Puppetry of the Penis: The Ancient Art of Genital Origami (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS was an unexpected hot ticket in London and New York--a fifty minute comedy act that involves to two men who give a new meaning to the phrase "show and tell" by stripping buck naked and twisting their genitalia into, well, object d'art. So to speak. And this DVD offers the show before a live audience, so you can sit in on the twisting and pulling in an up-close and personal sort of way.
This sounds a lot more bizarre than it really is, as any man who ever spent part of their teenage years in the highschool locker room can tell you. Yes: it really is teenage boy humor, and Austrailian comics Simon Morley and David Friend have snatched it out of the locker room and plunked it on stage for all the world to see. There's "the boomerang," "the eye," "the Loch Ness Monster," "the baby bird," and a host of other penis impersonations--all of which are good for a giggle and some of which are downright hilarious.
Although the show is done in the nude, it isn't in the least erotic, so if that's what you're looking for you had better go some where else. And in truth, this is a show that probably works much better on stage, where there it no doubt has an "in your face" factor that leads the audience to embarrassed hilarity--and indeed, the camera spends almost as much time on audience reaction as on the performers.
Now, this is never going to make any one's short list of "must own live comedy shows." After all, the material will only stretch so far... but taken in the right spirit, it is quite amusing, and it might be the perfect video for that next party you're thinking about giving--just imagine the possibilities! The DVD package also includes a documentary on the creation of a second PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS performing company, which is also amusing in a bizarre sort of way, and a small booklet that will let viewers follow along at home if they are so inclined. An entertaining bit of fluff.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer

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The most talked-about comedy event of the millenium is now on DVD!!!Intrepid Australian penis puppeteers Simon Morley and David Friend have taken the world's stages by storm, creating a runaway comedy hit unlike any other. They've performed their unique repertoire of "genital origami" for stunned, impressed and amused crowds around the world.Make no mistake: there are no sock puppets in this show!PUPPETRY OF THE PENIS beings where "The Full Monty" ends: with Morley and Friend presenting the Ancient Art of Genital Origami through more than 40 astounding "penis installations," including such crowd pleasers as The Pelican, The Windsurfer, The Eiffel Tower, The Loch Ness Monster, and the duo's signature creation, The Hamburger. SPECIAL FEATURES -"Cockstars" 60 minute bonus featurette -Multi camera live performance -5.1 Dolby Surround Sound-PCM Stereo -Interactive Menus -Instant Chapter Access to Skits -Multi page instructional book

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Starstruck (2-Disc Special Edition) (1982) Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie is like all those old movies where the performing kids save the day (you remember...."we've got the barn...gran can make the costumes...we'll put on a show!!"). I LOVE this movie! I scrounged around until I found a copy of it back in the 80's (which wasn't easy to do). The movie is humorous, but the music is great! I especially love "I Want to Live in House" done by Angus and the Wombats, not to mention the song from crashing the Sydney Opera House "Monkey in Me". If you like irreverent humor and 80s semi-punk music as well, this movie is for you. The soundtrack for this movie (although hard to find) is also well worth the price if you can find it as well.
Update 12/31/05: I am thrilled this movie has been re-released with a two disc special edition. It is still a favorite even after all these years. Now, I can stop wearing out the VHS tape I have. However, like other reviewers, I want to know...where is the CD soundtrack?! My album is just about worn out. Bring on the CD!!
09/30/06: STILL waiting for the soundtrack to be released on CD. Who do we have to petition/cajole/threaten to get the soundtrack released on CD?
:-)
04/26/08: Seriously... is there any chance that I will be able to purchase this soundtrack on CD or as an MP3 before I'm eligible for Social Security? (still waiting......) :-)
07/08/09 tap-tap....is this thing on? ...haven't gone away. There simply MUST be a soundtrack released.
12/21/10: Just checking in on my more or less annual rant. What do we want? Starstruck soundtrack on CD or MP3! When do we want it? NOW!

