This 2013 picture stars Tom Hanks as the infamous Walt Disney and centers around the development of his 1964 masterpiece, Mary Poppins. The film follows Disney’s 20-year battle to get the rights for Mary Poppins. Emma Thompson plays the author P.L. Travers. The writer was extremely against letting her beloved novel gett caught up in a Hollywood production but eventually agrees, though quite reluctantly.
Saving Mr. Banks received a number of nominations at the 67th British Academy Film Awards and received a nomination for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards. And, even though the film wasn’t up for Best Picture or Best Actress that year, it was widely regarded as being a front-runner for both.
Goodfellas (1990)
Ray Liotta stars as mafia man Henry Hill in this major hit, directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese. Henry Hill was a notorious mobster who was involved in one of the greatest mafia takedowns in history when he became an FBI informant, The film was based on the book Wiseguy , by Nicholas Pileggi, and is arguably one of the best gangster movies of all time. It took 12 drafts for Scorsese and Pileggi to come up with the final script.
The film grossed nearly $47 million at the box office and holds over a 95% fresh rating on the famous review site, Rotten Tomatoes. Critics and audiences both praised the film, and everyone involved, and it won (and was nominated for) several accolades.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Well, if you want to talk box office hits, let’s talk about Catch Me If You Can , which grossed more than $350 million at the box office in 2002. The star-studded film is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as conman Frank Abagnale who was one of the most notorious impostors to have ever lived. It's been claimed that Abagnale assumed no less than eight identities, including an airline pilot, a physician, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons agent, and a lawyer.
Also in the film are Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Nathalie Baye, and Martin Sheen. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a cool 96% fresh rating, and Roger Ebert gave it a glowing review, saying, “This is not a major Spielberg film, but it’s an effortlessly watchable one.”
Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
Sigourney Weaver stars as Diane Fossey, one of the best primatologists in the world, who travels around studying great apes and working to protect animals from poachers. Unfortunately, the poachers get to Fossey (Weaver) to murder her in her sleep. She is buried in the same graveyard as many of the apes she’s worked within the past.
The film received mixed reviews, but it won a number of awards, including two Golden Globes: Best Actress and Best Original Score. Weaver was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in the film.
I’m Not There (2007)
I’m Not There takes an interesting approach to portray superstar Bob Dylan. Rather than having one actor play him throughout, they use different stars for different stages of his life. Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, and Marcus Carl Franklin all come together to play “the many lives of Bob Dylan.” Bob Dylan, in case you didn't know, was one of the most influential songwriters in modern music history.
The title of the 2007 film was pulled from Dylan’s 1967 Basement Tape recording of the same name. Blanchett won a Golden Globe for her performance and was nominated for several others, though the film only ultimately saw about $20 million in revenue at the box office.