Wholesale and Distribution Movie Reviews

Evidently, this DVD release was NOT authorized by either Bryan Ferry or his Management and they have pulled future release of this due to too many omissions. Not only are the releases "More Than This" and "Avalon" missing, but so are Bryan Ferry's solo releases post 1995. Also, there are more earlier video releases both from Roxy Music & Bryan Ferry that are missing. On top of that, the picture quality is lacking on some of the videos on the DVD. Bryan Ferry is going to release a NEW and COMPLETE version between 2003-2004 with many extras. I would imagine the NEW version that will be released will be like the recent two DVD release by David Bowie which is excellent in every way with every release including rare BBC & Dick Cavett performances. It may be a good idea to avoid this release and wait for the Bryan Ferry AUTHORIZED version.

I personally don't understand the in's and out's of this particular situation - but looks like Video Collection is OOP in America, and maybe soon to be in Canada (until it sells out). Anyway, I got mine just after getting the video. Well maybe it isn't the greatest collection on earth but its better than nothing and that's what we have right now (until something else comes out). In the meantime you get a bunch of videos that are going to impress and some maybe not but hey, that's what the fast forward/next track buttom is for. And that's the beauty of DVD. When it comes to this disc there are a lot of videos to explore and they are really good, from the first Your Painted Smile to my favourite Don't Stop the Dance.

I think the real reason for the problem with the release of this DVD is the cheese factor, which could be a slight embarasment for The Man. I'm thinking of videos like These Foolish Things, What Goes On, Angel Eyes, You Go to My Head. These are my least favourite and could have been left out. Still, that leaves 20 videos that are well worth the price of this DVD. I've never seen the More than This video but I have seen an excerpt from Avalon and I don't miss it.

So get this disc in the meantime if you can't wait for a nebulous promise of something in the future. Oh, and in case Ferry and company are reading, how about releasing Live in Europe on DVD? That would make up for the fact that every North American release of the video had a sound problem in the audio. Now there's a greatest hits live video from yesteryear that would be a great compliment to this disc or any release in the future. So in the meantime, enjoy this disc!

The videos in this collection give a good cross-reference of Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry's solo work. The quality of the early videos is fair, but the sound is good, nonetheless. The later videos are fantastic, and sound better than the remastered CD's. But, there's one big omission...where is the video of "Avalon"? I've always considered "Avalon" one of the most sensual and atmospheric videos of all time, and was disappointed to find that it was not here. Still, the DVD is worth it, as we see the evolution of Roxy Music's style from avant-garde art-rock to a more soulful and almost-mainstream band, with the charismatic trio of Ferry, Manzanera and Mackay holding things together throughout the years, and Ferry's development as a single artist growing with each release.

In all, I think Roxy and Ferry fans will be pleased...but, I still want to see "Avalon" sometime in the future. :-)

Don,t get this dvd mixes are bad camera jerks all around. I dont think people are having much fun.A good idea but very poor outcome. I recommend "Underworld-Everything everything" this is hot rave pounding engaging music as is MobyPLay ,which is a must.

All I can say is, if you couldn't be there because you dont live in the UK, then get this DVD!

This DVD sums up everything that is Fatboy Slim, its brilliant, the way he can get a crowd going is like no other DJ, and playing a free gig in his home town, well, it was bound to be big.

This DVD does contain most of the tracks that Fatboy played, but not all. If there is a DVD out there of the first Big Beach Boutique get that one, it was better than the second, but not as big. Brighton is a town of about 300,000 people, and 260,000 or so were on the beach, one of the best experiences of my life and everytime I watch this DVD it brings memories back. Get this DVD, the crowd shots cant do it justice, but, Get this DVD.

I have no idea what got mixed in with the other reviewers' coffee. This DVD is ubelieveable. First, it has enough extras to keep a fatboy fan happy (type 303 to see a half hour backstage clip) and the music is great. He certainly mixes throughout the whole thing despite what other reviewers say. You won't be disappointed.

