Th) Prisons (including Death Row)

I don?t think this is quite the film people will be expecting to see when it comes to the infamous British prisoner; Charlie Bronson. Having heard a little about him over the years and being a keen reader on real crime, some of the bits that I did know didn?t seem to arise in the film at all. It certainly has it?s fair share of violence, but that was quite often sheltered by the comedic theme throughout, in fact there were many laugh out loud points in the cinema. Despite the violence shown, I don?t believe it showed Charlie Bronson with enough menace somehow and his it didn't seem to show him suffering particularly well.

Tom Hardy however, gave a great performance as the main character here and was actually unrecognisable when compared to some of his other recent work. The theatrical theme, I wasn?t sure of at the beginning, but soon realised it?s purpose and became quite entertaining and built us a view of his mental state.

For those of you who like to read up on true crime etc and have an interest in this genre, it is worth watching and again Tom Hardy does a great job, but may not be the insightful viewing you might expect. (I know others will disagree).

Brian Cox, Steven Mackintosh and Liam Cunningham are just a few talents who star in this British prison Drama.

Set at a fairly slow pace, yet a high standard of acting that keeps your interest throughout. The flashbacks keep your mind focussed on the story at hand and this allows for a chance to get to know the characters individually.

There was an element here which I feel was risky and brave, in that some of the Actors cast for the roles of the characters were in some senses, out of their usual comfort zones, particularly in the case of Damien Lewis, who seems an unlikely choice to play the King of the prison and yet all the characters worked really well and it was a risk which paid off.

I would love to think that this one will be widely enjoyed and that, I will have to wait and see.

The Boston Strangler aka Albert De Salvo ?? This version of the film challenges the grounds that evidence on this case was based on and to this day has a non-closed status.

The actual film wasn?t particularly well done, it told the story and all that needed to be told, but with no thrills at all. The story is an interesting one and had a more high profile Director been involved with this project, we may have seen something a little more interesting here.

Big Stan has it?s fair share of funny moments, filled with adult humour. This un-PC film has a realistic slant on prison life, whilst obviously putting a comical spin on it.

I feel it takes a little while to warm up, there were only a few laugh out loud moments, but I still found it a great original watch.

Not the worst horror films ever made (saved mainly by having a little gore factor), but really rubbish acting and the storyline seemed to have much more potential that it actually gave. Watchable in a miss-able way.

The plot is an interesting one, however the way in which it was told was not. It almost seems lazily done, in that all the ingredients are there, but a sloppy effort was made to make them work, which resulted in story that lacked suspense, was predictable and needed a much more interesting line of investigation.

An intriguing and revealing story about a man on death row. Both Spacey and Linney play fantastic roles, the plot holds you from start to finish and has clever twists

Beautiful and stunning, sexy and sassy. A thirst for fame leads these ladies to prison to head straight for Murderers Row where they meet a clever lawyer whose spin can turn murder into showbiz.

Catherine Zeta Jones is back where she started out and puts on an amazing performance in this film, in fact all of the cast in this film were really good.

This is one Musical I feel, people may watch, even if they hate the idea of musicals.

The best revenge story ever. A great adaption of the book. Performances were great all around, but the performance has to be Guy Pearce for being believably arrogant and a character that compells you to hate with a vengence

Boring, badly dubbed and terrible acting. How I managed to last out until the end, I will never know.

This film has 80?s cheesy action written all over it.

Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Danny Dyer, Warren Clarke ? sounds like a pretty good line up of Actors, yet this story is so ridiculous, it has to be true!! Having only caught the film just a little way in, there was hope that this could turn into a pretty good film, unfortunately that wasn't the case and I have to say, I can't believe that such a cast would have associated themselves with such a silly film, this should have been a one off TV Drama.

An easy watching film, but certainly not one of Eastwood?s best - Acting wise or Directing. There are many other films that share the theme of this one and in fact come across much better. The plot is predictable and I feel Eastwood tried far too hard to come across as the womanising anti-hero here. There was little emotion shown from the character on death row, which made the film lack any real punch.

Wished it had a little more angst or power and a few twists and turns, it could have been a good film.

