# The Shawshank Redemption



## moomoo (Jul 14, 2007)

Aw, just watched this again with my girl.  

I'd forgotten what a lovely film it was, I've gone all warm and fuzzy.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 15, 2007)

moomoo said:
			
		

> Aw, just watched this again with my girl.
> 
> I'd forgotten what a lovely film it was, I've gone all warm and fuzzy.




It's a lovely fillum, but I may just get my recliner and popcorn out for this one


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## Detroit City (Jul 15, 2007)

moomoo said:
			
		

> I'd forgotten what a lovely film it was, I've gone all warm and fuzzy.


I was so pissed when it didn't win best picture...


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 15, 2007)

Detroit City said:
			
		

> I was so pissed when it didn't win best picture...




serves you right for drinking so much


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## Kid_Eternity (Jul 15, 2007)

One of my faves this, excellent film, and one of the few decent film adaptations of Stephen King's work.


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## TheHoodedClaw (Jul 15, 2007)

I like a film that doesn't feel the need to rush the story, and given the forty (?) year span of events in Shawshank I think it was done admirably. Great film. And anyone who disagrees is either an uncultured barbarian or an immature iconoclast reacting against The Man. 

Seriously, I love the Mozart scene, and the final one.


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## Sigmund Fraud (Jul 15, 2007)

its a good film but not a great film.

IMHO it is an overly sentimental picture, relies too much on Morgan Freemans heartfelt narrative.

Story of Ricky, now thats a prison flick (or even Oz).


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## Sweaty Betty (Jul 15, 2007)

One of my top five


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## upsidedownwalrus (Jul 15, 2007)

Detroit City said:
			
		

> I was so pissed when it didn't win best picture...



Wasn't it a sort of 'large scale cult film' though?  One that didn't get huge box office when it first came out, or very good reviews, but became a big film later through people picking up on it later?  IIRC I didn't even hear of it when it was out in the cinema.  Although admittedly I didn't follow film anywhere near as closely then as I do now.


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## i_hate_beckham (Jul 15, 2007)

TheHoodedClaw said:
			
		

> Seriously, I love the Mozart scene, and the final one.



Awesome film and the Mozart scene is great. Where he comes out of solitary saying he had Mozart to listen to all the time in his head was pretentious though.


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## Stigmata (Jul 15, 2007)

It's a bit of an oddity- brutal and sentimental at the same time. The first time I saw it I didn't know how it ended, and it was brilliantly unexpected.

I always get something in my eye when that old lag writes the letter to his friends.


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## Gingerman (Jul 15, 2007)

RenegadeDog said:
			
		

> Wasn't it a sort of 'large scale cult film' though?  One that didn't get huge box office when it first came out, or very good reviews, but became a big film later through people picking up on it later?  IIRC I didn't even hear of it when it was out in the cinema.  Although admittedly I didn't follow film anywhere near as closely then as I do now.


It came out first to indiferent reviews and box office,became huge when it was released on DVD,one of those films where you actually cared for the main charactors,the ending still brings a lump to the throat.


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## Termite Man (Jul 15, 2007)

Sigmund Fraud said:
			
		

> its a good film but not a great film.
> 
> IMHO it is an overly sentimental picture, relies too much on Morgan Freemans heartfelt narrative.
> 
> Story of Ricky, now thats a prison flick (or even Oz).


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## derf (Jul 15, 2007)

Top film.


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## fear-n-loathing (Jul 15, 2007)

i've got it on dvd somewhere might dig it out and put it on in a sec


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## Badgers (Jul 16, 2007)

One of the best films ever made IMO


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## London_Calling (Jul 16, 2007)

For me, it's success is to do with the non-burning-but-smouldering pace of the narrative; for once that overt, insipid  USA-centric sentimentality  was over-powered. 

I'm really not a fan of the voice-over device - a wonderful tool for achieving that dreadful faux sentimentality - but this time I thought it served a higher purpose well.

It is a sentimental piece - it could hardly avoid being so - but it's sincere rather than have it carpet bomb the entire film. Yeah, the pace; unhurried, as if from another era – people mention ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’ as an appropriate comparison, as well as the pace, that was also a voice-over jobbie.


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## gsv (Jul 16, 2007)

Got one friend who can't stand it. She points out that it's basically a chick-flick-for-blokes, and there's not a single female character in it (barely a female speaking part).

Loves it me 


GS(v)


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## Kid_Eternity (Jul 16, 2007)

gsv said:
			
		

> Got one friend who can't stand it. She points out that it's basically a chick-flick-for-blokes, and there's not a single female character in it (barely a female speaking part).



