UFC 90 Anderson Silva VS Patrick Cote

Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the UFC event UFC 90 Silva VS Cote, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

Logically enough, consensus reality is yet to reveal a warrior who puts an end to the rigorous reign of current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. How- and where logic comes in? Easy: if there would have been such man already - then Anderson wouldn't be the Champion - see? But he IS, and he certainly looks at the top of the mma game. The Spider is unstoppable ever since his Octagon debut, now giving a title defense to a passionate possessor of Thermonuclear Fists, a warrior who established himself as a force you got to reckon with via exceptional Octagon performances characterized by tremendous punishment resistance and steep willingness to knock rivals silly with one punch stopping power. This particular individual, Canadian crusher Patrick Cote earned himself the right of going for the belt by scoring a decision win over Ricardo Almeida in UFC 86 Jackson vs Griffin, arriving to his greatest challenge to date as a man who have never tasted the power of knockout yet.

Josh Koscheck is coming back to the wars, too. Relentless demonstrator, merciless carrier of the blond alien lifeform some - meaning: less paranoid persons - do fall in for, mistaking it for hair, Josh loves being hated by the audience, and he is considered by many as one of the best wrestler in the UFC. Amidst these many, you will find UFC President Dana White, as well. THAT man surely knows a good wrestler when he sees one. When Koscheck is not busy deconstructing Chris Lytle's uppermost organic features like he was back in UFC 86 Jackson vs Griffin, then he is perfecting his mma skillset with peculiar emphasis placed on his standup capabilities. Today he steps in on short notice as a substitute to Diego Sanchez, a man he handed his first loss to, also a man who was supposed to meet Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves, A.K.A. Epic Destroyer of Matt Hughes.

Sean Sherk vs Tyson Griffin

Given the similar fighting styles these two competitors do sport, a well balanced collision of decent pace and passionate exchanges should occur, and, this is a notion even reality considers as the most probable possibility by the night. Sherk looks more convincing at the respective ends of every single rounds, and, since this one goes for the distance, an eventual decision win is awarded for the Muscle Shark, setting him on a trail that might lead him back to title contention. A former Lightweight Champion of the UFC, Sean wasn't successful at reclaiming the belt against The Prodigy BJ Penn in UFC 84 Ill Will, yet the Sherk you saw today is a Sherk you would keenly put in front of The Little Buddha again. You know why? Easy: to see what happens, yes?

Fabricio Werdum vs Junior dos Santos

I had zero, zero and a little bit of zero idea yet about who Junior dos Santos is, though, from now on I will remember him thoroughly, no doubt. This here well composed Brazilian puts Pride! veteran Fabricio Werdum away in 80 seconds, scoring a remarkable knockout victory over the experienced contestant. To this day, I fail utterly- and epicly at my attempts of being impressed by the performances of Werdum that I have seen so far. To me, he seems a safety player, I hardly notice him in the Octagon, thus I confess that I feel rather satisfied by his devastating upset loss, and certainly hope to see a NEW Werdum with a hungrier, meaner, badder look in his eyes next time. Please just don't post this review to him AND me along with it before his next match. Kudos to Junior dos Santos for upsetting an individual, who, I think, wore a bigger head than he deserved by the night. Hey, you know what? Don't EVER tell Werdum about this review. My more serious stance though remains of hopes- and desires about seeing a Fabricio perform who wants to STATE something, and is about to state that radically. Looking forward to witnessing both fighters again.

Gray Maynard vs Rich Clementi

UFC Veteran Rich Clementi likes to break the will of the opposition, while his current opponent, Gray Maynard was pretty good so far at exhibiting JUST that. Gray already have built a solid reputation for himself by delivering convince power in the recent smaller events of the UFC, called the Fight Nights. Maynard handed Frank Edgar his first professional loss - practice how tenderly you can say: "professional loss" - now getting a Main Card debut - as results of rearrangements - against this here seasoned Veteran Rich "No Love" Clementi. Practice how tenderly you can say: "No Love."

The story of the fight is Maynard's ability to take Rich down every time he - Gray - wishes to, resulting in highly technical ground periods that may give you more and more solid impressions of a series of intensive stalemates. Personally, I think the match had an interesting character to it, seeing how effective Maynard was at denying chances from the opposition of expressing itself, though he wasn't exactly going for the kill, either. The Bully - that's the nickname of Gray - sure did bully Rich's sitorgan around on the ground for three stable rounds, and that is something that earned him the well deserved W. We may want to see this Maynard character against top level opposition - not that Clementi isn't that, but maybe he needed to eat this loss in to turn truly top level. The Bully harvests intense BOO! from the audience, the majority probably would prefer to see an Octagon painted in the tones of red. Maynard apologizes for not delivering a knockout. Apology naturally accepted as far as I am concerned, after all: an apology that you need to ask for is a compromised one, anyway. And I loved the match, too, which I do apologize for.

Thiago Alves vs Josh Koscheck

Watching this collision is a memorable experience as this one will ask you whether you see Thiago Alves winning this fight - or do you see Koscheck losing it? This is the first time I saw Josh Koscheck in grave danger, - and it was HIM being in it, not me, either - even on multiple occasions. Alves' s strikes have serious power and pixel precision, a left hook buckles Koscheck to the ground - why, what were you thinking? - who though is saved by the considerable punishment resistance he wasn't forced to rely on lately. Or at least not publicly. Or at least I wasn't aware. Or at least you're getting my point, right? Alves wants this win more aggressively than Koscheck does, commanding the seasoned Professional to take the role of the Intensely Stalked, while Thiago himself demonstrates keen readiness to showcase his stiff mma skills as your utterly solid, relentless Stalker. A massive portion of the bout is characterized by a series of highly effective leg kicks thrown by the Pitbull, softening up Koscheck enough to do battle against a - shall we say? - puzzled- and relatively frustrated variant of the same fighter.

Koscheck does not look good getting owned, and he knows that. He expresses in the prefight interview that he hates to lose more than he loves to win. This here loss he suffers is a precisely- and thoroughly administered one though, Alves triumphs in a clear, smooth, decisive fashion. A trite, and nevertheless very wise - bleheh! - notion of mixed martial arts is that the mere impact of a serious loss may prove to be a radically influential factor on a warrior's career. Koscheck's previous loss was against current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. That particular loss made an evidently better fighter of him, - of Josh, though maybe of GSP, as well - now we are to see if he can undergo Yet Another Transcendental Experience and come back after this loss to Thiago Alves as a better man.

As for the Pitbull: this dude has my pure attention and admiration ever since he destroyed Matt "I got more knowledge than him" Hughes. Now Alves have spoken more lines in the language of sober ferocity, stating that he is not just ready, but should be put into veerry warm title contention as soon as possible. If you say this kid isn't ready to face GSP or the Little Buddha: then you are a representative of his insurance company. I know this joke did not work. Not on me, at least. Sorry, sometimes you need to offer jokes that do not work, so a consecutive one, which though has a chance to harvest honest laughs, might propel you into amazing distances - worry about the direction at the proper time, at the proper place. And NEVER offer the working joke when they anticipate you to! See? SEE??!!

