Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Time has passed since the park was rebooted and the dinosaurs have made it their home. A volcano is set to erupt on Isla Nubar and the animal activists (and shareholders) want to save the dinos, despite scientists like Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) warning for nature to take its course and get rid of the unholy abominations once and for all. And so back we go, into the belly of the beast...

These movies aren't rocket science. What you're going to get is nature turning on man, once more. It does enough right that it's passable, popcorn-munching entertainment, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to like it.

2½ clones out of 5

Alien Nation (1988)

A buddy cop movie with a difference: one of the cops is an alien and the other is a contemptuous, racist and xenophobic human who debases the entire alien race on a daily basis, so not exactly buddies. Nevertheless, they've a case to solve, so they knuckle down to work.
It works best if you view the aliens as representative of cultural minorities in our own society, but you can ignore that aspect completely and enjoy it as a straight up cop movie if you want because Caan and Patinkin have the kind of onscreen chemistry that would be a joy to watch even if they were investigating the murder of a goldfish.

3½ inappropriate names out of 5

Escape from L.A. (1996)

Snake's back! He’s blackmailed into retrieving something from a lame criminal that resembles a boutique Che Guevara.
The political statements and satire are where you’d expect them to be, but something went very wrong with the rest of the film. It’s more comic book than before and the script is so bad that it comes off like a parody of the first film, which is something the last half hour seems to play up to. It'd be easy to pretend otherwise, but the truth is it's not a worthy sequel.

2 shitty modes of transport out of 5

They Live (1988)

Obey. Consume. Marry and Reproduce. Sound familiar?

Roddy Piper is the everyman who, with the help of some special glasses, stumbles onto a dark secret about the world we live in.

Carpenter made a scathing, social commentary wrapped up in an action movie bun long before Verhoven did. It's a classic B Movie that's so good I'm going to call it a B+ Movie. They Live is perfect weekend entertainment with the added bonus of being food for thought.

4 fuglies out of 5

Prince of Darkness (1987)

Inside a container, deep in a vault beneath an unused Church, sits something old and evil that's almost ready to make an unwelcome comeback.
Prince of Darkness is kind of silly; it's got some Carpenter stock actors and his usual directorial flair, but the script, essentially his version of Quatermass and the Pit (1967), doesn't hold up under scrutiny. The characters have no background; they're students, called in to assess the ultimate evil, not exactly believable. It's plodding, has poor humour and a number of inconsistencies.
So why watch it?  It's held together by an accomplished film technique, by actors Donald Pleasence and Victor Wong, and a great musical score. If that's enough to sustain your interest, you'll maybe like it, too.

3 green cocktails out of 5