DVD Collectors Online

The Mob, a review by Antares

The Mob (1951) 78/100 - Found this over on YouTube, and though it really is more of a crime film than a noir, I have to say that I really enjoyed this. Broderick Crawford does a good job as the undercover cop who infiltrates the docks, looking for mob related activity. You can see the beginnings of his Highway Patrol character Chief Dan Mathews, from a few years later starting to emerge. The most fun part of the film is spotting some of the better character actors of the fifties and sixties in minor roles. Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, John Marley, Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Lawrence Dobkin and Frank De Kova all have small, but interesting roles in the screenplay. It's a fast paced film that never relents in keeping the story engaging and involving. Toss in some very good camera work and you've got one of those hidden gems from the vaults of Columbia Pictures.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on November 12th, 2014)

Race to Witch Mountain, a review by Dragonfire

I have seen most of the movies that Dwayne Johnson has made and I've enjoyed them.  I think he's very entertaining, and I do tend to give his new movies a chance.  I wanted to see Race to Witch Mountain after the first time I saw a preview.

Jack Bruno is a cab driver in Las Vegas trying to get his life in order.  He is a bit annoyed by the UFO convention going on in town and thinks that most of the people involved in it are idiots.  He meets Dr. Alex Friedman, a scientist who is speaking about the possibility of life on other planets, when he drives her to her hotel.  At the same time, a group of government men are investigating what they think is the crash site for a space ship.  One of the government men is determined to track down the aliens. 

Two teenagers, Seth and Sarah, end up in Jack's cab and want him to take them to a deserted spot.  It isn't long before Jack has to accept that Seth and Sarah are aliens and they need his help to save the planet. 

I've never seen the original Witch Mountain movies, so I don't know for sure what was the same or what was different.  The movie has a decent plot that is interesting which made for an enjoyable movie.  There is action in a few scenes that help to keep things interesting.  There is some humor in the movie as well that I think worked overall.  There did seem to be an attempt to make Jack a more complex character by adding in something tied to his past that ultimately didn't go anywhere.  I did like Jack though and enjoyed Dwayne Johnson's performance.  Seth and Sara did seem stiff for a while, but that fits with them being aliens who don't understand much about Earth.  Alex gets pulled into what is going on later in the movie.  She is a decent character even though she isn't developed much.

Overall, Race to Witch Mountain is a fun, entertaining movie that is family friendly. 

 

I did post a review on Epinions if anyone would like to take a look.

Race to Witch Mountain

(From Race to Witch Mountain on April 30th, 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)