“Best of the Best” is a great sports film. It’s a little like “The Karate Kid” meets “Bloodsport” and that’s a great combination. It’s a very realistic martial arts film and I actually think the style works really well here. We also have a lot of big names in here and a surprisingly interesting plot.

We follow the American team as they prepare for a martial arts tournament in South Korea. They are the best fighters from across the country but they will have to train like their lives depend on it if they are going to stand a chance of defeating their Korean opponents. Along the way, they will have to deal with various personal struggles.

The American fighters include Eric Roberts (“The Expendables”, “Runaway Train”), Phillip Rhee (“The Kentucky Fried Movie”) and Chris Penn (“Reservoir Dogs”, “Rush Hour”). I particularly enjoyed the performance from Roberts and Rhee is clearly an excellent martial artist. Even though he’s not a professional martial artist like Rhee, Roberts looks surprisingly convincing during his fight scenes. Easily the biggest name in here has to be James Earl Jones (“Field Of Dreams”, “Conan The Barbarian”) as their coach. Also, Kane Hodder from several of the “Friday The 13th” films has a small appearance as a thug in a bar.

“Best of the Best” is an underrated martial arts flick. It did have several sequels but it’s not a film I’ve heard mentioned enough. Some people have criticised it for its similarities to other sports films such as “Rocky”. However, I think this film is entertaining enough to be worth watching regardless. The fight scenes are really entertaining, especially the tournament fights at the end. If you’ve seen other fighting tournament films then this one will seem very grounded in comparison to movies such as “Enter The Dragon” and “Bloodsport” but it’s still entertaining. All the action feels realistic and that’s what I really like.

Most people know that films based on videogames are generally very poor. Whether it’s “Tomb Raider”, “Street Fighter” or “Doom”, they just never seem to turn out right. However, if one man is to be held responsible for the genre’s bad reputation, it’s Uwe Boll.

The German filmmaker has directed several films inspired by videogames. He did “House of the Dead”, “Alone In The Dark” and “BloodRayne”. They are three movies that not only often top lists of worst films based on videogames, but they are also sometimes found on lists of worst films in general. He has also directed adaptations of “Far Cry”, “Dungeon Siege” and “Postal”. However, he has not limited his career to just videogame movies. His films include “Rampage”, which is about a young man on a killing spree. He also did “Tunnel Rats”, arguably the worst Vietnam War movie you will ever see. We of course cannot forget “Blubberella”, an action/comedy where Boll cast himself as Hitler.

You are probably wondering how he keeps getting the money to make dreadful film after dreadful film. Well, Boll is controversial for exploiting a loophole in the German tax system. This enabled him to profit from making movies that made a loss at the box-office. Sort of like he’s in “The Producers”. Okay, so you probably think this guy is just in it for the money but he takes his work seriously. In fact, if you disagree with the guy, he will challenge you to a boxing match. You can find footage of him pounding the faces of several film critics that had bashed his movies.

Since changes to Germany’s tax system, Boll has found it increasingly challenging to finance his films. People now seem less eager to hand over their money to Boll, leading to a hilarious foul-mouthed rant after a crowdfunding campaign failed.

Godfrey Ho is a director from Hong Kong and is believed to have directed more than a hundred films. However, unlike any normal filmmaker, Ho made his films by stitching together bits and pieces of other films with new content like some mad scientist.

Ho mainly made martial arts movies such as “Ninja Terminator”, “Ninja Dragon”, “The Ninja Squad”, “Golden Ninja Warrior”, “Ninja The Protector” and pretty much anything else to do with ninjas. He made these movies by taking bits from obscure and/or unfinished films, dubbing them and inserting several ninja sequences that he filmed. A lot of the time, the other films he used were not even martial arts movies so basically you will be sat watching a crime film and then for no real reason, some ninjas will start flipping across the screen. Sometimes, Ho would manipulate the footage in such a way so it looked like characters from one film would be having a conversation with characters from the other film but he was not very good at it.

