Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Also known in Taiwan as: "Fantastic."
Production of Castle Rock Entertainment
Directed by Frank Darabont
Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, and James Whitmore

A man is convicted of killing his unfaithful wife and her lover in a fit of cold-blooded drunken anger, riddling the bodies with bullets before reloading and firing one more shot into each of their heads.  Sentenced to two life terms, back to back, in Shawshank Prison, Andy Dufresne befriends a lifer named "Red" Redding.  Andy and Red spend their time and resources reforming the prison library, all the while the world passes them by in the form of 20 years.  As the two become what Red refers to as "institutionalized," Andy finds himself working personally for the warden and soon begins to take his own liberties.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Ninth Gate (1999)

Product of Artisan Entertainment and R. P. Productions
Directed by Roman Polanski
Starring Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, and Emmanuelle Seigner

In this Roman Polanski film released just before the turn of the millennium, Dean Corso, a dirty rare-book dealer is hired by Richard Nixon another rare-book dealer named Boris Balkan to authenticate a book called "The Ninth Gate."  There are only three of these authentic copies in existence, though Balkan is convinced that his copy is the only remaining authentic.  If its not, Corso is to obtain the last remaining authentic, by any means necessary, with a check to match. 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

TRON: Legacy (2010)


Production of LivePlanted and Walt Disney Pictures
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Starring Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Beau Garrett, and Michael Sheen.

In this sequel to the cult classic "TRON" (1982; is this really a sequel?  I can't figure it out), Kevin Flynn has become trapped within his own creation, leaving his son Sam to grow up and take over his multi-billion dollar software company, Encom.  When Kevin's trusted friend Alan gets a page from a disconnected number, Sam is informed, and led to his fathers old arcade.  After some snooping around and clever sleuthing, he is beamed into the very same creation his father was.  Now, he needs to save his father from his own programs, who have become self-aware.