It’s a bit hard to separate any movie involving Mel Gibson from the ranting, wife-beating, homophobic anti-Semite that the star (and writer) of Get the Gringo has shown himself to be. Allegedly. As a result, I wasn’t much looking forward to this film. Nor am I a fan of the action genre, as I may have said previously; ad infinitum. But this is surprisingly watchable. Enjoyable, even. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 28th, 2012 at 10:01 pm. Updated on August 28th, 2012 at 10:01 pm.
In 1976 the British Government put an end to the special category status of prisoners from the Provisional Irish Republican Army, no longer treating them as prisoners of war, but as common criminals. Mairéad Farrell – on whose life much of the film seems to be loosely based – was the first woman Republican to be refused political status in 1976. By 1980, when the film is set, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and doggedly resolute: “There can be no question of political status for someone who is serving a sentence for crime. Crime is crime is crime.” Silent Grace seeks to capture the struggle for the restoration of political status that was at the heart of prison protests in Northern Ireland – not just by the more celebrated male prisoners – but by a smaller number of women prisoners, led by Farrell, at the Armagh Women’s Prison. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 21st, 2012 at 10:28 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2012 at 10:28 pm.
Shakespeare in prison. It’s been done before [Mickey B (2007), for example, or the Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005) documentary]. But never so well. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 14th, 2012 at 10:23 pm. Updated on August 29th, 2019 at 8:47 pm.
Estômago means ‘stomach’ in Portuguese. It surely has to have some additional metaphysical meaning, because a movie simply called ‘Stomach’ might be difficult to promote. The film is nonetheless, in large part, about stomachs that need to be filled. It tells the story of a novice cook’s education in the big city (in both culinary and in other ways of the world), intertwined with stories of him finding his way (through food, again) in prison, and others’ relationship with food. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 9:07 pm. Updated on August 5th, 2012 at 9:07 pm.
I have no idea what this is about, but if you only watch prison movies for the shower scenes, this could be the film for you. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 24th, 2012 at 9:07 pm. Updated on December 1st, 2012 at 4:56 pm.
Good prison comedy is awfully difficult to write. If you need to be convinced of that, this film proves it. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 22nd, 2012 at 4:46 pm. Updated on August 5th, 2012 at 5:23 pm.
You might start to suspect that something’s not quite right at the La Salle Detention Home for Girls even before you discover that it has its own morgue, replete with with a 5-drawer body refrigerator. That’s a lot of dead prisoners that they’re planning for… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 14th, 2012 at 5:25 pm. Updated on July 15th, 2012 at 9:18 am.
Albert Pierrepoint was not Britain’s last hangman; he retired in 1956 and others continued to hang people until 1964. But he was, by all accounts, the most prolific and the most proficient. This is his story, and it seems that for the most part it is faithfully told. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 12th, 2012 at 9:27 pm. Updated on July 12th, 2012 at 9:27 pm.
Rick Penning (Sean Faris) is a sullen, selfish, jerk. He’s in juvenile detention, but you would hardly know it. Forever Strong is about rugby and the life lessons that a coach can bring to a team. It’s not so much about the life lessons that juvenile detention can teach. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 1st, 2012 at 2:44 pm. Updated on July 1st, 2012 at 2:44 pm.
This is, quite frankly, a pretty ordinary film. I have, however, given it an extra half-star for containing the only punishment I have seen, on film or elsewhere, involving a prisoner being forced to wear three large teapots. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 30th, 2012 at 8:16 pm. Updated on June 30th, 2012 at 8:16 pm.