I'll never not love Gene's love for Hakuna Matata. On that same note, I think Roger was wrong that none of the songs nominated that year would go on to be classics. I'd argue the whole Lion King soundtrack is considered a classic
They were also probably the most popular songs in the world at the time this episode was filmed! Which doesn't necessarily mean they were great, but Roger sounded clueless in his effort to dismiss their popularity.
@@michaelwinters2574 Kids loved Hakuna Matata. Timon and Pumba were popular. Roger Ebert wasn't around kids much you can tell. He was always clueless what they would like and dismissed what they did. He always felt they were going to be scared or depressed by something and needed baby gloves. When Siskel recommended Baby's Day Out he did so because he felt very young kids would enjoy watching the baby outsmart the criminals and get in trouble. Roger Ebert felt children would be terrified by the situations and thought Siskel should have been ashamed of himself. Very young kids liked Baby's Day Out for exactly what Siskel said and weren't terrified. Roger even felt Home Alone 3 did it the best for kids. Siskel was like huh? I'm getting off track but Roger Ebert wasn't the best at knowing what kids would actually enjoy.
Chapter breaks: Best Actor - 2:13 Best Supporting Actress - 7:07 Best Supporting Actor - 14:17 Best Original Song - 20:04 Best Actress - 25:51 Best Visual Effects - 32:50 Best Picture - 39:16 Worst Nomination - 44:53
My votes: Best Picture: "Pulp Fiction" Best Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski for "Red" Best Actor: Tom Hanks for "Forrest Gump" Best Actress: Winona Ryder for "Little Women" Best Supporting Actor: Samuel L. Jackson for "Pulp Fiction" Best Supporting Actress: Uma Thurman for "Pulp Fiction" Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary for "Pulp Fiction" Best Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth for "Forrest Gump" Best Foreign Film: "Before The Rain" (Macedonia) Best Art Direction: "Bullets Over Broadway" Best Cinematography: Piotr Sobociński for "Red" Best Costume Design: "Queen Margot" Best Makeup: "Ed Wood" Best Film Editing: "Hoop Dreams" Best Documentary: "A Great Day In Harlem" Best Original Score: Thomas Newman for "Little Women" Best Original Song: "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from "The Lion King" Best Sound Mixing: "The Shawshank Redemption" (although "The Lion King" was by far the best achievement that year) Best Sound Editing: "Speed" Best Visual Effects: "Forrest Gump"
Ed Wood was really overlooked in so many categories, especially Art Direction, where the designers had to re-create so many of Ed’s wacky movie sets. It was awesome work. In fact, I would have nominated these for Art Direction: -The Crow -Ed Wood -Forrest Gump -Interview with the Vampire -Little Women
@@keithdoherty3178 Amen! Ed Wood was one of the most honored films that year for Best Cinematography. What happened? I think the high respect for veteran Owen Roizman (Wyatt Earp) from his peers, allowed him to edge out Ed Wood’s Stefan Czapsky for the Oscar nomination.
@@mateoo1234 Quiz Show is a Brilliant Movie so I definitely see why it was nominated- If they had expanded the nominees back then like they have done recently to 8 to 10 nominees, maybe it would have snuck in - as far as Johnny Depp, there was no way he was getting nominated for Ed Wood, he was very good, but did nothing overly spectacular to merit a nod, especially when you compare it to the 5 Actual Nominees
This is one id never seen. I was wondering if it existed lol. Thank you for posting. Surprised Siskel picked Hanks. He went around media telling everyone he thought Newman would win.
Many perceived it to be a close race because of the unlikelihood of an actor winning in two consecutive years. I thought that factor was more significant in 2001/02 where it seemed likely to me that Denzel Washington would win...people today regard that one as a "surprise" but they're kinda wrong.
22:44 - Siskel & Ebert's intelligent observations about music were few and far between, but this comment from Roger about the "The Lion King" songs having a short shelf-life and being unmemorable is a profound signal of tone-deafness. By the time this episode aired in March 1995, the soundtrack had already sold 5 million copies, making it not only the top-selling soundtrack of its year, but the best-selling soundtrack to an animated movie ever. The songs were iconic cultural phenomena through the remainder of the 90s, and Gene is absolutely correct that "Hakuna Matata" had permeated the common lexicon. Roger brashly tries to make fun of him for making this statement without realizing how out of touch of he is, although I suppose the fact that Ebert didn't have kids partly excuses it. Gene's reading of Roger's envelope suggests that "Circle of Life" was favored to win the Oscar that year, which seems odd in hindsight. If anything, it's the *least* memorable and least quotable song in the entire picture! I think "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is the trickiest composition and Zimmer's orchestration of it is a rich, sublime aural sensation. And whether we're assessing it based on the lyrics heard in the film version or Elton John's alternate "kings and vagabonds" version played during the credits, Tim Rice wasn't messing around with this one - the words rise and bubble to perfection. Overall, I don't think Roger brought his A game to this episode. Gene presents far more persuasive cases in every category in which they differed except for Best Supporting Actress - and even then Roger's assertion that Helen Mirren could have "phoned in" her performance is lazy and unfair (anyone who understands acting knows there's no such as thing as "phoning in" a performance - even bad acting requires discipline and a lot of hard work!).
