There are three distinct musical features in the Jason Bourne franchise. The most obvious is Moby’s “Extreme Ways,” played over the credits of each film in various versions. There is also the fast, pulsing rhythm of John Powell’s score, a musical heartbeat to the dizzying action on screen. And there is a mournful refrain that…
“The Bourne Legacy” wasn’t that bad (and it is getting a purported sequel), but it’s still a welcomed breathe of fresh air to see Matt Damon back in action in the upcoming action thriller, Jason Bourne. This time around, however, it seems Bourne has gathered his memories, but is now coming back ‘home,’ with the…
Winner of the Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s (“Flight of the Red Balloon”) first film in eight years, The Assassin (Nie yin niang), may initially seem out of character for a director whose previous work has been in realistic social dramas set in a contemporary historical context. Yet it is…
Films inspired by video games usually fall into two categories: Bad (“Doom,” “Super Mario Bros.,” “Tomb Raider”) or terrible: (“Mortal Kombat,” “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li,” “Max Payne”). Hitman: Agent 47 (a remake of the 2007 picture starring Timothy Olyphant) neatly fits into that last category. There are many reasons for this, including poor…
Pierre Morel certainly knows a thing or two about molding celebrated thespians into B-movie action heroes, having previously kicked off Liam Neeson’s twilight transformation into a growly ass-kicker with the first “Taken” flick, but not everyone can make the transition so smoothly. Sean Penn seems an even unlikelier B-pic headliner than Neeson once was, considering…
As nail-bitingly intense as it is darkly funny, Jeremy Saulnier’s sophomore effort Blue Ruin is the kind of film that comes down the line and launches careers for all talent involved. A work of sheer craft, it’s a movie that takes a very standard set-up and wears its influences on its sleeve, yet still manages…
Entire essays — books even — can be devoted to describing Zoe Saldana’s beauty. Everything from her eyes and sun kissed skin to her perfectly toned body makes her every man’s epitomic woman. And Oliver Megaton’s Colombiana was clearly devoted for an actress of her picturesque appearance. Penned by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Karmen,…