I feel dirty giving the movie four stars or even writing about it for that matter. But - this film has that classic film-noir touch - filmed in black and white, dirty, dark, foggy, shadowy. A grim, confused, trenchcoat wearing, unshaven anti-hero. Now combine these noir elements with mad scientists, an alagorical Freudian subtext, freaks, lurid horror imagery and nightmarish settings in Tokyo non-the-less. The Freudian alagory concerns the dark things that lurk in our subconsious (monsters of the Id)- the things we repress so as to not to act out as savages. The film asks - If this subconsious "thing" were to materialize would it not be a pre-mortal-self that still exists in us. Sound familier? Jeckle and Hyde, Altered States. In the Manster - the Premortals fate works into a better more hellish, fiery metaphore. This film was one of the many old chiller theaters staples - but The Manster was also one of the more memorable and atmospheric. Many will try to dismiss the film on the surface as cheap, childish, sick, or silly - but there is more to this ugly little horror noir. Few will admit out-loud that they enjoyed The Manster... but way down deep, in the subconsious, most will have found the experience entertaining - at least on some level. And I assure you, for good or bad, The Manster will never be forgotten!

Grim, dark, dirty, campy, cheep and cheesy horror exploitation taken to the - nth degree. Its like the writers said - all the horror has been done already - we need to do something different - and they did or then again they didnt. This one is far far off the wall. When watched with a crowd the Manster is silly, nonsense. Watch it by your self - the Manster is compeling in a guilty, lurid way.

The Manster is the first of the two-headed monsters, long before Ray Milland and Rosie Grier's version. An American journalist visits a reclusive scientist in Japan for an interview. Soon, the journalist is use as a guinea pig where he is injected was a serum that causes an eye to grow on his shoulder. Soon the eye becomes a second head.

I feel dirty giving the movie four stars or even writing about it for that matter. But - this film has that classic film-noir touch - filmed in black and white, dirty, dark, foggy, shadowy. A grim, confused, trenchcoat wearing, unshaven anti-hero. Now combine these noir elements with mad scientists, an alagorical Freudian subtext, freaks, lurid horror imagery and nightmarish settings in Tokyo non-the-less. The Freudian alagory concerns the dark things that lurk in our subconsious (monsters of the Id)- the things we repress so as to not to act out as savages. The film asks - If this subconsious "thing" were to materialize would it not be a pre-mortal-self that still exists in us. Sound familier? Jeckle and Hyde, Altered States. In the Manster - the Premortals fate works into a better more hellish, fiery metaphore. This film was one of the many old chiller theaters staples - but The Manster was also one of the more memorable and atmospheric. Many will try to dismiss the film on the surface as cheap, childish, sick, or silly - but there is more to this ugly little horror noir. Few will admit out-loud that they enjoyed The Manster... but way down deep, in the subconsious, most will have found the experience entertaining - at least on some level. And I assure you, for good or bad, The Manster will never be forgotten!

Grim, dark, dirty, campy, cheep and cheesy horror exploitation taken to the - nth degree. Its like the writers said - all the horror has been done already - we need to do something different - and they did or then again they didnt. This one is far far off the wall. When watched with a crowd the Manster is silly, nonsense. Watch it by your self - the Manster is compeling in a guilty, lurid way.

The Manster is the first of the two-headed monsters, long before Ray Milland and Rosie Grier's version. An American journalist visits a reclusive scientist in Japan for an interview. Soon, the journalist is use as a guinea pig where he is injected was a serum that causes an eye to grow on his shoulder. Soon the eye becomes a second head.

The always intense John Garfield stars as a boxer framed for the murder of a newspaper reporter who was about to expose the real story behind his carefully crafted public image. Conveniently, the real killer and the only witness to what really happened are both killed in a car accident, leaving Garfield without a defense. So he takes off, ends up in California and gets mixed up with the Dead End Kids, a girl, and an old lady who befriend him, not knowing his real identity. There's a lot left to luck in this film as dogged detective Claude Rains chases after the boxer. The Dead End Kids are an acquired taste, although in this film they aren't as grating as they would become in later years. Garfield, as usual, is very watchable and believable. Rains, on the other hand, is miscast as the detective and never for a moment seems convincing. Ann Sheridan is equally miscast as Garfield's drunk girlfriend, although she makes a quick exit in the film, despite her uncalled-for high billing. Gloria Dickson, the girl he falls in love with, has a few good moments, but lacks star quality. The script has a number of holes in it, but it also has some good moments. I particularly enjoyed the dramatic water tower sequence, as the boys must try to escape from a water tower where the water is going down. This is very much an old fashioned movie, especially in the boxing scenes, but that is also part of its appeal, since it is a great example of the kind of film Thirties audiences enjoyed.