Nigel Hawthorne was amazing in anything he did, his work on Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister was some of the finest deadpan comic acting I've ever seen.
Here's who I would vote for at the 67th academy awards: Best Actor: Tom Hanks- Forrest Gump Best Supporting Actress: Uma Thurman- Pulp Fiction (currently) Best Supporting Actor: Samuel L. Jackson- Pulp Fiction Best Original Song: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"- The Lion King Best Actress: N/A (Sorry, I haven't seen any of the movies that the women were nominated for) Best Visual Effects: Forrest Gump And now, best picture of 1994, in my opinion: Forrest Gump I know people may disagree with my choices, but please comment on what you would vote for. I know people will definitely disagree with me on best picture, but it was a very hard choice to pick because I love Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption, in fact these are my top 3 favorites of '94. But I just love Forrest Gump for it's story book like feeling, Robert Zemeckis' direction, Tom Hanks' performance, the visual effects and the emotion that is put into it.
Personally I would vote for Ed Wood for best picture if it was an option, it and the Lion King were better too me than any of the actual nominations and they aren't the only films that were. The other categories, I don't know, I just hate so many of the nom's or I am indifferent to them. Sam Jackson was really good though, either him or Landau.
Isn't it funny how time and group-think can make someone's genuine reaction seem "out of touch" or "impolite"? Morgan Freeman is a good actor, but he plays the same character in everything. The wise old Black man who has lived through some things. It would be great to see him be someone other than Morgan Freeman onscreen before he's gone.
Hope they will upload all the ''If We Picked The Winners'' episodes,they are great,at this time Ebert And Siskel stop talkin' about who could be nominated instead the least deserving ones as well should have added Worst Snub along with Worst Nomination,my picks would be Kirsten Dunst for Interview With The Vampire and the worst nomination Susan Sarandon but they were many terrible ones,the best ones IMHO,Gary Sinise for Supporting Actor,Winona Ryder for Best Actress,Jennifer Tilly for Supporting Actress,Nigel Hawthorne for Best Actor,Robert Zemeckis for Best Director and The Circle Of Life by Elton John for Best Original Song
Ive never seen this one before, and frankly didnt know if any footage of it was available. I assumed Sally Field was nominated for Supporting Actress, so that came as a real shock not to see her there. Weird considering Sinise got in. They both played important supporting roles to Forrest's story and development as a person. and Im surprised neither Siskel or Ebert gave her an honourable mention. Also, I honestly have to agree with Ebert on True Lies, and I guess you dont. Terminator 2 won for the same category 3 years earlier and was directed by James Cameron, so why is it so far fetched that True Lies (another Cameron film) wins here? There were so many great practical and daring effects. If anything, TL is more grand in scale than T2. Speaking of scale, it was far greater on that basis compared to Forrest Gump or The Mask.
I don't think the visual effects in "True Lies" have aged particularly well, and as Gene notes, parts of it looked phony even to contemporary eyes in 1994. They also don't present us with anything we hadn't seen before - it's high tech action of the sort that comes out every year. "Forrest Gump" was as innovative in its use of effects as "Citizen Kane", trying new things, placing them at the service of the narrative (rather than existing for sensational purposes as they do in action films), and blending them seamlessly with dramatic scenes so that we often don't even notice them. The scene at the Lincoln Memorial where Jenny runs through the pool remains one of the most brilliantly unobtrusive and moving special effects sequences in movie history. The real injustice is that Robin Wright Penn wasn't nominated in the Supporting Actress category. She has a far more complex and emotionally demanding part, all the more so because the film never spells out her psychological motivations or the causes of her instability. But she conveys it all and we understand everything. She'd have been the deserving winner in that category as well. The strength of the few scenes with Sally Field derives mostly from Eric Roth's dialogue - it isn't a challenging role at all.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 Yeah, Wright was good as well. Its been a while since I last saw the film, but I must say I remember being more impressed, or at least had more of a connection to, Field. I suppose if one of them was going to get in then it would have been Field. Wright was not established, whereas Field was, in being a two time winner, although that may have worked against here as the Academy may have fatigue over her by that point. As for those visual effects, it really boils down to what do you value more - scale or effects that drive the story. I think its a lot more difficult to pull off those effects in True Lies as they were a much larger undertaking. And yeah, of course action films of the era were similar, but I just feel its different when Cameron is doing it. After all, he is perhaps the greatest action director of all time.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 I'm not sure if you're that familiar with True Lies overall or just the portion shown in this program, but if you search for "True Lies Visual Effects" on here you will see it is a masterclass in CGI and its practical VFX and has aged extremely well. Thank you for uploading these BTW!
