Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Hard Target”, “Bloodsport”) stars in “Death Warrant”, a reasonably satisfying prison action movie. It’s not going to win any awards but it keeps things simple and entertaining for the most part.

Van Damme stars as Louis Burke, a French-Canadian cop that is sent undercover in a hellish American prison to find out why so many inmates are dying. With the help of Amanda Beckett (Cynthia Gibb “Salvador”), he must discover the truth about the corruption at the facility to save not only the other inmates but himself as well. However, things get even more dangerous when an old foe (Patrick Kilpatrick “Minority Report”) is transferred to the prison.

Van Damme pulls off some very impressive kicks throughout the movie. He doesn’t give a good performance but he doesn’t really need to. I liked Cynthia Gibb as Amanda. I also like the teen computer hacker she has to use. He keeps trying to charm her despite the age difference. Probably the best character in the whole movie is the sadistic warden (Art LaFleur “Cobra”, “The Sandlot Kids”). I disliked the weird transvestite prostitute characters. They felt incredibly unnecessary and could have been removed quite easily without affecting anything.

If you’ve seen some of Van Damme’s other films such as “Bloodsport” and “A.W.O.L.: Absent Without Leave” then you’ll pretty much know what to expect. This movie definitely has its fair share of goofy moments but it’s also pretty harsh and violent at times too. The fight sequences are not the best but they are good enough for the film to get a recommendation from me. In comparison to other prison movies, just don’t expect “Escape From Alcatraz” with Clint Eastwood, expect something more like “Island Of Fire” with Jackie Chan. If you don’t like Van Damme or prison movies then this isn’t going to win you over.

The fourth “Futurama” film is a return to form after the misfire that was “Bender’s Game”. “Into The Wild Green Yonder” is probably my second favourite of the four films, just behind “Bender’s Big Score”. I like how this one puts things on such an epic scale and makes good use of some characters that were underused in the show and previous movies.

New Vegas is being built on Mars by Amy’s father, Leo Wong. However, the construction of the city could have devastating environmental impact. Leela joins a gang of eco-feminist extremists while Fry learns that he has telepathic powers and may be the universe’s only hope in stopping the mysterious ‘Dark One’.

While it’s always great to see Fry, Leela and Bender, I really like the fact that this film makes good use of Leo Wong. He’s a very funny character that rarely got to shine in the series. He embodies every negative aspect of pushy Asian fathers and aggressive capitalists. We also see a guy with a tin foil hat that has actually been in the show for years as a background character. It’s nice that the makers were finally able to give us details about a character that had become known among the show’s most devout fans.

This is a funny movie but it also has a surprisingly good mystery. The big reveal of the identity of the ‘Dark One’ is actually pretty clever. I also really loved the opening with Seth MacFarlane (“Family Guy”) singing a hilarious Sinatra style of song. If you’re a fan of “Futurama” then make sure you don’t miss this one because it is very entertaining. While “Bender’s Game” got too wrapped up in fantasy nerd culture, I think that “Into The Wild Green Yonder” felt more like traditional “Futurama” and that’s a good thing.

There are not enough films set on Mars. “Red Planet” is not a ground-breaking sci-fi film but I did find myself enjoying it because there is just something so fascinating with the idea of exploring another world.

In the future, environmental issues are going to doom Earth so scientists have planted algae on Mars to start terraforming the planet for colonisation. When the oxygen produced by the algae appears to be dropping, a team of astronauts are sent on the first manned mission to the ‘Red Planet’ to find out why. The trip goes awry and the search for a way for mankind to survive becomes increasingly desperate.

The film has a very small cast but that works rather well. Carrie-Ann Moss (“The Matrix”, “Memento”) stars as Bowman (a clear nod to “2001: A Space Odyssey”) and she does a really good job. Val Kilmer (“Tombstone”) and Terence Stamp (“Superman II”) are entertaining as well. Benjamin Bratt (“Miss Congeniality”), Simon Baker (“The Devil Wears Prada”) and Tom Sizemore (“Black Hawk Down”) are okay. Nobody gives a bad performance and that is arguably the most important fact. The film also features a robot that joins the astronauts but the special effects for it are a little underwhelming.

