These are fun, off the cuff discussions on movies and streaming series, both new and old together we’ll attempt to bridge the gap between Hollywood industry insider and the casual viewer. This is Alec and I'm Ben and you're listening to the Cinema A to B podcast, Hey everybody. Welcome to Cinema A to B where I and Ben discuss movies. It's fun and you get to watch and listen. So today we're gonna be talking about the 1994 sleeper hit, The Shawshank Redemption. Definitely the sleeper hit.
It took many years, but Ben, we're going to hit back on this great old movie. What are your thoughts? This is the one. This is. So I rearranged my top ten recently and if somebody hasn't done this and is listening, I highly I cannot stress enough how important it is for a movie lover to create and revise their ten favorite films. The order is not as important as figuring out and settling on ten movies, and I might get into a way that I feel like that's important later.
But for the sake of brevity in getting into this movie right now, at this moment in time, my number one favorite film is The Shawshank Redemption. That's kind of in a recent shuffle. It was always top three or four, but I think a lot of it is kind of my age and some stuff's kind of got moved around. So this thing is I think it's a perfect film and I don't there aren't that many that I could say that about. I literally do.
I think this is this is one of the handful of movies that is perfect in every way from from who they've cast, who directed the source material, the cinematography, the pacing structure. It has one of my favorite endings of all time in a movie. It's probably a top three, three or four ending. So for me, this thing kind of has it all, except it doesn't really have. Instead of a traditional romance, it has it has probably the best bromance of any movie ever made.
So it doesn't it doesn't have a traditional romantic element to it. I will watch this any time it randomly shows up, I own it. But any time it randomly shows up on a cable network, I'll stop and watch. I probably won't watch the whole thing, but I'll I'll at least sit down and watch 20, 30 minutes of it. Now, I'm that big of a fan of it, and then I'm a big fan of what they term redemptive cinema. And this movie is just it's it's got it in the title, for Crying Out Loud.
It's kind of the poster child for redemptive cinema. I will watch movies with downer endings are not I'm not opposed to the downer ending, right. I think there's a place for that. I think there's a place for movies like Se7en or 12 Monkeys. Yeah, but if something that I'm going to go back and watch again and again, for the most part, a lot of them have more redemptive, uplifting endings. And I think Shawshank got one of the best that that's that helicopter shot.
Kind of a God shot is what they call it on the beach. Just gets me gets me right in the feels every every time. The only other movie that I think emotionally will hit me like that now is probably the end of Field of Dreams. But that's a different, different beast. It's kind of a different emotion. But yeah, this this story's incredible.
The adaptation is really good based on the fact that it was, you know, the Stephen King source material's a little bit different and it's King has even mentioned this is his favorite adaptation of of anything he's he's done and you can see why the only mind blowing thing is is like you said sleeper hit. Yeah bombed in the box office it's it's a movie that is its success now is credited to the home video market.
Well and the fact that it was cheap to air on TV so you know those cable channels would just throw it on at any point because it was dirt, dirt cheap. So it got a wide audience of people who are flipping through the channels now. I mean, funny enough, like, I have probably seen this movie all the way through from start to finish twice in my life. And that may be even like I mean, it may have only been really once that I've actually watched it.
Like, Yeah, because I mean, it comes on so much of that I'm, you know, on TV or flipping through. I mean literally like three months ago we, we came home from something from overnight week and my buddy was who was housesitting and dog sitting had on the TV and the wife and I just sat down and we started watching it, like with commercials. I'm like, I own this movie. Like, literally, we could have just popped it in. We would not have watched with commercials, but we were just watching it.
And then like, happens all the time, like you said, like we didn't watch the whole thing, but we caught 20, 30, you know, maybe an hour of it. And we we came in with my favorite scene. I mean, like, I walked down and it was the roofing scene where, Oh, yeah, that's my favorite, too. Yeah, that's actually my favorite scene. And so I'm like, I got to watch this, but then it just pulls you in.
Like you said, it's not a lot happens, but there's so much relationship building, there's so much kind of story elements that it's not it's not boring ever. Like, it's not slow, it doesn't feel slow. It doesn't feel ever like it's taking too long. It feels paced really, really well. I actually preference actually to go back and watch the intro again because I couldn't remember exactly how it intros.
