The Official Movie Thread

RadicalThrasher said:
Did you watch it? Thoughts? Maybe spoiler tag it
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Yup watched it and thought it was fantastic. I don't know shit about the prison system and its cultures therein but it felt like a very accurate portrayal of how someone becomes institutionalized. Felt very sprawling and epic too almost like a modern Michael Mann film which personally massively endears it to me. If I had seen it while we were doing the 2017 game it easily would have made my top 10 which I guess is a shame in hindsight.

A small inconsequential thing
but I also found it interesting the way it depicts race-based prison gangs as essentially not ideological whatsoever and entirely about survival. The "white pride" tattoos inked on the bodies of people who never ever talk about racial politics, it was a eye-opening dynamic to me.
Also as a sidenote Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is a fucking badass.
 
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Inspired by all the talk in this thread, I watched that movie too.

I thought it was gritty-fantastical in an almost Brawl in Cell Block 99 kinda way. The whole idea that buried in the absolute lowest depths of the whole prison institution there's this enigmatic warrior-philosopher called The Beast that runs an entire criminal syndicate from isolation. And it was quite epic for a two-hour movie, yeah.
 
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So it occurs to me. American prison films provide an opportunity to meditate on life in an almost literal hell without venturing into surrealism. Some prison movies shoot for social realism and others go more psychological with the topic. The Shawshank Redemption for instance, haven't seen it in a long time but isn't it something like a parable on the necessity of hope in a hopeless place? I wouldn't call Shot Caller especially deep or reflective but there are some gestures in that direction.

How often do we see people training in the film? Even for a prison film, I think it happens so much it's practically thematic. People endure the pain of life in hell by honing their physique. The further Harlon descends into the abyss of the prison system, the more physical exercise dominates his life and even his interactions with other inmates. And at the bottom of the abyss, he finds the inmate who is (by the standards of the film) the most honed, because he trains his mind in addition to his body, and Harlon goes on to defeat him in an intellectual and then a physical contest.

Why did Harlon go through all that trouble? Why hatch a plot that'll land him a life sentence just to escape his bondage to The Beast? Why text the parole officer the location of the guns? I don't know that there is a realistic answer to these questions, but it makes perfect sense as a parable about a man weathering a hellish existence through continual self-improvement, and by cleaning up his small corner of the world.

Though I suppose the implication is also there that he becomes The Beast in the end. He who gazes into the abyss and so on. Hell if I know.
 
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Vegard Pompey said:
Why did Harlon go through all that trouble? Why hatch a plot that'll land him a life sentence just to escape his bondage to The Beast? Why text the parole officer the location of the guns? I don't know that there is a realistic answer to these questions, but it makes perfect sense as a parable about a man weathering a hellish existence through continual self-improvement, and by cleaning up his small corner of the world.

Though I suppose the implication is also there that he becomes The Beast in the end. He who gazes into the abyss and so on. Hell if I know.
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Not to be a killjoy cunt or anything but I saw it as much more direct than that. He became The Beast to protect his family because if he tried to leave, his family would never have a normal life again (at best, at worst they'd be murdered).
 
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CiG said:
Not to be a killjoy cunt or anything but I saw it as much more direct than that. He became The Beast to protect his family because if he tried to leave, his family would never have a normal life again (at best, at worst they'd be murdered).
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That is the overt justification for his actions but I also think it doesn't totally make sense. If what he wanted the most was to protect his family, the safest option would've been to keep working for The Beast as he'd already been doing. His plan to take down The Beast actually endangers his family if anything, since this would've given The Beast a motivation to kill his family if the incredibly risky plan had failed for any reason. What he could only attain by killing (and arguably becoming) The Beast was complete agency over himself, which makes it a logical conclusion to the self-improvement narrative.
 
