Prison stuff. In prison movies.
“A little too full of the joy of life, eh?” says the sadistic Justice of the Peace, Squire Meadows, to a miserable female prisoner who has been charged with unruly conduct (to wit, singing in her cell). “We must curb that! No doubt five days of bread and water will tend to take the happiness out of your disposition!” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 15th, 2011 at 9:28 pm. Updated on January 15th, 2011 at 9:28 pm.
The opening scene of this movie has two naked men entwined in a prison bed, being woken by an early morning siren. Rouse! Rouse! One jumps up, hurriedly gets dressed in his Prison Officer uniform, and lets himself out of the cell. I think that it was at that point that the film lost me. Perhaps the officer’s supervisor, a colleague – someone – would have noticed that he’d gone missing for the entire night-shift… No? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 10th, 2011 at 9:42 pm. Updated on January 15th, 2011 at 9:30 pm.
A trans-Atlantic Scum, this is… based on that acclaimed British movie from 1979, and every bit as bleak. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 3rd, 2011 at 5:15 pm. Updated on January 3rd, 2011 at 5:18 pm.
“I really do admire how you change these girls’ lives,” says an opposition coach to Lt Cleveland Stackhouse, just after trying to get the prison team coached by Stackhouse banned from the schools’ track and field championships to which they’ve been invited. “You got it backwards,” replies Stackhouse. It’s that sort of movie; a bit soppy, corny.. but competent enough. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on January 3rd, 2011 at 9:42 am. Updated on March 25th, 2016 at 11:17 am.
It doesn’t bode well, does it, when a film needs a wacky long title to entice you to watch it. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 30th, 2010 at 8:57 pm. Updated on April 19th, 2020 at 11:38 am.
Paul Ramsey (Gregg Henry) is happily married, blonde (a bit too blonde), and of gentle disposition. The same can be said of neither Captain Omar Kinsman (George Kennedy) or his beloved Doberman Pinscher, Rattler. You know that it will be messy when all three inevitably tangle. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 28th, 2010 at 9:12 pm. Updated on January 27th, 2013 at 12:35 pm.
At the intersection of movies about undercover cops in prison [eg Behind Prison Gates (1939), White Heat (1949), Death Warrant (1990), Club Fed (1990), Half Past Dead (2002)], and action movies starring blokes with ponytails (eg just about anything with Steven Seagal) is this number. It might not be as far-fetched as some of those others, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 26th, 2010 at 10:44 pm. Updated on December 26th, 2010 at 10:49 pm.
Redeemer is supposed to be about a lifer with an untapped talent for writing being encouraged to write to the sister of his victim – and winning her support for his release after years of staunch opposition. And, yes, he does write a letter to her. A one-page letter. On big paper, it must be said, but even Hemingway might struggle to turn 20 years of bitterness on its head in one page. What this is really about is a marginally unethical teacher gaining the release of his prize student through persistent, harassing behaviour. The end justifies the means, it seems. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 25th, 2010 at 7:35 pm. Updated on December 25th, 2010 at 7:35 pm.
Also known as ‘Seabo‘, this Earl Owensby vehicle is set in North Carolina in 1957. Owensby produced the film, and is also cast in the lead role as Seabo, a Native American ‘halfbreed’ who is a tracker, bounty hunter and a wronged and supposedly enigmatic prisoner. Owensby, it seems, appeared in 11 films as an actor… and produced every one. If that doesn’t tell you something, nothing will. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 18th, 2010 at 10:50 pm. Updated on December 18th, 2010 at 10:50 pm.
This is a rare beast: a non-prison movie with a corrections officer in the main role. And a delightfully warm, humorous beast it is, too, corrections officer notwithstanding. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 13th, 2010 at 9:24 pm. Updated on December 13th, 2010 at 9:24 pm.