And I and I remember like what it's like 10 minutes before we even get the narration from Morgan Freeman because it's like that for maybe not even 10 minutes, but because there's that full sequence of him getting, you know, essentially it's like a movie like begins. But we don't meet its storyteller until, you know, like ten, 20 that's into the movie. Yeah. So which I mean, it was a good choice and I liked it. I liked it coming from Morgan's perspective and not from Tim Robbins.
Like, I felt like that was a really good decision and a really good kind of, you know, artistic choice. I haven't read the books. I don't know from whose perspective it's told from. If it is or if it's just all third person stuff. But I really liked that choice. Darabont's choice in that. Yeah. And you know, one of the great anecdotes, it's pretty widely known as that. You know, the joke is now Morgan Freeman's, you know, his nickname.
They kept his nickname Red from the from the source material. But in the source material, he was Scotch Irish. But I love that the which made sense it isn't acting would be red but they kept it and cast Morgan Freeman, which was which was a brilliant decision. Yeah. You know in your mind, you know, in that role. No. And you remind me that, you know, with the narration in this movie, I realize like in my top four or five movies, I think at least three of them are heavily narrated.
This this is one. Goodfellas is another. That's right. That yeah. And it's probably not in my top three or four anymore. But what Fight Club obviously has got heavy narration throughout as well. And I knew that I knew some people that just loathed movies with with narration considered a lazy, a lazy, basically a lazy filmmaking method and obviously I completely disagree. I think I think there's a place for it because this movie doesn't ever they never narrate what you're seeing on screen.
They're always adding some other component. I can see where somebody would get annoyed with a movie that narrates. Literally, what you're seeing on screen is like, Well, what's the point of this? But there's always there's always more that that red adds to the situation that he that frankly only he's privy to you do you feel like this this third party that's in prison with them. Mm hmm. That's that's kind of been privy to what's going on.
And they keep the mystery to, like, I like the fact because, like, as you're talking about movies in their narrative, they're just talking about everything I'm thinking of, like Blade Runner. Like how that narration is just terrible, like, takes all of kind of mystery and intrigue. Not intrigue, but like, like just ruins the film, you know? Just just ruins the film. I mean, I know are people out there who love the narration and blade Runner and it's a small group. Yeah, it's a small group.
And most of them that was the first the first time they saw it was with narration. And so they were open to it. But that's widely been rejected now and Yeah, yeah. But that's, yeah, back to, to Shawshank. You know this obviously this movie was shot by my favorite cinematographer of all time as well. It was Roger Deakins. Deakins who took forever before he like, finally won his his Oscar. I think he's got to now. But I mean can you imagine someone lensed? He wins this one?
Did he get his Oscar for his first one? Yeah. Let me look it up real quick. He finally won in 2018 for Blade Runner 2049, and then he won again two years later for 1917. Oh, yeah. But let me run down the other movies that he shot and only one and got nominated for an Academy Award for his first nomination for Academy Award for best cinematography was The Shawshank Redemption. He doesn't win shoots. Fargo O Brother, Where Art Thou? No Country for Old Men. Oh, he cast same year.
He's nominated twice in a way for For No Country for Old Men and the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which I highly recommend. People watch that movie. It's it's a sleeper. It's really good. Brad Pitt gives a killer performance in that movie. He's nominated for Skyfall. Oh, prisoners, Beautiful Sicario, like the list goes on, right? I mean, he's been nominated dozens times and finally won for Blade Runner 2049 in 1917. Cinematography in Shawshank is second to none.
Yeah, I mean, it's one of the it's that other component where I'm like, this is perfection. Like you you know you get a heavy what I like to term is a heavy camera like it's it's a lot of it's a lot of tracking and heavy dolly shots like it's not a bunch of I think there's some Steadicam in there cause getting into cells and stuff in the prison would be a really tight fit for a for kind of a, a big dolly rig.
