The Best Film Ever Made

Rating: 10/10 (31 March 2014)

In 1994 I saw Pulp Fiction in the theater 5 times. I was obsessed with it. Still am...it's my #2, and on occasion, #1. But there was another film I saw multiple times in the theater in '94 - The Shawshank Redemption.
And this one, hardly anyone saw in the theater. Nobody really knew about it, until all of a sudden it was nominated for Best Picture and lots more Oscars. But honestly no one in the world thought it would win, I'm sure the Vegas odds were laughable. And of course Forrest Gump overshadowed both Shawshank & Pulp Fiction.
So Shawshank was my film for years, I found it - randomly at my local theater. I owned it on VHS, I watched it incessantly. It's been my favorite film for 20 years.
It's well known it gained a cult following on VHS. But IMDb really put it on the map. And IMDb is to be thanked for the last 7 or 8 years, of idiots who've just come into the film recently claiming it's "a trendy film to claim as your favorite." I want to get physically violent with people who say that. Rather, it's trendy for idiots to say it's trendy to love Shawshank.
It doesn't matter. Shawshank is timeless. It is so layered, so thick & dense with ideas & emotions, subtleties & nuance & little moments that are gigantic. Watching Shawshank is a spiritual experience, a journey that never gets old. It's a drug.
God, I just saw IMDb is getting close to racking up 1,200,000 votes on Shawshank. And 9.3. You cannot argue with that. It cuts across cultures, sexes, and races.
Unbelievable miracle of a film, created by sunlight itself.