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Reviews
Club Dread (2004)
Disappointing
After the low-brow comic genius of "Super Troopers", the Broken Lizard crew seriously dropped the ball on this one.
The seemed to be trying to make a "Scary Movie" type parody of slasher movies, but this effort lacks the absurdist quality of the Scary Movie franchise, and they try to keep a measure of fright in the movie, which is it's failing. By mixing dramatic tension with sight gags and sex humor, the combination falls flat. It's not funny enough to hold up as a comedy, and the horror aspect is weak at best.
I think the problem is the format. Super Troopers was a series of sketches loosely tied together with a plot. Being a live comedy troupe, this format worked perfectly for B.L. In trying to tell a more linear story with a plot, their core skills were sorely misused.
Also, the characters in S.T. were likable and lovable. In Club Dread, the characters are horrendously portrayed and they're complete idiots. The ONLY saving grace is the running gag about Coconut Pete (Bill Paxton), a 2nd rate Jimmy Buffet wannabe. There are a few hilarious gags related to that character (7 years before "Margaritaville", Pete recorded "Pina-Colada-burg").
Makai toshi: Shinjuku (1988)
Visually Entertaining
This is really cool looking anime, with a pretty thin plot, as previously mentioned.
If charater development is important, skip this one.
If you like great visuals with lots of action, you will enjoy this.
A simple sushi-western, Clint Eastwood kind of story about a lone warrior saving the girl.
Excellent animation and some very cool fight scenes. If you like a vusially stunning film, but don't mind a thin plot, this is for you.
Body Double (1984)
De Palma's weakest effort
Skip this one, unless you are trying to learn how NOT to make a good suspense flick. This is De Palma's worst movie by far. After the successes of 'Carrie' and 'Dressed to Kill', this is a sadly disappointing piece of crap. The script/screenplay by Brian De Palma and Robert J. Avrech is simply awful. The plot is ludicrous by any standard, and has more inconsistencies than O.J.s testimony. The leading man is the biggest idiot in screen history. This is supposed to be suspense, but Wasson's character makes Mr. Bean look like James Bond. Craig Wasson (the lead actor) is the worst leading man I've seen in many years. Melanie Griffith is the only bright light. She is cute and fairly believable in her small role. This film has been described as an 'homage' to Hitchcock. In fact, this is a blatant rip-off of Hitchcock, with a plot ripped screaming from the still-warm corpses of both 'Rear Window' and 'Vertigo'.