“Religulous” is an intriguing documentary presented by Bill Maher. It asks some big questions, I disagree with its conclusion but the journey there is kind-of fascinating.

In “Religulous”, Maher tackles Christianity, Islam, Scientology, Mormonism and Judaism through a series of interviews with a variety of different people spanning the globe. Whether it’s anti-Zionist Jews in New York, maverick priests in the Vatican or a theme park Jesus, Maher is there asking the tough questions and providing some humorous commentary. Homosexuality, suicide, false prophecies and many more topics are covered here.

You spend a great deal of time with Maher. The man is a supporter of left-wing political ideology, he’s a marijuana enthusiast and an atheist so I lack common ground with him but I think he’s a decent comedian. He sometimes interrupts the people when they’re talking, which I don’t like; this is most-prominent when talking to an anti-Zionist. Maher also seems to have an agenda to undermine religion, which harms the film in some ways. I love the Jew that found a great way of getting round the rules of the Sabbath and the theme park Jesus offers a darn fine analogy to counter Maher’s questions surrounding monotheism and the Trinity’s compatability.

“Religulous” goes from America to Britain to Israel and a few other places too. I wish more time had been spent on Scientologists… maybe we need a whole movie dedicated to them. It asks some very deep and meaningful questions yet presents them in a somewhat fun way. What it amounts to is sadly underwhelming but I had a good time getting there. There’s a good variety of people interviewed and enough topics looked at. If you’re sensitive about your religious views then I can see people getting offended by this but for those who want to debate and fight their corner, this isn’t a bad place to start.

I went into this expecting some dumb movie where people shot at dragons for the duration of the picture. What I got was an incredibly inventive, smart and intriguing post-apocalyptic world that utilised dragons in a very creative and intelligent way.

In “Reign Of Fire”, we discover dragons wiped out the dinosaurs and caused ice ages and now they’ve destroyed nearly the whole of humanity. One of the few remnants of civilisation left is stationed in a castle in Northumberland. The group is led by Quinn (Christian Bale “Batman Begins”, “The Machinist”). When some American soldiers arrive and a dragon is killed, it seems as if the tides may be turning.

Christian Bale is pretty strong actor and he conveys that very successfully here. I have no complaints about his performance or his character whatsoever. Matthew McConaughey (“Interstellar”) plays army man Van Zan and he’s pretty good too. The interactions between the duo are tense and very well done. The supporting cast are alright. The dragons themselves look spectacular as they glide through the air and burn everything in sight. They’re even better looking than the dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park”. There’s a scene in which hundreds of them swarm across London’s skyline and it’s very impressive.

“Reign Of Fire” has a moment in it in which Quinn and a buddy are performing a play for children; they are acting out a scene from “Star Wars” and its moments like that in which the movie creates a culture that the characters occupy. The action sequences are mind-blowing as we see people dive out of a helicopter in an attempt to trap a dragon in a snare net (I’ve never seen anything like it before). This is another film that many have overlooked but I tell you that it’s better than “Mad Max” or “Escape From New York”. It’s a real surprise because it’s surprisingly clever.

“Batman Beyond” was a great animated series from DC. It managed to capture a lot of what made “Batman: The Animated Series” so enjoyable while giving it an engaging futuristic aesthetic. While the show did make use of some traditional Batman villains such as Joker and Ra’s al Ghul, it also introduced some new villains. Here’s a list of my personal favourites.

5. Terrific Trio

2-D Man, Freon and Magma are the Terrific Trio. They are clearly meant to be modelled on the Fantastic Four as they start off as heroes. Unfortunately, they become emotionally destroyed and lash out rather violently. Only Batman Beyond can defeat them.

4. Inque

While some may dismiss her as just a female version of Clayface, Inque has some real personality. She’s seductive yet deadly. While she’s shapeshifting around, there’s no ignoring her femininity in her design. The creators did a really good job making sure she looked and acted in ways that helped to distinguish her from Clayface and other shapeshifting villains from comics.

3. Shriek

Shriek uses soundwave manipulation; this makes him a pretty unique villain. The fight scene where he manages to stop all the sound inside a factory is very creative. His futuristic suit also looks great too.

2. Spellbinder

A villain that is somewhat similar to Scarecrow. He creates false realities for people to get lost in through use of technology. His abilities allow for some really creative sequences where Batman Beyond struggles to distinguish between real threats and those that are just pure fantasy.

1. Blight

Derek Powers was basically an evil businessman like Lex Luthor. His exposure to chemicals makes him even more dangerous as ‘Blight’. He gains deadly radiation powers that make him a formidable foe to fight. His glowing green skeleton makes him easily the most iconic of the new villains introduced in “Batman Beyond”. The way Derek Powers pulls the strings of the events in the early episodes is great. It’s just a shame that he didn’t appear after the first season.

Honourable mentions:
Stalker

“Reefer Madness” is a movie that leaves me feeling like I’ve been left out on the street while there’s a party going on inside. It’s become considered a cult classic due to its apparently amusing portrayal of the effects of marijuana. Maybe if you’re a drugs expert, it’s funny but to someone who wishes to stay as clear of drugs as I do, “Reefer Madness” is just a bland propaganda drama.