It seems to me that people focus too much on three (allegedly) great films from 1994 while ignoring everything else. You can find just as many great movies in almost any year. There was an astounding amount of trash released in 1994 that weighs it down quite heavily in my view. 1994 is my second lowest-rated year on IMDB (above only 1996) with 84 titles rated.
I could name several movies Paul Newman should have won, and Color of Money and this one wasn’t even close. The Verdict, Oscar performance. Absence of Malice, Oscar performance. The Hustler, Oscar performance.
Say what you will about Forrest Gump, that scene in @5:33 is a knockout and was more than enough to cement his win that year. Right before they cut, what follows was the least gimmicky moment in the film, the most genuine, and most understandable moment of the entire film.
Perhaps the lip-synching on Kennedy, Johnson, Lennon, etc. Technology has obviously improved since then, but those segments have never bothered me and they look great given the limitations of the time - better than anything else attempted in a similar vein up to that point.
Seriously that ping pong scene may have looked good for someone who never followed that sport. Goofy to say the least. Clever to not choose a bigger sport if you want to win the Oscar. Would have been more complaints with basketball or baseball.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 Siskel was picking their favorite songs for the movies, and Siskel referred to them as mostly novelty songs. Didn’t you watch your own video?
@@flaccidusminimus2170 Oh I understand, but I thought the way you asked me, you didn’t think it had anything to do with the post.? Unless people pay close attention it’s easy to miss.? I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 All good :) A good friend of mine who watched the specials year after year told me who they picked that year, I just hope to see their explanations because their choices were excellent!
@@langdonalger9219 They both picked Fargo for BP, McDormand, Macy, and Jean-Baptiste. Best Actor was the only one of the Big 5 where they differed. Siskel picked Cruise and Ebert picked Thornton.
@@jackmahanes4591 Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire" is a peculiar choice for Siskel as he usually gravitated toward quiet, subtle performances. I figured one of them would have picked Emily Watson and Binoche as well.
Best Actor: John Travolta Best Actress: Miranda Richardson Best Supporting Actor: Martin Landau Best Supporting Actress: Helen Mirren Best Original Screenplay: Bullets Over Broadway Best Adapted Screenplay: Forrest Gump Best Original Score: Forrest Gump Best Original Song: "Hakuna Matata" Best Visual Effects: Forrest Gump Best Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski Best Picture: Pulp Fiction
I agree with most of these. Here’s my disagreements Best Actor: Morgan Freeman Best Sup Actor: Samuel L. Jackson Best Score: Shawshank Best Original Screenplay: Pulp Fiction. Best Director: Tarantino
@@AnimationNation2004 I tend to agree with you except for Samuel L. Jackson who I loved and, of course, still love yet if they gave but one Oscars for best actor of the year with no gender or lead or supporting categories to limit who can win the singular winner in 1995 would be Martin Landau. To me, there was no better performance that year.
They should not have done the best song vote. They are not really musically incline people and while their amateurish musings are valid they aren’t giving the deeper insight that their film expertise (in terms of watching films) offers.
In fairness, how many Academy voters know very much about any of the categories outside of their own field? History, and some of the leaked rationales from the past decade, suggest "not very much". You don't need to be "musically inclined" to subjectively decide which song you prefer over others, and at least discussing this category holds the audience's attention. Best Film Editing and Best Sound certainly wouldn't.
I disagree, he was the lead just like Robbins, if he was nominated in Supporting, it would be a complete category fraud, but Martin Landau was still a better performance in Supporting
Wish these two guys were still with us smartly critiquing movies, especially as the movie-going experience has been so affected by political correctness, "wokeness", and of course covid pandemic social distancing and paranoia. No you can't just go to a cinema, buy a tub of popcorn and settle into a theater and collectively enjoy a wide screen. Now most people hide at home and do the lonely 6-inch hand-held thing. Fuck that!
