Prison stuff. In prison movies.
This is a pretty faithful remake of the 1932 film of the same name. It is better, but you wonder a bit why they bothered to do it all again. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 22nd, 2010 at 11:03 pm. Updated on May 22nd, 2010 at 11:03 pm.
Up the River is a low-key comedy drama starring Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy very early in their careers. An early talkie directed by John Ford, it was apparently going to be a drama until The Big House (1930) beat it to the punch.. so it was rewritten as a comedy. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 22nd, 2010 at 5:24 pm. Updated on June 21st, 2012 at 8:52 pm.
Also known as ‘Maximum Revenge‘. Now, I’m not fond of action movies, as you may have noticed, but it’s hard to imagine that an action movie could get any worse than this. The best that can be said for it is that it is so awful and so absurd that it is mildly amusing. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 15th, 2010 at 9:58 pm. Updated on August 11th, 2013 at 11:59 am.
I’d like to say that this provides some rare insight into prison life. I’d also like to be able to run 10km. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 15th, 2010 at 9:58 pm. Updated on May 15th, 2010 at 9:58 pm.
Unspeakable necessarily invites comparison with Silence of the Lambs (1991) given that both involve a psychopathic serial killer playing mind games with a pretty woman who wants to get inside his head. None of the comparisons are flattering to this one – which has a speakable mediocrity. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 8th, 2010 at 11:21 pm. Updated on May 9th, 2010 at 11:02 pm.
Not only is this Buster Keaton offering funnier than many more recent prison comedies (including the various Laurel and Hardy prison movies that followed soon after), it has the advantage of only having to sustain itself for 20 minutes… so there is little time for any audience to get restless. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 6th, 2010 at 11:18 pm. Updated on May 6th, 2010 at 11:18 pm.
I used to think I could pick a prison movie. This proves I can’t. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 4th, 2010 at 10:46 pm. Updated on May 4th, 2010 at 10:46 pm.
This hints at being a straightforward revenge story: grieving father seeks to avenge the death of his son. It starts with a couple of biblical references about vengeance and man being called upon to shed the blood of those who shed blood. Curiously, it then introduces a little-known footnote to Exodus 21: 23-24 (“a life for a life, an eye for an eye..”) along the lines of ‘if your son is shot through the eye, shoot the shooter through the eye’; you are not merely called upon to avenge the death, apparently, but to avenge the death using exactly the same method. In jail, that can add considerably to the degree of difficulty. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 2nd, 2010 at 5:53 pm. Updated on May 2nd, 2010 at 6:07 pm.
Translating as ‘Everyone to Prison‘, this is a satire-tinged farce. My guess is that it helps to have an understanding of contemporary Spanish politics; sadly, I don’t. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on April 26th, 2010 at 6:14 pm. Updated on May 8th, 2010 at 11:31 pm.
The premise is an interesting one: treat reform school delinquents as responsible young men, and they will respond accordingly. It makes for an enjoyable film, but probably doesn’t work quite so well as a blueprint for running reform schools… in 1933 or now. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on April 25th, 2010 at 10:06 pm. Updated on April 25th, 2010 at 10:06 pm.