The folks at “Robot Chicken” take another shot at the DC characters with this tv special. This one focuses more on the supervillains. Again, I think some of the gags are good but a lot of them are not so great.

Although this is still a sketch film, this one does have a little bit more of a plot. The Legion Of Doom is having more trouble than usual so they plan a trip to the beach. Unfortunately for the villains, the DC superheroes are also visiting the beach. We also see such crazy antics as Bizarro dealing with a girl scout selling cookies and Batman’s odd eulogy at Green Arrow’s funeral.

As I mentioned, the focus is clearly more on the villains so prepare to see more of Lex Luthor, Scarecrow and Penguin this time around. I liked the parts about Lex Luthor having his own band when he was younger. The Nerd from “Robot Chicken” also has a small role here. A lot of the characters just could have been a lot funnier. There is so much you could do with the DC characters and it’s a real shame that the writing is not as good as it should be. The stop motion animation on the characters is enjoyable.

“Robot Chicken” has always impressed me with its stop motion animation but it’s the writing where I have problems with it. The reliance on bad taste humour is disappointing. The writers of “The Simpsons” (at least the early seasons) and “South Park” know perfectly how to spoof other films without solely relying on gross gags. This is about as good as the first DC superhero special so if you enjoyed that then you will probably like this one too. However, I don’t see any real reason for anyone else to go out of your way to see it.

“Dark Justice” is the first part of the “RoboCop: Prime Directives” mini-series. This is another feature-length “RoboCop” movie but the mini-series films often get overlooked as they didn’t have a theatrical release. I must say that this is better than both “RoboCop 3” and the 2014 remake. It comes much closer to capturing the style and humour of the early films.

RoboCop (Page Fletcher) has been ridding the streets of crime for a decade. Now, Delta City (previously Detroit) is increasingly coming under the control of the O.C.P. corporation. Now, he must face off against a new foe, a vigilante known as the ‘Bone Machine’.

Of course, nobody can top Peter Weller from the first two “RoboCop” films but Page Fletcher does a better job than the Robert John Burke in the third movie. We also get to see some more of Alex Murphy before he became RoboCop through flashbacks. Maurice Dean Wint (“Cube”) is good as John Terrence Cable, a tough cop that used to be Murphy’s partner. The Bone Machine is okay but he does not get much time to shine. I really liked the O.C.P. board members. They really help to capture the corporate satire that was a staple of the first “RoboCop” film.

Don’t go into this expecting it to look as impressive as the theatrical films. This was obviously made on a much smaller budget but for what it is, I was surprised by how engaging it is. This is only the first part of a mini-series so I’m interested in seeing what happens next. It’s not as polished as the early entries but it’s got the satire and it’s got the action. If you are a fan of “RoboCop” and you have missed out on this, I think this is worth checking out. It’s certainly closer to the spirit of the original than the soulless remake.

The folks at “Family Guy” take shots at “Star Wars” with this special. “Blue Harvest” was the working title for “Return of the Jedi” as the filmmakers sought to keep fans and press away from production. Unfortunately, this “Family Guy” spoof is rather underwhelming. There is so much potential when it comes to mocking “Star Wars” but even “Robot Chicken” did a better job at this.

During a power cut, the Griffin family are unsure how to entertain themselves to see Peter decides to tell the story of the original “Star Wars”. See many of the famous scenes done with the satirical “Family Guy” style.

I’m not much of a fan of the characters of “Family Guy”. I didn’t care about seeing Chris as Luke Skywalker, Peter as Han Solo or Stewie as Darth Vader. Some may dislike the decision to have the child molester character from the show be Obi-Wan Kenobi. Of all the ways to spoof the Obi-Wan character, they decide to make him a child molester, why? Maybe if I liked the characters from the show more, I’d find it funny when they get all the different ones to be the different “Star Wars” characters. The animation on the characters has never really impressed me. I think they look rather lifeless compared to a lot of animated shows.

The best scene in “Blue Harvest” is where they mention how “Robot Chicken” already did a “Star Wars” spoof. Most of the gags here are rather lousy and I think the movie “Spaceballs” does a way better job parodying “Star Wars” than this. If you are a big fan of “Family Guy” then you’ll probably love this but I just found it to be really boring. I wish “The Simpsons” could have done a whole “Star Wars” special during their prime.

“The Mandalorian” is a really good tv series set in the “Star Wars” galaxy. Although it never reaches the highs of the best films in the franchise, it does feel like a legitimate part of the greater universe. I was initially hesitant when I discovered that it was not going to feature Boba Fett but I heard a lot of positive things about the show so decided to finally check it out.

