1994

Best Picture Nominees:

Forrest Gump *
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Pulp Fiction
Quiz Show
The Shawshank Redemption

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Forrest Gump - A film that I was not that jazzed about seeing, but saw with my parents.  I found it endless and a little incredible.  This simple man had an amazing life and totally unaware of that he was in the middle of it.  More than anything, it was a chance for Tom Hanks to play a bunch of characters contained within one character, and I feel like the success of this film was augmented by the opportunity to have Hanks win Best Actor two years in a row.

Four Weddings and a Funeral - A fun comedic romp with Andie McDowell and Hugh Grant.  I like this film, but it didn't break any exciting ground here.

Pulp Fiction - A really unique film that combined action with interesting dialogue... with a lot of this dialogue making its way into pop culture.  A tour de force that should have won more than 1 Oscar.

Quiz Show - The story of how quiz competitions in the 50s turned out to be fixed and how the scandal unfolded.  Last year's breakout star (Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth, in Schindler's List) has a glamorous turn as Charles van Doren.

The Shawshank Redemption - An interesting adaptation of a Stephen King short story, but with genius casting and a great screenplay.  While this film didn't do that well in its initial run, through video rentals, it has made a lot of all-time lists and deservedly so.

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My rankings of the Best Picture nominees:

1.  The Shawshank Redemption
2.  Pulp Fiction
3.  Four Weddings and a Funeral
4.  Forrest Gump
5.  Quiz Show