My Favorite Movies

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Directed by Frank Darabont

Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, James Whitmore

«Red: [narrating] In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I used to think it would take six-hundred years to tunnel under the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved Geology, I guess it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big god-damned poster. Like I said, in prison a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied. It turns out Andy's favourite hobby was totin' his wall through the exercise yard, a handful at a time. I guess after Tommy was killed, he decided he had been here just about long enough. Andy did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guard simply didn't notice, neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes? Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too. Five-Hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.»

Shawshank Redemption is a film that came out in 1994, and it is based on the Stephen King novella, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption". It wasn't a Box Office record; it only grossed about $28,000,000. But not being that famous at this stage, Shawshank Redemption became known as one of the biggest successes in the cinema history. It tells a story of Andy Dufresne, a mild mannered New England banker, who is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Despised at first by the other inmates because of his introverted manner, Andy slowly forges an unlikely friendship with Red, a seasoned lifer and his gang. Soon, Andy also becomes popular with the prison guards, including the vicious Captain Hadley who offers him protection against the jail's rougher convicts in exchange for financial counselling. The prison warden also takes advantage of Andy's banking knowledge by exchanging privileges for creative bookkeeping. Over a twenty year period, Andy is able to maintain his sanity and dignity in prison not by physical force but by mental force. His smarts and confidence keep him going and he is able to teach the other prisoners that hope is the ultimate means of survival.

Shawshank Redemption is not a film about a man who spent his live in prison and lost his mind in the process, it is about someone who had hope and confidence that one day he will escape and he will live a happy life again. Besides hope, it also shows many other aspects of life such as friendship, redemption and salvation. This film is a perfect example of what people are really capable of, if they simply hope and believe. Andy Dufresne was a normal man, he worked hard, he loved his wife, and he was simply enjoying his life. But one day he found out that his wife cheated on him. Later after that, he was sentenced for murdering his wife and her lover; he was sentenced to spend a life sentence at the Shawshank Prison. Later on in the movie we find out that he didn't actually murder his wife and her lover, someone else did it and he got blamed for it. He was claimed guilty of something he didn't do. He spent nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Anyone in his situation would have stop hoping and simply gave up. Bu not him, he decided to fight in hope that one day he will be free again. Andy Dufresne had a plan, he had friends that helped him during these years he spent in prison, and lastly he had hope, the most powerful thing that person can have.

Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding was one of the key prisoners in Shawshank Prison. He was the man who could get you nearly anything you wanted. He and Andy became best friends during their time in prison. Andy helps Red to realize that hope is a good thing and that you should always thing positive. While Red helped Andy to get the stuff he wanted, Andy made lots of favors for Red and the some other cellmates. Shortly after Andy escaped from Shawshank, Red is released on parole and he decides to find his best friend and to be reunited with him. He follows the instruction he received from Andy in the card he send to him, and he finally finds what he was looking for. He finds his friend, he finds a new life on the coast of Pacific, and he finds himself. Red was always there for Andy, and in return, Andy is there for Red and they both found something that they were so desperate for before: freedom.

The tough life in prison is another factor that made this film famous. An all time fear of being victimized by other cellmates, the pressure of making a wrong move which will end in a result that will see you beaten up to death, a fact that prison takes everything from you, including your life. A clear example is a life of a cellmate and a friend of Andy called Brooks Hatlen. Andy first meets Brooks when he is appointed to help him around the library. They soon become close friends and great co-workers. Brooks spent 50 years in Shawshank Prison, he is a well known person there, and he has knowledge and experience. People respect him in there. But when he is about to get released from prison, he doesn't want to go. He even attacks one of Andy's friends and claims that he will kill him because by doing so, he will stay in prison for longer. Andy encourage him not to do so, and after Brooks let the guy go, he bursts in tears an moment which makes us realize that prison took everything from him. What happens next is simply heart breaking. For me, the next scene is one of the saddest scenes in the film history. Brooks explains that how different life is outside the prison, and that he cannot cope with it. He tells that he is nobody out there and that prison took his whole life away from him. It is true, in prison he was well known and other people had great respect for him, but in outside world he is just an old man. It is sad, yet truthful. In the end of the scene he commits suicide because he cannot live a life like that. He is sick and tired of being feared all the time. His life was simply over when he left his cell and returned to the normal world. He decided not to stay. The scene is really powerful and it shows how tough the life is. We can see that people in prison are so different after they finally return to normal world. Prison is like a different world; you live there and after a while you become famous and you make friends just like in normal life, but when you finally leave, you have nothing at all. You gain and lose everything when you leave. Prison takes the most important thing from you; your life. The sort of performance we see from James Whitmore is unbelievable. He shows us exactly what we want, and it is hard to watch this man performing because he is so good and realistic; when he is just sitting on the bus, looking afraid, looking like he just travelled to some unknown place that is far away from his home. A fear in his eyes; he knows that he just lost everything that he ever owned. Whitmore should have received some kind of award for his performance, maybe even an Oscar nomination; he was simply phenomenal.

