Forrest Gump

This is uncanny! I never saw Forrest Gump but I would like to think that if I had, I would have noticed the similarities almost identical elements between these two films! "From the writer who brought you Forrest Gump comes the touching story of a man-child told through flashbacks with a thick New Orleans voiceover . . ."

Every other Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar T-shirt!

You guys chipped in a lot of different ideas for this one, even though it's hard to imagine any other actors in this cast. I think the hardest role — and the most important, of course — is Forrest. It takes a special kind of actor to pull off this role in a charming and relatable way. I absolutely love jasmint's idea of Lee Pace, and I thought bigestivediscuit's Adam Sandler idea showed some good thinking.

Jenny's a tough one to replace, too, since the actress has to be believable as a teenager through to adulthood. Several of you suggested Sienna Miller which definitely captures the free-spirited side of the character. I also think Whip is right on the money with Reese Witherspoon, especially since we know she can nail that accent.

As for the other characters: khowell's idea of Matthew Fox to play Lt. Dan is cool, I agree with littlesnipsnap that a younger Forest Whitaker would make a great Bubba, and can't argue with paperdoll's suggestion for Forrest's mom, Susan Sarandon.

For the winner, I chose a recast list with good suggestions throughout — especially for Forrest and Lt. Dan. Congrats to alethe16!

To see who alethe16 chose, along with a new cast photo, read more

Every other Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar t-shirt!

That adorable moment between Tom Hanks and Sally Fields at the Emmys made me a little nostalgic for Robert Zemeckis's movie Forest Gump, so I thought I'd put it to a recast. (Sidenote: Remember how popular the soundtrack was, too? I totally had that thing on constant rotation at the time.)

So, who would you cast as the big-hearted lead character Forrest? I'm going to go ahead and say it's not fair to suggest Colin Hanks because he looks and sounds just like his father (seriously it's getting creepy!) — it's too easy! And what pretty lady would you cast as his life-long love, Jenny Curran (originally portrayed by Robin Wright Penn)?

What about Forrest's best buddies Lt. Dan Taylor ("Lieutenant Dan! Ice cream!") and Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue? Finally, what gentle but firm soul could play Forrest's mom Mrs. Gump as lovingly as Sally Field's could?

Leave your entry in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature Tuesday, Sept. 30, complete with a "new" cast photo. To see a list of characters to recast and a photo of the BuzzSugar t-shirt, read more

Because of Oscar Week (don't forget to cast your ballot!) and our Oscar Worthy Gadgets feature, I've been thinking about the gadgets of past Oscar winners too. One of my favorite movies of all time is Forrest Gump, and this epic movie never fails to bring me to tears — or make me want to listen to oldies. Forrest Gump wasn't exactly geeky himself, but fictionally, he's responsible for an obsession I and many of you have today. Forrest mentions that Lieutenant Dan has made an investment for him in "a fruit company" — we of course then see a letter with the unmistakable (vintage) Apple logo.

In present day 1994, the film Forrest Gump needed a whole team of geeks to make several important scenes possible. Gary Sinise (as Dan), who had lost his legs in Vietnam, had his legs "removed" through CGI. To enable Forrest to "meet" historical figures like JFK and John Lennon, the filmmakers used chroma key, warping, morphing and rotoscoping, and Tom Hanks was later added in. The film won Best Visual Effects for this, which was, as is the case for the many awards they won that year, completely deserved.

Shrimp is on my mind today (fyi it's National Shrimp Day) and I keep thinking of the shellfish's most famous big screen moment. Remember the shrimp scene from Forrest Gump where he and Bubba become friends in Vietnam, and Bubba describes his aspirations of opening a shrimp restaurant? This scene not only made every watcher hungry for seafood, but it also sparked a chain of Bubba Gump restaurants around the country. When Bubba is rattling through the list of ways one can cook with shrimp (gumbo, salad, stew, etc) he mentions coconut shrimp and I've got the recipe. You could watch Forrest Gump, make the shrimp dish, and celebrate National Shrimp Day all at the same time!

To watch the clip (seriously it never gets old - I laugh every time) and check out the recipe for coconut shrimp, read more

What do you get when you combine the beloved and schmaltzy Forrest Gump with the ultra-violent Pulp Fiction? Something only Mad TV could come up with...