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The Oscars Do-Over: 1994 & 1995: Gump vs Pulp vs Shawshank and more (1 Viewer)

Best Picture of 1995

  • Heat

    Votes: 9 6.1%

  • Apollo 13

    Votes: 15 10.1%

  • Toy Story

    Votes: 34 23.0%

  • Braveheart

    Votes: 31 20.9%

  • Seven

    Votes: 19 12.8%

  • The Usual Suspects

    Votes: 40 27.0%
  • Total voters
    148
The first of these that I'm having a tough time deciding.

In 1994, tight for me between Shawshank, The Lion King, and Quiz Show; leaning Lion King.  Good year for comedies too.  Not that Dumb & Dumber deserved the Best Picture, but I would have objected less to Peter Farrelly winning for that than Green Book.  Clerks another one of my favorites.

For 1995, I could go for any of them besides Heat.

 
Don Quixote said:
The first of these that I'm having a tough time deciding.

In 1994, tight for me between Shawshank, The Lion King, and Quiz Show; leaning Lion King.  Good year for comedies too.  Not that Dumb & Dumber deserved the Best Picture, but I would have objected less to Peter Farrelly winning for that than Green Book.  Clerks another one of my favorites.

For 1995, I could go for any of them besides Heat.
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For years I have insisted Quiz Show was the best movie of 94. I rewatched it a couple weeks ago and I had to drop it down a bit. I loved the script and performances but I don't think Redford is the best director and so it suffered a bit. It comes off a bit dated. I know it's a period piece but I mean it just felt very 90s in a bad way. I still love the film and think it's a classic, I just think there is a better movie from 1994. 

 
Ilov80s said:
For years I have insisted Quiz Show was the best movie of 94. I rewatched it a couple weeks ago and I had to drop it down a bit. I loved the script and performances but I don't think Redford is the best director and so it suffered a bit. It comes off a bit dated. I know it's a period piece but I mean it just felt very 90s in a bad way. I still love the film and think it's a classic, I just think there is a better movie from 1994. 
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I may have to re-watch it, as it has been a long time since I last did so to see if I'd feel the same way.  Definitely a script/performances/premise thing for me, as I'm the type who DVRs Jeopardy to make sure that I don't miss it.  ETA: My initial ordering thought was: (i) The Lion King; (ii) Shawshank; (iii) Quiz Show -- but all pretty close.

 
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I love Shawshank very, very much, I've seen it so many times I have it memorized but I was (quite literally) blown away by Pulp Fiction.  Not only is the movie well written and Samuel L. Jackson CRUSHES it but even Christopher Walken's cameo is brilliant.  Honestly, I find something new to love about Pulp Fiction every time I watch it, something I missed the first 100 times I watched it.  The other thing was the out of sequence part was pretty bold, I loved that they had to guts to go through with that.  Overall, I think that movie was pretty spectacular.

The Usual Suspects, to me, was another one that I thought was just very clever and the way the ending unraveled like a big ball of string was pretty amazing to me as well. loved that movie.  

 
I went Hanks/Hanks, surprisingly enough.

Sticking w Gump, barely over Shawshank, a mile over Pulp Fiction. A few folks called me Gump around here early on, when my stories touched unbelievability. But i in fact knew Leno before he broke, saw Jimmy Carter's penis, had Keith Richards call out my name like "Norm!" at a party after only having met him once years before, have a director cousin whose films have received 30 Oscar noms, had eight women "given" to me for a night's pleasure by one of the Little Feat entourage and indeed spent a weekend with Tom Hanks when he came to Albq with the Happy Days softball team. So there.

One of my favorite films is Little Big Man, which uses an odd series of coincidences to tell the story of the Wild West. The first novel i ever attempted was about a French courtesan whose 30some years of sexual liaisons, from Louis XV thru Napoleon, told the story of the French Revolution. Forrest Gump tells an accidental history of its time that captures the modern spirit of American life much better than an intentional history ever could. Add to that a wonderful, if corny,  central performance and a compelling love story (that my own wife was a pretty blonde peripatetic molestee drug addict who was dying of cancer when this came out might have made that more personally compelling) and i surrender.

I'm a Kennedy kid, a Boston Irish child of the 60s. That means i'm Unicef generous and NASA wonderstruck. So space gets me when they get it right from 2001 to The Martian. Apollo 13's a hella story, hella told and speaks to the kid who woke up @ 4am for EVERY space launch, quit Scouts for Civil Air Patrol as soon as i turned 12, intended getting my PPL before my driver's license until i ran away from home and wanted Air Force Academy over everything until Tet. Never watched no John Wayne movies, nor Stallone or Schwarzenegger neither, but Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon & Gary Sinise gave me a hero hard-on that wouldn't quit in a bit of beautifully tense storytelling. I've kept the earth steady in my window ever since. nufced

 
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wikkidpissah said:
I went Hanks/Hanks, surprisingly enough.