It is treacly, manipulative , cringe, way WAY Overlong and only Tom Hank's and Gary Sinise's performances were the only 2 things I admired and even that was too much by the end of the drivel
I actually regret watching this clip since it reminded me that FG won in the face of Pulp Fiction . Frankly but for Pulp Fiction I would have considered Quiz Show to be far worthier than FC ... and even after that I would have given Four Weddings over it . But it was nice to be reminded of Jessica Langes great performance that everyone seems to have forgotten.
@A_M_P_ I thought Landau was pitch perfect and deserved the win Samuel Jackson, to me, was the Lead Actor in Pulp Fiction, moreso than Travolta and should have been nominated for Best Actor that year
It's remarkable to see them raving over effects which are today DEEPLY dated. Modern audiences would laugh the projectionist out of the theater if we saw the way JFK or John Lennon were animated in Forrest Gump. Out of the nominations, today I'd have to vote for The Mask since it's cartoony sensibilities match the technology used on it. However, while this is cliche at this point, you just have to stand in awe of the slightly earlier Jurassic Park. Yes they did a lot practically, but even the CG parts still hold up better than it's sequels.
Hope they will upload all the ''If We Picked The Winners'' episodes,they are great,at this time Ebert And Siskel stop talkin' about who could be nominated instead the least deserving ones as well should have added Worst Snub along with Worst Nomination,my picks would be Kirsten Dunst for Interview With The Vampire and the worst nomination Susan Sarandon but they were many terrible ones,the best ones IMHO,Gary Sinise for Supporting Actor,Winona Ryder for Best Actress,Jennifer Tilly for Supporting Actress,Nigel Hawthorne for Best Actor,Robert Zemeckis for Best Director and The Circle Of Life by Elton John for Best Original Song
Siskel and Ebert WITH the original commercials? Gotta give that a thumbs up.
I'll never not love Gene's love for Hakuna Matata. On that same note, I think Roger was wrong that none of the songs nominated that year would go on to be classics. I'd argue the whole Lion King soundtrack is considered a classic
They were also probably the most popular songs in the world at the time this episode was filmed! Which doesn't necessarily mean they were great, but Roger sounded clueless in his effort to dismiss their popularity.
And to add that Siskel was also right that Hakuna matata would be said sometimes in everyday speech. At least among my age group(40s). We remember
@@michaelwinters2574 Kids loved Hakuna Matata. Timon and Pumba were popular. Roger Ebert wasn't around kids much you can tell. He was always clueless what they would like and dismissed what they did. He always felt they were going to be scared or depressed by something and needed baby gloves. When Siskel recommended Baby's Day Out he did so because he felt very young kids would enjoy watching the baby outsmart the criminals and get in trouble. Roger Ebert felt children would be terrified by the situations and thought Siskel should have been ashamed of himself. Very young kids liked Baby's Day Out for exactly what Siskel said and weren't terrified. Roger even felt Home Alone 3 did it the best for kids. Siskel was like huh? I'm getting off track but Roger Ebert wasn't the best at knowing what kids would actually enjoy.
They called them novelty songs
@@bobbya9722 Well, Siskel had 2 young daughters at the time Hakuna Matata was popular. Ebert did not.
The Best Supporting Actor category that year was a simply brilliant collection of actors and performances
For me if I had to choose best picture it’s down to two. Pulp Fiction and Shawshank.
What a year for films. Shawshank and pulp fiction are still in my 20 favourite list all this time later.
Best Supporting Actor was an INSANE category that year!!!!
Gene’s reaction to Roger’s selection of True Lies for visual effects made me laugh
TRUE LIES???(are you kidding me)
35:08😂
I’m with Gene. Are you KIDDING?
Roger was on a hot streak with his choices and then comes True Lies lol. And I love the movie btw
That jetfighter scene was truly spectacular, and Ebert nails it; easy to write, incredible to turn into reality
I agree with Roger 100% on Uma Thurman, she was incredible in Pulp Fiction.
Loved to see Ebert push for Morgan Freeman in Shawshank
Uma Thurman was AMAZING in Pulp Fiction.
