Author Topic: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time  (Read 235218 times)

mañana

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #860 on: March 10, 2011, 11:41:19 AM »
I don't think you did it for the bracket. Maybe an MDC dictation?
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Melvil

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #861 on: March 10, 2011, 12:40:07 PM »
Your problem is with the entire film (and the vision of its director).

That's true, the ending becomes kind of a moot point since I was already not with the film by that point.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #862 on: March 10, 2011, 12:49:49 PM »
I found it and after reading it, I do need to revisit the film, maybe on bluray, especially since I'm no longer a racist.  :P

sdedalus

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #863 on: March 10, 2011, 01:05:04 PM »
I should mention the Director of Photography, Ernest Dickerson, who left Spike after Malcom X to become a terrible director. Lee's more recent films definitely lack Dickerson's poetic eye. I wish he'd stop directing because Dickerson was one of the best rising Cinematographers in Hollywood.

He's done good work on television.
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Melvil

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #864 on: March 10, 2011, 01:07:36 PM »
especially since I'm no longer a racist.  :P

Hey, yeah, what's up with that? :D

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #865 on: March 10, 2011, 01:10:54 PM »
especially since I'm no longer a racist.  :P

Hey, yeah, what's up with that? :D
It was just a passing phase.

1SO

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1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time - Forrest Gump
« Reply #866 on: March 12, 2011, 12:46:17 AM »
Marathon Update



Forrest Gump
I don't know if we each have a destiny,
or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze,
but I think maybe it's both.


I’ve never understood the criticism’s levied against Forrest Gump, it isn’t promoting the message that stupidity is somehow redemption nor does it handle the character of Jenny with kids gloves. Forrest is stupid because he is stupid and because that allows him to be an impartial observer to the American history taking place around him. Jenny is put through the ringer, she is offered no sympathy from the screenplay or from Robert Zemeckis, at every turn she is painted as a misguided and ultimately destructive individual. She does get some small redemption at the end, but it’s important to note that just like every other character her redemption is tied into Forrest.

Over the years for one reason or another people have begun to turn against Forrest Gump, taking it out of classic status and into more of an overrated status. I don’t understand that, doubt I ever will.
Bill completely stole my review.
I worked in a theatre when Forrest Gump opened, so I had seen it a lot. This was my first revisit in about 12 years. I thought it was a film I was too familiar with, all those jokey history scenes and clever catchphrases. However, a good chunk of the film was only a vague memory and seeing the film as a whole, I was once again emotionally swept up in greatness. Just recently Totoro hesitantly announced a love for Forrest Gump. Well T, you are not alone. I don't have a problem with the film's view of America, and it pulls no punches in the darkness of its vision. The film is rated PG-13, but with drug use, war violence, premature ejaculation, nudity (including pubic hair) it's one of the most adult films with such a rating. The schmaltzy reputation started when it was pitted against Pulp Fiction at the Academy Awards and it's only overrated because it won.

With proper respect to Back to the Future, Robert Zemeckis' direction here is leaps and bounds better. Telling a story that spans decades, has no clear goal or bad guy, and demands the ability to balance actors and technical craft equally, Zemeckis could have stumbled over the complex story's numerous trouble areas. Instead he soars, seemingly one-upping every sequence with scope, beautiful camerawork, humor and heart. (Man, I wish he would get away from the computer and go back to being great again.) The film is a gorgeously polished crown, made up of a series of flawless jewels.

Tom Hanks is one of cinemas greatest stars, but amongst all his fine work, Forrest Gump remains his most indelible role. He pitches the characters intelligence at the perfect spot on the I.Q. chart and never has to play dumber or smarter than that. He is direct in a manner that is sometimes humorous and always respectable. The moment when he finds out about his son, and has trouble asking if he's slow too. chokes me up every time. Bill is dead on about Jenny. If she was the lead the film would be an Iñárritu. Zemeckis doesn't sugar coat her life story, and I love how the script never directly states her relationship with Forrest; how she thinks he doesn't understand love, but we know that it's her whose definition has been twisted. One of my favorite scenes is when Forrest and Jenny are walking and come up to Jenny's old house. "Sometimes, I guess there just aren't enough rocks." The Jenny scenes made me tear up quite a few times.

There are a number of classic scenes in Forrest Gump, as well as those great characters. One of my favorite minor ones is Bubba's mom and the moment when the tradition of her family waiting on rich white people comes to an end. I didn't care for a lot of the famous cameos this time. The gimmick didn't do as much for me, and the composite effects are starting to show their age. Aside from that, Forrest Gump remains one of the best examples of the kind of fresh, original storytelling Hollywood is capable of when they allow themselves to think outside the box and hire the right talented people to bring the script to life. One of the Top 100.

For my current rankings Click Here.

Next Up:
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Fight Club
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
« Last Edit: March 27, 2011, 10:01:33 AM by 1SO »

Bondo

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #867 on: March 12, 2011, 08:06:56 AM »
Sometimes the Academy is underrated. Forrest Gump>Pulp Fiction and Crash>Brokeback Mountain. It isn't just the Academy that said it, it happens to be correct. I own Forrest Gump on DVD and should watch it again sometime because maybe it belongs on my top-100 too. I wish there were more numbers in 100 than 100.

Corndog

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #868 on: March 12, 2011, 09:00:11 AM »
True dat.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #869 on: March 12, 2011, 11:27:16 AM »
Both my parents saw this film when it came out and hated it. So I avoided it for some time. However, once I saw it I had to admit it was fantastic. Such a great film. There's no shame in loving it people.

As for Tom Hanks, while he's a good actor, I tend to dislike his movies, this is one of the very few exceptions.

 

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