Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years
Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years
Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years Review
When it comes to the most famous prison in the world there is Alcatraz and everything else. The prison book Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years
Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years Amazon Review
Now completely revised and updated! NOTE: This book contains graphic depictions of crime and prison violence.
ALCATRAZ – the name alone said it all… It was meant to send a shudder down the spines of the nation’s most incorrigible criminals. It stripped Al Capone of his power. It tamed “Machine Gun” Kelly into a model of decorum. It took the birds away from the Birdman of Alcatraz.
When prisoners boarded the boat for Alcatraz, they knew that they had reached the end of the line. Not only was this the toughest of all Federal penitentiaries, but it was also said to be virtually escape-proof. The island was a natural fortress, separated from the mainland by a narrow strait of freezing water and deadly currents. This prison was the U.S. government’s drastic answer to the lawlessness unleashed under Prohibition, which continued throughout the “Roaring Twenties” and into the teeth of the Great Depression. Alcatraz, with its damp cold and austere isolation, its rigid discipline and strict rule of silence, was as tough as the criminals that were sent there, and by the time the prison closed down in 1963, “the Rock” had indisputably done its job.
Alcatraz – A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years has sustained as a staple reference for staff members and tour guides at Alcatraz and remains one of the most comprehensive references chronicling the history of the island. This mammoth reference navigates the Island’s history through rarely seen documents, interviews and hundreds of pages of historic photographs.
Historian Michael Esslinger thoroughly details the prominent events, inmates, and life inside the most infamous prison in American History. His research included hundreds of hours examining actual Alcatraz inmate files (including rare original documents from Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and over a hundred others) exploring the prison grounds from the rooftop to the waterfront to help retrace events, escape routes, in addition to conducting various interviews with former inmates & guards. Esslinger interviewed a variety of principle figures, comprised of both inmates and officers who were either involved, on-duty or on Alcatraz during nearly escape attempt. Interviews included inmates and officers that covered each era of operations at Alcatraz from the early military period in the 1920’s, through the federal years: 1934 to 1963.
His study has resulted in detailed accounts of both the 1946 & 1962 Escape attempts. A detailed account of the 1962 escape of Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers provides rare insight extracted through photos, and over 1,700 pages of FBI and Bureau of Prisons investigative notes.
Detailed narratives of Alcatraz’s most notable inmates who include Robert Stroud (Birdman of Alcatraz), Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Frank Morris, the Anglin Brothers, Doc Barker, Joe Cretzer, Bernard Coy, Miran Thompson, Sam Shockley, and many-many others. Alcatraz Federal Prison – A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years, is a comprehensive reference on the history of Alcatraz and contains one of the most comprehensive archives of inmate and prison life photographs (nearly 1,000) from 1934-1963.
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Go Boy
Go Boy Review
Go Boy was written by Roger Caron one of Canada’s most notorious bank robbers and escape artist. Go Boy is incredibly detailed and remains in my top three of the best prison books I have ever read and I have read a ton of them. Sentenced to an adult prison in his teens Roger Caron describes the sheer terror and madness that takes place in some of the most secure prisons in Canada. If you are looking for a great read with a ton of history than make sure that you find Go Boy. This book is so good it was granted a Governor’s General award and this to a man convicted and sentenced for bank robbery.
Go Boy Customer Reviews
Go boy is an amazing books about a boy, corrupted by the jailing system. It follows his whole life making short references to real places and events in Canadian Jails. This was one of the first books I read in high school to start my reading career and it inspired me to read more, I’m a little disappointing to see so few copies in circulation and little review, being that this is a dark and very exciting.
