Prison stuff. In prison movies.
An enthralling, beautifully scripted portrait of the real-life Lord Longford, a prison visitor of many years whose belief in the inherent good in people leads him to be an advocate for ‘Moors murderer’ Myra Hindley, and is then tested when Hindley cynically uses him and throws it all back in his face. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 4th, 2009 at 5:10 pm. Updated on March 6th, 2016 at 6:51 pm.
A real-life triumph-through-adversity tale about how a theatre troupe was formed in a tough Spanish female penitentiary. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 9:15 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm.
It’s a bit disturbing that a laconic Charles Bronson is the best thing about this action thriller which, it must be said, is rather devoid of thrills. It’s also a bit devoid of characterisation, which is pretty standard for this type of film, but at least Bronson gets the job done without being superhuman. That’s a plus.
Posted on June 27th, 2009 at 11:50 pm. Updated on August 27th, 2009 at 10:34 pm.
They don’t get any more melodramatic than this. Thankfully. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm. Updated on September 27th, 2009 at 8:11 pm.
Based on the apparently unreliable memoir of prison officer James Gregory, this film sets itself a tough task: to provide a credible account of Nelson Mandela’s relationship with a white, apartheid-supporting guard during his last 22 years in prison, while giving precious little air time to Mandela’s perspective. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 20th, 2009 at 11:49 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm.
This is a very stylised rendering of the true story of Michael Peterson and his alter ego, Charles Bronson, possibly the most violent prisoner in England, who started a 7 year stretch in 1974 and 34 years on has had just a couple of brief spells on the outside, his term increased by series of sentences for offences committed inside prison – assaults and hostage takings. His stint inside has included 30-odd years in solitary or doing the Largactil shuffle, it seems. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 16th, 2009 at 9:00 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm.
This is an unashamed propaganda film for prison reform and the incumbent San Quentin Warden, Clinton T Duffy, to whom the film is dedicated (along with his ‘men’). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 8th, 2009 at 12:13 pm. Updated on March 11th, 2017 at 8:19 pm.
The Director of this Spanish-language, low-budget movie calls it an ‘amazing story’ and its publicity proclaims that making a movie of the escape was ‘the only option’. Wrong, on both counts. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 7th, 2009 at 6:41 pm. Updated on August 11th, 2013 at 12:05 pm.
Translates roughly as ‘Don’t Let Them Shoot the Kite.’ A woman, imprisoned for murder in self-defence, befriends another inmate’s child. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on June 5th, 2009 at 9:19 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm.
I’m deeply, deeply suspicious of any film where the Director casts himself in the lead role and not only gives himself the best lines, but gets to bed the beautiful woman and be the hero all at the one time. Not even Woody Allen can always pull that off, and Rob Schneider certainly can’t in this limp, misconceived comedy. But it’s not just that. This is a one-joke movie, and when that one joke concerns homosexual rape, or any rape (even if it’s mostly about the avoidance of rape), it’s going to have trouble making me laugh.
Posted on May 31st, 2009 at 6:15 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:42 pm.