Richard Harrison, an American actor that is a regular in Ho’s movies. Whether or not it has any relevance to anything else that is going on, you will routinely see him flipping his way across the screen in a ninja costume.

Ho also didn’t seem to care much about copyright as he blatantly steals sounds from major Hollywood movies including Star Wars. Also, check out the poster for a little film called Robo Vampire and see if you think the character bears any resemblance to RoboCop.

Lots of low-budget films feature lots of violence, nudity and cheesy special effects but the folks at Troma are the Olympic gold medallists of bad taste cinema. For decades, they have been making movies that you would not dare show your family or employers.

Their most famous work has to be “The Toxic Avenger” movies. They follow the exploits of a wimpy teen turned mutant monster superhero as he brutally murders bad guys and then goes home to make love to his blind girlfriend. The film features shocking acts of violence including a child’s head being crushed by a car. What’s even more shocking is that the Toxic Avenger got his own kids’ cartoon show just a few years later.

However, Troma have done plenty of other movies including “Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.” about a bumbling New York cop that gets the mystical martial arts powers of a Japanese folk opera performer. Sadly, it was not as successful as “The Toxic Avenger”. Other films from them include “Class Of Nuke ‘Em High” and “Troma’s War”.

They also did “Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead”, a horror/comedy/musical, which has a scene where a burqa-wearing Muslim woman tries to save a redneck from a possessed chicken by ramming a broom up his rear and poking it through his genitals. Where’s the kids’ cartoon of this? However, their crowning achievement in sick and twisted humour is probably Terror Firmer where a hermaphrodite serial killer, who likes to stick pickles (that’s not a euphemism by the way) into a woman’s privates, tries to rape a woman only for her to turn the tables and force herself on him. I’m seeing why this one did not get a cartoon series. In fact, the whole movie is so graphic that a censored version exists where Lloyd Kaufman, the movie’s director and founder of Troma, merely explains the most offensive scenes in great detail instead of showing them.

Troma do not just make their own films, they also help distribute other movies. They have distributed films such as “Surf Nazis Must Die” and “Killer Condom”. They also distributed the first movie by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the creators of South Park). That is of course “Cannibal! The Musical”. Parker and Stone actually have a cameo in “Terror Firmer” as hermaphrodites.

They are truly an insane company yet nobody seems to put as much effort into schlock as they do.

Unless you’ve been living on Mars (like “Total Recall”), you will of course know that in late 2019 and into 2020, the world has been affected in a profound way by the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. With cases in almost every country, life as we know has been put on hold. The pandemic has been a truly global event so it is very likely that it will inspire filmmakers to tell stories relating to it.

We’ve had countless films from “Saving Private Ryan” to “Jojo Rabbit” about WWII. Even much smaller events such as the 9/11 inspired several movies including “United 93”. Therefore, it feels almost inevitable that we will eventually have lots of films about the pandemic.

Some films have already adapted to this strange period such as “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” where the titular character finds himself having to quarantine due to the lockdown restrictions. However, I do worry about the artistic value of lots of potential films about Coronavirus. We’ve had films about diseases before such as “Contagion” and “Cabin Fever”. However, this pandemic has had a unique impact on the world in the way that it has forced most of the world’s population to live under severe restrictions. There are no killer zombies like in “World War Z” and there’s no mass destruction caused to cities like disaster films such as “Knowing”. For most people, this has been a boring experience where we have been sat indoors a lot more. How do you make an interesting film about that?

Movies are great at offering us a look at exciting worlds that are unlike anything we are likely to experience in our lives. Even when films are based on historical fact, as is the case with many war films, they are intriguing to us because we didn’t live during that time and experience those challenges. We might find ourselves watching somebody else sat in their home, contemplating what to watch on tv as they can’t go and meet their friends. It doesn’t sound like great entertainment to me.

