The Shawshank Redemption...

iaresee

iaresee

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...might be my most favorite movie of all time. I've lost count of the number of times I've watched it now and it gets me in all the feels every single time through. Morgan Freeman is damn near perfect in it.

And to top it off it's a Stephen King story. His stories don't usually translate so well to the sliver screen.

The 13-year old is reading Cujo and we got to talking about how great King's books are and how most of the movies based on them (and mini-series') turn out to be not so great. The nuances and many parallel threads in his better scary books don't work in a 2h format.

But then I started talking up Misery. And how the more single threaded story line did well as a movie. And Shawshank. How it was utterly perfect as a movie.

Tonight we sat down and watched Shawshank together and he was transfixed. A good movie is a good movie is a good movie. And it was great to share the experience with him and see his reaction to it all for the first time.

It was a good evening.
 
vetteboy79 said:
Green Mile was really good as well IMO, especially given the way that it was written.

Pet Sematary, not so much.

I haven't watched any of the IT movies, but I'm skeptical...as long as it is I've read that book a few times. Probably would rather just keep my own memories of it.
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I thought the first IT film was fantastic, but I had not read the book for a very long time. The second was okay, but the adult actors were not nearly as good as the kid actors. The director was good though; same guy who made Mama, a very good and creepy film.
 
Great parenting story. Can be such a challenge--on a daily basis--to instill the deeper arts
in our children when the most superficial of forms are in their faces all day, every damn day.

I love hearing of parenting wins like this that just happen without a lot of prodding and poking
from Ma or Pa. :)
 
Same here on Shawshank being an all-time favorite. Green Mile too. Watched it many times. I'll even watch it on a streaming service (or whatever you call em) when it comes up, even though I have the DVD! I clearly remember my first viewing: When the (spoiler alert)



warden shot himself, I jumped up off the couch, and fist-pumped in the air, yelling YEAH YEAH!! My old man once told me the sign of a great actor was if he was the bad guy, and ya really hated him. ;) I'd have to agree in the case of the warden and Hadley.
A really long book, but surprisingly, I couldn't put down (which is not good for, you know, life stuff) is The Dome. I've even read it twice. Tried to watch the show, but wow did that suck!
I liked the Pet Semetary book much better than the movie also, but that's mostly because I think the acting was really poor.
Good stuff!
 
I’ll have to re-visit The Green Mile. I only recall the failed execution scenes being disturbing.
 
State of Epicicity said:
For anyone who likes Tim Robbins' performance in that, I highly recommend trying Jacob's Ladder, one of my favorite films. It's extremely disturbing, but I love it dearly, and he's incredible in it.
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Bull Durham too. Always looking for recommendations on good movies. I'll have to check it out. Thanks
 
TSJMajesty said:
Bull Durham too. Always looking for recommendations on good movies. I'll have to check it out. Thanks
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Vice versa! I've never seen Bull Durham. I cannot stand Kevin Costner haha, so I never gave it a shot, even though I completely love Revenge. But maybe that had more to do with Tony Scott at his most brutal. I'll give that a try; I think the quality of a film is always a product of its zeitgeist. You can have a director your think is trash randomly come out with a damn masterpiece; same with actors. haha.
 
State of Epicicity said:
Vice versa! I've never seen Bull Durham. I cannot stand Kevin Costner haha, so I never gave it a shot, even though I completely love Revenge. But maybe that had more to do with Tony Scott at his most brutal. I'll give that a try; I think the quality of a film is always a product of its zeitgeist. You can have a director your think is trash randomly come out with a damn masterpiece; same with actors. haha.
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Costner always plays his character in every movie the same. He is the male counterpart to Barbara Bain of Space:1999 fame. Some movies that fits, but for Robin Hood, in particular, it really, really, really, really, really doesn't. Marty Feldman as a romantic lead would be better, and he's been dead since the early '80s....
 
Shawshank is easily my No 1! My eldest just turned 13 this weekend, I think that is definitely a good excuse for a movie night with her!

Next on my list would be The Usual Suspects (although a little shaky with recent events).

Weirdly, I felt like watching an older comedy last week so I put on Ruthless People (my wife hadn't seen it) and Bette Midler had us in stitches!
 
Shawshank is a tie for my favorite movie of all time, shared with Forrest Gump. Another good "feels" movie.

@iaresee , I have a 4 year old boy, and one of the hardest parts of being a parent has been the patience I must exude, in waiting for the days when I get to show him films like Shawshank. I'm excited for you that you were able to have one of those moments.
 
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