The Shawshank Redemption
May 27, 2004 5:24 PM Subscribe
Does anybody else inexplicably become hypnotized by the Shawshank Redemption network when they're flipping through channels? Is there anybody in the TV watching universe who hasn't seen the Shawshank Redemption by now? How many times do you think you've seen parts of it?
I have to admit, I become rapt and stop channel surfing when I happen to see it on TV. It's because I love 2 scenes in that movie so much: the beer on the rooftop scene, and the one near the end when Red finds the box that was buried for him. Oh yeah and the part where they realize Andy Dufresne has escaped. That's 3.
And I read the story too, way before it became a movie. But this is one of those rare instances where the movie is as good as, or is possibly better than, the book it came from.
posted by contessa at 5:39 PM on May 27, 2004
And I read the story too, way before it became a movie. But this is one of those rare instances where the movie is as good as, or is possibly better than, the book it came from.
posted by contessa at 5:39 PM on May 27, 2004
I know what you mean. I think its Morgan Freeman's narration. His voice is so soothing. It sounds like your grandpa telling you some fantastic tale and you just gotta stop and listen.
posted by vacapinta at 5:50 PM on May 27, 2004
posted by vacapinta at 5:50 PM on May 27, 2004
I always get happy chills during the "hands in the air after crawling through the sewer" scene.
posted by onlyconnect at 5:55 PM on May 27, 2004
posted by onlyconnect at 5:55 PM on May 27, 2004
Well, according to the IMDB, Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) is the #2 film of all time.
So, realistically, it's that popular
I'm stuck in a crappy hotel watching it now, funny you ask.
Get busy living, or get busy dying. That's goddamn right. For the second time in my life I'm guilty of committing a crime: Parole Violation. 'Course I doubt they'll toss up any road blocks for that, not for an old crook like me. I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I imagine it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey, whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border... I hope to see my friend and shake his hand... I hope the pacific is a blue as it has been in my dreams... I hope...
posted by filmgeek at 5:56 PM on May 27, 2004 [1 favorite]
So, realistically, it's that popular
I'm stuck in a crappy hotel watching it now, funny you ask.
Get busy living, or get busy dying. That's goddamn right. For the second time in my life I'm guilty of committing a crime: Parole Violation. 'Course I doubt they'll toss up any road blocks for that, not for an old crook like me. I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I imagine it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey, whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border... I hope to see my friend and shake his hand... I hope the pacific is a blue as it has been in my dreams... I hope...
posted by filmgeek at 5:56 PM on May 27, 2004 [1 favorite]
this is one of those rare instances where the movie is as good as, or is possibly better than, the book it came from
Nah. The movie was good. Real good. But the story was better. A lot funnier. A lot darker.
Is this Shawshank Redemption Channel something I can get with my rabbit ears?
posted by scarabic at 6:07 PM on May 27, 2004
Nah. The movie was good. Real good. But the story was better. A lot funnier. A lot darker.
Is this Shawshank Redemption Channel something I can get with my rabbit ears?
posted by scarabic at 6:07 PM on May 27, 2004
I even have Shawshank redemption in my Xvid movie collection. Criterion collection?
posted by Keyser Soze at 6:13 PM on May 27, 2004
posted by Keyser Soze at 6:13 PM on May 27, 2004
::Raises Hand::
I, sir, have not seen this movie, not even in little snippets.
(But I sure do watch a lot less TV than I used to, so that's probably it)
posted by briank at 6:28 PM on May 27, 2004
I, sir, have not seen this movie, not even in little snippets.