«Brooks: [narrating] Dear fellas, I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry. The parole board got me into this halfway house called "The Brewer". And a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It's hard work and I try to keep up but my hands hurt most of the time. I don't think the store manager likes me very much. Sometimes after work I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello. But he never does. I hope wherever he is he's okay and makin' new friends. I have trouble sleepin' at night. I have bad dreams like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun, an, an rob the Foodway so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense anymore. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me. [carves "Brooks was here" into wood. Admires his work for a moment. Then kicks out the table beneath him and hangs himself]»

All of the performances were sensational. Tim Robbins gave a mesmerizing performance as Andy Dufresne. He shows real character knowledge, he improvises and he follows his script well, a great actor to play Andy Dufresne. Morgan Freeman was also great, his narrating is outstanding, and his voice shows the emotions of his character. Morgan is very experienced and he always knows what he doing. A mixture between Robbins and Freeman are great; they show that they can easily work together and they both do amazing to create a whole atmosphere of friendship between their characters. They don't just try to act, they show what would the actual characters do in the certain situations and it makes the audience love the film.

Bob Gunton plays an evil and corrupted Warden Samuel Norton. He does well; he shows the true evilness of his character. Norton only cares about himself and so he uses cell mates and security guards to do a lot of dirty jobs for him. He uses Andy to make sure that nobody finds out about his embezzlements. William Sadler plays one of Andy's friends called Heywood. Heywood is a grumpy guy who at first dislikes Andy, but later he becomes a good friend of his. He seems really pessimistic about many things and he shows to his cellmates that he simply doesn't care about many things in his life. Sadler does fairly well in this film, just like Freeman he has some experience in his acting carrier and he shows it here. Clancy Brown plays a nasty guard; a captain in Shawshank Prison called Byron Hadley. Many prisoners are terrified of him, and they have all the reasons to be terrified because Hadley is a guy who will look for a reason to beat you up. He hates people who try to go against him and he also beats anyone who refuses to listen to his orders. Clancy Brown is brilliant in his role; he does make you hate him, especially when he screams and shouts at the prisoners. Lastly, as I mentioned before, James Whitmore plays Brooks Hatlen. His performance is simply outstanding, it couldn't be any better. The scene when he dies is one of the saddest scenes in the history of cinema and James should be proud as he gave his best ever performance in this film. All other actors did well too, and that what makes this film so memorable; a number of outstanding performances from the main cast.

Other things such as story, music score and cinematography played a big role in the film's success. Story was told and directed beautifully by Frank Darabont, he did an outstanding job. The music score is phenomenal. Thomas Newman is so good at what he does, and he has created something special for this film. Music is always essential in movies, as a good music will help the viewer enjoy the film and the bad music will only distract the viewer. The music in this film was probably one of the best I heard in a while. All the songs were added perfectly to the certain scenes in the movie, which made it worthwhile to watch and listen. Lastly, I want to mention the cinematography. The use of light and shadow is greatly combined in this movie. The whole film is just a pleasure to watch. It is always great to watch a film that has been created with all the care it needed.

1994 was a great year for films. With movies like Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump and Shawshank Redemption it is certainly a year to remember. There are some people who don't see anything special in Shawshank Redemption. But to say so, it is a masterpiece that will be remembered for many years. A film that has anything you want form drama, it also shines thanks to phenomenal acting, outstanding music score and a great storyline. If you lost the confidence in yourself or if you simply think that there is no point in living, than I suggest you watch Shawshank Redemption. It will teach you a very hard but truthful lesson about life and about the fact that hope is one of the greatest things in your life.

«Red: [narrating] I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think 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 as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.»

Review Date: 25th of May, 2008.

