Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you on this occasion. :)

In all fairness, I did see greatness in Ford, Chaplin, and Hitchcock. I loved Stagecoach, The Searchers, My Darling Clementine, and so on. I loved North By Northwest, Rear Window, and Psycho. I loved Modern Times and The Gold Rush. It was only the films I mentioned that didn't quite hit the spot when I first saw them. And I was a teenager at the time. People grow and change.

It is for that reason that I remain utterly unrepentant in my opinion of Forrest Gump, for all the reasons I outline here. I think it is a terrific film. And I feel no shame in it rubbing shoulders with the other films I mention. I'm not given to snobbery about high or low, commercial versus niche cinema. All forms of cinema, popular or otherwise, have the potential for greatness.

Finally, I must say, calling Raging Bull "pedestrian" is a bit much! But thank you for your thoughts. :)