I've heard the same from a few women over the years (almost with a hint of jealousy oddly enough). I vaguely remember an interview with Morgan Freeman saying he viewed it as a love story between men...


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## Buddy Bradley (Jul 16, 2007)

gsv said:
			
		

> there's not a single female character in it


To be fair, there were never going to be very many female parts in a film set in a men's prison.


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## London_Calling (Jul 16, 2007)

It's the Duchess of York's (Fergie) fav film, I believe - read that in a dentist's waiting room while waiting to spend over £200.00.

I mention her as a representative of gender, rather than as my film guru . . .


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## LDR (Jul 16, 2007)

I think it's shit.


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## moomoo (Jul 16, 2007)

LD Rudeboy said:
			
		

> I think it's shit.




Why?


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## LDR (Jul 16, 2007)

Well, I found it completely boring and sickeningly sentimental.  It's a film that just didn't appeal to me in the slightest.  I can understand why others would like it but it's not for me.


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## moomoo (Jul 16, 2007)

LD Rudeboy said:
			
		

> Well, I found it completely boring and sickeningly sentimental.  It's a film that just didn't appeal to me in the slightest.  I can understand why others would like it but it's not for me.




That's fair enough.


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## weltweit (Feb 27, 2012)

I watched this recently and enjoyed it.

[Not enough to start my own thread though  ]


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## Kid_Eternity (Feb 27, 2012)

Saw it again recently and still love it, one of the best films ever made. Why can't Hollywood produce more films with genuine emotion like this?


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## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2012)

genuine? wut?


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## Yuwipi Woman (Feb 27, 2012)

Buddy Bradley said:


> To be fair, there were never going to be very many female parts in a film set in a men's prison.


 
For female parts you need to see the porn remake, Schlongspank Redemption.  Still not much dialogue but you can't say there's no female parts.


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## Reno (Feb 27, 2012)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Saw it again recently and still love it, one of the best films ever made. Why can't Hollywood produce more films with genuine emotion like this?


 
This explains everything.


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## littlebabyjesus (Feb 27, 2012)

It's a skillful - and manipulative - piece of storytelling, in the american tradition. But it says nothing about America. It seems to be set in a parallel world where none of America's social problems exist, a world inhabited by warmhearted folk or emptyhearted villains. It has about as much to do with mid-twentieth century us society as star trek.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2012)

quite. it's certainly not a film with 'genuine' emotion. it's quite a cynically made film.


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## littlebabyjesus (Feb 27, 2012)

Not sure it's cynical. No more so than ET, say, which sits in the same kind of tradition. The manipulation works too, as it does in ET. I think it would take a hard heart not to be moved by ET, but perhaps a simple heart to still be thinking about it a couple of days later. That's where this kind of filmmaking shows its limits for me - it doesn't linger in the mind.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 27, 2012)

nowt wrong with manipulation, i just don't appreciate it when it's so blatant.


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## littlebabyjesus (Feb 27, 2012)

I can understand why people like it. It's escapism. It's almost an archetype of the kind of thing popular books about screenwriting try to teach.


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## Stigmata (Feb 27, 2012)

littlebabyjesus said:


> It's a skillful - and manipulative - piece of storytelling, in the american tradition. But it says nothing about America.


 
Is it essential for it to do so?

Also I think the Star Trek comparison is a bit off- the 60s incarnation of the show was often about shining a light on contemporary America through allegories that seem embarassingly blatant now (and might have done then too).


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## littlebabyjesus (Feb 28, 2012)

Well to an extent I would say that it dodges certain issues, such as race, because they would have got in the way. Not essential for it to address the society it's set in, no, but that it doesn't leaves it with no bones underneath the story, imo.

People sometimes say this is their favourite film. For me that's a bit like saying that phil Collins is your favourite singer.


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## Reno (Feb 28, 2012)

The reason why it's one of the most overrated films ever is because it was one of a very few successful weepies aimed at straight men and it makes them feel like they have a sensitive side. If something is acclaimed by white, straight men it suddenly gets taken seriously, while the many women's films and melodramas which have been doing the same for nearly a century keep getting belittled by the same demographic.

Straight boys, have a good cry at the film but don't fool yourself that this is profound or truthful or in any way authentic about it's period, place or circumstances or that it is a good film. It's no better than the equally ridiculous Bette Middler melodrama Beaches, beloved by just as many women and gay men as Shawshank is beloved by straight men. It's just that women and gay men don't think that a film should be considered profound just because it makes them a little weepy.