(But I sure do watch a lot less TV than I used to, so that's probably it)
posted by briank at 6:28 PM on May 27, 2004
Frank Darabont, may God bless his sentimental heart, is at least one of the very few directors working in today's big-budget Hollywood system who doesn't necessarily assume that his audience is made of 100% morons.
it's a rare quality, nowadays. I'm willing to forgive him a lot of things (among them The Green mile) simply because of that basic respect for his audience.
by the way, isn't it weird how people develop deep-seated fetishes for not-that-great movies made by incredibly sentimental directors (Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, Darabont's Shawshank...)
posted by matteo at 6:29 PM on May 27, 2004
it's a rare quality, nowadays. I'm willing to forgive him a lot of things (among them The Green mile) simply because of that basic respect for his audience.
by the way, isn't it weird how people develop deep-seated fetishes for not-that-great movies made by incredibly sentimental directors (Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, Darabont's Shawshank...)
posted by matteo at 6:29 PM on May 27, 2004
I've seen it zero times. And haven't read the book.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:30 PM on May 27, 2004
posted by five fresh fish at 6:30 PM on May 27, 2004
I've seen a few minutes of it, but never the entire thing, it's on my list though.
posted by drezdn at 12:08 AM on May 28, 2004
posted by drezdn at 12:08 AM on May 28, 2004
I *think* I've seen it all the way through once, at my parents' house. What I saw was pretty good: something I'd watch if it were on television, but not something I'd go out of my way to rent.
The thing is that TNT - which I think is the channel in question - many years ago gave Godhead Status to a bunch of movies it had acquired. "Shawshank Redemption" was one of them. "Alien" was another, and so was "The Silence of the Lambs".
There were ads in the subway about what they'd decided were the greatest movies of all time, and when they included "The Shawshank Redemption", it seemed premature to me; the movie had come out only a couple of years before. So had many of the others.
posted by interrobang at 12:28 AM on May 28, 2004
The thing is that TNT - which I think is the channel in question - many years ago gave Godhead Status to a bunch of movies it had acquired. "Shawshank Redemption" was one of them. "Alien" was another, and so was "The Silence of the Lambs".
There were ads in the subway about what they'd decided were the greatest movies of all time, and when they included "The Shawshank Redemption", it seemed premature to me; the movie had come out only a couple of years before. So had many of the others.
posted by interrobang at 12:28 AM on May 28, 2004
"The New Classics"
The channel might be TBS, they are basically interchangeable.
posted by modofo at 12:48 AM on May 28, 2004
The channel might be TBS, they are basically interchangeable.
posted by modofo at 12:48 AM on May 28, 2004
Not once. But my tv level is heretically low for an Angelino.
(You know, someone who lives in LA)
(Not someone who likes Angeline)
posted by namespan at 1:01 AM on May 28, 2004
(You know, someone who lives in LA)
(Not someone who likes Angeline)
posted by namespan at 1:01 AM on May 28, 2004
If you're Shawshank nuts and passing through Ohio, consider taking a tour of the Mansfield Reformatory where a bunch of scenes were filmed (although many of the outbuildings were torn down after TSR was made).
Or just browse through the list of Scenes from Shawshank filmed at/near Mansfield (Ohio).
posted by gluechunk at 1:24 AM on May 28, 2004
Or just browse through the list of Scenes from Shawshank filmed at/near Mansfield (Ohio).
posted by gluechunk at 1:24 AM on May 28, 2004
I've seen the end but never the beginning of the movie, and that only once when it was running as the filler of the week on ABC.
posted by calwatch at 1:38 AM on May 28, 2004
posted by calwatch at 1:38 AM on May 28, 2004
"The New Classics"
That's the TNT moniker that was developed specifically for Shawshank and then other films were added to the category over time.
Like calwatch, I've seen the end, never the beginning, and most -- but not all -- of the middle, but wholly out of sequence. I've pieced together the story fairly well now, but I will eventually rent it and watch it in its original, unedited version so that I can finally be at Peace about Shawshank, once and for all.
posted by Dreama at 3:48 AM on May 28, 2004
That's the TNT moniker that was developed specifically for Shawshank and then other films were added to the category over time.