This is the forth Dead End Kids film. (Dead End [1937], Crime School [1938], Angeles With Dirty Faces [1938]). A boxer (John Garfield) has a little party after his fight. In a apartment, Johnnie trys to swing a punch at a nosy reporter, but he is so drunk he misses and ends-up passed out in a chair. Another man hits the reporter over the head with a whiskey bottle. The reporter McGee ends up dead. Later, they decide to make Johnnie take the fall. Johnnie is innocently drunk-sleep. The bad man and woman try to make there getaway, but with the police catching them, they go off the road and instantly die. They think it is Johnnie who is dead. But one detective is on the hunt. Johnnie runs away and he comes across a farm where the delinquent Dead End Kids (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsly) have been sent to work. There he meets the boys who he trys to reform. Also a woman at the date farm, Peggy (Gloria Dickson), softens his heart too. Meanwhile a detective (Claude Rains) is close on the trail. This is a good film for Billy Halop, who practically steals the film. Great acting from Halop. Good performances by May Robson who played the Grandma on the farm. Filmed at Palm Desert, California. Great ending. Get a hankercheif. On this DVD version, Alpha Video only offers an "index" which is a chapter selection. Very good print of film.

Future superstar, John Garfield, is cast as a boxer on the lam from a (false) murder rap.
Claude Raines is miscast as the detective who pursues him.
Garfield winds up at a farm where the ever-popular Dead End Kids are too.
There's plenty of action, drama and intrigue as Garfield gets involved with the farm's gorgeous owner and the Dead End Kids, who come to idolize him.

stupid me for reading the covers. should have known that being released by shock-o-rama that this movie would be a complete piece of junk. terrible movie about a guy escaping from a van thats escorting him to another mental institution. the guy is all bandaged up but they never even show his face like they do on the cover, go figure! anyways the guy kills like one or two people, not even good deaths, in fact i don't think they really show him killing anybody if i remember right. no thrills, chills, or scares to be had. just a waste of time! the people that gave this movie good reviews had to have helped make the film, sorry but theres no other explanation, just terrible.

These two films are the most god awful peices of trash you will ever see in your entire life. There is not a single moment in either Freak or Head Cheese that even comes close to being entertaining. Freak is about a Mental patient that escapes from a "maximuim security" insane asylum(that looks More like the director's House)and goes on a killing spree where he kills two people(they don't show the murders either). The Freak is then killed Rather anticlimaticlly by a axe blow to the head. Headcheese is some lame art students excuse for filming himself drinking and smoking and playing with skulls. Don't get me Wrong i am a fan of grade C Horror films like Skinned Alive and Zombie Doom but Freak and Headcheese are not violent movies. I feel that shock-o-rama Should be Ashamed for releasing these films because in the past i have always been pleased with their work but they dropped the ball this time. In closing if you see this dvd on the street and you would have to bend over to pick it up, don't it is not worth it.

(DVD REVIEW): Also set in rural America and just as largely "quiet" as SIGNS (despite the in-your-face packaging), FREAK is an indie winner that I'm sorry slipped under my radar until now. Clearly and admittedly influenced by HALLOWEEN yet possessed of its own subtle style (and shot on genuine and thus far more persuasive Midwest locations), this is the kind of modest but accomplished first feature that makes me anxious to see what writer/director Tyler Tharpe comes up with next. Shot on 16mm, the movie has been given a solid full screen transfer by E.I., with frequent but never distracting grain and naturalistic colors. A brief behind the scenes feature manages to pack in plenty of nifty details, from an uncredited Tharpe himself playing the killer, to an asylum door portal that was actually cut out of a cardboard box. This segment is a good complement to the commentary by Tharpe and several of his crew, which contains nothing too suprising or revelatory, but still contains enough intersesting stories to be a worthwhile listen.