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From the Director of MY BRILLIANT CAREER - A Totally New Kind of Musical!Three years after she rocked the movie industry with MY BRILLIANT CAREER, director Gillian Armstrong again brought the world to its feet with this unexpected musical comedy smash. Jo Kennedy stars as quirky young singer Jackie Mullens, who along with her 14-year-old manager/songwriter/ cousin Angus (Ross O’Donovan) will go to any outrageous lengths to chase their dreams of pop stardom. Oscar® winner Geoffrey Rush (SHINE, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) makes one of his very first screen appearances in this acclaimed combination of delightful old-school story and explosive new wave musical that was nominated for three Australian Academy Awards – including Best Original Music Score – and features songs by Tim Finn and Phil Judd of legendary pop-rock band Split Enz.

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Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Second Season (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)My whole family fell in love with Brett and Jermaine in Season One. We couldn't wait for Season Two to start on HBO and I admit,we were a little disappointed in a few of the episodes. However, after the season ended, I watched all the episodes several times again on HBO "On Demand" in April and was shocked at how fabulous some of the episodes that I thought I didn't like were. I ended up LOVING Season Two. My favorite episode is still Unnatural Love where Jermaine dates the Australian girl...Too Many [...] on the Dance Floor and Carol Brown are great, creative, funny songs! The Cup and the Tough Bretts are other great episodes. Have fun! You'll enjoy good intellectual humor with any of the Conchords Seasons DVD's. I can't wait to get mine!

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Flight of the Conchords follows the trials and tribulations of a two man, digi-folk band from New Zealand as they try to make a name for themselves in their adopted home of New York City. The band is made up of Bret McKenzie on guitar and vocals, and Jemaine Clement on guitar and vocals.

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Under the Mountain (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a terrific movie, with great performances from its young stars. The writing and direction really brought out the best in them. What's more, the world the story portrays is great fun and a little scary.
Highly recommended. It's good stuff.

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Teenage twins Rachel and Theo travel to Auckland to stay with relatives following the sudden death of their mother. Where there was once a psychic bond between them, now there is a rift as Theo, particularly, refuses to confront his grief. Rachel reaches out to him, but is rebuffed. Staying with their Aunt Kay and Uncle Cliff on Lake Pupuke, the twins are fascinated by the volcanic lake and the smell that seems to come from the creepy old Wilberforce house around the shore. They visit Mt. Eden, where Theo sees Mr. Jones, a strange old man from whose hands fire seems to glow. When it seems the twins are being watched – and that the Wilberforces can smell them – Theo resolves to investigate the Wilberforce house. Inside, he and Rachel find what can only be an alien environment. They overhear Mr. Wilberforce talking about something stirring beneath the ground. He says he will kill the twins if they find “the fire-raiser." Rachel is alarmed and reaches out to Theo but, terrified of getting close to anyone since his mother’s death, he pushes her away and sets out alone to find the fire-raiser – the man he saw on the mountaintop.

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Summer Heights High (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Australia has given us some excellent character actors: script-ripping stagemen who can become larger than life caricatures. Think Crocodile Dundee, or -- better yet -- Dame Edna.
But Chris Lilley has come along and surpassed them all. Indeed, his versatility and roaringly off-putting humour surpasses any of the dark humour in 'Little Britain' or other such countrywide satires.
Now we in North America can enjoy 'Summer Heights High', one of the truly wicked and funny send-ups of a secondary school mini-universe, its cliques, turf wars, and teachers (who are barely more mature than the students).
'Summer Heights High' deserves proper sequential viewing -- one cannot simply dive into a later episode and acquire the plot. Lilley's immense talent for character-forming deserves close attention and patience as he lays down, through improvisation, innuendo, and sheer brilliance for skit acting, three distinct narratives (which amazingly never cross paths) in a suburban Australian school. Details of these three personas which he takes on can be found widely, so I won't repeat the background stories here. I just want to state that Lilley's ability to assume different characters is positively uncanny. I mean, uncanny. Take an excellent method actor and combine it with a razor mouthed pirrahna of improv and quick-thinking, and you get a sense of just how kooky and unpredictable Lilley is.
For my money, it surpasses the muti-headed hydra pranks of Cohen (of 'Borat' fame). Because Lilley can deliver sinister and scathing satire on racism, drugs, and just about every other taboo -- but just when you wonder if he's a nihilist, out comes a breathtaking moment of magnificent spirit and heart. The final scenes involving Jonah Takalua are simply headshakingly good, without any hint of that 'very special moment' that usually mars most dramas supposedly about teens.
Chris Lilley, you're brilliant, mate.