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## littlebabyjesus (Feb 28, 2012)

That is what it is, a melodrama. Something you enjoy when you're stuck at home with the flu and find it on as the afternoon matinée on bbc2.


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## Reno (Feb 28, 2012)

littlebabyjesus said:


> That is what it is, a melodrama. Something you enjoy when you're stuck at home with the flu and find it on as the afternoon matinée on bbc2.


 
...and it's completely fine to enjoy it on just that level. What makes me a little sad is when people try and elevate it to the status of a classic because its cheap manipulations made then feel something. According to Imdb it's the greatest film ever made, which I find really quite depressing.


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## twentythreedom (Feb 28, 2012)

littlebabyjesus said:


> I can understand why people like it. It's escapism.


 
badumm tshh!


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## Casually Red (Feb 28, 2012)

gsv said:


> Got one friend who can't stand it. She points out that it's basically a chick-flick-for-blokes, and there's not a single female character in it (barely a female speaking part).
> 
> Loves it me
> 
> ...


 
much like bemoaning the abscence of a male action hero in a story set in a convent


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## Casually Red (Feb 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> The reason why it's one of the most overrated films ever is because it was one of a very few successful weepies aimed at straight men and it makes them feel like they have a sensitive side. If something is acclaimed by white, straight men it suddenly gets taken seriously, while the many women's films and melodramas which have been doing the same for nearly a century keep getting belittled by the same demographic.
> 
> Straight boys, have a good cry at the film but don't fool yourself that this is profound or truthful or in any way authentic about it's period, place or circumstances or that it is a good film. It's no better than the equally ridiculous Bette Middler melodrama Beaches, beloved by just as many women and gay men as Shawshank is beloved by straight men. It's just that women and gay men don't demand that a film should be considered a classic just because it makes them a little weepy.


 
oh for fucks sake . The Shawshank redemption is not oppressing gays or blacks or wimmin . Seriously like ,its not . And it is a good film . Not the best one ever made or anything like that just an above average offering.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

i don't think anyone is claiming that the film oppresses anyone. what a strange thing to say.
some people just think it's overhyped and/or a bit crap.


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## Citizen66 (Feb 28, 2012)

"get busy living, or get busy dying. "

People actually talk like that. 

However, ignoring the many idiosyncrasies and innacuracies that appeal to a mass American market, the plot does keep your interest the first time around.


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## Reno (Feb 28, 2012)

Casually Red said:


> oh for fucks sake . The Shawshank redemption is not oppressing gays or blacks or wimmin . Seriously like ,its not . And it is a good film . Not the best one ever made or anything like that just an above average offering.


 
Where did I say that the film is opressing anybody ?


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## London_Calling (Feb 28, 2012)

It's brilliant at what it does but I totally hate it. So there.


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## rover07 (Feb 28, 2012)

Its a fantastic revolutionary film.

Exposing the injustice of the American penal system and the hypocrisy of the Christian Right.


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## weltweit (Feb 28, 2012)

I don't know why people are getting excited about their being no women in the film, there were no women in Das Boot also, historically accurate that was, there were no women in German U Boats in WW2.


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## Reno (Feb 28, 2012)

weltweit said:


> I don't know why people are getting excited about their being no women in the film, there were no women in Das Boot also, historically accurate that was, there were no women in German U Boats in WW2.


 
I don't think anybody did. Someone mentioned a friend who seemed to have a problem with that. It would be a stupid reason for dislinking the film. There are some films that have no male characters, like The Women, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, and Maidens in Uniform.


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## Kid_Eternity (Feb 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> This explains everything.



Yeah it's far more human than plastic crap like Avatar.


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## Yuwipi Woman (Feb 28, 2012)

littlebabyjesus said:


> It's a skillful - and manipulative - piece of storytelling, in the american tradition. But it says nothing about America. It seems to be set in a parallel world where none of America's social problems exist, a world inhabited by warmhearted folk or emptyhearted villains. It has about as much to do with mid-twentieth century us society as star trek.


 
Star Trek tells a lot about mid-twentieth century America.


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## Yuwipi Woman (Feb 28, 2012)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Yeah it's far more human than plastic crap like Avatar.


 
Dances With Wolves remade in neon and glitter.


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## Yuwipi Woman (Feb 28, 2012)

littlebabyjesus said:


> I can understand why people like it. It's escapism. It's almost an archetype of the kind of thing popular books about screenwriting try to teach.


 
My uni used the script in its screenwriting class at least once.


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## Bahnhof Strasse (Feb 28, 2012)

Reno said:


> There are some films that have no male characters, like The Women, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, and Maidens in Uniform.


 
Les Lesbo Legumes is a personal fav.