Anderson Silva vs Patrick Cote

The main event of the night had a very tense, and, as such: evidently pleasant character to it. The exquisitely beatiful feeling out process naturally invites a small minority - deliberate redundancy - to resonate their private misery by reciting the consensus mantra of it, but the Champion commands them to switch emotional channels once he demonstrates his trademark explosiveness on Cote's amazing blocking skillset! To be precise: the Canadian is brave enough to defend a stupendous flying knee with his nose! I always liked Cote, now my admiration increased even further, as this man surely has a granite chin attached to a gameplan, let alone the two solid Thermonuclear Fists to back those up with. Unfortunately, these two great athletes did not reach the conclusion their lineup already deserved by he night. Following two suspenseful rounds in which both Cote and Silva exhibit a willingness to unleash intense assaults of considerable risk factor, they do remain deeply dedicated to conserve energy to the later periods, too.

The Canadian starts to write history: he takes the Champion to the third round, an accomplishment on its own, as Silva never entered the third period before since his UFC days. This is something that even the fabric of reality must give a reaction to - let alone the right knee of Thermonuclear Fist Patrick Cote. Unfortunately, an old injury decides to show its hideous face around, putting an immediate end to this contest. You can see Cote's right knee pop as he jumps on his feet. The fighters, the audience, the Joe Rogan and the reviewer who writes this are all disappointed. But none of us shall be: the match had such evidently promising qualities that it will be re-organized again, it is, if I am not mistaken, official. I read at the absolutely übertacular mma site Sherdog that Anderson Silva is targeted by the UFC to collide against Chuck Liddell. Hmmmm, even a HMMMMMMMMM! A clever decision by the organization, and here is why: defeating Anderson Silva is the most effective, most convincing option Liddell may take the position he was looking quite good at with, that being: the image of The Iceman who fights on an entirely different vibration level than the casual(ty) mortal does, thus, the Iceman destroys your ass if you do not step away. Funny part is: that there is no funny part. I'm a huge Chuck fan, and I think he was looking very good with this image. Hell, he was looking so good with it that Rashad Evans himself did not believe that he could knock Chuck the BEEP! out, and, when he did, poor dude - Rashad - almost felt sorry- and embarrassed about his stupendous accomplishment. "Sorry guys, I know I shouldn't have done that."

Of the remaining bouts, I did not bear much interest, therefore I wrap this up, having the focal points of the night accounted on. Hope you had a fine evening and found the review useful - thank you for reading it, and see you next time.

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Righteous Kill

Radical Liberty

Order High Profile Morale! from Amazon

Director of Righteous Kill, Jon Avnet is coming back to you shortly after he delivered 88 Minutes, the biggest mistake Al Pacino ever committed so far. Giving his face and name to that movie was a shocking development in the fabric of the known Universe, also it was one by which sanity performed an almost fatal illegal operation, thus a restart was unavoidable.

Now amazing Jon Avnet convinces yet another Big Gun to star in his latest, and - logically - freshest direction along with Al Pacino, who decides to stuck around to see if he can erase THAT 88 Minutes from his mind. Certainly you could help us doing the same, Al. If I recall correctly, Robert De Niro had/has a reputation of never turning down a role he is asked to play, either. He certainly had some shocking deliveries, like Showtime, where Eddie Murphy and him were supposed to be funny for 90 minutes. Thank the Upper Heavens it wasn't 88, though.

Fortunately, the results of De Niro and Pacino teaming up again since times immemorial makes for a solid crime story, with stable elements of murder mystery added to it. Many do claim that Righteous Kill writer Russell Gewirtz redefined the term: predictability with his work, but I tend to disagree: Gewirtz's narrative actually has a subtly playful fabric to it. Surely, you can announce yourself the Bad Enough Dude if you rip it apart, yet the plot works quite fluently if you let it to, dismissing the constant urge of thinking about where it might unravel to.

According to observations, no one, or at least very few is getting any younger, those of the latter class even seem to choose to stay away from showing themselves around for too long. The days by which De Niro and, particularly Pacino, could deliver credible action-oriented roles, are numbered. De Niro still has- and always will have the 1976 Taxi Driver Psychopath in himself, that adds an ageless quality to his persona, Al, on the other hand, lives- and acts on the respective shadows of his tremendous charm and passion, similarly timeless qualities that would be still present, in case Al wouldn't spend most of his time making everybody sure that they are still present.



Mannerisms are noticeable in Righteous Kill, but, you know what? I don't mind at all, I love to see Pacino and De Niro demonstrating the "best mannerisms" they think they possess. After all, why show a bad one of those, especially with millions of people watching. Fortunately, the script is aware- and fluent enough to offer relevant dialog work and corresponding screentime for both of these actor giants, while the supportive roles of Carla Gugino and popular/notorious American rapper 50 Cent are of further significance. Carla Gugino is an eloquent lady in real life, something that does not prevent her from committing brutal moments of overacting in this particular motion picture. At least this gives you something to remember her by. 50 Cent is great, since the character he plays is absolutely compatible with the Hip Hop culture 50 Cent is an essential part- and even noted representative of. Human Bull Brian Dennehy will be here, as well, to deliver his trademark Don't Even Try To Get Wise With Me, Boy! look. Here it is, as it is appearing in Righteous Kill:



Sorry, wrong order. This is the

- You Trying To Tell ME About Proper Roastbeef, Boy?

look. Let's try this one more time:



- Don't Even Try To Get Wise With Me, Boy!

Thank you Brian, you still have it, man! Sometimes the story is present in a movie only to make you/let you wonder where it is hiding. Fortunately, it plays an essential role in Righteous Kill. The buildup revolves around two cops, yet, one of them has a tendency of losing it, more precisely: he sometimes loses it, and loves losing it. Righteous Kill shares primal similarities with the classic movie Seven and its now-myriad variants.

The mutual prime element of these films are the mysterious punisher character who ruthlessly regulates sinner- or hedonistic butts according to the standards of a - given or invented - moral code. The nice thing about standards is that you can find one behind every single bush you encounter. The narrative here is quite similar. Righteous Kill focuses on a couple of crimes and their - closely - related criminals, whom, according to the punisher character, did not get satisfactory sentences for their misdeeds. The proper sentence the punisher cop is really fond- and keen at giving is: death, naturally. But not naturally.

Righteous Kill bears similarities with the great series Dexter, as well. The serial killer protagonist of the buildup in question needs to kill to satisfy his endless urge to do so. As Japanese people say: to live, you need to eat. So you eat, to keep on living. As with Dexter: to live, he needs to kill. So he kills to keep on living.

The peak sequences of Righteous Kill are very precious, but also are very short. Not a factor to blame the movie with, though. Their shortness is absolutely acceptable, even fruity, as their abruptness delivers an extra field of operation, making you realize that you just witnessed how the former dilemma of a lifetime informs you about having found the darkest answers. Having found the darkest ones - and loving them. You know what makes the darkest answer easy to spot? They are the ones that are frighteningly logical, and the punisher cop will paint HIS answers frighteningly logical, as well.

This protagonist character of Righteous Kill faces with the dilemma of how to handle his inner sense of justice when he sees it being totally ignored. The cop expresses that he always loved to kick the ass of rapists, bullies, video game designers and the likes, and he never could get away with seeing THEM getting away. Two options are given: first, be the good guy all the while, and see what THAT reality collides you with at the end of the line. Refused to take a peek? The punisher cop will tell you what prize is up to you: a handshake from the Mayor and your name engraved in a **** silver placket. The punisher cop refures to thread along this path. He chose to create a reality that offers much more satisfactory rewards than that - but all decisions come with a price.