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In this hilarious series set in a real Australian high school, actor/comedian Chris Lilley stars as three different characters: a vain drama teacher, a self-absorbed boy, and a haughty female exchange student. Hysterical, absurd and frequently shocking, Summer Heights High reveals a world where small issues become huge, social groups are critical, young minds are molded, hopes are shattered and dreams are realized.
DVD Features:Deleted ScenesOuttakes

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The Piano (1993) Review

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(More customer reviews)Jane Campion's "The Piano" does what many truly great films do: It inspires fascinating discussion and provokes mixed reactions. The male friend with whom I saw it back in 1993 and I were so enthralled that we kept our significant others waiting to leave for our respective Christmas vacations because we kept phoning each other to discuss symbolism and interesting themes in the movie. While I continue to absolutely love the film, I also recognize why some viewers have not shared my reaction. Perhaps you have to have at least considered a forbidden love affair or perhaps you have to have found yourself trapped in a relationship where you feel you have lost your voice to appreciate what Campion explores.
The story centers around Ada (Holly Hunter in an Oscar-winning performance) and her daughter, Flora (Anna Paquin--who also won an Oscar for her extraordinary performance). They leave their upper-class home in Scotland after Ada's father (apparently) arranges her marriage. Ada, who has willed herself not to speak since age 6, expresses herself through her beloved piano.
The true story of who fathered Flora is never revealed in the movie, but the context suggests that she is Ada's illegimate child born from an illicit affair. The hinted-at story of Flora's conception provides a key to understanding both why Ada later begins an affair with her New Zealand neighbor Baines (Harvey Keitel) and why she makes a mail-order marriage in the first place. I suspect that Ada's aging father may have wanted to see her settled--preferably far away so that her unconventional behavior would no longer be a source of social embarassment--and given Ada's muteness and out-of-wedlock child, her father probably couldn't find a suitable suitor in mid-Victorian Scotland.
Stewart (Sam Neill) first encounters his future wife on a lonesome gray beach surrounded by her crated belongings. His Maori porters begin carrying many household items up the muddy path to his dreary homestead. But Stewart refuses to bring the piano along, despite Ada's apparent distress and Flora's pleas that her mother MUST have her piano.
Ada's piano, abandoned on the barren New Zealand beach, captures the sense of what 19th century colonial life might have been like for too many women--treasured possessions, the last ties to "civilization" left behind.
Rendered voiceless without her piano, Ada begs Stewart to return for her instrument through notes and more pleas from Flora. Finally she persuades Baines--a colonist whose tattoed face evidences the extent to which he has "gone native" and who is considered less civilized by his neighbors--to guide her back to the beach. Ada comes to life again as she, at last, gets to play. Drawn by her passion for the piano, Baines arranges with Stewart to trade land for the piano. Without consulting his wife, Stewart assures him that Ada will provide lessons too.
During first of these lessons, Ada strikes her own bargain with Baines, whom she still considers a boor: She will trade sexual favors to earn back her piano, one key at a time. Ultimately, her reluctant bargain grows into full-blown love and passion. The dark, brooding tone of "The Piano," however, suggests that something in this situation will go tragically, and probably violently, wrong.
Campion has filled her movie with haunting piano music (actually played by Hunter) and intriguing imagery. The metaphor of piano as voice and losing and regaining one's voice, Flora's role in changing her mother's fate, the question of whether Ada's bargain reflects a woman taking control of her life or just being victimized in a different way, and many other complexities make this a movie worth watching again and again and again.

