We've still got miles to go before we sleep on #HANX for the Memories, but we've reached the third and final (for now, anyway!) Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan pairing in You've Got Mail. We're joined by Cara Gael O'Regan of Wistful Thinking and Liam Underwood to head back in time to an era where waiting for your dial-up modem to connect brought with it a sense of breathless anticipation. In this episode, we talk about the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan rom-com connection, the way this movie manages to stack soon-to-be-outdated plot device upon soon-to-be-outdated plot device, and the strange power dynamics at play in the back half of this movie. We also discuss whether or not Tom Cruise would fit in the world of You've Got Mail, and whether or not Tom Hanks does anything in this movie to damage his reputation as America's Dad.

What better way to follow-up the poppy joy of the Oneders on That Thing You Do than with the gritty brutality of war in Saving Private Ryan? (Get your neckbrace ready for even more tonal whiplash between episodes, too, as we're heading to You've Got Mail next episode.) To talk about all the tactical maneuvers of Saving Private Ryan, we're bringing in our Year 2000 Action Movie Expert, Dan Hayden, and we ask you to forgive us for jumping the gun and bringing him on two years early. In this episode, we talk about our favorite moments, the film's wonderful ensemble casting, and all of its little human moments in between the spectacles of war. We also try to find any flaws in this movie, since that's a segment on our show, even though it's wildly difficult to do here.

Two years ago, we did a deep dive into the world of That Thing You Do! for our Charlize Theron podcast, Watch The Theron. We learned that there was a director's cut -- especially noteworthy here, as this movie was written and directed by Tom Hanks! -- that added nearly 40 minutes of new footage, specifically around the "before she was mega famous" Charlize role. It didn't make a ton of sense for the movie, but we ate it up, because more Tina meant more for us to talk about. Fast forward to #HANX for the Memories, and the extra 40 minutes of That Thing You Do! don't work nearly as well for the story. In this episode, we talk about Hanks's debut as a feature film writer and director, compliment the selective use of his character in the story, and talk about the weird Hanks familial dynamics on display.

You've got a friend in us! This week, on #HANX for the Memories, we're headed all the way back to talk about the first appearance of Sheriff Woody in Toy Story. Joining us to try to frame this movie within the proper contexts (in Hanks's career, in this franchise, and in the history of animation) is Zack DeZon. In this episode, we discuss the heady philosophical questions that the Toy Story movies pose, admire this movie for appealing to both children and parents alike, and debate the proper way to describe this movie's computer animation. We also look ahead to the rest of the movies in the series, think about the actors almost cast as Woody and Buzz, and wonder whether or not Woody was secretly the villain in Toy Story all along. Plus, of course, a connection to the Fast and the Furious.

This week on #HANX for the Memories, we look to the night sky and hope we don't run into any issues as we cover Apollo 13! Joining us to talk about all things Hanks and outer space is Tobin Addington of The Contenders podcast. In this episode, Joey tries to figure out why he didn't quite connect with this movie, we all heap tons and tons of praise upon Ed Harris, and we wonder whether or not Ron Howard made another movie that was better than this. (I ask, though, if you like my hat, Shannon.) We also wind up comparing Apollo 13 to Ad Astra a whole bunch, reflect back on the previous times we'd each seen this movie, and build out our metaphor of tracking Tom Hanks as he slowly becomes America's Dad.

Life is like a box of... well, you know how the rest of that line goes. The time has come, at long last, for Forrest Gump: the movie that Joey and Mike have been dreading since the launch of #HANX for the Memories. Joining us is Austin Wolf-Sothern of Cinema Stories on YouTube as we discuss whether or not we were right to be wary of this movie, whether or not Forrest Gump should be held in high esteem, and (of course) the second of back-to-back Academy Award wins for Best Actor for Mr. Tom Hanks. We also talk about how Gump sat alone on a bench in the park, "My name is Forrest," he'd casually remark. Waiting for the bus with his hands in his pockets, he just kept saying life is like a box of chocolates.

The Golden Mile of #HANX for the Memories continues with Philadelphia, the first of back-to-back movies where Tom Hanks would score an Academy Award win. In this episode, we’re joined by Brian Rodriguez of High School Slumber Party to talk about Hanks’s performance, the performance from Denzel Washington that’s nearly as dynamic, and the importance of Philadelphia within a historical context, both societally and cinematically.

Our run through the golden era of Tom Hanks's movies continues with our second Hanks/Meg Ryan (and our first Hanks/Ryan/Nora Ephron) team-up: Sleepless in Seattle! We're joined by Cara Gael O'Regan of Wistful Thinking (who watched this twice in two days!) to talk about this cozy blanket of a movie that none of us had ever seen before. In this episode, we talk about Sleepless in Seattle as the Rosetta Stone for Mike's enjoyment of the romcom genre, Joey's incredulity at that mind-boggling statement, and Cara's attempts to bridge the gap between the two. We also talk about Meg Ryan old-timey computer sleuthin', the return of Rosie O'Donnell and Rita Wilson, and where on the precocious kid scale of adorable to annoying the two child actors in this movie fall. Also: is Meg Ryan a ghost? Maybe!

There’s no crying in podcasting! The war is on and we’re taking to the field with the rest of the Rockford Peaches to talk about A League of Their Own! To field out the rest of our lineup, we’re joined by Cara Gael O’Regan of Wistful Thinking, as well as Dan Hayden. In this episode, we talk about why grumbly Hanks is angry all the time, celebrate a wonderful Geena Davis performance, and count up the number of times that this movie made us cry. We also celebrate, at long last, our emergence into the run of all-time great Tom Hanks movies. We’ve made it through the rocky waters, and it’s smooth sailing for a good long while!

We are so close. We're so close, you guys. In just one episode, we're going to cover A League of Their Own, which kicks off a run more than a decade long that is exclusively filled with unimpeachable Tom Hanks classics. (Or, so we think for now. We'll see!) Before we get there, though, we have to take to the skies (to avoid our fathers?) in 1992's Radio Flyer. We spared our friends the confusing pain of sitting through this muddled message movie of an abusive man who maybe kills his stepson, causing the boy's brother to enter a state of delusion and forcing him to commit mail fraud, one postcard at a time, all while Dr. Melfi did nothing to stop it. It's a happy-go-lucky kids movie, you guys! Really fun times to be had.