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Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member Review
After pumping eight blasts from a sawed-off shotgun at a group of rival gang members, eleven-year-old Kody Scott was initiated into the L.A. gang the Crips. He quickly matured into one of the most formidable Crip combat soldiers, earning the name Monster for committing acts of brutality and violence that repulsed even his fellow gang members. When the inevitable jail term confined him to a maximum-security cell, Scott channeled his aggression and drive into educating himself. A complete political and personal transformation followed: from Monster to Sanyika Shakur, black nationalist, member of the New Afrikan Independence movement, and crusader against the causes of gangsterism. In a document that has been compared to The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice, Shakur makes palpable the despair and decay of America’s inner cities and gives eloquent voice to one aspect of the black ghetto experience today.
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The Longest Yard
The Longest Yard Review
Over the years there has been several variations of The Longest Yard 
The Longest Yard Trailer
The Longest Yard Amazon Review
Adam Sandler is no Burt Reynolds, but his remake of The Longest Yard is amusing enough to stand on its own. Inheriting the role played by Reynolds played in the 1974 original, Sandler plays Paul Crewe, a scandalized former football star who violates his parole and winds up back in the slammer, where an ambitious, corrupt warden (James Cromwell) manipulates him into forming a convict football squad to compete with a team of bullying prison guards. But where the original (directed with characteristic ruggedness by Robert Aldrich) was a semi-comic study of inmate resistance against powerful oppressors, Sandler’s version is a formulaic comedy about winning against the bad guys. That makes it a softer, less meaningful film, and Sandler (reuniting here with Peter Segal after Anger Management and 50 First Dates) lacks the depth to convey anything more than amiable redemption, resulting in a movie that’s easily enjoyed and easily forgotten. A co-starring role for Chris Rock could have been electrifying; instead it’s just OK, as is Reynolds as the prison team’s old-pro coach. That leaves us with a few good laughs on the football field and from Cloris Leachman as the warden’s elderly, oversexed secretary, good work from rapper Nelly in a supporting role, and the lovely sight of Courteney Cox (as Crewe’s nagging girlfriend) in a dazzling low-cut dress. In unnecessary remakes like this, fringe benefits count for a lot.
The Longest Yard Customer Reviews
this one wins The Most Authentic Award for serving justice to the original. I’m so used to seeing Adam Sandler playing a goof that it was quite refreshing to see him take on a quasi-serious role that pays homage to a wonderful original movie.
The car chase that starts this movie was a lot of fun aside from Courtney Cox’s lame performance. Truly, I was fairly disappointed in her acting as it looked pretty canned and not convincing at all. Her gay friend was a hoot and really should have had a bigger role. Her only assets to the movie were her boobs hanging out of her dress but even that didn’t have a big role.
In your typical prison movie, this one holds no real surprises and plays very close to the original. With the fresh, up-to-date comedy, this puts a new twist on an old classic by keeping it more in line with today’s audience which is what has made this movie the beginnings of a classic and definitely one for your home collection. The prison guards, all beefed up and talking trash, play sort of a modest role and aren’t as brutal as they are in other, more violent movies. I’m thinking the movie was leaning towards playing up the unseen but “felt” intimidation qualities rather that putting in a lot of unnecessary violent camera shots. This does the movie justice and keeps the heart of the storyline intact. Watch the original before watching this one and you’ll see what I mean.
Adam’s performance keeps with the original story as well. Instead of the stupid goofy roles we’re used to, he does a great job of convincing the audience that, while he did something morally wrong in his former career, he’s willing to make up for it in the end. And he does with all the honesty his role could produce. You can see he doesn’t take crap from anyone at the beginning of the movie. It was quite a surprise to me to see him being consistent with that attitude throughout the movie as most movie heros these days start out strong but weaken as the movie reels on. He goes gloves off with the warden soon after meeting him (the first meeting went as expected) and that’s where the suspense actually begins. The ending was perfect.
Burt Reynolds. What can I say about this awesome man? The first few lines that he says were sort of hammy but he delivers them well and plays second to a role he legendized with accuracy and perfection. His comedy has aged perfectly and his timing is on the mark. He’s handsome, he’s classic and I, for one, was very happy he chose to work in this movie. He didn’t have to as the movie could have stood on it’s own and still been a great movie. He looked like he was enjoying himself.
