The Gratuitous B-Movie Column 6.4.12 Issue #210: Recoil (2011)
Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 06.04.2012
In this issue I take a look at the low budget action flick Recoil starring “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Danny Trejo, plus some TV Quick Hits (Men at Work thoughts, Mike & Molly finale thoughts, and the end of the Speed Channel?), three big batches of Things to Watch Out For This Week, a new B-Movie Babe is named, a new Douchebag is crowned, and more. Check it out.
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #210: Recoil (2011)
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never been to Weingarten, Idaho, mostly because it doesn't exist, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number two hundred and ten, I take a look at the low budget action flick from 2011, Recoil, starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Danny "Machete" Trejo.
Recoil (2011)
Recoil, directed by Terry Miles, is a strange low budget action flick. As soon as it starts you get a sense that what you're about to see is going to be dark, brooding, and kind of sad, and as the movie progresses it doesn't stray from that darkness. Even when it tries to lighten the mood a bit with a smart ass remark, a smirk, or an homage to another movie, the movie really doesn't stray much at all from that darkness. It's actually kind of cool to see a movie start with a particular mood and maintain that mood consistently until the end. In the low budget movie world especially that's rare.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin stars as Ryan Varrett, a badass ex-cop hell bent on revenge for the death of his wife and son by psycho bikers. He's apparently been killing members of the motorcycle gang known as The Circle for quite some time and has the attention of the FBI. The FBI investigation, run by Agent Sutton (Lochlyn Munro, making his second appearance in a row hear in The Gratuitous B-Movie Column), has hit a bit of a dead end after finding one Circle member dead in a ravine (the poor bastard was out hunting with a machine gun, completely unaware that Varrett was hot on his trail). While Agent Sutton tries to figure out where to look next, Varrett travels to Hope, Washington, a hot bed of Circle activity. Run by the sadistic Drayke (Trejo), The Circle can do whatever the heck it wants in Hope. The Sheriff (I have no idea who this actor is) is in Drayke's pocket, and the town in general is afraid to "cross" Drayke for fear that he'll sic his minions on them and burn the town to the ground. As long as The Circle can run guns and drugs through the town without interference, the denizens of Hope will be "protected."
The first thing Varrett does in Hope is smack around one of The Circle's prospects. Varrett then proceeds to piss off Drayke's brother Rex (Noel Gugliemi) and generally make himself a target. The local gas station owner Kirby (Patrick Gilmore) isn't too thrilled about Varrett's presence in town, but the local motel owner Darcy (Serinda Swan) is happy to see the brooding, mysterious badass. Darcy doesn't let on at first that she's happy about Varrett being in town, but she warms up to him very quickly and continues to tell him that he's paid up for so many days.
I don't want to say any more about the plot as the story does have a few interesting surprises. I think you'll be shocked at how much damage Varrett causes in Hope and how little attention that damage seems to draw from neighboring communities. Yes, Hope is out in the middle of nowhere, but when you blow up a warehouse and cause a massive fire you'd think the town supervisor from down the road would call up the sheriff and ask what the heck happened. I mean, someone one town over must have heard the explosion.
The fight scenes are quick and brutal, even when they're in slow motion. And keep your eyes out for a brilliant scene where Varrett takes out two biker thugs in the dark. It'll make you jump out of your chair and yell out "fuck yeah!" That's what I did. The only thing you're likely to find somewhat underwhelming is the "look" of the movie. It looks like your standard, "direct-to-video action movie"/"shot in Canada low budget movie" kind of deal, but if you stick with the movie and watch until the end the dreary, sparse look will look brilliant.
Austin does a great job as Varrett. He's able to easily project a badass killer aura that will give you chills. He doesn't say much, but then he doesn't really have to. When he does say something it's terrifying. When you look at his performance here and in Tactical Force (check out my review of that flick here) you'll see that Austin has acting range. He knows how to be a smart ass and kind of a goof (Tactical Force) and he knows how to be a quiet, brooding yet charismatic badass (Recoil). It'll be interesting to see how he progresses from here.
