He didn't make sequels — outside Toy Story — and he argues that's precisely why those films still hold up. Most strikingly, he reveals that studio executives told him no one would see Apollo 13 because they already knew the ending. His response: in that case, no one would ever rewatch Star Wars, Casablanca, or Citizen Kane.
The 1990s were the last time artistic ambition and box-office economics aligned in Hollywood. Hanks argues that window is closed — sequels and franchises have replaced the one-off originals that defined an era.
Executives told Hanks that nobody would see Apollo 13 because the ending was already known. He pointed out that by the same logic, nobody would ever rewatch Star Wars, Casablanca, or Citizen Kane — and made the film anyway.
A novel called 'Call Me, I'll Hide the Body' triggered a 14-publisher bidding war and sold for $2.4 million before critics alleged it was predominantly written by AI.
John Mulaney cold-texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere to offer to produce her Netflix special, which became Wake Up.
Robby Hoffman posed as a courier to hand-deliver her spec script directly to the president of HBO Canada early in her career.
Robby and Mulaney filmed two shows in one night for the Netflix special; after the first they knew they had it, so the second was a victory lap.
Jimmy Carr performs up to 300 shows a year, often doing two shows per night, which he says reduces nerves rather than increasing them.
Jimmy Carr says that speaking at roughly 92 beats per minute is the optimal cadence for comedy and public speaking, including political speeches like Obama's.
The oldest recorded joke appears in a Roman book called 'The Lover of Laughter' and is still funny — a barber asking how a man wants his haircut, who replies 'in silence'.
Jimmy Carr argues that comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Dave Chappelle have permanently expanded the conversational Overton window on sex, politics, and taboo topics.
The Lion King musical has grossed over $11 billion in its 30-year run, making it the single highest-grossing piece of entertainment in history across any medium.
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