“Meg 2: The Trench” does what it’s supposed to do in giving the viewers a fun, exciting fantasy thrill ride with no holds barred.   Jason Statham returns in the lead role of Jonas Taylor, a gung-ho adventurer whose unsubstantiated claims of a giant fish, actually a megalodon or prehistoric giant shark, turned out to be true. In a nifty throwback, the little Chihuahua named Pippin from the original “Meg” makes an appearance. The sequel put a smile on my face when the dog from the 2018 original was still alive and kicking.

I think I’ve said this before, but when entering into “The Fast and the Furious” universe, don’t expect any “Shakespeare” or grandiose soliloquies. Besides Vin Diesel’s mumblings and grumblings, the real scene chewing comes from Jason Momoa’s character Dante. He’s just in this for a paycheck. He’s just showy the whole movie.

“Punch-Drunk Love” (2002) -- Well-done drama that proves Sandler isn’t just a comedic buffoon all the time, acting next to a standout performance from Emily Watson. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, this film is prestige from beginning to end. “Uncut Gems” (2019) -- Sandler is kind of a sleaze in this one, running a diamond store in New York City. He acquaints himself with basketball superstar Kevin Garnett in a series of increasingly poor decisions over the course of a week.

“Saving Private Ryan” (1998) -- Sizemore por- trayed Sgt. Horvath, part of Capt. Miller’s (Tom Hanks) platoon in Steven Spielberg’s World War II classic. Spiel- berg took home the Best Di- rector Academy Award for this war drama masterpiece.

“Mud” is a great movie, a character and that soggy goo at the bottom of one America’s great rivers, the Mississippi. “Mud,” the movie, is a modern coming-of-age drama of two teenage boys, as well a getaway story of Mud, a mystery man.

The movie is about truth, trust and relationships between family, friends and first teenage loves and heartbreaks. Be very careful who you trust, otherwise you may be disappointed, betrayed and maybe even murdered.

Early on in this year’s Academy Awards race, I thought Benedict Cumberbatch was going to win for his lead role in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” Things changed, however, when Will Smith won the Screen Actors Guild award for his turn as the patriarch of the Williams sisters in “King Richard.”

Also nominated for Best Actor Oscars are Javier Bardem in “Being the Ricardos,” Andrew Garfield in “Tick, Tick ... Boom!” and Denzel Washington in the Shakespeare adaptation “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” I think Smith will win for his role as the loving dad in “King Richard.”

The Best Actress race has a plethora of characters with various strong turns all around. This includes Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Olivia Colman for “The Lost Daughter,” Kristen Stewart for “Spen- cer,” Nicole Kidman for “Being the Ricardos” and Penélope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers.” Save for Chastain, all the other nominees have won some sort of Oscar.

Entertainment Editor Ricky Miller’s movie reviews honoring the career of the late Sidney Poitier