Serinda Swan does a good job as Darcy. She's tough, yes, but she's also vulnerable, something you don't expect to see when we first see her. She also has great chemistry with Austin. Noel Gugliemi does a great job as Drayke's psycho brother Rex. He's a total sleazebag you just can't stand. I think you'll enjoy what happens to him. Keith Jardine, who was also in Tactical Force as a mob hitman, shows up as a Circle biker named Crab. You'll love what happens to him, too (it's one of the best scenes in the movie).
Patrick Gilmore does a great job playing the pathetic Kirby. You're not quite sure how you should take him at first as you don't know what his character is all about. You end up rooting for him in the end, even though you may not like what he ends up doing. That's what I did, at least. Adam Greydon Reid, who plays Deputy Hedge, the only cop in town not on The Circle payroll, is probably the movie's only real weakness as it's hard to imagine him as the town's only holdout. I got the sense that Drayke would have had him killed or severely beaten if he ever refused to play ball. And Lochlyn Munro, as Agent Sutton, doesn't get to do as much as he did in last week's movie In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, but he actually comes off better here in his limited role as opposed to the movie's main villain.
And then there's Danny Trejo, as the main villain Drayke, head of The Circle motorcycle gang. Trejo is brilliant as Drayke. He's a dark smart ass who has seen it all and done it all. You understand the town's fear as soon as you see him. You just don't cross this guy. Pay attention to the scene where Drayke fights a guy in an area surrounded by live electrical wires. Its shows you everything you need to know about him. Great, great stuff.
Recoil is an exciting, nifty little slice of action movie darkness that may not end up appealing to everyone, but if you give it a chance and get in tune with its sadness and negativity you'll have a good movie watching time. You really will. And I also want to go on record that Austin should make more movies as Varrett. There's serious franchise potential here, and I think the low budget action movie loving world would get a kick out of watching Varrett travel around the United States and take out bad guys.
Well, I know I'd get a kick out of it.
Recoil is awesome. See it as soon as you can. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: Around 10.
Explosions: Several, including a gigantic one that'll make you wonder how the hell no one heard it in a neighboring town.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: Old newspaper clippings, a bad ass muscle car, people hunting rabbits with machine guns, a massive choke slam, multiple flashbacks, a coroner that eats a sandwich while viewing a messed up dead body, a bad ass biker bar, a dumpy hotel motel, a big bag of guns, attempted dog shooting, a major league ass kicking, a neat trick with a handgun clip, an underground fight inside an electrified fence, a massive punch to the head, palm thrust, electrocution, arm destruction, reverse head butt, attempted dirt to the eyes, scumbag touching a hot babes stomach, punch to the head, car hood bondage, gagging, a massive meth lab explosion, attempted church confession, people shooting guns into the air, a sawed off double barrel shotgun, car hood to the back, a very nasty hand wound, truck loading, exploding tire, cocaine, exploding truck with slow motion walking away, an old arcade game that could be Spy Hunter, a guy duct taped to a boxing heavy bag, an old boat, a slow, deliberate, and brutal fist fight, a fat yellow envelope, unlicensed guns, wine drinking, strangulation, a nasty conversation about what a "covered wagon/blanket party" is, dead body hanging from the hook of a tow truck, a guy playing pool with broken fingers, a major scratch, pool cue to the back, glass pitcher to the head, body slam, a great "man on fire" gag, shotgun loading, exploding chest, a massive blood pack, shotgun blast to the face (off screen), can shooting, guns on a pool table, a great action scene in the dark, tape bondage, chair bondage, more face punching, chair breaking, a great scene where a guy gets stabbed, takes the knife out, and stabs the guy that stabbed him, an apparent suicide, a brutal final fight, attempted neck breaking, face gouging, knee to the face, attempted machete, more tape bondage, a vicious back-and-forth fist pounding, bullet to the head, and a somber ending.
