Info and forum posts by 'David Clegg'

This user hasn't used our main site yet, so has no main account at present.

Joined on: Sunday, 24th September 2000, 18:43, Last used: Thursday, 30th March 2023, 07:51

Access Level: Mostly Harmless

About this user: DVD: Samsung 709
Widescreen: Panasonic TX32DK1
Hi-Fi: Small shiny silver Pioneer (can never remember model no)
Dolby Digital: Coming Soon (don`t tell the wife)

This user has posted a total of 28 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0 messages a day, or 0.02 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: Anybody challenged a customs charge and won?!?

Fair play to Amazon - after a couple of e-mails they have given me $10 worth of coupons.

RE: US Vs. Canadian DVD`s

Try the Digital DVD Depot: http://www.dv-depot.com

They are based in Canada so as well as seeling all the normal R1 stuff they have a section on their site that highlights the better Canadian releases.

Also they do really good deals if you pre-order. Excellent customer service too.

Been using them on and off since 97 with no problems.

RE: Gladiator R1 or R2?

They have the same extras (although they are described differently which may cause confusion) but the R1 release has a DTS 6.1EX soundtrack.

RE: Anybody challenged a customs charge and won?!?

I may not have much joy pursuing customs for a refund as Amazon had labelled the box using the normal price as the goods` value - not the price I actually paid. Even the invoice inside the box had the normal price and didn`t mention the actual amount I shelled out. Most annoying.

I`m going to e-mail Amazon and see if there is anything they are prepared to do about it.

Anybody challenged a customs charge and won?!?

I`ve had a note through the door informing me of a customs charge (£5.65) for a couple of DVDs from amazon.com

Thing is I ordered the DVDs with a $15 discount coupon and when converted to UK money the total price I paid was £17.40. As this is under the £18 worth of goods you are allowed to bring in before being charged VAT and duty I wondered if it is worth my while challenging the charge.

I`m thinking this might be a long and boring battle for such a little amount so might not bother, but if anyone else has been in a similar situation and got their money back with minimal time/fuss it might be worth me complaining. Anyone got any similar stories?

RE: Most wanted!?

King of Comedy
Paris, Texas
Goodfellas (without the flipperoony & with some extras a la Raging Bull R2)
Police Squad
Hitch Hiker`s Guide to the Galaxy

oh, and Star Wars

RE: Picture quality...R1 or R2?

I think in theory R2 should be better quality as a PAL picture has a greater resolution than an NTSC one.

However, in practice there are other considerations to take on board like the time and effort taken over the transfer, etc. So a good R1 can be better than an average R2. The quality of your player and TV might also have a bearing on this - if it has a poor NTSC to PAL convertor your picture might appear to be worse.

The majority of my films are R1 and the quality is fine as far as I`m concerned. I find it difficult to tell the difference (but then I`ve never done a direct comparison of the R1 and R2 versions of the same film).

I`m no real techie so am willing (and waiting) to be put straight with the facts...

RE: Underworld - the best music DVD by a mile...and then some!!!

Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads in case you didn`t know...) has a 5.1 soundtrack, but seeing as though I`m still in poxy stereo I can`t comment.

The stereo track is good though, and it is a great album and an even better DVD. Not only for the extra tracks, concert footage and the big suit, but the bonus David Byrne interview which is superb.

Only music DVD I own (unless you`d count True Stories, which I wouldn`t, so I dunno why I mentioned it)

Gotta go, there`s a ghost in my house...

RE: Swapsies

Great idea,

I`ve got a R1 Raging Bull I`ll gladly swap for the R2 special edition :)

If anybody is interested in taking the standard R1 Raging Bull off my hands for good hard cash or swapping it for another DVD send me an email at ggelcdivad[at]moc.tenretnitb

Clutching at straws I know given how good the R2 special edition looks - but my wife would get a one way ticket to stropsville if I had 2 DVD copies and I couldn`t handle the grief...

Cheers.

RE: Todays R1 News - TV Guardian

Have you seen the "Making Of..." documentary on R1 Scarface?

There`s a brilliant bit when they talk about how they made a friendly version for US Network TV...

Where did you get that beauty scar tough guy, eating pussy?
becomes
Where did you get that beauty scar tough guy, eating pineapple?

This town is just like a great big pussy waiting to get f***ed
becomes
This town is like one great big chicken waiting to get plucked (?!!!)

and

Bitch! Lesbian!
becomes
Pig! Lamebrain!

RE: Define Irony?

Similar thing happened to me...

My Brother (Against Fuel Protests): "This fuel crisis is out of order. blah blah blah I`m losing money `cause I can`t get to work, etc. etc."

