THE BEEKEEPER (4K): Deja Boom!

THE BEEKEEPER (4K UHD)

2024 / 105 min

FROM WARNER BROS / #InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Barbarian😺

This is one of those action movies that wouldn’t exist without those which came before. In this case, it’s probably John Wick. But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, ol’ Baba Yaga should feel very flattered indeed. 

The Beekeeper doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it really even try, but it’s a fun film that builds a solid foundation on a familiar premise, that of a retired badass driven by revenge to go back into action. Even as the film opens, in no way are we convinced Adam Clay is a simple beekeeper. Partially because he’s played by Jason Statham, but also because it shows him protecting the hive by efficiently destroying a nest of invading hornets…a creative bit of foreshadowing.

When Clay’s close friend and landlord, Eloise (Phylicia Rashad), loses everything from an internet phishing scam, she commits suicide. Her estranged daughter, FBI agent Verona Parker (Emma Raver-Lampman), is determined to nail those responsible. So is Clay, but with decidedly different methods. He’s a former “Beekeeper,” part of an enigmatic group of highly-skilled, government-appointed rogues who typically work above the law to protect the country as they see fit, no matter how extreme. 

And Clay certainly goes to extremes here, using his considerable skills and contacts to track down the scammers and burn the building down. By doing so, he stirs a hornet’s nest (so to speak). That building is just one branch of a data-mining operation run by cocky young douchebag Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), who of course thinks he can take care of Clay by killing him. But like John Wick, everybody underestimates Clay’s abilities and resolve, even after dire warnings from ex-CIA director Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons), who runs security for Danforth and mostly exists to provide exposition about Beekeepers and remind Derek how screwed he is.

Still, that doesn’t stop Westwyld from sending a currently-operating (and psychotic) Beekeeper to take Clay out, along with gobs of mercenaries. At this point, the film grows increasingly outlandish. Not only do plot turns and action sequences frequently require considerable suspension of disbelief, some of the colorful foes acquiring off against Clay would fit right in on WWE Smackdown. 

Grandma Jason's Homemade Preserves

Aside from a late plot twist revealing who wants Derek protected, The Beekeeper holds no real surprises. And because Clay is so quick, so deadly and so much smarter than everyone else on-screen, we’re never really all that concerned for his safety. 

But if done right, there’s comfort in knowing what you’re gonna get…kinda like always ordering the same thing from Starbucks. The Beekeeper is very well made, arguably David Ayer’s best film as a director. The violent action is well-executed, exhilarating and - considering the subjects of Clay’s wrath - even a little cathartic. What victim of cybercrime hasn’t fantasized about those bastards getting what they deserve?

Statham does his usual commendable job of being Jason Statham, refusing to let middle-age slow him down, while Hutcherson seems to have a good time making Derek a truly hateful antagonist. After Irons, Emma Raver-Lampman has the most thankless role, mostly arriving too late to do anything but react to Clay’s handiwork. Still, she’s likable, as is her droll sidekick, Agent Wiley (Bobby Naderi).

The Beekeeper wins no awards for originality, but tackles a familiar premise with confidence and skill. It’s a slick, fast-paced action film with no pretense of being anything else and comes to a satisfying conclusion. Leave your scrutiny at the door and have a good time.

THE SCARFACE MOB is Big Screen TV

THE SCARFACE MOB (Blu-ray)

1959 / 102 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Paws😺

The original Untouchables was a TV series that ran for five years during the late 50s-early 60s. It starred Robert Stack as real-life federal agent Eliot Ness, who famously took down Al Capone during the prohibition era. The show itself was mostly fanciful fiction, with only the two-part pilot episode being based on actual events.

That two-parter was later recut & released as a theatrical feature, The Scarface Mob, which was pretty violent for its time and boasts a striptease by bombshell Barbara Nichols that would never have made it past TV censors back in the day. It chronicles Ness and his small team of incorruptible cops (and one reformed ex-con) as they try to bust Capone’s illegal operation, one brewery at a time. 

Most of the narrative takes place while Capone (Neville Brand) is in jail, with right-hand man Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) running things while he’s gone. Once released, Capone raises the stakes, targeting Ness, his team and even his wife. But of course, Ness won’t be intimidated, even after his wife is assaulted and a trusted partner is murdered.

Extreme hall monitors.

Those who only know of The Untouchables from Brian De Palma’s 1987 classic might find this film a bit quaint, which doesn’t quite escape its episodic TV origins. That’s likely due to time and budget restraints, and why a lot of exposition is urgently provided by narrator Walter Winchell. Still, the story is more or less the same and fitfully entertaining, with some pretty good action and a stoic performance by Stack. As Capone, Brand is suitably menacing, though his Italian accent is terrible.

