Casting Coup Month: Forrest Gump

NOMINATIONS

Best Picture (WON)

Best Director - Robert Zemeckis (WON)

Best Actor - Tom Hanks (WON)

Best Supporting Actor - Gary Sinise

Best Adapted Screenplay - Eric Roth (WON)

Best Cinematography - Don Burgess

Best Editing - Arthur Schmidt (WON)

Best Original Score - Alan Silvestri

Best Art Direction

Best Makeup

Best Sound

Best Sound Effects Editing

Best Visual Effects (WON)

Now, I hope you've all seen Andrew's Casting series over at the LAMB Blog. Recently, we did Forrest Gump, the big champion of 1994. It's one of those beloved movies that has its fair share of vocal detractors -- I'm one of them. Now, I understand that it's well-directed, boasts powerful VFX, and the performances are quite good. Forrest Gump the character irritates me to no end, but there's no denying that Tom Hanks is 100% committed to the performance.

There's also no denying the popularity of the film. And Casting Coups shouldn't just be about what I like to see; I need to think about others, too. Consider this my gift to those of you who admire Forrest Gump, or love it, or wonder what a recent version would look like.

Of course, some of you may be wondering, "Hey, isn't this just the same thing that appeared on Andrew's LAMB Casting feature not too long ago? What's the point of giving this to us again?" Well, here I get to justify some of my choices, so you understand how my mind works. Many thanks to Andrew, by the way, for hosting that LAMB Casting, and for reminding me about the difficulty that comes in casting and making movies. No matter how I might feel about the film itself, you have to love something when you cast it. You don't want to dishonor the story, the audience, or yourself. Every film is a labor of love, even saccharine messes like Forrest Gump.

Without any more ado...after the jump:

Casting Coup Month: Soooon!

Only 26 more days until the Oscars! And if you're a frequent reader, you know what that means: Casting Coup Month! Starting Monday, each weekday will offer a new Casting Coup, all the way up to the Friday before the ceremony. The running theme: they're all re-casts of Oscar Winners. As always, I would love it if any and all of you wished to participate with casting ideas of your own, whether in the comments or on your own blog (which I'll link to, of course!).

The group for Week One:

Grand Hotel

 

On the Waterfront 

The Ten Commandments 

Elmer Gantry 

Forrest Gump

(as seen on Andrew's LAMB Casting Series)