"I'm sure that's what it sounds like to you..." RE quick af with that one lol
Chapter breaks:
Best Actor - 2:13
Best Supporting Actress - 7:07
Best Supporting Actor - 14:17
Best Original Song - 20:04
Best Actress - 25:51
Best Visual Effects - 32:50
Best Picture - 39:16
Worst Nomination - 44:53
My votes:
Best Picture: "Pulp Fiction"
Best Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski for "Red"
Best Actor: Tom Hanks for "Forrest Gump"
Best Actress: Winona Ryder for "Little Women"
Best Supporting Actor: Samuel L. Jackson for "Pulp Fiction"
Best Supporting Actress: Uma Thurman for "Pulp Fiction"
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary for "Pulp Fiction"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth for "Forrest Gump"
Best Foreign Film: "Before The Rain" (Macedonia)
Best Art Direction: "Bullets Over Broadway"
Best Cinematography: Piotr Sobociński for "Red"
Best Costume Design: "Queen Margot"
Best Makeup: "Ed Wood"
Best Film Editing: "Hoop Dreams"
Best Documentary: "A Great Day In Harlem"
Best Original Score: Thomas Newman for "Little Women"
Best Original Song: "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from "The Lion King"
Best Sound Mixing: "The Shawshank Redemption" (although "The Lion King" was by far the best achievement that year)
Best Sound Editing: "Speed"
Best Visual Effects: "Forrest Gump"
Thanks a lot for posting these. I’ve really enjoyed watching them. You get two thumbs up!
thank you
Loved that you kept some commercials. Haven't seen long distance calls for 10 cents a min since I was a teenager. Lol
That would come as a shock to people 25 and younger
@@keithdoherty3178 A phone cord tethered to the kitchen wall would come as a shock to people 25 and younger.
@@deshaunx776 LOL - Very True
Ed Wood was really overlooked in so many categories, especially Art Direction, where the designers had to re-create so many of Ed’s wacky movie sets. It was awesome work. In fact, I would have nominated these for Art Direction:
-The Crow
-Ed Wood
-Forrest Gump
-Interview with the Vampire
-Little Women
I'm more stunned it was snubbed for Best Cinematography
@@keithdoherty3178 Amen! Ed Wood was one of the most honored films that year for Best Cinematography. What happened? I think the high respect for veteran Owen Roizman (Wyatt Earp) from his peers, allowed him to edge out Ed Wood’s Stefan Czapsky for the Oscar nomination.
@@9114SouthCentralAv You may be right - personally, I would have removed both Owen Roizman and Don Burgess for Forrest Gump
@@mateoo1234 I loved Quiz Show so I would have replaced Four Weddings and a Funeral with Ed Wood lol
@@mateoo1234 Quiz Show is a Brilliant Movie so I definitely see why it was nominated- If they had expanded the nominees back then like they have done recently to 8 to 10 nominees, maybe it would have snuck in - as far as Johnny Depp, there was no way he was getting nominated for Ed Wood, he was very good, but did nothing overly spectacular to merit a nod, especially when you compare it to the 5 Actual Nominees
Siskel and Ebert nailed it with the discussion of Pulp Fiction -
What a year for movies. I wonder if they had any idea what a mark in pop culture these movies would make.
The opening is so awesome - a nice tribute to film noir.
This is one id never seen. I was wondering if it existed lol. Thank you for posting. Surprised Siskel picked Hanks. He went around media telling everyone he thought Newman would win.
Many perceived it to be a close race because of the unlikelihood of an actor winning in two consecutive years. I thought that factor was more significant in 2001/02 where it seemed likely to me that Denzel Washington would win...people today regard that one as a "surprise" but they're kinda wrong.
Newman was WAY More Deserving than his Run of the Mill Performance in The Color of Money
Saturn cars are no longer in production. I noticed another popcorn commercial as well.
I never thought The Lion King's soundtrack was that great (except Be Prepared).
22:44 - Siskel & Ebert's intelligent observations about music were few and far between, but this comment from Roger about the "The Lion King" songs having a short shelf-life and being unmemorable is a profound signal of tone-deafness. By the time this episode aired in March 1995, the soundtrack had already sold 5 million copies, making it not only the top-selling soundtrack of its year, but the best-selling soundtrack to an animated movie ever. The songs were iconic cultural phenomena through the remainder of the 90s, and Gene is absolutely correct that "Hakuna Matata" had permeated the common lexicon. Roger brashly tries to make fun of him for making this statement without realizing how out of touch of he is, although I suppose the fact that Ebert didn't have kids partly excuses it.
Gene's reading of Roger's envelope suggests that "Circle of Life" was favored to win the Oscar that year, which seems odd in hindsight. If anything, it's the *least* memorable and least quotable song in the entire picture! I think "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is the trickiest composition and Zimmer's orchestration of it is a rich, sublime aural sensation. And whether we're assessing it based on the lyrics heard in the film version or Elton John's alternate "kings and vagabonds" version played during the credits, Tim Rice wasn't messing around with this one - the words rise and bubble to perfection.
Overall, I don't think Roger brought his A game to this episode. Gene presents far more persuasive cases in every category in which they differed except for Best Supporting Actress - and even then Roger's assertion that Helen Mirren could have "phoned in" her performance is lazy and unfair (anyone who understands acting knows there's no such as thing as "phoning in" a performance - even bad acting requires discipline and a lot of hard work!).
love their silly bickering lmao
AIRED MARCH 25, 1995.
