This week’s (Jan 3-9/14) Movie of the Week is… The Shawshank Redemption!

It was bound to happen. This movie was going to become movie of the week sooner or later. All it needed was the nomination and it would make its way to the top. Most of us not only love this movie, we love to love it. The Shawshank Redemption—titled Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by its literary creator, Stephen King–is a bit of a mystery. Here is a film that doesn’t even crack the top 100 that the American Film Institute released (which doesn’t even include the myriad of magnificent movies from 1999 and on), yet it has enjoyed the #1 spot on IMDb’s top 250, going on six years now, beating out the likes of The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Schindler’s List, and all three original Star Wars movies. And as we have seen, though the top 250 list is user-based, it is by far not a lopsided, superfluous list that ignores classics that aren’t quite as popular with the masses. Take for instance Seven Samurai. This is a black and white foreign movie that was made in the 1950’s. If it was simply a useless popularity contest, this movie wouldn’t stand a chance in the top 250, let a lone the top 10, which is where it sits. Furthermore, only 3 of the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time managed to make it to this list of 250 movies, despite that it’s voted on by movie fans!

So what makes Shawshank so special? Granted, it did get nominated for a handful of Oscars and Golden Globes, but it didn’t win in any of its categories. Interestingly it did win best foreign film in Japan. Perhaps the Japanese saw something we didn’t yet. For me, I see Shawshank as a movie that has a peculiar affinity with popular culture. Yes, the critics would agree that it is a good, even great, movie. But evidently, when you take the opinions and personal taste of hundreds of thousands of movie fans from all over the world and boil it all down, for now you will find this movie. I believe the hold it has on so many of us is in the title: Redemption. My sister noted the feeling she gets for Truman in The Truman Show as a happy-for-someone kind of feeling. Like you just saw someone win a race who had no business winning it. What a great feeling that is. But with Shawshank, the feeling is different. In this movie we see the main character–wait… if you haven’t watched this movie, please stop reading now and watch it. You’ve got a guarantee from millions of movie goers that it won’t disappoint. Ok, back to Andy Dufresne.  He is contending with the absolute worst in what evil humans are capable of: violence, rape, mental abuse, torture, murder. You name it. That and he is up against terrible injustice. He is stripped of all dignity and exposed to all the horrible things in life that none of us ever want to see, and he doesn’t deserve any of it. Again, my sister describes it well as being “sickening and hard to watch.”

And we’ve all been there, haven’t we? We’ve all felt the pain of getting what we don’t deserve, or worse, not getting what we do deserve and love so dearly. It is when we are faced with the very depths of sorrow, pain and despair that we truly recognize redemption when it happens. Those of us who’ve seen the story unfold in this film know just how sweet that feeling is when we see the redemption. When we find out where Andy went, when we follow Red where he goes–it’s better than winning a race. In the end we don’t just see a mere escape from evil. Rather, we see that everything is made right. Victory.

Congratulations The Shawshank Redemption, this is your week.

And the Oscar goes to…1. Best Actress: I think this should go to Laura Linney. She didn’t get any Oscar or Golden Globe nominations for this, but she was excellent, and she continues to be in any movie she’s in. 2. Best Actor: Tie between Morgan Freeman and Jim Carrey. Two of my favourite actors, both giving some of their best performances. 3. Best quote: “Get busy living or get busy dying.” (From The Shawshank Redemption)

Two last notes: 1) Jim Carrey, I can’t believe how much you’ve been snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. You ought to have four by now–for and Dumb and Dumber. That last one isn’t a joke either. 2) Wall-E, you poor little robot, I didn’t even mention you yet. You are a good example of how great Pixar and Disney are at their creations. Your character and your story are original and fun to watch. And yes, Eve is hot, in a robot kind of way.

Happy new year everyone.