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Ah, you didn’t think there was a connection between the Beatles and Forrest Gump? Perhaps you’ve blocked that 1994 Robert Zemeckis film from your memory? (In which case, smart move.) Well, the great columnist and critic Lindy West is here to remind you of the link in her new book Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema.
In the film, Forrest ends up on the Dick Cavett show, along with John Lennon. West excerpts the following dialogue:
Gump: In the land of China, people hardly got nothing at all.
Lennon: No possessions?
Gump: And in China, they never go to Church.
Lennon: No religion too?
Cavett: Wow, hard to imagine.
Lennon: Well, it’s easy if you try, Dick.
West’s comment on this interchange is “This is the most terrible scene ever to appear in any film” and I am just here to AGREE.
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OMG, here I thought I was the only person who didn’t like “Forrest Gump?” I found it endless, twee, and boring. I only saw it in the theater originally because there was supposed to be a “Star Trek: Generations” trailer before it, and this was in the days before you could watch trailers endlessly online. 🙂
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I also found it interesting that when I saw the original interview, years later, I realized that Yoko had been cut out to insert Tom Hanks.
I loathe this movie and saw it only because I was bridesmaid to a friend of mine who wanted to see it the weekend before her wedding. For me it ranks up there in terms of torturous movie experiences with the live-action Grinch, which I saw the Christmas it came out because we were visiting my in-laws, who wanted to see it.
Really can’t recommend Shit, Actually strongly enough!
I saw Forrest Gump on TV. I don’t remember the circumstances, but I remember being embarrassed by it.
The live-action Grinch, the one with Jim Carrey… I remember seeing it in an oppressively crowded movie theater with my wife and two kids (when they were really little; they’re taller than me now) and I realized it was a mistake. It seemed at the time like the thing to do. The kids were unimpressed with Carrey’s interpretation of the character, my wife was irritated, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
The Lennon scene in Gump is so embarrassing. I’ve never liked any homage or portrayal or parody of the Beatles in cinema. It’s strange, because I think Hard Day’s Night is perfect in every way. I guess I just like the real Beatles in action.
Even Help! is hilarious. I remember renting the VHS version for my kids and they were skeptical, but then my youngest son exclaimed “This is good!” when the mad scientist started bickering with his dull assistant. Being comedy aficionados, they appreciated the dialog.
My sister and I went to see Forrest Gump. I remember stopping to get gas and saying to her, “I think that’s Ernie Banks,” the former Chicago Cub baseball player. That’s the one and only time I’ve seen it. Never bought it on VHS, never bought it on DVD. I didn’t dislike it, but it’s Boomer Nostalgia™, á la The Wonder Years, filtered through a deeply cynical lens. (Forrest’s naivete masks the cynicism because he’s completely unaware of it.) Props to Tom Hanks for throwing himself so fully into that role and creating a character that is remembered and parodied to this day, but I have no desire to see the film or his performance again.
I’ve been seeing more “DeepNostalgia” experiments on twitter. Someone took the “aged John” picture and animated it:
https://twitter.com/MoldyWarp/status/1367827148162035713
And other “DeepNostalgia” animated Lennon:
https://twitter.com/MoldyWarp/status/1367819113674907651
New interview with Ringo Starr:
https://www.vulture.com/2021/03/interview-ringo-starr-zoom-in-ep-beatles-friendship.html#_ga=2.74687057.2103321193.1615998186-1204603596.1615998186
This made me laugh (as did some of the replies):
https://twitter.com/KeatonPatti/status/1378047761866719236
I liked that too! Now that I’ve seen it from that perspective, I can’t unsee it!
Try unseeing John holding a selfie stick in the younger version: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/albumcovers/images/1/1e/TheBeatles-PleasePleaseMe_original.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111012183508
Hey imo the Beatles were taking selfies long before all the cool kids were doing it :p
https://mobile.twitter.com/crockpics/status/994528744852291586
https://www.instagram.com/p/BqYop84B6C3/?epik=dj0yJnU9RVl6XzVURHY2dHhvY2dqdm4zMEhLZzZsR3dOVGZ1MU0mcD0wJm49U1MxYjNZaEJERmZyX2Y5aUk1QndlZyZ0PUFBQUFBR0JwTGYw
https://www.reddit.com/r/beatles/comments/4vjojq/ringo_using_the_first_selfie_stick/
It’s a cringy film. Forced and about as deep as a puddle
Sacrilegious words to many but I don’t understand how it is remembered as iconic. So much of it is forced.
I’ll sometimes give it a few minutes when it comes on TV (and believe me it’s on ALL THE TIME) mainly because I enjoy the soundtrack but the Lennon scene is just tough to take. But for 1994…people were kinda impressed that they were able to do this. Especially the scene when John leans in in front of Hanks.
I think it’s very cringe and something I’m sure John friends probably be nauseous over ha! But I do like the line “that nice young man from England was on his way home when for no particular reason at all someone shot him”. I admit that gets to me.
There is something pretty heartbreaking about that line, I agree. It’s…accurate.
Forrest Gump is a complete waste of celluloid and Sally Field. That and My Big Fat Greek Wedding were the two most annoyingly hyped movies of the past five decades. As for Tom Hanks, his Oscar for Philadelphia was much deserved. I would have given this one to John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) or Morgan Freeman (just because) among the thin class of contenders.
“Harry Nilsson was a fan and a fast friend. He would come and see my shows and he was very sweet and a massive drinker. I didn’t drink and I wound up being the driver. And then he introduced me to John Lennon, because they were best friends. I spent a lot of time with Harry Nilsson and John Lennon during those May Pang years, when he was out here. Those guys would get rowdy, but John Lennon was certainly a fun person. And John Lennon, again, was a frustrated comedian. All these guys, comedy to them was the holy grail.
“Nothing blew my mind in show business, and he was the only person. The first time I met him, Harry said, ‘Get in that car there,’ and I got in the backseat, and there was John Lennon…
“And the one thing I prided myself on in my comedy, you know, I’m not a person that was ever on. I was funny. I knew when to stop. I wasn’t that manic on, and I was on with him, and I didn’t know how to get out of it. I didn’t know what to do. And he said—this still remains the greatest thing to me—he leaned over and said, ‘I’ve known you for a thousand years.’ And I just never felt bad again. That was a cool thing to say.
“He was going through a lot. He was separated from Yoko, but I remember my album, Comedy Minus One, had just come out and was in Tower Records. So he and Harry and I went in. He bought them all.
“He bought three boxes of them. Then he drove down Sunset and hurled them out like Frisbees. And I’m going, ‘Don’t do that. You’ll get a littering fine.’ Boom. He’s just throwing them out on the street. So it’s good and bad. I mean, it helped my Billboard number, but now they are all over Sunset.” – Albert Brooks
https://oldshowbiz.tumblr.com/post/187993767459/harry-nilsson-was-a-fan-and-a-fast-friend-he