The story of The Hurricane touches me everytime I watch it or read about it. A superb performance by Washington, in one of the most publicised cases of wrongful imprisionment. Twenty-one years served out of his sentance for 3 murders he never comitted along with his socalled accomplis 'John Artis'. Whilst many campaign for his innocence, known and unknown, Carter manages to keep in the right mind by not accepting the treatment of a guilty man.

A must see.

This is certainly my favourite Stephen King adaption to date. The story is so original and all characters are developed so well, whether you love them or hate them.

I think most people would have taken to the character of John Coffey and felt the bitter/sweet of the story.

Also a quick look at the set and talk with Stephen King on the special features, which is worth a look.

Re-watched this film and found it as powerful as the first time I'd watched it. This to date is definitely Edward Norton's role of a life time, he made parts cringeworthy and you just couldn't wait for him to be turned around, Edward Furlong played a fantastic part too. There was something in this movie that made it feel so real. This film isn't a promotion for violence, it's a promotion for peace.

The storyline is a very worthy one to tell and there was no problem with the acting abilities, but to me this film should have been more powerful to make the message and heart of the film come across better

A great part played by Gene Hackman, with a good stoy, some boring parts, but worth a watch

Not quite the film I had expected this to be, it?s very typical of the loud Hollywood Action movies of the 80?s and 90?s, which were much more about weapons and explosions than a good storyline. Sean Connery did liven the film up somewhat, which made this bearable, but Nick Cage was very much the Nick Cage he is in mostly every film.

A fantastic performance from susan Surrandon in this film, alongside Sean Penn, who never fails to impress me.

Certainly an unusual story of a num befriending a murderer on death row up to his execution date.

Watch out for a younger Jack Black.

VERDICT: A good film, worth watching

One of the most outstanding films ever made. Brilliently written, well casted, by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins.

Adaped from book to film, each twist accurately calculated, which will not fail to bring a smile to your face. A very powerful on screen relationship between the two main characters, which only adds to the depth of this amazing tale.

VERDICT: For the small minority that haven't seen this film, be prepared to be blown away.

Not one of Samuel L Jackson?s finer films, but not a bad storyline. Watchable, but not miss-able.

A rewatch, enjoyed it much better than my first viewing, interesting to learn about Alcatraz and the story was inspired by true events.

Kevin Bacon plays a very good role in this as a petty criminal imprisioned for a small crime, who suffers bad treatment at the hands of the prison staff..

VERDICT: Those who have interest in the true stories/prison filsm will enjoy this film

The tragic and touching tale of the wrongly imprisioned Guilford Four, plus others, is brought to life by Director Jim Sheridan, with a first class cast, led strongly by Daniel Day-Lewis and Pete Postlewaite.

This true story is a harrowing watch of corruption and cover ups and delivers a strong, powerful storyline.

A story that's baswed on capital punishment for a miner.

Juliette Lewis, as ever plays a great role, accompanied by Brad Pitt, who in my opinion plays these type of parts very well, where he's not playing a pretty boy.

VERDICT: A though provoking film, enjoyable, definitely worth a watch

Based on the real life story of Tom Murton, this sure is a worthy tale to tell, however I found the whole film pretty boring and I have to say Robert Redford did absolutely nothing for me acting wise.

A little slow moving and not quite in the league of ?The Great Escape?, but clever all the same. Leaves you wondering what happened next, but I guess we?ll never know.

Ever been to a Turkish prison? This film does seem to go on forever even though it's just under 2 hours long. An excellent performance from Brad Davis and an excellent story based on true events, this film kind of has a big moral to it, that one stupid mistake can change the rest of your life. The film highlights both mental and physical brutalitiy from police and how laws vary from place to place.

VERDICT: If you have the patience to watch this then you'll find it a great movie

A very enjoyable film. Loved Paul Newman in this. A great watch

Worthy of all it?s praise, Cagney just has great presence on screen and of course the lovable rogue image suits him well.

As a storyline, this ticks many boxes for me, a Gangster story, Robbery, Undercover operation and is such a good base story for modern day films and tv Dramas.

An instant favourite!

Jimmy Cagney suited these roles so well and impressively they managed to pick a young ?Rocky? to look and sound just like him. A story with moralistic value of two young boys, whose lives are split in a moments notice, ultimately deciding each of their fates.

In my opinion one of the best ever film endings, which will leave you contemplating the outcome.

This always has been one of my personal favourites.