I don't know if it's plausible that life-time inmates never changed cells in the old times. Although the movie was probably not based on any true story, I did hear a prison anecdote where an inmate successfully tunneled through the prison wall and escaped for good, minus many of the theatrics depicted in the Shawshank. After that, it was said, inmates were required to change cells. "Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the master of the house cometh. (Mark 13:35)" "I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)"
The all time champ is probably Weird Science...I must have seen that movie about 20 or 30 times on TV before I ever saw it on video...I was shocked at how much they butchered it for TV.
Entrapment, Thomas Crowne Affair, Tombstone, and many others. I agree that Shawshank's a little overrated. The ending is just so unbelievable, that it kind of ruins the whole movie for me. I would have like to have seen Andy out that guy some way through regular channels and because of that have his case looked at and gotten out. But I guess that's not Hollywood enough.
Yeah? Was that line in the book, or was it added during the creation of the screenplay? (And note: if we're going to go by when it was written, it's gonna be a close call. SR may have been written in '82, but FMJ was a movie in '85 and may have been written before SR. Also, FMJ was written in 1980 (as "Short Timers" by Gustav Hasford) but I doubt that line was in the book.)
I'm pretty sure that neither of those movies originated this phrase. A lot of R. Lee Ermey's lines in the movie were adlibbed from lines he had used in his time as an actual drill sergeant. I assume that it was a line he had picked up from other drill sergeants in his time in the Corps. Either way, I think to claim that either movie is ripping the other off is like claiming that Michael Rappaport was the first to come up with "butter face" because they used that bit on "The War at Home" last night. Good god, I can't believe I still watch that pile of crap. Oh well, that is all....
I remember that or something similar in the book. It's such a generic line that regardless of which one was penned first, there was no "ripping off" of anything. I'm guessing you could find similar lines in many movies with prison/boot camp scenes.
To derail a bit...I kinda like the show, but I hated it last night. Not because it wasn't funny (I thought it was), but that it's nowhere near the quality of Arrested Development (or Kitchen Confidential, for that matter), but is somehow spared by Fox.
Oh well, it's not like "who came up with the ass line" hasn't already derailed it... Here's my problems with "The War at Home." A) Michael Rappaport is terrible. His delivery is terrible. He's fat. He brings absolutely nothing to that role. I thought he was bad on Boston Public. He brings absolutley nothing to the table for this show. B) The writing is terrible. All you need to do is think of the most sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise ignorant/inappropriate thing to say in respoonse to the situation and you can predict Rappaport's next line. It's obvious that the show was pitched as an updated All in the Family with Rappaport as a modern Archie Bunker. But, their isn't any real humor or insightful lesson learned at the end of the show. C) The conversation is compeletely unbelievable. Last night are we supposed to believe that a teenage daughter and her parents would have a rational dinner conversation about her having breast implants? Or that she would bring over her friend to show off her breast implants to her family? The great thing about Seinfeld was that while some of the situations were ridiculous, the characters always seemed to be genuinely reacting to the situation. D) The pacing is terrible. There's absolutely no continuity between scenes. And it's obvious that the actors are beginning the scene right when it starts. It's hard to explain, but you feel that the take has just started and that the characters are starting to act rather than their being an actual scene going on. When the scene starts, whatever the first line is, it's obvious that the line is a forced attempt bring the plot line about that certain issue along. It's tough to explain, but the pacing of the show just seems jilted and forced. Oh well, just my opinion. I can understand how some people would like this show. I think I'm just ranting about it more to convince myself to turn off the TV before Family Guy comes on so I can do something constructive.
I remember as a kid, I saw several over and over on the channel 13 (KTRK -abc affiliate in Houston) on the "Late Late Movie." Soilent Green Omega Man The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Planet of the Apes movies Somebody had a Charlton Heston mancrush it seems. Wasn't he in all those?
The Jewish prisoners also tunneled out of Nazi camps. Using the exact same strategy of digging out. Plus Stallone did it, until Pele stopped him. So it's possiblle.
