Author: Matt Conway

It’s crazy to think that the Underworld series is entering the fifth entry in its franchise. Since its origin in 2003, the series has been one of the few to combine horror and supernatural elements, pitting vampires against werewolves. While none of the films have received good reviews, the series has developed a surprisingly sizable following. Underworld: Blood Wars picks up where its previous entries left off. Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is thrusted back into the deadly war between the Lycan clan and the Vampire clan; fighting to end the eternal war that has plagued both sides. As one would expect, Blood Wars is more of…

Duncan Jones, even after having a lot of backlash from the lackluster Warcraft, is still one of Hollywood’s most promising directors. His first two films Moon and Source Code are among some of the best in recent science fiction, displaying Jones’ knack for telling unique stories. The film takes place in the future 2052 of Berlin, and after Sam Rockwell’s clone returned to Earth. The film will be set in the same universe as 2009’s Moon. After the failure of Warcraft, Jones appears to be back to his more independent roots with Mute. This Netflix-produced science fiction film features a strong cast, including Alexander Skarsgard, Justin Theroux, and the super…

Will Smith’s career has started to take a downward turn. Known for his charismatic persona and likability, Smith has been picking some odd roles over the past few years. From being a monotone father in After Earth to even playing a version of the devil in Winter’s Tale, his choice of roles has been questionable to say the least. With that being the case, Smith is trying to get his credibility back with Collateral Beauty, aka his latest push for a much-coveted Oscar. The film follows Howard, a man who has turned on life after the death of his young daughter. After writing letters to life,…

Coming into the Christmas slate, Passengers promised to be one of the season’s most prominent release. Featuring the A-list duo of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, as well as a big science fiction story. Well, so far that has not been the case for the movie. Drastically underperforming at the box office so far and netting a terrible 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite that, the cast still gave me some hope it would ok. The film follows a spacecraft that is traveling to a new planet. On the way, two passengers are woken up from their sleeping pods, and must work…

With Awards Season heating up, its no shock that Fences has become one of the season’s strongest contenders. Based on a August Wilson play and staring none other than Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, the pedigree present here is obviously quite impressive. Fences follows Troy Maxson, an African-American father whose been bruised by failed dreams and the racial division of the country. Set in the 1950’s, the film follows Troy and his wife Rose, who are trying to raise a family and come to terms with their life together. Despite all the acclaim surrounding the film, I was quite disappointed by Fences, which fails to…

Throughout his career, Casey Affleck has always remained one of my favorite underrated actors. Even with big brother Ben taking most of the spotlight, Casey has built a solid career that includes dozens of fantastic performances. From Gone Baby Gone to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, he has always given dynamic performances onscreen. It appears that Casey is finally getting the attention he deserves, already being accredited as the Oscar Best Actor frontrunner for his latest film Manchester by the Sea. The film follows Lee Chandler, who is forced to take care of his teenage nephew Patrick after his brother’s death.…

Tom Ford has one of the most fascinating journeys to becoming a filmmaker. After being the creative director for Gucci, Ford decided to turn his talents as a fashion designer into filmmaking. His directorial debut, A Single Man, earned a Best Picture nomination, and showed Ford to be an exciting and unique filmmaker. After a seven-year absence, Ford has returned with Nocturnal Animals. The film follows Susan Morrow, an art-gallery owner whose life has gotten fairly routined. She is surprised one day to receive a novel written by her ex-husband Tony, with the novel documenting a violent tale of revenge and loss that connects…

Netflix has been making a sizable effort in creating original content. While they have had a great deal of success with television, less could be said about the films they made. Beasts of No Nation was quite good, but never became the Oscar contender many hoped it would be. Then there is the Adam Sandler produced trio of duds, which continued Sandler’s downward spiral as a content creator. After failing to be released in theaters back in August, Netflix has picked up the science fiction film Spectral. The film follows a otherworldly force that is wrecking havoc upon a war-torn European city. The only…

The Sundance Film Festival is known at this point for producing its fair share of coming of age features every year. Some of these films, like Dope or Garden State, represent the tride and true genre with style and heart. Others, like the dreadful The Fundamentals of Caring, make for painfully generic feature films. Now we have the latest of Sundance’s coming of age offerings The Hollars arriving on DVD. This is the directorial debut of John Krasinski, most known for his role in the hit show The Office. The film follows John Hollar returns to his small hometown after learning that his mother has fallen ill and is about to…

As if today could not be any bigger for trailers, we now have the first trailer for one of next year’s biggest blockbusters. After the first two entries of the series received glowing reviews and strong box office totals, we now have War For the Planet of The Apes.  Directed by Matt Reeves (Dawn From the Planet of The Apes), this latest apes film promises to be the best one yet. Here is the official trailer, along with its synopsis: In War for the Planet of the Apes, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are…