Kim Richards?: Yes. In flashback.
Gratuitous: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin driving a badass muscle car, guys hunting rabbits with machine guns, multiple flashbacks, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin drinking coffee in a little diner, Lochlyn Munro, a coroner that eats a sandwich while viewing a messed up dead body, a big bag of guns, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin beating the fuck out of a biker, Danny Trejo, an underground fight inside an electrified fence, a meth lab, car hood bondage, a massive explosion, Danny Trejo sleeping with two women at the same time, attempted church confession, Keith Jardine, a very nasty hand wound, exploding truck, what could be the arcade version of Spy Hunter, Danny Trejo beating up a guy duct taped to a boxing heavy bag, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin drinking wine, a scary talk about prison, a great "man-on-fire gag, Danny Trejo counting money, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin going apeshit with a shotgun, a hotel motel assault, a brutal final fight, and a somber ending.
Best lines: "I ain't leaving until I kill... something," "You a truck driver or something like that? Something like that," "You're not like a psycho or something, right? Right," "Fuck! You scared the shit out of me!," "You must have some of the best health insurance in the world," "Ha! This guy's got huevos!," "I don't know why we always fight," "I'll try not to get any on me," "What a beautiful night for a drive," "Enjoy the ride, Highwayman," "You need to pick your battles, son," "You kill him? Technically the explosion killed him," "Earthquake survival kit?," "Star walking," "Generally, mechanics look under the hood," "Where did you learn to fight like that? From fighting," "You know that door wasn't locked, right?," "I'm gonna enjoy killing you," "Keep your fucking hands off her," "You ain't so tough now, are you, muscleman?," and "I made a mistake. Oh yeah, what's that? I should have killed you first."
Rating: 9.0/10.0
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: The Facebook Page!
Please check out The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Facebook page, which can be seen here. There's not much there at the moment, but, as time goes by, expect to see daily questions and musings and other B-movie hooey. And it would be cool if you "liked" it, too.
- Men at Work thoughts: This new TBS sitcom isn't very funny. It tries, but it very rarely ever works. And I'm not quite sure what the point of it is supposed to be. Is it supposed to be a sort of raunchy male Friends type deal? And why do they all work at a magazine? Why can't they work somewhere else, like a restaurant or a mall? They could have lunch in the food court and talk about all of the women in the other stores they want to bang. If the show did that at least having four main characters would make sense. And it would lead to several weird run ins with women they all had sex with and dumped. They'd have to see them in the mall at some point, right?
But then, if it was up to me, the show would have two main characters and go on from there. The characters played by Danny Masterson and James Lesure would stay. The other two, played by Michael Cassidy and Adam Busch would go, or become characters that Masterson and Lesure meet every so often while eating lunch at Taco Bell or something. Masterson and Lesure are the only ones that have any kind of presence or comic timing. The other two are just... depressing.
I can't see this show lasting more than one season, if that. It's just not funny.
What the heck happened to that sitcom set in the grocery store, 10 Items or Less? Why did TBS get rid of that show? Or My Boys? Or Bill Engvall's show? They're all a million times better than Men at Work. A million times.
- Mike & Molly finale thoughts: You knew that Mike and Molly would eventually get married, but I always thought that the show would try to stretch out their courtship and engagement so the eventual wedding episode would come off as a big TV event. It was a great, funny sitcom wedding, sure, but it didn't feel like a big event. It felt like just another episode. I guess, in the long run, that's a good thing, but I was still hoping for something bigger.
I was also hoping for a bigger goof moment between Carl and his new girlfriend Christina. It sure looked like we were going to get one, as Carl was set to seriously embarrass himself, but the moment passed and he didn't. I'm guessing that the show is saving that moment for his wedding next year to Christina. Because that has to happen, doesn't it? Maybe he can marry Christina at the same time as Molly's mom Joyce marries Vince. Joyce and Vince have been looking to do a tandem wedding ever since Mike and Molly announced their engagement.