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Ada is a mute woman who travels with her daughter and piano from scotland to bush country new zealand for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner. The relationship sours when her husband trades her beloved piano to their neighbor baines.Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent.Release Date: 02/01/2005Starring: Holly Hunter Harvey KeitelRun time: 121 minutesRating: RDirector: Jane Campion

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The Boys Are Back (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)The essence of THE BOYS ARE BACK is "fatherhood", i.e. what it means to be a Dad. It's an absolutely lovely film absolutely worth seeing.
Joe Warr (Clive Owen) suddenly finds himself a single father when his young wife Katy (Laura Fraser) precipitously dies of intestinal cancer. Joe, the lead and oft-on-the-road sportswriter for Melbourne's major newspaper, must now connect with his six-year old son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty). Coming to visit from England is his 14-year old son from a previous marriage, Harry (George MacKay), whom Joe pretty much abandoned to his first wife years before on their divorce.
THE BOYS ARE BACK is about male bonding - father with motherless son, father with fatherless son, brother with half-brother. In this clubhouse, the women, whether it be Joe's mother-in-law Barbara (Julia Blake) or potential new significant-other Laura (Emma Booth), are almost intruders.
Filmed mostly on Australia's striking south coast and with a soundtrack featuring haunting songs by Iceland's Sigur Rós, this film contains what is perhaps Clive Owen's finest and most nuanced performance to date. I wouldn't be surprised if Owen is nominated for an Oscar for this role, which is the best by a male actor I've seen in 2009.
Too often, I think, the societal presumption is that children of marriages broken by death or divorce are better off with mothers, that fathers are somehow less loving and less skilled at parenting. At least in this must-see film, that is emphatically not the case.
I left the screening keen on THE BOYS ARE BACK more than I can adequately express.
P.S. 1/21/2010 Now that 2009 is finished, I must say that Owen's performance, while not THE best of 2009, is one of three best, joining Morgan Freeman of INVICTUS and Jeff Bridges of CRAZY HEART. Good company, that.

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Clive Owen delivers a critically acclaimed performance in THE BOYS ARE BACK, the heartwarming and uplifting drama about a man who is suddenly thrust into the role of single parent. Successful sportswriter Joe Warr (Owen) finds himself completely unprepared to raise his rambunctious 6-year-old son Artie and juggle the challenges of a demanding job, running a household and the possibility of romance. Determined to bring joy back into their lives, he develops a revolutionary approach to parenting no rules, no chores. It's a home filled with love and chaos and then Joe's estranged teenage son comes for a visit. Inspired by a true story and filled with emotional honesty, this poignant film will touch your heart and lift your spirits.Bonus Features include: THE BOYS ARE BACK: A Photographic Journey With Optional Commentary By Director Scott Hicks, A Father And Two Sons, On Set

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Eagle vs. Shark (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)Lilly (Loren Horsley) works in a fast food restaurant and garners the respect of no one. But she takes it on the chin and remains curiously sweet. She's got a crush on Jarrod, a narcissist geek with a horrible mullet played by Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame. Jarrod and Lilly hook up at a party one night. (Do you want to have sex? OK.) Jarrod has a mission-to crush a samoan lad who tortured him in school. He returns home to fight his nemesis. I won't give it away, but the ending to this movie had me laughing hysterically. This is a completely original script absent banal comedy and full of emotional depth. You won't see films like this coming out of Hollywood these days. Thank you Taika and the NZ Film Commission.
Many people have compared Eagle to Napoleon Dynamite, but I find the comparison lacking. Yes, Lily and Jarrod are geeks, but the similarities with Napoleon end there. This isn't a geek revenge movie though the plot may seem like that on the face of it. The movie is titled Eagle vs. Shark but it could be titled man vs. woman. Neither Lily or Jarrod run to each other as solace from the outside world. Lily has a warm home life with her brother and Jarrod is pretty solidly convinced of his stature and his ability with women until the end of the movie. It's interesting to see how Lily turns Jarod around. This film is about the balance of power between Lily and Jarod, not geeks vs the world.
There are a lot of good minor characters in this film including Jarrod's sister and her husband and Lily's brother. Jarrod's daughter is played brilliantly by an eccentric little girl whose name I can't find on the DVD. She's cute to watch. I liked Lorena's performance. She brings strength to her role as Lily but doesn't come off aggressive. It must have been a difficult role to play right.
Good extras on the film including some nice deleted scenes. The commentary with Taika was a little off putting. He seems a bit over it. His girlfriend, Lorena Horsely who plays Lily calls from NZ and they talk a bit about the film, but neither one of them seem very into it. It seems like the commentary was added a long long time after the film was made and maybe thrown in because of the success of Conchords. The most interesting commentary comes from the guy that plays Jarrod's brother in law. Taika says things like "that scene comes from the Sundance film workshop" but doesn't explain what that is or why he was there. Flight of the Conchords fans don't buy Eagle to hear any interviews or commentary with Jemaine. He is curiously absent from all the extras here as he was with Conchords. Jemaine seems more over it all these days than anyone. I doubt HBO will get a season 3 out of him unless they throw him mad mad money.
There are a lot of great views of NZ in this film. Loved the camera shot on the playground with Lily running in the mouse wheel with the bay out the back. Gorgeous. Good music from the Phoenix Foundation Horsepower, Pegasus that works well with the film. The soundtrack wasn't chosen for marketing purposes, it actually works with what's going on in the film.
When I see a good film like this, completed for under a million dollars, you wonder what is going on in Hollywood these days that more films like this aren't made. Hollywood is good at throwing money into a lot of dumb scripts with hot actors, but it takes someone like Taika to come along and demonstrate how a good movie is really about a good script, not special effects and pretty people.

