The Auteurnament - Page 147

donny · 11-03-2009, 12:51 AM

The Auteurnament

4th Edition

Round One, Battle Forty-Seven

Region Six (Wes Anderson, Frank Darabont, Michael Gondry, Christopher Nolan)

The Anderson/Darabont Section

The Shawshank Redemption

Released: 1994

Synopsis: In writer-director Frank Darabont's THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover in the late 1940s. However, only Andy knows that he didn't commit the crimes. Sent to Shawshank Prison to do hard time, Andy--a taciturn banker in the outside world--has to learn to get by in the brutal, cutthroat confines of prison life. His quiet strength slowly earns the respect of his fellow inmates--most notably, Red (Morgan Freeman)--and even much of the prison staff. But Andy's seemingly stoic acceptance of his unjust imprisonment hides a fierce determination for freedom. This beautifully crafted movie features touching and sincere performances from the entire cast, with an uplifting message about humanity's indomitable spirit and the redemptive value of hope. Based on the novella RITA HAYWORTH AND SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION by Stephen King, Darabont's intriguing adaptation is easily one of the finest films of the 1990s.

Darabont Bytes: - This is the 1st directed film by Darabont.

- Darabont secured the film adaptation rights from author Stephen King after impressing the author with his short film adaptation of "The Woman in the Room" in 1983. Although the two had become friends and maintained a pen-pal relationship, Darabont did not work with him until four years later in 1987, when he optioned to adapt Shawshank. This is one of the more famous Dollar Deals made by King with aspiring filmmakers. Darabont later directed The Green Mile, which was based on another work about a prison by Stephen King, and then followed that up with an adaptation of King's novella The Mist. Rob Reiner, who had previously adapted another King novella The Body into Stand By Me, offered $2.5 million in an attempt to write and direct the project. He aimed to cast Tom Cruise in the part of Andy and Harrison Ford as Red. Darabont seriously considered and liked Reiner's vision, but he ultimately decided it was his "chance to do something really great" by directing the film himself.

VS

The Mist

Released: 2007

Synopsis: Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE) serves as director, writer, and producer of THE MIST, an adaptation of Stephen King's classic novella. After a vicious storm wreaks havoc in their small town in Maine, artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) heads out to the town supermarket for some much-needed supplies with his young son, Billy (Nathan Gamble), and his neighbor, Norton (Andre Braugher), in tow. Their trip soon turns to terror when a menacing white mist settles in, leaving this group of locals and out-of-towners fighting for survival against an unknown, bloodthirsty enemy. When the local religious zealot (Marcia Gay Harden) begins to convince the group that the mist is punishment from God, Drayton and his cohorts realize that they may be trapped inside with an enemy just as dangerous as whatever is lurking outside. Tension runs high in this tale as the trapped group faces difficult moral decisions. Should they stay and wait out the terror, or make a break for it and risk suffering a terrible fate? Is the eerie mist the will of God, an experiment from the local military base gone awry, or, maybe, a freak natural disaster? Without modern conveniences and the normal conventions and rules to guide them, the group is easily swayed by the loudest opinion. Will they save themselves at the expense of each other, or work as a team to save everyone? There is a decent amount of blood and gore for horror fans, some deadpan humor and just a hint of politics thrown in for good measure. Thomas Jane is a stoic leading man, but Frances Sternhagen and Toby Jones are more fun as unlikely heroes. Laurie Holden, Alexa Davalos, Bill Sadler and Jeffrey Demunn also star in this creepy tale.

Darabont Bytes: - This is the 4th directed film by Darabont.

- Darabont described The Mist as quaint in its elements of monsters and fear of the unknown compared to the contemporary popularity of films with torture porn. The director saw The Mist as a throwback to Paddy Chayefsky and William Shakespeare, explaining, "It's people at each other." He highlighted the element of fear in the film in how it compelled people to behave differently. Darabont said, "How primitive do people get? It's Lord of the Flies that happens to have some cool monsters in it." He also drew parallels to The Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and the 1944 film Lifeboat.

My Vote: Shawshank, though I like the Mist.

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Round One, Battle Forty-Eight

The Green Mile

Released: 1999

Synopsis: "The Green Mile" is told in a flashback narrated by Paul Edgecomb to his friend Elaine Connelly. Edgecomb is now living in an old-age home some six decades after working as the head guard on Death Row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary.Edgecomb’s tour of duty at Cold Mountain in the Depression-era South included watch over a quartet of killers awaiting their final walk down "the Green Mile," the stretch of green linoleum flooring that took convicts from their jail cells to the electric chair.Over the years, Edgecomb walked the mile with a variety of cons. He had never before encountered someone like John Coffey, a massive black man convicted of brutally killing a pair of nine-year-old sisters. Coffey certainly had the size and strength to kill anyone, but his demeanor starkly contrasted with his appearance. Beyond his simple, naive nature and a deathly fear of the dark, Coffey seemed to possess a prodigious, supernatural gift. Edgecomb began to question whether Coffey was truly guilty of murdering the two girls. As the story unfolds, Paul Edgecomb learns that, sometimes, miracles happen in the most unexpected places.

Darabont Bytes: - This is the 2nd directed film by Darabont.

- In actuality, Michael Clarke Duncan is of a similar height as his co-star David Morse and is a couple inches shorter than James Cromwell. Among other things, creative camera angles were used to create the illusion that Duncan as John Coffey towered over the prison staff, even Brutal Howell and Warden Moores.

VS

The Majestic

Released: 2001

Synopsis: In THE MAJESTIC, Jim Carrey stretches his talents and proves that he can be a credible serious actor with his portrayal of Peter Appleton, a Hollywood B-movie screenwriter who is black listed during the McCarthy era. A car accident costs him his memory, and in the small coastal town where he ends up, he is mistaken for a local hero, presumed dead almost ten years ago in the war. Unable to recall anything of his "past" in the town, Appleton not only embraces his new identity, but becomes a pillar of the community, restoring hope that the residents lost along with many of their young men in World War II. In the process, he discovers new inspiration, new purpose, and a new life. Director Frank Darabont, true to form, tells a leisurely tale of a man's renewed faith in himself and in others. The film is an homage to old-fashioned values and proud-to-be-an-American patriotism, studded with rock-solid performances not just by Carrey, but by film veterans Martin Landau, Hal Holbrook, and Ron Rifkin, among others. Listen as well for cameo voice overs by Garry Marshall, Matt Damon, and Carl and Rob Reiner.

Darabont Bytes: - This is the 3rd directed film by Darabont.

- In the first scene of the movie, we see Jim Carrey's character reacting to the ideas of studio executives, one of whom mentions that the name Floyd is terrible, and that it has to be changed. Later on we learn that they changed the name to Heywood, which an executive also says is terrible. Heywood and Floyd are both characters from Frank Darabont's earlier movie The Shawshank Redemption and Dr Heywood Floyd is a character in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

My Vote: The Green Mile

jbailey84 · 11-03-2009, 01:13 AM

Shawshank

Green Mile

HaDoKen · 11-03-2009, 03:53 AM

Shawshank

The Moose · 11-03-2009, 03:57 AM

Shawshank Redemption

Green Mile

Big-Lead5 · 11-03-2009, 07:42 AM