An unnamed Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal “The Equaliser 2”) works as a bounty hunter. He is sent on a mission to retrieve a lifeform (‘Baby Yoda’ as audiences have referred to it as). What starts off as a simple assignment becomes increasingly complicated as he decides to go rogue.

I like the Mandalorian character. His armour is sadly not as good as the armour suits worn by Boba Fett and Jango Fett in the movies. I really like the Baby Yoda character. He’s so cute and looks like Gizmo from “Gremlins”. You have some big names in here such as Nick Nolte (“Hulk”), Werner Herzog (“Jack Reacher”), Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”) and Richard Ayoade (“Paddington 2”) but my favourite simply has to be Carl Weathers (“Action Jackson”, “Predator”) as Greef Karga, who gives the Mandalorian his missions. Most of the costumes look very impressive and all the aliens and robots look better than the ones in the prequel movies.

“The Mandalorian” is a show that’s clearly got a whole Western vibe so if you like Western movies as well as sci-fi ones then you should definitely check it out. The production values are great for a tv show and this looks almost as good as the sequel trilogy films. I’ve thought that “Star Wars” should do more spin-off stuff and not focus too much on trying to get everything deeply connected to the storylines of the earlier films so this was great to finally see that done. It’s not perfect by any means but it is certainly a worthy addition to the “Star Wars” franchise and I hope to see more spin-off material.

Here is a list of my least favourite slasher villains. Villains must be from a franchise and not a standalone movie.

5. Leatherface – Texas Chainsaw Massacre

A lot of people love Leatherface and I’ll admit that he is pretty sinister in his first appearance but after all the ridiculous sequels, remakes and reboots, he’s now a total joke. After you’ve seen him try to pleasure a woman with a chainsaw in arguably the most awkward scenes in film history, you can’t take him seriously.

4. The Tall Man – Phantasm

One of the corniest villains in horror movie history, Tall Man made me want to laugh more than anything else. Watching an old guy just is not that scary. The only good thing about the character is the killer spheres he uses to dispose of his victims.

3. Candyman – Candyman

Poor Tony Todd (“The Rock”) suffered a lot of bee stings when he played Candyman. Sadly, all that pain can’t have been worth it because Candyman is a very underwhelming slasher foe that just seems like a cheap version of Freddy Krueger.

2. Djinn – Wishmaster

Another disappointing slasher foe that feels way too similar to Freddy Krueger. His true form is not remotely scary as comes across as goofy. Even Jafar as the evil genie at the end of “Aladdin” is scarier than the Djinn from “Wishmaster”.

1. Leprechaun – Leprechaun

Few movie villains are as obnoxious and as irritating as the Leprechaun. He’s never scary and never funny. I’m sure Warwick Davis (“Willow”) was trying his hardest but the material he was given was always abysmal.

Dishonourable mentions:
Jacob Goodnight – See No Evil and Angela Baker – Sleepaway Camp

Uwe Boll has gained a reputation for being one of the worst filmmakers out there. Many have claimed that he merely made movies as a means of exploiting a tax loophole. Now, let’s look at my personal ranking of his worst creations.

5. Far Cry

Another film based on a videogame. A film with abysmal characters and unimpressive action sequences. Very forgettable and does the “Far Cry” game franchise no favours.

4. Blubberella

A comedic remake of the third “BloodRayne” film (also by Boll). This disaster is filled with gross gags that fall flat. Boll casts himself as Hitler and maybe nobody in the film industry is a better fit for the role.

3. Rampage

Not to be confused with the Dwayne Johnson film of the same name, this 2009 thriller realistically depicts a shooting spree. Badly filmed but even more alarmingly, seems to provide a guide on how to get away with mass murder.

2. BloodRayne: The Third Reich

The third and thankfully last film in the “BloodRayne” series. Just like the film’s titular vampire, it’s a completely soulless experience. It’s predictable and boring with no effort or energy going into this mess.

1. House of the Dead

Not just arguably Boll’s worst movie but quite possibly the worst videogame movie ever. Based on the popular arcade shooter, this is a bewilderingly bland zombie flick. The most horrifying thing about it is the atrocious writing.

Dishonourable mentions:
Alone In The Dark and BloodRayne

The “X-Men” franchise has had more than its fair share of ups and downs over the years. Now, it seems the series may have gone out, not with a bang but with a whimper.