“Red Planet” is not one of the more visually pleasing sci-fi films. Sure, the Mars landscapes look great but the special effects throughout the movie look rather mediocre and I think that is a shame. However, the ideas are intriguing and I think some of the performances help the film a lot. I also like the way that film drops some early hints about what went wrong on Mars and I like the way that is able to reveal what happened without descending into a brainless picture. I’m recommending “Red Planet” but viewers that are not particularly into science-fiction might want to skip it.

“Red Heat” is a buddy cop film in the same spirit as “Lethal Weapon” and “Rush Hour” with a winning combination of action and humour. Arnold Schwarzenegger (“The Terminator”, “Commando”) stars with James Belushi (“K-9”) in this fun film.

Ivan Danko (Schwarzenegger) is a tough Moscow policeman sent to Chicago to bring back a Georgian drug dealer (Ed O’Ross “Full Metal Jacket”). After the bad guys escape, Danko teams up with Art Ridzik (Belushi), a cocky Chicago officer. Together, the duo chase after the criminals and manage to find friendship as they learn to ignore the tension between America and the Soviet Union.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is not remotely convincing as a Russian policeman given his thick Austrian accent but you have to love his delivery of the one-liners. I like the scene in which Schwarzenegger tears off a guy’s wooden leg and reveals the cocaine stashed inside it. James Belushi is surprisingly good as Ridzik. The two have very good chemistry here and I love the conversation in which the two compare how different nations deal with the problem of drugs. The villains look menacing but aren’t too memorable. Peter Boyle (“Young Frankenstein”) feels a little underused as Ridzik’s superior. Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”) is okay as another police officer but his character feels unnecessary.

“Red Heat” is definitely a fun film. The performances are good, the action scenes are entertaining and the comedic aspects work. If you enjoyed the “Lethal Weapon”, “Rush Hour” and “Beverly Hills Cop” franchises as well as films such as “Tango and Cash” then you’ll probably like this one. Perhaps the greatest scene in the film is where Danko is given a .44 Magnum and told that Dirty Harry uses it. He asks who that is and it seems to perfectly capture what a big deal Schwarzenegger is. Unless you really don’t care for police action pictures, I don’t see why anybody wouldn’t like “Red Heat”.

Adam Sandler (“Happy Gilmore”, “Just Go With It”) made his debut in “Going Overboard”. This is a film that seems to be almost universally hated, even by Sandler fans and Sandler himself. To me, it’s not any worse than “Little Nicky” but it’s still pretty atrocious. To its credit, it was made with a tiny budget and it’s not as mean as many of his later movies.

Sandler stars as Schecky Moskowitz, a worker on a cruise ship that aspires to be a stand-up comedian. He hopes for his big break but is having a hard time trying to win the hearts of the passengers. Unfortunately, his comedy career may have to go on hold when the ship is taken over by armed gunmen.

Sandler has never been somebody that I’ve found particularly funny so he seems perfectly suited to playing a lacklustre comedian in this movie. The movie also features Billy Zane (“The Phantom”) as King Neptune. I bet he never imagined that he would go from doing a terrible cruise movie like this to doing the financially successful and critically acclaimed “Titanic”. You also have Burt Young (“Rocky”) as Manuel Noriega. It’s so odd to see the dictator of Panama thrown into the mix. It’s also really strange that while this film actually has a scene that spoofs “Rocky”, it doesn’t have Young in that particular sequence.

“Going Overboard” looks dirt cheap and it’s definitely a bad movie. I think that the jokes are lame, I found the story to be nonsensical and the characters are bland. There are also several cringeworthy moments where Sandler turns and talks straight to the camera. The whole movie is just lazy and so clearly put together by people that don’t really know what they are doing. I think I’d rather go overboard off a real cruise ship than watch this film again.

