21. November 2008 by Ria.

Yes, another superhero film that delivers in the summer ‘08. While Iron Man isn’t my favorite superhero, or even comes close, who cares, it was still a damn good movie. The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as Christopher Starks, a rich engineer that goes around killing people. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that, he’s a CEO of a company that makes weapons for the military and as a result, he’s rich as hell, but totally removed from any personal responsibility. So I guess in a lot of ways because of his deep pockets, he’s still a hero to both women and men, even without the Iron Man suit.

You know, it’s nice to see Downey in a good role, maybe it’ll keep him off the booze and drugs for a while, especially since he’ll be back for a sequel. Now I hear co-star Terrence Howard won’t be back for Iron Man 2, so I’ll immediately have to take off a star as soon as it comes out. Hey, Terrence is one hell of an actor, didn’t you see him in Four Brothers, and Hustle and Flow? Yeah, I know Downey was the star, but in many ways, Howard was holding him up, so why get rid of his character?

Now I’m not the biggest Gwyneth Paltrow fan, but she kicked butt in this movie. She plays Pepper Potts, Stark’s personal assistant, but where in the hell did the writers get that dumb name from? Never mind, it was still a good role for her to play. She’s wasn’t a flake, nor was she some dumb bimbo that needs to be rescued. That’s the one thing that I hate about superhero movies, there’s always some dumb chick that looks good, but can’t do anything but get into trouble, and needs someone to come to her aid. The fact of the matter is, we really don’t need all that much help, except when it’s time to take out the garbage, and pay the mortgage.

The movie is mostly about Starks’s transformation from a jerk to a idealist when he sees first hand the damage that his creations really cause to other people. Then, more movie time is spent watching Starks create his alter ego, and hey, I wasn’t bored one bit. I’m sure when the sequel comes out, we’ll be able to see Iron Man venture out into society more to help other people.

Iron Man definitely kicked some serious butt. Was it better than The Dark Knight? HELL NO! ARE YOU CRAZY OR SOMETHIN’?

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20. November 2008 by Ria.

This episode is ok, it would have been better if Naruto and the others were up against a more interesting/popular enemy, but they weren’t, so I can only give it 2 stars. But there is a lot of action to go around, so I don’t think you’ll be too disappointed. Now in the last episode, these ninja clones came out of nowhere in order to fight for a scroll.

Naruto punches one of the clones, but his fists goes right through it, like mud. Not only that, but it doesn’t disappear like a regular clone would. Then it decides to attack Naruto, but Sasuke prevents this by throwing a shuriken at it. Sasuke is also ready with his sharingan, but please, when was the last time Sasuke successfully used it to defeat someone?

In fact, Sasuke has limited use of his sharingan since Orochimaru put that mark on his neck. I guess he’ll just have to do one of Sakura’s numbers and watch the fight from the sidelines. But Naruto has no intention of standing around waiting to become a casualty, so he uses his own shadow clone jutsu to even the score. Kabuto thinks this is a bad idea since the technique will take up a lot of chakra, but have you ever known Naruto to listen to what anybody has to say?

Naruto is able to get some good licks in, but the clones just keep coming back. So now everyone decides to fight, even Sakura joins in to help, just look at this………..

Can you believe it, Sakura is once again contributing in a fight, maybe I should have this screenshot framed and put on my wall. Now the ninja foes are ready to move in for the kill, but Naruto uses his shadow clones to replicate Sasuke and the others. His plan, to use them as decoys so that he can sniff out the real ninjas and beat the crap out of them.

Naruto is able to use this wicked wrestling move to knock all three of those ninja dudes out, but they counterattack with shadow clones of their own. Sasuke is running out of chakra, but musters up a little bit before being immobilized by the mark on his neck. Naruto turns to see what the fuss is all about, which is a dumb move. Doesn’t he know never to turn your back on an opponent?

Kabuto uses his body as a shield like he did in the last episode. I’ve said this before, he doesn’t want Naruto to get hurt since that could end the series for everyone, and he’ll lose his cushy acting job, you know with the recession and all. Only thing is, Kabuto is getting roughed up pretty badly, thank goodness Naruto is able to find the real ninjas behind all these clones, and spank them good, and it’s all over. And to top it all off, he was able to find a heaven scroll, just what he needed.