So what happens now the overall flow of the show? Mike and Molly are now married. Will the show become all about them trying to get pregnant and starting a family that way, or will there be some sort of "issue" that prevents the newlyweds from conceiving? Is an adoption in their future?
And will Victoria eventually get together with Harry? Is that a real possibility?
- Why the hell is Fox getting rid of the Speed Channel?: It's only a rumor at the moment, but apparently Fox is thinking about changing the focus of the Speed Channel and transforming it into a kind of general interest sports ESPN type deal. I hope it doesn't happen. I really hope it doesn't.
Because, really, does the world need yet another general interest sports channel? Why can't Fox transform its regional Fox Sports Network channels into a larger national channel? I mean, most of those channels already air infomercials and Sky Sports News during the day, or simulcasts of sports radio shows. Isn't that what the new Speed Sport channel will look like?
The Speed Channel, as flawed as it may be (not enough short track stuff, too many lame ass reality shows, and too much emphasis on NASCAR) is still a good channel. There's no other channel like it on cable. Where else am I going to see Dave Despain hosting a show about anything? I seriously doubt that Wind Tunnel will survive the transition.
This blows. Please, Fox, please, don't get rid of Speed. The world doesn't need yet another general interest sports channel. It just doesn't.
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column B-Movie Theme of the Week
Enjoy.
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Things to Watch Out For This Week: Part 1
- Act of Valor: I saw this action flick when it came out and loved it (check out my review here) and now I can't wait to see what kind of DVD we get in terms of special features. Will we get anything interesting/enlightening in regards to what it actually took to get real Navy SEALS to be in the movie, or will we have to wait for that story when someone writes a book about the movie in a few years? If we don't get a cool, extras laden DVD, at least we'll have the movie. It's well made.
- Safe House: I saw this Denzel Washington flick when it came out in February, and while I had some issues with it, I thought it was pretty dang good (check out my review for the movie here. It's certainly one of Ryan Reynolds' best, least annoying performances. You'll probably also dig the end titles theme by Kanye West. I know I did.
- John Carter: I didn't get a chance to see this when it came out in March so I'm kind of looking forward to seeing it on video. It didn't make much money at the box office in America but it did okay overseas. Disney is releasing several different DVD and Blu-ray editions, so you'll have your pick of what you want: just the movie, or the movie and a bunch of special features? I don't have a Blu-ray player, so I'll probably go for the best looking regular DVD edition. Maybe the movie will find its American audience on home video? Do you think that's possible?
- Falling Skies: The Complete First Season: This nifty sci-fi drama starring Noah Wyle and Will Patton is about to start its second season on TNT, so this DVD set is a perfect way to get back into the "world invaded by aliens on a cable show" mindset. Unless TNT decides to do one of those all day marathons of the first season in preparation for the second season premiere. If the cable channel does that you won't have to buy the set. So, I guess the moral of the story here is pay attention to TNT's lineup for the next few weeks to see what it plans on doing. Look them up on the internets.
- The Three Stooges: The Ultimate Collection: According to amazon, this set is every Stooges short the group did plus a bunch of special features. If you're a Stooges nerd and you didn't pick up all of the previous sets you'll probably want to get this. I picked up a few of those, but I also want to get this. The Stooges still rule.
- Bad Ass: This isn't a new DVD of that movie also known as Corrado (check out my review of that flick here) but a new low budget, direct-to-video movie starring Danny Trejo, Charles S. "Roc" Dutton, and Ron fucking Perlman. And it looks exactly as its name suggests: bad ass. Very cool.
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And now, the weekly Fearnet update
Fearnet, the only free all horror/thriller On Demand TV network features uncut, uncensored horror flicks from the past and present 24 hours a day, seven days a week, pretty much any time you freaking want them (as long as you still have power, that is). The channel also has behind-the-scenes stuff, trailers, and other cool hooey for you to check out. Check your local cable listings for availability (According to the Fearnetwebsite more and more Time Warner and Cox Cable areas are getting the channel. Be sure to go here to see if Fearnet is coming to your area).