The Scarface Mob features solid, no-nonsense direction by Philip Karlson, whose extensive film noir background keeps things fast moving and visually interesting. As gun & gangster epics go, it’s no classic, but certainly an agreeable way to kill a few hours...and an enjoyable trip down memory lane for those who might recall the original TV show.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

GANG BUSTERS - video essay about director Philip Karlson

PHILLIP KEMP ON THE SCARFACE MOB - The film critic discusses Elliot Ness and his depiction in the media, including this film and up to 1987’s The Untouchables.

TRAILER

IMAGE GALLERIES - Posters, stills, lobby cards & publicity photos.

BOOKLET, MINI-POSTER, LOBBY CARD REPLICAS & REVERSIBLE COVER (not reviewed)

THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT: Some Things Never Get Old

THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT (Blu-ray)

2023 / 101 min

FROM MPI MEDIA GROUP

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

Some things never get old…date night at Starbucks with my wife, breakfast food for dinner, the Cowboys choking during the playoffs…

…and Don Lee pummeling bad guys into submission. 

The Roundup: No Way Out is the third film of a franchise (with a fourth on the way) featuring Lee as Ma Seok-do, a tough, burly detective whose most formidable skill is beating the shit out of people. I still haven’t seen the first film, The Outlaws, which isn’t available on physical media in the U.S., but 2022’s The Roundup was among the best action films of that year, a deft combination of action and comedy anchored by Lee’s terrific performance (and he’s a lot more agile than his heftiness would suggest). Best of all, watching the first film wasn’t required to enjoy this one.

If you haven’t seen The Roundup, it’s widely available and definitely worth seeking out. But if you have, No Way Out is just as entertaining, with Lee returning to take on a bevy of bad guys while his subordinates try to keep up. This time, a crew of corrupt cops led by Joo Sung-cheol (Lee Joon-hyuk) is trying to sell 20 kilos of a new drug called Hiper to a Chinese triad, which he stole from a vicious Yakuza organization. Following an arrest by Lee and his team, the package is stolen yet again. Now everyone is looking for it…the good cops, the bad cops and the Yakuza boss’ most ruthless assassin, Ricky (Munetaka Aoki). 

Some fashion choices are punchworthy.

The particulars of the plot are more intricate than that, perhaps overly so. But while the story is interesting, it ultimately takes a backseat to the action and characters. Lee continues to make Ma an engaging, atypical action hero. There’s no finesse in his methods, mainly just bluster and brute force, both of which are served up in sequences that are both rousing and funny. But he’s not the whole show here. Like The Roundup, he’s pitted against formidable antagonists, while his allies - willingly assisting him or not - are engaging as either beleaguered straight-men or comic relief.  

Other than a final scene which apparently sets-up the next film, The Roundup: No Way Out presents a self-contained story. Like The Roundup, the only connecting thread is the protagonist’s punishing approach to police procedure, which never gets old. As long as Don Lee is willing and able to keep dispensing justice with his fists (and no guns!), this is one franchise that probably won’t wear out its welcome.

MEAN GUNS : An Off-Kilter Killfest

MEAN GUNS (Blu-ray)

1997 / 104 min

FROM MVD REWIND COLLECTION

Review by Mr. Bonnie😼

I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call Mean Guns a good action movie, but there’s too much of a weird-ass vibe to dismiss it entirely.

A crime organization known as The Syndicate has bankrolled a maximum security prison in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. But before they turn it over to the city, they decide to use the place to purge a few dozen associates who supposedly betrayed them. So when a variety of thugs and killers arrive, they find themselves trapped and forced to fight to the death, with the three remaining survivors splitting a $10 million prize. They are also provided with weapons to make sure the contest is over within six hours (otherwise everyone will die).

That’s the essential plot, which is inherently ridiculous, but not what makes Mean Guns such a perplexing way to kill two hours. With the exception of Cam (Deborah Van Valkenburgh), a mob accountant who didn’t know she was a mob accountant, everyone shows up willingly. One main character, Lou (Christopher Lambert), actually drives up with a kid in the car and tells her to wait there until he’s finished. Rather than be horrified, most of these people seem genuinely excited to be fighting for their lives. Even the syndicate boss who gathered everyone there, snarling platinum-toothed master-of-ceremonies Vincent Moon (Ice-T), gets in on the action.

Christopher Lambert corners his hairstylist.

