hardtack

Just a heads up for those who are seriously into watching DVD and BluRay like myself, and just in case you aren't already aware of it....it might be worth your while looking at investing in the Laser BR1080P 3D BluRay player. It is region free for DVD and via the setup menu can be assigned to play any bluray discs from any region (A, B and C). The other good thing is that it comes with a 3 year warranty. The only other multi region bluray player I know of is the Kogan (there used to be a Soniq), which is pretty ordinary in terms of life... I had one and it died after about 18 months with just a one year warranty. Quality is very good with the only issue I have found being the fact that it doesn't handle 48 frames per second 3D well... I brought this to their attention (they are a local Sydney based company - of course manufacture is in China) and they are looking into fixing the problem. So far the only 3D discs I have found that are 48fps are Life of Pi and The Hobbit - most others are 24fps which works perfectly. This issue only relates to the playback of 3d bluray... not the regular 2D discs. I purchase most of my blurays from Amazon in the UK as well as from the US or Japan as even with the cost of shipping, it works out to almost 50% cheaper than buying locally (well, not the case with Japan... but certainly true for the UK and US). Anyway.... cheap as chips and well worth a look.

Watching "the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" for about the 10th time. Don't know what it is about this film, but it manages to pull me in every time in watch it...the characters, the story, the scenery (in Jaipur, a place I have been and have fond memories of), just everything about it is perfect! This and the "Intouchables" (a beautiful French film) are two films I am completely in love with.

Well, the way things have gone at the MFC, that could well be the end of their careers.

No, you won't know until the end of their careers.

Off to see Jeff Beck (among many others) at the Byron Bay Bluesfest next month... can't wait!

I've just put in a pre-order at Amazon UK for the Werner Herzog collection on Blu Ray... it comprises 7 discs with all of his films remastered: The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967) Last Words (1968) Precautions Against Fanatics (1969) Handicapped Future (1970) Fata Morgana (1971) Land Of Silence and Darkness (1971) Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972) The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1975) Heart of Glass (1976) How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976) Stroszek (1977) Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979) Woyzeck (1979) Huie's Sermon (1980) God's Angry Man (1980) Fitzcarraldo (1982) Cobre Verde (1987) And it costs approx 44 quid (British pounds) shipped (releases on July 21st)... can't wait!

Haven't seen it, but re the subtitles, you may be able to find an English language subtitle online... just google the video's file name along with the word subtitles. There are plenty of sites that make subs available for download at no charge.

Was never a big Steely Dan fan, but did love Was (not Was) who I believe had some 6 degrees of separation thing going there:

I hope to put up a YouTube link here in the near future, for a song that an old band mate, his son and I have recorded just recently. The interesting thing with the recording is that my friend (the guitarist) and his son (who until just a couple of weeks ago, had a great little band called Dying Breeds) are both living in Norwich in the UK and I am here in Sydney. They recorded the music (my friend laying down all of the guitar and bass and his son the drums and production) then sent me the mixed MP3 as a guide. I then loaded the guide track into GarageBand, put my MacBook Pro under my arm and wandered off down to a friend's studio in Ultimo and added the vocals. I then sent back an isolated vocal track and my friend's son then mixed a final version and now we just need to throw together some sort of clip using a bunch of still images. The other thing is that the original version of this song was recorded on a four track tape in 1979 and just 500 copies pressed (very roughly I might add), some of which sold through Missing Link in Melbourne and Phantom Records in Sydney. The reason our band split at that time was that my friend the guitarist had to return to the UK due to being an illegal immigrant following the expiry of his visa. We finally made contact again just recently through Facebook and decided to redo the song... the marketing line I suppose will be "Separated by 35 years and 17,000 kilometres" Anyway, as soon as it is finished, I will put the link here. In the meantime, here are a couple of clips of Dying Breeds (my friend's son is on guitar (Les Paul, not Stratocaster) and vocals) - hope you enjoy: This one (Planet Me) has a pretty cheesy clip, but I like the song...

Christmas doesn't get much better than this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDcajtt8uU0

then maybe the rule should be "what happens outside of Wongs, stays at Wongs"... kind of like confessional for the rest of us who aren't Catholics.

I had plantains (at least I think that's what they were) in Borneo... these ginormous things couldn't be eaten raw, so had them fried in a very light batter for breakfast (in a long house); so much flavour!

Do inflatable figures qualify as models... or would they be considered toys?

Don't you mean "are you someone who hangs around with bands BB?"?