Dismissed as mere Republican propaganda by many, “2016: Obama’s America” certainly asks some uncomfortable questions about the life and beliefs of President Barack Obama. I found it to be more coherent than some of Michael Moore’s political films such as “Bowling For Columbine”.

Conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza uses Obama’s own autobiography as a guide to understanding Obama’s vision for America. As he traces Obama’s family history in Kenya, Hawaii and Indonesia, we see the anti-colonial and anti-American ideologies that surrounded a young Obama. We then asked to consider how these views may have shaped the Obama who stepped into the White House after the 2008 presidential election.

D’Souza comes at this from an interesting angle as he grew up in India and encountered many of the same anti-colonial viewpoints that Obama would have when he visited Kenya. D’Souza is careful not to go for the hyperbole and paint Obama as any kind of inhuman monster. He takes a very provocative look at Obama’s life and statements. He also never outrightly endorses any of the modern Republicans. It’s clear D’Souza has an academic’s mind and is not out to merely push forward a Republican agenda.

I don’t agree with all the analysis in this film. However, I think a lot of the best documentaries about topics such as politics, history and religion are about asking tough questions and demanding the audience think critically. If you are a loyal Obama supporter, you may be too invested in your camp to be open to some of the ideas explored in this movie. D’Souza has gained a notoriety for his documentaries (and his campaign financing activities) but as a non-American, I think it’s easier to look at his work more objectively. It’s worth checking out if you are into understanding philosophy of politics and nationhood.

Some movies have a lot of sequels. You probably already know there are many sequels to “The Terminator”, “American Pie”, “Friday The 13th”, “X-Men” and “Jurassic Park”. However, here’s a list of films you probably didn’t know had a ton of sequels.

5. The Scorpion King

A spin-off to the Brendan Fraser “Mummy” franchise, the first “Scorpion King” starred Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (“Rampage”, “Fast Five”). He was reprising his role from “The Mummy Returns”. While we only got three “Mummy” films in that particular series, we have now ended up with five “Scorpion King” movies.

4. Shaft

The original “Shaft” made Richard Roundtree (“Man Friday”) a star of 70s blaxploitation cinema. “Shaft’s Big Score!” and “Shaft In Africa” soon followed. In 2000, Samuel L. Jackson starred in “Shaft”, which many people thought was a remake. However, it’s actually a sequel that focuses on a relative of the original Shaft with Roundtree reprising his role. In 2019, we got another “Shaft”, that featured yet another new Shaft with Jackson and Roundtree returning.

3. Starship Troopers

The original “Starship Troopers” was an entertaining sci-fi/action movie that was also a biting satire of Nazi propaganda films. To date, the film has led to two live-action sequels and two animated sequels.

2. Tremors

The original “Tremors” was a pleasant throwback to the old sci-fi monster movies of the 50s as a bunch of giant worms attacks a small American town. To date, there are seven instalments in total and no sign that the franchise is done. There was also a tv series that lasted only a single season.

1. Sniper

Tom Berenger (“Platoon”) and Billy Zane (“Titanic”) both starred in the 1993 military movie “Sniper”. It was a decent movie but I never expected that it would have so many sequels. There are now eight films in total. Each instalment has either Berenger, Zane or both of them.

The first of the many sequels to 1993 military flick “Sniper”. While the rest of the sequels to date have been direct-to-video, “Sniper 2” was first shown on tv. It’s a really disappointing sequel that fails to capture the excitement of the first movie and it ends up being one of the most boring military movies I’ve seen.

Tom Berenger (“Platoon”, “Sniper”) returns as Thomas Beckett. He’s sent on an assignment in Eastern Europe to take out a Serbian despot, who is committing atrocities against the Muslims in the region. However, the mission is not a straightforward as it first appears as the U.S. government has more complex plans.

