AFI Top 100: #76 "Forrest Gump"

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994)

"This movie is bizarre." That was the final thought of the one person in our AFI Top 100 movie group who actually hadn't seen the #76 film on the list, Forrest Gump. It's been 20 years since this Robert Zemeckis-directed story won the Oscar for Best Picture, and over the years, I've seen quite a bit of contention rise up around it. I remember in the nineties, I was hard-pressed to find someone—anyone—who truly hated this movie. Hate is such a strong word, and this movie is just too harmless. Maybe we were all less cynical then. I know I was.

The plot, for those who don't know, is a whimsical recount of the last half of the 20th century through the eyes of a fictional simpleton named Forrest Gump (played by the forever brilliant Tom Hanks). Forrest has below-average intelligence, but his mama (Sally Field) raised him to respect everyone and shrug off nay-sayers, so he grows up happy as a clam.

While the story weaves Forrest through every major event from the '50s through the '90s (Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, assassinations, Watergate, AIDS) with the convenient suggestion he somehow played a significant role in most of them, there is only one focus in the eyes of Forrest Gump: reunite with his one childhood friend and love of his life, Jenny (Robin Wright).

My Top Ten Movie Moments of 2014

Yesterday I posted My Top Ten Movies of 2014, and today, I wanted to share my Top Ten Movie Moments from this past year. Sometimes a movie can be great all the way through (again, see my Top 10)—but other times, an okay, fun, or so-so movie can be made leaps and bounds more enjoyable by just a single scene. Not saying that's the case for all the films on the list to follow... but it is for a few.

Some of these scenes are serious. Some are absurd. But all of them stuck with me through the year and made my viewing experience exponentially better.

*WARNING: may contain spoilers*

Snowpiercer

10. Curtis (Chris Evans) accurately predicts the guards' guns don't have bullets in SNOWPIERCER.

9. Andrew (Miles Teller) hijacking his final performance in WHIPLASH.

8. Dancing Baby Groot in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

7. Donna (Jenny Slate) shedding subtle tears in the doctor's office in OBVIOUS CHILD.

6. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and Brand's (Anne Hathaway) 40-min trip to the surface of Miller's water planet and arrival at their ship decades later in INTERSTELLAR.

The One I Love

5. Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elizabeth Moss) enter their vacation home to discover they have visitors in THE ONE I LOVE.

4. Amy (Rosamund Pike) "escapes" from Desi (Neil Patrick Harris) in GONE GIRL.

3. The epic battle between Godzilla and Mutos in GODZILLA. [watch scene here]

2. The Quicksilver scene in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. [watch scene here]

and the best scene of the year goes to...

1. Estranged twins Maggie (Kristin Wiig) and Milo (Bill Hader) lipsync to "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" in THE SKELETON TWINS. [watch scene here]

The Skeleton Twins

Did you enjoy any of these scenes as much as I did? I'm still playing that lip sync scene from Skeleton Twins over and over. Aaaaand now I'm off to watch it again!

Share some of your favorite scenes this year in the comments. :)

My Top Ten Movies of 2014

I had a few films to catch up on, which is why this is being posted a few days later than I would normally want. It's been a very long time since I've compiled a Top 10 of the Year list (3 years, if memory serves), and this year was pretty challenging. My goal for 2015 is to get back up to "movie fanatic" numbers, as far as how many new releases I managed to see... but my modest count of 40+ will have to do for this final listing. Most "Best Of" list-makers struggle with the pull between actual best of the year, and personal favorite.

For me, personal favorites win out every time. This is my blog and my opinion—not a predictor for Oscar gold. Though my tendency to lean pretty mainstream can't really be ignored either. I didn't see everything, and there were some potentially great ones that I missed, but that just means they'll be at the top of my To-See list in 2015.

So with that, my TOP TEN movies of the year.

10. BEGIN AGAIN



This one had a bit of a rough start. By start, I mean the first 15 minutes. I wasn't feeling it. It took that long for it to find its footing, but once it did, it dug in tight. The pacing evened out and it figured out the kind of movie it wanted to be. It's a musical in the vein of Once, which surprises no one, since it was made by the same people. But it's the kind of musical that most people can get behind (not just me, who has no issue with people randomly breaking out into song)—these characters are musicians, and every song is prefaced with just enough introduction to tell us they're about to start singing. Instruments are also always in sight. No resounding orchestra when they're only playing an acoustic guitar. Oh, except that part where that does happen, but it's on purpose, so all's forgiven.