Yeah, but you have you've kind of a very heavy, established camera shots and then his ability to shoot that prison and just obviously, it's a it's a haunting space to shoot in. But he definitely makes that an additional character in the way that he he shot it. Like Shawshank is a major character. Just the way it looks, the way it feels this this movie, I do consider basically perfect. It just I can't find I can't poke holes in it anywhere. And each of the characters are like, fantastic.
Like, they're different enough that they're really, you know, really interesting on their own. Even the, you know, the BBC characters or whatever, they're very, you know, interesting to watch. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is like, oh, if you take that out, you know, it will be run smoother. No, no, none of that whatsoever.
This is definitely a movie that is done like does not need to be revisited by Darabont and be like, let's reedit it or let's add this or, you know, No, it's it's good just the way it is. Yeah. And the secondary characters are in much like it reminds me of Heat because the secondary talent and this is, is really on full display with, you know, guys like William Sadler and Clancy Brown as the as the captain. He's great. He's so good at it.
This just everybody this that might even be on screen for like four or 5 minutes is just it's almost like I don't know how much of it's lightning in a bottle, but it's it's almost as if the you know, Tim Robbins and especially Morgan Freeman kind of seem to set the tone in like caliber of acting that is going to be, you know, that we're going to establish while we're shooting Shawshank and everybody else just kind of rises to the occasion.
And then clearly, Darabont has got some sort of secret sauce going here with with the performances. Is getting out of out of these guys because everybody it there is not a moment where anybody feels like they're acting. I agree And this is his first major movie to for Damon.
I mean he had done some like looking at it like a video, a TV movie and a short beforehand, apparently like as a director, like so this is his first outing for a full length feature film that was screened in theaters, but then which was a huge, huge risk for him to kind of take Bow. And obviously it didn't pay off at first. So, you know, No, no. Can you imagine like you're right out of the gate, more or less, you direct what's widely considered one of the greatest films ever.
But he's never lived up to it. I mean, like, I mean, I really like the Green Mile. I really like the Majestic, but they're definitely not on the same caliber of Shawshank, you know? No. And I think he was always more of a writer than he was an actual director. But when you're a great writer and you know how to work with actors and then you hire Roger Deakins, good things happen. Yeah. Sam Mendez can tell you that. I mean, he came from a theater background.
They pair him up with Roger Deakins, and he's winning Oscars. You don't have to worry about the camera when you hire Roger Deakins. You can just focus on directing actors, which is not every director works that way, right? Like Michael Mann operates. Camera. You know, you'll see Ridley Scott with a camera on his shoulder. You'll see James Cameron operate camera. And Spielberg occasionally will have the camera. But Darabont, you know, he didn't have to direct that movie this way.
He was able to have Deakins worry about what the framing was and the blocking and all that. And so I think it comes through that he's really just getting great performances out of out of everybody. I feel like Tim Robbins kind of gets overlooked in this movie by Morgan Freeman. Yeah, to a certain extent. But you know, it is it's it's Tim Robbins. Best performance, Hands down, best performer. Hands down. It's it's Yeah. And I think people forget like, he's kind of an unconventional leading man.
But I think people forget like how good of an actor Tim Robbins is and and he was kind of, you know late eighties early nineties were kind of his time to shine and then it kind of his career didn't fall off a cliff. It just he kind of aged out of some roles I think but well and he did he did those like crazy roles pretty well too, where like he did the leading man role, but his bread and butter was sorry was 100% like some of those weirder roles and things. I mean, Bull Durham.
Mm hmm. The Hudsucker Proxy, You know, High Fidelity. I mean, his all, you know, not cameo got on that yesterday. Yeah, Yeah. He's fantastic in that, you know he's always great but he's he's Merlin and Top Gun he I always forget that he's in Top Gun. Yeah. Yeah. He's, he's Marv's rear for the rest of the. That's right. At the end it was great in bold bolder bolder arms really good. I'm look at there's, there's one I liked it when he played the bad guy in use in U.S. in Arlington Road.
I hate that movie, by the way. Oh yeah He's despicable. Yeah. Just after that movie is despicable. That's one of those downer ending movies. Arlington Road. Yeah. So, yeah, he was in Mystic River, so. Yeah, I mean, he he's had a he's had a diverse career, but yeah, he kind of this is his shining moment and unfortunately it wasn't really recognized as such in the moment. But, but you know, and I'm not an actor, but I have to say like, personally, the way I'm wired, I don't need the Oscar.
