With “Deadpool & Wolverine” still sucking up most of the oxygen in theaters, it was going to be an uphill climb for “Borderlands”, the big screen adaptation of the popular Gearbox Software video game series. But what has been most concerning is the complete lack of buzz leading up to its release. And when some opening weekend box office projections came in as low as $8 million, let’s just say there are plenty of reasons for the studio to worry.

I’ve played most (if not all) of the “Borderlands” video games. For the most part, the movie gets a lot right which is both good and not so good. The world of “Borderlands” is like a Wild West wasteland. It’s vast, violent, and full of chaotic comic energy. That also describes the crazy collection of colorful characters and creatures who exist in it. All of these things come alive in the movie.

But for me the games could be exhausting. The action could turn repetitive; some characters grew obnoxious; the humor wore thin. Those very same things are true about “Borderlands” the movie. Directed and co-written by Eli Roth, this $120 million sci-fi action-comedy attracted a terrific and overqualified cast that includes two Oscar winners, Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Gina Gershon, Ariana Greenblatt, Edgar Ramirez, Haley Bennett, and Florian Munteanu. They keep the film watchable but can’t cover its blemishes.

The story, penned by Roth and Joe Crombie, follows a ragtag group of misfits brought together through some convenient circumstances. A rogue soldier named Roland (Hart) infiltrates a space station to kidnap Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), the young daughter of megacorporation magnate Atlas (Ramirez). With the help of the hulking “Psycho” Krieg (Munteanu), Roland snatches the girl and heads to the treacherous planet of Pandora.

Atlas hires a bounty hunter named Lilith (Blanchett) to travel back to her home planet of Pandora and retrieve his daughter. Aided by a chatty one-wheeled robot named Claptrap (Black), Lilith eventually tracks down and confronts Roland only to learn a not-so-surprising secret. Atlas doesn’t actually care for his daughter’s safety. Tina is key to opening a hidden vault believed to house powerful ancient tech that could have cataclysmic consequences if in the wrong hands. Atlas wants her back so he can open the vault and claim the tech for himself.

So Lilith, Roland, Tina, Krieg, and Claptrap employee the help of Pandora expert Dr. Patricia Tannis (Curtis) and set out to find the vault first. But hot on their heels is the dogged Commander Knoxx (Janina Gavankar), armed with Atlas’ private army and one hideous haircut. They also encounter a gang of deranged subterranean psychos, giant titan-sized monsters, and eventually Atlas himself. It leads to a number of action sequences that range from outrageously fun to glaringly unremarkable.

Roth and company do manage to create a visually exciting Pandora. It’s covered in sand and rust, with jagged canyons and grimy cities. It’s dirty and unwelcoming yet richly detailed both practically and digitally. If only it was filled with compelling inhabitants. As fans will attest, the “Borderlands” games have been known for their wacky array of personalities. But despite adding characters like Mad Moxxi (Gershon) and Marcus Kincaid (Benjamin Byron Davis), we’re never given a sense of what makes them fan favorites.

But the film’s problems extend further. For starters, Hart’s casting is puzzling. He doesn’t have the grit to be a good tough guy and he isn’t given the lines to be a funny guy. Meanwhile an insufferable Jack Black stays cranked up to ten and is really hard to endure. And it doesn’t help that Atlas is just another bland corporate villain. Add in the cobbled together and mostly empty story, and you have a movie that captures the look of the video games more than the spirit that made them so successful.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

Roger Corman’s exploitation crime thriller “Bloody Mama” was the filmmaker’s second-to-last feature for American International Pictures and it was a far cry from his best. Though moderately successful, the film was handcuffed by Corman’s steadfast desire to milk the recent success of Arthur Penn’s Oscar-winning “Bonnie and Clyde”. His efforts in “Bloody Mama” were so apparent that it prompted Los Angeles Times film critic Charles Champlin to label it “Mommie and Clyde“.

While the film was lambasted by critics, it earned enough of an audience to inspire Corman to fund “Boxcar Bertha” and hire a young Martin Scorsese to direct it. But that doesn’t mean “Bloody Mama” is a good film. Despite its wealth of young on-screen talent, the movie struggles under the weight of its own inconsistency. While Corman’s inspiration is clear, it doesn’t seem like he’s at all sure about the kind of movie he wants to make. His tonal hodgepodge is maddening, hopping from lighthearted to dark on a whim and unwisely mixing such things as rape, murder, and incest with elements of comedy.

“Bloody Mama” is very loosely based on the antics of Kate “Ma” Barker. While Barker’s reputation as a hardened crime matriarch have been debated over the years (J. Edgar Hoover called her “vicious” and “dangerous” while those who knew her said she had no role in her sons’ many crimes). Corman sticks with the pop culture interpretation, even taking it further by portraying Ma barker as an absolute monster. She’s played by a tempestuous Shelly Winters who fully commits to the role.