In order to make this reality effective, the punisher cop must claim the radical liberty to take the position of one who properly judges and ruthlessly administers. Once again: the punisher cop is being asked how to handle his inner sense of justice when he sees it being totally ignored. The answer is to serve it anyway.



- Hey... hey... just... like... once, you know?
- .... what do you mean... just...o...once.....



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UFC 89 Bisping VS Leben review

Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the UFC event UFC 89 Bisping VS Leben, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

Human transformation is one of the most fruity things a human can go through - assuming it points to- and even progresses along the positive direction. Chris Leben is after a radical positive transformation, one which you can not miss out on. The heavy hitter Ultimate Fighter contestant who had a deeply intimate relation with many advanced forms of body abuse: punished all in the Octagon with the dynamite Nature gave him as a left hand. It was current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva who stopped The Crippler, and, as Chris expresses, this loss was a life changing experience to him. Meaning Leben.

Reciting this, and seeing that it was indeed, are two completely different things. Leben comes to you as a sober, well composed individual, letting you, inviting you to appreciate the mere path he took to reach to this point. Not everybody is able to do this. Some do fall tremendously after a loss, sustaining damage that might never let one to heal completely. Sad, yes? Veeery. It's always nice to see this notion being laughed at by an individual who summoned proper power to better herself/himself, though. It is "himself" time now.

Leben is facing Michael Bisping, the number 1 mma Favorite of Britain, and, it must be rightfully so - and we know that it is, anyway - because the Brits love a good fight, and they know when they see one. Bisping never looked as he would be in a dire despair on the Proving Ground, this fighter definitely has an aura of "semi-invincibility" around him by the day, sewn out of charisma, skills, and the undeniable fact that all, cite that I, herein: all is yet to see a Michael Bisping whose hive is in fatal danger in the Octagon. Leben assures us that Michael did not see a striker of his caliber yet, while Bisping tells us that he has more to offer in more areas than Chris does.

The next focal attraction of the night is Keith Jardine taking on Brandon Vera. Well, some claim you can not open a debate about tastes and preferences, I think this is an utterly false notion. Let us notice: debates about tastes and preferences often do yield the most fruity of results. Or bloody. But those debaters do not get the point at all. While it would be nice to state that one does not have the right to eradicate any opinion, including this one, question also forms if one have the right to state an opinion that deliberately lacks all flexibility. Such an opinion surely could be incapable to count with certain information that is about to ensue yet by the birth of the opinion. Yes?

Question forms: where am I going with this?

I'll tell you: I'm going to this to the Octagon phenomena of Brandon Vera. I don't know if his style is my cup of tea. But, since I do ask this question, it's probably not. The dude seems to have a hard time recently of deciding which weight class he should fight in, then, when he decides, he comes out, assuring us that he will shatter all conceptions we ever thought to be true about mma, then, he puts up such a

booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring

fight with Tim "I am not afraid of Fedor" Sylvia that the bout in question forces you to write down the Top 5 Things More Boring Than Watching This Fight Is, being sure that those mental constructs are very rare, and very precious ones to be greeted by. Therefore, should be recorded and remembered. So, Brandon Vera, who, at least reminds me of Sagat from Street Fighter II, always comes out to redefine mma, yet goes away recently with redefining excuses. He always has two of those, each hidden carefully under the gloves. "Yes, I broke my hand and that kind of changed my gameplan, and yes, I was totally OK when Werdum sat on my chest and started to throw bombs to smash my face in while I was totally helpless, but the stupid Ref interfered at the THIRD bomb and didn't want to see my nose being crushed beyond recognition, MAN, are! you! kidding! me!"

One dude I never heard an excuse, even a slight reminder of those from, and I serioulsy doubt if someone ever will, is: Keith Jardine. Whow, I love this fighter. He is indeed a mean apparition, he totally could be the definite role model for a dark fantasy video game boss character, wouldn't you agree? A very humble and calm person in real life, the former debt collector - imagine the delight when he knocks on your door - is the only warrior who defeated two UFC Champions of the recent era. Indeed, he holds wins over Chuck Liddell and current Champion Forrest Griffin. Jardine's career is a roller coaster so far: he gets temporarily murdered by Wanderlei Silva in UFC 84 Ill WIll, and now he returns to eradicate the current hopes of Brandon Vera of establishing himself as Za! Force! to Rekonvid!

Marcus Davis vs Paul Kelly

Hardened veteran Marcus Davis is coming off of a loss against Mike Swick, - see the account of the aforementioned performance taking place in UFC 85 Bedlam: < - (t)here - thus the Irish Handgrenade arrives to the Birmingham Octagon with sober hopes- and related determination to administer a thorough lesson for a younger and very powerful talent of mma in the persona of local favorite, Paul Kelly. The evenly placed start period, characterized by cautious respect from Kelly's- and sobriety of Davis's part is about to get tensely, welcomely prolonged during the entire first round. Marcus exhibits crystal clear command of safe distance which he can offer major resistance from, eventually luring the younger contender to make a takedown attempt in the second round. Davis's ground techniques are not of those you want to regard as jokes that no one ever heard: the Handgrenade sinks both arms in at the fence and scores a submission victory over Kelly: guillotine at its best and worst, depending on which perspective you witness its radical unraveling from.

Paul Taylor vs Chris Lytle

Fortunately, Chris Lytle could keep the same head Josh Koscheck have blooded up in UFC 86 Jackson VS Griffin. Lytle holds a stagnate, nevertheless significant position in the UFC, similar to that of Jason McDonald's: whenever some tremendous talent seems to rise with intent to resonate an mma verdict of primal significance, it is a safe bet to throw that particular singer to the lair of Chris Lytle or Jason MacDonald's. Fate did ot yet decide whether to make a stable filler fighter from Lytle, or to make true superstar out of him. Chris rendered a very stable performance against Matt Serra in the finale of the 4th season of the Ultimate Fighter TV Show, his "loss" is but the result of his marketability: Serra and his cinematic charisma is much easily marketable, so, in such a close fight as the two of them did put up, it was no question who should and who MUST go away with the W when such an even match is delivered.

Paul Taylor is a crazy British man who runs on crystal clear energy and expresses its tremendous flow in furios pace and a constant willigness to exchange without breaks - but, not necessarily without breaks. Taylor made one huge slugfest with fellow English gent Paul Kelly whom we have just seen getting submitted by Davis. Though Kelly and Taylor delivered a very memorable tempo in UFC 80 Rapid Fire, one of them had to lose by the night, so, one of them did, indeed. Coming off of a win he harvested in UFC 85, Taylor is on the not too secretive stalk to claim precious trophy in front of the home audience, as a win over Lytle is a huge accomplishment for every warrior on the Faceth of this Eartheth! Sorry, could not resist. I mean: I could, but changed my mindeth and hath committedhath it anyway.

