THE MOVIES: "THE NINETIES"
CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET
Last week, this new CNN arts documentary series launched by looking at movies of the 1980s. Tonight’s episode focuses on, and is titled, “The Nineties,” and comes from the same executive production team – Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and Mark Herzog – that delivered so beautifully with its decades-focused CNN series from The Sixties to The 2000s. (I’m in the leadoff installments, devoted to TV, in each decade series, but that’s not why I’m so impressed by this series and these producers.) The beauty of The Movies is that, thanks to Hanks’ involvement, virtually everyone you’d want to hear from regarding movies in each decade shows up and is ready to play, starting with Steven Spielberg. In the 1990s, as a director, Spielberg gave us Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan – and if those were the only three films covered at length in “The Nineties,” I’d walk away happy. But while Hanks delivers and properly showcases his famous filmmaking friends and colleagues, he’s almost disappointingly shy about tooting his own horn. Last week, in “The Eighties,” his big-screen hits Splash and Big barely registered. But this week, for “The Nineties,” I don’t see how Hanks can avoid himself: His hits in that decade included A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story and, with Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan. And if you count the decade as ranging from 1991-2000, you could include Cast Away. But even so – I mean, come on. What can you say but: Hanks for the memories...