Grumpy Old Women at Christmas (2004) |
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Grumpy Old Women at Christmas (2004) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Documentary | None | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2004 | ||
| Running Time | 59:03 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | None Given |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring | Alison Steadman |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
| RPI | $24.95 | Music | None Given |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes | ||
Grumpy Old Women at Christmas was a special made for the BBC in 2004, following on from the 2003 special Grumpy Old Men at Christmas. This special follows a very similar approach to the previous one, which I reviewed recently. It includes quite a number of well-known English women complaining about all the things they hate about Christmas. Most of the women featured were not that well-known to me although some such as actress Linda Robson and authors Germaine Greer & Jilly Cooper I was aware of. The highlights however were Jenny Eclair and Arabella Weir. The show is narrated by Alison Steadman.
The topics are slightly different here to the men's one including the preparation, shopping, presents, men, cooking, decorations, cards, trees, parties, their mothers, Christmas Day & the dinner, arguments and party games. Both this and the men's one are entertaining and amusing and I think which one will appeal to you most will probably depend on your sex. My wife enjoyed this one more and I enjoyed the men's one more. It's all a question of perspective.
I thought the less than 60 minute running time with no extras was a little disappointing, however, it's certainly entertaining to watch.
The video quality is very good.
The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.
The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise.
The colour was very good.
I noticed one very minor spot of aliasing. Big deal.
There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were yellow, clear and easy to read.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization |  |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
The audio quality is good.
This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 256 Kb/s.
Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. In terms of this show nothing else really matters in terms of audio quality.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use |  |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
None.
The menu was still and silent and included the ability to select scenes and subtitles.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Grumpy Old Women has not yet been released in Region 2. It is due for release in November.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is good.
No extras.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output |
| Display | Sony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC). |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
| Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Yamaha YST SW90 subwoofer |