Nigel Hawthorne was amazing in anything he did, his work on Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister was some of the finest deadpan comic acting I've ever seen.
Here's who I would vote for at the 67th academy awards:
Best Actor: Tom Hanks- Forrest Gump
Best Supporting Actress: Uma Thurman- Pulp Fiction (currently)
Best Supporting Actor: Samuel L. Jackson- Pulp Fiction
Best Original Song: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"- The Lion King
Best Actress: N/A (Sorry, I haven't seen any of the movies that the women were nominated for)
Best Visual Effects: Forrest Gump
And now, best picture of 1994, in my opinion: Forrest Gump
I know people may disagree with my choices, but please comment on what you would vote for. I know people will definitely disagree with me on best picture, but it was a very hard choice to pick because I love Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption, in fact these are my top 3 favorites of '94. But I just love Forrest Gump for it's story book like feeling, Robert Zemeckis' direction, Tom Hanks' performance, the visual effects and the emotion that is put into it.
Personally I would vote for Ed Wood for best picture if it was an option, it and the Lion King were better too me than any of the actual nominations and they aren't the only films that were. The other categories, I don't know, I just hate so many of the nom's or I am indifferent to them. Sam Jackson was really good though, either him or Landau.
Forrest Gump is possibly the best movie ever made. I would have voted for it also if I had a vote in 1994.
@@sleong It was a mediocre movie.
@@Mr.Goodkat I wouldn't even call it that - Very Manipulative Film
How many times did they root for Hoop dreams? Neverending story.
Have you seen that movie ?
@@keithdoherty3178 Hoop Dreams is one of the most important films I have seen in my life, and I'm not even a basketball fan.
@@deshaunx776 Excellent Documentary
I always missed them polling the audience on their picks
BTW the Maverick pinball is also subpar.
Gene calling Morgan Freeman’s performance “nice” is so undeserved and impolite and now ironically out of touch 😂
Lol one of the best films of all time Lol Siskel always was a snob on some decision
Isn't it funny how time and group-think can make someone's genuine reaction seem "out of touch" or "impolite"? Morgan Freeman is a good actor, but he plays the same character in everything. The wise old Black man who has lived through some things. It would be great to see him be someone other than Morgan Freeman onscreen before he's gone.
@@deshaunx776 he wasn’t playing that character until after this movie tho. And Morgan Freeman in Wanted was a great villain turn.
Hope they will upload all the ''If We Picked The Winners'' episodes,they are great,at this time Ebert And Siskel stop talkin' about who could be nominated instead the least deserving ones as well should have added Worst Snub along with Worst Nomination,my picks would be Kirsten Dunst for Interview With The Vampire and the worst nomination Susan Sarandon but they were many terrible ones,the best ones IMHO,Gary Sinise for Supporting Actor,Winona Ryder for Best Actress,Jennifer Tilly for Supporting Actress,Nigel Hawthorne for Best Actor,Robert Zemeckis for Best Director and The Circle Of Life by Elton John for Best Original Song
Ive never seen this one before, and frankly didnt know if any footage of it was available. I assumed Sally Field was nominated for Supporting Actress, so that came as a real shock not to see her there. Weird considering Sinise got in. They both played important supporting roles to Forrest's story and development as a person. and Im surprised neither Siskel or Ebert gave her an honourable mention. Also, I honestly have to agree with Ebert on True Lies, and I guess you dont. Terminator 2 won for the same category 3 years earlier and was directed by James Cameron, so why is it so far fetched that True Lies (another Cameron film) wins here? There were so many great practical and daring effects. If anything, TL is more grand in scale than T2. Speaking of scale, it was far greater on that basis compared to Forrest Gump or The Mask.
I don't think the visual effects in "True Lies" have aged particularly well, and as Gene notes, parts of it looked phony even to contemporary eyes in 1994. They also don't present us with anything we hadn't seen before - it's high tech action of the sort that comes out every year. "Forrest Gump" was as innovative in its use of effects as "Citizen Kane", trying new things, placing them at the service of the narrative (rather than existing for sensational purposes as they do in action films), and blending them seamlessly with dramatic scenes so that we often don't even notice them. The scene at the Lincoln Memorial where Jenny runs through the pool remains one of the most brilliantly unobtrusive and moving special effects sequences in movie history.