Fearnet also exists as a regular old TV channel. This Fearnet airs horror movies roughly twenty one hours a day (there is a block of infomercials in the morning, usually from 6-9am est). The movies shown do have "commercial breaks" in them, similar to the breaks that currently appear on IFC, but the movies are uncut (blood and boobs and cursing are all intact).
Fearnet's website, fearnet.com, offers free movies, interviews, news, and other behind-the-scenes horror movie nerd stuff, too. The Descent and The Descent part 2 were on the site last week. Are they still there? Check and see).
The website also features Post Mortem with Mick Garris, a nifty interview show where big, fat Stephen King's favorite director talks with genre legends like John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Roger Corman, William Friedkin, and others. It's definitely worth your time.
If you're a Facebook nerd (and, really, today, who isn't?) you can check out the Fearnet fans Facebook page, which can be seen here. There are plenty of people out there interested in Fearnet. Join them. And, as always, thanks to both Mark Lindsey and Mathew Hirsch for info regarding the Fearnet fan movement.
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column B-Movie Babe of the Week: Tasha Smith
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Things to Watch Out For This Week: Part 2
- Koch Brothers Exposed: This documentary is from the man behind the Outfoxed and Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Price documentaries, the great Robert Greenwald, so it'll definitely be both enlightening and damning at the same time.
- Dear God No!: This is apparently some kind of low budget grind house horror flick that's dividing audiences every time it's shown. I think it looks like a hoot. A ridiculous hoot, sure, but a hoot nonetheless.
- Rogue River: This is yet another low budget horror flick featuring the great Bill Moseley, so it's automatically worth checking out on that fact alone. Bill Moseley always kicks ass. Always.
- Act of Vengeance: This is apparently a Turkish action movie originally known as Five Minarets in New York and was released in Turkey and in other locations back in 2010. I have no idea how much Danny Glover, Gina Gershon, and Robert "T-1000" Patrick are in it, but I know they're in it. Did this ever get a limited release in New York City and Los Angeles back in 2010? I don't remember hearing about it back then.
- The Collapsed: This low budget post apocalyptic sci-fi action horror flick is being released by the fine folks from Anchor Bay Entertainment, so at least you know you'll get a good looking DVD if you decide to check it out. The trailer looks pretty cool.
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Douchebag of the Week
This week, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Douchebag of the Week goes to former governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Willard "Mitt" Romney, for failing to repudiate the birther bullshit from alleged billionaire, TV star, and Douchebag Hall of Famer Donald Trump.
Yeah, this guy.
Trump, in Las Vegas hosting a fundraiser for Romney, went on CNN and, in a hostile interview with Wolf Blitzer, continued his "Obama's birth certificate is not authentic" thing, despite all actual evidence to the contrary. Instead of telling Trump publicly to knock off the bullshit, Romney told reporters that he couldn't prevent Trump from speaking his mind and, hey, some of his supporters were likely to disagree with him about something. The most important thing in the world for Mitt is to get more votes than Obama in November. And that's all that matters. It doesn't matter at all if one of his major supporters continues to spew outright lies about the President, lies that are born out of racist garbage.
When will it stop? When will it fucking end? When?
Up next is the Fox News Channel and its morning show Fox and Friends, for airing a 4 minute attack ad against President Obama last Wednesday and passing it off as "news." Fox attempted damage control later in the day, removing the video from various websites and putting out a statement that the video was created by a low level producer and that the video wasn't approved by upper management (check out the full yahoo news article here).
Yeah, sure. No one in the upper echelons of Fox News had any idea what the low level producer from Fox & Friends was putting on the air. No clue at all. And Fox is really a down the middle, legitimate news outfit and doesn't have a political agenda. Not at all. That's crazy talk.
Jesus Christ.
