Andy Dufresne

'Castle Rock' Trailer: This Stephen King-Inspired Show Has Us Hooked Already

Oct 112017

Stephen King’s novels and movie adaptations have a cult following which very few writers have managed to create. ‘The Shining’, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, and ‘The Green Mile’ are just few stellar examples of his brilliance. ‘It’ was a massive hit when it made its debut which is still breaking all records on the screen and is possibly a major influence for every clown themed horror show or a movie that came after that.

'Castle Rock' Looks To Connect Dots Between Stephen King's Works © hulu

Keeping his brilliance in mind, an upcoming show that’s been made for Hulu is already floating high on the charts. Titled as ‘Castle Rock’, the show has been inspired by his writings and looks to connect the worlds of his works (if you are a fan who has exhausted all the log of the movies and books, this is for you especially), and takes cues from the vast library of his writing. Castle Rock was the hometown of Andy Dufresne from ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and the setting for stories such as ‘The Dead Zone’, ‘Cujo’ and ‘Needful Things’. It’s a horror anthology and the trailer is creeping people already.

The plotting of the story looks similar to ‘American Horror Story’ and ‘Fargo’. The show stars BillSkarsgard, Sissy Spacek, Scott Glenn, Jane Levy and André Holland.

According to reports, the series “combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland.”

'Castle Rock' Looks To Connect Dots Between Stephen King's Works © hulu

The series is being worked up David Thompson and Sam Shaw (The Master Of Sex fame). Much of the plot is led into secrecy, but that’s how one would want to savour it. There’s also Sissy Spacek who was seen in “Carrie”. Talking about familiar faces, well there are quite a few. Melanie Lynske is Molly Strand, a real agent with a rare condition, Bill ‘Pennywise’ Skarsgard is there obviously, in a new creepy avatar.

The series is coming from the Warner Bros. studio and is scheduled to release in 2018. It might not be written by King himself, but the interconnected universe morphed with horror awaits everyone for a sheer visual feast.

What Made 'The Shawshank Redemption' Become The Highest Rated Movie On IMDb

Celebrities

Aug 142017

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”

Almost 23 years ago, a film titled ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ hit theatres throughout the world just to become the highest rated film ever by viewers on IMDb, years later. The film outperformed some of the best films of all time including ‘The Godfather’, ‘The Dark Knight’, ’12 Angry Men’ and ‘Schindler’s List’. It was almost after two decades when people understood a simple fact behind the film’s immense popularity – they somewhere identified their own selves in the film’s screenplay. ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ became the most cited example to make others believe that “faith can move mountains”.

A period-prison film became a worldwide phenomenon. The impact of the film didn’t even spare Nobel Prize winner Nelson Mandela who absolutely loved the film. On the other hand, when the script was presented to actor Morgan Freeman, he called it one of the best scripts of all time. Little did he know by then, that his heavy narrative in the film, would become his identity for the rest of his life.

Morgan’s very characteristic voice made him one of the greatest voice-over artists in the world. Wherever he goes till date, people ask him to narrate a few famous dialogues from the film. Under Frank Darabont’s direction, the film bagged seven Academy Award nominations which are till date the highest for any Stephen King film adaptation. Some of the nominations were in the categories – Best Picture, Best Actor (Morgan Freeman) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

However, most of the awards were swept by the other two high rated nominees – ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Forrest Gump’. No doubt these two films have garnered undisputable viewership over the years and are also critically acclaimed, The Shawshank Redemption’s legacy stands resolute and larger than life. The most positive reviews about the film are on the basis of a wider display of existentialism when compared to any other movie in the history of cinema.

Is that all about Andy Dufresne who was life sentenced in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover, a character who keeps proving his innocence by doing everything good inside the prison? Or may be about Andy becoming friends with Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, and later reuniting after the former manages to escape from the hell, finding himself to be able to live a life he always wanted? Is the film all about the state-of-the-art narrative by Morgan, equipped with meaningful dialogues, followed by a brilliant direction? What made ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ great?

The movie has been set during 1947, the time following the end of World War II. During this era, the idea of existentialism came into its origin which insisted on the fact that each individual—not society or religion—is solely responsible for giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely, or authentically. ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ not only succeeds in sharing the belief that the virtue of freedom is the basic human need but also emphasized on the biggest power we humans are born with – the power of hope.