Like calwatch, I've seen the end, never the beginning, and most -- but not all -- of the middle, but wholly out of sequence. I've pieced together the story fairly well now, but I will eventually rent it and watch it in its original, unedited version so that I can finally be at Peace about Shawshank, once and for all.
posted by Dreama at 3:48 AM on May 28, 2004
If you are going to watch Shawshank redemption, do it without the poor cutting and expletive removal versions being hailed all over TNT. Do yourself a big favor. E-mail me if you have high speed internet.
posted by Keyser Soze at 4:26 AM on May 28, 2004
posted by Keyser Soze at 4:26 AM on May 28, 2004
Seen it. Several times. Decent at first, but it grows OFF of you over time. I almost can't stand it now. And, of course, Tim Robbins is an idiot. Oops - sorry - thought this was The Blue for a moment.
But you're right about Freeman's voice -- it has a wonderful, soothing quality about it.
posted by davidmsc at 4:46 AM on May 28, 2004
But you're right about Freeman's voice -- it has a wonderful, soothing quality about it.
posted by davidmsc at 4:46 AM on May 28, 2004
Mansfield Reformatory is only open for tours during the warm weather months. You can choose from several different tours; including one that specifically hits all the spots where movies where filmed.
I've been on most of the tours they offer, and enjoyed all of them. If you're the type that likes urban exploration, you'll like touring the reformatory.
posted by xena at 5:32 AM on May 28, 2004
I've been on most of the tours they offer, and enjoyed all of them. If you're the type that likes urban exploration, you'll like touring the reformatory.
posted by xena at 5:32 AM on May 28, 2004
I also always end up staying to watch if I stumble upon it while surfing. I want to see that escape too.
But I absolutely despise the final scene on the beach - I think the story needs to end (as it does in the novella) on the bus, with Red talking about hope and looking to the future. That's the whole point of the movie, the redemptive power of hope, and showing you the happy ending undercuts it I think. So I always turn it off just before the beach scene.
I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:33 AM on May 28, 2004
But I absolutely despise the final scene on the beach - I think the story needs to end (as it does in the novella) on the bus, with Red talking about hope and looking to the future. That's the whole point of the movie, the redemptive power of hope, and showing you the happy ending undercuts it I think. So I always turn it off just before the beach scene.
I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:33 AM on May 28, 2004
My wife and I will *always* stop for Shawshank. I don't know if it's my favorite movie, but it certainly has the best *ending* of eny movie ever. My favorite is the opera scene; the look on Andy's face, and the narration:
I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.posted by vraxoin at 6:35 AM on May 28, 2004
Thank you, Stan Chin and everyone. I enjoyed this post thoroughly. And I watched a bit of SR last night.
posted by theora55 at 6:38 AM on May 28, 2004
posted by theora55 at 6:38 AM on May 28, 2004
Frank Darabont. . . doesn't necessarily assume that his audience is made of 100% morons.
See, and I totally disagree. I think his movies are the definition of mediocre. Including The Shawshank Redemption.
Don't get me wrong: it's an extremely well-made movie, and Morgan Freeman is tremendous in it, but it's also dangerously middle-brow. It doesn't contain a single idea that can be debated or disagreed with: it takes a stand that good people are good, and bad people are bad, and that's why nearly everyone likes it - because it's designed for the lowest common denominator, albeit with very high production values.
posted by rocketman at 6:49 AM on May 28, 2004
See, and I totally disagree. I think his movies are the definition of mediocre. Including The Shawshank Redemption.
Don't get me wrong: it's an extremely well-made movie, and Morgan Freeman is tremendous in it, but it's also dangerously middle-brow. It doesn't contain a single idea that can be debated or disagreed with: it takes a stand that good people are good, and bad people are bad, and that's why nearly everyone likes it - because it's designed for the lowest common denominator, albeit with very high production values.
posted by rocketman at 6:49 AM on May 28, 2004
How can something be "dangerously" middle-brow? Who or what does it threaten?
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:59 AM on May 28, 2004
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:59 AM on May 28, 2004
I don't know what it is about the movie either, but I can't help but watch it when the opportunity presents itself, and have yet to not thrououghly enjoy watching some or all of it. I've seen it completely more than a dozen times, plus houndreds of pieces, and I own it, two copies actually.