Set and filmed in rural Arkansas, “Bloody Mama” takes place during the Depression as Ma Barker leaves her husband George (Alex Nicol) and takes her gaggle of unruly twenty-something sons with her. Her pack consists of the unhinged Herman (Don Stroud), the more reserved Arthur (Clint Kimbrough), the masochistic Fred (Robert Walden), and the drug-addicted Lloyd (Robert De Niro). The five set out on a crime spree across 1930’s Arkansas, picking up a few tag-alongs and killing more than a few along the way.

There isn’t much in the way of character development as Corman is far more interested in the luridly violent exploitation that helped solidify his legacy. The lone exception may be De Niro’s Lloyd, the troubled outcast of the backwoods brood whose inner turmoil resonates the most realistically. He’s very much a part of the family, and his sociopathic bend takes him down some rather sinister paths. But he also comes across as alienated and alone which only fuels his self-destruction. Stroud doesn’t get nearly as much to work with, but he does make the psychotic Herman a terror.

As for Ma Barker, she mostly comes across as a collection of character types. We get some early flashes to her incestuous and abusive childhood which somewhat explains her own vile deviancy. But the bulk of the film sees Winters as a blustering swirl of anger and resentment. Her Ma Barker lives up to the sensationalized portrayal that has found its way into many movies, songs, and stories. It’s a performance that’s both fascinating and frustrating, much like “Bloody Mama” as a whole.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

Love them or hate them, anyone who enjoyed movies during the 1980s knew of the Brat Pack. It was a nickname given to a specific group of young actors and actresses in their early twenties who would often appear together in popular coming-of-age movies throughout the decade. The name was play on Rat Pack which was an earlier Hollywood A-list group that had various iterations between the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

The Brat Pack name was coined by David Blum in his 1985 cover story for New York magazine. The group (which most prominently consisted of Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi More, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Andrew McCarthy, and Ally Sheedy) hated the label and felt betrayed by Blum who they had briefly let into their inner circle. Even today, Blum has no regrets and views the people impacted by his story as little more than “collateral damage”.

“Brats” is a documentary directed by Brat Pack member Andrew McCarthy and it sets out to explore the careers and relationships of the young stars both before and after they were branded by Blum’s article. McCarthy approaches it with his own insider perspective but also reaches out to other former members including Estevez, Lowe, Sheedy, and Moore. Unfortunately Ringwald, Nelson, and Hall all declined to participate.

The film follows McCarthy as he seeks out the other Brat Pack members and those connected to the group in hopes of hearing their experiences and discovering what the name means to them some four decades later. Some he hasn’t spoken to in thirty or more years, as they went from making movies together to avoiding each other like a plague. Others have outside perspectives that offer some interesting insight. Many saw the Brat Pack label as insulting, reductive, and derogatory. But there were those who found benefits in the fame it brought.

As we watch it becomes clear that making the film was a therapeutic journey for McCarthy – an opportunity for him to finally reckon with this dark cloud that has followed him for so many years. It offers him the opportunity to wrestle with what the Brat Pack means to him today as opposed to in the 1980s. It’s an interesting element yet one that feels more personal to him than relatable for us.

Throughout the documentary’s brisk 92 minutes we’re treated to some insightful and revealing conversations. We also get lots of great archive footage of old interviews, movie clips, and behind the scenes video. It makes for an interesting and nostalgic retrospective for those of us who grew up in the Brat Pack era. And that’s who this film will ultimately resonate with. It’ll be a tougher sell for those without at least some attachment or familiarity. But for me, from my early crush on Demi Moore to my endless VHS rewatches of “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles”, I’m very much the film’s target audience. “Brats” is now streaming on Hulu.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

So this was the big question for me – was Netflix’s new Beverly Hills Cop installment going to be more like the entertaining first two movies (yes, I have a soft spot for “Beverly Hills Cop II”) or closer to the abysmal third film? Well call me a fence-straddler, but the oddly titled “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” falls somewhere in between. It’s certainly not as high-energy or whip-smart as the beloved original. At the same time, it does scratch that nostalgic itch for fans and unleashes Eddie Murphy to deliver the kind of comedic chaos that made him famous.

It has been 30 years since the last Beverly Hills Cop movie, and it’s kinda strange that we’re getting one after all this time. It’s even more unusual that it’s premiering on a streaming service rather than the big screen (welcome to movie watching in the year 2024). But that doesn’t mean they took shortcuts. Produced by Murphy and Jerry Bruckheimer, “Axel F” has a budget of around $150 million. And a lot of that money and effort has gone into recapturing the spirit and tone of the original.

