PugnaciousPangolin

PugnaciousPangolin t1_ja95bi4 wrote

I liked it but didn't love it. A friend of mine LOVED it and bought the Blu-Ray, so I'm planning to watch it again in a few months.

I think the film could have had 20 or 30 minutes cut out and it would have been much better.

I could see what they were going for with the mother/father/daughter dynamic and all the multiverse possibilities, but for me, I felt like the film spend to much time on the multiverse ideas and not enough on the family history and fraught relationships.

At the end, I didn't get much of an emotional reaction because I didn't feel like that had been earned because the family story was drowned out by the frenetic action and comic silliness.

I'll be curious to see if my opinion changes.

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PugnaciousPangolin t1_j6pgbyd wrote

You can try all you want, but you can't pick a fight with me. I've already told you that I don't suffer fools gladly, but if you're too stubborn to listen, then go ahead and continue vomiting your impotent rage into the void.

Understand also that you'll be doing it alone, and probably forever.

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PugnaciousPangolin t1_j6kek4o wrote

My tip-top recommendation would be:

"The Castle", a wonderful Australian comedy. The story and characters are WONDERFUL.

Runner-Ups below because both are dramas with some dark moments. Thankfully, both of them end on an upbeat note.

"The Man in the Moon" with a very young Reese Witherspoon.

"The Secret of Roan Inish", written and directed by John Sayles.

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PugnaciousPangolin t1_iuj9mrb wrote

An iconic horror/comedy that drips Eighties glitzy while having terrific performances and well-aged visual effects.

I also thought that the remake was superb in it's own way.

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PugnaciousPangolin t1_iu6j4b3 wrote

The most fascinating thing about this film is that the final reunion on the beach was not the original ending. IIRC, it ended with the shot of Andy in the car driving away, but Darabont added the beach scene at the insistence of the studio, and for once, I agree with the studio.

I love that the scene has no dialogue, and that the men are seen from a distance once they meet and embrace. The remove of that is so satisfying when you realize that both characters spent decades in prison, where privacy didn't exist. Now that they're out, the camera respects that privacy and keeps its distance.

I also love that the final scene is on this lovely little beach with the clear blue water and sky stretching out to infinity. After two hours in a dark, gray and terrible place, it feels the audience escapes the prison along with Andy and Red.

The subtle soundtrack does stellar work here as well. Sublime work by Thomas Newman.

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