Alien Nation (1988) Dir: Graham Baker

When the plaudits were being handed out to District 9, seems everyone had completely forgotten about this little curio.

The plot:
In 1991, the world has had three years to get used to the idea of aliens' existence. A spaceship hoved into view and, desperate, they are introduced to human society. See, the aliens were genetically programmed to be slaves and, now arriving on the comparatively decadent Earth, it's not too long before The Newcomers develop the same vices and weaknesses as their human hosts.
We follow two cops, one human, James Caan's Matthew Sykes and one Newcomer, Mandy Patinkin's Samuel 'George' Francisco who begin to investigate a series of violent crimes that may expose the sinister underbelly of both humans and visitors alike.

Critically panned, this still gained enough of a cult following to spurn a one season run of a TV show. The problems with the concept are pretty clear as, frankly, this is nought but Lethal Weapon with aliens but, that being said, it's very, very watchable.
James 'Sonny' Caan is eminently engaging, as is Patinkin as the Newcomer cop.
True, the plot starts to run out of steam a little towards the end but, regardless, there are enough novel ideas here to engage - the Newcomers get drunk off sour milk, human penises are insignificant, sea water is acid to the aliens' skin - and, whilst the script is a little hackneyed, somehow the momentum sees it through.
Not the best, then, but certainly good enough that I will be checking out the TV show.
Decent sci-fi.

4 out of 5

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) Dir: Fran Rubel Kuzui

There are certain movies and TV shows that define era's, specifically when you are something of a genre geek, happy to lap up any old nonsense just so long as there is a spaceship, a zombie, an oversized tentacle or, perish the thought, a vampire involved.
Star Wars, Close Encounters, Poltergeist, Predator, The X Files, Battlestar Galactica.
You get the idea.
The TV series that spawned from this full scale movie was a classic in its own right. True enough, the first three seasons are head and shoulders superior to what followed - you know, like, the one's where, like, Joss Whedon actually, like, had major involvement, and stuff - but still, the series as a whole had a satisfying feel to it. We had beautiful twenty something's running around sunny California, pretending to be teenagers, killing vampires and zombies and Inca Mummy Girls and Lizard Boys and teachers that turn into Giant Praying Mantis'.
I mean, what's not to love, douche bag?
So, with a sense of relative optimism, albeit eighteen years too late, I sat down to watch the movie that kickstarted the whole thing.
And what a load of old cobblers it is.
Maybe it's age, but this was an afront to everything I hold dear.
Dreadful, shrieking, shrill vacuous bints prattling on about their hair and their shoes and their dates and how their parents are, like, soooo lame.
Look, I know it was deliberate.
I fully understand that Joss Whedon was caricaturing the empty headed Jock and Jockette dullards that infest American High Schools and are preened over while the thinkers and the artists are called horrid names year after agonising year until they can take no more, grab their father's gun and load up on bullets bought from Walmart before going on a kill crazy rampage around their hometown.
I get all of that.
But it still didn't help the viewing experience.
Truthfully, I never reached the end, and really have not the energy to comment on this debacle any further.
Avoid like a swollen member dripping pus.
Looooser.