Beeswax Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Beeswax Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson April 3, 2022

Indie auteur Andrew Bujalski is often cited as “the godfather of mumblecore.” In their book Film History: An Introduction, authors Kristin Thompson, David Bordwell, and Jeff Smith define mumblecore films as consisting mostly of romantic comedies that feature "long, often fumbling conversations about love, sex, work, and everyday incidents. Most were shot on video fairly quickly and, though scripted, counted on the actors to improvise to some degree." Bujalski helped launch this independent film sub-genre with his first two features, Funny Ha Ha (2002) and Mutual Appreciation (2005). Film critics J. Hoberman and Dennis Lim commented on their mumblecore qualities as did Bujalski's sound engineer Eric Masunaga at the 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival.

Bujalski's third feature Beeswax (2009) also shares characteristics of mumblecore but it's a dramedy with more of a story than the relatively plotless films that preceded it. Jeannie (Tilly Hatcher) is the co-owner of Storyville a vintage clothing store in Austin, Texas. Before she opens the shop, Corinne Meltzer (Katy O’Connor) arrives as a rather surprising new employee to Jeannie. The perky Corinne is eager to work at a small business. Corrine's unexpected appearance may explain the lack of communication between Jeannie and the boutique's co-owner, Amanda (Anne Dodge), who isn't around Storyville much. Jeannie senses a schism forming in her business relationship with Amanda, who she fears will threaten her with a lawsuit. She contacts her ex-boyfriend, Merrill (Alex Karpovsky), a law student studying for the bar. Merrill is willing to give Jeannie legal counsel and the two begin interviewing prospective business partners who will buy Amanda out. Merrill is glad Jeannie consulted him and romantic sparks fly again. Bujalski, who also edited Beeswax, contrasts this reunion with a breakup. Jeannie's twin sister, Lauren (Maggie Hatcher, real-life sister of Tilly), has just slept with her boyfriend, Scott (David Zellner), and abruptly suggests that they break up. Lauren is the less serious and settled of the sisters. She's still figuring out what to do with her life and is considering a job teaching English in Nairobi.

Bujalski and his cinematographer Matthias Grunsky often film the characters up close and in tight spaces, which makes the viewing experience both intimate and claustrophobic. Beeswax also frequently enters conversations in the middle and leaves them before they conclude to go to another scene. This shows a documentary-like nature to the film. The camera may get very close to the characters but they're unaware of its unobtrusive presence. In addition, it eavesdrops into seemingly random moments in their lives. The dialogue sounds naturalistic rather than scripted and rehearsed. The old adage of mumblecore films is that nothing much happens in them. That may also apply to Beeswax but the audience gets to know the characters quite well and connects with their plights (at least I did).

Beeswax Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Cinema Guild's "Remastered Edition" of Beeswax (the studio released it on DVD in 2010) derives from a director-supervised 2K scan of the film from the 16mm camera negative. The picture is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 (disc size 42.19 GB). The Kodak film comes across as crisp and textured with an evenly balanced grain structure. This looks like a true high-definition transfer with colors that stand out with clear delineation of hues. I was impressed with the shots of verdant locales: e.g., the sunlight brightening the grass in Screenshot #17 (also see frame grabs 5 and 18). The candy-colored interiors of the boutique also look very nice (capture #s 1 and 19). Print damage has almost been eliminated entirely. I spotted a couple thin horizontal scratches that aren't wide at all. They only creep into the center in a few shots. Cinema Guild encodes the feature at a mean video bitrate of 35157 kbps. My video score is 4.75/5.00.

Tiny thumbnails of twelve scenes from Beeswax are accessible on the popup menu.

Beeswax Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Cinema Guild has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mix (2081 kbps, 24-bit). Bujalski told Cinema Scope magazine's Livia Bloom that a "great majority of the sound in the film is direct sound." All dialogue appears recorded as the camera rolled. Spoken words are on the low end of the sonic spectrum but that was intentional. You have have to turn the volume up or down as the scenes change. A good mix of fourteen ballads fills in the sound track. D.J. Taitelbaum, who plays A.C. in Beeswax, also wrote the song, "Magnum Opus, Part the Eleventh." Taitelbaum apparently wrote an electronic score that ultimately wasn't used in the final cut. However, on the 2010 DVD, Cinema Guilt included Taitelbaum's score as an "Alternate Soundtrack: A Musical Experiment." Unfortunately, that track hasn't been brought over on the Blu-ray.

Cinema Guilt includes optional English subtitles that are clear and legible.

Beeswax Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Three of the extras are culled from Cinema Guild's 2010 DVD.

• NEW 10 Years Later: Q&A with Cast and Crew at the Austin Film Society (32:46, 1080p) - To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Beeswax, the Austin Film Society organized a screening in Austin, Texas where the picture was filmed. Writer/director Andrew Bujalski, who splits his time between Boston and Austin, introduces the film and invites a number of the original cast members to the front of the auditorium. We hear from Maggie and Tilly Hatcher, Janet Pierson, Bryan Poyser, Alex Karpovsky, and a few others who worked on the movie. Bujalski talks about the production conditions of his third feature and Beeswax's filming locations. He takes questions from the host and audience. I'd been wondering what Damien Chazelle's role was in post-production and Bujalski answers it here. All participants speak in English, not subtitled.

• A Tribute to Deleted Extras Featurette (4:45, 720p) - Bujalski gives a running commentary with raw footage that features various extras that appeared in Beeswax. The snippets look like dailies and haven't been restored. In English, not subtitled.

• Official Theatrical Trailer (2:26, upscaled to 1080p) - a post-festival trailer (with critics' quotes) for Beeswax. It's presented in 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps).

• "Yes and No" Trailer (1:26, upscaled to 720p) - a teaser trailer for Beeswax edited with the reactions of characters, who respond often to "yes" or "no" questions. This is also displayed in 1:85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps).

• Also from Cinema Guild - trailers for eight other titles from the label's catalog. Arrow over and click on a thumbnail poster to view that trailer.

• Booklet - Cinema Guild includes a new essay about Beeswax by film curator Christoph Terhechte and an appreciation by actor Kevin Corrigan, who's seen it many times and recounts enjoying it with his mom. The latter also wrote the liner notes for the DVD edition twelve years ago. The print is tiny.

Beeswax Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Beeswax begins as a slow-burn that meanders throughout. But as I tread through its elliptical narrative, I became more absorbed with the characters and their predicaments. The Hatcher twins are very good in their only acting roles to date. Alex Karpovsky delivers a tremendous performance as the law student who becomes intertwined with Jeannie in more ways than one. Beeswax has got to be one of the better mumblecore films of the 2000s. The Cinema Guild has given us a lovely transfer of the original 16mm widescreen Kodak film struck from a director-approved 2K restoration. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo sounds rather flat at times but it's a wholly authentic presentation of the direct sound recording. The only new extra is a half-hour Q&A from a screening in Austin a couple years ago. I would have liked to hear Andrew Bujalski give a feature-length audio commentary. A VERY SOLID RECOMMENDATION for this Blu-ray debut of Beeswax.