Firefly

Had enough of sequels yet?

Here we are in the seventh weekend of the summer season, and we’ve already had six sequels. This week it’s "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," last week it was "Ocean’s Thirteen," next week it’s "Evan Almighty," a movie most folks don’t even realize is a sequel (or at least a spin-off) to "Bruce Almighty," a movie few even remember.

Then it’s on to "Live Free or Die Hard," and the madness continues all the way through "Rush Hour 3" in August, possibly the least anticipated sequel ever. Hollywood rarely makes a sequel to a movie that I want to see a sequel to. This mostly has to do with my favorite films being underachieving cult faves, but every once in a while, it’s actually a matter of one of the stars turning away wheelbarrows of money and saying, "No, once was enough."

Usually, it’s action fare that begs for sequel treatment. So any list of five movies I’d like to see a sequel to would probably consist of under-appreciated flicks with a healthy amount of gunplay. And as a matter of fact, it does. Here, then, are five movies I’d go see a sequel to:

"True Romance" (1993): How long would Clarence and Alabama Worley be able to sunbathe on that Mexican beach before growing restless, especially when Clarence’s daddy (Dennis Hopper) was shot dead by mob guy Christopher Walken? Quentin Tarantino’s first script leaves lots of possibilities open for a second, and both QT and director Tony Scott could use some work, not to mention stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. Make it happen.

"The Bodyguard" (1992): Don’t think people haven’t tried to lure Kevin Costner back into that haircut. He’s just not into sequels. But he might make this if somebody would finance his next western. No need to involve Whitney Houston, though; who needs all the nuttiness and those dance moves? The one mainline hit on my list, it could fly.

"Out of Sight" (1998): This was the best adaptation ever of an Elmore Leonard novel and everyone involved — from George Clooney to Jennifer Lopez to director Steven Soderbergh — could use a hit right now. All the main characters were left alive and mischievous, so let’s get it on.

"The Long Kiss Goodnight" (1996): Geena Davis, come back. Well, come back to this role as a schizophrenic hitwoman anyway. This story about an amnesiac schoolteacher who recalls her former life as an assassin was possibly the great unheralded action flick of the ’90s, and again, none of the good guys died. It also had a way cool Samuel L. Jackson role, too; and he could use a smash.

"Serenity" (2005): OK, I know, this just came out a couple of years ago, and it only made $30 million and starred absolutely nobody. But it was the best space Western ever, infused with imagination, wit and soul by writer-director Joss Whedon and starring forever-waiting-to-explode Nathan Fillion.

Yeah, I know, wishful thinking. Get back in line for "Ocean’s Thirteen." Well, no thanks, I’m going home to watch "Long Kiss" again. If I can’t get a sequel I’ll just have to watch the original.

Over and over and over and over ...