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## rover07 (Feb 28, 2012)

Escapism?!

Tell that to the ONE MILLION men locked up for life with NO PAROLE.

Escapism FFS.


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## Reno (Feb 28, 2012)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Yeah it's far more human than plastic crap like Avatar.


 

I meant it explained you tiresome predictability....


....and Bingo !


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## Lord Camomile (Feb 28, 2012)

rover07 said:


> Escapism?!
> 
> Tell that to the ONE MILLION men locked up for life with NO PAROLE.


Am I allowed to C+P?


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## Ceej (Feb 28, 2012)

I love Shawshank - yes, it does tug at the heart strings, but it's beautifully filmed, doesn't have a duff performance in it, and it always makes me smile. And a lot less American than it could have been - at least an ageing Steven Segal doesn't blast his way out with a Uzi cunningly concealed in a contraband hamburger.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

there are plenty of films that benefit from not having steven segal in them. i'm not sure that's a valid assurance of quality though.


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## Yuwipi Woman (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> there are plenty of films that benefit from not having steven segal in them. i'm not sure that's a valid assurance of quality though.


 
I have a rating system that works for me.  I call it the Pawn shop score.  If you go to a pawn shop and check out how many copies of a movie they have in stock, then subtract that number from 10, you get a reliable rating.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

i'm 'watching' GI Joe right now on Film 4. It has an insane amount of helicopter explosions in it. A reliable barometer for shitness, I find.


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## Belushi (Feb 28, 2012)

As Hollywood schmaltz goes it isn't bad, but never had the desire to watch it again.


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## krtek a houby (Feb 28, 2012)

Yuwipi Woman said:


> Dances With Wolves remade in neon and glitter.


DWW is another bloke film that (for me) tugs at the heartstrings. Something about adventure, the frontier and loss of a way of life. Swingers and Withnail & I also leave me profoundly moved.


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

Swingers? WTF?


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## Belushi (Feb 28, 2012)

Kevin Costner


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## Belushi (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> Swingers? WTF?


 
I enjoyed it at the time but dont remember being moved


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## krtek a houby (Feb 28, 2012)

Belushi said:


> I enjoyed it at the time but dont remember being moved


 
I think I could relate to trying to get back out there after a relationship ended. Certainly that scene where Favreau leaves one too many messages on a would be date's phone had me grimacing and cracking up at the same time!


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

Belushi said:


> I enjoyed it at the time but dont remember being moved


it's just a bunch of assholes (not arseholes) larking about in las vegas being cads.


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## krtek a houby (Feb 28, 2012)

Belushi said:


> Kevin Costner


 
Yeah but I likes The Untouchables, too. Doesn't make me a Costner fan. Does it?


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## Belushi (Feb 28, 2012)

How do you feel about Waterworld?


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

No Way Out is good. I think. I saw it ages ago.


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## krtek a houby (Feb 28, 2012)

Belushi said:


> How do you feel about Waterworld?


 
Damp


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

Belushi said:


> How do you feel about Waterworld?


I quite enjoyed it. I quite enjoyed The Postman too. I'm quite forgiving of post-apocalyptic films though.


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## Belushi (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> No Way Out is good. I think. I saw it ages ago.


 
Is that the one where it turns out he s the soviet spy? If so its the only one of his I've really enjoyed.


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## Belushi (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> I quite enjoyed it. I quite enjoyed The Postman too. I'm quite forgiving of post-apocalyptic films though.


 
Oh get a grip, it was fucking dire


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## krtek a houby (Feb 28, 2012)

Actually, come to think of it - I quite like JFK (barmy theories aside) and the baseball movie


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

Belushi said:


> Is that the one where it turns out he s the soviet spy? If so its the only one of his I've really enjoyed.


yeah, and he bangs sean young in a limo


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## Orang Utan (Feb 28, 2012)

krtek a houby said:


> Actually, come to think of it - I quite like JFK (barmy theories aside) and the baseball movie


me too. a perfect world was enjoyable too, if as schmaltzy as shawshank


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## Belushi (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> yeah, and he bangs sean young in a limo


 
It's got Gene Hackman who is always quality.


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## krtek a houby (Feb 28, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> me too. a perfect world was enjoyable too, if as schmaltzy as shawshank


 
Vaguely remember it, Eastwood directed iirc


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## Bakunin (Feb 29, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> there are plenty of films that benefit from not having steven segal in them. i'm not sure that's a valid assurance of quality though.


 
True. It's rather like saying that a nicely cooked Sunday roast is better than it otherwise would be, simply because nobody squatted over the table and dropped their guts into it.


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