So now they reach the tower, and Kabuto’s teammates are there waiting for them. This doesn’t make sense, why weren’t they out fighting along side him to make sure he got back safely with both scrolls, instead of relying on Naruto? I guess I’ll just have to ask him that question before the next episode starts. Anyway, we find out that Kabuto is a sound village spy for Orochimaru. He was secretly taping Sasuke and put all the action on a disc. Only thing is, where in the hell was the camera, in the trees? You know it’s funny how this series is packed with some advanced technology like cameras and TVs, yet I haven’t seen a car or plane anywhere, only boats and a whole lot of walking.

Whatever, now it’s time to go to the next step. Naruto and his crew get to the tower, and read some riddle plastered on a wall. Don’t you hate that? You’ve been fighting for days, finally get your hands on both scrolls without losing your life, and now you have to solve some dumb riddle so you can go on to the next step. I just want to say that whoever designed this exam sucks.

Sakura realizes that in order to go to the next step, they may have to open both scrolls and read them. But suppose they get their heads chopped off? To stay on the safe side, Sasuke should open one first!

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19. November 2008 by Ria.

One thing I like about this episode is that we get a chance to see what Naruto looks like with his eyes open, and without that lame ass ninja suit he’s always wearing. Yeah, I know he has his eyes closed in this first picture, but keep looking and you’ll see what I mean. He’s actually kind of cute……….not that I would date him or anything like that, c’mon, isn’t he like 12 years old?

As they eat their fish, Sakura and Sasuke realize that all they have is a measly earth scroll and time is running out for them. When Sasuke leaves to look for water, Naruto comes up with this brilliant idea that they should cheat by creating a heaven scroll using the contents of their earth scroll. Only thing is, they’re not supposed to open the scroll at all, wasn’t he listening?

So Naruto pulls out all these other scrolls from his bag, and this is kind of funny…..isn’t he supposed to be carrying weapons and food? But oh no, he fills up his bag with a bunch of scrolls. Oh well it’s Naruto, and I should have expected that. So the plan is to duplicate whatever is in the earth scroll to produce a heaven scroll, and he’s not the only one with that idea, some other ninjas in another part of the forest are about to do the same thing, and boy will they be sorry!

So these two ninjas open up their scroll all ready to cheat, but get the crap knocked out of them, and it’s all over for them, next. Okay, now back to Naruto who’s taking a mighty long time opening his scroll. “Look Naruto, stop being a chicken, you said you were gonna open it, now open it, and stop wasting all this valuable TV time ’cause you’re scared.”

So he’s about to open it, when Kabuto stops him. Hey everybody, Kabuto’s back, that’s my guy! Now I know all of you remember him from episode 23, right? He’s the one that took the ninja exam 50 million times, but haven’t passed yet. Well he might actually pass this time, especially since he has both the heaven and earth scroll, good going.

Kabuto tells Naruto and the gang that the scrolls are protected by a powerful hypnosis jutsu that will knock you into the middle of next week, but it won’t kill you. But by the time you wake up, the exam will be over, and you fail. Not only does Kabuto reveal this valuable information, but he also decides to help the gang find a heaven scroll. What does he want in return, a little protection. See, there’s only one day left in the competition, and ninjas are desperate for that scroll, so things are gonna start getting more dangerous.

As they make their way through the forest, everyone is using sharp stealth skills, but Naruto on the other hand, well take a look for yourself.

Now do you see what I’m talking about?

Naruto walks into a trap that unleashes a bunch of spears, but Kabuto is the one that gets hit in the back. I don’t know if he accidentally fell on Naruto, or if he used himself as a shield, but why would he do that? Oh I know why, if Naruto gets killed, the series would be over, and Kabuto would be out of a job, yeah that makes sense. So Kabuto takes a few hits in the back, or did he? Wait, it looks like he used a substitution jutsu to escape, good going!

But the competition is heating up as these ninja clones start popping out from everywhere and there’s about to be a major showdown…….well, you’ll have to wait until the next episode for that!

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