Hottest new accessible DVD releases of early 2015

Transcript

22 March 2015

Roberta: It’s been a long while since I’ve spoken with our next guest on the subject of accessible DVDs but I’m pleased to introduce Ally Woodford from Media Access Australia, who’s going to bring us up to date with what’s happening in the area.  Welcome Ally.

Ally: Thank you Roberta.

Roberta: Now firstly, why has it been so long since we’ve had one of these talks on accessible DVDs?

Ally: Well simply, the process was that I provided the DVD industry with reports on how they were travelling when it came to accessible entertainment DVDs, and I used the titles from that report to chat with you and that reporting has stopped in the last year. Mainly, I guess, due to the fact that it’s really hard to find a DVD store that’s open these days. They keep shutting down as content moves to online. And also the purpose of the report, while the Australian industry put procedures into place to increase accessible content and it was for us to report on the progress of how that was all travelling, that purpose kind of played out and the levels of accessibility plateaued, making the in-depth reporting not as significant anymore. So it’s kind of stopped.

Roberta: But the availability of accessible DVDs is still an important message for our listeners and on that, can you tell us what are some of the latest ones that are available with audio description and captions?

Ally: Yes, I’d love to. I’ve got 17 titles to rattle off today, most of which have been released in the last few months. So they’re new release titles. Of note though, big title names we’ve got Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.  And so for any Hunger Games fans out there, all the DVDs in the series so far are accessible and this is the latest instalment. Gone Girl.  It’s a psychological thriller starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike and it received rave reviews when it came out. There’s Boyhood and it stars Ethan Hawke and Oscar winner, Patricia Arquette. And it’s quite a unique movie in that it was filmed over a 12 year period and it follows a young boy’s life from early childhood through to college, so we actually watch the characters, well the actors, age through the movie. I’ve got two more of note here. The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is from director Wes Anderson. Quite a quirky period piece set in a fictional European city and it was winner of a number of Oscars this year, including the best musical score and the best costumes. And lastly we have Backyard Ashes.  It’s a fun-filled Aussie comedy which anyone who knows just a little bit about the game of cricket is going to enjoy. There’s beauty in it that you really don’t have to be a cricket lover to get some fun out of it.  It’s got quite a few funny moments in it for everyone.

Roberta: Well I’ve seen a couple of those that you’ve mentioned and they’re really, really good films.  Now some of the titles, you’ve got another lot to tell us about, so what have we got?

Ally: We have Australia’s Naomi Watts starring as Lady Diana Spencer in Diana. The multi Oscar nominated Nebraska from 2013, which is a dramedy, so cross between a comedy and drama and it was shot in black and white.  There’s the beautifully shot remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which stars Ben Stiller and Christian Wiig. I remember seeing this in the cinema and I’d love to hear the audio description on it as it’s such a visually stunning movie. So hopefully the AD matches it. What else? We’ve got noted in one review, this is a philosophical science fiction piece, and it’s Lucy, which stars Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansson. And while we’re on the sci-fi scene we have Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Maze Runner.  In the horror category we’ve got Dracula Untold.  Well it’s horror in a kind of warmonger, gory sense.  It’s Brad Pitt in a World War II movie, Fury.  Another comedy, it’s Tammy, which stars Melissa McCarthy and Kathy Bates, and as much as they are fabulous actresses, this was noted as being one of the worst movies ever made. [laugh] So be wary of that one. Two more dramedies. There’s The Hundred Foot Journey, this is an interesting one. It stars Helen Mirren, a Michelin rated chef in a small French village restaurant and whose main competition comes from an Indian restaurant a hundred feet across the street. And in Britain again, well sorry, Helen Mirren is British, but we have a British film called Pride, which an historical fact based story about a group of gay and lesbian activists who raise money to help families affected by the British miner’s strike in the 1980s. And last up it’s Roberts Duvall and Downey Junior together in the drama called The Judge.

Roberta: Now those last three; brilliant movies.

Ally: Yes. They’re on the list that I need to see them.

Roberta: Do, you will just love them. They’re just such good, good feeling movies. Well audio description and captioning are regular features on DVDs in 2015 and while we don’t yet have a 100 percent coverage, there’s bound to be something available to entertain everyone, regardless of age or movie taste. Ally is available to chat about DVD accessibility on 02) 9212 6242 or email, info@mediaaccess.org.au. Thank you Ally for all of that.

Ally: Thank you.

Roberta: I’ve been speaking with Ally Woodford from Media Access Australia, and Media Access Australia is a supporter of this program.

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