Um, you didn't happen to notice the dates on those two posts you responded to, did you? Hopefully Cards13 has managed to get over his 2 week injury in the 4 years since it happened, and if you are lucky, you might be able to find a copy of Dlango Unchained in the bargain bins at JB HiFi ;-)

Yes, "What Dreams May Come" is absolute eye candy... stunning images and a reasonable storyline, if a little overwrought at times. Love Werner Herzog films with my favourites being "Fitzcarraldo" and "Aguirre the Wrath of God"... also loved "The Enigma of Kasper Hauser". I have some blu-rays of his documentaries including a set called "Encounters in the Natural World" as well as the 3D "Cave of Forgotten Dreams". One of the most powerful documentaries (and depressing) I have ever seen, is his "Land of Silence and Darkness" which explores the world of people born deaf, dumb and blind. Another interesting film of his was "Even Dwarves Started Small". Werner Herzog himself is an absolute nut-job... love him!

I know of Twisted Nerve, but no, I haven't seen it - must look out for it. The first time I saw Wages of Fear was when I was home sick from school in the 60's and it was the mid-day movie... I suppose I've had a soft spot for it ever since, but I love the slow paced building of tension... probably not as good as the original Cape Fear though with Robert Mitchum in some of his best form. Snake Pit is a psychological drama which I have always loved... Olivia de Havilland is brilliant. A couple of later films in a slightly similar vein are Polanski's Repulsion and Altman's Images. Loved both of those.

Me too... I have a nice little DVD set of German horror that includes The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Nosferatu, The Golem and Waxworks. Also loved the first Frankenstein movie (Karloff) which also owed a lot to that German expressionist style. As far as dark, off centre films go, Harry, He's Here to Help is not a bad effort.

Well, that begs the question, what were the first and second worst? :-)

If it makes you feel better BB, according to the Devil's Dictionary, a saint is a "dead sinner revised and edited".

Love B&W when it's used well... Eraserhead, Elephant Man, Sin City (apart from the odd splash of colour), The Man Who Wasn't There, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and so on... and of course all of those early films such as Wages of Fear, Cape Fear, Casablanca, Psycho and many many more...plus one particularly good psychological thriller The Snake Pit.

They all show his talents... What's Up Tiger Lilly (his first?) - he acquired the rights to a Japanese gangster flick and dubbed his own dialogue over it. Sleeper is a great film with a screamingly funny Jewish tailor robot. Bananas, Love and Death, Annie Hall, Small Time Crooks, Manhattan etc etc... they are all good and each quite different. One of my favourites though, a black and white mystery with Mia Farrow and John Malkovich, Shadows and Fog... great.

Yes, agree that Blackadder is a cut above Mr Bean. American comedies can be very good, but lack the British eccentricities that you find in shows like Fawlty Towers, Not Only But Also, Monty Python, Blackadder etc. Having said that, I was a real sucker for Seinfeld and before that, a long time before that, The Bob Newhart Show (both the one where we was a psychiatrist and the one where he was a hotel owner, that owed a lot to Fawlty Towers).

Agree... the funny thing was that for the entire first series, Baldrick was the "brains" and Blackadder the dolt. Oh, and I still have nightmares whenever I think about the "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" special, with Baldrick in a leather "posing pouch"...uuurrrrgggghhhh!! And speaking of British comedy on TV, I have to say I love the League of Gentlemen series... have all of them on DVD as well as their Apocalypse movie which is also a hoot (if you haven't seen this show, chase it up as it's definitely worth a look).... another series worth checking out is Psychoville; the Brits really do have a way with humour that, for the most part, the Americans simply can't do... then again, they are also responsible for some of the worst TV comedies as well.

Ok Choke, being true to my word, here is a list of fairly obscure things (well, obviously not obscure to everyone) that I would recommend - I won't go into descriptions, analysis etc - you can find all of that on IMDB no doubt... so choke on this ;-) Music related documentaries plus a couple of others: The Filth and the Fury (Sex Pistols doco) The Future is Unwritten (Joe Strummer of the Clash doco) Searching for the wrong Eyed Jesus Deep Blues - a musical pilgrimage to the crossroads The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack Ghengis Blues Crumb Lost in La Mancha Movies: The Harder They Come Robinson Crusoe on Mars Wise Blood Happiness of the Katakuris Survive Style 5+ Shark Skin Man, Peach Hip Girl Branded to Kill Tokyo Drifter Shock Corridor If, O Lucky Man and Britannia Hospital (trilogy) Juliet of the Spirits High and Low Throne of Blood Raise the Red Lantern Not One Less The Road Home just a few to get on with... can add more if you like... many more.