Prison stuff. In prison movies.
It appears, to my surprise, that some people actually enjoy watching kickboxing movies. They may even like Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson, who was apparently a kickboxing champion of some note. That, of course, makes neither Wilson an actor of any ability, nor this film which features him a movie of any merit. (more…)
Posted on December 12th, 2011 at 9:24 pm. Updated on December 12th, 2011 at 9:24 pm.
To say that this is To Sir, With Love (1967) in a juvenile prison does not tell the whole story of this film. But it does tell half of it, I suspect… even if my Italian is itself very suspect. (more…)
Posted on December 2nd, 2011 at 10:21 pm. Updated on December 3rd, 2011 at 8:19 pm.
Nor Chor (The Prisoners) tries to cram a lot into the one film. It attempts to provide a balanced view of prison issues, to draw attention to some inequities in the criminal justice system, to educate the masses about imprisonment… and to combine it with some high-action drama. They’re honourable goals to have. Well, maybe not the last when you try to blend it with the others. (more…)
Posted on November 20th, 2011 at 6:21 pm. Updated on November 20th, 2011 at 6:21 pm.
You would think that a film about a young prisoner fighting for the right to keep her child with her in custody would have no trouble in having you cheering her on from the sidelines. And no doubt many people have… but she’s so unsympathetically drawn, it’s possible to be quite indifferent to whether she wins or loses. (more…)
Posted on November 16th, 2011 at 9:55 pm. Updated on November 16th, 2011 at 9:55 pm.
There aren’t many prison movies like this one, where the action is seen from the point of view of a Prison Officer, or even where a humble correctional officer is at the centre of the story: The Quare Fellow (1962), Against the Wall (1993), Fast-Walking (1982), Cell 211 (2009) and not many more… Having said that, it seems unlikely that the British Prison Service will use this one as the centrepiece of its recruitment campaigns. (more…)
Posted on November 7th, 2011 at 9:47 pm. Updated on November 7th, 2011 at 10:02 pm.
Having cringed through Men of San Quentin (1942), an unabashed tribute to Warden Clinton T Duffy, I prepared myself for an even greater festival of self-aggrandisement in this flick – particularly as this one was based on the Warden’s own reflections and released just two years following his retirement after 12-odd years in the job. (more…)
Posted on October 30th, 2011 at 6:35 pm. Updated on October 30th, 2011 at 6:35 pm.
“Just land in jail and people will look at you. They’ll say, ‘Don’t pity them; they got what they deserved.’ Nobody can imagine what it’s like to be in jail. I, too, forget when I leave. Yet I return. I return.” (more…)
Posted on October 15th, 2011 at 9:15 pm. Updated on October 15th, 2011 at 9:15 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.