Why Tom Hanks Will Win The Hollywood Bracket.

After weeks of voting and thousands of votes worldwide, we are down to the finals in The Herd’s Hollywood Bracket. After two very close semi-final Matchups we have a showdown between two of the Hollywood’s all-time greats. Tom Hanks(1) vs Clint Eastwood (4). Before we delve into this matchup let us look at how we got here to the final 2. In the semi-final matchups we had 4 contenders who could have all won the title and it showed in the voting as every actor received at least 43% of the vote. In the first matchup Tom Hanks knocked down a current legend in Denzel. The matchup ended with Hanks securing 57% of the votes to Denzel’s 43%. What hurt Washington here was that he couldn’t compete with Hank’s Oscars and while Hanks has drifted of late, he is still a big actor of the last 15 years. In the other semi-final, Eastwood (4) pulled off his 3^rd big upset in a row knocking off (1) Nicholson. This was a very close matchup that wasn’t decided until the final day of voting. After being within 1-2% of each other the entire round, Eastwood pulled away and pulled off the upset at 54%-46%. Perhaps many considered their acting careers close and Eastwood’s directing threw him over the top. Although I could strongly argue that Nicholson’s acting career far exceeds that of Eastwood, but I have no gripes with the selection.  Ok, so we are here at the finals. Here is my analysis and vote for the winner.

Tom Hanks

Born Thomas Jeffrey Hanks on July 9, 1956 in California, Hanks is the true American actor. Hanks has played some of the most iconic roles in cinematic history and has the hardware to prove it. His most popular roles were that of Big (1988), A League of Their Own (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Philadelphia (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Toy Story (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), You’ve Got Mail (1998) Cast Away (2000), Road to Perdition (2002), Catch me if you Can (2002), The Davinci Code (2006). Hanks is not only a successful actor, he is a successful producer and director as well.  Some of his extremely successful productions include That Thing you Do! (1996), Saving Private Ryan, The Polar Express (2004), Mamma Mia (2008), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), Larry Crown (2011). Here are his nominations and awards.

Year	Award	Film	W/N
1988	Best Actor	Big	Nominated
1993	Best Actor	Philadelphia	Won
1994	Best Actor	Forrest Gump	Won
1998	Best Actor	Saving Private Ryan	Nominated
2000	Best Actor	Cast Away	Nominated

Clint Eastwood

Clinton Eastwood Jr. is one of the most iconic actors in cinematic history. The king of the Westerns, Eastwood became even more famous than John Wayne.  Eastwood has been a major Hollywood star since the early sixties. His big break came playing the Man with No Name in the Dollar’s trilogy of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly during the 1960s. He is also one of the most quotable actors of all time and no one will ever forget his role as Dirty Harry. He truly is an icon of masculinity. While his acting career was iconic, Eastwood is actually most heralded and honored for his role as a director and film maker. His films have grossed millions and earned Eastwood numerous awards. Some of his finer works include the award winning Unforgiven (1992), Million Dollar Baby (2004), In The Line of Fire (1993), Gran Torino (2008), Mystic River (2003), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), J. Edgar (2011).

His Academy Awards are as follows:

Year	Award	Film	W/N
1992	Best Director	Unforgiven	Won
	Best Picture	Unforgiven	Won
	Best Actor	Unforgiven	Nominated
2003	Best Director	Mystic River	Nominated
	Best Picture	Mystic River	Nominated
2004	Best Director	Million Dollar Baby	Won
	Best Picture	Million Dollar Baby	Won
	Best Actor	Million Dollar Baby	Nominated
2006	Best Director	Letters from Iwo Jima	Nominated
	Best Picture	Letters from Iwo Jima	Nominated

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."Conclusion: In summary while these actors are tied in individual awards, the clear distinction here is that Hanks has 5 Best Actor nominations and 2 wins while Eastwood only has 2 nominations. Tom Hanks had without a shadow of a doubt the most successful decade of acting that we have ever seen. Let the following sink in. In the span of 12 years hanks had 5 best actor nominations, 2 wins, and a blockbuster hit every single year. That is just Hollywood dominance. Many believe that he actually deserved to win for some of his other nominations, especially for his amazing performance in Cast Away in which audiences were awed watching Hanks alone for almost 3 hours. Hanks was so successful that he even had a child who has a successful movie career. In terms of acting, there is no real comparison between these two, Eastwood just may be as iconic but is definitely not the star that Hanks was. What really pushed Hanks over the edge is that the one area in which Eastwood has the edge, directing (2 best pictures and 2 best directors), Hanks has a decent background as well. Hanks has his own producing and directing resume and while definitely not as successful as Eastwood, it definitely closes the gap. With that I have made my choice for the best and greatest actor in Hollywood.

--Jimmy Dugan, "A League of Their Own"

Acting is no easy task and Hanks makes it look easy. His hard work has made him the best actor in Hollywood and for that we thank him and can’t wait for more.