Back in 2017, “Logan” was praised as one of the best superhero films in recent years but “Dark Phoenix” failed to generate any buzz when it came out in 2019. “The New Mutants” has finally come out after years of delays yet it has failed to impress.

It’s had a troubled production with delays for several reasons including reshoots, Disney’s takeover of Fox, the release of other “X-Men” films and of course, the Coronavirus pandemic. It doesn’t aim to be as big or exciting as most of the previous instalments, instead going focusing more on the characters. Unfortunately, its isolationist premise with the characters being trapped at one location may not feel like escapist fun at a time when people around the world have been forced to stay in their homes.

With plans to eventually integrate the X-Men characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’m sure we will see Wolverine, Storm and the rest back on the screen at some point. However, it does feel like the “X-Men” franchise might be done for a while.

Adam Sandler (“Happy Gilmore”, “Pixels”) stars in “Mr. Deeds”, a remake of 1936’s “Mr. Deeds Goes To Town”. I have not yet seen the original so I cannot compare the two but I can safely assert that this 2002 remake is a bad movie. It’s boring and completely unengaging.

After a billionaire businessman freezes to death while climbing Everest, the search is on to find his heir. Longfellow Deeds (Sandler) is a guy from a small town that gets brought to New York after inheriting a vast fortune. Babe Bennett (Winona Ryder “Beetlejuice”, “Edward Scissorhands”) is a reporter looking for a juicy story so she befriends Deeds by lying about who she is. However, she finds herself falling in love with Deeds.

Sandler tries to play this super nice guy that everybody loves yet I just found him to be nauseating. He also still beats people senselessly. Sandler has almost made the savage beatings his trademark and it is still unfunny. We’re meant to find the Deeds character likeable but I wanted to throw up every time that he was onscreen. Winona Ryder is actually really good and likeable here as the ditsy girl. It’s a shame that she is not the focus of the movie. John Turturro (“The Big Lebowski”) is awful here as a butler with a foot fetish. I mean, who writes this stuff? Tennis player John McEnroe has a cameo and so does Al Sharpton.

“Mr. Deeds” is almost painful to sit through at times. Ryder is the only one here that brings any joy. This is clearly intended to be a light-hearted romp that’ll leave you feeling warm and fuzzy but I just thought it was another mess from Sandler. 90% of the gags are rubbish and the story is not interesting. We’ve seen countless movies about unconventional rich guys such as “Brewster’s Millions” and “Arthur” so this one brings nothing worthwhile to the table.

When it comes to dealing with the occult, Ed and Lorraine Warren gained a lot of attention for their investigations. One claimed to be a demonologist while the other was said to be clairvoyant.

A case they are widely associated with is one involving a supposedly possessed doll. The Annabelle doll first appeared onscreen in “The Conjuring” and has since had its own spin-off series of films. The Warrens claimed that the doll was possessed by demonic forces and could teleport. They kept inside a glass cabinet in their ‘museum’ and allowed visitors to see it by paying a small fee. If it’s a demonic, teleporting doll then why would you let the general public get so close to something so evil? Their museum apparently contained lots of items that one could purchase from any generic Halloween shop.

Their work has widely been dismissed by many but their efforts have been immortalised by cinema. Their investigations inspired films such as “The Amityville Horror”, “The Haunting In Connecticut” and most famously, “The Conjuring”. I find it amazing that the two have continued to inspire so many films despite their claims of paranormal encounters being largely debunked.

Fans have been divided over some of the recent “Star Wars” films with “The Last Jedi” appearing to be the most controversial. Some fans absolutely loved while others thought it was terrible. However, “The Mandalorian” (a tv spin-off of “Star Wars”) has received almost universal praise.

This may signal a change in direction for “Star Wars” going forward. Instead of focusing on big movies that get released theatrically, the makers of “Star Wars” may shift their attention to making more tv shows. It could be interesting to see them focus less on connecting things to the earlier films and instead, explore the whole galaxy. There is certainly a lot of potential.

However, why not do both? With all the films, tv shows, comics, novels and videogames, there seems to be no sign that “Star Wars” fans are struggling with fatigue so why not just give them more of what they want. If they’re not so into the new movie, they might like the new show and if they’re not so into the new tv show, they can still check out the new movie. The “Star Wars” fanbase and the wider audience is a diverse as the “Star Wars” galaxy so you may actually be able to keep just about everybody happy by offering such a great variety of content. A lot of fans that bashed “The Last Jedi” may have fallen in love with “The Mandalorian” so their interest in “Star Wars” is never diminished.

I myself certainly look forward to seeing the possibilities of more “Star Wars” content.