The real injustice is that Robin Wright Penn wasn't nominated in the Supporting Actress category. She has a far more complex and emotionally demanding part, all the more so because the film never spells out her psychological motivations or the causes of her instability. But she conveys it all and we understand everything. She'd have been the deserving winner in that category as well. The strength of the few scenes with Sally Field derives mostly from Eric Roth's dialogue - it isn't a challenging role at all.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 Yeah, Wright was good as well. Its been a while since I last saw the film, but I must say I remember being more impressed, or at least had more of a connection to, Field. I suppose if one of them was going to get in then it would have been Field. Wright was not established, whereas Field was, in being a two time winner, although that may have worked against here as the Academy may have fatigue over her by that point.
As for those visual effects, it really boils down to what do you value more - scale or effects that drive the story. I think its a lot more difficult to pull off those effects in True Lies as they were a much larger undertaking. And yeah, of course action films of the era were similar, but I just feel its different when Cameron is doing it. After all, he is perhaps the greatest action director of all time.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 I'm not sure if you're that familiar with True Lies overall or just the portion shown in this program, but if you search for "True Lies Visual Effects" on here you will see it is a masterclass in CGI and its practical VFX and has aged extremely well. Thank you for uploading these BTW!
Funny, when they were listing Best Actress, my first thought was "Oh, Susan Sarandon by a mile." And then they panned her for it at the end...
My personal best year in films. Comparable to 1939.
It seems to me that people focus too much on three (allegedly) great films from 1994 while ignoring everything else. You can find just as many great movies in almost any year. There was an astounding amount of trash released in 1994 that weighs it down quite heavily in my view. 1994 is my second lowest-rated year on IMDB (above only 1996) with 84 titles rated.
I could name several movies Paul Newman should have won, and Color of Money and this one wasn’t even close. The Verdict, Oscar performance. Absence of Malice, Oscar performance. The Hustler, Oscar performance.
This is one of the few times Roger was the funny one.
Gene can’t get anything over on Roger.
Say what you will about Forrest Gump, that scene in @5:33 is a knockout and was more than enough to cement his win that year. Right before they cut, what follows was the least gimmicky moment in the film, the most genuine, and most understandable moment of the entire film.
I went with nomination Travolta or Hanks (both)
I wonder what Roger thought looked fakey in Forest Gump. Nearly 30 years later and it holds up incredibly well.
Perhaps the lip-synching on Kennedy, Johnson, Lennon, etc. Technology has obviously improved since then, but those segments have never bothered me and they look great given the limitations of the time - better than anything else attempted in a similar vein up to that point.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 That's true. You're prob right.
Seriously that ping pong scene may have looked good for someone who never followed that sport. Goofy to say the least. Clever to not choose a bigger sport if you want to win the Oscar. Would have been more complaints with basketball or baseball.
I wonder if these two shared the cab home?
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys made a fortune and drew Hugh crowds performing novelty songs, that were extremely good., listen to them
I have a bunch of their songs on my 1930s playlists. How does this relate to the video?
@@flaccidusminimus2170 Siskel was picking their favorite songs for the movies, and Siskel referred to them as mostly novelty songs. Didn’t you watch your own video?
@@ronniebishop2496 Over a year ago when I posted it, I don't re-watch it after every comment :)
@@flaccidusminimus2170 Oh I understand, but I thought the way you asked me, you didn’t think it had anything to do with the post.? Unless people pay close attention it’s easy to miss.? I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.
Do you have 1997’s If We Picked the Winners? The year of Fargo and The English Patient.
No and I've never even seen it. I'm sure someone out there has it on an old VHS tape, but I don't think it's ever made its way to the internet.
@@flaccidusminimus2170 All good :) A good friend of mine who watched the specials year after year told me who they picked that year, I just hope to see their explanations because their choices were excellent!
@@jackmahanes4591 who did they choose out of curiosity?
@@langdonalger9219 They both picked Fargo for BP, McDormand, Macy, and Jean-Baptiste. Best Actor was the only one of the Big 5 where they differed. Siskel picked Cruise and Ebert picked Thornton.
@@jackmahanes4591 Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire" is a peculiar choice for Siskel as he usually gravitated toward quiet, subtle performances. I figured one of them would have picked Emily Watson and Binoche as well.
Jessica Lange is eroticism personified.
Amazing Pauline Kael knew how great freeman was back in the 70d
He's not great at all. PK was wrong many times.
She said it in 1987
Was a weak year for Supporting and Lead Actress that year
I dont get why Tom Hanks is considered a great actor. He seems very ordinary to me.
