Word: gumps
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Contact," the new Robert Zemeckis film about communicating with an alien civilization, and his attorneys are not amused. The movie twice uses footage of existing Clinton speeches to imply that the President is speaking about a message from the aliens, an extension of a tactic Zemeckis used in "Forrest Gump," where the protagonist was cut into historical footage so that he appeared to be talking to everyone from LBJ to Nixon. Clinton lawyer Charles Ruff says Zemeckis effectively gave the President a role in the film without his authorization, and has sent Warner Brothers a letter charging the film improperly...
...those who like them love them. Jerry Maguire would normally be D.O.A. without a director nod, but don't underestimate the Marisa Tomei factor: studio output in a field of itchy new-wavism can pull off big surprises. Shine is easily the least accomplished film, but so were Forrest Gump and Rain Man. Oscar voters like their sappy, stunted geniuses wherever they can get them. Tough call...
...offbeat is "Sling Blade," really? In some ways, Thornton's Southern-gothic thriller is an unlikely hybrid of "Forrest Gump" and "Pulp Fiction," the tent-poles of the Oscar race two years ago. That is, "Sling Blade" inhabits some fairly original territory, but doesn't deliver on all of its promises...
...Like "Gump," "Sling Blade" creates a fascinating protagonist but never fully decides what to do with him. Thornton is nonetheless a wonder to behold in the role, the rare actor who turns obvious mannerisms into a palpable personality. Karl ends all of his sentences with a guttural self-affirmation ("I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody, mmmhmmm") as though all of his statements contained a deeper truth that he alone fully appreciates...
Thornton unfortunately saddles his script with too many Autistic Saint cliches--he fixes dead lawn mowers in minutes, he out-Gumps Gump on the football field--but he steadily reveals an emotional core that feels honest and unforced...