*batteries not included (1987)

The underlying plot of *bni is pretty standard stuff. An unscrupulous property developer wants to buy and demolish an old building. He buys out most of the occupants, and then hires a group of thugs to terrorise the few that refuse to leave, forcing the reluctant residents to band together in defiance.
But there's an additional element that makes it special (for me there are many things, but I'll stick to the task at hand): the unexpected visitors that are flying in through the window in the cover art. Designed to be adorable, they achieve it 100%. I wanted one when I was a kid, and I still do now.
The second other best thing about the film is Jessica Tandy, who sparkles as an old lady suffering from dementia. She too is adorable in her own, confused, warm, sympathetic way.
*bni is one of my favourite childhood films. It never fails to lift my spirits.

3½ mosaic pieces out of 5

THE SECOND CIVIL WAR [1997]

Director Joe Dante & co. craft together a wonderfully witty political satire with the curiously swept under the carpet comedy The Second Civil War.
An immigration controversy tears the United States of America apart, which eerily reflects exactly what is happening the States right now.
What's played for exaggerated laughs here isn't all that over-blown when you take into the consideration some of the ridiculous words spoken in politics this past year.  Tackling such weighty subjects as immigration, political racism, mass shootings, outsourcing might have been a bit tongue-in-cheek 20 years ago but today it's all too real.  It transforms the film from a goofy spit on the American way of yesterday and into a frighteningly prophetic hilarious mirror reflection of today.

3 orphan cards out of 5

Rush Hour (1998)

A buddy cop movie that teamed the inimitable Jackie Chan with the irritating Chris Tucker for some culture clash shenanigans.
It's Jackie at his most basic level: the comedy fish out of water character that takes a bit of a hammering during a fight but ultimately wins through sheer endurance. The only challenge he seems to have been presented with was the English dialogue.
Tucker on the other hand challenges the viewer in every scene. He's the flamboyant, loveable fool that I'd no love for. He was as welcome as an ex-girlfriend at a funeral.

2½ assumptions out of 5

Strangeland (1998)

aka: Dee Snider's Strangeland

Dee Snider was lead singer of the band Twisted Sister; perhaps he still is, I don't know if they're together any more. He's a great showman and a superb vocalist. What Dee Snider isn't is an actor, and he’s most certainly not a script writer. The film is trite and lifeless. It tells a slightly different version of the idea Snider first used in a TS song in 1984. Howdy is a pervert with a fascination for young people. The song said "Stay away from captain Howdy." I say "Stay away from Strangeland."

1 there's a comic version as well if you're keen out of 5

JACOB'S LADDER [1990]

Jacob's Ladder is a film I'm always hesitant to revisit in it's entirety.
If you know what it's like to lose control of your mind, have it play tricks on you and lie to you for extended periods of time then you are probably familiar with the horrors of Jacob's Ladder.
Director Adrian Lyne creates an astonishing sense of naked vulnerability, paranoia with the familiar and gut wrenching mourning and loneliness. The confusion, sadness and distant warmth behind his eyes establishes this as one of Tim Robbins' best performances to date. Danny Aiello's small but vital part thankfully lifts the weight of suffocation from the rest of the film's dark tones.
It's not so much a horror film but more a psychologically terrifying drama that will probably haunt you for quite some time after. That being said, I can honestly recommend this as a worthy film in The Nutshell's Horror Hall Of Fame.

5 hobo tails out of 5