In the first movie, you really bought that Berenger was a hardened military veteran. Here, he just seems completely miserable and uninterested in what is going on. As a result, we in the audience feel pretty much the same. Bokeem Woodbine (“Spider-Man: Homecoming”) plays Beckett’s spotter and he’s somehow even more dull. If this is meant to be a secret mission, the two do a pretty poor job trying to hide in plain sight. Bokeem Woodbine certainly doesn’t look like he could pass for a local in a war-torn part of Eastern Europe. Apparently, the characters speaking Serbian are actually speaking Hungarian so it’s clear the filmmakers were not even trying to make this movie convincing.

The first “Sniper” movie had the far more pleasing aesthetic with its jungle setting, it had more interesting characters and it had more gripping sniper action. This movie just feels so lazy. It’s not like this film was rushed out as it came out nearly a decade after the first movie so there is no excuse for it to be this shoddy. I strongly dislike “Sniper 2” and it doesn’t give me much hope for the later sequels.

“Nurse 3D” is a really goofy film that mixes together the slasher and stalker genres. It’s a silly movie that you will definitely chuckle at but I can hardly recommend it.

Danni Rogers (Katrina Bowden “Piranha 3DD”, “Sex Drive”) is a nurse that finds her life turned upside-down when she befriends a colleague by the name of Abby (Paz de la Huerta “Enter The Void”). It turns out that Abby is a psychopathic stalker that likes to murder cheating men and she’s now got her sights set on Danni. Abby is a master of manipulation and soon has everyone turned against Danni.

Paz de la Huerta’s Abby Russell is certainly a more memorable slasher villain than the endless parade of muscular guys wearing masks. She definitely has some personality but she’s not remotely scary. The scene where she tortures a guy by threatening to remove his manhood with a saw just comes across as hilarious as she prances around in nothing but her bra. I sort of feel bad that they didn’t do any sequels because this nurse character deserves to be up there with Freddy, Jason and Leatherface. I would argue that she’s actually more competent at killing than any of them. Katrina Bowden is forgettable as Danni. The other characters are not very interesting.

“Nurse 3D” is a stupid horror/thriller that is pretty much like watching the original “Halloween II” (with its hospital setting) mixed with a film like “Play Misty For Me” or “The Boy Next Door”. There are lots of gratuitous shots of the female characters in their underwear or with no underwear so the filmmakers know who their target audience is. If you want a goofy slasher flick with a lot of nudity then look no further than “Nurse 3D”. For anybody wanting something even vaguely intelligent, don’t come anywhere near it.

“Deep Rising” is less of a movie and more like watching someone play an arcade shooting game. It’s like “Aliens” meets “Titanic” but with only the action and none of the charm. It’s a disappointment from director Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy”).

In “Deep Rising”, John Finnegan (Treat Williams “The Phantom”) gets hired to give a boat ride to a group of mercenaries with no question asked. Eventually, he finds out that they’re going to hijack a cruise ship. However, they then discover that the ship has already been taken over by some horrifying creatures. Now, it’s a race to survive before they all sink with the ship.

Easily the best performance comes from Famke Janssen (“X-Men”, “GoldenEye”) as Trillian St. James, a thief that was caught on the ship and put in the brig so she avoids the initial monster attack. She has some personality but isn’t given all that much to do. Treat Williams is disposable as Finnegan. Wes Studi (“Mystery Men”, “Heat”), Anthony Heald (“Silence of the Lambs”), Cliff Curtis (“Sunshine”) and Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond”) all appear so there are a lot of famous faces here but the writing is so bad when compared to films such as “Aliens” that you don’t care about them. The creatures are a bit like the Xenomorph in the “Alien” movies with hidden mouths and lots of teeth. The special effects have aged pretty poorly.

The monsters pop up and get blasted before disappearing. They then pop up again a few minutes later, kill someone and get blasted again. This is pretty much all the movie is. Where is the fun in only getting to watch a movie that feels like a game I could be playing in the arcade? This movie has lacklustre effects (it looks about as good as “Anaconda”) when you compare it to other monster films such as “Jurassic Park”, “Lake Placid” and “The Relic”. Famke Janssen is good but that’s it.