Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach

Commandant Lassard and (most of) his favorite Academy graduates head down to a police convention in Miami Beach, where Lassard is set to be honored as the Police Officer of the Decade. But, after a mix-up at the airport, Lassard gets kidnapped by some jewel thieves. Can our favorite cops rescue Lassard and stop the crooks or will Proctor and Captain Harris just mess things up again? The gags are bigger and more cartoonish in Police Academy 5 but the change in scenery keeps things from getting too stale. Tab Thacker returns as Officer House from Citizens on Patrol and, in this installment, we're introduced to Commandant Lassard's nephew, Sergeant Nick Lassard. Nick is played by Matt McCoy, who does a good job, but, let's be honest, he's no Steve Guttenberg.

Rating: 62%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: The jewel thieves include René Auberjonois from Deep Space Nine, Archie Hahn from Meatballs Part II (and several Joe Dante movies) and Ruben Rabasa from the focus group sketch in I Think You Should Leave.

Shada

The Doctor and Romana are summoned to Cambridge by Professor Chronotis. The Professor, a retired Time Lord, asks the Doctor to return a book he borrowed from the Panopticon Archive on Gallifrey. The book, The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey, is actually an important artifact that contains clues to the location of Shada, the secret Time Lord prison planet. But returning the book won't be easy because, 1. the Professor accidentally loaned the book out to a colleague and 2. there are other parties who mean to get the book for themselves. Shada, famously, was never completed. A technician strike halted filming partway through and the BBC decided not to finish filming after the strike ended. Some of the footage from the serial was later used in The Five Doctors, after Tom Baker declined to appear in the special. Fans first got to see the remaining footage in 1992, when a reconstruction of the serial was released on VHS. In 2017, Shada was released on DVD with the missing scenes recreated via animation. And in 2021, the serial was updated again for the Blu-ray release. While it's fantastic that Shada was eventually released, it's not exactly a hidden treasure. Of all the Doctor Who scripts credited to Douglas Adams, Shada might be the worst one. The characters aren't particularly interesting, there aren't many jokes and the plot isn't very compelling.

Rating: You've got a lot to unlearn%

Con Air

After serving eight years for manslaughter, former Army Ranger Cameron Poe is on his way home to his wife and the daughter he's never met when his prison transfer plane is hijacked by the criminals onboard. It's just that simple. Con Air, if you didn't already know, is a sensational action movie from the late 90s. Nicolas Cage and his ridiculous accent are backed up by a murderer's row of talented character actors, including: John Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Colm Meaney, Dave Chappelle and Danny Trejo. The movie is expertly constructed and moves at a brisk pace. The action scenes are well done and there's enough humor in the movie to keep it from being too serious. The funniest part might be that, by the end, the movie has you rooting for Steve Buscemi's character, a notoriously brutal serial killer.

Rating: 80%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Wild Life

Seen by some as a spiritual sequel to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Wild Life is an easygoing coming-of-age comedy. The film focuses on Bill (Eric Stoltz), Bill's younger brother Jim (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), Bill's ex-girlfriend Anita (Lea Thompson), Anita's friend Eileen (Jenny Wright) and Eileen's party animal boyfriend Tom (Chris Penn). Hoping to make the big leap into adulthood, Bill gets his first apartment. He reluctantly takes Tom on as a roommate to help make ends meet. Anita starts dating a cop, who turns out to be married. Eileen tries, desperately, to get Tom to grow up. And Jim slowly learns that there might be more to life than heavy metal and the Vietnam war. It's a little surprising that The Wild Life never became a big hit, it has a lot going for it. The main characters are backed up by a fantastic supporting cast, including Rick Moranis, Hart Bochner, Randy Quaid and Ben Stein. The score is done Eddie Van Halen, which gives the movie a nice, propulsive energy. While not as universally appealing as Fast Times, The Wild Life is definitely a fascinating slice of life flick.

Rating: 72%

(Image from Wikipedia)