For the first time in my life....

[Prussian to the Iron]

I have cried because of a movie. I watched Forrest Gump last night on TBS, and the final parts were just so sad, I actually cried some. I mean, tears came out, not like bawling. it's weird, i've never been able to think of a movie in that sort of way.

[PanzerJaeger]

Yea, I wouldn't share that with your friends.

[Hooahguy]

wimp.

[Centurion1]

Now go tell your father I'm sure he will be delighted to hear

[Lemur]

Now go tell your father I'm sure he will be delighted to hear

[Centurion1]

Strike is Prussians daddy?

The only movie which makes me cry is saving private Ryan but only for the first 20 minutes before it simply becomes a movie

[pevergreen]

I have cried because of a movie. I watched Forrest Gump last night on TBS, and the final parts were just so sad, I actually cried some. I mean, tears came out, not like bawling. it's weird, i've never been able to think of a movie in that sort of way.

Harden the etc etc

Let me tell you about a guy I know. His name is Bevan. He owns a pit dog, he sleeps with his bowie knife, and once, he cut off his own arm, for a dare.

Bloody spot on Bevan.

John Q has about an 80% success rate on me.

But seriously, you'll cry at a lot of stuff. Or because of it. You're just growing up buddy, and I'm sure the older members would agree with me. I'm not yet twenty and stuff is still new.

[Fragony]

I am a total victim of sentimental scenes, it's quite easy to move me to tears

Pixar I am looking at you

[Pannonian]

I am a total victim of sentimental scenes, it's quite easy to move me to tears

Pixar I am looking at you

Have you seen Grave of the Fireflies?

[Reenk Roink]

Was definitely expecting "I got high" or "I got laid".

[Prussian to the Iron]

Was definitely expecting "I got high" or "I got laid".

i somehow knew someone would say that

[Subotan]

Forrest Gump is such an awful film. I absolutely detest it on so many levels. It is a story about a guy, who apart from being a very good runner has no discernible skills. And yet, he is mindblowingly successful purely because of luck. Throughout his numerous achievements he is completely passive, and is totally unaware of his resounding success in everything he does. And then, in the end, the girl he harassed for years finally falls in love with him because he's a creepy old guy who won't leave her alone.

Probably the single most annoying line in the film is the infamous "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get". This sickly metaphor, bloated with eternal sugary optimism is the message of the film and it is totally and utterly wrong. Haruki Murakami uses a similar metaphor in a far superior, and earlier, manner in Norwegian Wood

"Just remember, life is a box of chocolates"

I shook my head a few times and looked at her. "Maybe I'm not so smart, but sometimes I don't know what on earth you're talking about."

"You know, they've got these chocolate assortments, and you like some but you don't like others? And you eat all the ones you like,and the only ones left are the ones you don't like as much? I always think about that when something painful comes up. 'Now I just have to polish these off, and everything'll be OK.' Life is a box of chocolates."

"I suppose you could call it a philosophy."

"It's true, though. I've learned it from experience."

The other main reason I hate it is because it trumped the Shawshank Redemption at the Oscars, somehow.

Have you seen Grave of the Fireflies?

Now that is a film which reduced me to tears. The only other one which made me cry as much as Grave of the Fireflies was Barefoot Gen, mainly because it was autobiographical.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I have never seen Forest Gump. Once it came up in conversation, and I had a vague idea of what it was, and so I said isn't it about a disabled guy that goes back in time or something.... led to much hilarity.

[Ice]

Forrest Gump is such an awful film. I absolutely detest it on so many levels. It is a story about a guy, who apart from being a very good runner has no discernible skills. And yet, he is mindblowingly successful purely because of luck. Throughout his numerous achievements he is completely passive, and is totally unaware of his resounding success in everything he does. And then, in the end, the girl he harassed for years finally falls in love with him because he's a creepy old guy who won't leave her alone.

Probably the single most annoying line in the film is the infamous "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get". This sickly metaphor, bloated with eternal sugary optimism is the message of the film and it is totally and utterly wrong. Haruki Murakami uses a similar metaphor in a far superior, and earlier, manner in Norwegian Wood

"Just remember, life is a box of chocolates"

I shook my head a few times and looked at her. "Maybe I'm not so smart, but sometimes I don't know what on earth you're talking about."

