#002 The Godfather

I'm cheating a little bit here because although on my initial count of the top 250 I hadn't seen this, I immediately afterwards thought "Why haven't I seen that movie?" and watched it. This was about a month ago, but i still feel its clear enough in my head to warrant a review without having to watch it again (or rather having to sit though it again).

That last remark may have been negative but there's no doubt that I like this film. Its funny how with films like this, after watching it, you think "that was brilliant" and yet if someone mentions watching it again, even a good few months later, you're inclined to not have the patience for it. Perhaps its one of these movies that you're not meant to sit all the way through. Its meant to be on in the background on a rainy sunday afternoon, and you're watching it in between doing some tasks round the house. Or perhaps when you're feeling sick and making yourself a cup of tea.

I've got to admit, my first impression of this movie wasn't great. It's a relatively old movie (i.e I was definitely not alive when they made it) which for some reason immediately makes me assume that I'm going to have to make an extra effort to sit through it. I guess cinema has developed through time and what was now a novelty has become an art form. Movies nowadays are constantly trying to capture you're interest, so much so that old slow-moving movies are almost unbearable. Having said that, this film is far from slow moving. Sure, its long, but the whole thing takes place over the course of several years.

I think once you get past the start, it begins to keep you interested. Granted, for me it wasn't until about a third of the way through that this happened. I actually was so bored that I considered stopping it, but for the sake of the fact that it was considered a classic I struggled through, thinking that at least if I hated it I can complain after having watched the whole thing.

And I was definitely right to do so. The film got very interesting, especially as you witnessed Michael Corleone's character slowly changing. As his Brothers were killed and Father almost killed he became a much more blood-thirst-capable (thats a term!) man. Its clear even from a young age that he loves his family, which is essentially the whole point of these movies. If there's one thing you can learn from this movie it's that Italians, Michael Corleone especially, love their families.

Talk about fast moving plot. He goes to Italy to escape, meets this girl and next thing you know they're getting married. You never see them talking and getting to know each other, falling in love. All that stuff is skipped over. I guess since its such a "guys" movie that kind of makes sense, but you don't quite get a full sense of how when she dies, this is what pushes him over the edge.

Then he goes back to America and marries Kate, after having not seen her for - what - a couple of years? Again nowadays all these details would be explored a lot fuller I reckon. But I guess the audience just want to get to the guns and blood and stuff.

And so it happens, Michael Corleone, a completely changed man, originally wanting nothing to do with his family business, becomes cold and power hungry, killing off anyone that makes him unhappy. In contrast, Vito Corleone becomes peaceful in his old age, essentially calling a ceasefire between the Italian families, hoping that his son will take over in much the same manner. But we know this is not the case, since Michael Corleone at this point is not the man his Father thought he knew.

Anyway, you can tell I liked this Movie, even though it is tough to get through at some parts. I understand why this Movie has the reputation it does. Sometimes its difficult to know if you're meant to sympathise with Michael. I guess a mass murderer can't really be considered the hero, but then who is? The story is filled with people you are neither bad nor good, just average humans having to deal with extremely difficult situations.

#001 The Shawshank Redemption

I have seen this movie before. This is good because it implies that I'm not a total failure when it comes to movies. Having actually watched what is generally considered the best movie of all time says at least something about my movie knowledge.

Having said that, its not the movie i would have thought should be up there. Sure, it's brilliant, but it just isn't the first thing that pops into my head when someone says "all time great movies". The movie, in my head is on par with "The Green Mile" (placed at #074), which is another fantastic movie about a man who was wrongly convicted of murder. The main difference I suppose is that The Shawshank Redemption is more "real". Both state prisons and death row prisons exist of course, but the Green Mile contains an element of the supernatural, which I guess makes the story in the Shawshank Redemption slightly easier to empathise with.

I have seen it, but not recently, so I decided I'd re-watch it before posting this. I had forgotten that although the main character was technically Andy (Tim Robbins), the story was told from the perspective of Red (Morgan Freeman). This of course makes complete sense due to Morgan Freeman's excellent narrating voice. He plays a bit of a more shady character here than I'm used to. This is probably because, every time I think of Morgan Freeman, I just think of "God", from "Bruce Almighty", arguably the least shady character imaginable. But he plays the character brilliantly, so I'm not complaining.

I seem to remember it slightly differently. I thought he broke out slightly earlier in the film and he spent time trying to prove that he was innocent, but I'm probably confusing it with another film. Perhaps "The Fugitive".

My thoughts are...It's awesome...still. Prisons these days probably aren't run as violently and strictly as they were back then, but then again how would I know? I've never been. It certainly seemed accurate enough though, displaying that terrifying "mob-mentality" that I can only imagine is worst amongst prisoners, especially when treated disrespectfully.

My only problem is that I wasn't sure why the warden had Tommy shot. Something to do with him fearing that information would get out, but I'm not sure what. I'm also not sure how it wasn't found out that he did it sooner.

Perhaps I can use this blog as a method of asking questions about movies I don't undertand. While we're at it, why is it called "The Shawshank Redemption?"