Sid the Elf says Lockup is Sly's lost classic, August 6, 2007In Lockup, the old boy Sly Stallone, plays a prisoner named Frank Leone. Leone is without question the most beloved tragic figure in modern American cinema. He is a rough and tumble yet lovable parpadelle and broccoli eating mechanic who remarks on a nice kiss from his girlfriend by simply saying "that's Italian." It doesn't really make any sense to us, either. But it makes sense to Leone, and that's just going to have to be good enough.
Anyway, Leone was originally arrested for beating up some punks who are terrorizing his mechanic mentor for whom he cares deeply. He is sent to Treadmore, a prison run by the evil Warden Drumgoole. For some reason Drumgoole has it out for Frank, so he won't let Leone have a weekend furlough to see his mentor who is close to dying. Leone escapes, humiliating and enraging Drumgoole. When Frank turns himself back in, he is sent to a decent minimum security prison where he is let out on weekends and the guards talk football and cars with him. And he's only got a couple more months left on his sentence. Suddenly, as revenge, Drumgoole gets Leone transfered to his new prison, Gateway. This place is no joke; definitely maximum security, with a twist. To help exact his revenge, Drumgoole employs the thuggish tactics of Sid's all-time favorite hooligan, prisoner Chink Webber. This guy haunts Leone throughout the whole movie,trying to antagonize Leone into fighting and getting more time tacked onto his sentence. He does everything short of forcing Leone to eat corned beef and cabbage. He even rips off Frank's chain with the mallichio horn on it. And who can forget the famous football scene?
As you can tell, this is one of Sid's all-time favorite movies. However, this film did NOT receive its due amount of critical acclaim or box-office success. We, Sid the Elf, have just one question: why? Lockup has everything you can ask for in a movie. Sid just can't get enough of the legendary Chink Webber, who gives us so many great lines. For example "Move it Ace, that's my spot," and "When are you going to paint your nails and start answering to the name (expletive deleted)?" You have First Base, who contributes a heaping helping of comedy just by speaking. There's the immortal Eclipse, who touches the heart when the solitary tear rolls down his face at witnessing the destruction of his baby, Maybeline(a car by the way). And, if the room doesn't get officially dusty when Leone is seemingly caught trying to escape because his close friend, Deep-fried Dallas rats him out then you have no soul.
We could go on for pages and pages on Lockup because it is one of Sid the Elf's favorite movies. We were discussing this during our current screening, which kicked off our Stallone season, and we are putting it behind only the zenith of B Death Ring. So, naturally, Lockup gets the Sid the Elf Seal of Approval. See this movie! You'll thank us, yet again. That means everything's ok.
Click here for movie trailer: http://www.videodetective.com/movies/LOCK_UP/trailer/P00001454.htm
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