Fight Club (1999)
Directed by David Fincher
Starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Jared Leto

«Tyler Durden: I want you to do me a favour.
Narrator: Yeah, sure...
Tyler Durden: I want you to hit me as hard as you can.
Narrator: What, you just want me to hit you?
Tyler Durden: C'mon, do me this one favour.
Narrator: Why?
Tyler Durden: Why? I don't know why; I don't know. Never been in a fight. You?
Narrator: No, but that's a good thing.
Tyler Durden: No, it is not. How much can you know about yourself, you've never been in a fight? I don't want to die without any scars. So come on; hit me before I lose my nerve.
Narrator: This is crazy.
Tyler Durden: So go crazy. Let 'er rip.
Narrator: I don't know about this.
Tyler Durden: I don't either. Who gives a shit? No one's watching. What do you care?
Narrator: Whoa, wait, this is crazy. You want me to hit you?
Tyler Durden: That's right.
Narrator: What, like in the face?
Tyler Durden: Surprise me.
Narrator: This is so fucking stupid...
[Narrator swings, connects against Tyler's head]
Tyler Durden: Motherfucker! You hit me in the ear!
Narrator: Well, Jesus, I'm sorry.
Tyler Durden: Ow, Christ... why the ear, man?
Narrator: Guess I fucked it up...
Tyler Durden: No, that was perfect!»

You are not your job. You are not how much you have in the bank. You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your khakis. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. What happens first is you can't sleep. What happens then is there's a gun in your mouth. And what happens next is you meet Tyler Durden. Let me tell you about Tyler. He had a plan. In Tyler we trusted. Tyler says the things you own, end up owning you. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Fight Club represents that kind of freedom. First rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. Second rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. Tyler says self-improvement is masturbation. Tyler says self-destruction might be the answer.

First rule of the fight club is: you do not talk about the fight club but in the next half an hour I am afraid I have to break this rule as I will mention the good and the bad things about fight club. If you are here to read the bad things, then I am afraid you will not get any from me. Fight club is a true masterpiece, a drama/crime movie involving everything you need in a perfect movie: fighting, sex, cigarettes, love, action, more fighting, crime, more sex and of course a storyline that will touch you and make you feel stunned right to the end. A superb story, accomplished with some astonishing acting, and of course the superb special effects, all here in this movie. I will also discuss what it took to get such a great film?

The film opened at the cinemas on October 15, 1999 and perhaps made the end of the 20th Century worthwhile. An American feature film adaptation of the 1996 novel Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk, adapted by Jim Uhls, and directed by David Fincher. This is a perfect story Chuck wrote, and David Fincher did a brilliant job in producing this film. The action never stops, and even in the end you are left imagining what might happen next. Twists and turns are in the film throughout, and it looks better every time you watch it.

This film has one of the best acting performances I have seen in my whole life in Edward Norton's performance, and this is only one year after his previous stunning Oscar nominated performance as Derek Vinyard from American History X. He followed this up by giving an absolutely sensational performance in Fight Club. Every time I watch another of his films and hear his voice, it brings me back to the time I watched Fight Club; the Story teller's narrative was very emotional and clearly understandable. His character is a guy who suffers from insomnia. He is a crazy, obsessed guy, but like most other guys in the world he has a normal job, a normal house, and a normal life. It all changes after he meets Tyler Durden, a mysterious guy that offers him to stay at his house, after a horrible accident which caused the narrators flat to be destroyed. Ed Norton is no longer Ed Norton; he is the narrator of this story and the main protagonist. His acting deserves more than praise but unfortunately he was never nominated for any awards whatsoever which is very disappointing.

Brad Pitt plays Tyler Durden, and he does his role unbelievably well. No nonsense from Brad and a good look, extremely athletic body, and his mannerisms are very humorous in this film, and he delivers perhaps one of the best performances in his entire career. Also he handled most of his dialogues really well and he sounded very encouraging towards the narrator; a sort of stuff I was really surprised to see from Brad Pitt.

Helena Bonham Carter plays the role of Marla Singer, a deeply depressed-looking person who is flippant about taking her life seriously, and absolutely careless about everything. At first she is kind of annoying; at the start of the movie she always appears where narrator seems to be, but later you understand that she is a major character in this film so she needed to be there all the time. It is a perfect performance from Helena which also surprised me, considering I had never heard of her until I saw this movie (all of her fans, please excuse me for my lack of knowledge about her career).

Lastly I want to mention two other minor actors: Meat loaf & Jared Leto. They both gave good, strong performances and never looked like they were struggling.

There were not many Special effects, as it isn't some sort of over the top action movie, however this film does have some serious fighting scenes which you will no doubt enjoy. This film had some great destructive special effects, and without revealing any more details, I can tell you that it looks cleverly done.

One of the other things I liked about this film is the original idea, the way it is told, and the way we do not know the truth until the very end. This film is also filled with hidden messages which are very hard to notice, or understand. It is crazy and I love it for that. I cannot understand why this film wasn't nominated for any Academy Award, but for Best Sound Editing and the Golden Reel Award, it lost both, which is really disappointing in my opinion, as this film is really original and entirely unique.

