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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Flixmix-Loads of Comedy (2002)

Flixmix-Loads of Comedy (2002)

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Released 20-Aug-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Main Menu Audio & Animation
Scene Selection Anim & Audio
Informational Subtitles-Flixfacts
Trailer-Flixmix Titles - Boogeymen, Ultimate Fights, The Movies
DVD-ROM Extras
Outtakes
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-The Art of The Fart
Audio Commentary-Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel (Hosts of The Man Show)
Audio Bites-Sick 'n' Silly Soundboard
Game-Pick Your Poison
Game-Name That Frame
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 51:56
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Various
Studio
Distributor

Universal Pictures Home Video
Starring Various
Case ?
RPI $19.95 Music Various


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Pan & Scan English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio Unknown Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Warning: This DVD contains gratuitous scenes involving Adam Sandler.

    Man, I love a good comedy film. Heck, I even like poo, vomit and fart jokes. However, that is when they serve a purpose in a movie - when they add to the plot, they have a context or they involve characters that we can relate to. Flixmix: Loads O' Comedy takes away all of these attributes and leaves just the poo, wee and masturbation behind - and guess what? It isn't funny anymore.

    This DVD provides a compilation of some of the grossest of gross-out scenes from a fairly wide range of comedy films. It sounds like a great idea doesn't it...get rid of the boring bits and just keep the laughs? Unfortunately, it falls flat on its face - and not in a funny, Buster Keaton way. Do you know someone who manages to spoil every joke they try to tell? Who has no comic timing, no appreciation of the reason why the joke is funny? Flixmix is just like that person.

    This 50 minute collection of funny scenes is actually quite a chore to watch - despite the odd laugh from a long since forgotten classic film like Kentucky Fried Movie. There are numerous films which make an appearance here - some more than once - including many of those recent films you might expect: American Pie, Austin Powers, Road Trip and Dumb and Dumber are all prime examples. Then there are few more obscure flicks, some of which deserve a Guernsey - Animal House, Amazon Women on the Moon and Kentucky Fried Movie - and some which do not (King Frat I'm looking at you here).

    Look, there are a couple of laughs to be had here, and the level of interactivity on the DVD is to be applauded, but I really cannot advocate this as a purchase. Recommended as a rental for fourteen year old boys.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The overall video transfer of this disc is fairly good, although understandably it varies depending on the source material being viewed.

    The clips are presented in an ratio of 1.33:1, which is most certainly not the correct aspect for most (if not all) of the films from which the clips originate. It is of course not 16x9 enhanced as the films are presented in a Pan and Scan format.

    The transfer has some inherent quality problems given that the source materials range from King Frat (1979) to Meet The Parents (2000). This twenty year age gap does make a difference to the innate quality of the source image. In general the image looks fine on a 68cm 1.33:1 television screen, but as you enlarge the image the limitations become more apparent.

     Black levels and shadow detail are generally adequate throughout and colours are still quite vibrant in most of the clips. Some clips were surprisingly bright given their age (Kentucky Fried Movie and Animal House were a nice surprise). There is no significant colour bleeding. Skin tones vary according to the source, but are generally fine.

    The transfer does not suffer from any major MPEG compression artefacts. The sequences are all so short that it is difficult to be disturbed by any visual defects, but there are still some apparent if you look closely. Aliasing is occasionally apparent, for example on the bedroom blinds in the American Pie sequences. Edge enhancement is sometimes visible - for example in the Road Trip sequence. Generally however, you may be pleasantly surprised by the transfer quality.

    There are of course some film artefacts present from time to time. Once again they vary markedly depending on the source footage. Whilst later films like Meet The Parents and Austin Powers look fine, older flicks such as King Frat and Animal House do bear the scars of time with some scratches, flecks and specks creeping in.

    There is a well timed English subtitle track present. It generally does a good job, following the dialogue closely with only the odd dropped word for brevity.

    The DVD is formatted as a single sided, dual layered disc. I could not detect any layer change and assume that it is sensibly placed between the numerous individual clips.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The overall audio quality of this disc is adequate - the gags, groans and grunts have all been transferred quite cleanly - even from the oldest of films.