Taylor and Lytle have a mutual, firm determination of presenting the fight of the night for the audience, and let me tell you that this cited determination is of the eloquent caliber, and is forged out of pure, rampant relentlessness waiting to be precisely expressed by both of these contenders. Scarce are the times when a furious starting pace decides to stuck around to characterize the whole bout, yet, this is the case herein. Lytle and Taylor came here to wage a toe to toe war with hands shapeshifted to the forms of blazing guns with a seemingly unlimited supply of ammo. No feeling out process here, more precisely: the entire bout is a feeling out process, a series of back-and forth questions and answers, yet the lingo is superintense right from the beginning. This massively standup oriented quality collision is but occasionaly interrupted by brief periods of takedown attempts or clinch assaults at the fence. Both warriors prove to be possessors of excellent chins - one per kopf of course - and fists, - two per kopf of course - in addition, combine the mutual love of fighting that connects these great warriors, and you get as strong of a candidate for a fight of the night as you ever hoped to get a thorough look at, indeed. The match goes to the distance, filling out its glorious 15th minute, in which Taylor manages to present exceptional effectiveness. It's not enough to take Lytle apart, but gives you the definite impressions that he managed to leave a strong stimuli on the retinas of the Judges. Not so. Chris Lytle goes away with the decision W. Both warriors seem a bit puzzled by this outcome, but, most importantly: they show respect: intact and immaculate to each other after the fight, not if this particular respect would spend a split second in absence when they fought. Quite the contrary: this is the tremendous feeling that fuels this fight to be as good as it is. A classic collision, not much doubt about that.

Sokoudjou vs Luis Cane

Brazilian heavy hand Luis Cane is no longer a newcomer to the UCF Octagon, you could see his ass being disqualified in UFC 79 Nemesis due to an illegal knee on the downed opponent. Cane returned in UFC 85 Bedlam and definitely destroyed a relatively reckless Jason Lambert. Luis is about to face Sokoudjou, the African Assassin, someone whom we have seen in UFC 79 Nemesis, and he lost by that particular night, too - only that he did it to - hold on to your chair - another man. Sokoudjou lost to Lyoto Machida, to be exact. Machida's question after the fight remains a classic. "I beat the Alaskan Assassin. I beat the African Assassin. What other Assassin do I have to beat to get a title shot?"

Sokoudjou comes out on fire - not literally, but metaphorically - and maintains dominant Octagon presence throughout the feeling out process in which he offers primal aggression, placing plenty of kicks and shots on Cane's body. Though the African Assassin starts with tremendous readiness to deal quality damage, Luis is prepared enough to take what Sokoudjou has to offer. These are the moments by which Joe Rogan gives us a quite cunning notion, pointing out that surely there are fighters with blatant power in theirs legs and fists, yet, as soon as such a fighter meets with someone who is ready and able to take their BEST shots - that's when the nice mindgame starts which will tell us a whole lot about that particular fighter. Not to mention how much it will tell for the fighter itself - AND his opponent.

By the second round you realize that Luis Cane played a very sober game here: Sokoudjou comes in much less aggressive probably due to the relative exhaustion he got into throughout the rigorous pace of the first round. His actions and attacks are still very dangerous, and he can still demonstrate explosiveness, yet a moment comes by to greet a Luis Cane who is about to take the initiative. Some rather precise kicks to the body and vicious knees on the face are offered by the Brazilian, and, prior you could say "Coal mining is a wonderful thing, Father, but this is something that you will NEVER understand", Sokoudjou goes down from a two punch combo hit, while the next moment, naturally finds him being ruthlessly assaulted by Luis, punching out a TKO on the African Assassin at the fence.

Great performance by both fighters. Sokoudjou met a guy who was prepared enough to finely get along even with the most ruthless African Assassin to date, and, luring this dangerous Predator unto deep waters by the second round: the Brazilian capitalized on Sokoudjou's emptying gas tank via tremendous wits and an impressive display of powerful precision. A focal moment of the night.

Shane Carwin vs Neil Wain

Shane Carwin comes to this bout with an immaculate record that - logically enough - holds no loss, and, making supershort work of bulky Britain warrior Neil Wain: Shane Carwin leaves this bout with his immaculate record intact- and growing. This massive man handles matters really fast so far: his latest match prior to this in UFC 84 Ill Will never saw a second minute. In fact, out of the 10 professional mma matches Carwin won so far - only one, cite that I, herein: 1 managed to get past the second minute. Dudette is an animal, got to keep an eye on him, hope he does not mind the slime.

Keith Jardine vs Brandon Vera

An interesting feeling out process to characterize this one - interesting in the regard that Jardine decides to take Vera down right after the first moment and its inherent introductory exchanges of mild efficiency did occur. Brandon connects with some elbows from the ground, one of those opens a cut on the top of Jardine's head. While the brief ground period to characterize the middle sequence of this round does not yield particular results, its ending certainly delivers pretty much cinematic drama, as Brandon rocks Keith with an uppercut, but Keith answers and buckles Vera while he - Keith - is on the recover run. The Dean of Mean offers some rather good quality fence assault, but, good quality fence assault often gains the attention of higher powers that will make attacker and attacked move in such improbable manners that no shots will connect, no matter how fluently - SIC! - they should. Check the final seconds of the first round - Keith executes amazing combos on the naked air, though, if he would do the same on Brandon - then surely we would have had the Epic Victor! here.

From this point on, the match takes on a stable, consistent character by which you will notice that Keith hardly throws his leg kicks around. This is the result of Brandon connecting with a rather funky push-kick on Keith's knee, which you will see - the kick, not the knee, more precisely: both - in the replay. That does not look good for sure. In this here fight, Keith probably has a battered knee to wage this war on with. The noted, consistent character of the bout outlines, then, eventually thoroughly delivers a stable thrill factor which though fails to push the meter to the Epic Excitement! region this time around. Keith wins the bout with a split decision.

Quite admirable performance by both fighters, we got to see though that it was more of the match of getting out of harm's way than the match of defining the path harm might be invited along. Keith and Brandon aren't destined - dare we say: designed? - to deliver together what we want, that being: Epic Battles. This is not to say that the match was not good though - it's just that you need to say that it wasn't.

Michael Bisping vs Chris Leben

Chris Leben propels himself forward for 15 minutes of the 15 minutes the bout is scheduled for, creating a pleasant possibility for Bisping to retreat constantly and poke precise counters while on the evade run. Leben's epic left surely has its dangerous moments in this impressive collision, even better: we got to admire The Crippler's readiness to come forward no matter what: by some rather passionate peak sessions, you will even see Leben completely throwing away his defenses, provoking Bisping to strike his "naked" face. If you do not count a coating of blood on the face as some sort of appliance, that is. Bisping is too good of a fighter to being defeated by a strategy that builds solely on the urge to unleash harm, regardless how prepared the harmer is to eat in all the punches and kicks rolling in harm's way.

While Leben was truly super-integral in this bout, I have the impression that Chris's tremendous desire to knock Bisping out took dimension away from his - Chris's - game, a circumstance to claim a toll on The Crippler's current performance and the resultant record. Leben behaves very classy after the bout, addressing the Birmingham audience via an impromptu minishow with an intact message in it. Since this kind of expressed- and well channeled Octagon charisma is the trait to separate stock fighter - what a hideous expression, heh, sorry about that - from the Fighter You Will Remember, we can be sure that Leben will be back. Bisping defends his home turf in a quite impressive manner, there is no place to smuggle doubt through about the decision, not this time. The Count leaves the Octagon with his reputation intact- and growing, and well deservedly so, no doubt. Watch the leg kick Bisping's little son delivers on his dad's leg. The kid already has promise, don't you think?