"You know, they've got these chocolate assortments, and you like some but you don't like others? And you eat all the ones you like,and the only ones left are the ones you don't like as much? I always think about that when something painful comes up. 'Now I just have to polish these off, and everything'll be OK.' Life is a box of chocolates."

"I suppose you could call it a philosophy."

"It's true, though. I've learned it from experience."

The other main reason I hate it is because it trumped the Shawshank Redemption at the Oscars, somehow.



Now that is a film which reduced me to tears. The only other one which made me cry as much as Grave of the Fireflies was Barefoot Gen, mainly because it was autobiographical.

Tell us what you really think. :P

P.S. Tom Hanks played Forest Gump really well. I like the movie, and will watch it anytime it airs on public tv.

[quadalpha]

Forrest Gump is such an awful film. I absolutely detest it on so many levels. It is a story about a guy, who apart from being a very good runner has no discernible skills. And yet, he is mindblowingly successful purely because of luck. Throughout his numerous achievements he is completely passive, and is totally unaware of his resounding success in everything he does. And then, in the end, the girl he harassed for years finally falls in love with him because he's a creepy old guy who won't leave her alone.

Forrest Gump is a great film. Let's unpack some of the assumptions in that paragraph:
1. Gump has no talent, therefore does not deserve what he gets.
2. He is unaware of how fortunate he is, and therefore it's all wasted on him.
3. He is annoying and creepy in his pursuit of Jenny.

Well, we'll start with those for now:
1. This is a peculiarly utilitarian point of view: FG receives much more utility than what he actively manages to contribute. But what does he receive, really? Does he not deserve to be a war hero, even though he rescued his friends at great risk to himself? Is what celebrity he achieves really something that is good for him? How are his investment earnings in Apple different from those of any other speculative investor?

2. Again, this seems to imply that the same amount of reward would generate more utility if it were bestowed on someone who has greater awareness of it (this notion is problematic in itself). FG is not eloquent, but do you not get the sense that he does appreciate what he has, having seen the bad times as well as the good?

3. FG's feelings toward Jenny always seemed to be a very pure and uncomplicated one. It seems unsympathetic to label him "creepy"; being creepy requires a certain intent or awareness, of which FG is incapable.

The issue most people who dislike Forrest Gump seem to have is an inability to sympathise with the character. This might have something to do with the approach to the movie. The movie is very much a fantastical fairy tale, with perhaps a passing resemblance to the cliched underdog-sports-team-comes-good movies. Those movies have the message that "if you practice hard and work as a team, then you will win." Forrest Gump is subtler. It strips away the extraneous moral message, and seems to say, "if you are pure at heart, then ..." But "then" what? It is by no means a simple matter of winning or losing; a life cannot be summed up so simply as that. FG has won some, and has lost quite as much. The movie makes the audience weigh their choices: Is it really good to be awarded the MOH but have your friend die in combat? Is it good to marry the love of your life only because she is soon to die? Part of the genius of the film is that in presenting these choices so starkly before a man who we are not sure is capable of thinking about them, it makes us, the audience, think about them for ourselves, and in the process putting us in FG's position, and eventually we recognise and sympathise with FG's simple humanity, unbefuddled by the complications we create through our superior reasoning.

And to return to the simile you dislike: "Life is like a box of chocolates ..." Is that true? Does FG really believe that? Do we believe it? Do we want to believe it? It's easy to read the movie simply -- especially if one is put off at first glance -- but you may find that you like it better if you don't take it always at face value.

Edit: I will also say that Shawshank has its moments, too, like when he plays Mozart through the prison PA.

[Fragony]

Have you seen Grave of the Fireflies?

Yes. Oh boy.

[Subotan]

Tell us what you really think. :P

P.S. Tom Hanks played Forest Gump really well. I like the movie, and will watch it anytime it airs on public tv.

He did, but I disliked the character.

Yes. Oh boy.

See, even Fragony is moved.