Stranger yet is the dialogue, which is sometimes funny, other times really bizarre, such as Marcus’ frequent monologues where he appears to be saying something deep, but I’ll be damned if I know what he’s talking about. Character behavior often changes without warning, so we ultimately don’t know who to root for or against, including the kid, who not only appears unfazed by the surrounding mayhem, she even asks Marcus to shoot somebody at one point. Maybe it’s just me, but the tonal, character and narrative inconsistencies appear to be by design.

Much of the credit (or blame) must go to the late Albert Pyun, the prolific director behind such B-movie bonanzas as The Sword and the Sorcerer, Cyborg, Brainsmasher…A Love Story and more Nemesis movies than anyone asked for. He also has the distinction of being the first to bring Captain America to the screen, with hilarious results. I wouldn’t call those movies any good either, but with Mean Guns, he seems to be striving for a slightly off-kilter look and tone. To what end, I don’t know. Maybe Pyun doesn’t either, but at least he inserts just enough WTF moments to keep our attention.

 

Mean Guns needs them, too, because the action itself is perfunctory and surprisingly bloodless, which soon becomes pretty rote. Movies consisting of a single sustained conflict are difficult to pull off successfully and Pyun isn’t up to the challenge. However, the quirky curveballs, oddball characters, strange music score and all-in performances keep it from getting too boring.

EXTRA KIBBLES

INTERVIEWS - Individual interviews (running 20-30 minutes each) featuring producer Gary Schmoleller, executive producer Paul Rosenblum and composer Anthony Riparetti. All three discuss their own career histories and making movies with director Albert Pyun. 

OPTIONAL INTRODUCTION - By director Albert Pyun.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Albert Pyun. 

TRAILER

MINI POSTER

REVERSIBLE ARTWORK

Litter Box Treasures: THE GUMBALL RALLY (1976)

In Litter Box Treasures, we focus on a variety of older films which aren’t necessarily classics, but are well-worth discovering.

THE GUMBALL RALLY (1976)

Starring Michael Sarrazin, Tim McIntire, Normann Burton, Raul Julia, Gary Busey, Nicholas Pryor, Harvey Jason, Susan Flannery, John Durren, J. Pat O'Malley, Vaughn Taylor, Steven Keats, Wally Taylor, Joanne Nail, Tricia O'Neal, Lazaro Perez. Directed by Chuck Bail. (105 min).

ESSAY BY D.M. ANDERSON💀

The Gumball Rally evokes really fond memories, so please indulge me if I give this film more praise than the genre generally warrants.

Nearly every week as a kid, I'd hit the Cinema V, a local second-run theater near my house, to catch double-bills for less than a buck. Sometimes I biked there, other times Mom or Dad would drop me off with a friend. The place was old, dank and sold Milk Duds dating back to the Middle Ages. As hang-outs go, it was second only to 7-Eleven as the most wonderful place in the world. That's where I first caught The Gumball Rally (with a Vanishing Point chaser). I'd seen plenty of car chase movies before - which had their heyday in the 70s - but this one struck a chord with me and remains one of my childhood favorites.

On the other hand, maybe it does warrant more acknowledgment & praise than its relative obscurity suggests.

Superficially, The Gumball Rally is just another car chase movie made during a decade rife with them. It has most of the same ingredients...hot cars, outlaw antiheroes, idiot cops, sexy babes, a plot with the complexity of Go Dog Go and, naturally, plenty of high-speed motorporn. A few of these crash-fests went on to become cult classics - like the aforementioned Vanishing Point - but most were brain-dead junk food made on-the-cheap and destined to be forgotten within weeks of their release.

But while The Gumball Rally walks & talks like its contemporaries, beneath its turbo-charged exterior beats the heart of old-fashioned madcap comedies like The Great Race, Monte Carlo or Bust and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (with a dash of Looney Tunes). The humor is broad, silly...even a little corny. But the whole thing is constantly good-natured and what little violence there is is strictly of the slapstick variety. In fact, if not for the preponderance of boob jokes, this could (almost) pass muster as a family film.

What's wrong with this picture?
(That's right...the driver on the right doesn't have insurance)

Unusual for the genre - at least until Burt Reynolds went into the Smokey and the Bandit business - the film boasts an impressive ensemble cast consisting of respected character actors, led by Michael Sarrazin (channeling his inner Peter Fonda...and a bit of Bugs Bunny thrown in for good measure). The fun they have with their characters (no matter how broadly drawn) is infectious. A young Raul Julia steals the show as oversexed Italian race driver Franco - Pepe Le Pew personified - while Normann Burton makes a perfect Wile E. Coyote (beleaguered expression and all) as the hapless Lt. Roscoe.

