Prison stuff. In prison movies.
Dark Love gives us a compelling portrait of the intertwining lives of two young people in Naples; one from a working class family, the other from a privileged background. One a perpetrator of a repugnant crime, the other his victim. Both are stupefied by the event that links them. (more…)
Posted on October 10th, 2011 at 9:18 pm. Updated on October 10th, 2011 at 9:18 pm.
This is my sort of prison movie; the Real McCoy. A movie about prison as much as it is about the lives and stories of the characters who inhabit it. (more…)
Posted on October 10th, 2011 at 9:00 pm. Updated on July 2nd, 2012 at 8:31 pm.
If you think you could have seen this movie before, you’re probably right. Even if you haven’t. (more…)
Posted on September 28th, 2011 at 7:24 pm. Updated on September 28th, 2011 at 9:52 pm.
This is a remarkable film, partly because of when it was made (in the months immediately after the end of World War II), partly because of the story it tells – a tragedy at many levels – and in even greater part due to the quality of the storytelling. (more…)
Posted on September 27th, 2011 at 11:45 am. Updated on September 27th, 2011 at 11:48 am.
The extended Thai version of the film’s title is, I’m reliably informed, more along the lines of ‘8E88 (the punishment block or execution zone in the prison where the action takes place): Cock-a-doodle-doo, happy couple’. No, I can’t work it out, either, but it seems that ‘8E88’ in Thai sounds a bit like a cock crowing, and ‘Fan Lanla’ means something like ‘crazy lovers’. Hope that helps. (more…)
Posted on September 20th, 2011 at 9:02 pm. Updated on September 20th, 2011 at 9:05 pm.
Also known as ‘Caged Animal‘ for no good reason, it seems, other than that Ving Rhames starred in the two earlier Animal movies, the second of which was directed by Ryan Combs. This unrelated movie is also directed and co-written by Combs, who allows himself the indulgence of naming the prison where the action takes place ‘Combs State Prison’. But that’s a minor indulgence compared with the decision to make the film in the first place. (more…)
Posted on September 6th, 2011 at 4:58 pm. Updated on March 26th, 2013 at 9:57 pm.
Skidoo has all the things that you’d expect to see in a psychedelic 60s comedy – hippies, acid trips, groovy outfits, body painting – and some you might not: a prison escape by a home-made hot air balloon, Harry Nilsson singing the credits, and a sadly unfunny Groucho Marx. (more…)
Posted on September 5th, 2011 at 10:58 pm. Updated on September 5th, 2011 at 11:04 pm.
It seems that this is a faithful recreation of a true story featuring real prisoners playing themselves. It brings a different meaning to ‘all the events, names and characters are real’. (more…)
Posted on August 29th, 2011 at 10:00 pm. Updated on August 29th, 2011 at 10:10 pm.
One presumes that potboiler title was designed to drag scandal-seeking customers through the theatre doors. My guess is that the story’s creator, Joan Henry, would have seen only irony in it. (more…)
Posted on August 16th, 2011 at 10:13 pm. Updated on August 16th, 2011 at 10:20 pm.
“Dear Lord, violence is the artist and I am just the brush…” prays James ‘Animal’ Allen (Ving Rhames) in his Folsom Prison cell. At least, I think that’s what he says… it’s a bit hard to hear because there’s a riot going on in the background. (more…)
Posted on August 10th, 2011 at 9:36 pm. Updated on August 10th, 2011 at 9:36 pm.