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shredfeak
Reviews
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
People have gone crazy, clone wars lived up to expectations
I'm so sick of people dissing star wars for wooden acting and poor dialog, if that's what you're looking for go see a Shakespeare play for cryin' out loud! I like Star Wars for action, I know - strange indeed. I'm some sort of freak for liking space ship battles, epic scale ground combat, and lightsaber duels, I've gone mad. The Clone Wars series has and will continue to exceed in these areas. All these "fans" (I use that word loosely) need to see is one or two scenes that don't live up to their elitist expectations and the whole thing is a disaster. Everyone's a negative critic these days. Too bad, you miss out on some great stuff when you can't enjoy things for what they are.
This is an animated series, visual artistry, and only the first part of a larger picture. Why would you expect anything different than the cartoon network clone mini series with better effects? Sure there's some bad one liners, some kid friendly things and the new padawan Ahsoka has too much screen time, but the action and insane visuals more than make up for that. Take the battle at the monastery, have you ever seen a vertical assault like that? It was stunning as was the battle of Christophis. Enough laser blasts to challenge Attack of the Clones as the most action in the series. Characters? We get Asaaj Ventress at her best, not to mention Dooku, Jabba, Yoda, Obi Wan, etc. The plot is fine. It made sense that the jedi would give Anakin an apprentice. That relationship worked. Great duels, chase scenes, and of course clones in action. I get into seeing the technology/machinery as well, and there is plenty between the droids, ships, and tanks. And this was just the beginning, the series looks like it is going to be off the charts cool. Can't wait.
Murder-Set-Pieces (2004)
fairly mediocre
What the other reviews have pointed out is right on track. It's far from a brilliant horror film, and relies on a LOT of sex and sadistic killing (which will be good or bad depending on your taste of course). I think this one may end up being known more for it's incredibly hot chicks than for the blood and gore. There's a TON of hot strippers/hookers, and mostly naked. A real surprise. Of course they always end up getting killed in brutal ways but that goes w/the territory i guess.
The best scene IMO is the one with Tony Todd (Candyman, NOTLD) in an adult books store. It's priceless to say the least. The creative aspect of film making is a bit weak in MSP. It's just too one dimensional, even though I like some of the elements. Give us more substance Nick. It's also not as gory as what the promoters would have you believe and the writing isn't very interesting. Fairly basic set-up: sicko takes girls to his house and has sex with them, then tortures/kills them. That's pretty much all there is to it.
Not a terrible movie, but not great either. There are some pretty original elements as far as hearing what goes on inside the killer's head. If the end had been better, it would get a higher rating. If you want to see a better horror flick i'd recommend Saw, much better script and more entertaining.
Jigoku (1999)
Demons in hell torturing wrong doers!
This is a rare low budget gem that fans of Asian splatter will likely get a kick out of. Gory eye candy is on display for much of the running time, and includes some great graphic dismemberment as well as other forms of mutilation. Like another reviewer pointed out, the middle portion of the film goes on too long and could have been shortened to make for a better paced and more enjoyable watch. The whole cult angle is a bit over played but the movie pretty much redeems itself.
Bottom line: If you like stuff such as the guinea pig movies or Story of Ricky then this will be an entertaining flick. There is tons of weird imagery, extreme gore, and the monsters are cool to watch. You may have a hard time finding it, but there's usually one or two available on ebay.