DVD Collectors Online

Goldfinger, a review by Dragonfire

I did enjoy this one.  I had seen some of it on television before, but I don't think I had seen all of it until I watched it on this DVD.  Goldfinger made a good villain and his plot wasn't as ... bizarre as what was cooked up in some of the other Bond movies.  I wasn't overly impressed with Pussy Galore though.  She didn't seem to be anything special to me.  All that really stood out was her name.  And the scene when James ...had his way with her didn't sit well with me.  It was more forced and I just didn't care for it.  I did like Oddjob and his hat.  That was a bit strange that a guy would kill with a hat, but it worked. 

Overall, I think this is one of the best of the Bond movies.   

I did post a review on Epinions back in September that is longer and more detailed if anyone wants to take a look.



(From James Bond Marathon on February 16th, 2009)

Iron Man, a review by goodguy

With a thread title like "Watch Log", I really should post more often. Anyway, since Jon asked so nicely, here are a few words on ...

Iron Man (2008) Written by: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway Directed by: Jon Favreau Starring: Robert Downey Jr. DVD: R2-UK Paramount (oct 27, 2008) My rating:

Cover blurb: Suit up for action with ROBERT DOWNEY JR, in the ultimate adventure movie you've been waiting for, Iron Man! When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armour to escape. Now, he's on a mission to save the world as a hero who's built, not born, to be unlike any other. Co-starring TERRENCE HOWARD, JEFF BRIDGES and GWYNETH PALTROW, it's a fantastic, high-flying journey that is "hugely entertaining" (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

Overall, an enjoyable experience. The story is simple and doesn't always make much sense; the political aspect is nothing more than window dressing (although thankfully not as exploitative as Rambo), yet in shines in a lot of details. It is funny, but mostly in a dry-witted way. It is emotional, but that too is mostly underplayed and rarely melodramatic. Robert Downey Jr expectedly is marvelous with such material, so is Gwyneth Paltrow, and both have a great chemistry. Jeff Bridges unfortunately has to go completely bonkers at the end, but before that, he also gives a fine performance.

The action sequences lack the excitement of, for example, Transformers, but they are adequate. I usually enjoy the character stuff more anyway. And like Transformers, the movie gets a bit boring in the final confrontation. Watching Tony Stark design and build the Iron Man suite in his Malibu house, assisted only by an equally dry-witted AI, then taking it on a test fly - that is just so much more entertaining than two metal monsters pounding on each other.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on May 10th, 2009)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Gantz: The Complete Series (2004/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia MVM (United Kingdom) Length: 650 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
He thought he was dead.
The last thing Kei remembers is the train running over his body. But now he is in a room filled with strangers, all resurrected by a strange, black sphere known only as the Gantz. Caught in a strange realm between life and death, Kei and the others must undertake brutal missions that the Gantz assigns.
Otherwise, none of them will live long enough to leave the room.


Gantz
1.01 It's the Beginning of a Brand New Day
Writer: Hiroya Oku (Original Material By), Masashi Sogo (Screenwriter)
Director: Ichiroh Itano
Cast: English Vocal Cast), Chris Ayres (Kei Kurono (voice)), Illich Guardiola (Masaru Kato (voice)), Shannon Emerick (Kei Kishimoto (voice)), Chris Patton (Joichiro NIshi (voice)), Paul Sidello (Young Kurono (voice)), Jessica Boone (Young Kato (voice)), Marcy Rae (Old Lady (voice)), Mike Kleinhenz (Suzuki (voice)), Jay Hickman (Inamori (voice)), Rob Mungle (Hatanaka (voice)), John Swasey (Yoshioka (voice)), Russell Freeman (Yamada (voice)), Emily Carter-Essex (Female Teacher (voice)), Mike MacRae (Nozaki (voice)), Monica Rial (Female Student (voice)), Blake Shepherd (Male Student (voice)), Ted Pfister (Salaryman (voice)), George Manley (Debt Collector (voice)), James Faulkner (Bum (voice)), Susan O. Koozin (Housewife (voice)), Jessica Boone (Ko-gal (voice)), Xero Reynolds (Station Attendant (voice)), Victor Carsrud (Station Announcer (voice)), Additional Voices), * Alyssa Anderson ( (voice)), * Jessica Boone ( (voice)), * Victor Carsrud ( (voice)), * Mike MacRae ( (voice)), * Xero Reynolds ( (voice)), * Monica Rial ( (voice)), * Blake Shepherd ( (voice)), * Spike Spencer ( (voice)), * Nikki Thomas ( (voice)), Japanese Vocal Cast), Daisuke Namikawa (Kei Kurono (voice)), Masashi Osato (Masaru Kato (voice)), Hitomi Nabatame (Joichiro Nishi (voice)), Takuro Kitagawa (Book Store Owner (voice)), Mie Sonozaki (Young Kurono (voice)), Mayumi Yamaguchi (Young Kato (voice)), Yasuko Hatori (Old Lady (voice)), Bin Sasaki (Suzuki (voice)), Susumu Chiba (Inamori (voice)), Hajime Iijima (Hatanaka (voice)), Kenichi Morozumi (Yoshioka (voice)), Koichi Nagano (Yamada (voice)), Hikari Yono (Female Teacher (voice)), Takehiro Murozono (Nozaki (voice)), Miharu Iijima (Female Student (voice))

Currently I am reading the manga series as it comes out in the US.
Of course I was interested to see the anime adaption. So far it looks good. I have heard that the first season is great, but the general opinion on the second season is not so good. I am curious to see the rest, so I will probably finish off this set before continuing with this marathon.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 21st, 2011)