This franchise insists on putting out a great Bond installment and then following it with the most mediocre if not downright bad film next. I was really wondering if Spectre could live up to the expectations set by Skyfall, but of course it doesn’t. How could it? To the film’s merit, there is a great story hidden somewhere amidst the mess and the film does start off strong, though the pacing and especially the runtime hinder the momentum and thus…

Fun fact: Skyfall is the first James Bond film I watched back when I was a kid, and nearly 15 years later it still holds up exceptionally well. Easily one of the greatest entries in the franchise, if not the single best, and a fan favourite for a plethora of reasons, many attributed to Sam Mendes, who gave the franchise a new iconic visual identity. There’s an unmistakable sense of style throughout, from the tailored suits and staple Aston Martin…

There has never been a film more curated for alcoholic soccer moms in dead marriages and I truly mean this. This is an unbelievably insulting--if not downright vulgar--misreading of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece and one that is so obviously shaped by a filmmaker whose rarefied upper-class upbringing leaves absolutely no room for the brutal realities of class and race that animate the source material. Fennell has built a certain reputation for being an airhead “style over substance” director that doesn’t understand…