The Favorite Films Of My Lifetime: 1994

I remember following the 1994 Oscar race pretty closely.  It was a pretty high profile year from what I can remember.  And 12 year old Brandon had only seen Forrest Gump at the time of the race.  And little Brandon was really moved and affected by Forrest Gump.  Plus he was a Tom Hanks fan.  So, he was really rooting for that movie at the time and had a fantastic night watching that awards ceremony.  Well, in retrospect, older Brandon thinks the Oscars may have gotten this one pretty wrong.  But, its the one that's hot in the moment.  And sometimes, some movie are better off getting snubbed and not winning the award.  Movies that don't even get nominated become far more remembered and legendary more often than most Best Picture winners.  I still enjoy Forrest Gump, but I think maybe there was a better choice.

SUPERMAN LIVES: The Superman Film That Never Was

Slated for release in the summer of 1998, in time for the 60th anniversary of Superman's first appearance, was the return of  the last son of krypton in Superman Lives.  In 1996, after seeing Mallrats, Warner Bros brought in Kevin Smith based on the presumption that he had a large knowledge of all things Superman because of a choice line of dialogue in the movie.  Smith was commissioned to flesh out a script with producer Jon Peters.  Things went kind of crazy with that whole process (and you can get more details below).  Smith fleshed out a script using elements of the Doomsday storyline featuring the death of Superman.  The script also featured villains Brainiac and The Eradicator.  Smith's ideal casting were his usual crop of characters.  However, things moved on and so did Smith.