Me: "NO! Support the fuel protest, let`s show this government, etc etc. the problems are a price worth paying, blah blah blah vive le revolution"

one hour later... the phone rings...

Digital Choice: I`m sorry Mr Clegg your brand new shiny 32 Inch widescreen TV may be in our depot but the couriers are running at 8% fuel levels so delivery is delayed by at least a week."

TV arrived 8 days later. Bloody fuel protest...

Hey, DVD fans, don`t panic buy petrol, panic buy A/V - you never know when the next disaster will strike...

RE: where to buy rigion 1

Ditial Video Depot - based in Canada, excellent customer service and good prices (especially on their pre-book specials)

http://www.dv-depot.com

RE: Now I want you all to be honest.

DVD - Samsung 709
TV - Panasonic TX32DK1 (awesome telly, not quite as good as the ultra flat screen TAUs but a couple of hundred quid cheaper)
Hi-Fi - currently lets my sytem down, using my Pioneer mini-system, which is great for music but not movies. Dolby Digital next year via a Yamaha DSPA5 when my credit card gets paid off or if I can convince the missus it is really an air conditioning control unit for the front room or something..

If you are upgrading your telly do youself a favour and pay the extra for a 32" set. You`d be a right mook to go for a 28", right Clayts?

DVDs you regret buying

OK so we`ve got the top 5 DVD thread going, but what about those DVDs that you now regret buying?! There must be some turkeys out there in the not-quite-so-perfect land of DVD

1. Goodfellas - Not for the film (which is in my top 10), but for the flipper status. Should have researched in more detail rather than seeing Goodfellas was out on DVD and buying it straight away. I spent years as a LaserDisc owner trying to convince myself & others that turning films over half way through didn`t spoil your enjoyment, when I upgraded to DVD I thought it was all behind me...

2. Glengarry Glen Ross. Again another in my top 10 favourite films, but it is pan and scan only and not widescreen (I should have read the packaging - I`m good at forgetting to do that). We shouldn`t go around buying non-widescreen DVDs, it will only encourage them...

3. Bringing out the Dead - For the awful cheesey so-called "making-of" documentary that is nothing more than the principal members of the cast going on about how everyone else involved is just so wonderful. Plus this is the first Scorsese film I`ve ever knocked off half way through cause I couldn`t be arsed watching it all in one go. Someone please tell me it gets better after repeated viewing.

Some close-calls of movies I nearly bought straight away on DVD without renting or borrowing them first just in case...

American Pie - 5 funny moments tops.
There`s Something About Mary - ditto
Independence Day - good technical example of DVD quality but that`s about it

RE: EXPLAIN THIS WARNER THING

I`m just glad I`m going to be okay with a remote hacked Samsung 709 (ort at least it seems that way).

I couldn`t survive on R2 only, and as for starting to go back to the pictures, jeez Clayts, you must be made of money! what is it nowadays? About £5 to get in, £2 for a bucket of ice with a trace of pepsi, £1 for a spoonful of ice cream. Normally rounded off with a large room full of noisy twats, yep, that`s the kind of enterntainment I`d like to pay for.

If there is a group of you planning on seeing something at the cinema it nortmally works out cheaper to buy it on R1 DVD, get the beers in and watch it in front of the big telly at home.

DVD Rentals from your local library

Those of you interested in renting DVDs may be surprised to know that you might be able to get them from your public library.

At Huddersfield library all the DVDs are £2.50 for 2 nights. This is exactly the same price as the rental price for new releases on VHS so they are not attempting to make extra profit out of the new format.

They have a good range of movies (over 70 in stock when I did a quick count this lunch time) from Disney ones for the kids through to the latest releases. I don`t think you`d get them on the day of release but they don`t seem to be far behind (they certainly had The Insider, Being John Malkovich in stock - newer releases may have been out on loan)

The library normally reduces the price of its VHS rentals after they have been rented out so many times, you can then get them for £1 or £2 a week - hopefully the DVDs will follow this route as more people rent them out.

At the moment Kirklees Metropolitan Council may be leading the country with this development (although I think they only do them at Huddersfield, they certainly aren`t available in Dewsbury Library).

So - check out you local library and if they don`t do DVD pester them to do so. Then instead of lining Blockbusters pockets you can put something back into a valuable community resource (or if you are in Kirklees as I am you can help keep the local councillors` tea trolley jam packed full of cakes and biscuits and boost their expense accounts while they shut down valuable local services like the children`s library reading clubs and summer holiday activities.)

Perhaps others who know of libraries renting DVDs in their local area could add the details in replies to this post.

Cheers

David

RE: What`s yer top 5 DVD`s?

