Two Words, One Answer.
ninja friends
 Some of My Best Friends Are DJs $12.98 Kid Koala took the critics by storm with his exploration of using the turntable as an instrument like no other on his proper debut "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome". Since then, he's toured with the likes of Ben Harper, the Beastie Boys, Radiohead, and Bullfrog (as well as headlining his own shows). In addition, he's also worked with Dan the Automator and Deltron 3030 (aka Del Tha Funkee Homosapien) and Gorillaz. Not to mention he also released a 300-page comic book. For the most part, Koala dives into the leanings of his debut. In some ways, "Some of My Best Friends Are DJs" is better than his debut. He's found ways to expand his style and experiment in ways that even the converted will be shocked by. The soaring scratch melody of "Basin Street Blues", the exuberance of "Stompin' at le Savoi" and the enthralling "Skanky Panky" are arguably better than anything off of "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome". With that said, there is a bit less rhythm and unity here. A slight complaint would be that the music stops too much, and doesn't flow quite as well. But like his debut, repeat listening overshadows these weak moments with all of it's positive aspects. Overall, if you were a fan of the first record, this should definitely please you.  Enter The Ninja $9.99 A delightful Thursday evening spent rehashing some old hilarious memories, a hilarious Seagal flick, and some great food was topped off with a little retro ninja action. Since martial arts flicks really aren't Sid's thing we figured it only be fair to give Enter the Ninja a shot being that it was on tv. See we have nothing against the martial arts, c'mon we are obsessed with Chuck Norris, but the genre has been tainted thanks to a portly Dutch and his ridiculous home made battle weapons. I need a vacation. Thankfully we can look past those old disasters with some laughs and realize any genre is worth a shot for Sid. Especially when you add in some sweet throwing stars catching guys in the chest left and right. The film itself is a jumbled mess and is very hard to follow, but we really don't care about the plot in the first place. We're looking for some hilarious b action in which enter the Ninja provided. The fighting was pure gold being so overdone with sound effects and guys reacting way to quick to their blows. In 15+ years of viewing horrendous b flicks we can honestly say this one contained of the most hilarious death scenes ever. Our "bad guy" takes a throwing star directly to the heart and they slow-mo his reaction reducing us to tears, wondering how could they director thought "oh man, that was fantastic. Good good, great stuff. I think people are getting really cranked." The middle of the film happened to be very boring with terrible dialogue that made us feel 1981 was too far advanced for this film. It seemed it was shot in 74, but that added to the b charm. So all in all happen to catch this one you should get some laughs. However if you never come across it you wouldn't be missing all that much.  American Ninja II: The Confrontation $2.99 For the record I only bought this two movie set because I liked American Ninja 2. I really didn't want part three and I will reveal why later on. The American Ninja series is a guilty pleasure series at best. I like parts 1 and 2 for what they were: action flicks to pass the time. If you look at it that way then American Ninja served its purpose. American Ninja 2:The Confrontation. Rating 4 stars. AN2 is the best sequel in the American Ninja series. The story detail the naval officers are kidnapped and its up to Joe to find out who is doing the kidnapping and stop them. Joe later on bumps into a plan involving genetically enhanced ninjas. AN2 has some pretty cool fight sequences but my favorite scenes are the bar fight and the final showdown with the so-called super-ninjas. Michael Dudikoff is stiff as usual Steve James is a hoot as always. But I still have fond memories of this movie regardless. It was a good follow up to American Ninja and after seeing the other sequels its the best sequel period. American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt. Rating 1 star. As a sequel I hate AN3 with a passion. This movie is soulless to a fault. Michael Dudikoff is replaced by someone even more wooden than he is(Michael Bradley) and the results are disastrous. Even Steve James looks like he doesnt want to be here. The story is about David Bradley's character joining a martial arts tournament. He later finds the guy that kills his father is planning to unleash a biological weapon and plans to stop him. AN3 is boring as hell and that was a big no-no back in the 80s. B-movies had to be fun or they would have no audience. The makers of this weak link didnt seem to grasp that concept. Even the action scenes(which are the bread and butter of the American Ninja series) are weak and repetitive. Steve James is not his normal scenery-chewing self. He spends most of the movie looking like he's bored out of his mind. Everything that made the first two enjoyable for what they were are absent in this movie. Two thumbs down. Conclusion: 1 good sequel and 1 weak sequel. If you liked American Ninja 2 you will have no choice but to get this two movie set. Unless you want the VHS you have no choice but to settle for this deal. I'm okay with it because I can still watch AN2 and disregard part three. |
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