The Serpent and the Rainbow

Dennis Alan, a Harvard anthropologist, heads down to Haiti to look for a drug used in zombification rituals, hoping to find the next super anesthetic. With the help of Dr. Marielle Duchamp, Dennis locates Christophe Durand, a man who had been pronounced dead several years earlier and who has since become a local legend. Dennis' quest for the drug is complicated after he runs up against Captain Dargent Peytraud, a high ranking member of the secret police, who warns Dennis to leave Haiti or face consequences worse than death. The Serpent and the Rainbow has some amazing locations and great camera work, but seems to be missing some connective tissue. Overdubbed narration is used several times to smooth over some of the gaps, but some scenes are still awkwardly joined. 

Rating: 62%

(Image from IMDB)

Four to Doomsday

After a strong magnetic field throws the TARDIS off course, the Doctor and his companions find themselves on a spaceship headed for Earth. Overseen by Monarch, the ship contains billions of Urbankans and several Earthling guests from the distant past. While Monarch would have the Doctor believe that his intentions are peaceful, Monarch's guests suggest his plans for Earth are much more nefarious. And besides, if Monarch means no harm, why is his ship carrying all that poison? Four to Doomsday feels a lot like a First Doctor story. It takes place primarily on a spaceship and the Doctor gets a little cranky with his young companions. It's not hard to see why though. Tegan never stops complaining and Adric has gone full chauvinist prick. Nyssa, despite getting sidelined multiple times, is the only companion that doesn't seem to piss the Doctor off. It probably helps that she's able to stop a soldier from cutting off the Doctor's head.

Rating: Goodness me, you are a long way from home%

Sudden Death

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 7. Penguins vs Blackhawks. The energy inside the arena is electric. Security is extra tight because the Vice President is in attendance. What the Secret Service doesn't know, however, is that terrorists have rigged the arena with plastic explosives. Thankfully, there's a man inside the building with all the necessary goal keeping and ass kicking skills to save the day: a fire marshal named Darren. It's basically Die Hard at a hockey game. JCVD stars as Darren the fire marshal, who picks the absolute worst day to take his kids to work, and Powers Boothe plays the leader of the terrorists. Sudden Death is a fun, straightforward action movie. Easily one of the better JVCD movies out there. What the movie lacks in originality, it make up for in scenes where JCVD fights a terrorist in a mascot costume. 

Rating: 66%

(Image from Wikipedia)

UHF

George Newman, a dreamer and a screw-up struggling to hold down a job, gets his big break when he's given the opportunity to run his uncle's low-budget TV station. When George's wacky new programming ideas start to find an audience, he runs afoul of the local network affiliate. There are lines and bits from UHF that have been burned into my memory for the last 30+ years that will likely be with me until the day I die. Are some of the parodies in the movie dated now? Yes. Have some of the cast gone on to do bad things. Sure. That said, if Spatula City doesn't make you smile, you might not have a soul. 

Rating: 81%

(Image from Wikipedia)