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Miramax Films presents the wickedly offbeat love story, Eagle vs Shark, a funny, fractured romance between two total misfits woven into an all-consuming quest for revenge and shot through with the strange, sweet hilarity of the human condition. When Lily (Horsley), a lonely, oddball fast-food waitress and hopeless romantic, and Jarrod (Clement), another lonely oddball and video game clerk who has spent the last decade plotting revenge against a bully from high school, connect at a dress as your favorite animal party, it s a match seemingly made in outcast Heaven. But when Lily decides to risk everything for love, her hopes are nearly dashed as, after a brief fling, Jarrod dumps her because he s too busy training for his all-important payback mission. But neither of them can anticipate the grit the steadfastly optimistic Lily will show in her heartbreak. As Jarrod's day of reckoning arrives and everything hits the fan, Jarrod and Lily will find something that goes beyond romantic fantasies and revenge faith in who they are.

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Out of the Blue (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)For someone who grew up only a couple of hundred kilometres from the scene of the Aromoana shootings, it is difficult to write an unbiased review. Factually, "Out of the Blue" is as accurate an account as it is possible to bring to the big screen, and the acting, scenery, and atmosphere are flawless. The movie's relevance for a U.S. audience is as a societal lens that focuses on the many equivalent shooting tragedies that beset the United States year after year. That such alienation and hatred can be felt in a small town in a land far, far away amidst backdrops like those seen in "The Lord of the Rings," rather than at a U.S. university campus or a McDonald's is a reflection on the ubiquity of selfishness, sickness, and guns.
No one wants to see a hyper-accurate account of Cho Seung-hui in the days preceding the Virginia Tech massacre, but viewing a similar downward spiral and the resulting tragedy may be easier for many audiences at a distance of 10,000 miles as a small New Zealand town faces down a demon in the form of David Gray. The courage displayed by little old ladies crawling about under fire to help others can only give hope to us all, and the final scene where Gray is roughly shackled and the police smoke cigarettes while he bleeds out is a satisfying glimpse of Kiwi justice. ANZUS is the Australia, New Zealand, United States treaty alliance, a commonality written in ink; "Out of the Blue" is a commonality we share through tragedy. Is this a review of events or a movie- you may well ask- but sometimes the two are inextricable, and the only way to face down the incomprehensible is through the medium of film.

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One horrific day, David Gray suddenly snapped. Based on the true story of a quiet, friendly town turned nightmare, Gray massacred those he'd known for all of his life, holding the whole town hostage through the night. A stunning portrait of a madman Out Of The Blue forces us to question the safety of our own communities and neighborly ties.

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