The music industry is of course as influential as the film industry. Sometimes, musicians try their hand at acting but sometimes they are smart enough to just settle for cameo appearances. Here is a list of times musicians briefly popped up in movies.

5. Britney Spears – Austin Powers In Goldmember

Britney Spears (“Crossroads”) appears as herself in the third “Austin Powers” flick. However, it turns out she’s actually a robot. Despite her best efforts, she ultimately gets destroyed after being overwhelmed by the sex appeal of Mike Myers (“Wayne’s World”) as the goofy spy that is Austin Powers.

4. Chester Bennington – Saw 3D

Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington briefly appears in the seventh entry in the “Saw” franchise. Watch him suffer through a terrible ordeal as he is forced to try and literally tear off his own flesh in order to survive and rescue his friends.

3. Madonna – Die Another Day

In one of the most awkward scenes ever featured in a “James Bond” film, we see Madonna (“Dick Tracy”, “Swept Away”) as a fencing instructor. Madonna of course sang the dreadful theme song for “Die Another Day” and this was the first time somebody singing an opening credits theme had an actual role in one of the movies.

2. Guns N' Roses – The Dead Pool

Rock band Guns N' Roses get a very small but amusing role in this fifth instalment in the “Dirty Harry” franchise. They are seen during the sequence for the rock musician played by Jim Carrey (“Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”).

1. Vanilla Ice – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

No list of musician cameos could be complete without mentioning the hilarious sequence in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II” where Vanilla Ice is rapping. There is a fight going on between the Ninja Turtles and some mutant monsters right in front of him yet he just carries on singing. That’s true professionalism right there.

I didn’t know that I needed to see a crossover between Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but I’m so glad that I’ve seen this movie. In what has got to be one of the strangest yet most enjoyable crossovers ever, we really get a sense that the makers love both sources and just wanted to have some real fun.

Batman forms an unlikely alliance with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show up in Gotham City. Together they must stop the evil Shredder, who is secretly working with Ra’s al Ghul. The evil villains have a plan that could threaten to destroy Gotham.

It’s great to see Batman, Robin and Batgirl working together with Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello. I never even considered this combination before but it’s so great to see them interact with each other. The makers clearly understand all the characters very well. It’s almost as fun seeing all the villains. While Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul are the main bad guys, we see a ton of other villains including Baxter Stockman from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and lots of Batman foes including Scarecrow and Mr. Freeze. The animation on all the characters looks great and the voice acting is very good.

This is easily one of the best animated “Batman” movies out there and easily one of the best “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” projects to date because it delivers everything you could possibly want and so much more. The action is non-stop and it’s all very creative. The humour is just terrific and I did laugh at several points throughout the film. It’s a movie that knows it’s not got to be deep or meaningful, it’s just about having fun. Just imagine what whacky combinations we could see next. Maybe we could have “Superman vs. The Powerpuff Girls” or “Wonder Woman Meets The Flintstones”.

I am either a blind fool for not recognising “Poltergeist” as a haunted house classic like countless critics or I am simply exposing the weak nature of this messy picture. I like to think the latter is true. “Poltergeist” didn’t scare me like a lot of 80s horror movies and it is done in a way that isn’t sure if it wants to be a real horror film or a comedy ghost film. Ghost films always seem to suffer from the problem of not being funny enough as comedies and too cheesy as actual horror pictures. I expected more from the combined efforts of Steven Spielberg (“Minority Report”) and Tobe Hooper (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”).

In “Poltergeist”, the seemingly innocent Freeling family are being terrorised by a group of ghosts. At first, it’s just the mild irritation of having your furniture moved about and then it becomes a fight to survive. The trees come to life and smash up the home and the family find themselves on the ceiling. The worst thing the ghouls do is kidnap little Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke).

The family in this movie at times do act like their home is being invaded by ghosts but at other times, they seem like they are in a parody of ghost films such as the mediocre “Beetlejuice” (I still like that film much more than this though). The creatures look amazing though.

Although I love the look of the monsters (especially near the end of the film), this is just another dull ghost film. Ghost films always force you to suspend disbelief because if doors started locking by themselves and furniture was being turned upside down, I’d be straight out of there. Not only would I be concerned about the possibility of ghosts but the idea of the living stealing my home would have me terrified. Those scared by this type of film must find it hard to sit through the likes of “Psycho” and “Alien”.

Originally conceived as a tv series, the networks rejected “Mulholland Drive”. Director David Lynch (“Eraserhead”, “Dune”) then got additional funds to continue filming and turn it into a theatrical film. “Mulholland Drive” has gained a reputation as being one of the best films of the early 2000s. However, I just hated this film and it left me feeling uncomfortable and dirty.

In “Mulholland Drive”, a mysterious woman (Laura Harring “The Punisher”) is about to be murdered in a limo when a car crash saves her from her killers but leaves her with amnesia. Together with Betty (Naomi Watts “The Impossible”, “King Kong”), the woman tries to uncover the mystery of who she is. The lines between fantasy and reality become increasing blurred and so do the lines between friendship and love.

