Sadly, maybe the most over-rated film ever made

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2002)

Is Shawshank a good film? Yes. Is it the second greatest film of all time as this website suggests? Definitely not! I continually fail to see how people rank it so high. I don't even believe it was the best film of its given year. Pulp Fiction was a much more inventive film that changed the way films were made afterwards. Shawshank is a good film but I doubt it changed the cinematic landscape or it can be looked at as a work of an auteur. I am guessing the same people who regard it so high are the same people who have never seen a foreign film or consider black and white films hard to watch.
I hate to be so critical of a film that I enjoy. But at the same time, I feel I have to show my discontent with movie goers. I also don't consider the Lord of the Rings the 5th best film or Memento the 10th best film of all time. There were films made prior to 1990. People are free to have their opinions and I am allowed to have mine as well. My opinion is that the general public are the ones who encourage Hollywood to put out recycled formulas year after year.
***1/2 out of ****