“Reefer Madness” was a propaganda film but rather just trying to hit us with shocking statistics like a documentary piece, the film relies on fictional drama to convey its anti-drug message. As a result, it comes across as very dull. It’s not all that bad but it leaves you with emptiness, I was much more interested in the more factual parts near the beginning.

The characters are boring. It’s not bad enough to be funny; it’s more just that awkward level where you’re totally unengaged. I guess for a propaganda piece, there’s no need to try and make “Citizen Kane” but if you’re going to try your hand at drama, at least try making it somewhat captivating. The only person with any degree of charisma is the guy playing the piano with hair like Groucho Marx (“Duck Soup”).

As a propaganda piece, the film feels underwhelming by using bland fictional drama to convey its messages. To those who say it’s funny, I wonder if they are using drugs because I’ve seen bad movies that’ll make you laugh (“The Giant Claw” and “Robot Monster” instantly spring to mind). “Reefer Madness” isn’t worth the attention it has received, it’s too mediocre. I’ll admit that some of the early scenes explaining about how criminals hide drugs is somewhat interesting but aside from that, this is a weird film to bring up after so many years when there are so many that have been better and so many that have been worse (amusingly bad).

“Red” has some big names in it such as action star of the 80s Bruce Willis (“Die Hard”) and the new action star on the block, Karl Urban (“The Chronicles of Riddick”). However, when it comes to the script, it disappoints as it feels forced.

In “Red”, Frank Moses (Willis) is a retired C.I.A. agent, who is targeted by his old employers. He is then forced to protect a lady at the pension office he’s been calling, named Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker “Angels In America”). The duo then travels across the country searching for people Frank used to work with. They are all labelled ‘R.E.D.’, which means that they’re retired and extremely dangerous. Now, it’s up to the team to find who is manipulating the system and terminate them.

Bruce Willis is okay as Frank Moses. John Malkovich (“Dangerous Liaisons”) is good as the eccentric fruitcake Martin but unfortunately, his lines are quite frankly awful. Helen Mirren (“Calendar Girls”) is okay as Victoria but again, her lines are awkward. Morgan Freeman is actually good as Joe but unfortunately, he’s very old and so does very little in terms of the action. Karl Urban is forgettable as the C.I.A. agent Cooper. Mary-Louise Parker is unmemorable as Sarah.

Although “Red” is filled with lots of explosive action and espionage, the characters are so uninteresting and the dialog is even worse. As much as I believe people will be amazed and laugh a little at the ridiculously fun action I just think the characters will really let you down. It would have been better if instead of squeezing in mildly amusing references about how old the old actors/actresses are and non-amusing punchlines, you could make this like an 80s action flick and make it so that they’re saying lines that were ‘cool’ in the 80s action movies but come across as silly now.

“Red State” is a sadistic little film about a cult that is a mixture of the Westboro Baptist Church and the Branch Davidians folks from Waco. It’s definitely an odd film considering it is from director Kevin Smith (“Clerks”). I would have much rather watched Smith’s religious comedy “Dogma” again than sit through “Red State”.

Some teen boys receive an online invitation for sexual intercourse. However, they soon find themselves the hostages of a sinister religious movement. Trapped in the Five Points Trinity Church, the teens are slated to face capital punishment for their sins. As Pastor Abin Cooper (Michael Parks “Kill Bill: Vol. 2”) preaches against the homosexuals and consumerist culture to his flock, law enforcement soon surrounds the building but the believers are heavily armed and will not go down without a fight.

The teens in the movie are like the ones you find in slasher movies. This movie actually feels quite like a slasher film near the beginning before it transcends into a huge shootout between the authorities and the cult members. John Goodman (“King Ralph”, “The Artist”) is good as Joseph Keenan, who leads the siege efforts. Michael Parks steals the show as the sinister Abin Cooper. He’s easily the most interesting character in the movie.

This is a sinister film that features scenes of torture and extreme homophobic language so be aware that this is not light-hearted film. What the movie has to say about cults is not particularly new and I was ultimately bored by the majority of the film. There are dozens of films about cults out there including “Kill List”, “The Master” and two versions of “The Wicker Man”. One cult movie that I would recommend is the first “Children of the Corn”, which is at least an entertaining film. If you are a fan of Kevin Smith and have not seen “Red State” then you can ignore this one because it is so vastly different to his other movies.

“Red Sonja” is a shameless rip-off of the “Conan” movies that steals virtually every scene from those films. However, what is even worse is that plenty of the people involved in the making of the original pictures are attached to this as well.

After ignoring the sexual advances made to her by Queen Gedren (Sandahl Bergman “Conan The Barbarian”), Red Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen “Beverly Hills Cop II”, “Cobra”) is raped and her family is murdered. After surviving this horror, Sonja sets out on a quest to become the best swordswoman ever so she can kill Gedren. She must also save the world before an evil energy ball plunges the planet into chaos. Along the way she meets lots of strange individuals.

