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Audio described DVDs for November 2012
Transcript
2 December 2012
Roberta: The countdown to Christmas has well and truly begun and if you’re stumped for a present idea I often find that a popular DVD release is always a good stocking filler. Ally Woodford from Media Access Australia has recently paid a visit to her local DVD store and taken note of what the latest releases are. That’s those with captions and audio description. And she joins us now to take us through the list. Hello Ally.
Ally: Hi Roberta, hi everyone.
Roberta: Now, given the time of year there are many Christmas theme titles. But I believe you’ve got a couple that will lead us in to the festive spirit?
Ally: Yeah, we do. We’ve got two animated kids’ titles. One is called Arthur Christmas and the other one is called Santa’s Apprentice. And this one, Santa’s Apprentice, it’s a joint French-Australian production with some of the anime showing familiar Australian scenes. And it’s also got some good voice talent in it, of Matt Cullen, Delta Goodrem and Shane Jacobsen. So it might be a good one to watch over Christmas, I think.
Roberta: Now, are there any big name Hollywood movies that would make good stocking fillers this year?
Ally: There’s a few that’s going to satisfy a range of tastes. Firstly we have The Amazing Spiderman, starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spiderman. In this instalment Spiderman begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance. And it also stars one of the latest, I guess, movie darlings we’ll call her, being Emma Stone.
Now if you like Borat and you like Bruno, you’re going to love The Dictator, which is Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest movie, where he plays a dictator of an imaginary Middle Eastern country with his usual flair and he also makes you squirm with embarrassment in your seat. Not my taste, but I know there’s a lot of Sacha Baron Cohen fans out there.
The last one I’ll put in this category is Snow White and The Huntsman, starring Kristen Stewart of The Twilight fame. It’s also got Australia’s own Chris Hemsworth in it. And the move puts a twist on the fairy tale of Snow White and it’s M-rated. So it’s definitely not a young kids movie, but it is a great movie.
Roberta: I hear that we have an Australian TV series released with captions and audio description. Can you tell us about that one?
Ally: Yeah, I was really excited when I saw this one on the shelves. It’s the recently screened two part series on Channel 9 called Howzat! which is an ever so slightly fictionalised account of Kerry Packer’s establishment of one day cricket. And I watched this on TV and it does make fantastic viewing. I guess it’s a must for all cricket tragics out there.
Roberta: Well I tell you, when my family, I think it was on and whatever night it was on my family came over and they said can we watch this? And I thought oh, no. But you know, I got hooked.
Ally: Yeah, it was very well done I thought.
Roberta: It was just so well presented and, those actors that were playing the characters of the time, weren’t they good?
Ally: They were very good.
Roberta: Well, that was exciting and I reckon I could see it again because there’s a lot in it that you might have missed the first time round.
Ally: Yeah, I’m glad they’ve made that one accessible.
Roberta: Absolutely. Now to finish the list, what titles are going to keep us entertained over summer?
Ally: We have the third instalment in the Men In Black series, actually Men In Black III, still starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. Pop princess Katie Perry has captioned and audio described her movie-length documentary which is called Part Of Me. Tom Cruise and Russell Brand star in Rock Of Ages. It was a bit of a flop, going on its box office taking and also its reviews, but there’s quite a bit of singing and dancing I guess and that might keep everyone entertained.
Roberta: You know Ally, these are two people I would never have put together if I was a casting director.
Ally: Yeah, and there’s also Catherine Zeta-Zones in there. So it is a weird mix, yeah. I haven’t seen it and I did want to see it but it didn’t get great reviews. But I think it might be interesting anyway.
Roberta: Excellent.
Ally: Next up we’ve got a sort of science fiction adventure of, it’s called Prometheus. We have a thriller also in The Awakening – another thriller/horror movie. This one stars the very busy Chris Hemsworth and it’s called The Cabin In The Woods.
In the comedy department we have Friends With Kids,Life Happens, there’s a 2012 movie of The Three Stooges. Adam Sander stars in That’s My Boy and we have a bit of an ensemble cast I guess in What To Expect When You’re Expecting. And lastly, with the comedy, is quite a terrible comedy horror of Piranha, 3-double-D. And it’s so bad they’ve even cast David Hasselhoff as himself.
So, now what else? We’ve got this one, it’s a kid-friendly one. It’s an animated comedy called The Pirates! Band Of Misfits. And the last two movies, they’re both action movies. Firstly we have Bruce Willis in The Cold Light Of Day. And the last one is Nicholas Cage in Seeking Justice.
Roberta: Well some of those names are just not long off the big screen, so that’s really good that they’ve come to AD that quick.
Ally: Just in time for Christmas.
Roberta: Absolutely. Well, if you’re stuck for Christmas present ideas, there are a few there in the list of accessible DVD titles collated by Media Access Australia. These and hundreds more can be found on the audio described DVD database. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, or would like to talk about accessible DVD you can call Ally and her colleagues on 02 9212 6242. Thank you for all of that, Ally.
Ally: No worries Roberta.
Roberta: I’ve been speaking with Ally Woodford from Media Access Australia. And Media Access Australia are supporters of this program.