Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
September 25, 2017
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Rated R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual material
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50%
In this sequel to the surprisingly successful Kingsman: The Secret Service, mens tailor and British super-agent Eggsy (Taron Egerton) must travel to America to work with his American allies to face the world’s biggest drug kingpin (Julianne Moore). As in the first, the film is highly stylized and extremely violent. The violence is kept tongue-in-cheek in order to provide a comedic feel, making the film closer to an action comedy than a true spy thriller. For fans of the first, there is a huge sense of humor with the ridiculousness abounding, but here they do tend to almost go too far and they gloss over some huge holes in the plot like they aren’t even there. And while Moore is quirky bad guy, she doesn’t come close to Samuel L. Jackson’s super-villain Richmond Valentine (safely disposed of in the first film). So for guilty pleasure purposes, the film provides a fun couple of hours, but ultimately fails to match its superior freshman outing. B-
Transformers: The Last Knight
Rated PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of sci-fi action, language, and some innuendo
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 15%
For their fifth installment, Michael Bay’s robot universe is back and this time a hidden history holds the secrets that could protect Earth from certain destruction. It is quite apparent that they’ve stopped trying to apply any sense of logic or reason to the stories, so the script feels like something a couple of kids on the playground would put together while playing with their plastic figures. Of course you get the sexy male and female leads with Mark Wahlberg and Isabela Moner, and Anthony Hopkins attempts to add some credibility (while stripping from his own), but once again we just get a loud, metallic mess with great special effects that you can’t wait to stop looking at. The one bright moment comes with Hopkin’s servant robot who provides some rather big laughs to help you take your mind off the senseless plot while they attempt to explain it to you. C-
David Lynch: The Art Life – The Criterion Collection
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
Writer/director David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) allows his life to be inspected in order to explore the pivotal moments that made him who he is today as an artist, a filmmaker and a person. With stock footage of his life growing up, as well as glimpses of him working in his art studio, the film gives, what I would consider to be, a very accurate look at the eclectic man. The film is weird for sure, but interesting for the right audience. But to say this isn’t a film for everyone is an understatement to rule all understatements. While sometimes you feel like you are peeking into the life of an artist, there are other other moments when you feel like you are visually eavesdropping on a madman. B-