Also, this whole period has caused distress to people around the world. Affecting people’s businesses as well as their social and religious commitments. Many in the filmmaking industry may feel particularly unhappy about wanting to remember a global event that decimated it. Cinemas and productions around the world were shut with no clarity on when business would be back to normal. Do we really want our escapist entertainment to remind us of the uncertainty and anxiety?

Bruce Campbell (“Evil Dead”, “Bubba Ho-Tep”) plays an exaggerated version of himself in this self-aware comedy. Sadly, it isn’t very funny and will most likely only impress those who are huge fans of Campbell.

In the small town of Goldlick, a group of teenagers unwittingly release the Chinese God of War, who is now going around decapitating everyone. For some reason, instead of the army, the town recruit down-on-his-luck B movie star Bruce Campbell to lead the fight against the monster. Campbell assumes the whole thing is another cheesy movie but when he face-to-face with the creature, he realizes this is all real.

It’s hard to say whether someone is a good actor when they’re playing themselves but based on his performance in other films, I think Bruce Campbell is an alright action star and it’s a shame he ended up being the star of countless bad movies (lots of them didn’t even make to theatres). Ted Rami, who you might remember having small parts in some of Campbell’s other films, makes several appearances as a few characters but none of them are very fun to watch. The other characters are really badly written and don’t aid the film at all. The creature is forgettable.

“My Name Is Bruce” made me laugh at times but the issue is that the film is really badly written at times. There were lots of things in this film that didn’t work for me including the irritating song explaining the backstory and the numerous appearances by Ted Rami. This movie is nothing more than a monument to the fact that Bruce Campbell could have been a big star (especially after hits such as “Army Of Darkness”). However, he just became a B movie star. If you’re a big fan of Bruce Campbell then check this one out but otherwise, I think you should skip it.

In the early 2000s, there was a new obsession Hollywood’s horror movie scene. We quickly saw the release of American remakes of several Japanese horror films, known as ‘J-Horror’.

We got “The Ring” (based on “Ringu”) and it was a big hit so it was not long before we got “The Grudge” (based on “Ju-On: The Grudge”), “Dark Water” and “One Missed Call”. All of these films were very similar with the use of ghostly women with long, dark hair. Why suddenly did America seem to be fixated on horror from Japan? Well, Hollywood remakes of Japanese films were nothing new.

Many Westerns were based on samurai films such as “The Magnificent Seven” (based on “Seven Samurai”) and “A Fistful Of Dollars” (based on “Yojimbo”). Hollywood had also remade other Japanese films such as “Godzilla”. The 1998 American remake significantly changed the monster and took place in New York instead of Tokyo.

However, unlike these other films, the horror films were very similar to their original counterparts. “The Grudge” was even set in Japan and used some of the same cast members. Some of these horror remakes felt essentially more like a chance for the same ideas to be given a larger budget. This is interesting as it also helped Japanese horror gain new audiences across the world. Suddenly, filmgoers from Europe and America flocked to check out other Japanese horror cinema offerings such as “Audition” and “Tokyo Gore Police”.

Ultimately, some of these remakes were disappointing but I’m glad that it helped make an important part of Japanese cinema more accessible to other audiences.

“Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors” is an interesting British horror flick. It has some big names in it and the film has a great style but it’s just not scary. The whole thing plays out like a collection of rejected “Twilight Zone” episodes.

A group of men board a train. One of them is Dr. Schreck (Peter Cushing “Star Wars”, “Dr. Who and the Daleks”), a mysterious fortune teller. Using tarot cards, he reads the alleged futures of the other men in the carriage. Each story proves to be a dark tale of death. Is this truly the future or is it all nonsense?