Of the remaining bouts I did not bear much interest, therefore I wrap this up, having the focal points of the night accounted on. Hope you had a fine evening and found the review useful - thank you for reading it, and see you next time.

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UFC 88 Breakthrough review

Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the UFC event UFC 88 Breakthrough, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

The event offers collisions with major possibilities of upsets to them, as immensely talented Underdogs do step up against accomplished veterans of supreme mma reputation and top level marketing value herein. Surely, the UFC is quite good both at spotting- and even inventing talent for the fight game, an assertion firmly supported by the impressive warrior palette the organization's very own breeding industry have created, continuing to do that as we witness the now-top level performance of the current generation.

Indeed, we do talk about the Ultimate Fighter Reality TV show. Winner of the first season of the program in question, Forrest Griffin is now the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion of the UFC, while Rashad Evans, winner of the second season is yet to find a victor over his mma skill set by this here night that invites Underdogs to deliver their Breakthrough(s). Evans is ready to face off against Chuck Liddell, who seems quite ready to "overhand-right" himself all the way to Forrest to reclaim the Light Heavyweight title, which he - Chuck - held for a neat, comfy, minor eternity. Rampage Jackson came along though, just to radically howl the impression of any neat, comfy, though well developed eternities away, an act presented through his second knockout victory over The Liddell Thing.

Well, Forrest scored both a decision win and a Belt over Rampage in the perplexedly titled UFC 86 Jackson VS Griffin event though, a night by which - according to the delicate, though rather improbable suggestion - Jackson and Griffin indeed waged war against each other. Liddell remained an evident contender nevertheless with his prestigious win over Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva in UFC 79 Nemesis, yet, evident talent both must be dealt with and be presented by a field/opportunity to truly manifest on and by - so, why not see if Rashad "Sugar" Evans can stop The Liddell Thing and emerge as Challenger against Forrest Griffin?

Rich "Ace" (Ventura) Franklin is back in town, too. He faces intact contender and fellow training partner, Matt Hamill. A win over Rich Franklin is a rare, exquisite trophy for everyone, on THIS, you should trust me. Never, never, never forget that only Anderson Silva, and, back in ancient times, Lyoto Machida could stop the former math teacher so far. The Ace always plays a very sober, "Rich"ly - SIC! -technical, and, I dare say this: even GRACEFUL game, you will hardly catch him red handed or in superaggressor mode when he performs in the Octagon. His delivery against masterful Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, Travis Luther in UFC 83 Serra VS St. Pierre 2 was - and still is - a thorough demonstration of how good and graceful the style of the Ace truly is. Did Anderson Silva beat him twice? Yes, he did. But The Spider destroys everyone ever since he is in the UFC, the antidote is yet to be researched for the lethal venom he elegantly pours and unleashes, no doubt. This is something that puts Anderson Silva waaaay above the prospects you would normally count with, and definitely not something to imply that Franklin would lack the ability to dominate warriors of absolutely top level qualities. Made sense? Is it more like - it's making it right now? Let us hope it will, once we know how the Matt Hamill VS Rich Franklin bout turned out.

Jason MacDonald vs Jason Lambert

As of today, these two Jasons both seem to fill a Gatekeeper position in the UFC. They perform greatly against newcomers, yet they often end up having a hard time when their own advancement is at stake. Notice how Jason MacDonald relates to the concept of stepping stones, and also notice the results when Jason "The Punisher" Lambert forgets about the concept of defense in order to summon Punishment. It's still impossible to dismiss Respect - Rampant when these fighters are scientifically considered, since, no matter how rhapsodic their respective careers are recently, they go out there anyway and struggle - quite literally, I suppose? - to get better, to perform better. The UFC made a sober matchup by colliding these two charismatic Gatekeeper characters, an occasion by which MacDonald proves to us that he learned to use the weapon that was unleashed on him in UFC 87 Seek and Destroy. Though even Lambert himself is able to execute a rather intact submission attempt in the first period, the bell does save MacDonald's tenacious sitorgan, thus The Athlete comes back with fierce vengeance in the second round - just to offer his own variant of the similar kind of proving ground welcoming. Rear naked choke. A successful attempt. Other than that, though: a relatively cautious and desperate bout. No wonder, since both fighter needed a win - especially The Punisher. MacDonald goes away with the W and solidifies as Gatekeeper, yet Lambert is on a losing streak now composed of no less than three consecutive losses. I certainly hope to see this fighter again soon, yet he definitely, most definitely, even mooost defffinitely needs to get his -

game

together.

Matt Brown vs Don Hyun Kim

It's hard to decide whether South Korean warrior Don Hyun Kim or his opponent, Jason Tan looked better in their fight in UFC 84 Ill WIll, and here is why: Kim unleashed twice the number of elbows that ever existed and will exist in the W.W.World, yet Jason Tan ate those in as they would have been about as hostile as a friendly tap on the shoulder. Kim starts out strong against former Ultimate Fighter contestant, Matt Brown. While the story of the first round is the South Korean's ability to maintain rather unorthodox- and effective submission attempts from similarly unorthodox positions, Matt Brown demonstrates exceptional wits and mental toughness, adjusting his gameplay of totally competent elements in a way and tempo Kim is unable to keep up to this time around, pretty much getting controlled- and stalked around by his sober, tenacious rival in the consecutive periods. Yet, at the final moments, Kim utilizes a takedown, then unleashes successful punishment via an elbow that cuts Matt up. That action itself and the consecutive attacks from the South Korean comes short of stopping power, though. A decision is formed, which, quite arguably in my opinion, goes for Kim. The audience is rather unhappy about the outcome, too. Kim gives a humble victory interview in which he practically apologizes for his current performance, while Matt Brown states that he fights for the fans, and not fur the judges, so he hopes he delivered what they wanted to see. Sure as Heaven/Hell - pick, please - he did! This is the most laughable decision I have seen so far in the UFC, I must say. It's not Kim's fault, of course. It's the fault of the judges though, and a fault of theirs, it is. Period. "."

Roan Carneiro vs Ryo Chonan

If you ever to embark on an amazing journey unto a mysterious, rectangular island with nothing but a DVD player on it that plays the UFC fight of your choice 24/7 - then this fight is the last one you want to pick. A match that remains a nice test of endurance, nevertheless. More so for you though, than for these veeery (weary?) warriors.

Thiago Tavares vs Kurt Pellegrino

Scarce are the times when you witness a truly impressive comeback in the Octagon, this particular collision delivers one for you. Though the match itself goes for the distance AND for the decision after a relatively shallow amount of peak developments, the first round leaves a rather weary Tavares on the ground: while most fighters would have had cite the

Thank you for the opportunity, I'll Come Again!,

Thiago comes back right here and right now, rendering a rather competent performance against Pellegrino, failing though to deliver significant damage to turn the tide of the collision at the end of the day. Or, even at the end of the bout, for that matter.