This is such an unpleasant film and we see characters forced into so many awkward and uncomfortable moments. Exactly who all the characters are does not seem to really matter. The explanations give are often just as confusing as the initial mysteries. The script doesn’t seem to know what it wants from the cast so we get really weird performances from Watts, Harring and others such as Justin Theroux (“American Psycho”, “The Girl On The Train”).

David Lynch has crafted another film that simply defies explanation. I don’t get it and I didn’t even vaguely enjoy it. It feels like Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” show as well as other films such as “Get Shorty”, “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski”. Unconventional films can often be the most divisive. Some continue to consider Lynch a mad genius while I consider him merely mad. “Mulholland Drive” made me feel unwell and that’s not because it’s particularly violent but because it’s seedy and depraved in its whole narrative style. It’s like being on the wrong side of the tracks.

Following on from the events of “Batman vs. Robin”, “Batman: Bad Blood” is yet another DC animated film that just seems a little too ambitious for its own good. These films just pack so much darn stuff in that most of it feels really underdeveloped.

After a battle with several villains, Batman has disappeared. Nightwing and Robin desperately try to find Batman and Nightwing even dons the Batman costume in hopes of fooling Gotham’s criminal underworld about the reality of the situation. Nightwing decides he may have to work with the mysterious Batwoman if they are to find Batman. Exactly who is pulling all the strings of a complex plan that threatens the entire world will be revealed.

This is Batman film where Batman doesn’t appear in all that much of it. I actually didn’t mind that so much but some of the characters we do have to deal with are not entertaining. Batwoman is totally unlikeable and I just didn’t care about seeing her dating life. There are a ton of villains in this movie and I won’t spoil it by telling you who the real mastermind is. A lot of the villains are lesser-known ones such as Electrocutioner, Killer Moth and Firefly. I don’t think Killer Moth or Firefly even speak so they just have no personality. There is also some stupid walrus man. The animation on all the characters is quite good.

Parts of the movie are entertaining but parts of it just don’t work. Some of the plot elements are really intriguing but feel glossed over. The action sequences are enjoyable. It is somewhat interesting to see some more obscure foes but they get so little to do. Maybe there is a reason why Killer Moth and Electrocutioner have yet to appear in a live-action “Batman” film. I can’t quite recommend the film but it is better than several other animated DC films.

The first of many sequels in the “Friday The 13th” franchise, “Part 2” is a total bore. This is the last film before Jason would get his famous hockey mask. This one doesn’t add anything new, it’s just pretty much more of the same.

More counsellors arrive in the area where all the murders in the last film took place. Now, Jason Voorhees himself is out to kill anybody and everybody that is dumb enough to get in his way. Unfortunately, there are a lot of dumb teens around so that’s a lot of people for him to murder. Will any of them show enough sense to survive?

The campers are even less memorable than the ones in the first film. Jason wears a bag over his head in this one. This means if it didn’t have “Friday The 13th” in the title, you wouldn’t be able to tell this one apart from the countless random slasher movies out there. The hockey mask was at least something that lets people know that it’s Jason Voorhees doing all the killing. We get a few brief glimpses at Jason’s face and he looks like Sloth from “The Goonies”. Actually, that film came later so maybe Sloth is based on Jason.

If you liked the first one then you’ll probably like this one too. I just found it such a dull experience because there is just nothing here that you can’t see in a ton of other films. All the “Friday The 13th” sequels (particularly the ones set primarily at the camp) as well as all the “Sleepaway Camp” films are very hard to tell apart. There is virtually no originality or imagination going into any of these movies and that’s because those things require effort. Why put in effort when you can make your money from suckers? There we have the problem with the entire industry.

The original “Death Note” anime series in Japan remains one of my personal favourite tv series. It’s arguably the most intelligent show I’ve ever seen with some truly terrific writing. “Death Note Relight – Visions Of A God” attempts to condense the first two thirds of the series into a single film. Unfortunately, doing so removes a substantial amount of what made the show so terrific.

Japanese student Light Yagami discovers a mysterious notebook from another world that allows him to kill anybody by writing their name in it. However, he will have to match wits with L, who is the world’s greatest detective.

Light Yagami and L were some of the greatest characters in fiction. They are like Batman and Joker or Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty. The other characters in the show were also great. However, when you have to rush through so much at breakneck speed, the little nuances that made the characters so great have to be sacrificed. A lot of the supporting characters barely get to speak. If you are not familiar with the series, you are just not going to understand what a lot of them are doing. Here, we only get a flavour of what made the characters so spectacular to watch. The characters all still look incredible though thanks to the exhilarating and stylish animation.

“Death Note Relight” is simply too ambitious for its own good. At least the Japanese live-action film was smart enough to only try to adapt the first several episodes. There’s simply too much going on for it to coherently fit into a couple of hours. The beauty of the series was the methodical nature of it with every little detail being clearly thought out. It does offer a couple of original scenes that are fun for fans but overall, this is just a hollowing of a terrific series. This is still infinitely better than the American live-action version of “Death Note” but please just watch the anime series instead of this.