When i saw the cover and catchy title to this dvd, i had great expectations. Though the story doesn't exactly follow its counterpart, which i wont name, its leading character Dildo Saggins is tasked with an epic mission which could lead her to her doom, To destroy the g-string! Prohapse its dry, prohapse it lacked funding when it was made. Still, I would watch this movie with my girlfriend if I had one! ...

I thought this movie needed a review from a married women. I thought this movie was the funniest porn we've watched since Bratgirl. Perhaps if your sitting home alone then this movie isn't for you but if you are looking for some fun to start a night of more fun then I think this movie is a great start.

It is full of puns, bad jokes and VERY tame sexual situations. My husband says it's almost tame enough to be party porn, I'm not sure I would say that. However if you are a fan of LOTR then this movie will get you laughing and get things going.

So here I am sitting in a desert, living the spartan life, away from family and loved ones. What better way to temporarily forget about the barren life your living, than to see some buxom babes and great corny humor.

A friend threw this in his laptop as we gathered around to watch a movie after a long day. We laughed our asses off.

Surprisingly good humor. Not to the league of "Robin Hood : Men in Tights", but it was close for being a B movie. There were more than plenty of crazy side jokes. One of the most memorable characters (besides Misty, Darian, Ruby, etc) was Smirnoff - the drunken old mage.

Although the plot was a satyr on LOTR, it flowed amazingly well. Everything was developed quite nicely.

The only stuff missing was a cold beer in my hand, and a bowl of popcorn in the other. Well worth buying.

Limp entertainment. While it is all you ever wanted to see in exploring the various ways you can manipulate mens genitals; it is highly boring after the initial on-film shock value wears off. That took several minutes. Truly nothing you haven't seen or imagined if you've ever had foreplay with a man with lights low/on; or are a man that has pretended his genitals are a hamburger. For men - nothing you can't do, haven't done, or imagined. NO great comedy or dialog. Live audience laughter and on-screen reactions seem very strained. Better genital entertainment is "The Vagina Monologues." You may like this if you enjoy simple male genital tricks that are easily done. Full Monty Dissapointment.

I did not watch "Live at the Forum" until after I had spent seven weeks working with the touring company of Puppetry of the Penis. Though the video is good, it doesn't do the live show justice. If you have seen it live, you probably won't be blown away by the video. If you have never seen it live, you will probably love the video.

It is no way pornographic. After a couple minutes, you forget that they are even naked.

The two men in the video are the creators of the show. One is currently touring in America, the other is touring in Australia. I have never worked with either though. The other "dick trickers" on tour are definitely funnier than these two. I probably just got spoiled by the two boys that I worked with though. There are very few men in the world who would be willing (or able) to get onstage and play with themselves for an hour in front of an audience of thousands. You have to respect them for that.

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

This movie had dumb humor. It was annoying silly. Not funny silly. The jokes were lame. It did not give you the nostalgia of the campy b-movie experience. It just annoyed you until it was merclessly over.

It was an activist's version of a monster movie. Just annoying propaganda that got old FAST.

If you want a funny "guy in ape suite" that will make you laugh, get "A*P*E" instead. Do your eyes a favor and avoid this crap.

This one is a real klunker. I guess some people like this for the camp. This is full-on 70's campy, but without any retro-cool. It's supposed to be a comedy, but I can't imagine anyone laughing at it. The jokes are of the "unga-bonga" type. (Those Africans talk so funny don't they. Please, give me a break.) Some of the jokes are offending, and the one's that aren't are just plain dull. The actors are some of the worst I've ever seen. If you're looking for cheesy movies, I recommend the Mystery Science Theater series instead. Give this one a miss.

If only they had some actual money to spend on this it could have been tremendous. The acting is solid and the jokes are actually funny though dated. The sound and picture quality are a little shaky. I was totally surprised to find an actual directors commentary track but only listened to it for about 10 minutes. I had one major laugh while watching this that made me fall out of my chair, Queen Kong has just escaped from her Command Performance for the Queen and the promoter goes to Queen Elizabeth to apologise and she knees him in the balls. Low-brow but highly effective!

An apparently titillating documentary such as this needs more than anything else to answer the basic question of why the otherwise normal Ms. Chong (as we are frequently reminded) chose to engage in compromising positions with over 250 virtual strangers in a matter of 10 hours. What was she trying to prove?