Nate Marquardt vs Martin Kampmann

A focal point of the night, no doubt. Exhibiting sane, well controlled, well projected and persistent aggression, Marquardt essentially outclasses Martin Kampmann this time around in a quite brief, but nevertheless very rewarding chess match. Though Kampmann is present and IS aware of what is going on, Nate simply is aware of - sorry 'bout that - what exactly Kampmann is aware of - thus forming, relying on attacks that do come out of nowhere. Every combination you can find in the book is unleashed from every angle and by every rhytmization you can think of. This here bout is a very rigorous, strict Nate Marquardt carnage that never lefts place for an answer, and here is why: the carnage never STOPS to see if an answer is imminent at the first place. Marquardt's movement and attacks are so accurate that Martin is forced to remain both in retreat- and in active defense all along. Notice the expression on Kampmann's face after the fight. It's quite easy to read. He knows perfectly well that he just took his share in a very entertaining, and, for him: very useful fight, also he faced a kind of opposition which did demand nothing less but a world class level skill set to form an escape route, or a competent answer from. The look on Kampmann's face is an acknowledgment: "I can't play this game on this level yet. Not yet." Nate Marquardt dominates via pinpoint accuracy, consorting with extremely well controlled- and well directed aggression. Short, it might be: a classic match it is, nevertheless.

Dan Henderson vs Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares is a master of Origami, yet the substance he works with is not paper, but human physical, and, probably, even mental buildup. Mma legend Dan Henderson did not have much success in the UFC lately, yet we must take into consideration that he faced Rampage Jackson and Anderson Silva - losing against them does not exactly throw you out of the mma mix. Yet a win over Hendo would instantly fly one way high in the rankings, thus Palhares, this notoriously strong and technical Jiu-Jitsu master with granite chin included - may score an upset herein.

A truly rewarding match you witness with a rather logical, healthy pace, and respective agendas to it. Hendo wants to release his notoriously effective strikes, while Palhares would keenly take the legendary warrior to the ground to present him to his sick Jiu-Jitsu arsenal. A well balanced and immensely competive meeting, Rousimar shows a rather convincing readiness to trade with Hendo in the standup with evident hopes of taking the legend to surface level. The Jiu-Jitsu practitioner eats in quite some strikes of blatant power along the way, yet manages to stay in the game, even goes for a couple of cleverly timed submission attempts. Hendo is not a new face on the ground either, though: he escapes from the about-to-get-dire situations Palhares is rather fond at offering, letting you enjoy a collision in which both fighters do exhibit a strict devotion both to their respective, preferred style of fighting AND the probable gameplay they came in with. It is Rousimar though who takes more risks. AND more punches, too. A deserved decision goes for Hendo, especially when you consider the moments he wraps the confrontation up with. Whoh! That falling-hammer punch. How come it had seemingly 0, siro, ZERO effect on the exceptional warrior Palhares is? Even Henderson delivers a friendly compliment for his prior rival, stating: "That's a hell of chin, friend!" - or something like that. Oh, and that was one hell of match, just to team this evident assertion up nicely with the quality of the chin Rousimar Palhares does sport. The dude has immense promise, as his standup looks quite inventive, brave, and, in general: much more integral than I expected it to look like.

Rich Franklin vs Matt Hamill

Rich Franklin rises. Rich Franklin shines. Pretty much this is the story of this match. He throws flamboyant, very elegant combinations all over the pla... all over the head and body, and you can see that he could do that all day long. Credit goes for Matt Hamill for staying in the game until the third round, though it is safe to say that by the time in question, his gameplay is massively reduced to integral defense work. Finally The Ace connects with a Bass Rutten style liver kick - and that particular assault is more than enough to wrap this one up. That was the beginning of an even more beautiful friendship. As friends - they came in, as rivals - they played. As good friends - they leave the proving ground. Handkerchiefs are available at the information desk, thank you, please come again.

Rashad Evans vs Chuck Liddell

There are fights that you have lost before you even started them. I already voiced this opinion in my highly paranormal Matt Serra vs GSP 2 review, yet this particular night takes this concept to an interesting, whole new dimension. Let me tell you something: Rashad Evans came here to lose.

Rashad. Evans. Did. Not. Belive. Not. For. A. Second. That. He. Will. Crush. The. Liddell. Thing's. Butt. Tonight.

And suppose what: he did. Big time. Man, Chuck looked so awesome, so Iceman in the fight! But he got a taste of his very own trademark punch - a huge overhand right connects in the second round. Chuck goes out. The Knocked Out Cold type of KO. Thank God he recovered, as the neck nudge seems as pronounced as I ever want to see either in an mma contest or in any other context. Rhyme! Whine? OK, sorry. Immense credit and all hats, and hair off for the Rashad dude. But let me tell you: he is not happy with this win. He lost this match mentally, that is what I think. He feared Chuck. You can see it in his movement. In his Octagon behavior. Hint: Liddell connects with a rather decent softening punch that sends Rashad all the way to the fence. Rashad starts to laugh. Bah! Inept, and an evident indication, acknowledgment of being hurt. An important note: I totally admire Evans both for stepping into the cage with The Iceman, AND for knocking him out silly. But Rashad, Chuck, God and me - we all do know that he feared The Liddell Thing, thus his victory necessarily is spoiled. I would draw your attention to the fact that even he - Rashad - does not make a secret of this. Watch the subtle facial expressions, the metacommunication. The body language. It was a lucky shot and he knows it. There is nothing wrong with a lucky shot. There is much more wrong with knowing that you won by one. Suffice it to say that I have zero dislike factor towards the Sugar dude. Honestly. I merely wish to point out that he wanted to FIGHT with Chuck - he wanted to defeat Chuck by FIGHTING him. But my impression is that once he started to fight him - he considered himself the dude who has to lose tonight. Just check Rashad's face after the KO: he seems to feel a strange kind of regret, almost. Funny thing, truly funny thing. You can't win over a man you fear from, no matter if you knocked his ass out. Rashad feared Chuck today, and I think he would totally admit it.

It will be interesting to see what the UFC will come up with. Will Rashad step up against Forrest? I merely ask this question because you shouldn't have the slightest doubt that UFC President Dana White and the UFC, as a marketing factor/entity wanted Chuck to win. Chuck VS Forrest is a path you want to take. Let us see if Rashad VS Forrest will be the path THEY - the UFC and the aforementioned great players - need to take. Either way, you can't really come out wrong anymore. Rashad VS Chuck 2, Forrest VS any of the two are all matches you no longer can miss out on.

Tim Boetsch vs Mike Patt

Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch came to the UFC with a performance rather credible to the nickname of its executor: he essentialy grinded down David Heath with rampant aggressivity with not much - if any - regards of a feeling out process and considerations of personal safety. By that cited UFC debut at UFC 81 Breaking Point, Boetsch threws his rival around as you would throw bad looks at the mirror when having your very next- and very private bad hair day. Boetsch's personal style remains highly devoted to this method of surprisingly inventive and radically raw conflict solving, quickly dipsosing of newcomer Mike Patt with two cleverly timed- and precisely placed bombs. The first is the rumble to warn both Patt and you about the imminent storm - the second: is the thunder itself, baby - coming to Patt as side effect of the second impact. Boetsch jumps in for the kill, a Referee stoppage puts an end to furthter, unnecessary destruction. Surely, Patt acts relatively unstatisfied with the stoppage. But I have an impression that he could have been TRULY unsatisfied in case the aforementioned unsatisfaction would have been deprived of him. Strange is the world of mma, no? Tim Boetsch is Za' Man on the other hand, no doubt. We want to see this fighter against top level opposition, and we want to see it SOONNUFF!