Chris Rock had an excellent performance and excellent sidekick comedy. I was glad to see him portray a wise-cracking, intelligent yet oddly vulnerable role that was extremely impacting when the timing was right. He will meet up again with the Weasel and that’s where his fun will truly begin. I wish they had done something more with his character and the Weasel but suspense is a good thing, right?
All questions about the characters were answered even if the answer didn’t seem quite on the mark at first. A great movie! A must see! And no, I’m not a fanboi. I’m 42 and a great fan of classic movies. Glad to see the remake of this one served the original well.
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Sleepers
Sleepers Review
Sleepers
Sleepers Trailer
Sleepers Amazon Review
The first thing you need to know about Sleepers is that it’s based on a novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra that was allegedly based on a true story. The movie repeats this bogus claim, which was attacked and determined by a wide majority to be misleading. Knowing this, Sleepers can be a problematic movie because it’s too neat, too clean, too manipulative in terms of legal justice and dramatic impact to be truly convincing. And yet, with its stellar cast directed by Barry Levinson, the movie succeeds as gripping entertainment, and its tale of complex morality–despite a dubious emphasis on homophobic revenge–is sufficiently provocative. It’s about four boys in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen district who are sent to reform school, where they must endure routine sexual assaults by the sadistic guards. Years after their release, the opportunity for revenge proves irresistible for two of the young men, who must then rely on the other pair of friends (Brad Pitt, Jason Patric), a loyal priest (Robert De Niro), and a shabby lawyer (Dustin Hoffman) to defend them in court. Despite the compelling ambiguities of the story, there’s never any doubt about how we’re supposed to feel, and the screenplay glosses over the story’s most difficult moral dilemmas. And yet, Sleepers grabs your attention and pulls you into its intense story of friendship and the price of loyalty under extreme conditions. The movie’s New York settings are vividly authentic, and Minnie Driver makes a strong impression as a long-time friend of the loyal group of guys
Sleepers Customer Reviews
By virtue of its all-star cast, handsome production values and solemn subject matter, Barry Levinson’s SLEEPERS was clearly intended as a Major Motion Picture from the outset. Based on the harrowing true-life bestseller by journalist Lorenzo Carcaterra – first published in 1995 – book and film describe the appalling fate of four Hell’s Kitchen kids (played as children by Joe Perrino, Brad Renfro, Geoffrey Wigdor and Jonathan Tucker) who, in 1967, were sentenced to confinement in the ‘Wilkinson Home for Boys’ following a near-fatal accident involving a hot dog vending machine which they had stolen as a prank. Inside the reformatory, all four boys are sexually and emotionally abused by a group of sadistic guards led by the sinister Nokes (Kevin Bacon at his slimiest). More than a decade later, traumatized by their experiences, two of the now grown-up boys (Ron Eldard and Billy Crudup) corner Nokes unexpectedly in a local diner and murder him in cold blood. The other members of the group – one a prosecuting attorney (Brad Pitt), the other an aspiring writer and journalist (Jason Patric) – formulate a daring plan to have their friends acquitted, expiose the reformatory’s dark secrets, and take revenge on their abusers…
Such an extraordinary tale was always going to be controversial, and so it proved. Upon release, book and film drew immediate fire from critics who accused author and filmmakers of embellishment and exaggeration, since no records could be found to prove that the trial depicted in the film ever took place within the Manhattan district, or that the Wilkinson Home for Boys ever existed – even though Carcaterra’s book (and Levinson’s script) makes it clear that most of the names, dates and locations have been changed or fictionalized to protect those involved, and that the records of all children held in institutions like Wilkinson are routinely deleted after seven years. Further scandal ensued when the movie ignited protests from those who believed the story drew unfortunate parallels between pedophilia and homosexuality, thereby reinforcing the worst kind of homophobic stereotype. The point is certainly valid, given Hollywood’s shameful mistreatment of gay themes and characters over the years, but SLEEPERS doesn’t seek to draw any kind of parallels, unconsciously or otherwise, merely to recreate events described in Carcaterra’s book. Besides, monsters are monsters, whoever their victims may be.