And while it doesn't inspire any great "I love this movie" passion, nor does it challenge me to question or debate, it gives me warm fuzzies and does quite effectively leave me with that sense of hope that Red talks about. I don't think it's a passionate movie to begin with, it's just one place and (mostly) one man and the central struggle of his life: escaping from the place he doesn't belong, but at the same time does. Coming to terms with something that's been thrust upon you, and how its effectively changed your life forever, even while always working to right that basic wrong, maybe that's something alot people can relate to, or want to relate to. I think it's simplicity is its charm actually. Sometimes you just want to know that justice prevails (even if just in a movie).
posted by nelleish at 7:18 AM on May 28, 2004
And while it doesn't inspire any great "I love this movie" passion, nor does it challenge me to question or debate, it gives me warm fuzzies and does quite effectively leave me with that sense of hope that Red talks about. I don't think it's a passionate movie to begin with, it's just one place and (mostly) one man and the central struggle of his life: escaping from the place he doesn't belong, but at the same time does. Coming to terms with something that's been thrust upon you, and how its effectively changed your life forever, even while always working to right that basic wrong, maybe that's something alot people can relate to, or want to relate to. I think it's simplicity is its charm actually. Sometimes you just want to know that justice prevails (even if just in a movie).
posted by nelleish at 7:18 AM on May 28, 2004
So what, if I watch a movie that I find entertaining and beautifully written, my powers of original thought are being threatened because it's not controversial? Ella Mae, go hide the children!
And anyway, I do find that movie thought-provoking, especially on the whole theme of cages, and how we all live in them and how some us find it easier inside than out.
But I guess I'm just a knuckledragger.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:24 AM on May 28, 2004
And anyway, I do find that movie thought-provoking, especially on the whole theme of cages, and how we all live in them and how some us find it easier inside than out.
But I guess I'm just a knuckledragger.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:24 AM on May 28, 2004
Keyser
1) Good to hear from you.
2) Don't do that. If you want any chance of seeing something other than fireball movies, you gotta support - with hard cash - the good stuff that's out there. A copy of SR costs what? Ten bucks? Twenty? We can afford it.
posted by mojohand at 8:11 AM on May 28, 2004
1) Good to hear from you.
2) Don't do that. If you want any chance of seeing something other than fireball movies, you gotta support - with hard cash - the good stuff that's out there. A copy of SR costs what? Ten bucks? Twenty? We can afford it.
posted by mojohand at 8:11 AM on May 28, 2004
I'm pretty sure I've seen it, but reading this thread makes me wonder if I'm thinking of a different movie. What I remember was a perfectly ordinary sappy hollywood flick. I don't think I disliked it, but I certainly don't hold it in any special esteem either...
posted by mdn at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2004
posted by mdn at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2004
Seen it least 2 or 3 times all the way through, and it feels like I've seen it another 50 kajillion times in snippets. I always seem to stumble upon it right at the rooftop beer-drinking scene. "We felt like kings of all creation...."
posted by scody at 12:54 PM on May 28, 2004
posted by scody at 12:54 PM on May 28, 2004
Didn't the SR Network take over the Outlaw Josey Wales channel?
posted by joaquim at 1:09 PM on May 28, 2004
posted by joaquim at 1:09 PM on May 28, 2004
Morgan Freeman's narration in SR is just the logical extension of his role as "Easy Reader" on the Electric Company. The word I think we're searching for to describe it is mellifluous.
About the only movie that gets aired as/more often as SR on TBS has to be "Dirty Harry"...I find myself watching that almost every time, too.
posted by filmgoerjuan at 10:43 PM on May 28, 2004
About the only movie that gets aired as/more often as SR on TBS has to be "Dirty Harry"...I find myself watching that almost every time, too.
posted by filmgoerjuan at 10:43 PM on May 28, 2004
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