The Shawshank Redemption

One line review: This movie absolutely absorbs you into it’s characters; you feel down when they are down and you feel elated when they succeed.

Movie Title: The Shawshank Redemption

Actors: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, James Whitmore

Director: Frank Darabont

Year: 1994

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 88% – An amazing movie. Easily one of the best movies made during the 90s and definitely one of the top ‘prison’ movies of all-time. Pretty much everything about this movie works and works extremely well!

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I can find nothing wrong with this movie. I’m not claiming that this movie is somehow perfect, I simply can’t find anything to complain about it. The characters are fantastic, each one with their own unique style and motivation. The plot is fascinating, not only with minor bumps along the way as each character grows and changes, but with an overall arc that is genius. The actors do a fantastic job of conveying a variety of emotions not just through dialog but with minor changes in their attitude and appearance. This is a fantastic movie, worthy of the status it’s earned.

Pulp Fiction

One line review: A strange mix of cool one-liners, unusual situations, and strangely dull scenes

Movie Title: Pulp Fiction

Actors: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Phil LaMarr, Maria de Medeiros, Rosanna Arquette, Peter Greene, Uma Thurman, Duane Whitaker

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Year: 1994

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% – What makes the film such wicked fun is the way Tarantino delivers the familiar with a twist. He continually prepares us for one thing and then delivers another.

My rating: *** – A great movie

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Just like Predator seemed to be loved more for it’s over the top action and strange one-liners than for the entire movie, this movie is full of one-liners that I never knew the source for. The setting, the characters, and the winding storyline all help to make this a very enjoyable movie to watch. However, I feel this movie indulges itself far too much in all of this long, pointless dialog. When I think of this movie, I don’t think of a funny one-liner, I think of Samuel L. Jackson prattling on for 30 minutes with a gun in his hand.