As a movie, SLEEPERS is competent, briskly paced, and beautifully acted by a dream cast of old pro’s (including Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman in key roles) and a new generation of rising stars. It’s an ensemble piece, and the lack of grandstanding – in favor of narrative momentum – is admirable. But while the film is consistently intelligent and engaging, it’s drawbacks are significant: The kids are terrific, especially Perrino, but the adults are burdened by the gravity of the subject matter, and Patric’s sombre narration seems a little too laidback at times, lacking warmth or even genuine emotion, while John Williams’ rambling score clashes resolutely with the film’s epic visual sweep. Also, for obvious reasons, the moviemakers were unable to depict the kind of sexual atrocities outlined in the original book, with unfortunate consequences: Here, Nokes’ murder seems more like the result of a petulant outburst by a couple of thugs, rather than the inevitable outcome of horrendous physical abuse. And during the subsequent trial, it defies belief that the prosecution’s key witness – a former guard at Wilkinson – would incriminate himself so readily on the stand, as depicted here. That said, however, the movie is still a worthwhile entry, but the book is better.
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The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count Of Monte Cristo Review
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count Of Monte Cristo Trailer
The Count Of Monte Cristo Amazon Reviews
Revenge rarely gets sweeter than it does in The Count of Monte Cristo, a rousing, impeccably crafted adaptation of Alexandre Dumas père’s literary classic. Filmed countless times before, the story is revitalized by director Kevin Reynolds (rallying after Waterworld) and screenwriter Jay Wolpert, who wisely avoid the action-movie anachronisms that plagued 2001′s dubious Dumas-inspired The Musketeer. Leading a superior cast, Jim Caviezel (Frequency) expresses a delicate balance of obsession and nobility as Dantes, the wrongly accused Frenchman who endures 13 years of prison and torment, then uses a hidden treasure to finance elaborate vengeance on those who wronged him. Memento’s Guy Pearce is equally effective as Dantes’s betraying nemesis, and Richard Harris tops his Harry Potter wizardry with a humorous turn as Dantes’s fellow prisoner and mentor. Filmed on stunning locations in Ireland and Malta, The Count of Monte Cristo easily matches Rob Roy for intelligent swashbuckling entertainment.
The Count Of Monte Cristo Customer Reviews
After attending the release of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” a friend made the remark that he believed the movie could benefit from additional fight sequences. Immediately my mind shot back to last year’s “The Musketeer,” also based (rather loosely, I might add) on another of Alexandre Dumas’ famous classics. In that film, character development, story, and tone were sacrificed for the sake of creating yet another movie in which a choreographer of Chinese descent was allowed to make an impression on action aficionados by dazzling them with techniques reminiscent of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
What a relief that this latest adaptation of a Dumas novel strays from the usual clichés and redundancy of bringing a classic work of literature to the screen, coming out as a sturdy, well-guided costume drama that combines action, intensity, passion, and most importantly, revenge. With a script that keeps much of the novel’s intricacies intact, a cast befitting of their roles, and a director who keeps things interesting at all times, this is one swashbuckling adventure that pleases in all fields.
The story centers around Edmund Dantes (Jim Caviezel), a sailor from a middle class upbringing in the town of Marseilles. He has a friend, Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce), whose father is a wealthy aristocrat; despite his rich lifestyle, Mondego still harbors a slight jealousy for Dantes, who has just been promoted to captain of his vessel, allowing him the opportunity to marry his longtime love, Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk). Overcome by envy, Mondego concocts a vicious plan with the equally jealous first mate of Dantes’ boat that lands a wrongfully accused Dantes in the Chateau d’If for more than a decade.
