Forrest Gump, a review by Antares

Forrest Gump



Year: 1994
Film Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Length: 142 Min.

Director
Robert Zemeckis (1951)

Writing
Winston Groom...Original Material By
Eric Roth...Screenwriter

Producer
Wendy Finerman
Steve Tisch (1949)
Steve Starkey

Cinematographer
Don Burgess

Music
Alan Silvestri...Composer

Stars
Tom Hanks (1956) as Forrest Gump
Robin Wright (1966) as Jenny
Sally Field (1946) as Mrs. Gump
Michael Conner Humphreys as Young Forrest

Review
       A simpleton with the IQ of a small child is mistaken for a worldly philosophical savant by almost everyone he comes in contact with. They are in such awe of his divined simple sayings that they believe him to be a populist prophet that can lead them back to a fantasy paradise that only dwells in their minds. While I was sitting in a theater watching Forrest Gump back in the summer of 1994, I couldn’t help but feel a recurring sense of déjà vu. The premise did not seem fresh to me, but I couldn’t remember where I had first viewed this scenario. As I was leaving the theater with my wife, I told her of my feelings about the film we had both watched, and she blurted out that it reminded her of the Peter Sellers film from 1979, Being There. And just like the inventor that screams Eureka!!! as he solves a problem that has perplexed him, I realized that she was right.
   
       In Hal Ashby’s Being There, Chance the Gardener (Sellers) is a middle-aged man who is mistaken for a wizened aristocrat by the upper crust of Washington D.C. society. And although a handful of people know that he maintains the brain power of a third grade child, he is slowly maneuvered into a position of power by the political sheep that flock around him to hear his inane utterances on gardening. It is these pearls of wisdom that he casts before the swine that are mistaken for folksy allegorical solutions to the ills that plagued our nation at the time. Sound familiar? The only difference from this plot and the one detailed in Forrest Gump is that the latter came wrapped in a package of special effects wizardry that placed Gump into historic scenarios from the sixties, seventies and eighties. Once again the movie going public is given a perfect example of style over substance.

       While ‘Chauncey’ Gardener comes across as a contemplative and somewhat charismatic man, Forrest never can really shake his persona of a backwoods bayou bonehead that anyone would be able to unmask as such. In this regard, I found the story of his life to be foolish and extremely far-fetched. There were countless scenes and scenarios in the film that caused both my wife and I to cringe, yet people around us were belly laughing over. As we sat perplexed over the reception that this uninspiring film was receiving from the audience surrounding us, a sense of futility began to set in and we both couldn’t wait for the movie to end.

       The saddest situation would take place months later at the Academy Awards as this incredibly average film took the honor of Best Picture for 1994. When film historians in the future look back at the great films that this one beat out for that glorious statuette, they will be as bewildered as my wife and I had been on that sweltering summer day when we wasted two hours of our life. Well, at least the theater was air-conditioned.


Ratings Criterion
5 Stars - The pinnacle of film perfection and excellence.
4 ½ Stars - Not quite an immortal film, yet a masterpiece in its own right.
4 Stars - Historically important film, considered a classic.
3 ½ Stars - An entertaining film that’s fun or engaging to watch.
3 Stars – A good film that’s worth a Netflix venture.
2 ½ Stars - Borderline viewable.
2 Stars – A bad film that may have a moment of interest.
1 ½ Stars – Insipid, trite and sophomoric, and that's its good points.
1 Star – A film so vacuous, it will suck 2 hours from the remainder of your life.
½ Star - A gangrenous and festering pustule in the chronicles of celluloid.


(From Forrest Gump (1994) on March 24th, 2010)

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Carnival of Souls: The Criterion Collection, a review by addicted2dvd

Carnival of Souls: The Criterion Collection
Herk Harvey's macabre masterpiece gained a cult following through late night television and has been bootlegged for years. Made by industrial filmmakers on a modest budget, 'Carnival of Souls' was intended to have the "look of a Bergman" and "feel of a Cocteau," and succeeds with its strikingly used locations and spooky organ score. Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) survives a drag race in a rural Kansas town, then takes a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City. En route, she becomes haunted by a bizarre apparition that compels her to an abandoned lakeside pavilion. Criterion is proud to present the ultimate special edition of this eerily effective B-movie classic that continues to inspire filmmakers today.

My thoughts:
I have watched this one a couple times before.... is one of my favorite classic horror movies. Before getting this movie recently all I had was a cheap freebie version. So I was looking forward to checking out what Criterion did with it. One thing I liked is that Criterion has both the Theatrical Release as well as the Director's Cut here in this 2-disc set. Since all I ever seen was the Theatrical Release... I thought that this time I would check out the Director's Cut which seems to be about 5 minutes longer. Of course as long as it has been since I seen this movie I unable to point out what was added back in. There definitely was a big improvement to both the audio and video over the freebie version I have. And both discs have a nice collection of extras as well. This is a great release!

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: 4/11 - 4/13 on April 11th, 2008)

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Birds of Prey Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

5. Sins of the Mother
Dinah learns of her family link to Batman. Family ties - a crime family - also impact Reese.

My Thoughts:
This was a great episode. In this one we discover Dinah's birth mother is Caroline Lance (The Black Canary). Plus Dinah also discovers her abilities are growing when she starts to show signs of telekinesis. This episode guest stars Lori Loughlin (Becky on sitcom Full House) as the Black Canary.

6. Primal Scream
Caged Bird. When Helena works undercover for Reese, her identity becomes compromised. Does Oracle fear intimacy?

My Thoughts:
This was a good episode... but pretty standard. It seemed a little on the weird side to see Helena undercover in a gang... but it did fit her character... after all Cat Woman was her mother... so she has a little of the bad in her as well.

7. Split
Helena is attracted to 'Darkstrike', a simpatico crime fighter who isn't as perfect as he seems to be.

My Thoughts:
This is another good episode. But unfortunately for some reason... even after 6 years... I remembered how this one ended. That did take away from the enjoyment just a hair... bur was still a lot of fun watching it again. The guy that played "The Crawler" (the serial killer Darkstrike was after) was Brian Thompson. He is one of those guys I never knew his name... but was highly recognizable since I seen him in so many other shows.

(From Birds of Prey Marathon on July 17th, 2008)

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