1994, the year my life revolves around.
I think everyone would agree 1994 wasn't a bad year, we had the 25th anniversary of Woodstock, some lovely winter Olympic games in Norway, "Schindler's List" won 7 Oscars, Brazil won the world cup and O.J. Simpson got away with murder. Now these things are all great and wonderful but let's talk about the things that changed my life and made me the man I am today.
First off '94 was the year the greatest motion picture of all time was released..."Forrest Gump." If you ever want to witness a grown man weeping like a 7 year old orphan, watch "Forrest Gump" with me. When Forrest meets his son for the first time and when Forrest visits Jenny's grave, both scenes make me cry like a woman watching "Casablanca" or "The Wedding Planner" or whatever the hell makes women cry. Damn that Tom Hanks and his beautiful acting. Point is, that movie has deeply impacted me. It makes me feel good about life and myself and comforts me in the same way a grilled cheese sandwich prepared by my mother does.
Also in April of 1994 Kurt Cobain was found dead in a room above his garage at his home in Lake Washington, Seattle. At the time I was only 6 years old but even then I was still aware of how big of a deal that was. Granted at 6 I didn't fully understand just how tragic and detrimental this loss was to the world of music but as I have grown up few bands and few individuals have affected me as much as Nirvana and Kurt have. A couple months later MTV and Geffen records released Nirvana's 'Unplugged in New York' album which is one of my favorite albums of all time, if you have never heard it or seen the live performance on tv or dvd you are missing out.
Here is a little four minute taste...
Okay, let's continue.
Now, the movie "Jurassic Park" was actually released in '93 but I was not privileged enough to see it until the next year so I still count it as one of the wonders of 1994. If you were a kid who grew up in the 90s and you didn't love "Jurassic Park" I didn't want to be your friend. If you're an adult living in 2010 and you don't love "Jurassic Park" I still probably don't want to be your friend. Besides all the obvious fantastic things about JP; Jeff Goldblum, velociraptors, John Williams musical score, Jeff Goldblum, JP also released an absolutely amazing line of toys after the success of the film. I spent a good two years of my life sending Doctor Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm and a giant T-Rex on all sorts of crime fighting missions with Batman, the X-Men and what ever else assortment of odd ball toys I had acquired.
I could honestly keep going on and on. "The Shawshank Redemption", "Dumb and Dumber", and "The Lion King" all came out in '94, 2pac recorded the album 'Me Against the World', Beavis & Butthead and Ren & Stimpy ruled the television airwaves and Ben Affleck started on his journey to the top of the world. All of the things I just listed are very near and dear to my heart. The only thing that could have made this year any more epic and more vital to my existence would have been if Jordan and the Bulls could have won the championship for a fourth year in a row.
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Forrest Gump just might be the best movie ever made. I agree. It's a sprawling epic. The unplugged Nirvana album is a benchmark. It's like watching The Dark Knight. You know the lead's impending death is about to happen. It gives it all that much more meaning. Kurt was a man deeply in touch with his own emotions. He almost knew himself too well as his journals attest. His journals, by the way, are so amazing and sad. Here was a guy who poured out his thoughts on the page with his own style. His soul was soooo affected by music in his life. Just little things, like writing how he cried after listening to a certain song. I love that. But he also really was a tortured soul. I always wonder what other output he would have created had he not offed himself.
ReplyDeleteJurassic Park had a huge impact on me. What a movie! The first of its kind. Everything that came before dealt with clamations. It's filled with wonder and terror. I'll never forget seeing for the first time with my dad at the Pottery Cinema. At times I was genuinely scared. I was leaning back in my seat during that scene where the T-Rex got closer and closer to the jeep's side view mirror as they were being chased. And who can forget the scene with the raptors in the kitchen?!
Shawshank goes without saying. Dumb and Dumber was hilarious. I saw The Lion King - no kidding - 6 times in the theater. Let's not forget True Lies! Pearl Jam releases Vitalogy and starts a dumb battle with Ticketmaster, Soundgarden releases Superunknown, and I think Alice in Chains released Jar of Flies. Live comes out with one of my favories: Throwing Copper. Pulp Fiction makes a HUGE splash! Oasis comes out with Definitly Maybe: awesome! Speed, the movie, becomes Die Hard on a bus. Richard Nixon and Jacqueline Keneddy die.
pulp fiction, zach!
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