Though The Gumball Rally is played strictly for laughs, it doesn't skimp on high-speed thrills, which are expertly choreographed and shot, with far better production values than the average chase film of the time. It's all punctuated by a music score that combines ragtime, jazz and what resembles music from a Quinn Martin cop show. Yet somehow it fits, going a long way in establishing the jovial tone of the entire movie.

Sure, I may be biased, but what can't be disputed is the movie's influence. Not only was The Gumball Rally was the first of a wave of similar films depicting an illegal coast-to-coast road race (all inferior rip-offs), it eventually inspired real-life racing events all over the world, the most famous being the annual Gumball 3000, still held in Europe each year. Additionally, the MiceChat Gumball Rally is a yearly event at Disneyland, where fans compete to see who can ride the most attractions in a single day.

Not bad for a silly chase comedy hardly anyone recalls. For me, the movie is a nostalgic trip down memory lane that I take about once a year. I may not laugh as boisterously as I did at 13, sitting in the back row of that decrepit old Cinema V, but The Gumball Rally still brings a smile to my face.

DARKGAME Has Been Played Before (and that's okay)

DARKGAME (Blu-ray)

2024 / 100 min

FROM GRAVITAS VENTURES

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie😽

If you have never seen or don’t recall the movie, Untraceable, it’s a 2008 thriller about a serial killer who kills his victims on the internet. The more viewers that visit the site, the faster these people die. Taking place in my hometown of Portland, Oregon, it’s a repeated race against time to find this guy, who also taunts the FBI team assigned to the case. While no classic, I thought the film was better than its box office numbers and critical consensus suggested.

The writers of DarkGame must have thought so, too, because not only does it feature a very similar premise, the story also takes place in Portland, Oregon. One big difference here - besides the budget and star power - is that this killer chooses his victims at random, whereas the one in Untraceable was driven by revenge. That aspect renders this one a bit more disturbing, though the death scenes - while pretty graphic - aren’t nearly as drawn-out or sadistic.

The unnamed antagonist (Andrew P. Stephen) is certainly sadistic, though. Never seen without a mask, he hosts a dark web “game show” called Russian Roulette, where “contestants” are forced to participate in various gruesome contests while viewers bet on the outcome. The highest wagerer gets to choose how the loser will die. Meanwhile, brooding Portland cop Ben (Ed Westwick) and his squad desperately (and repeatedly) try to trace his location and stop him, which proves to be very difficult. And of course, once the killer learns Ben is heading the investigation, he makes things personal.

Spring Training takes a dark turn.

The narrative shifts between Ben’s investigation (while clashing with the FBI) and Katia (Natalya Tsvetkova), one of the kidnapped contestants imprisoned in a room with several others who are waiting for the right moment to fight back and escape. While not particularly original, DarkGame is fast-paced and manages to create a lot of genuine tension in certain scenes. It also features a compelling, cryptically funny antagonist. Performed with gusto by Stephens, he’s the best part of the film. The remaining cast bring earnestness to their characters, most of whom seem lifted from other movies, right down to the boneheaded FBI agent “taking over the case.” 

The film is efficiently directed by Howard J. Ford, who’s kinda made a career out of making movies that never win awards for originality, but are generally well made and entertaining in the moment. Similarly, DarkGame is a decent race-against-time thriller on a limited budget. The door is even left open for a sequel, which I wouldn’t be opposed to.

VIOLENT ROAD and the Small Wages of Fear

VIOLENT ROAD (1958)

Starring Brian Keith, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Merry Anders, Sean Garrison, Dick Foran, Arthur Batanides, Perry Lopez. Directed by Howard W. Koch. (85 min).

ESSAY BY D.M. ANDERSON💀

If you haven't seen Violent Road (which is quite likely), this essay contains a spoiler.

William Friedkin’s Sorcerer has been one of my favorite films since I was 13 and first caught it at the Southgate Quad as the bottom half of a double feature. Released at a time when the movie industry was increasingly focused on high concept blockbusters with wide audience appeal, the film was crushed under the wheels of the Star Wars juggernaut, coming and going nearly unnoticed by everyone except for the two studios (Universal and Paramount) who footed the bill for its bloated budget.  

