The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Much like Spider-Man 3, the movie that killed Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is overstuffed with characters and storylines. And even though there are three villains in the movie, none of them get a whole lot of screen time. The Rhino bookends the film, Electro gets sidelined for a good chunk of the movie and Harry Osborn doesn't even become the Green Goblin until the last forty minutes of the movie. Just like the first Amazing Spider-Man film, the sequel invests more time into the backstory of Peter's parents. Which, ultimately, has very little impact on the plot. There are some well acted dramatic scenes in the movie, which is to be expected given the high caliber of the cast. The movie's biggest flaw might be that there's just not enough action and excitement. The ratio of tears shed to punches thrown might be 1:1 and that's just not a good formula for a Spider-Man movie.

Rating: 61%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Invasion of Time

The Doctor returns to Gallifrey, under mysterious circumstances, to claim the Presidency of the Council of Time Lords. Right away, Leela senses that something is wrong. The Doctor is acting strange. Stranger than usual, at least. After his induction, the Doctor appears to betray the Time Lords by helping the Vardans invade Gallifrey. While everyone else believes the Doctor to be a traitor, Leela remains convinced that the Doctor's actions are only part of a bigger plan. After the Vardans are defeated, it's revealed that they were merely pawns working under the direction of the Sontarans and the invasion of Gallifrey has only just begun. The Invasion of Time is a fairly middle of the road serial hampered by some poor lighting and production design. There are several scenes in the TARDIS control room that are lit in a weird magic hour style that makes no sense given the location. Most of the scenes on Gallifrey are very dark, possibly to cover for the lackluster sets. The serial ends with Leela and K9 staying behind on Gallifrey, ending their travels with the Doctor. Though, in a weird moment that breaks the fourth wall, the Doctor reveals a large cardboard box in the TARDIS containing another K9 unit.

Rating: Never heard of it%

Sidekicks

A shy kid moves to a new state. At first, he has trouble fitting in. He gets bullied at school and he can't get that one special girl to notice him. But all of that changes once he starts to learn martial arts. If you think I'm describing the plot of The Karate Kid, you'd be right but you might be interested to know that I'm also describing the plot of Sidekicks. In Sidekicks, that shy kid, played by Jonathan Brandis, is constantly getting lost in elaborate daydreams where he and Chuck Norris fight bloodless battles against hordes of nondescript bad guys. These daydreams, which are probably what got the movie made in the first place, tend to bog down the film, as they happen frequently and do nothing to advance the plot. Most of the action sequences in Sidekicks are riffs on earlier Chuck Norris films like Missing in Action and The Hitman. Thankfully, Sidekicks has a decent supporting cast, which includes Beau Bridges, Mako, Danica McKellar, Joe Piscopo, Richard Moll and Gerrit Graham. At the end of the day, Sidekicks is a pretty generic rip-off of The Karate Kid but it's not entirely charmless.

Rating: 59%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: Jonathan Brandis played the young Bill Denbrough in IT.

The Last American Virgin

The Last American Virgin is simultaneously a raunchy sex comedy and a tender coming of age story about friendship and unrequited love. The film is also jam packed with new wave hits by Blondie, The Cars, Devo, The Police, Journey, Oingo Boingo, and U2, among others. The soundtrack seems to have been a major marketing tool, as many of the bands featured in the movie were also listed on the poster. The Last American Virgin is a remake of the popular Israeli film Lemon Popsicle. Both films were written and directed by Boaz Davidson and were produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan, the go-go boys behind Cannon Films. What makes The Last American Virgin stand apart from similar films is its ending. I won't spoil it here, but I will tell you that it's a surprisingly poignant gut punch of an ending. 

Rating: 63%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: Lawrence Monoson played Ted, the vintage porn enthusiast, in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Diane Franklin played Monique, the French foreign exchange student, in Better Off Dead.