"Salvation Lies Within..."

Doing this MA and having all the problems with it that we've been having sometimes makes me wonder if its worth the time, money and effort. With all the irrelevant lectures, the absolutely pointless guest lectures and the botched student rep system employed by the MA, it's a wonder that Solent have noticed the £3000 we've each paid to learn this crap. Oh well.

Watching Doctor Who at 9:00am, as should be compulsory in the UK, brings to mind my recent binge of television shows on DVD. Boston Legal. The West Wing. Smallville (I know, I know), and a stab at 24. A little stab. I don't generally keep up with TV shows as they're aired. I don't have terrestrial, thats a big part of it, but I guess I just don't like to be constrained by the timetable of Radio Times. You could call it a pro-active approach to TV, rather than a Sky+ approach. Anyway.

My reviews, from today onwards, will be geared towards a slightly different purpose. I have, since its inception, been fascinated by the IMDb top 250 films of all time:

http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0120689

There are thousands of films out there, and more are arriving every week. From the good to the downright ridiculous, there is always something happening with film, thats just the nature of the industry. Now the IMDb top 250 is not a set list, as you can imagine. It does change from time to time, when a film is deemed worthy of it (bearing in mind that the films on the IMDb top 250 are decided by public vote). So, here's what we're going to do. I will, in descending order, be reviewing each film from this list, in as detailed a way as possible, to discern whether or not I feel they are worthy of their place on this list. As the list can change, I will review each film that as of today stands on the list.

So, with no ado, because there are 250 films to get through, and I still need to watch at least 100 of them.

1. The Shawshank Redemption

Now I'll be doing this in descending order so I can ask myself if one film deserves to be lower than one before it. So, starting off at the top, the mother of all films.

Shawshank is, as you had better know having seen it (if you haven't seen it, you do not deserve that air you're breathing just now) the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker incarcerated in Shawshank prison for a crime he didn't commit, and his friendship with Red, a prison entrepreneur and 'lifer'.

Now this is the first of a trilogy of collaborations between Frank Darabont and one Stephen King (The Green Mile, which is the second chronologically, is also in the top 250, whereas The Mist is not) and the dark, gritty undertone of the antagonist in this one shows very well. Darabont, when working from King material, seems to have a sense of the underlying evil in his antagonists, and he shoots them incredibly. I can imagine if you were to ask a few people what their favourite part of Shawshank is, they would say "the reveal of the tunnel", and thats one hell of an iconic scene. But if I had to push the boat out, I'd say that the performances of Bob Gunton as Warden Norton and Clancy Brown as Captain Hadley really help make this film memorable. Every film needs a strong antagonist to make it work, and Shawshank, thanks to an excellent script and fantastic cinematography, has a pair of great antagonists.

See, I often find myself trying to find something I would change in a film, even a good one. The problem is, Shawshank is essentially the closest to perfect that I have seen in a film. It's perfectly balanced, no throwaway lines of dialogue, no unnecessary action sequences. It's all in the right place. The only thing I can fault is the use of voice over, but there are two reasons why this really doesn't matter. The first is because the use of voice over really sets the mood for this film, it doesn't really give anything away and thus is not of any detriment to the story .The second, is because its Morgan Freeman. Quite frankly, that man could voice over my life.

So, to summarise. This film is awesome. Number 1 spot in the top 250 is a safe bet for Shawshank. Explains why its been up there since day one.

Next up - The Godfather.