So, to summarize, Fight Club achieved everything it could have achieved and rose above my expectations and became my favourite film of all time. I can assure you that if you find this film in a DVD shop or elsewhere, please buy it! By doing so you will be involved in what it feels like to be deeply depressed and to have no other choice but to fight your way through it until finally you will meet your destiny. This film is without any doubt a masterpiece.

«Tyler Durden: Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think everything you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler.»

Review Date: 13th of April, 2008.

The best out of all three and my favorite one.

Batman Begins (2005)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ket Watanabe

«[Bruce awakens from a nightmare]
Thomas Wayne: The bats again? [Bruce nods]
Thomas Wayne: You know why they attacked you, don't you? They were afraid of you.
Bruce Wayne - age 8: Afraid of me?
Thomas Wayne: All creatures feel fear.
Bruce Wayne - age 8: Even the scary ones?
Thomas Wayne: Especially the scary ones.»

The tale finds the disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne, in the wake of his parents' murder, travelling the world to seek the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city. Learn about batman origins and feel what it is like to be a normal human who trying to fight against evil all by his own. Well, maybe not all on his own, but with help of bats- the biggest fear of his life.

Batman begins perhaps the best batman film of its time. The title says it all: it's a beginning of a new batman era and it's a perfect beginning for a perfect film series. It starts with a story of Bruce Wayne's early life (I believe I don't need to tell you who Bruce Wayne is) and his fear for bats. We see how his life goes on and what happened to him to make him who he is by the end of a movie.

The acting is really intense. Christian Bale does the batman so well that I think he is the perfect guy for a role. His movements, his fighting and his speech are all fantastic and his voice really lets us know why all of the villains are scared when they face batman. More to that he shows the human part of batman really well, he acts like a complete jackass millionaire and makes himself look all elegant when Bruce works on his business. I really couldn't find a better person to play batman than Christian Bale and that is weird as in previous batman movies there were many numerous actors who played this character and they all didn't do such a great job. But not this one; Christian was a top performer out of them all. Christian is an actor who is very strong on screen and you can rely on him doing a great job which he did.

Michael Cane was perfect guy for Alfred role; he showed that he is British throughout and his care and humour was essential in this film. The rest of the actors done well too: Cillian Murphy was a great villain, so was Liam Neeson playing a guy with a mysterious alibi and a really dark past. Only one look into his eyes will give you the chills. Morgan freeman little role showed that he can do little roles and be noticed by the viewer as his acting perfect and Garry Oldman showed that little bit of professionalism in his acting as his character is desperately trying to save his city but being fully outnumbered until batman arrives. I didn't particularly liked Katie Holmes performance but I didn't hate it either so I think its fine as long as it doesn't affect the whole movie. But she needed more enthusiasm I think and that's what she really missed.

The special effects were amazing. Perhaps that will sound weird but this film didn't have as much special effects as all other barman films and yet it tops up most of them. The batman gadgets are exciting and they all look awesome as for bat suit it is just what the real one would probably looked like. It is interesting to see how batman obtained all of his gadgets as it is different to all of the other batman films which make you feel more interested in this movie. Special effects are essential in films like that and they were fully delivered here.

Finally the story tells us about the real Bruce Wayne. It is not just about a badass superhero, it's about a boy who lost his parents and was fortunate to own all of his parent's empire. But he needed none of that as he seeks revenge and he promises to fight against all of the evil in this world and in his home city Gotham. He doesn't seek death and destruction to all of his villains no, he is trying to save the lives of all the innocent people and his ultimate challenge is to prevent Gotham from becoming a city filled with corruption and crime. He faces his fears and personal problems on his way to becoming the most fearful superhero in the world. A story of his dark childhood and even darker adulthood is all we see and it is being fully delivered here. I love the way they show us his childhood and the fact that he was afraid of bats when he was younger. An ordinary man, with no super powers or any other special abilities, who is fighting against crime and trying to overcome his biggest fear-Bats. This films will delivers everything you could possibly expect from it and much more.

So, this film is not an ordinary one; it is a mix of action and intrigue filled with tragedy and sadness which will keep you on the edge of your sit throughout the whole movie. We get a little clue about a sequel to this film right at the end of the movie and when you think that there is nothing else to hope for, you understand that there is going to be a sequel and that completely blows you away. Now, usually the sequel turns out to be worse than the first movie but I have a feeling that such a talented director as Christopher Nolan will deliver something really special with his second batman movie. After all, he created this absolute masterpiece.

Review Date: 14th of April, 2008.

now we talking! one of the greatest films out there in my opinion! you simply hve to watch it! only the third part is better!