I’m not the most ardent fan of modern Bollywood productions; most are too long for my liking (this one weighs in at just shy of 2½ hours) and I generally find the musical interludes grating and intrusive. But at least in Lucknow Central (and Qaidi Band, another just-released Indian film about the formation of a jail band) music is integral to the plot, and (despite what was an apparently poor reception from Indian filmgoers) it’s a far-from-disastrous prison film. (more…)
Posted on December 31st, 2017 at 9:07 pm. Updated on January 12th, 2018 at 8:35 pm.
Shot Caller might be one of those rare films that I enjoyed in spite of itself. Or myself. (more…)
Posted on December 14th, 2017 at 8:53 pm. Updated on December 14th, 2017 at 8:53 pm.
Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (‘the law of the weakest’) is celebrated for (or rather enjoys a reputation for) its unrelenting grimness. And for good reason. If you looked in the dictionary and it said: gr?m a. harsh, joyless, pixotish – you probably wouldn’t baulk… provided that you didn’t know that Pixote is sometimes translated as PeeWee, which doesn’t sound quite so grim.
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Posted on October 5th, 2017 at 8:19 pm. Updated on October 5th, 2017 at 8:19 pm.
Ozzy isn’t quite the new Toy Story 3 (2010); it lacks much of the cleverness and multi-dimensional appeal of the earlier animated feature. But as another heart-warming movie about discarded anthropomorphic beings longing to be reunited with their families, it happily shares something of the same vibe. (more…)
Posted on September 21st, 2017 at 9:56 pm. Updated on September 21st, 2017 at 9:56 pm.
There is much that is familiar in The Prison. It owes a good deal to The Guys from Paradise (2000) and On the Job (2013) – both films about prisoners sneaking out of prison to commit major crimes, and then sneaking back in with perfect alibis – yet it somehow manages to be very much its own film. It features a cop and a kingpin. And copious amounts of corruption. (more…)
Posted on September 5th, 2017 at 10:18 pm. Updated on September 5th, 2017 at 10:18 pm.
‘Locked up in a Turkish prison’ has been the most reliable shorthand description of the horror of being a foreigner locked up abroad (or of any worst imaginable horror, really), probably since Midnight Express (1978). But the ordeal of Briton Billy Moore in A Prayer Before Dawn might have a few people viewing Thai prisons as the new high water mark. Or low water mark.
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Posted on August 12th, 2017 at 8:55 pm. Updated on August 29th, 2019 at 8:49 pm.
You have to feel for the prison ship’s newest prisoner, Taura (Sandy Brooke). Not only is she (vaguely) innocent, but she has to wear a different, more revealing uniform to every other prisoner and sport a horrible ’80s perm. Mind you, she’s not on her Pat Malone on that last count. (more…)
Posted on August 4th, 2017 at 9:23 pm. Updated on August 4th, 2017 at 9:31 pm.
Wrath of the Crows is an Italian, English-language religious-fantasy-horror production, featuring one of those boutique prisons that looks like a real prison from the wide outdoor shots, but like the entire prison consists of just five movie set cells and only two staff once the action moves inside. And, to my surprise, a lot of people don’t seem to mind such things. (more…)
Posted on May 27th, 2017 at 8:51 pm. Updated on May 27th, 2017 at 8:51 pm.
‘Distractedly’ is the English translation of this film’s French title. How does a prison director fall for a prisoner not much more than half his age? Distractedly, derangedly, stupidly. (more…)
Posted on May 10th, 2017 at 9:11 pm. Updated on May 10th, 2017 at 9:11 pm.
How do five millionaires behave when they land in prison at the same time? “I see no reason why the Warden should object to uniforms by our own tailor,” moans Harold Kellogg (Thurston Hall), pulling at his ready-made prison uniform. “.. No style, poor material and probably even secondhand,” whines his partner-in-crime, Bruce Vander (Raymond Walburn), in total agreement. And there are plenty more jolly japes as the rich newcomers turn up their noses at the prison food and bunk beds, have to do manual labour… and mix with poor people. (more…)
Posted on May 4th, 2017 at 10:30 pm. Updated on May 4th, 2017 at 10:30 pm.