During his years of imprisonment, Dantes’ resolve is strengthened by brutal beatings, and by his friendship with fellow prisoner Faria (Richard Harris), who teaches Dantes to read and write, the articulate moves of swordplay, and offers him the location of a long-lost treasure that would give him the means to exact his revenge on those who have wronged him. Faria’s death provides Dantes the method of escape he needs, and once out, he begins his quest.
The second half of the movie takes the movie to new heights of interest, as Dantes makes his big entrance in Paris as the Count of Monte Cristo, bent on exacting his revenge on Mondego, now married to a repressed, sullen Mercedes, and on Villefort, the police chief who played a role in his wrongful incarceration. Anyone familiar with revenge plots is well aware that this is a dish best served cold, and many will delight in the cooly calculated revelations and confrontations that arise as Dantes’s master plan begins to unfold.
Accompanying this feeling of satisfaction is the movie’s wondrous appearance and execution. The look and feel of the film drips with the quality of the swashbuckling adventures of yesteryear, with its themes of vengeance and nobility, it’s glorious costumes and set design, and a final showdown that provides a slam-bang finish complete with suspense and fist-clenching thrills. Reynolds, and screenwriter Jay Wolpert, have realized the novel for the screen in a manner that is pleasing to the eye and the mind, keeping in touch with everything that has immortalized Dumas’ work without reworking key moments to make room for modern artistic influences.
If this weren’t enough to please popcorn audiences and literary buffs, the cast is completely remarkable. Jim Caviezel plays Dantes with the conviction of a man wrongfully accused; by the time he escapes prison, we are all for him and his brilliantly conceived plan. His chemistry with leading lady Dagmara Dominczyk is a welcome slice of old-fashioned romance, while his scenes with Guy Pearce provide a nice contrast of nobility and jealousy, which Pearce perfects in his performance as Mondego. Also worthy of noting are the appearances of Richard Harris and Lius Guzman, who provide humorous touches throughout.
More than anything else, this latest big-screen version of “The Count of Monte Cristo” is a wonderful popcorn adventure replete with everything you could possibly ask for in a film of this sort. Overall, it remains faithful enough to its source, and keeps us enlightened and entertained throughout its well-acted, well-directed, well-executed duration. Count on revenge, and then some.
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Green River Rising
Green River Rising
Green River Rising By Tim Willocks Review
Green River Rising
Green River Rising Amazon Review
Willocks delivers an extraordinary second novel about an uprising at a state penitentiary in Texas. The story’s well-developed characters include Dr. Ray Klein, a wrongly convicted orthopedic surgeon awaiting parole; Juliette Devlin, a forensic psychiatrist studying prisoners with AIDS; Frog Coley, a convict who has the gift of healing; Henry Abbott, a schizophrenic inmate; and John Campbell Hobbes, an insane warden. Hobbes plants the seeds for the uprising by manipulating existing racial and sexual tensions and then ordering a total lockdown of the cellblocks. Suspense mounts as riots flare and order becomes anarchy. Devlin is trapped with others in the besieged infirmary, while Klein battles to rescue them. Central to this gripping and often graphic plot is Klein: his struggles to survive prison, his fears of a life outside, and his developing love for Devlin. Highly recommended for adult fiction collections.
Green River Rising Customer Reviews
I was a prisoner for 7 years in 4 different prisons in Washington State and it was during my incarceration that I discovered this book. To boil it down into a nutshell, you could say its like DIE HARD during a prison riot, with a lone protagonist pitted against some seriously depraved adversaries– but that doesn’t do it justice; this book just drips authentic atmosphere–it’s as evocative as the prison writings of Edward Bunker. I was completely flabbergasted when I found out the author had not only NOT done time himself, but was actually an Englishman to boot! My hat is off to Tim Willocks; without ever having spent any time in an American prison that I know of, he has captured something as real as anything ever written by inmates themselves. What still stands out in my mind are the well drawn motivations of the various factions warring inside the prison and the absolute vileness of some of the villains.
