Matthew Liedke

REVIEW: ‘The Beekeeper’ is a B-movie (in more ways than one) that delivers

The entire script of “Bee Movie,” but it’s just a review of the 2024 action film “The Beekeeper.”

Jason Statham stars as Adam Clay in this new film from director David Ayer. A simple man leading a quiet life, Clay keeps bees and lives on a farm owned by retired schoolteacher and charity organizer Eloise. Things get kicked off in the film when Eloise’s computer is hacked and she’s lured into a scam.

She not only loses her life savings, but the $2 million her charity managed. The situation causes her to take her own life and in the aftermath, Clay, who turns out to be a retired agent of an elite organization, sets out for revenge. During his quest, he learns the scamming system is run by powerful people with government ties.

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REVIEW: ‘I.S.S.’ has some suspense but execution is clunky

The International Space Station may bring astronauts to the final frontier, but as this film shows, they are still very much tied to what’s happening down on Earth.

“I.S.S.” centers on six characters aboard the station in Earth’s orbit. There are three American astronauts: Kira (Ariana DeBose), Gordon (Chris Messina) and Christian (John Gallagher Jr.), as well as three Russian cosmonauts: Weronika (Masha Mashkova), Nicholai (Costa Ronin) and Alexey (Pilou Asbæk).

Kiras is the newest to the station and is still adjusting, but she finds everything going smoothly on board as the crew gets along and stays busy. That is until they all witness massive explosions and find out that a major war has started. Each group then receives notice from their nations to take over the station.

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Top 10 Films of 2023

What a great year for movies. There were a plethora of wonderful flicks released in the last 12 months across a mix of genres, making 2023 trips to the theater satisfying.

Like all years with a lot of top shelf movies, it can be hard to narrow a list down to 10. But the more good movies the better, and based on personal enjoyment and what I found most well made, I was able to put together 10 picks. However, like always, I will honor the movies that didn’t make the cut.

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REVIEW: ‘The Color Purple’ powered by cast, weakened by script

“The Color Purple” makes sense as a title, because the hardships the main character goes through will have someone feeling blue and seeing red.

Based on the stage musical, which itself was an adaptation of a 1982 novel, “Color Purple” is a film centered around the character Celie Harris-Johnson (Fantasia Barrino). As a teenager, Celine is raped by her father and gives birth to two children, who are taken from her and given to the church for adoption.

The cruelty doesn’t stop there, as he then arranges Celie to be married to an abusive farmer named Albert (Colman Domingo). During this time, she’s also separated from her sister, Nettie (Halle Bailey). Celie goes through many hardships, but finds some kindness and encouragement from other women, including Sofia (Danielle Brooks) and a singer named Shug (Taraji P. Henson).

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REVIEW: Despite strong filmmaking, ‘Ferrari’ is largely unfocused

Sometimes even the most meticulously-made movies fall short.

That’s the case with director Michael Mann’s new biographical film centered on Italian car-maker Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver). The movie is set in 1957, with Ferrari gearing up for the annual Mile Miglia, or Thousand Miles. The Italian race event is another opportunity to show off his brand.

While this is happening, Ferrari’s company is is in a difficult situation financially. To turn things around, a suggestion is made to merge with another company, but it’s complicated because Ferrari’s estranged wife Laura (Penelope Cruz) owns half the shares. Their relationship has been strained since their son’s death and is even more so lately as Ferrari is having an affair.

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REVIEW: ‘Boys in the Boat’ bores more than it excites

It feels kind of bad to pile on Washington after they just lost the football national championship, but the review must go on.

“The Boys in the Boat” is set in the mid 30s, right in the middle of the Great Depression. The film begins by introducing Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), a student at the University of Washington who’s homeless and is having difficulty paying for his tuition. While looking for work, he finds he can make money for the semester by making the school’s rowing team.

After a grueling selection process, Rantz and seven others are picked for the JV team. Their coach, Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton) puts them to work right away and soon learns they’re able to compete well with the varsity team. Because of their talent, the coach begins considering the JV squad to compete for a spot in the 1936 Olympics.

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REVIEW: ‘Nyad’ sinks more than it swims

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are known for their documentaries chronicling individuals who do incredible physical feats. Maybe they should have just done a documentary with this subject, too.

The duo’s latest film is a narrative feature centered on distance swimmer Diana Nyad. In the late 70s, Nyad (Annette Bening) participated in several open water attempts, swimming around the island of Manhattan and from the Bahamas to Florida.

What she wasn’t able to do at that time, though, was conquer a swim from Cuba to Florida. The film picks up with Nyad in the early 2010s, now in her 60s, with a fiery desire to try the swim again. The movie chronicles her attempts with help from her coach and friend Bonnie (Jodie Foster).

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REVIEW: While moving, ‘Memory’ often feels distant

When there’s hardships aplenty, sometimes a human connection is what can get a person through.

Writer and director Michel Franco’s new film “Memory” shows just that, as two broken people find each other and form a relationship. The film opens by introducing Sylvia, a single mother and recovering alcoholic who works in an adult care home. While she’s been sober for years and able to manage her daily life, she still deals from trauma in her past.

The movie picks up with her meeting a man, Saul (Peter Sarsgaard), who has early onset dementia. This leads to their first encounters being difficult, but as time goes on, they grow closer. While the relationship brings them some happiness, though, there are still struggles for both.

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REVIEW: Don’t bother with a dip, ‘Night Swim’ is a skip

A film from Blumhouse Productions kicked off both 2023 and 2024. The difference is that “M3gan” was a much better experience than “Night Swim.”

The new horror stars Kerry Condon and Wyatt Russell as Eve and Ray Waller, who begin the movie in the market for a new house. Their search for a new home comes after Ray had to retire from Major League Baseball due to an illness.

The home they end up buying appears to be a great fit, as the pool in the backyard will be helpful for Ray’s physical therapy. Things at the new home start off well enough, with the family of four enjoying the luxury of having a pool. However, creepy things begin happening and paranormal sights are seen.

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REVIEW: Story of ‘Rustin’ is important, but told without cinematic flair

Sometimes a film comes along that does something positive by shining a light on a hidden figure, but doesn’t do so in extraordinary fashion.

This movie is an example. It tells the story of Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), who was the lead organizer for the March on Washington in 1963. The event is now most well known for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and a subsequent meeting with President John F. Kennedy.

Getting to those historic moments took an immense amount of planning and mobilization, though, and Rustin was at the center of it all. The film dramatizes this, as well as Rustin’s experience as a gay man during a time where he had to keep his relationships hidden.

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