And finally, sadly, there's actor and comedian Jon Lovitz, for deciding to get in on the "Obama is being divisive" scam because he thinks the President is unfairly attacking the rich. The President is attacking the rich while hanging out with rich man George Clooney and getting money from him for his reelection campaign and that's just disgraceful according to Lovitz.
Yeah, it's disgraceful because no other politician has ever done that kind of thing in order to win office, right? Right? Never once?
Come on, Jon, you're smarter than that. What's your real deal here? What does Dennis Miller have on you? Does he want you to be his radio sidekick but the only way he could get you to do it is through some kind of blackmail? And who exactly has offered you work in Hollywood because of this "stand" you've decided to take and go on Fox News to talk about? Was it David Zucker? Have you fucking seen An American Carol? Do you really see a future in that kind of thing?
So sad. He's still funny, but good God what the hell is he doing here? What?
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NASCAR and Indycar thoughts
The NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover was a bit of a yawner, mostly because eventual race winner Jimmie Johnson was so fast. His Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon probably had the fastest car all day, but once again bad luck reared its ugly head for the four-time Cup champion and Gordon ended up with a bad finish. Kevin Harvick had one of his better Dover races, finishing second. And Matt Kenseth figured out how not to get caught up in a mess and finished third.
The race started off badly for thirteen drivers, including 2011 champion Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Regan Smith. Montoya probably had the biggest hit in the wreck, but Stewart easily had the worst of it. He didn't all that well at Charlotte last week, and now with two bad finishes in a row he's going to have to work extra hard at Pocono and the, I think, thirteen remaining races before the Chase. What the hell happened to Stewart?
Joey Logano, who could be looking for a ride next year if Joe Gibbs decides not to renew his contract, finished eighth, easily one of his better Cup runs of 2012. Logano won the Nationwide race on Saturday in convincing fashion, leading the most laps and just dominating. Logano's teammates at Gibbs didn't have a great day. Kyle Busch had mechanical issues and ended up 29th, and Denny Hamlin 18th. Richard Petty Motorsports had a good day, with drivers Aric Almirola finishing sixth and Marcos Ambrose 10th. Will they end up going back to Dodge next year?
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished fourth. Will he be in contention to win this Sunday at Pocono? He doesn't like going there (he's bitching about having to test there this week) but, with his recent consistent finishes, he could be in the hunt for the win. Maybe. Jeff Gordon needs a win, too. Desperately.
What the heck happened to the crowds at Dover? It looked like the grandstands weren't even half full. Will Dover be on the schedule twice next year?
Pocono is up next, and it'll be on TNT. I'm always happy when the Fox portion of the season is over as the "Boogity! Boogity! Boogity!" shit disappears for a few months. It was cool to see the Fox announcers honor the retiring Dick "Bergie" Berggren. Who the heck will Fox bring into the fold next year? Will Ralph Sheheen get the call?
I got to see some of the Nationwide race on Saturday. As I said, Logano won, but once again Danica Patrick and Sam Hornish got into it on the track, and Kurt Busch flipped out another reporter. If Busch keeps it up James Finch and Phoenix Racing could bench him before the midpoint of the year. One of the announcers on ESPN said Busch has wrecked 14 cars this season because he just refuses to back down and slow down. How much money does Finch have? Can he really keep throwing it away?
The Nationwide is off this week but returns June 16th at Michigan, so be on the lookout for that.
Over in Indycar, the return to Belle Isle was nothing short of a debacle. Scott Dixon won the shortened race, leading every lap and never really being challenged for the win. Indy 500 winner and Dixon teammate Dario Franchitti finished second and Simon Pagneaud third. The Chevrolet people in town were probably upset about that 1-2-3 Honda finish, but then I bet they were also just thankful the race was over. The race sucked.