Give me. Give me a movie. Give me a role like The Shawshank Redemption that I'm the lead in. Yeah. And I'm and my legacy is set. That movie will be around forever. Mm hmm. And it will stay forever. Yeah. And when you said that, it the popularity grew because it was so cheap to run on television. There's another movie that's beloved, and that's the exact reason why it became so popular, is because it just got ran on television for cheap.
It's a Wonderful Life. I yeah, it didn't nobody saw it when it came out and it just it got uncovered later and ran for decades. And now it's considered the greatest Christmas movie of all time. No, no, no, no. I mean, I'm not a huge fan of it. Never have been. But I'm also not a huge fan. Of course, it's considered to go. It's the Goat Christmas movie, though. That's not debatable. It's a Wonderful Life. Muppet Christmas Carol Done. I'm walking away from minute.
You're in the minority. Well, I know, I know. Maybe we can do an episode of It's a Wonderful Life versus Breakfast Muppet Christmas. Carol. Oh, well, with Shawshank it's fantastic movie. So do you have any final thoughts that you're thinking about with Shawshank and talked about yet?
You know, I probably probably could talk longer on this movie, but the reality is it's been around for a long time and it's it's firmly established, I think, in in most circles as as one of the go what I call the movie. But I yeah there's no excuses at this point for not having seen it. I it's it plays all the time. I feel like it plays on like Turner stations like TNT and TBS and stuff like I don't like they had the rights to run it for ever.
You know, it's, it's, it's a it can be a tough watch in places like it's any time the lead, you know, crawls through like a mile of poop ice. I would have thought the one with Brooks or even with Johnny. Well, who's the kid. Oh, yeah I know the Brooks, the Brooks scenes, The most heartbreaking. Along with the. Yeah, the kid that he tutors. Tommy, It's Tommy. Yeah, it's devastating. Yeah. This. This.
This movie's got some absolute gut punch, emotional gut punch moments, which is what makes the the ending the payoff so, so much better. Right. And in that way, it kind of it emulates life. Like the sweet moments in life are sweeter because of all the crap we go through. Yeah. Like, I don't I'm not justifying bad things happening, but the reality is, is human beings like good things are sweeter because the bad is so sour. Yeah, and this movie, this movie really portrays that really well.
But yeah, tremendous, tremendous film. I love now that it's like given it to do like it is, it is in the pantheon now of, of great cinema. Yeah. This is one that I feel like it doesn't have to be watched on a big screen, but I would, I would definitely game to go, go to the theater and see it for a rerelease. Yeah. Yeah. So now that everything's digital, that's kind of the beauty of these, these digital feeds they're sending the theaters now is, is
you have a higher potential to be able to go and watch something like this. But I'm trying to give nuggets here on how to save the theater industry. Yeah, I don't know. But I think the backlog of great films needs to be that just needs to be opened up if they want people to go back and smaller and not just worry about and stop remaking stuff, please. Oh my goodness. Or, or no, no remake stuff, but remake stuff that was crappy and make it.
But there's no that's not how that's not how a Hollywood suit thinks, though. Like, you're like, oh, it was it failed because it was crap. The story's crap. No, but look at Ocean's 11. Ocean's 11, the original Rat Pack, 1% at best. Yeah. You know, And then but, you know, at some point they're going to remake this movie. Oh, which will be terrible. And I will not. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, my only final thought. Yeah. Is get busy living or get busy busy time.
Yeah. Well there's, there's great life messages and in Shawshank too. That's Yeah. That's one of the that's another one. A parting parting thought for why I love this movie so much as is the message. And it's not, it's not a message sugarcoated. Oh, it's very much. Yeah, they're. This is what it is. Yeah. All right. Well, I appreciate everybody tuning in and listening again. Alec can you tell everybody what they need to do?
Well, if you all want to talk to us online, we are on the Facebooks and the Instagram, but the only place you can watch us is at YouTube. The handles always @cinemaatob on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. That's the easiest way to find it. And we appreciate you listening in on another episode. Thanks, everybody.