A great night, and a great upset radiating psychological appeals, though these might be only my personal inventions. But! What! If! They! Are! Not! Even the voices do suggest that! I hope you had a fine evening and found the review useful. Thank you for reading it, and see you next time.

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Meet Dave

Nanocomedy

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Brian Robbins gives you Eddie Murphy in Meet Dave, a promising story written by Ron Greenberg and Bill Corbett. Though the basic assumptions are rather intact-, even inventive, a massively weak execution factor and an evident hard time of creating strong comedy all do make this movie something you must endure rather than something to find rampant, or even steady amusement in.

Eddie Murphy though still is Za' Man, thus his very presence and absolutely hilarious little, cite that I, herein: LITTLE moments of nevertheless huge comedy do save some - not too much though - of this superscarce effort at a sci-fi laughfest. Come, Meet Dave, then forget you ever saw him, as he will, too, forget that he was ever part of consensus reality.



Meet Dave takes a thorough glimpse at narrative suicide by the very moment the movie starts to reveal its core buildup. Murphy portrays both a giant spaceship AND the captain of the aforementioned construct, which is operated by tiny alien humanoids looking for a way to save their home planet by exploiting the salt resources of this here planet you likely read this on. If you read it from some other places, then please either contact me or a doctor.

The movie has a staggeringly hard time creating interest factor when it shows the cockpit of the spaceship, - which it does show thoroughly and persistently - giving you a crew discussing casual earthy matters with the casual poker face all around the intricate plastic instruments of inconceivable alien technology. I will even give you something to get mildly irritated about: notice that each time the cockpit is shown, some rather well framed chicks will roam around in the background. It always happening, every single time the cockpit is shown. I think it is just a coincidence that we are missing hearing the director yelling out: "OK guys, we're rolling, CHICKS, prepare to walk in my background casually! Aaaaaand: ACTION!"



Even Eddie sucks, even SUCKSES in these cockpit moments: he surely gives us his trademark eyeballing to the sides twice/second, but once you do realize that this very gesture is the best that you will observe in the cockpit: then you will follow his example and start eyeballing yourself, trust me.

Statement: the story itself invites you to shake hands with Decent Nausea, coated in the imminent stench of Staleness - Rampant. Solidification: once upon a time, there was this Pooooor little Feeeellaaa with Seaweed on Head, who have been bullied by the evil bigger dudettes in the school, and his father was a Hero but he died, but now he - the Poor Little Fella with Seaweed on Head - found an Alien Artifact which Murphy himself is looking for, so the little kiddo and Eddie will meet - Meet Dave - and the protagonist will teach the friendly little guy that:

You Should Take Pride In Being Different!

Eddie even will kick the hostile Big Fat Ass of the bullier, handkerchiefs are available at the reception, Thank you, please Come Again! The stale, and, fortunately long forgotten American Narrative Arrogance stalks you herein, and here is how: the real life Big Fatass Brada' will take Weirdo Google's lunch after Seeing Dave anyway, and others will laugh at Weirdo Google after the event. Every director implying that he won't take it and they won't laugh, did nothing but chose to reveal a Dreamworld which HE - the director - prefers to believe Life truly unravels as. Sorry, as of today, I tend to think that there is a Function in the Bully and there is a Function in the Bullied. All these aspects will form Life into what - Life truly IS. While the movie Hancock deals with this issue in an absolutely contemporary, honest, humorous and proper manner, Meet Dave takes a retrograde, pretentious stance which craves immense pleasure in its very own, meaningless, shallow salivation. Great. Not.



THIS expression by Eddie is Instant Classic though.

Creators of Meet Dave are immensely fixated to the respective concepts of a steadily unelaborate "Love" and uninventive Earth Fetishism, as the viewer would necessarily lack the capacity of feel "proper love" and/or being baffled by Earth's beauty either constantly or at will. Do I sound like an accomplished idiot by blaming the movie for these elements? I think these clumsy narrative assertions are absolutely mispresented and serve no purpose saved filling gaps - unsuccessfully - that the creators felt as present. They ARE present, sure. Main reason: the entire movie is a gap. A gap of Laughs that Should Have-, yet Never Happened.

At the end of day, the creators won't really have anything more to say to us than Earth is a whunnuderfull place and you should EMBRACE your latent homosexuality if and when need arises, and OH!, say YES and YES again to LIFE! But of course! We already did all these, - take your option(s) - that's why we decided to check out a new Eddie Murphy comedy, as he is famous to resonate exquisite registers of good laughs. He will do that here, as well, on some painfully rare occasions. On very brief occasions as well, as the excuse for a script naturally unleashes dire straits on him. Murphy will hilariously imitate the Bee Gees in the movie though, and he will even imitate the Bee Gees in a hilarious manner.

Other than that, though: he will take his part in absolutely unfunny and failed attempts at retarded humor on consecutive occasions. Getting the hint? Failing at revealing retarded humor is rather - unfortunate, yes? The handshake gesture. Please leave a comment if you managed to laugh at this particular joke which is a reoccurring one in the film. What an impotent attempt! It's a shame, truly, as I laughed for loong long minutes at the very first joke Meet Dave delivers. SPOILER! When the spaceship learns the gesture of smiling, and Murphy tries to mimic it. His amazing rendition is not something you can endure without well developed pains in the stomach. SPOILER!

Meet Dave had potential and promise, yet these possible benefits all have been victimized and been shortly, steadily killed along the way, the movie hardly reaches the point by which it should have been considered as an output with directions it is believing in. At the end of the day, I suppose we could say that Meet Dave is clumsy and impotent enough to gain some sympathy, thus, surely I offer the second Onion with Grace. Thank you Eddie, Please Come Again!



All right, dude! You got 48 hours to live!

- and the message arrived yesterday

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The Promotion

Is Hell Other People?

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Steve Conrad have written and directed an extremely smart piece of lightweight entertainment, at least this is the wishful opening assertion he probably hoped to run away with. His latest effort to date, The Promotion delivers a flamboyant, cautiously balanced mixture of comedy and character drama, a blend operated in a thoughtful context which is quite easy and comfy to relate to. After all: who would have NOT thought about the attainable joys and pleasures of a possible Promotion as an everyday average grocery store employee? Conrad's recipe follows the good ol' Black and White/Jedi and Sith method, and here is how: he starts with TWO everyday average grocery store employees, both of them having the same desire of earning an important position at the new minimall which is about to open up in a district nearby. This is how conflict and comedy forms, since, as Sartre have said:

Hell Is Other People.

Let us see if he was right.



Fortunately enough, Rampeinsteinberger Strappenhergenson and Steve Conrad had a precise understanding of the basic character of this buildup, thus the director manages to tell his story without particular moments that would greet the - metaphorical - gear in the - metaphorical - middle position. Relying on trusty, solid actors Sean William Scott - see above - and John C. Reilly - see Below -, The Promotion delivers 85 risk free minutes of blatantly bad or blatantly pleasant surprises, though certain elements Conrad choose to utilize do work so well that even their ritualistic overkill becomes rather good fun to watch.