Imported it from dv-depot (http://www.dv-depot.com) cost about 20 dollars if I remember correctly. One of my favourite all time films so one of the first movies I bought on DVD about 3 years ago.

Mook? What`s a f***in` mook? You can`t call me a mook! What`s a mook?

Classic.

RE: dvd rentals

Have you tried your local library?

The A/V section may have some, especially if you are in a larger town/city.

Huddersfield do them, I haven`t been in for a while but I think it is £2.50 per film - will try to remember to check tomorrow and post more details.

RE: Cheap DVD`s at Virgin & DVD pricing

Smiths had a good "3 DVDs for £30" deal this weekend - but turned out it is only if you are buying a new DVD player (they have a new model in stock at £129.99 - not sure of make/model or multi-region status.)

Blockbusters - rip-offs. Cancelled my membership and handed my card in over their outrageous DVD rental prices. If your not happy with them do the same and make sure you tell them why. Might (but I doubt it) filter back to the management who might bring prices down.

If you are into rentals it may be worrth checking out the A/V section of your local library.

RE: What`s yer top 5 DVD`s?

No, none at all really - thetrical trailer and still-screen mini-biogs and production notes.

The disc does have the widescreen version on one side and pan and scan on the other side.

Lack of extras aside it is worth getting if you are a De Niro fan. It stands the test of time and is one of the best De Niro/Scorsese collaborations (Harvey Keitel is excellent in it also).

RE: What`s yer top 5 DVD`s?

It`s tricky... (so I`ve put them in alphabetical rather than rank order)

Alien (20th Anniversary Special Edition) R1
El Mariachi/Desperado R2
LA Confidential R2
Mean Streets R1
Usual Suspects R1

5 I`d like to see on DVD:

King of Comedy
Goodfellas (non-flipper with commentaries and extras galore please)
Police Squad Box Set
Billy Liar/Saturday Night Sunday Morning/Kind of Loving and a whole host of other British classics

RE: My DVD player is better than yours

My Samsung 709. May not be the best but it sits neatly under my telly and lets me watch all my DVDs . Good enough for me.

However, if you believe you have a technically superior machine (very likely in most of your cases I`m sure) I would be willing to perform an unbiased comparison, and would be happy to publish my results on this very site.

Simply wrap your player up very carefully and send it to David Clegg, The Best Unbiased Long-Term DVD Player Comparison Review in the World Ever, Ossett, West Yorkshire and I`ll get back to you all in a couple of years or so with the results.

Cheers

David

RE: Widescreen Question?

The Panasonics let you sort out the geometry without going into any secret service menus.

My TK32DK1`s picture was slightly off when I first switched it on, but a couple of quick button presses and hey presto job`s done.

Bloody good telly too.

RE: El Mariachi Commentary

I prefer El Mariachi.

DVDwise the technical quality of the picture and sound may not be up to Desperado`s, but I like the realistic, rough, raw edges of Mariachi. This is also why I prefer Mean Streets to most of Scorsese`s latter work - the grittiness adds to the impact of the film, whereas hollywood gloss often detracts from the overall effect.

Mariachi also features some cool editing (especially considering it was virtually all done on the fly as they were filming), and some great scenes like the one-man mariachi band keyboard routine!

Having said all that I`ll watch Desperado again next week and my opinion will probably swing completely.

RE: El Mariachi Commentary

Chris White, you are a genius. Read the back of the box, now why didn`t I think of that?!

Saved me a potentially embarrassing trip back to Smiths.

I remember watching the subtitled version on TV a year or so ago, and don`t mind watching it in this way because the film is so good. Was a little taken aback when the commentary automatically started without me choosing it. Anyway, problem solved (or rather not as there wasn`t one in the first place)

Thanks Chris.

RE: Pricing

Couldn`t agree more - it seems the studios (or Universal at least given Eddie Cunningham`s remarkable comments) would rather sell fewer units at a higher price than more units at a lower price. Rather a bizarre business model (well, bizarre from my point of view).

RE: El Mariachi Commentary

Thanks for the suggestion - the audio button gets rid of the commentary, but puts the dialogue in German or Spanish! When I cycle it back round to English the commentary returns. Must be a duff disc.

El Mariachi Commentary

I have the R2 El Mariachi / Desperado DVD but cannot get El Mariachi to play without the Director`s commentary.

I have a Smasung 709 but I don`t think it is the player to blame as it does it on my PC`s DVD software as well. Deperado doesn`t have the same problem.

Anyone else know of or experienced the same problem? Is it possible to stop the commentary (I have tried all the menu subtitle/audio/extras options to get rid off it but none have worked) or will I have to return the disk.

The commentary is interesting, but I`d like to just sit back and watch the film without it!

Cheers

David