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Vegard Pompey said:
So it occurs to me. American prison films provide an opportunity to meditate on life in an almost literal hell without venturing into surrealism. Some prison movies shoot for social realism and others go more psychological with the topic. The Shawshank Redemption for instance, haven't seen it in a long time but isn't it something like a parable on the necessity of hope in a hopeless place? I wouldn't call Shot Caller especially deep or reflective but there are some gestures in that direction.

How often do we see people training in the film? Even for a prison film, I think it happens so much it's practically thematic. People endure the pain of life in hell by honing their physique. The further Harlon descends into the abyss of the prison system, the more physical exercise dominates his life and even his interactions with other inmates. And at the bottom of the abyss, he finds the inmate who is (by the standards of the film) the most honed, because he trains his mind in addition to his body, and Harlon goes on to defeat him in an intellectual and then a physical contest.

Why did Harlon go through all that trouble? Why hatch a plot that'll land him a life sentence just to escape his bondage to The Beast? Why text the parole officer the location of the guns? I don't know that there is a realistic answer to these questions, but it makes perfect sense as a parable about a man weathering a hellish existence through continual self-improvement, and by cleaning up his small corner of the world.

Though I suppose the implication is also there that he becomes The Beast in the end. He who gazes into the abyss and so on. Hell if I know.
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look, i know you don’t want to hear this, and i don’t mean to upset you, but.....

alien 3
 
Shot caller @Vegard Pompey , @CiG

enjoyed reading both your takes. Never looked at it the way vegard pompey brought up, but definitely an interesting take.

I had a bunch of shit i wrote but am on a fucking touch screen and somehow deleted before i finished ......wtf. But cig good observation on race. Sure a few guys follow hardcore ideologies, but mostly it's just about surviving. Also i know waldau is from game of thrones but I've never watched it, this was my first exposure to him. Guy's got some acting chops , gave a great performance.

And as far fetched as a lot of this movie may seem, its pretty accurate. Know how illnois prisons work, some similarities, but california is way more political and militant. The guys in those top positions have tons of power and far reach.

If you guys are interested here's a pretty quick read on a real "beast " character from the aryan brotherhood, which is the gang money ends up joining when the beast makes him the offer. They do control the white inmates in California and the federal prisons.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07...son-leaving-behind-bloody-legacy-in-bay-area/

And if you read that you saw the name ronald yandell.......so there's always someone to step up (or replace) when one of these guys go down. Nightmare prison system over here:eek:.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01...move-likely-gives-him-unregulated-jail-phone/

@TechnicalBarbarity ,watch this shit already
 
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i wanna see this too, i like a good prison movie. a few i’ve seen over the past few years that i’d recommend:
animal factory (directed by steve buscemi and starring willem dafoe)
a prophet
starred up (by the hell or high water guy)

and i suppose riki-oh and down by law would be my two faves although neither is exactly a traditional prison movie haha. also alien 3 but let’s not get into that

can’t go wrong with the first two seasons of prison break either ;)

some others i wanna see are the female convict movies, alan clarke’s scum, short eyes (aka the slammer), caged, fast-walking (same guy who did cop, supposedly even better)
 
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TechnicalBarbarity said:
send me your copy, lol.
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Ha you know what man , a thought popped up in my head. Went to check if it came with a digital copy, but the slip with the code wasn't in the box. Checked out our digital library ,and looks like someone already used it. Bummer, would have been happy to send it your way. Don't know what streaming capabilities you have but i think its currently playing on netflix
 
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RadicalThrasher said:
Ha you know what man , a thought popped up in my head. Went to check if it came with a digital copy, but the slip with the code wasn't in the box. Checked out our digital library ,and looks like someone already used it. Bummer, would have been happy to send it your way. Don't know what streaming capabilities you have but i think its currently playing on netflix
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no worries brother, i was just messing around anyway. I just checked amazon and its down to $10, so my cheap ass might finally pull the trigger. Definitely a movie that i have to add to my collection.

RadicalThrasher said:
Prison movie recs ... American Me
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giphy.gif
 
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