The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

I tend to review most of the movies that I watch.  It may not be a great movie or a great review, but it’s rare that I pass up an opportunity.  When I do pass on a movie, it’s usually because the movie is a little intimidating.  Star Wars is a cultural icon, as is the Godfather.  I’m not sure I would even know how to review these movies with any amount of justice.  (Then again, I have no problem reviewing Star Trek episodes.)

The Shawshank Redemption is one of those movies.  Each time I watch it, I get something new out of it.  There’s something that I see that I didn’t see before.  The next time I watch it, I’ll probably notice something new.

The story is about Andy Dufresne.  He’s sent to jail for the murder of his wife, which he denies.  (The judge mistakes this for a lack of remorse.)  Inside, he meets Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding.  Andy is probably the only innocent person in Shawshank, whereas Red is the only person willing to admit that he’s guilty.  In fact, Andy is exposed to all manner of guilty people, including the warden and the head guard.

Once Andy proves his worth, he’s afforded some respect, both by the administration and his fellow prisoners.  However, that respect comes at a cost.  He’s too valuable to let go, even if he really is innocent.

This is where I’ve come to respect the film and see its many layers.  Prison does take something from you.  It’s meant to put you down and put you in your place.  Prison may not be able to break Andy, but he does have to sell a part of himself to get by.  As he puts it, he was innocent when he came it.  It took prison to make him a guilty man.  Red, on the other hand, claims to have given up hope, or at least be very close to hopeless.  He still denies it, though.  It’s not until he admits to himself what he’s done that he’s really free.

The movie doesn’t really focus on the guilt of each character.  Instead, it deals with what prison takes away from them.  We have a prison system that doesn’t really rehabilitate.  It doesn’t prepare people for life on the outside.  Instead, it produces people that can’t survive on their own.  The movie becomes more of a tale of what could happen.  The outcome is more tragic for some characters.  Yet, Andy and Red manage to make it.

There were a lot of things that I didn’t understand about the movie when I first saw it.  There are still a few things I’m not sure I understand.  It’s exactly the kind of movie you could watch and talk about with a friend and each come away with a different understanding.  It’s one of the few movies I would recommend watching several times. 

 

 IMDb page

 
 

Highlander (1986)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

I remember first becoming aware of Highlander in high school. (It was right around the time that the TV series began.) There were a lot of other students that were fans of the movie and the series. It took a while, but I finally got into the show, and then the movie.

The movies are about an Immortal called Connor MacLeod. This movie, the first in the series, starts out with MacLeod in Madison Square Garden watching a professional wrestling match. He has to leave in the middle of the event because he senses another Immortal approaching. They meet in the parking garage and have at it with swords. You see, the only way that an Immortal can be killed is by having his head chopped off. An Immortal that isn’t good with swords is a dead Immortal. When an Immortal is killed by another Immortal, the victor gets the loser’s quickening. In a show of stunning pyrotechnics, the victor gets all of the loser’s memories, skills, and energy. In the end, there can be only one. This one will rule the Earth.

After the fight in the parking garage, which MacLeod wins, we go to a flashback. The movie is basically a series of flashbacks. In the flashbacks, we get to see how Connor MacLeod became an Immortal. Basically, Connor went into battle with his clan and was killed by this other Immortal that goes by Kurgan. This was his first death, apparently. (Once an Immortal initially dies, they stop aging.) After Connor is brought back to his clan and prepared for a funeral, he comes back to life. His clan freaks out and banishes him.

He’s destined to wander the Earth until he meets Juan Ramirez, a Spaniard from Egypt who talks with a familiar accent. (Sean Connery plays him.) Ramirez teaches MacLeod everything there is to being an Immortal. For instance, there are some basic rules. You can’t fight on holy ground. When you do fight another Immortal, it’s supposed to be one on one. For some reason, Immortals can’t have kids, even though they’re born as ‘normal’ humans. Also, don’t lose your head, and that’s meant in a literal sense. As I said, the only way for an Immortal to truly die is to be decapitated. (Otherwise, they keep coming back.)