With hindsight, it was easy to see why. Who the hell wanted to endure a grimy, depressing flick about criminals on a 10 mile-an-hour suicide mission for an $8000 payday when you could catch Luke Skywalker rescue a princess and defeat an empire? And trucks loaded with explosives certainly doesn’t sound as fun as the Bandit driving cases of Coors across the state line. Hell, the only reason I actually saw Sorcerer was because it was the only movie at the Southgate I hadn't yet watched. But I fell in love with every aspect of the film…the dark tone, stunning imagery, gritty aesthetic, nerve-jangling set-pieces, Tangerine Dream’s haunting score and a team of morally ambiguous characters played by a great international cast led by Roy Scheider. 

Best of all was the premise…four fugitives from various parts of the world who end up in a godforsaken poverty-ravaged South American village where escape means buying your way out. When an American oil platform explodes 200 miles away, the only way to kill the raging fire is to blow it out with dynamite. Unfortunately, the only cases available are so old and unstable that the slightest jolt will cause them to explode. Worse yet, the only way to get them there is to drive a couple of trucks through mountains, swamps and jungle. With nothing left to lose, these four desperate fugitives take the job.

Another meeting that could've been an email.

Sorcerer has been rediscovered and reassessed over the years, becoming something of a cult film. Though its initial failure exacerbated Friedkin’s career descent into mediocrity (from which he never truly recovered, in my opinion), it’s now widely considered one of his best. Today, there are cinephiles and critics worldwide who appreciate Sorcerer for the neglected masterpiece it really is. But I knew it all along.

What I didn’t know - for many years - was that my beloved Sorcerer was actually a remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 French classic, The Wages of Fear. It’s an excellent film, similarly bleak with heaping helpings of cynicism thrown in. Still, it took some time for me to warm up to it and I still prefer Sorcerer’s aesthetic, tension and unsavory characters (perhaps because it’s the version I grew up on).

Another thing I didn’t know, until just recently, was that Sorcerer wasn’t even the first remake of The Wages of Fear. That honor actually goes to a little-seen film called Violent Road. 

Released in 1958 and directed by Howard W. Koch (probably best remembered for producing Airplane! and some Oscar broadcasts), Violent Road doesn’t officially acknowledge Clouzot’s film or Georges Arnaud’s original novel (just like Akira Kurosawa was never credited for inspiring The Magnificent Seven). However, it features the exact same premise and plot, though with less creative ambition and a lower budget. Based on the cast, perfunctory direction and conveniently commutable Southern California locations, it’s obvious Warner Brothers simply wanted a quick & dirty potboiler. 

There are few minor differences between this one and The Wages of Fear. Instead of two trucks and four guys transporting unstable nitroglycerin, six people are hired by Cyclone Rockets to drive three trucks carrying explosive & corrosive fuel components to a new factory. Barred from using the main highways, they’re forced to make the two day trek over treacherous desert mountain backroads.

"No one goes shirtless but me."

Leading the team is Mitch Barton (Brian Keith), an experienced career trucker who needs the work after running afoul of his former boss. His crew includes down-and-out war veteran Frank ‘Sarge’ Miller (Dick Foran), reckless young race car driver Ken Farley (Sean Garrison), chronic gambler Ben (Arthur Batanides), resourceful mechanic Manuelo (Perry Lopez) and Cyclone’s rocket fuel expert George Lawrence (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). As with The Wages of Fear, there’s a beautiful woman waiting for Mitch when (and if) the job is done...Carrie (Merry Anders), with whom he recently had a whirlwind fling. With the possible exception of Sarge, none of these characters convey a similar sense of desperation to those in Wages and Sorcerer. There’s a big payday, for sure, but at no point does the job seem like a last option for any of them.

Nor does the overall journey feel as perilous. There are no scenes as tension-filled as the jaw-dropping bridge sequence in Sorcerer or the decaying turning platform in Wages. At no point does the trek seem utterly hopeless, with potentially insurmountable obstacles prompting the characters to consider giving up in despair. There’s danger, of course, but for much of the trip, these guys don’t even drive like their payload could blow them sky high at any moment. The only time Violent Road comes close to achieving the same level of suspense as Wages and Sorcerer is when the brakes in Mitch’s truck give out as he’s barrelling down the mountain. The movie even has the audacity to tack on an upbeat ending.

But while Violent Road is never particularly thrilling or memorable, it’s well made on a low budget and certainly watchable, with solid overall performances. Keith, in particular, is enjoyably stoic, studly and cynical. I think it might be especially interesting to those who’ve already seen The Wages of Fear or Sorcerer. This film never approaches the technical or thematic artistry of either - nor does it really try - but if nothing else, Violent Road earnestly adheres to the same basic premise and structure.