Sticking w Gump, barely over Shawshank, a mile over Pulp Fiction. A few folks called me Gump around here early on, when my stories touched unbelievability. But i in fact knew Leno before he broke, saw Jimmy Carter's penis, had Keith Richards call out my name like "Norm!" at a party after only having met him once years before, have a director cousin whose films have received 30 Oscar noms, had eight women "given" to me for a night's pleasure by one of the Little Feat entourage and indeed spent a weekend with Tom Hanks when he came to Albq with the Happy Days softball team. So there.

One of my favorite films is Little Big Man, which uses an odd series of coincidences to tell the story of the Wild West. The first novel i ever attempted was about a French courtesan whose 30some years of sexual liaisons, from Louis XV thru Napoleon, told the story of the French Revolution. Forrest Gump tells an accidental history of its time that captures the modern spirit of American life much better than an intentional history ever could. Add to that a wonderful, if corny,  central performance and a compelling love story (that my own wife was a pretty blonde peripatetic molestee drug addict who was dying of cancer when this came out might have made that more personally compelling) and i surrender.

I'm a Kennedy kid, a Boston Irish child of the 60s. That means i'm Unicef generous and NASA wonderstruck. So space gets me when they get it right from 2001 to the Martian. Apollo 13's a hella story, hella told and speaks to the kid who woke up @ 4am for EVERY space launch, quit Scouts for Civil Air Patrol as soon as i turned 12, intended getting my PPL before my driver's license until i ran away from home and wanted Air Force Academy over everything until Tet. Never watched no John Wayne movies, nor Stallone or Schwarzenegger neither, but Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon & Gary Sinise gave me a hero hard-on that wouldn't quit in a bit of beautifully tense storytelling. I've kept the earth steady in my window ever since. nufced
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Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates.  If you just pay attention you know what you're going to get.  They print it on the box lid.

 
I picked Forrest Gump for 94. My second pick would be Shawshank Redemption.

I picked Toy Story for 95. My second pick would probably be Se7en. 

 
In almost any other year I pick Shawshank, but I can't put it over Pulp Fiction.  '95 is really difficult as well.  Went with Braveheart but I don't have nearly as much conviction on that one.

 
I went with Shawshank for 1994.

1995 is one of my favorite years for films ever. In fact Braveheart and Sense and Sensibility are 2 of my all time Top 10.

But there were a ton of great films that year - Babe, Usual Suspects, Apollo 13, Heat, Toy Story, etc.

 
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95 is hard.  Se7en and Usual Suspects are both thought provoking and have great endings...wind up going with Keyser Soze. 

 
Love Shawshank. Like Gump. Lion King is a well done animated movie but Pulp Fiction is movie of the year for 1994.

Went with Heat for 1995. Toy Story another animated/CGI movie with a simple plot. Apollo 13 is awesome but pretty straightforward. Usual Suspects was the closest one to Heat for me but the repeat viewings lose that initial wow factor for the reveal. Heat is just an amazing spectacle from start to finish. Really great acting and one of the best scenes in all of film with Pacino and Deniro in the coffee shop.

 
1994 has about five movies worthy of best picture. I can't even hazard a selection.   

1995, for me, is Toy Story.  

 
Don Quixote said:
I may have to re-watch it, as it has been a long time since I last did so to see if I'd feel the same way.  Definitely a script/performances/premise thing for me, as I'm the type who DVRs Jeopardy to make sure that I don't miss it.  
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You forgot to mention how dreamy Ralph Fiennes was in it, too.

I’m considering no vote on ‘94 in protest of Hoop Dreams being left off the ballot.

In ‘95, Toy Story I guess?  A pretty meh list.

 
krista4 said:
You forgot to mention how dreamy Ralph Fiennes was in it, too.

I’m considering no vote on ‘94 in protest of Hoop Dreams being left off the ballot.

In ‘95, Toy Story I guess?  A pretty meh list.
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You know what, k4? I have never seen Hoop Dreams. Even though I am not the cinephile you all are, I consider myself to have watched the really important ones from the nineties over the years. I have to change up my status about not watching Hoop Dreams soon.  

 
jhib said:
I had a much tougher time with 95, even after you took away Babe as a choice (you monster).
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I just don't think it is has held up. I never hear people talk about it, don't see it ranked on lists or discussed in movie podcasts. I haven't seen it since the 90s so maybe I am wrong?

krista4 said:
You forgot to mention how dreamy Ralph Fiennes was in it, too.

I’m considering no vote on ‘94 in protest of Hoop Dreams being left off the ballot.

In ‘95, Toy Story I guess?  A pretty meh list.
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No documentaries. Even though you and KP recommended a lot of great ones that I have enjoyed over the last year, the Academy just doesn't nominate docs for best picture.

