Saturday 18 February 2017

Challenge number 20 - watch 40 tom hanks films



Most of my Blog posts so far have been about this challenge as watching Tom Hanks films seems to have been the most interesting thing that I have done!  There has been lots of training going on and I even took the bike off the turbo trainer and did a whole 10miles on the road!   My swimming is progressing slowly and my front crawl looks less like I’m being electrocuted and more like a swimmer, I just need to work on my stamina. Just a few weeks now until my first running challenge with the Cambridge Half marathon looming.


The chosen film was Saving Mr Banks which I had heard about but didn’t really expect to enjoy as I thought it was a documentary about the making of Mary Poppins, a film that I loved growing up.  This film totally blew me away, it switched between the early years of Mary Poppins author, Mrs Travers and her negotiations with Walt Disney and his team about the making of the Mary Poppins film.  We found ourselves singing along to the classic songs and willing Mrs Travers to sign the paperwork as we went on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the film and slowly we and Walt Disney understood the complex Mrs Travers!   We all loved this film and I would really recommend it as a great family film.

Wednesday 1 February 2017


How can it be February already! January has flown by and all the big challenges are creeping nearer.  I have been focused on my training and am now running increasing miles each week, swimming at least twice a week and have started cycling on the turbo trainer.  I will get out on my bike once the weather improves but for now indoor cycling seems so much more civilised!


We have really enjoyed our film nights and the most recent Tom Hanks film was The Man with One Red Shoe.  This was yet another film that I don’t remember ever hearing of and as the children said, was set in the olden days having been made in 1985!  By getting off a plane wearing one red shoe, Richard Drew (Tom Hanks) an eccentric violinist becomes a person on interest to the FBI who follow him, sabotage his apartment and cause chaos.  The film is an effortless comedy as the lead character has no idea he is being followed.   This is another film that would recommend as a nice easy watch with fantastic 80s fashion and technology!