- This has been one of the best books I have ever read. It really gets into the mind of the criminals jailed and shows how the system works and doesn’t work. This book is hard to put down and it keeps you going until the climactic ending. I have recommended it many times over and everyone has loved it.
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The Last Castle
The Last Castle
The Last Castle Review
The Last Castle
The Last Castle Trailer
The Last Castle Amazon Review
The Last Castle rides high on a wave of American patriotism, respectful of military service and protocol, and primed to ignite anyone’s passion for justice against corrupted ideals. This intense prison movie drama begins when a court martial three-star general (Robert Redford) is sentenced to military prison for defying a presidential command. The prison’s warden (James Gandolfini) is a jealous martinet who’s never seen combat, and when the jailed general seizes command of the prison to protest the warden’s abuse of power, The Last Castle erupts toward a classic showdown between integrity and cowardice. Former critic and West Point graduate Rod Lurie (The Contender) directs this intimate battle with manipulative skill, appealing more to emotions than intelligence, but his stellar cast keeps the action on track, and a potent script returns flag-waving to its rightful place of honor.
The Last Castle Customer Reviews
The film stars Robert Redford as a 3-star general who has been stripped of his rank and sent to a military prison run by James Gandolfini of “The Sopranos” fame. From the beginning there is conflict between the two men as Redford views Gandolfini as a tin soldier who has never been in real battles. As the film goes on, we see Gandolfini as nothing short of a sadist who punishes the men severely for every infraction of his silly rules. The story moves fast and the audience identifies with the plight of the men who have lost their pride in being soldiers. Redford orchestrates psychological strategies to rattle Gandolfini as well as armed conflict. The plot moves so fast and is so involving that I got totally absorbed in the film, rooting for the prisoners as they fought for dignity under Gandolfini’s heavy hand.
Redford is a good actor and played his part well. He has lines in his face, which make him look real. James Gandolfini is magnificent and shows the range of his acting skills because the role called for a complex and nuanced performance. As I was watching the film, I was so caught up in the story that there was no time to think about the holes in the plot. By the next morning though I felt it was all rather contrived and silly.
I was impressed by the clarity of the DVD picture and the extras at the end of the film, such as the director’s voice-over as we watched scenes that had been cut. All this added to my viewing enjoyment. As for the film itself, it will appeal to those who, like me, enjoy war movies. Don’t expect to cry and don’t expect to laugh. There’s high drama in the film, but it doesn’t go to the heart. But I do find it enjoyable to just sit back, relax, and let the film take me where it wants.
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Prison Break: Seasons 1-4
Prison Break: Seasons 1-4
When it comes to prison television shows the comparison is always with HBO Oz and this is what Prison Break was up against and at times it did really well and other times it was difficult to follow. Prison Break: Seasons 1-4
Prison Break Amazon Review
Season 1
Most men would do anything to get out of Fox River Penitentiary, but Michael Scofield will do anything to get in. His brother Lincoln has been sentenced to die for a crime he did not commit, and the only way to save him is from the inside out. Armed with prison blueprints and an impossibly intricate escape plan, Michael gets himself incarcerated, and the race against time is on. Now, he’ll need all of the cunning, daring, and luck he can muster…along with the assistance of some of the prison’s most vile and dangerous felons.
Season 2
After escaping from prison, Lincoln Burrows & Michael Scofield are on the run with one goal in mind – clear Lincoln’s name and uncover the hidden $5 million.
Season 3
Breaking out of maximum security at Fox River was the easy part. Now, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) must fight to survive inside Sona, a hellish Panamanian prison where the only rule is brutal violence and the only way out is in a body bag. So, with time running out, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) scrambles desperately to free his brother along with the only man who can deliver Lincoln’s captive son from the sinister clutches of The Company. Packed with intense action and white-knuckle plot twists, Season Three is Prison Break’s most explosive yet, and this time, there’s no way out!