Keira Knightley stars as Gretta, and croons a few very sweet songs while we all look on in delight to discover she can actually sing. The tunes are sweet and very catchy, and the movie shares its love of music even when it gets all high and mighty about the state of the music industry. She's a songwriter who follows her boyfriend, Dave (Adam Levine of Maroon 5, who shockingly is pretty great), to NYC from London, until he duh breaks up with her when he gets too big for his britches. Their break up scene is my favorite, because it feels so raw. Just enough emotions to have to sing it out, girl! Soundtrack is still on repeat rotation.

Music Mondays: Charli XCX "Breaking Up"

I first heard of British singer Charli XCX when my favorite band, Kitten, opened for her in Fall 2013. I couldn't make it to their LA stop, but I didn't pay much mind to Charli and her punk sound. Honestly, I wasn't all that impressed! If anything, I was bummed Kitten wasn't the headliner!

That is, until Charli XCX's sophomore album, Sucker, was released in December 2014. No one was more surprised than me that this formally so-so singer (IMHO) managed to score one of the best pop albums of the year. And don't just take my word for it--even Rolling Stone agrees! I'm still digging on her previous single "Break the Rules," but her video for "Breaking Up" is even more fun. There is this wonderful late 70's/early 80's vibe that this punk-pop star possesses, and the video reflects it perfectly. It's silly, it's cheesy, it's catchy, and it knows it. She gets all Grease 2 up in this video, and for me, that's a selling point.

This song in particular reminds me of The Runaways (think "Hollywood"). I mean, I did a 180 with this girl. It's good to start off the new year with some fun, and Charli XCX is here to deliver.

Artist: Charli XCX
Song: "Breaking Up" | download | stream
Album: Sucker
Directed by: BRTHR

The 2015 New Year

Happy New Year, everyone! 2014 was a truly incredible year for me, both professionally and personally. I re-discovered my love of writing (and blogging), which I'd accepted as being 'something I did as a kid' up until June of this past year. Committing time to nurture a blog is a new experience, and one that has been more challenging than I could have ever expected.

I also traveled.

I got tattooed (a bunch).

I was a Maid of Honor in my sister's wedding, and gained a brother-in-law.

I also have come back to my first and strongest love: movies.

I have many goals for 2015, but really, they are all subsets of the same thing: Find peace in the busy day-to-day to give my passions room to grow. What does that mean?

Write more movie reviews.
The AFI Top 100 personal project has been so rewarding. My review process and style and approach is constantly refining, and I want to challenge myself to take a more critical look at newer films—ones that are sometimes harder to take a firm stance on. I may not do it for every new movie I see, but I'll certainly try.

Go on more hikes.
I used to hike all the time. Los Angeles is a great place to pop out for a hike and then be done in time for lunch; or even gear up for an all day trek. My body felt so healthy when I was hiking regularly (the last time it was "regular" was probably 2011), and for the first time in my adult life, I wasn't Vitamin D deficient. When 90% of your time is spent indoors and probably in front of a computer, that happens. So I'll tag that on this goal too: Get more Vitamin D.

Get better at taking pictures.
New camera + new editing software (thanks Christmas!) = hopefully better images. I have so much to learn, but I'm up for the challenge. Getting more comfortable taking pictures in public. Getting more comfortable taking pictures of myself. Maybe a 365 Project?

Explore what this blog can be. 
When I first started blogging, the blogging world was very different than it is now. No photography, no sponsored posts... you just wrote about what happened that day. When I started blogging again in July, I had a lot to catch up on. I posted every day for several months, with the goal of just filling space. That's what I was supposed to do, right? But there are so many interests I have that weren't being posted about, and things I didn't care much about that were getting a lot more play. I want to explore different posts and different series... and discover what kind of blogger I want to be.

Do you have any resolutions? Let's get started!

{photo via Sinjun Strom}