Throughout his career Ben Affleck has been hounded by the negativity of critics and moviegoers alike. He may be one of the most heavily scrutinized actors of our time, having once been Hollywood’s “Golden Boy” then fading away into obscurity after several critical and box-office flops. Affleck has managed to overcome this stigma and revive his career as an actor while also emerging as one of the best and fastest rising directors in current-day cinema. With critically...
After the critical failure that was the 1995 Sylvester Stallone-led adaptation, director Pete Travis and writer Alex Garland have taken it upon themselves to bring us a true to the source, hard as nails adaptation in eye popping 3D. They have succeeded and then some with Dredd 3D. The film gets off to an amazing start that is quite kinetic and slathered in gratuitous violence. I must admit, I wasn’t ready for the amount of violence and the stellar use of the 3D that is employed in...
Anticipation for David Cronenberg‘s next project Cosmopolis has been quite high ever since news of the adaptation broke out. Then when it became known that Robert Pattinson (Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2) would be playing the film’s protagonist, expectations grew even more and people felt that under Cronenberg’s direction, Pattinson would finally shine. In the end, the rampant anticipation would be for naught as Cosmopolis is a boring and futile attempt to make a...
!["[REC] 3: Genesis" Review](http://www.filmvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/rec-3-genesis-paco-plaza.png)
How many films can scare you, make you laugh, gross you out, and excite you without contributing much to the series’ storyline? [REC] 3: Genesis does just that. 2007′s [REC] introduced us to a whole new world of fear; with its POV style cinematography placing us directly in the terror. In the midst of all the suspense, the groundwork to an even more chilling underlying story was being laid. In 2009 [REC] 2 delved into the story that the first film only alluded to and elevated the...
The much anticipated continuation to the Bourne series is here and it delivers the goods. The film has plenty of stylized hand-to-hand combat, intense chase scenes, and is a clever tale of espionage. This fourth installment in the Bourne series goes further into the mysteries of projects Treadstone and Blackbriar, revealing that at least two more super-soldier programs exist. Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is one of many super-soldiers in one of the previously unknown programs. The film runs...
“I’m a Bondurant. We don’t lay down for nobody” – Forrest Bondurant There are many contributing factors to the success of John Hillcoat‘s (The Road) Lawless: Nick Cave‘s strong script, Hillcoat’s direction, excellent performances (particularly Tom Hardy), and a real-life story so outrageous that it can’t be fiction. The film which is based on the historical novel, The Wettest County in the World, tells the story of the Bondurant...
The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan‘s tremendously epic conclusion to the tale of “The Dark Knight”, he so fittingly started back in 2005 with Batman Begins. Going into this I can honestly say my expectations were through the roof, The Dark Knight set the standard for what superheroes/comic book movies could be, so how could this ever live up to such an amazing piece of cinema? Well, Nolan brings back everything that made the two previous films work and elevates...
To say that Steven Soderbergh‘s Magic Mike is a movie about male strippers is a disservice. The film is in fact a character study, but ultimately fails in having any staying power because of the formulaic nature it ends up succumbing to. Setting aside its misgivings, the film was thoroughly entertaining and surprised me in a positive manner. I wasn’t bothered by the amount of male nudity as it is balanced by female nudity ( its “R” rating is certainly well earned). In...
It’s been over 30 years since Ridley Scott (Robin Hood) delivered one of the most groundbreaking science fiction horror movies. Alien was a milestone in every aspect. From it’s rich yet straightforward story which left so much unanswered, to the amazingly well designed and established technology and worlds. It all works perfectly. I can’t think of another sci-fi horror movie that even comes close. My emphasis being on the horror. I still can’t forget the tagline,...
How does writer-director Joss Whedon (Cabin In The Woods, Serenity) manage to rein in the juggernaut that is The Avengers? One that’s filled to the brim with superheroes we all know and love and have each had their own films leading up to this release, Iron Man has even had 2! How does he do it? Well, in all honesty, he lets them all loose! These superheroes brawl and duke it out throughout the almost 2 1/2 hour run time, but only save the last 30 mins of that for the bad guys. Whedon...