Murphy slips back into the Aididas sneakers and Detroit Lions letterman jacket of Axel Foley, a wise-cracking, street-smart police officer from Detroit. This time around his return to Beverly Hills is more personal – it’s to see his estranged daughter, Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige). She’s a successful criminal defense attorney working for a big Beverly Hills law firm. Her current case has her defending an accused cop killer which hasn’t sat well with the local police department.

After Axel learns Jane’s life may be in danger, he sets out on his own investigation. It leads to numerous discoveries as well as run-ins with the local law. Axel does have a strong ally in his old friend John Taggart (John Ashton) who is now the cranky Chief of Police. As for Taggart’s former partner, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Axel learns he has disappeared while investigating a lead potentially linked to Jane’s case. So is an Axel, Billy, and Taggart reunion inevitable? I’ll let you figure that one out.

Adding some new blood to the franchise is Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays Bobby Abbott. He’s a detective with the Beverly Hills Police Department who happens to be Jane’s ex-boyfriend. We also get the always welcomed Kevin Bacon as Cade Grant, an officer who runs the department’s narcotics task force. But it’s Paige who makes the biggest impression out of the newcomers. She and Murphy have good father-daughter chemistry and her snarkiness nearly matches his scene-for-scene.

The Beverly Hills Cop films have always been equal parts action and comedy and this one is no different. The gags are frequent and aplenty, with many coming from Murphy’s often hilarious improvisations. Others come from the writing trio of Will Beall, Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten who deliver several good zingers (a favorite of mine is a subtle yet funny shot at the notoriously bad third film). As for the action, it’s obvious that Murphy has lost a step (haven’t we all). But he brings such a madcap energy to the scenes. And while director Mark Molloy shoots them well, it’s the infusion of Murphy’s humor that makes them fun.

As far as any mystery or suspense, there’s nothing in the story that will surprise you. Pretty much everything is laid out in the first 30 minutes or so and it’s easy to predict where things are going. But truth be told, most people will go into “Axel F” to watch Eddie Murphy doing the act which made him a household name. And while his latest doesn’t hold a candle to his best, there is still enough vintage Murphy to bring this long dormant franchise back to life. “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” premieres July 3rd on Netflix.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

Filmland, an annual celebration of filmmaking from Arkansas and beyond, has played an important part in the Arkansas Cinema Society’s work to grow and nurture a passionate local film culture. Throughout its seven years, one of the anchors of Filmland has been director, screenwriter, and ACS co-founderJeff Nichols. An Arkansas native, Nichols’ investment in growing his home state’s film community has been invaluable.

As a filmmaker, Nichols has several notable signatures that give his movies their particular appeal. His stories tend to have a distinctly southern flavor and shrewdly represent a region of the country he knows very well. He also has a knack for writing characters who feel incredibly organic to the worlds they exist in. These things are only enhanced by the fact that Nichols is a natural storyteller.

Among the highlights of last year’s Filmland was Nichols’ new movie “The Bikeriders”. It’s his first feature since 2016’s “Loving” and his biggest film in terms of budget and ambition. It’s inspired by photojournalist Danny Lyon’s 1968 book of the same name that explored the members and firsthand stories of the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The book featured a collection of Lyon’s photography and interviews captured during his time as a member of the Outlaws in the mid sixties.

Much like Lyon’s book, Nichols sets out to deconstruct the somewhat romanticized view of this 1960s motorcycle subculture. At the same time he doesn’t shy away from the nostalgic allure of the time. Instead he embraces it, creating a near longing for a bygone era while also viewing it as something best left to a very specific period in American history. His film is an incredible balance of gritty realism and heartfelt sentimentality.

Merely inspired by Lyon’s work, Nichols takes several ideas from the book and then builds his own fictional story. He frames it through a series of interviews that Danny Lyon (played by Mike Faist) conducts with a woman named Kathy (a sublime Jodie Comer). Through three meetings spanning nearly a decade, Kathy talks about her time with the Vandals, a Chicago based motorcycle club that rode to prominence during the 1960s.

The meat of the story follows the club’s rise from a close-knit brotherhood to a vast mob-like menace. Over the course of the movie, what starts as a small pack of local outcasts emulating Marlon Brando’s “The Wild Ones” morphs into a violent network of riders from different cities across the country. It’s a fascinating evolution that in many ways is shaped by the shifting social and political landscapes of the time.

At the very heart of “The Bikeriders” is a captivating trio of characters whose interconnected relationships humanize the story and shape the drama. Tom Hardy is a force of nature playing Johnny, the founder and leader of the Vandals. There’s no doubting Johnny is in charge, but he’s well respected by the members. His idea is that one day his kid brother Benny (Austin Butler) will take his place. The problem is Benny is a wild card – loyal but volatile. Butler is magnetic, embodying a smoldering bad boy image that you can’t turn away from.