    There is a choice of audio track available - I sampled both whilst listening to the main Dolby Digital 5.1 track, encoded at 384 kbps, in full. It has no major audio defects. I must admit there is little significant difference between the two audio tracks.

    Dialogue was always clear and audio sync was fine throughout.

    The score is limited to elevator style nondescript music linking the individual clips.

    The soundstage is very frontal in nature. The front speakers deliver the audio cleanly and at a suitable audio level. The surrounds have very little to do, and a stereo mix is probably more than adequate for these short clips - there is not enough time spent on any of them for the audio to make any kind of surround impact.

    The subwoofer is used, but never draws any particular attention to itself. It basically supports the lower bass frequencies, but I couldn't honestly pinpoint any true LFE activity in the clips.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    There are numerous extras on this DVD, which do provide some significant additional value to the overall product.

Menu

    The menu is a colourful affair, accompanied by the nondescript musical soundtrack. It allows the selection of playing the feature, selecting various subtitles (including a joke set "Norwegian Wood"), choosing one of twenty-four chapter stops, or the numerous special features:

Audio Commentary

    Two chaps named Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel who apparently host a programme named The Man Show provide a commentary track for each of the short excerpts. They talk about the films vaguely - admitting that they haven't actually seen many of the films (?) - and spend most of their time just recounting personal and filmic funny anecdotes. This is a weird extra, but quite a humorous listen. Presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 encoded at 192 kbps.

FlixFacts

    This is a subtitle track which pops up during each scene to provide interesting (occasionally) trivia about farting, masturbation, rectal examinations and occasionally the stars and crew of the film. A bit of fun.

Loads O' Outtakes

    Running for a brief 1:58, this is a series of letterboxed bloopers from some of the films featured on the DVD. The soundtrack is Dolby Digital 2.0 encoded at 192 kbps, and the video is a little rough around the edges.

The Art of the Fart

    A short featurette (4:57) which shows just how much effort those technical Hollywood wizards put in to get the perfect fart sound for a film. Watch and learn! Presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track encoded at 192 kbps.

Sick 'n' Silly Soundboard

    A text-based screen which lets you click on a number of phrases like "Sofa Cushion" or "Dropping the Kids Off", and hear a special effect or sound bite from the DVD. Sick dude!

Pick Your Poison!

    A drinking game in which you choose one of several icons which pop up sporadically during the feature, making you take a drink, or do what other forfeit you have agreed with your chums.

Name That Frame

    Another short game in which you have to match a film clip to its title from a choice of ten. Not that hard unless of course you have just finished the drinking game!

DVD ROM content

    Links to a couple of related websites (Loadsocomedy.com and Flixmix.com), additional small game (Slots O' Fun) and an extended range of sounds for the Sick 'n' Silly Soundboard.

Flixmix Recommends

    An advertising piece for others in the Flixmix compilation series including Boogeymen and Ultimate Fights. Also, theatrical trailers from the following films are available in the Loads O'Comedy section (presented non 16x9 enhanced with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 kbps):

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    I cannot find any details on the availability of this DVD in Region 1 or Region 2. If you must buy it, then Region 4 would appear to be the obvious option.

Summary

    Flixmix: Loads O' Comedy is an interesting concept which to my mind does not work very well. Seeing such short excerpts from comedy films in isolation from the bigger plot and the set-up to the gag is surprisingly non-humorous. It may leave you wanting to watch the full movie again, but probably not this DVD. The extras are surprisingly numerous and almost make up for the very short running time of the feature. Possibly worth a rental for young teens, but don't rush out and buy this one any time soon.

    The video quality is reasonable.

    The audio quality is acceptable.

    The extras are fairly plentiful and add some value to the very short feature.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel O'Donoghue (You think my bio is funny? Funny how?)
Sunday, November 09, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDHarmony DVD Video/Audio PAL Progressive, using Component output
DisplayPanasonic TX-47P500H 47" Widescreen RPTV. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationOnkyo TX-SR600 with DD-EX and DTS-ES
SpeakersJensenSPX-9 fronts, Jensen SPX-13 Centre, Jensen SPX-5 surrounds, Jensen SPX-17 subwoofer

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