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Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by

Universal Pictures UK

Doing Life (2007 DVD):
Live (2006 DVD):
My Booky Wook:

Cert:

Cat.no: 8253974

Running time: 63 minutes

Year: 2007

Pressing: 2007

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 8 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)

Languages: English

Subtitles: None

Widescreen: 16:9 (1.78:1)

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 9

Price: £19.99

Extras: The Russell Brand Show (Radio 2), Friday Night with Jonathan Ross interview, Backstage at the Hackney Empire, 3 sketches

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Director:

Mick Thomas (TV: The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz 2007, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Time After Time, Watchdog)

Russell Brand: The swine!!! Russell Brand is a great comedian, especialy when it comes to thinking on his feet, but he's one I find is best experienced in small doses. For example, I loved his Ponderland series on Channel 4 recently, and I'd enjoy the occasional episode of him on Big Brother's Big Mouth, but not for the whole series. He's best at observational comedy and this gets mostly overlooked by the media in favour of rabbiting on endlessly about his apparent highly-charged sex life. Topics featured in this gig include his new boots, his attempting to give the audience an orgasm, Russell leafing through the Hackney Gazette from the day of recording, The Brit Awards, and Chip & PIN machines, including how the shopkeeper turns away with a Duran Duran 'Wild Boys'-style head movement. He also talks about why are Dad's willies more brown than your own when you're a child - something also brought up on Ponderland, as was talking about holidaying near where you live and how disappointing it is that you've not travelled very far so it doesn't feel like a holiday as well as also pretending to be surprised when your grandparents visit you, even though it's hardly a chore for them to travel over there. However, he only touches on those things here, and on the show he devoted a whole programme to each topic, so don't get worried thinking you've seen it all before, because you haven't. On the downside, given the title this live stand-up film, recorded at the Hackney Empire, London, has a prison setting... even though no mention is made of this so it doesn't have any particular relevance. Also, why don't we get to see the whole gig? It only runs for 63 minutes and I can see that some editing has been done to tidy up some areas of it so things run smoothly, but fans have paid full price so why not release the full gig, even as an extra? Seamless-branching could be used so that the 63-minute version could easily be achieved without having to have two copies of the film on the disc. And another downer - Why are there no subtitles? He's a funny guy but he often talks ten-to-the-dozen and they are required for times like that. However, I'll end this section on a positive as I love the fact Russell said he tried to chat up Mila Kunis (aka Meg from Family Guy) on the set of the movie they filmed together in Hawaii, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but then she revealed she has a boyfriend, and he says, "How long is it polite, to continue *pretending* to be interested in what someone says after they reveal they've got a boyfriend?.... I think it's 11 seconds(!)" Russell Brand's new tome "My Booky Wook Picture-wise, the gig is presented in anamorphic 16:9 and looks excellent with no problems whatsoever. It's exactly what you'd expect and get from a great transfer. The sound is in Dolby Surround only, but then it's a gig where one man talks a lot, not a special FX-fest, and the audio carries very clearly. There's some good extras on this DVD, running for a total of 54 minutes, thus aiding the value of the disc: The Russell Brand Show (Radio 2) (30:22): Point a camera on Russell, with his radio show crew, and film him as he goes out on air live. That's the jist of this section, which is presented in a pseudo 2.35:1 widescreen ratio in a sepia-toned image, and it works just as well as the segment in the live DVD where he's rummaging through the local paper, as he reads out emails from listeners and reacts to them. Russell's co-host Matt is away and he needs someone to help him. Someone suggests he gets Noel Fielding, star of The Mighty Boosh and who co-starred with Russell on Channel 4's 2006 The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year, and that's the man who's with him. Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (14:19): Although he was on the show the Friday before the release of this DVD, this clip is Russell Brand's interview on June 22nd earlier this year. This clip is presented in 16:9 anamorphic as filmed and Brand absolutely runs rings around Ross here. Backstage at the Hackney Empire - One Hour Until the Show Starts (4:31): Done in the same style as the Radio 2 clip, Sketch 1: Nativity Live (1:08): A spoof fly-on-the-wall sketch all that's wrong with TV today mixed with Xmas. Very funny :) Sketch 2: Secret Lives (2:30): What a 31-year-old plasterer gets up to in his spare time... Sketch 3: Channel Swim (1:08): Russell attempts to out-do David Walliams when it comes to swimming the Channel. The main menu features a loop of soundbites from the show, there are a mere 8 chapters to break up the act, plus a couple here and there for the longer supplementals, but, alas, no subtitles. FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS OVERALL Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2007. DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on: Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP