I’d read the reverential, slightly fawning reviews and was looking forward to seeing this arty ‘throwback’ (Steve Balderson’s contemporary tale filmed in the manner of a noirish 50s black-and-whiter) with great anticipation. Sadly, I found that it not only failed to live up to the hype, but is not a patch on the Women in Prison films of the 50s, the style of which it seems to try to recreate. If you like the period, watch Women’s Prison (1955), Girls in Prison (1956) or the British Yield to the Night (1956) instead, is my tip. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on December 4th, 2010 at 10:34 pm. Updated on August 11th, 2013 at 12:03 pm.
Lockdown is a prison movie for traditionalists – murders, stabbings, drug use, drug deals, racial tension, rapes, crooked guards… and in the middle of it all, a good, innocent man struggling to survive. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 26th, 2010 at 9:55 pm. Updated on March 6th, 2016 at 5:06 pm.
Untamed youth? These youth are so tame that after working as virtual slaves in the hot sun all day and then being fed dog food, their collective response is to spend all night dancing to a rock ‘n’ roll jukebox. In a very untamed fashion, of course. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 20th, 2010 at 10:25 pm. Updated on November 20th, 2010 at 10:25 pm.
Undoubtedly, the most extraordinary thing about this movie is that it is not nearly as fanciful as it seems; it’s pretty much a true story. Much has been made of its relatively matter-of-fact treatment of what is a love story involving two gay prisoners, and of the supposed risks Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor took by playing gay men. Well, kissing. But for a lover of prison films, the film’s standout feature is the total absence of these openly gay prisoners being stood over for sex by other prisoners, or of them being bullied or humiliated by guards. That sort of thing may happen, rarely, in real life, but never, never, you would think, in a prison movie. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 15th, 2010 at 8:30 pm. Updated on November 15th, 2010 at 8:31 pm.
“From the creator of Police Academy“, trumpets the blurb on my DVD. I’m not sure if it’s true (the DVD cover manages to get every other detail wrong, including all the names of the film’s characters), but – sadly – it might as well be. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 4th, 2010 at 7:10 pm. Updated on November 4th, 2010 at 7:10 pm.
You know that uncomfortable feeling where you think that you may have entirely misunderstood a movie? If I were told that the critically-acclaimed 9 Souls is an allegorical tale about the last nine of the Japanese dynasties and I missed the point, I wouldn’t be surprised. Or I could be told that each of the nine characters represents one of Koichi Hanada’s ‘Nine Politicians who Ruined Japan’, all of whom I remain blissfully unaware – and all I could offer up is, “Oh.” It’s long, quirky, confounding and ultimately a rather bleak film. Unless it’s not. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 2nd, 2010 at 11:01 pm. Updated on November 3rd, 2010 at 2:50 pm.
The French have something of a history of making high quality, gritty prison films – the magnificent Le Trou (1960) and the more celebrated Un Prophète (2009) as just two examples. This might not be in the same league, but it’s gritty and authentic and has the classic prison movie feel. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on November 2nd, 2010 at 8:21 pm. Updated on November 2nd, 2010 at 8:25 pm.
It might not be the best recommendation to say that this wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I had expected. One review had it marked down as ‘hideous’ and another* concluded that it was so beset with problems that it ‘should stay in lock-up, with no eligibility for parole.’ And it’s true; the ending is an absolute shocker, and the 20-second Jerry Seinfeld-Paul Reiser cameo is terrible. But the rest of the film is on a par with lots of other pretty average prison comedies – amongst them Stir Crazy (1980), with which this shares quite a lot. Not the rodeo, thankfully. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 25th, 2010 at 10:22 pm. Updated on October 25th, 2010 at 10:22 pm.
Some films would be better if they’d been left on the cutting room floor. This is one of ’em. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 19th, 2010 at 5:10 pm. Updated on May 8th, 2020 at 10:21 pm.
This has two critical elements of a prison movie: a prison (Alcatraz, in this instance), and a prisoner. Mind you, and I know I’m a bit pedantic and old-fashioned about these things, I do think that in order to be a proper prison movie the prison has to hold prisoners. Even one prisoner. The Rock, I’m sad to say, is not a prison movie; it’s more of a tourist attraction movie. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 16th, 2010 at 8:01 pm. Updated on October 16th, 2010 at 8:01 pm.