As expected, it was difficult to pass. Josef Newgarden found areas to overtake, but for the most part it was all pit strategy and not wrecking in order to advance position. The track surface started to break up towards the middle of the race, which eventually caused James Hinchcliffe to smash into the wall. The red flag was thrown and race officials tried to figure out what to do about the ruts in the surface. After about two hours they finally figured out how to patch the track, but they were unable to complete the scheduled 90 lap distance because no one was confident that the patch work would last 40 laps. Officials decided to race for fifteen more laps and end the race at lap 60. And then it started to rain.
Again, the race sucked, and it won't matter if the city of Detroit and race promoter Roger Penske repave the racing surface. The track is just way too narrow. The series left Belle Isle after the 2008 season because, hey, the race sucked back then, too. I think it's time for the Indycar Series to figure out a way to go back and race at the 2-mile Michigan oval like it used to. At least at Michigan you have to room to pass. But then, yeah, that's an oval and it's too fast and dangerous. Can't go there again.
The big news story for the week, though, in Indycar is the attempted firing of CEO Randy Bernard. Apparently, Panther Racing owner John Barnes tried to get his fellow Chevrolet teams together and petition the series' board of directors to get Bernard replaced with former race director Brian Barnhart. Andretti, Penske, KV Racing, and Ed Carpenter's team were apparently the big backers of the change, which is amazing since just about all of those teams complained last year about Barnhart. If he sucked so bad then and was an idiot, why would they want him to return to the helm?
According to Speed's Robin Miller and a story I read on yahoo, the Chevy teams were pissed about a series ruling regarding Honda. The teams were also allegedly upset about what they were told last year in terms of how much a new car would cost. The teams claim they were lied to. All I have to say about that is, if they really wanted to keep the old car for another season they should have raised a bigger stink than they did. But Penske was really the only major player that was outspoken about how much the new car was going to cost. Why didn't they all back him in 2011?
The whole thing is just stupid. Bernard has given the owners most of what they want. New cars, turbos, more street racing. What more do they want?
Texas is up next for the series. Hopefully the race will actually happen. Franchitti is already on record as saying that he's uncomfortable racing there, and if "pack racing" is still the norm there don't be surprised if drivers start to "black out" like the Champ Car guys did when Champ Car attempted to race there in 2001.
We'll know by Thursday. I believe that's when the teams start practicing.
*** Things to Watch Out For This Week: Part 3
- Knockdown: A low budget boxing movie featuring Tom fucking Arnold? Why wouldn't I want to see it? Also known as The Bad Penny.
- Lost Woods: This appears to be some sort of mega low budget monster movie. I think it looks pretty cool. Is that thing supposed to be Bigfoot?
- Rage: The fine folks at Miramax Echo Bridge are releasing this late 1990's action flick, also known as The Rage, because, well, I guess they want to. It stars Lorenzo Lamas, Gary Busey, David Carradine, and Roy Scheider and was directed by the great Sidney J. Furie (Iron Eagle, Iron Eagle II, Iron Eagle IV, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Direct Action, Ladybugs, The Taking of Beverly Hills, among others). Why the hell isn't this getting a special features laden release? I think it's warranted. Am I the only one?
- Champion Road: Arena: This is apparently some sort of mega low budget ultimate fighting/cage fighting movie. It's being released by the fine folks at the Maverick Entertainment Group.
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Well, I think that'll be about it for this issue. B-movies rule, always remember that.
If there's anything you want to see reviewed here in this column, feel free to offer a comment below or send me an e-mail. I'm always on the lookout for new stuff to watch.
And don't forget to bookmark 411 via the little line below. You'll be glad you did.
Recoil
Steve Austin- Ryan Varrett Danny Trejo- Drayke Serinda Swan- Darcy Lochlyn Munro- Agent Sutton Noel Gugliemi- Rex Adam Greydon Reid- Deputy Hedge Patrick Gilmore- Kirby Keith Jardine- Crab
Directed by Terry Miles Screenplay by John Sullivan
Distributed by Nasser Entertainment and Vivendi Entertainment
Rated R for violence and language Runtime- 93 minutes
