Friday, April 16, 2010
Spartacus: Blood, Swords & Tits
Posted By Bill Frost on April 16, 2010, 1:11 PM
If you haven't seen Starz's over-the-top-of-the-top gladiator soap Spartacus: Blood & Sand, you've been missing the most ridiculously entertaining and homoerotic Friday-night display since WWE Smackdown. ---
As I point out in this week's edition of True TV, Spartacus' simple formula of Boobs! Blood! Sex! Violence! More blood! Full frontal nudity! Beheadings! Gay innuendo! Buckets of more blood! Buckets of even more body oil! Maybe a little sand! No complicated “story” to follow! has given Starz the hit original that the lower-tier pay channel so desperately wanted Crash to be--and they don't even have to pay for stars like Dennis Hopper and Eric Roberts. The biggest name on Spartacus is former Xena/Battlestar Galactica star Lucy Lawless (who, like everyone else here, is frequently naked), and the whole thing is filmed in front of a green screen--no location shots!
Tonight's first-season finale, "Kill Them All" (believe it), is the summation of 12 previous bloody/sexy episodes, as Spartacus finally figured itself out mid-way through the season and really hit its stoopid stride: This ain't history, it's pure entertainment. I'd recommend catching up on Season 1 via on-demand or download; just power through the uneven first few episodes--the payoff is hysterical. And note that the real breakout star of the show isn't Spartacus (Andy Whitfield), but his master, Batiatus (John Hannon).
It also helps to watch Spartacus with a box of tissues handy. To wipe away the tears of anguish over man's inhumanity to man? Sure, let's go with that ...
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