You may remember that “The Game Of Death” was the film cobbled together using footage Bruce Lee (“The Big Boss, “Enter The Dragon”) had shot for a film he was working on just before his death. It was a complete mess from start to finish. “Game Of Death II” (also known as “Tower Of Death”) is a surprisingly fun film once it stops trying to be a Bruce Lee flick.

Bruce Lee and lookalikes play Billy-Lo, who gets killed by some bad guys. Now, his younger brother is out for revenge. He won’t stop until he has kung-fu kicked everybody and everything in sight. However, this will be no easy task as he must infiltrate the bad guy’s lair.

The film recycles a lot of the same goofy tricks to try to and make you feel like you are watching a Bruce Lee film in the early scenes. All the fighters in here are just great with that wonderfully cheesy Hong Kong style of the 70s and early 80s. You may recognise Roy Horan from “Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow” with Jackie Chan. My favourite character has to be the lion. It’s meant to be a real lion and is in some shots but during a fight scene, it’s so clearly a guy in a costume.

This film came out in 1980 when Lee had been dead since the early 70s. However, once Lee’s character dies, the film just focuses on being a ridiculously fun martial arts flick. The fight scenes are absolutely ridiculous and the whole section at the end where the hero goes through the lair of the villains is terrific. It reminded me a lot of films such as “Infra-Man” as well as some of the early “James Bond” movies. If you like stupid kung-fu pictures then you have to see “Game Of Death II”.

Gary Daniels (“Rage”, “City Hunter”) stars in “White Tiger”, an average action flick that feels just like countless other action movies. Daniels is a talented fighter but some of his films are not that impressive. This one feels really uninspired and never does anything that really grabs your attention.

In “White Tiger”, Mike Ryan (Daniels) is a D.E.A. agent out for revenge. His partner was killed by Victor Chow (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa “Mortal Kombat”, “Licence To Kill”). Now, Ryan must travel to Hong Kong to locate Chow, who is trying to manufacture a new drug that threatens to shake up the Chinese criminal underworld. However, Ryan must also face against corrupt authorities that are in bed with the gangsters.

Daniels is definitely not the most engaging actor to watch and here, the material is as generic as you can get. His martial arts skills are still really good but he never gets to do anything truly thrilling here. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is entertaining as the villain despite the script being so underwhelming. The other characters are really boring and rather forgettable. The whole friendship between Mike and his partner is not done very well so it’s hard for us to get even remotely emotionally involved about what is going on in the movie.

There is nothing particularly bad about “White Tiger” yet it could have been so much better. It’s like “Lethal Weapon”, “The Protector” and so many other cop films that it blends into the crowd. I much preferred some of Daniels’ other films such as “Firepower”, “Rage” and “Riot”. If you are a big fan of Daniels then maybe check this one out but don’t expect it to be among his best work. “White Tiger” is simply not worthwhile for the general public because there are just so many better cop films and martial arts flicks to pick from.

It’s easy to lose track of film sequels because there are just so many. Sometimes, it means you miss out on a real gem and sometimes, it’s perfectly understandable why a sequel has been largely ignored. Here is a list of some sequels you may not even know about.

5. Son Of Kong

The original “King Kong” is quite possibly the greatest giant monster movie ever made. The very same year, “Son Of Kong” was rushed out. While it’s not the masterpiece that the original is, it’s surprisingly entertaining. Also, one of the shots from this movie featured in “Citizen Kane”.

4. The Next Karate Kid

After three films with Ralph Macchio (“Crossroads”), “The Karate Kid” franchise decided to change things up by swapping Daniel out for Julie (Hilary Swank “Boys Don’t Cry”). It’s pretty unremarkable and it’s easy to see why most people don’t know about this one.

3. Rasen

“Ringu” was a popular Japanese horror film that has inspired many sequels, an American remake and even crossover entries. “Rasen” was released at the exact same time as “Ringu” in 1998 as part of an unconventional release tactic. This sequel to “Ringu” quickly faded into obscurity. It’s an interesting film that is worth checking out.

2. Return To Oz

Even if you are not particularly into films, you have probably seen the 1939 classic that is “The Wizard Of Oz”. “Return To Oz” came out in 1985 and was very different from its predecessor. It was much darker but visually managed to stick closer to the children’s novels it was based on. It’s a darn good 80s family movie that is often overlooked.

1. The Two Jakes

“Chinatown” is regarded as one of the best detective films ever made. It came out in 1974 starred Jack Nicholson (“Batman”) and was directed by Roman Polanski (“Rosemary’s Baby”). However, hardly anybody seems to know its sequel, “The Two Jakes”. While it’s nowhere near as good as the first film, it’s still a pretty entertaining flick. It was also directed by Nicholson.