Caroline Yeung (DVDaholic)

Andy Dufresne: "Get busy living, or get busy dying." The above quote is one of my all-time favourites, and The Shawshank Redemption is my favourite movie of all-time. Even the great Morgan Freeman is my all-time favourite actor, so you could say Shawshank, and everything it inhabits, tops many of my "all-time" lists. It is an incredible movie filled with stupefying plot twists, an amazing story, and some of the best acting performances ever filmed. Set in the mid-1900's, Shawshank is the tale of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a man recently convicted of a double homicide and sentenced to life in Shawshank Prison. Once there, he meets "Red" (Morgan Freeman), a fellow inmate at the facility who is serving his own sentence, and who tells Dufresne's story as narrator through his own eyes. The two eventually form a close friendship as they serve out their terms, and yet deal with their circumstances in different ways. As the story goes on, the audience is treated to a culture and lifestyle that few have ever experienced, or probably even thought about. The movie goes into detail the dark side of the prison world, including corrupt guards, violence between the inmates, and even worse issues, but also shows some of the bright spots which seem to make the dreary existence of the prisoners tolerable. As said before, the acting in this film is fantastic. Both Robbins and Freeman do magnificent jobs in their respective roles, and the inclusion of Freeman narration of the story adds a touch of credibility, as though this tale may actually be true. The movie engages the audience from beginning to end with the perfect blend of humor, sorrow, and even suspense. One moment a viewer will find themselves chuckling at a joke between the inmates, and the next cringing at the unsettling events unfolding before their eyes. If you do not watch this film at least once during your life, you will miss out on one hell of a cinematic experience. Hey, it's your choice, but keep in mind, Shawshank is without a doubt one of the best movies that has ever been made, if not the best. How this film didn't win Best Picture, or any Oscars for that matter, in 1994 is mind boggling. Sure Forrest Gump is a good film, great even, but it doesn't touch Shawshank. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. I have seen many movies, and I will see many, many more in my lifetime, but I am fully confident is saying that nothing will ever top Shawshank. Simply put, it's a masterpiece. (It's about time I reviewed my #1 favourite)

Favourite classic of all time. Hitchcock was a genius.