Review: Party Down Season 2

I had watched the previous season and I found it up my alley.  A friend of mine suggested watching it, due to the humor and the slew of familiar actors and actresses in it.  After loving the first season, it was only natural that I would check out the second season.

The 2nd season starts off with Henry in his new role of team leader for the Party Down crew.  After losing Casey from the previous season, he was trying his best to move on into something stable.  From there, we see things unfold in some hilarious ways.

I have to say I really enjoyed this season.  The guests stars were great, many of them appearing before they'd become household names/faces.  The center stage though was about Henry and Casey working through their feelings and new situation of not dating.  The range of comedy displayed I think is pretty diverse, mainly because the crew members each have their own comedy stylings going on.  Overall, I'd say its more on the dry side, but things get pretty crazy and raunchy too.  There is lots of swearing and a fair amount of nudity, both of which I always enjoy.  Overall I give it 4.5 stars.  The nice things is both seasons are instant stream right now and are only 10 episodes long.  So it's a nice quick fix of laughs.  This is one show though where more episodes would definitely would have been nice.  And overall, its's a happy ending for everyone.

Review: The Skull Man

This was a recommendation to me by Hulu.  With the name "The Skull Man", how could I say no?

This 13-episode subbed anime is about a small remote town and a conspiracy it hides within itself.  A conspiracy related to murder and monsters.

First of all, this series has one of the absolute worst opening theme songs I've ever heard.  I seriously was turned off just by hearing it.  The series itself was not exactly what I was expecting.  I was expecting something full of action and blood.  The blood was there, but not as much as expected.  This series was more of suspense then horror or action.  This was also an anime where I was able to figure out alot of the mysteries before they were revealed to the audience.  I contribute this to the fact I was trying extra to figure the plot out.  I didn't allow the series to get me there.  Also, the explaination (or lack of) for the demons and the Skull Man were not clear at all.  For a series whose sights were pointed at answering this question, it fell completely short.  Maybe if the series was longer it could have pursued more topics properly but that just didn't happen.  Overall, I don't recommend this anime.  I pushed thru hoping the end would justify the series.  And while the action and blood did escalate, it wasn't enough to make up for an ultimately disappointing series.  

Review: High School of the Dead (anime)

I saw this anime was available on  Hulu.  It had tons of zombies and cute girls whose clothes seemed to not stay on for long.  So I was down.

Plot:  The Zombie apocalypse begins during a typical school day.  The series follows various students and faculty as the eventually form their own hodge podge group of survivors.  

I was interested in watching this because I love zombies.  And strangely enough, zombies have not been explored in the relm of an anime series.  At least, not to my knowledge.  ALso, it was only 12 episodes long so that made it all the more enticing to pursue.  Overall I liked it.  There was a lot of fan service that didn't ever really let up.  Many series that take such a route lay it on in the beginning but lay up over time.  Not this one.  The plot was overall interesting and I liked the various situations that the group found themselves in.  In general, I think zombie stories need to go into a series format.  The film format just isn't big enough to convey the real struggle of surviving in the world of zombies.  It is a constant endless struggle and that gets lost in films.  You can never let you guard down in such a desperate world.    The details of how zombies function in this world was also unique and thus how they dealt with and avoided them was different from the norm.  Which helped in keeping things fresh.  My one recommendation is to watch it via torrent download.  I noticed the Hulu episodes had some slight censoring.  

Review: Machete

For anyone who saw the Grindhouse double feature, Machete was the one fake trailer we all wished were real.  Well, the powers that be heard, and made it happen.  I was really looking forward to this film just because of the over-the-top fun I thought it would be and it did not disappoint.

The film is about Machete, a former mexican Federale, which I suppose is like being a Mexican FBI agent.  After his family was killed by a criminal drug lord, he came to the US to start over.  Given an opportunity to make more money then he ever thought possible in his new life, Machete quickly finds himself being forced to defend his life as well as those around him.

This movie looks cheesy and over-the-top.  And it completely is, in a very fun way.  As long as you aren't expecting art house genius or cutting edge special effects this movie will not disappoint.  There were plenty of gruesome death scenes.  Part of the fun was seeing all the ways Machete could kill a man.  I have to admit the plot was very complex and never stopped or felt slow or forced.  That was great.  The story kept up with the action, which frankly, is a rarity.  Overall, really good film.  I give it 4 stars.

Review: Buried

This movie recently came out very quietly.  When I heard both the premise and that Ryan Reynolds was in it I had to watch it.  I'm glad I did.

The movie is about a guy who gets buried alive.

Intense.  That's how I would describe this movie in one word.  The entire movie is set in the coffin and the only person you ever see is Reynolds.   Thus, a very unique film and acting opportunity.  Over the course of the movie, other characters are introduced but never more then a voice over the phone.  There are some moments that are very over the top and almost silly but as the movie progressed those moments quickly faded.  Reynolds was able to display his harsh wit even in this suspense film, though it was a bit cruder then I'm used to.  The ending was SOOO good too.  I'm sure the avid watcher would figure it out but I allowed the film to get me there.  Overall, very pleased with this work.  I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Crazy. I know, right?

Review: The Killer Inside Me

When I added this movie to my NetFlix queue, it was when is first came out.  I had just watched "The Assassination of Jesse James..." and Casey Affleck was really good in it.  When this came out, I heard it was really disturbing, but overall, very good.  Figured, it was worth looking in to.  

This film is about Murder. In a small town.  

Messed up.  In a subtle, serene way.  The main character Lou is a small town cop.  Lou was so unassuming and non threatening.  This character was the beginning of the quiet polite killer profile.  The film really was about a man living two lives and trying to keep them separate.  Whenever something came to threaten that separation, he would just kill it.  This constant act was what was ultimately bringing him down.  It was great how the movie was told from his POV.  It gave a very unique look at the disturbed.  The ending was absolutely epic and fitting as well.  The plot was solid, no holes.  The pacing I thought was slow at times but ultimately fit the plot.  Overall I liked this movie and I recommend watching it.  Just beware, there are some very messed up situations that pop up.  4 out of 5 stars.  

Review: The Last Exorcism

I love horror.  And this looked like a horror film actually worth watching.  Just look at the poster.  Very simple, yet very disturbing.  So I figured it was worth a shot.

The film is about a man, a preacher.  He was reared to be a holy man but became faithless through some major events.  In his attempt to expose the truth in exorcisms, he finds he has much more then he can handle.

This film is a combination of The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Quarantine.  Both films are ones I really enjoyed.  This film gives a first hand account from the preacher's POV.  I liked this movie.  I am biased because it's a mix of two genres I like - horror and documentary.  It has its moments of creepiness.  Most of the movie moves a bit slow, though.  It doesn't have alot of sensational moments that other movies might have.  So it might turn some people off.  The ending though was crazy.  It definitely picked up the pace.  Now was it enough to make for the movie? Thats debatable.  I think so though.  Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, but more for a guilty pleasure.  As it stands its nothing new and definitely nothing done extremely well.  I give it 3 out of 5 stars.