Off I went to find out with a very open mind willing completely to forward my sympathy to a woman who did something so maverick, if nothing else. Unfortunately, the answer never came.

For one thing, it would have helped the creators of this putative muss to have at least gotten their own act together. We are first told that the whole motivation behind this supposed expression of female empowerment was an "ultimate ego trip" ...to have all these men wanting to have sex with Chong.

A few minutes down the line, we find out more about her sordid past which included, lo and behold, a teenage sexual assault (gang r*pe) and drug abuse, the obvious implication being that this drove her into promiscuity.

Which is utterly unconvincing in its own right, but as though this were not bird-brained enough we are then presented with an interview with Ms. Chong on channel 4's "The Girly Show" (clearly a benchmark for intellectual debate now isn't it?) talking about how it was "a p*ss take on the whole western ideal of masculinity" or how she felt that it "was an artful expression".

Right. An*l hand-jobs and "triple penetrations" - how very vintage Da Vinci!

In the end, this 90 minutes of burlesque gibberish leaves the viewer sighing. This is NOT a look at sex or any offshoot thereof as seems to be promised from the title, but a look at the psyche of Annabel Chong and the only thing it ends up conveying is that she is one troubled human being. Playing neither the role of a defiant punk slut rebel or a vulnerable woman-child entirely convincingly, she ultimately comes across as a very confused young woman desparately scrambling for an identity. Whether through porn or (hopefully) some more respectable means, you can't help but hope she finds it.

There's no denying that the life of Annabel Chong is fascinating to observe -- from her life as a feminist scholar to porn-star celebrity to nothing and back to porn-star celebrity.

Unfortunately, with such great material the filmmaker doesn't do a good job. First of all, this documentary is just like an Annabel Chong Home Video collection done by the ex-boyfriend (which is what the director was). It follows all her through her daily and not-so-daily life and nothing more.

Never does the filmmaker ever ask "Why?" Why does she do this? How has her past trauma (being gang-raped) affect her (it barely even acknowledges the rape)? Why does she go back to porn after promising her humiliated parents to make it up to them? It just lazily notes these things and moves on to her going around and doing her daily tasks.

Worse, at times it misrepresents Chong. There's one scene where Chong is cutting herself without explanation. Wow. Screwy, right? Except in the BONUS MATERIAL, you learn that that's the scene when the director breaks up with her and SUGGESTS they take turns doing cutting themselves and films it.

The filmmaker may be incompetent but that's not to say the DVD isn't interesting. With a life as... complicated... as Chong's it's hard to make it boring. The most moving part is when she moves back with her parents in Singapore and they discover from strangers her secret life has having being the center of the world's biggest gang-bang.

So the documentary is worth the viewing, but don't have your expectations up there and you'll be fine. Also be forewarned: they do show clips of Annabel Chong uncensored.

This documentary profiles adult film actress Annabel Chong (real name: Grace Quek), who in 1995 broke new records in sexual history when she performed 251 sexual acts in 10 hours with 70 different men for the porn movie "The World's Biggest Gang Bang." This documentary, which included (the MILDEST of)actual footage from Chong's X-rated movie, was difficult to watch at times and, predictably, elicited gasps from the audience with its subject matter. However, the shock value of the film's central focus eventually wore off, and the filmmakers-- intentionally or not-- leave us with a portrait of a woman with a uniquely admirable quality: Miss Chong shows herself to be unapologetic about her passion for sex (incidentally, with both men AND women), is completely intergrated with the sexual side of her personality, and has no regrets about her astonishing act-- even though she faced an HIV scare afterward, and got stiffed (no pun intended) for the $10,000 salary that she was supposed to receive for her work in "The World's Biggest Gang Bang." Annabel Chong, of course, is not the first or only person in the world who has expressed her sexuality and sexual desires without apology. At the risk of portraying an adult film star as a role model, however, Miss Chong's comfort level with her sexual attitudes and activities is refreshing. Her honesty and freedom of expression form a sharp contrast in our society where even as we slowly break down barriers dealing with sexuality, confronting our sexual behaviors and activities still remain a potential source of conflict (both internal and external) to us. It's debatable over whether Annabel Chong's life warrants an 86-minute documentary-- but nevertheless, this is fascinating stuff.