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Gantz, a review by dfmorgan

Gantz

Year: 2010
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Kenichi Matsuyama, Natsuna
Overview: Gantz is based on a hit manga series created by Hiroya Oku and stars leading Japanese actors Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City).

After an accident on the train platform, recently deceased childhood friends Kei and Kato find themselves transported to an empty apartment populated by other confused strangers and a mysterious black ball known only as Gantz, which issues them a set of strange suits and alien weapons, instructing them that their lives are forfeit and now they must exterminate "dangerous aliens" from Earth in a series of games.

Watched: 14th. Oct 2011
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this film. An interesting concept of bringing people back to life to fight aliens. Looking forward to part 2 when it comes out next year.

My Rating: A really enjoyable 4



(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on October 15th, 2011)

Under Siege, a review by DJ Doena

Director: Andrew Davis

Steven Seagal    ...    Casey Ryback
Tommy Lee Jones   ...    William Stranix
Gary Busey   ...    Cmdr. Krill
Erika Eleniak   ...    Jordan Tate
Colm Meaney   ...    Doumer
Patrick O'Neal   ...    Capt. Adams
Andy Romano   ...    Adm. Bates
Nick Mancuso   ...    Tom Breaker
Glenn Morshower   ...    Ens. Taylor

Synopsis: The destroyer U.S.S. Missouri embarks on its last journey from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco where she will be decommissioned. Manned only with a skeleton crew the crew prepares for the captain's birthday party - including the cook, Casey Ryback. But the party takes an unexpected turn and the ship is suddenly in the hands of mercenaries who want to get their hands on the nuclear warheads from the ship's arsenal. The only people who can stop them is "just a cook" - and a stripper.

My Opinion: I love this movie. I know it's cheesy but Casey and Jordan work very well together and Stranix and Krill are really cool bastards. And then there's of course the jumping-out-of-a-cake scene.
It's a nice action movie but there's one scene that upvalues the movie for me and that is the last scene of the movie where Ryback pays his last respects to the captain - in full dress uniform.

(From DJ Doena's movie watchings 2010 on January 26th, 2010)

Farscape Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Rygel is pretending to be still the monarch of his people to get a contract for a transport job. But then he is kidnapped because of his "importance" and Moya couldn't leave orbit even if she wanted to because Rygel used a control crystal as "jewel" in his scepter. D'Argo, Aeryn and John try to get him back and for this they use a strength-enhancing gauntlet which they got from one of the attackers. But unfortunately it makes one not only stronger but also hightens one's aggresive traits.

My Opinion: This was an average episode. But it started another Farscape tradition: The usage of nicknames, especially by John.


Synopsis: Moya and her crew save two people from a ship that is just about to implode. They are scientists and their race is allied to the Luxans (they are basically genetic cousins) and D'Argo insists on helping them. But shortly after they have come aboard John begins to experience (sexual) hallucinations or that's at least what he thinks they are. But then he is killed by the female Ilonic (Matala) and awakes in the past. He's erratically jumping through time and he tries to prevent his (and everyone else's) death but that's not going to be easy since D'Arge has fallen in love with Matala.

My Opinion: This episode represents what I like about Farscape. First they lure you onto a false track and then throw you in a completely different direction. By seeing the first "flashes" there was no way to predict how this episode would turn out. It's also fun to watch when the others talk about Crichton and come to the conclusion that the Humans must be a weird species. When the USS Voyager went into the Delta Quadrant or the Stargate Atlantis team went into the Pegasus galaxy, their destination was still recognizable, at least remotely like home. Here, everything is very different - OK, not everything.


Synopsis: D'Argo has gone down to a planet for a few days and when the gang goes looking for him he's very different. He's calm and joyful and totally not D'Argo. But everyone there seems to be calm and joyful. They work hard today and party at night because tomorrow is a rest day. But when the sun rises they work hard today and party at night because tomorrow is a rest day ... John and Zhaan try to get D'Argo back while Aeryn has to deal with Rygel whose sweat and other excretions have become explosives.

My Opinion: Great! First he's farting helium and now he's peeing nitroglycerin. They certainly have a lot of fun with that puppet. I also liked that they started to make more out of Aeryn, more than just the brainless warrior she was bred to be.

Synopsis: Moya finds a Peacekeeper command carrier deep in the uncharted territories. This ship is famous and has been lost for ages. It was the first ship Rygel was imprisoned and tortured on. But now it's only a plundered wreck. D'Argo and the others go aboard to find star charts and navigation information and Aeryn wants to find out what happened to the ship. But then they find a tech girl aboard - a tech girl from Crais's ship! He was here and could return any minute with his very own command carrier. But they can't leave either. Scavengers are closing in on their position and if they try to run, they'll die.

My Opinion: John is Kirk, he gets 'em all. And yet another weird alien race, one who can spit fire like a dragon! I also liked that they didn't kill off the tech girl as it is custom for guest characters that fall in love with a main. And they pointed out a fact which lay out in the open but I hadn't seen it: John and Aeryn may come from (metaphorically) different worlds but they have one thing in common: Neither one can go home, back to their own life.

(From Farscape Marathon on March 16th, 2009)