WHEN they made Forrest Gump they did everything by the Hollywood Book of Emotional Blackmail. A simple hero with a haircut designed to illicit sympathy; a pretty girl next door with whom he falls in love; a terrible illness, a bit of Vietnam and some special effects to give the public relations people something to talk about. This is not cynicism. It is just the way it is. And it is why Forrest Gump will probably win the Oscar for Best Picture, when Pulp Fiction is a more intelligent and superior example of film-making. Hurrah for Forrest. He's a good American egg.
You can see the action as it happens - oh thank you, I'm speechless, really - in The 67th Annual Academy Awards Live (Pearl, 12.00 noon). How far Pearl will get into the serious business of the day it is difficult to say. As usual the Oscars have been truncated by Education Television, which the Government cannot bear us to do without. Pearl re-runs the best bits in The 67th Annual Academy Awards later (8.30pm).
World channel chips in with the snappily-monikered E! Entertainment Television Academy Awards Pre-show & Post-Show (8.00pm). For some reason that title makes me think of giving birth. The Pre-Show deals with the arriving luvvies and the Post-Show takes us backstage at the Shrine Auditorium, promising exciting interviews with the winners.
For what it's worth, those winners will probably include Forrest Gump as Best Picture, John Travolta as Best Actor, Jodie Foster as Best Actress and Robert Zemeckis for Best Director (Forrest Gump). That leaves only the minor awards to fight over.
BACK on Earth, Hong Kong Connection (Pearl, 6.50pm) follows a group of students from the territory on a trip to South Africa, where they were doing a bit of environmental research.
Eye On Hong Kong (Pearl, 7.15pm), which is hosted by Annamarie Wood, includes news of another biography of Bruce Lee, a 73-year-old marathon runner and an investigation by Danny Fung into why we all hate Hong Kong, but go on living here anyway. John Dykes reviews Jungle Book - a little birdie tells me it's not a masterpiece - and Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight, which stars Bill Zane.
