Shonky Golf with Mick Molloy (1999)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	DVD Credits Filmographies-Signature Collection
Rating
Year Of Production	1999
Running Time	41:20 (Case: 45)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Mick Molloy
Studio Distributor	Radiant Industries Madman Entertainment	Starring	Mick Molloy Justin Morley
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	Gareth Skinner

    I used to like Mick Molloy a long time ago in a galaxy far far away when he was part of the D Generation Late Show. Some of the sketches he did with Tony Martin were amongst the funniest in the live sketch comedy classic.

    Sadly though, the two work together much better in partnership than separately. Mick Molloy's television career hasn't exactly bloomed in recent years, and this attempt is not helping. Written, directed and co-produced by Mick, it also stars Justin Morley as his hapless student and sidekick Alan Length and a number of other minor characters.

    Basically the concept is simple - this is a "mockumentary" featuring Mick Molloy as a golf instructor giving his sidekick Alan and us his faithful viewers valuable lessons in how to play golf in a "shonky" manner.

    Techniques covered include various playing techniques and how to play effectively (not), how to cheat in various situations, dressing up for the part, and various drills. There is a parody of 2001 A Space Odyssey towards the end (the voice of HAL is none other than Tony Martin), and some "previews" of other "shonky" titles at the end.

    I can only describe this video in one word: tedious.

Video

    This is presented in full frame 1.33:1, as it was probably originally intended for broadcast TV.

    The quality of the video transfer is about average, with mediocre levels of detail and okay but not great colour saturation.

    I noticed occasional dot crawl which leads me to suspect the video source may even be in composite video.

    The chapter headings tend to be accompanied by black and white stills which have a tendency to look somewhat pixelated on my player. Other than that I did not notice any compression artefacts.

    There are no subtitle tracks on this single sided single layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Film Artefacts
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Audio

    There is only one audio track on this disc: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224kb/s).

    The audio is very front centred, with only the occasional ambience or environmental sounds spread across front channels. Needless to say, there is no centre channel, surround channels or subwoofer activity.

    Dialogue was reasonably easy to understand and there were no audio synchronization issues, however there were numerous instances of over-clipping distortion so whoever did the sound engineering was not watching the levels closely.

    Background music is very limited and incidental.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
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Overall

    Extras are just about non-existent.

Menu

    The menu is full frame and static.

"Filmography" - The Mick Molloy Signature Collection

    This is a set of stills that provide DVD covers of other titles in the "Shonky" collection. We get Shonky Tennis, Shonky Gymnastics, Shonky Basketball, Shonky Darts, Shonky Pistol Shooting, Shonky Bowls and Shonky Fencing. I am fervently hoping that these are fake titles.

Credits

    This nearly qualifies as an Easter Egg because it is selected by clicking on "Mick Molloy" in the main menu. This is not immediately apparent from the menu look and feel. It is a single still crediting the DVD authoring team.

    I would not want to wish this title on any other region.

    Shonky Golf with Mick Molloy is pretty, well, shonky.

    The video transfer is mediocre.

    The audio transfer is also mediocre and full of over-clipping distortion.

    Extras are ... hmmm ... do these actually qualify as extras?

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall