Like the proverbial after-school special, the Lifetime Original Movie is an institution that is summarily dismissed by us snoots in the film-critic intelligentsia. Never mind that most of us have never actually sat through one: to tarnish a major motion picture with a comparison to the network proffering weepies and you-go-girl triumphalism is to deem it unserious and … [Read more...]
Bloated ‘Kingsman’ retread hits highest point with its villain
Excised from its hulking 141-minute running time, the opening sequence of Kingsman: The Golden Circle would make a dynamite audition tape for director Matthew Vaughn, if not an award-winning music video. We’re not yet acclimated into the film’s space-time, but its lead character, millennial super-spy Eggsy (Taron Egerton) nearly dies about 20 times. He’s just getting off … [Read more...]