Forrest Gump. Here's a little diatribe I made a while back

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Man Forrest Gump was a terrible movie. I've seen a lot of awful movies in my day, and most aren't noteworthy, but the fact that this movie is so beloved and critically acclaimed is beyond me. Let me give you the plot summary. I bet I can do it in one sentence: Hey baby boomers, remember all that stuff that happened when you were growing up here in America? Well, here it is with a retarded guy edited in all that familiar footage and inventing everything you are fond of. Ok, so it took two sentences, but you get the point. What is even more disturbing than the ridiculous plot, is the message the film gives us. If your an idiot who drifts along and questions nothing, everything will fall into place, and you will be a great success. If you are any sort of free thinker (Jenny, Lt. Dan) you will be a domestically abused stripper/folk singer addicted to drugs, who will eventually die of AIDS. Also, you will lose your legs and harass prostitutes. Borrowing from Dave Chappelle, how come the only person dumber than Forrest Gump in the movie is his black friend Bubba? How did Forrest Gump even graduate high school? Join the military? God this movie sucks. And to put the proverbial cherry on top of the shit-cake, Zameckis treats the audience like they have an IQ of 75 as well. See the feather floating around aimlessly? That symbolizes the life of Forrest, because he drifts through life like a feather. Wow, thanks for that nifty visual. I wouldn't have been able to figure that out without the visual aid. Life us like a box of chocolates? Clever analogy that effectively summarizes the complexities of life. This movie is a god-awful poo poo nostalgia flick, pandering to baby boomers. Remember this song? Remember when that happened? Well guess what, A retard did more with his life on pure luck than you ever could working your ass off. Remember those counter-coulture groups like the black panthers and anti-war hippies? Well they all spit on soldiers and beat women and eventually all died of drug overdoses and AIDS. Congratulations for taking a stand on nothing, you managed to make it long enough to relive it all again. I have not seen the Academy Awards since this movie kicked the crap out of Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption, two superior films in every aspect possible of film making. What a Joke.

Also on Akira: Of course it's just opinions, but it was definately a monumental accomplishment in many facets.

The animation was completely hand drawn, and superior to anything I've yet seen. Every movement was accurate. The environments were vast, imaginative and wonderfully rendered. They never copped out on accurately laying shadows or lighting, and weren't afraid to do interesting perspectives that are incredibly difficult to animate.

The music was outstanding. It was created by a group called Geinoh Yamashirogumi which was a compilation of people from all walks of life. Musicians, scientists, you name it. They also created a lot of their own synthisizers, fusing traditonal japanese folk with modern electronic sounds and instruments.

The story, when I originally saw it was tough to follow, because well, I was very young, and the VHS dubbing worried more about syncing the voices with the animation than accurately retelling the story. I discovered this when I got my hands on a subtitled version a couple years later. The latest release I have on DVD redid the voice acting and dramatically improved the accuracy of the original japanese script. The story is fairly easy to follow on this release, and I still find that leaving some elements not so much unanswered but not cut and dry to be very interesting and encourages my desire to watch it again. The story is only one element of the whole package of what I consider to be one of the best animated films ever. Hell, it's one of my favorite films of any kind.