Season 4
Revenge, deceit and edge of your seat action lead to the most breathtaking, suspenseful series finale. Own the DVD that takes you behind the scenes with scenes too explosive for TV.
Prison Break Customer Review
I’m sure by reading some of the reviews on certain seasons, some people will hate mine because I do agree, that Prison break should’ve ended at season 3.
For the past month I’ve watched all 4 seasons and I am on of the biggest fan’s of the series. This was my second time watching it in it’s entirety (Watched it when it aired, and just now on DVD). I love the series and am sad to see it all over.
There are 4 seasons to prison break, and a movie which is supposed to fill in all the gaps and loopholes the series left. In my opinion, season 1 was the absolute best, followed by season 3, then 2, and then 4. Season 4 was all over the place. It’s hard to explain without spoiling anything, but in the last 6 or 7 episodes there was always a huge swerve that completly changed everything, and it just felt rushed upon us. The ending of the series happens way too fast as well. Season 4 in comparison to the others was a huge dissapointment.
The casting was great, almost perfect. Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller (They play the protagonists; Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows) did an amazing job, and really get you to believe them.
Season 1 has to go down in history in my opinion, as one of the best debut seasons of any show in the past decade.
I love the series, and the way season 3 ends, it could’ve definitly ended there and should’ve. Season 4 just made everything way too unrealistic, even by TV standards.
Anyway, I still say this is definitly a pick-up. Personally my favorite TV series I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching
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Brokedown Palace
Brokedown Palace Review
Brokedown Palace
Brokedown Palace Trailer
Brokedown Palace Amazon Review
Alice (Claire Danes) and Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) are best friends on their post-high-school whirlwind vacation. Telling their parents they’re off for Hawaii, they head instead to Thailand, where they stay at a $6-a-night dive and sneak drinks at a posh hotel. They both fall sway to the charms of a handsome Australian (Daniel Lapaine), who invites them to Hong Kong. Off they go, although unbeknownst to them (or is it? this question is never fully answered), one of them has heroin in her backpack. Sentenced to 33 years in a Thai jail, they find their friendship begins to deteriorate as their trust in each other fades. They enlist the help of Yankee Hank (Bill Pullman), a greedy but knowledgeable American lawyer living in Asia.
Brokedown Palace Customer Reviews
Dismissed by some as lightweight because they felt the Thailand prison scenes were not brutal enough, this is actually a terrific film about the complex friendship of two girls and a sacrifice made by one to save the other. Claire Danes gives a great performance as the girl most likely to get into trouble and Kate Beckinsale shines as the good girl who sees more in her friend than her parents do, especially her father.
After graduating high school they cook up a scheme to visit exotic Thailand on the cheap and do something special, telling Beckinsale’s parents they are off to Hawaii. They meet Aussie Daniel Lapaine and he charms both girls into going to Hong Kong with them to continue their adventure. Jealousy plays a part as it is unclear at first which one he likes the best. But all is not as it seems and he disappears just as heroin is found by customs in their backpack.
What follows as they are imprisoned in Thailand with seemingly no way out as each begins to question their friendship and wonder if maybe, just maybe, the other one knew about the heroin, is compelling. Beckinsale’s father comes to Thailand and, of course, blames Danes for getting his daughter into this mess. Danes does a good job at conveying the hurt she is trying not to show for the faith no one has ever shown in her, except for her friend Beckinsale.
Bill Pullman gives a solid performance as a slightly opportunistic and sleazy lawyer in Thailand who may be able to help them get out for a price. Adding to the atmosphere is a soundtrack just as exotic as the locale. Everything from Delerium’s “Silence” and a remake of “Rock the Casbah” to the beautiful voice of Sarah Brightman on “Deliverance” set a unique mood for a good film.
This is an entertaining and thought provoking meditation on friendship and loyalty. A sacrifice by one to save the other is one you’ll never forget. Beckinsale, and especially Danes, really sparkle in an unusual prison movie you won’t want to miss. Pick this one up. It’s a nice surprise.
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