As hinted, lightweight drama which though speaks in a serious register and comedy chooses to step up against each other herein, while the resultant, symbiotic relationship fuels a final buildup that harvests and lives through keen enjoyment of the fact that it refuses to decide what direction - drama or comedy - should it primarily go for. While this particular refusal of submitting unto any of these focal genres is the primal appeal of the output, also it is the point of necessarily improbable origin that - unfortunately - keeps ("prevents?") Conrad from offering elements on the radical scale, let those be of humor, or of drama.

Now is the time to point out with the Pinny Index Finger of Ruthlessly Pointing Out that the movie has a neat little pack of totally hilarious elements, - I laughed my sitorgan off during the sack-on-the-head scene, for example - but Conrad's agenda evidently is to deliver a trusty, cleverly measured narrative of the primal genre elements, yet he balances sober comedy with sober drama. Is this a problem? Not at all. But imagine if he would have had mix radical comedy with radical drama.



- First interview?
- First TODAY.

Drama develops via the director's keen readiness to offer precise renditions about the crucial personality traits of his protagonists. Sean William Scott is the friendly, peaceful guy living next door to Alice, yet, much to the bewilderment of Scott's figure, John C. Reilly portrays an even MORE friendly, and, quite possibly: even MORE easily likable person. Or - DOES he?

Conrad made a very wise decision when he selected Reilly to render the "nemesis" character of the movie. In my opinion, there is something subtly wild and "subtly crude" in Reilly: while this actor is totally intact and credible at rendering friendly persons, whenever I see his face, I can't help but think of how masterfully he could perform as the Classic, Maniac Killer Clown Character. For a moment, I invite you to shut off the friendly Reilly, and unleash the evil one, unleash Carl Jung's Shadow concept on him, if you please. Remember how Jung put the concept of the Shadow? The Shadow is the part of your personality you would rather wish to hide than to show it or face it. Reilly's Shadow could be baaad bad news in my opinion, yet I am not aware if he has any movies yet in which he exhibits a mean/baddie character. I also would like to draw your attention to what I think is a striking similarity between Hungarian humorist giant Géza Hofi and John C. Reilly. Check and compare these dudettes:



Archetype, or is it just me thinking they are of the same?

Notice that even the hair pattern is the same. And now - for something completely different:



Redefine Elegance

Among The Promotion's two leading roles, it is evidently Reilly who renders the more significant performance. It is not to say that Sean William Scott would be bad - not at all, he is totally integral in the movie. Yet Reilly is the Question Mark, the Motive, the Driving Force in the buildup. The character both you and Scott must absolutely relate to. Conrad's narrative is smart enough to let you, even invite you to wonder if Reilly is indeed the superfriendly dude he is masterful-, and seemingly quite honest at giving. Your director even has the awareness to put William Scott into the very same shoes you do wear when approaching the Reilly character. Their relation is portrayed- and developed rather nicely during this 85 minutes, and don't you forget that their interpersonal connections are massively, even maaassively influenced by the fact that both of them are going for the very same goal.



Hopefully all these indications managed to give you the hint intended about the absolutely legit content The Promotion delivers as far as character drama. We also stated though that Conrad's latest work to date is one that tolerates no strict categorizations, therefore, though serious the drama may seem - a comedy element will surely wash it away before it would get way too serious, and vice versa: when comedy is about to get rampant - a drama element will reveal.

This rare, perhaps even unique quality which, no doubt, is possessed firmly by the output may very well represent the first crucial steps taken on a path that seem rather safe and promising to explore. Credit to Conrad for delivering intact, sober length characterized by entirely different genres, each coming with acceptable weight, emphasis and significance to them. While The Promotion already shows promising prospects, next time Conrad may want to unleash Efficiency - Rampant on all the genre elements he will choose to work with. A pleasant surprise, outlining a fresh direction that seems ready to evolve in spite of the feedback it gets. Don't forget: no Promotion is worth missing.



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Firewall

Average 2.0

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Joe Forte's story Firewall does not succumb to mediocrity, chooses to redefine it instead, having quite the proper tools and appeals in its arsenal to do so. Exquisite - ceiling remained - blend of family drama and well researched - ceiling collapsed nearby - technology thrill, Firewall at least gives you solid performances to resonate rather grateful, yet necessarily stale registers of Shallowness - Rampant with. Yes, the latter disturbance was, and IS deliberate.

Harrison Ford is an integral focal figure at the bank he is working for, mainly responsible for the network's defense capabilities. A possible fusion which he is not particularly happy about is imminent, thus the movie have a chance to start off by mild, though precise suggestions of conflict between him and Gary - personified by Robert "T1000" Patrick.

Ford soon will find out that someone plays a dirty game with him, a circumstance revealed via a debt weighing 95.000 bucks. Since this is the kind of money you can arrange a semi-decent party of, there is no wonder that he protagonist suspects his wrongdoers to be highly qualified at the respective fields of quite advanced computer wizardry and massively related blackmailing. He indeed finds his family in a definite hostage situation when arriving home, while the uninvited visitors do demand strict and swift actions from the protagonist, so they could score big time via exploiting leaks and defense holes in the bank's security.

The name of the game from now on is Harrison Ford and Paul Bettany, as these solid performers certainly do manage to save something on-and of the immensely repetitive buildup to follow up. The plot, while elegant at its ultimate core, seems rather clueless about effective methods to interconnect virtually non-existent peak moments of the middle section, thus reoccurring sequences of failed escape attempts and "super-intensive" phone calls are much more integral part of the buildup than what true excitement could keenly wish for and appreciate.



- No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
- Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

While Paul Bettany has the definite Rutger Hauer going on here, a condition which is quite easy to appreciate, his partners in crime are totally transparent and irrelevant figures. Conflicts to form between the evildoers - because conflicts WILL form between the evildoers, did I spoil your enjoyment? - are not thoroughly developed, instead those remain as passive mirrors to reflect the rampancy and radical wickedness of the main baddie, Bettany. The film nevertheless sports some rather promising vibes, but the buildup fails to notice- or simply refuses to exploit those. Peanut butter scene? It is nice to see cautious signs of the Stockholm Syndrome presented in a movie, only to degrade them into yet another demonstration of how truly evil the baddestest man of the movie is.



Surely, Firewall can't help but reach the Good Ol' Consensus Point of All Things Do Unravel, by which the exact agenda of the negative figure becomes evident, yet, the moment of recognition arrives by a time that greets Ford's family in the gravest of danger! Fortunately enough, Indy delivers a rather acceptable performance in this sequence, offering thorough glimpses unto the emotional field which seems to be very close to a breakdown. Yet, the determination and need to save the Loved Ones - !SPOILER! - will give Ford enough fuel to overcome the challenge! Surprised, yeees?



This Is The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship.

By presenting a largely clueless- and overly cautious plot that repeats the same modules via a stale degree of enthusiastic servitude, Firewall correctly recognizes the need to rely on high caliber actors. As result, the output weighs in as a masterful demonstration on how to avoid falling into the B-Flick category, but, hell, seeing Han Solo in a B-Flick would have been too much of a bad thing anyway, right? This is not case, fortunately: Ford and Bettany both deliver in a solid, trusty fashion even when - sadly - there is not much thanks to greet that. Firewall remains a safe bet nevertheless, granted there is raining out there and all other movies decided to withdraw temporarily. Until then: you are kind of safe to kind of: skip this for kind of: eternity.

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