Too Much (1987)

**

Screened as part od the Night Drop Box.

The box art for this movie is fantastic, my mind instantly thinks Short Circuit and I am quickly transported back to my early rental days. The cover however overpowers the movie, it just never lives up to the promise.

I hated the girls face, felt the music was all over the place and the film very ordinary. I thought we were going to hear the girls narration the whole way through the movie but thankfully for my sanity she belted up, it was getting too much.

The movie starts rushed but towards the end of the movie it does start to level itself out and become genuinely intriguing. One major plus pointis the fact that I got to see alot of Japan, a place i'm dying to visit one day soon. Very creepy when the 'WE ARE FOR TOO MUCH!" starts to riot. - That needs to be seen to be believed. I was properly freaked out when that theme kept playing.

A lesson to parents everywhere, don't give your kids everything.

Submarine (2010)

****

I love Ayoade and his acting work so I was very much looking forward to seeing him direct, especially considering Paddy Considine was on board too.

This has a fantastc feel to it, reminded me a lot of my other favourite British movies like A Room For Romeo Brass and Cemetery Junction (I know most hated that one). I loved the relationship between Oliver and his parents, the way he communicated with his mom was hilarious. Using quotes from her books and spying on her from the stairs. Genius!
I also loved the sweet relationship between him and Jordana, again it reminded me of other favourites like Nick and Norah and also 500 Days of Summer. I also tip my complimentary cap to Ayoade for the use of VHS, I wanna know where I can get my hands on one of Graham's tapes.

Beautiful story, well written and perfectly executed. I can't praise this one enough. Ayoade, i'm on board!

Super (2010)

***

I'm not a huge comic book reader but I do quite like my super hero movies, or even anti-super hero for that matter. I wasn't even aware that this film was in the planning stages let alone been made, Ellen Page always makes me want to part with money.

The only thing I can think of is that they held this film back due to the increasing amount of anti-superhero movies coming out on the back of the Kick-Ass success. Take Defendor for instance with Woody Harrelson, this is exactly the same type of movie as that but with a better script and better executed.

I'd say that if you like Ghost World and Defendor you'll like this movie. I can't think of a time when I would ever rewatch this which makes it sound like I didn't like it, that's not true, it does have a good feel to it and it was quite graphic in parts but it just didn't blow me a away like I thought it was going to. Both Ellen Page and Rainn Wilson were excellent, the Bacon was quite good too but I thought Liv Tyler was a little miscast.

Good but not great, with the cast on show I was expecting a little more.

Unknown (2011)

**

Billed up to be the next Taken, I was a little more than excited to see this movie.

First off, Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger are really great and without those two this would be a gigantic waste of anybody's time, because I thought January Jones was dreadful. Frank Langella weirdly pops up, similar to how Neeson shows up in The Next Three Days, and I thought he was quite flat too.
Apart from the acting of a select few, this is a pretty decent thriller and like Taken it gets going straight into the plot from the get go. I was intrigued by the story and was genuinely interested in how it was all going to pan out.

This film is sadly no Taken, or Taken 2. It's just a decent thriller that's fit to watch on a Sunday night when there's nothing better on TV. You won't leave thinking you've just seen something great but you won't feel bored or even agry that you watched it. Mainly for Neeson though, a major coup for the director to get him on bored.

Limitless (2011)

***½

The trailer had intrigued me with this film but other than that I was pretty clueless to it in terms of the reception and reviews. I quite like Bradley Cooper, he seems like a pretty likeable guy and has a good enough screen presence to carry a film.

Like many of my must-see's this year, this one didn't disappoint. It kept me entertained and gripped from the moment go. I was a little let down by the ending but it didn't affect my overall opinion of the movie. Bradley Cooper is superb in the role and Robert De Niro can actually hold his head up high for slecting a decent script, his talent has been left wanting with his previous efforts.

This one was never going to break down the walls of cinema but like a Tony Scott movie, it definitely delivered the thrills for me.

Hobo With A Shotgun (2011)

****

For some strange reason I had forgotten that this film was based on a fake trailer for Grindhouse, it was just completely erased from my memory. I did however manage to find out about the making of this movie while doing some random searching on imdb, and my mind was completely blown. I wanted to watch it like no other film in pre or post-production.

Fortunately unlike Machete this one absolutely lived up to the hype for me in the same way that it has for everbody else. I think the last 25 minutes of the film are it's most strongest scenes and definitely worth waiting for, the soundtrack is also incredible, so fitting. I loved the opening credit sequence on the train, it reminded me a hell of a lot of Ti West's House of the Devil, such a throwback. Rutger is immense throughout and normally I can forgive the bad acting as it's intentional, but the two brothers in this were just downright silly to the point of annoyance. It's very quotable though and don't be surprised if you're at work the next morning saying "I'd eat the peanuts out of her shit".
This movie was made with us home video loves in mind, I couldn't be happier to tell you that it works.

The latter half of the film is where my like turns to pure love, you can't help but not love it. I just can't wait to see what Eisener does next, the world finally has some raw talent to unleash on the rest of us.

Best of the Best (1989)

***

This movie started very strongly, that opening credit track was sensational. Sadly the movie took a bit of a nose dive right after and never recovered.

Now I love my martial arts movies, Bloodsport, Kickboxer, No Retreat No Surrender etc. but for the life of me I just could not get into this one like I should have. The characters were pretty lifeless, which is more than I can say for Eric Roberts's hair, gorgeous is how I would describe that. The acting isn't too bad and the fighting scenes are superbly and violently executed, especially the ones involving Tommy. I thought Penn's character was an asshole, the intention I know, but seriously? Come on.

The nail in the coffin for me was the final scene, the big fight off. I won't name names because it would spoil it for some but basically it's the dialogue and acting in those final few moments that sealed it's fate.
 James Early Jones was also very annoying, I wanted to drop kick his miserable ass throughout.

A very average martial arts movie that tries to pull above it's weight but just can't seem to break through. See Kickboxer instead, or any other Van Damme movie for that matter.