Peter Cushing is fantastic here as Dr. Schreck. Christopher Lee (“The Wicker Man”, “The Man With The Golden Gun”) is excellent as Franklyn Marsh. These two have appeared together onscreen many times and here they have some wonderful interactions as Marsh is the most sceptical of Schreck’s abilities. Other famous cast members include Donald Sutherland (“The Hunger Games”), Bernard Lee (“Dr. No”) and Michael Gough (“Batman”). The best sequences are the ones on the train where Schreck and the other men are in the confined space on the train. Some of the other characters are less impressive.

“Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors” has a really charming style and I enjoyed some of the performances. However, the fortunes themselves are a disappointment. They often don’t really go anywhere and feel a little too short; everything feels a little rushed. As I mentioned, it feels like they rejected “Twilight Zone” material. It’s a shame too because the parts on the train are actually quite entertaining. If you are a big fan of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, maybe check this one out but don’t expect too much. It’s certainly better than some other horror anthologies out there such as “Crepshow”.

“My Lucky Stars” is a Hong Kong action/comedy and the second instalment in the “Five Lucky Stars” franchise. The movie caught my attention because Jackie Chan (“Twin Dragons”, “Police Story 2”) is in it but unfortunately, he’s not the star and this is definitely more of a comedy picture than an action one. Most of it plays more like a film starring the Marx Brothers than a high-octane action flick such as “Police Story”.

Muscles (Chan) is a Hong Kong cop that is in Japan to pursue a ninja gang. His partner (Yuen Biao “Righting Wrongs”) is captured by the gang and so Muscles needs the help of a group of moronic friends.

Jackie Chan appears mainly during the opening scene and the third act but he is mostly absent from the middle of the movie. Still, he’s entertaining when he is onscreen. It’s also funny to see him wear a mascot outfit of Arale from “Dr. Slump”. Biao gets even less time to show off his moves. The real star is Sammo Hung (“Ip Man 2”), who leads the ‘Lucky Stars’. Their antics are relatively amusing but they do become a little tedious. Also, Bolo Yeung (“Bloodsport”) has a brief appearance.

“My Lucky Stars” starts off with a fun car chase and some action but then it becomes all about the comedy until the finale. As I said, the parts with the ‘Lucky Stars’ (the majority of the film) did contain funny moments but it still feels a little boring and tedious. It’s a shame because Jackie Chan (and indeed Sammo Hung) are good at combining the action and the comedy. Here, it feels like the action and the comedy has been separated. Those that like Hong Kong comedy movies might enjoy this one. Also, those that are determined to see as many Jackie Chan films as they can will want to tick it off their list.

I’ve always admired Disney for not throwing in dirty jokes but “My Favourite Martian” chucks in quite a few and the worst crime it commits is that it isn’t especially funny. It’s another mediocre live-action film from the studio that only proves that their animated features are far superior.

The film begins as a probe on Mars breaks down just before encountering a city. Christopher Lloyd (“Suburban Commando”, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”) stars as a Martian with a talking suit, named Zoot (voiced by Wayne Knight “Toy Story 2”), that crash-lands on Earth. The alien finds himself staying with newsman Tim O’Hara (Jeff Daniels “Dumb and Dumber”, “Blood Work”). The Martian’s spaceship is damaged and is set to explode and the government is closing in on them.

It’s funny how the Martian’s human form to blend in is that of Christopher Lloyd, who really does seem like he’s on another planet. Lloyd is very good but unfortunately, the script is poor. Jeff Daniels is bland here and not much fun. Liz Hurley (“Passenger 57”, “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”) is actually quite funny as newswoman Brace Channing and it’s a shame she doesn’t get more screen-time. In fact, she should have been the one staying with the alien. Wallace Shawn (“Toy Story”) is alright as a quirky scientist until they imply he sexually abuses a woman.

This film has a man stick a camera into a woman’s changing room, an implied scene of sexual assault and a fat man preparing to go to the toilet on our main characters. This means no kid is going to want to see it because it is too gross and no parent is going to see it because the film is too dumb. It’s a real missed opportunity as Christopher Lloyd is a perfect choice.