The acting in this film couldn’t be much more wooden. Brigitte Nielsen is alright as Red Sonja and she is pretty much just a female Conan. Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Commando”, “Total Recall”) is horrible as Kalidor, who definitely resembles his Conan character. Queen Gedren is very dull to say the least as she seems incredibly blinded to the fact that her evil will cause her certain death and I don’t like the way she consistently tries to get Sonja to be her lover because it seems very forceful.

“Red Sonja” will no doubt be seen as rather homophobic and intensely sexist. This is a film that is unoriginal, will offend some demographics and all-round just isn’t entertaining. This is one of the blandest sword and sorcery films I’ve ever seen as the plot and many sequences are blatantly taken from the “Conan” films. None of it is done with any attempt to improve or even match the “Conan” pictures. “Red Sonja” isn’t quite painful to sit through and it does have some comedic value but it is a terrible movie directed by Richard Fleischer, who gave us the bad “Conan The Destroyer”.

“Red Scorpion” is an action film that gets the action right but it doesn’t have a clue about anything else. If you like seeing trucks explode and numerous soldiers get gunned down then there are plenty of movies that can offer that as well as an all-round satisfying experience.

In “Red Scorpion”, a Russian secret agent (Dolph Lundgren) is sent into Africa to kill the leader of an alleged ‘terrorist’ group. When he gets there, he finds out he’s been fighting for the wrong side and then the script decides to give him an overwhelming amount of things to blow up.

Dolph Lundgren may physically be good in action films but when it comes to dialog, he’s pathetic. There’s a reason why he was good in “Rocky IV”; he didn’t speak all that much. I think like most of his work, this’ll be another film Lundgren will want to forget. He’s apparently a very intelligent guy but you would never know that watching his films. The other characters are really annoying and meaningless. Of course, there has to be something said about the seemingly endless goons that get shot to pieces in this picture. All I can say is that they do a good job of dying.

The action sequences are entertaining (except for the fact most of them have the same song playing over them). However, it seems they makers spent all their money on the action scenes because everything else feels really cheap. One thing people may criticise “Red Scorpion” for is the way that it portrays Russians but to me the film isn’t smart enough to know how to make a sensible argument anyway so what’s the point in paying attention to its politics? If you like “Red Scorpion” then you’re obviously someone who cherishes your shootouts much more than me. I like them but to me, they can’t be the only good thing in the movie. Lundgren fans, I’d stay watching “Universal Soldier” a couple more times.

The new 2021 “Mortal Kombat” is a disappointment. While the 1995 attempt to make a movie out of the game was not exactly good either, I think it was actually better than this. The new version has the gore that was missing from the 90s one. However, it makes some very odd choices.

As preparations are underway for another tournament, champions from around the world are gathered. Before the tournament can commence, Shang Tsung (Chin Han “The Dark Knight”) has dispatched his warriors to destroy the defenders of Earth. Can Cole Young (Lewis Tan “Deadpool 2”) and the other heroes survive this deadly attack?

Cole Young is not from any of the “Mortal Kombat” videogames and was made just for this movie. He has no personality and is just there to have plot elements explained to him. Why not use Liu Kang as the main character? Hiroyuki Sanada (“Sunshine”) plays Scorpion and he’s probably my favourite here but after the opening scene, we don’t get to see much of him. None of the performances here is particularly engaging. Most of the characters look okay and look their videogame counterparts. The special effects on most of them when they do their special moves are decent.

How can you have a “Mortal Kombat” movie without the tournament? I know the makers are hoping to have a franchise but it’s like remaking “Jaws” without a beach attack. Also, the decision to make this new Cole character the lead was stupid. The action sequences are good with gory deaths and most of the special effects in the movie look good. However, there are a few effects in the Outworld scenes that look lame. This movie could have been so much better than it was. I much preferred the animated “Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge” to this.

Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Death Warrant”, “The Quest”) stars in “In Hell”. This is a violent and pretty disturbing prison flick and it takes itself much more seriously than a lot of Van Damme movies. It’s not amazing or anything but I did respect it for its brutality.

Kyle LeBlanc (Van Damme) is America working in Russia. When his wife is raped and murdered, the corrupt court lets the man responsible go free. Kyle lashes out and kills the man and is sent to a tough Russian prison. He is forced to fight with the other prisoners and slowly loses his sense of identity.

We know Van Damme is not a great actor but here, the script helps his performance a lot. Van Damme wisely decides not to use any fancy martial arts moves as he uses a more realistic style of fighting here. It reminded me of what Jackie Chan did in “Shinjuku Incident”. There are a lot of other characters are we don’t really get a lot of time with them. I wish the warden got more time to shine. There is also a large black inmate that starts to almost narrate the last half of the movie. I think they were trying to do a “Shawshank Redemption” type of thing but it just didn’t really work.

“In Hell” has very realistic fight sequences and it also has depictions of intimidation, torture and rape. The movie doesn’t start off all that well but the middle act is really entertaining. The movie was directed by Ringo Lam, who also worked with Van Damme on “Replicant” (another underrated Van Damme movie). If you like prison movies or you want to see Van Damme do something that is more serious then this is worth checking out. Just make sure kids don’t see this one because it’s not a fun and goofy action flick.