 
Ilov80s said:
I just don't think it is has held up. I never hear people talk about it, don't see it ranked on lists or discussed in movie podcasts. I haven't seen it since the 90s so maybe I am wrong?

No documentaries. Even though you and KP recommended a lot of great ones that I have enjoyed over the last year, the Academy just doesn't nominate docs for best picture.
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I guess we’ll have to wait for someone who’s conducting an Oscars do-over sometime.

Wait, you took Babe off the ‘95 list?

 
rockaction said:
You know what, k4? I have never seen Hoop Dreams. Even though I am not the cinephile you all are, I consider myself to have watched the really important ones from the nineties over the years. I have to change up my status about not watching Hoop Dreams soon.  
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:popcorn:

 
krista4 said:
I guess we’ll have to wait for someone who’s conducting an Oscars do-over sometime.

Wait, you took Babe off the ‘95 list?
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I did take Babe off. Like I said, it doesn't seem to have stood the test of time. People never talk about it, it makes no lists. RT audience has it at 67%. IMDB has it at 6.8. Letterboxd has it at 3.3/5. I know critics loved it at the time and it was a great underdog story but I think the 6 I listed are much more relevant and liked today. 

 
rockaction said:
You know what, k4? I have never seen Hoop Dreams. Even though I am not the cinephile you all are, I consider myself to have watched the really important ones from the nineties over the years. I have to change up my status about not watching Hoop Dreams soon.  
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It doesn't approach best pic status.

 
coyote5 said:
It doesn't approach best pic status.
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Oh, okay. I just should see it, you know. 1994 was a ridiculous year. I might post my thoughts later. When Leon: The Professional is way down the list, you know it was a good year. Just want to see Hoop Dreams and looking forward to it. k4 knows her stuff. :)

 
rockaction said:
Oh, okay. I just should see it, you know. 1994 was a ridiculous year. I might post my thoughts later. When Leon: The Professional is way down the list, you know it was a good year. Just want to see Hoop Dreams and looking forward to it. k4 knows her stuff. :)
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I mean I agree, definitely should see it.  I just don't view it up there with the rest of the 1994 list.

 
The General said:
Pulp Fiction should be killing that year. Easy pick.

Tougher choices next year. Toy Story would be my pick though.
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Same here.  I agonized over 95 and ultimately went with Toy Story, but I could have easily been talked into some other option.  94 is a no-brainer.

 
IvanKaramazov said:
Same here.  I agonized over 95 and ultimately went with Toy Story, but I could have easily been talked into some other option.  94 is a no-brainer.
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You're getting hung up on narrative structure. Nothing blew me out of the movies than the soundtrack and cut-and-paste narrative. But those have now become form over story, and as I get older, four movies could easily be, story-telling wise, better than Pulp. I gently disagree, and Pulp Fiction, as a movie, rules.  

 
rockaction said:
That year, my 21st year, was a sober one, but a movie filled one. I'd so love to suss it out with people. I honestly think those films will influence me as much as French New Wave did. 
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I was in 6th grade so it was over junior high and high school that I discovered them and they were definitely a big part of my life at that time. My friends and I would watch them over and over. 

 
Ilov80s said:
I was in 6th grade so it was over junior high and high school that I discovered them and they were definitely a big part of my life at that time. My friends and I would watch them over and over. 
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Yeah, word. From the Americana of Forrest to the Euro-noir of Pulp to just the greatness of American storytelling in Shawshank to the European storytelling of Leon, just great. Great all around.

 
Has anyone watched The Usual Suspects or Seven recently? How do they hold up?

Also it is weird that Braveheart has been in 1st or just behind but nobody has posted about it yet.

 
I have never seen Shawshank.  :bag:  

But I pretty much know the whole story from references and people talking about it.  Now I'm just trying to see how long I can go without actually watching it.  Oh, I own the movie in two different formats...

 
Ilov80s said:
Has anyone watched The Usual Suspects or Seven recently? How do they hold up?

Also it is weird that Braveheart has been in 1st or just behind but nobody has posted about it yet.
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Watched a big chunk of Usual Suspects recently. Still decent IMO if not a little silly. Movie did seem a bit cheesy in parts, Baldwin and Pollack had some laughably bad lines. 

 
Pulp Fiction and Heat for me.

These two are the most re-watchable movies from this list, IMO. Anytime I am flipping through channels and I come across either of these films, I'm more than happy to just leave it on that channel and watch it from that point on.  Heat is still one of the best heist movies to date and has one of the best heist scenes ever. 

 
I ended up voting The Lion King and Braveheart.  I really could change my vote/preference any day/hour though.  I think The Lion King is where Disney reached its peak, and is the greatest animated film of all-time.  As I appear to be the only vote for it so far, come at me.

Braveheart was really tight.  Toy Story is a close #2 (as the second greatest animated film of all-time).  I love a good historical epic though, and Braveheart fits the bill.

 
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