Prison stuff. In prison movies.
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Histoire charts the decline of Claude (Emmanuel Auger), a clean-cut, good-lookin’ 19-year-old serving 10 years for an armed robbery. He’s so clean-cut and so good-lookin’ and is so missing his pretty girlfriend, Karine (Karyne Lemieux), that we can’t really believe he belongs in a harsh maximum-security prison. But then we could be wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on February 3rd, 2012 at 10:17 pm. Updated on February 3rd, 2012 at 10:17 pm.
If there’s a purpose to this unusual half-silent, half-talkie film (other than to hear the main character sing the song ‘Weary River’ four times), it’s to show that a wayward man can turn his life around with the support of a good woman and a good Warden. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 30th, 2012 at 9:56 pm. Updated on January 30th, 2012 at 9:56 pm.
This is a heartwarming tale – full of stabbings, rape, murder, drug dealing, slash-ups, suicide and corruption. But heartwarming nonetheless. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 28th, 2012 at 10:02 pm. Updated on February 3rd, 2012 at 10:29 pm.
Guru has two redeeming features. It is mercifully short, at around 56 minutes. And it is unapologetically dotted with anachronisms, if you like spotting such things; things like light switches and heavy passing traffic that are just slightly at odds with its 15th Century setting. To tell the truth, they don’t redeem it at all; it is schlock-horror tripe that could be enjoyed only by masochists who are fans of other people’s children’s school productions. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 21st, 2012 at 5:32 pm. Updated on January 30th, 2012 at 10:10 pm.
Prison hell is a bit subjective: just look at In Hell (2003), or Bangkok Hell (2002) or Hell in the City (1959). The only thing that’s certain is that it is a worse hell in someone else’s prison system. Like Midnight Express (1978) or Brokedown Palace (1999). Hunger (2008), even. Or Hell in Tangier. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 9th, 2012 at 9:28 pm. Updated on December 30th, 2019 at 8:44 pm.
The collective wisdom seems to be that this is a remake of Caged (1949). Even my Warner Bros DVD says so, and I guess they should know, having made both movies. But maybe they didn’t watch past the first few scenes. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 1st, 2012 at 6:52 pm. Updated on January 1st, 2012 at 6:52 pm.
It’s forty-odd years since I’m Going to Get You… was released. Maybe it was brave and ground-breaking in its day by virtue of its depiction of homosexuality and corruption in prisons. But my guess is that it was a tawdry, poorly-made film back in the 70s… and it remains so today. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 28th, 2011 at 10:20 pm. Updated on December 28th, 2011 at 10:20 pm.
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 2nd, 2011 at 10:21 pm. Updated on December 3rd, 2011 at 8:19 pm.
You could be forgiven for thinking that this film has something to do with Alcatraz. Sadly, if you are looking for Alcatraz action, you’ll be bitterly disappointed – Alcatraz is as incidental to Experiment Alcatraz as… well, Alcatraz is to the true story of Robert Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 26th, 2011 at 8:44 pm. Updated on November 26th, 2011 at 8:44 pm.