The part of the story that takes place in the present has to do with Kurgan coming after MacLeod. (At first, Kurgan comes across as just wanting MacLeod for his quickening, but MacLeod ends up with good reason for wanting Kurgan dead.) Those that are into the swordfights, science fiction or the sound track (done by Queen) probably won’t mind the storyline. Other than that, the strong point of the story is setting up the other movies and the TV series. The movie offers no reason and little explanation as to why Immortals exist. Ramirez asks why the sun rises. Are the starts just holes in the night sky?

The movie is good versus bad. Kurgan is definitely bad. While MacLeod isn’t someone you’d necessarily someone you’d want your daughter to bring home, he is trying to fight evil and is good mostly by default. He does show other likable characteristics, some of which don’t appear in this movie, but measuring your age in centuries does take its toll. (Ramirez is over 2,000 years old when he first meets MacLeod.) For instance, MacLeod has to keep changing his name and leaving everything to himself. (One point I’d like to bring up is that while his name has changed over the years, his signature shows a great deal of similarity. While I’ve had the same name my whole life, no two of my signatures are the same.)

If you’re just seeing this movie for something to watch one night, I’d suggest you skip this movie. If you’re a fan of the show and are looking for the history, go for it. The main draw seems to be the swordfights and the science fiction aspects of the movies. If not for the fact that the flashbacks were 450 years ago and in another country, they would get a little confusing. Also, the movie shows the actual decapitations, which may be too much for some of people. (The TV series didn’t show the actual decapitations, partly to appease TV audiences and the network and partly to meet budget and production constraints.)

Basically, when deciding whether or not to watch this movie, I’d recommend using your head. 

IMDb page

Heisei tanuki gassen ponpoko [Pom Poko] (1994)

In Japan, there’s a creature called the tanuki. (According to Wikipedia, there seems to be some variation on what a tanuki is, but the English translation has them incorrectly as raccoons.) The movie starts out in the 1960’s with the tanukis’ habitat slowly being taken over by development. They know that they have to band together to prevent this, but tanuki are basically lazy and playful. Life is just one big party for them.

Once food starts becoming scarce, they know that they have to get their act together and do something. The decide to declare all-out war on humans. Everything they try backfires. The problem stems from the fact that their only real skill is shape shifting. They’re able to scare off construction workers, but it isn’t long before new workers are found and the new workers aren’t as easily scared.

They manage to get help from a far-away colony of tanuki, but even this doesn’t help. They stage a parade that makes a lot of people fearful enough to shut down the construction, but this is undone by the owner of a local theme park that takes credit for it, saying that it’s a publicity stunt. This puts them in a real bind. Tanuki are dying and those that are still around end up in various factions, each having different ideas on how to handle the problem.

In the end, I felt that the movie was too long, even though it ran about two hours. I can’t find any particular point that the movie should have ended or any parts that could have been cut out, but there were several points where I found myself wondering how much of the movie was left. I could have seen the movie being split up into a miniseries or a TV show.

I’ve been watching a lot of Studio Ghibli films. Usually, I can be pretty certain that I’ll like anything with the Studio Ghibli name on it. Pom Poko has been the only one that made me step back and think. The primary reason is that the male tanuki have very obvious testicles, which are translated as ‘pouches’, and the females have breasts. This caught me off guard and may cause parents to question whether or not their children should be watching this. (The male tanuki use there are able to morph their testicles into various things like parachutes.) At first, I was wondering if I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. In retrospect, it wasn’t a big deal. Overall, it didn’t play a major part, but is probably responsible for the PG rating.

It’s hard to let that overshadow the fact that it was still a good movie with a great message. This is a problem going on around the world. The movie shows how animals need their habitat and are often forced to live in a human world. The tanuki are forced to do something while humans basically ignore them. I would recommend this movie, but would advise you to watch it before letting your kids see it. Even though the movie was directed by Isao Takahata, don’t expect a movie like Grave of the Fireflies.

Pom Poko | Disney Movies