And then there’s Kathy who finds herself stuck within this testosterone driven coterie. She sees the Vandals for what they are and often pushes back against their macho codes and rituals. Yet there’s a part of her that’s fascinated and drawn to their world – at least early on. She’s especially enchanted with Benny who she meets in a bar and then marries five weeks later.

Benny’s bond with his brother is every bit as strong as his bond with Kathy which inevitably leads to tension between all three. It’s only amplified in the second half as the club starts to grow and the once intimate camaraderie starts to crumble. It’s here that the story takes a darker turn, becoming a “Goodfellas” type of mob drama but with a biker movie bend. The violence ratchets up and the romanticism of the early scenes all but vanishes.

While the three central performances shine brightest, Nichols amasses a superb supporting cast who play an assortment of colorful characters, many based on actual photos from Lyon’s book. There’s Michael Shannon as Zipco, Boyd Holbrook as Cal, Norman Reedus as Funny Sonny, Damon Harriman as Brucie, and Emory Cohen as Cockroach, just to name a few. They fill out the world well (though some disappear for stretches), but it’s Nichols’ interest in their psychologies that make them so individually compelling.

While it’s technically more Midwestern than Southern, there are still several wonderful similarities between “The Bikeriders” and other stories Jeff Nichols has told. The big difference here is that Nichols has opened a window to a notoriously private world. His presentation is strikingly authentic, highlighted by incredible sound, cinematography, costume design, and a cracking 60’s flavored soundtrack. It all helps to create a transporting experience – one that lures you in with its infectious cool before hitting you hard with the grim and violent reality. “The Bikeriders” opens in theaters June 21st.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

In my recent review of 1975’s “Death Race 2000”, I took some time to talk about the film’s producer, the legendary Roger Corman who just recently passed away at the age of 98. I shared how the independent cinema icon had been instrumental in launching the careers of numerous high profile filmmakers. Among them was none other than the ten-time Oscar nominated director, Martin Scorsese.

Roger Corman was hungry for another female gangster movie and was drawn to Ben Reitman’s 1937 novel “Sister of the Road: The Autobiography of Boxcar Bertha”. A script was written by the husband and wife duo of John William and Joyce Corrington and Martin Scorsese was hired to direct after impressing Corman with his debut feature, “Who’s That Knocking at My Door”.

“Boxcar Bertha” has many of the usual markings that accompany the majority of Corman’s early exploitation flicks. But the crafty Scorsese brought his own gritty sensibility which made it feel a little different. Regardless of what you call it, you can see the fingerprints of the director that Scorsese would quickly become. His specific attention to detail, his knack for immersing the audience into his well-drawn setting, his fluid use of the camera – it’s all on display and in many ways saves the movie from itself.

Set in the Depression era South, “Boxcar Bertha” follows an orphaned and dirt-poor young girl named Bertha Thompson (Barbara Hershey) who begins trainhopping after her father is killed in a cropdusting accident. A couple years later Bertha crosses paths and falls in love with a down-on-his-luck union organizer Big Bill Shelly (David Carradine). The couple are later joined by Rake Brown (Barry Primus), a slick but cowardly gambler who Bertha saves at a poker table, and by Von Morton (Bernie Casey), an old family friend who worked for Bertha’s father.

The group tries the ‘straight and narrow’ path, but in such hard times our foursome has to resort to robbing banks and passenger trains just to get by. They eventually accept that they’re criminals which ends up putting them in the crosshairs of a powerful railroad magnate (played David Carradine’s real-life father, John). Soon the press is covering their antics – embellishing their hardened status for big headlines. But much like in “Bonnie and Clyde” (a clear inspiration for Corman), the attention eventually catches up to them.

Though bound by the exploitative tropes of bare flesh and blood (a Corman dictum that even Martin Scorsese couldn’t escape), there was still room for the director to take a few of his own swings. Not all of them hit their marks. Take the handful of messy cuts and quick camera pans. And a couple of woefully unconvincing fight scenes that look even more dated that usual for that era of movie history. But then you have his deft handling of his performers along with the detail he pours into his rich Southern setting. And unlike many of Corman’s exploitation films, there’s no glamour in the violence. It’s rough, crude, and abrupt.

Through it all Bertha remains the centerpiece, wonderfully played by Hershey who guides the character from naive to streetwise, always adapting to survive yet maintaining a level of vulnerability that earns our empathy. Her performance can’t fully cover the handful of glaring flaws, and those with a distaste for Corman’s brand of exploitation will likely struggle to get past his obvious influence. But watching Scorsese at such an early stage of his career, playing around with formula, exploring techniques, and finding his cinematic form makes it worth watching on its own.

VERDICT – 3 STARS