Best Actor: John Travolta
Best Actress: Miranda Richardson
Best Supporting Actor: Martin Landau
Best Supporting Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Original Screenplay: Bullets Over Broadway
Best Adapted Screenplay: Forrest Gump
Best Original Score: Forrest Gump
Best Original Song: "Hakuna Matata"
Best Visual Effects: Forrest Gump
Best Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Best Picture: Pulp Fiction
I agree with most of these. Here’s my disagreements
Best Actor: Morgan Freeman
Best Sup Actor: Samuel L. Jackson
Best Score: Shawshank
Best Original Screenplay: Pulp Fiction.
Best Director: Tarantino
@@AnimationNation2004 I tend to agree with you except for Samuel L. Jackson who I loved and, of course, still love yet if they gave but one Oscars for best actor of the year with no gender or lead or supporting categories to limit who can win the singular winner in 1995 would be Martin Landau. To me, there was no better performance that year.
True Lies??? Crazy choice
Search for "True Lies Visual Effects" on here you will see it is a masterclass in CGI and practical VFX
They should not have done the best song vote. They are not really musically incline people and while their amateurish musings are valid they aren’t giving the deeper insight that their film expertise (in terms of watching films) offers.
In fairness, how many Academy voters know very much about any of the categories outside of their own field? History, and some of the leaked rationales from the past decade, suggest "not very much". You don't need to be "musically inclined" to subjectively decide which song you prefer over others, and at least discussing this category holds the audience's attention. Best Film Editing and Best Sound certainly wouldn't.
Morgan Freeman was screwed because he was put in the wrong category. Otherwise, he was a total shoe-in
I disagree, he was the lead just like Robbins, if he was nominated in Supporting, it would be a complete category fraud, but Martin Landau was still a better performance in Supporting
how hasn't Family Guy spoofed this intro yet?????
Wish these two guys were still with us smartly critiquing movies, especially as the movie-going experience has been so affected by political correctness, "wokeness", and of course covid pandemic social distancing and paranoia. No you can't just go to a cinema, buy a tub of popcorn and settle into a theater and collectively enjoy a wide screen. Now most people hide at home and do the lonely 6-inch hand-held thing. Fuck that!
Forest Gump- One of the most overrated films in history.
Without a doubt
Yes the film is way too trivial. John Denver commented that the movie made the 1960s too trivial
I agree. I think the movie is too gimmicky and contrived.
Though I do love the film and it is one of my favorites of all time I do agree that it’s overrated. I’d put it in my top 30 maybe 15 probably.
It is treacly, manipulative , cringe, way WAY Overlong and only Tom Hank's and Gary Sinise's performances were the only 2 things I admired and even that was too much by the end of the drivel
I actually regret watching this clip since it reminded me that FG won in the face of Pulp Fiction . Frankly but for Pulp Fiction I would have considered Quiz Show to be far worthier than FC ... and even after that I would have given Four Weddings over it . But it was nice to be reminded of Jessica Langes great performance that everyone seems to have forgotten.
Martin Landau in Ed Wood over Samuel L. Jackson and/or Gary Sinise!! Such a disappointment, Boys. May you both RIP nonetheless.
You didn't like Martin Landau ?
@@KaejaeDoherty Not as much as Jules from Pulp Fiction or Lieutenant Dan.
@A_M_P_ I thought Landau was pitch perfect and deserved the win
Samuel Jackson, to me, was the Lead Actor in Pulp Fiction, moreso than Travolta and should have been nominated for Best Actor that year
It's remarkable to see them raving over effects which are today DEEPLY dated. Modern audiences would laugh the projectionist out of the theater if we saw the way JFK or John Lennon were animated in Forrest Gump. Out of the nominations, today I'd have to vote for The Mask since it's cartoony sensibilities match the technology used on it. However, while this is cliche at this point, you just have to stand in awe of the slightly earlier Jurassic Park. Yes they did a lot practically, but even the CG parts still hold up better than it's sequels.
Ladies and gentlemen , these are your OSCAR critics . And you're still wondering why there's an unsaturated presence of diversity .
I don't wonder that, performance should be based on performance, not diversity
Didn‘t Ebert choose Morgan Freeman, a black man, as best supporting actor?
Hope they will upload all the ''If We Picked The Winners'' episodes,they are great,at this time Ebert And Siskel stop talkin' about who could be nominated instead the least deserving ones as well should have added Worst Snub along with Worst Nomination,my picks would be Kirsten Dunst for Interview With The Vampire and the worst nomination Susan Sarandon but they were many terrible ones,the best ones IMHO,Gary Sinise for Supporting Actor,Winona Ryder for Best Actress,Jennifer Tilly for Supporting Actress,Nigel Hawthorne for Best Actor,Robert Zemeckis for Best Director and The Circle Of Life by Elton John for Best Original Song