Tag Archives: Jason Statham

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #208 – “The Beekeeper” (dir. David Ayer), “The Kitchen” (dir. Daniel Kaluuya, Kibwe Tavares)

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Poster for "The Beekeeper"

This week on the FilmWonk Podcast, Glenn and Daniel check out The Beekeeper, an enjoyably uncomplicated John Wick retread which is heavy on bee metaphor and light on everything else. And then they check out The Kitchen, the near-future dystopian sci-fi film on Netflix, set in London’s last remaining social housing unit, and featuring the feature debut of actor Daniel Kaluuya as co-writer/co-director (53:59).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (The Beekeeper): 6/10 (Glenn), 5/10 (Daniel)
FilmWonk rating (The Kitchen): 7.5/10 (Glenn), 6.5/10 (Daniel)

Poster for "The Kitchen" (2024 Netflix film)

Show notes:

  • [02:26] Review: The Beekeeper
  • [21:04] Review: The Kitchen
  • [45:11] Spoilers: The Kitchen
  • The audiobook production of Vladimir Nabokov‘s Lolita that Daniel referred to was indeed narrated by actor Jeremy Irons, and is available on all audiobook platforms.

Listen above, or download: The Beekeeper, The Kitchen (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #70 – “Furious 7” (dir. James Wan)

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Poster for "Furious 7"
This week on the podcast, Glenn and Daniel bid a fast and furious farewell to both Paul Walker and Justin Lin, bid a mostly positive hello to James Wan, and ponder the future of Hollywood’s biggest, dumbest action franchise that we just can’t get enough of (36:25).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating: 7.5 out of 10

Show notes:

  • Music for tonight’s episode is the film’s opening theme song, “Ride Out” by Kid Ink, Tyga, Wale, YG, and Rich Homie Quan.
  • CORRECTION (kinda): We referred, slightly critically, to the “artifice” of the cars-dropping-from-planes sequence. To be clear, whenever we actually see the actors in the cars, it’s clearly fake, composited from green-screen footage shot elsewhere. So this critique still seems fair, even if that’s also been true of many of the simpler street racing stunts throughout the franchise. But, as one of our astute listeners pointed out, the stunt team actually did jump cars with skydiving cameramen out of airplanes to get the footage. Check out the (pretty awesome) behind-the-scenes featurette here.
  • CORRECTION: Not for the first or last time, I mixed up the names of Luke Evans and Lucas Black. I regret nothing.
  • We referred to a video from The Onion that featured “the 5-year-old screenwriter of ‘Fast Five'” – it’s well worth a look. And Chris Morgan has actually written the last five Fast and Furious scripts – everything from “Tokyo Drift” on.
  • Um, it seems we didn’t mention Kurt Russell at all on this podcast. Just an observation.

Listen above, or download: Furious 7 (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #25 – “The Expendables 2” (dir. Simon West)

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Poster for "The Expendables 2"

On our two-year anniversary show, we go back to the well and review the sequel to our very first podcast subject, The Expendables 2! Can the acting stylings of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Randy Couture impress us a second time? Find out below! (31:33)

May contain some NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating: 6.5/10

Show notes:

  • Music for this episode comes from the score to the The Expendables by Brian Tyler.
  • The director of photography for this film is Shelly Johnson.
  • We referred to this rumor from back in January, which stated that the film had been edited down to be PG-13 in order to secure the participation of Chuck Norris. According to director Simon West last week, that rumor was never true.
  • Nope, it appears Jean-Claude Van Damme has never ripped anyone’s heart out on film. But he has done this…
  • If you absolutely must see a heart-rip, here’s the dude from Temple of Doom. Or here’s Jim Carrey.
  • Correction: Our first podcast was in August 2010, making this our two-year anniversary show!

Listen above, or download: The Expendables 2 (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser).