Numero Uno

This is going to be the greatest movie blog EVER. Move over Ebert, sit down Roper, the Gilmiester is coming to town. I feel like a teen father, taking my newborn blog into the world and teaching him (gotta continue the family name) the skills of life, feeding him more blogs to make him bigger, getting people to read his reviews cause like Clarence says, "A man with friends is never alone". I thought why not christen this beautiful baby blog with a spectacular review of its namesake movie The Shawshank Redemption? If Shawshank was a prostitute, I'd pull a Richard Gere and buy it all the fancy things in the world. Make it all nice and respectable.

The movie starts out with Andy (Tim Robbins) being wrongfully accused of murdering his wife and her love. Although she deserved this death for dishonoring the sanctity of marriage, the Maine judicial system found Andy guilty and sentenced him to life in prison at Shawshank. Inside, Andy makes friends with Red (Morgan Freeman) and embarks on different adventures exposing corruption and greed all the while making friends and enemies.

Aside from making life inside the can seem like fun, Shawshank explores human nature in unexpected situations. Andy deals with rapists, corrupt wardens, brutal prison guards, but manages to still remain sane up until the ending of the movie. By the way, I'm not going to sugar coat any of these reviews, SPOILER ALERTS are my shit. Despite the obstacles that continue to block Andy's path to freedom, he continues carving his tunnel out. I know if I had to choose between digging an escape tunnel or planning a way to defend myself from the sisters, I'd start sharpening my shank. Fight or Flight baby.

Writer/Director Frank Darabont shapes Stephen King's novella into a cinematic masterpiece. First off, the prison they filmed at is absolutely spectacular. Each brick tells a story and the yard is haunting. Now, I've never been to prison before, but the view from inside a cell seems so condensed and claustrophobic. I'd stay in my house for the rest of my life if it meant never going to prison. I almost felt that Darabont built up the tension the entire movie so that an orgasm of emotion could explode when Andy finally crawls out of the sewage pipeline and into the rainy, stormy night. I want to cry, scream, laugh, and yell all at the same time.

Pretty much, The Shawshank Redemption runs shit when it comes to being a good movie. It explores the complexities of friendship in the big house, the need for sanity by any means, and ultimately, how to hide a 20 foot long tunnel from a Evangelical warden. Shawshank illustrates the horror and humanity of the big house, without the Latin Kings or Aryan Princes trying to run table.