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Posts Tagged VHS

Archive

March 19, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Video Store Homily

I worked in a video store – but only for a few weeks. I wish it was longer. But it was still a good time. And this was in the time of VHS tapes. Actual videos. I’d grown up, in some sense, in the video stores of New Zealand. Renting anything that needed to be […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Amalgamated Video, Aro Street Video, DVD, Green Frog, Poem, Poem: Video Store Homily, United Video, VHS, Video, Video Ezy, Video Store, Video Store Homily ·

Archive

February 3, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: I Used To Be Scared of Horror Films So I Watched Every Single One From The Local Video Store And Now I’m Cured

When I was a kid a rather stupid movie had a deep impact on me. It’s called Alligator. It’s from about 1980 – and I reckon we saw it just a few years after that. And in it, a pet alligator gets flushed down the loo. It ends up in the sewer where the bodies […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged A Nightmare On Elm Street, Alligator, DVD, Friday The 13th, Halloween, Horror, Horror Films, Horror Movies, I Used To Be Scared of Horror Films So I Watched Every Single One From The Local Video Store And Now I’m Cured, Movies, Poem, Poem: I Used To Be Scared of Horror Films So I Watched Every Single One From The Local Video Store And Now I’m Cured, Rental, VHS, Video, Video Tape, Video Tapes ·

Archive

June 23, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Movies of My Life # 17: Beverly Hills Cop 

I still go to the video store. And yes, it’s still called a Video Store. We rent/borrow DVDs – we do this because it’s convenient. The store (the last of its kind still standing in our town) is just down the road/just around the corner. And though I never meant for this to happen – […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy, Memories, Movie, Movies, Movies of My Life, Movies of My Life # 17: Beverly Hills Cop, Movies of My Life Movies of My Life # 17:, Notalgia, VHS, Video Store ·

Archive

December 4, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Movies of My Life # 16: The Compleat Beatles

Maybe it’s because it’s hard to find and best remembered for what it represented (also: time/place) but I reckon The Compleat Beatles is the very best Beatles doco there’s ever been. It shits on The Anthology which is not terrible, but is, probably, far too much of a good thing. When The Anthology was released […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged # 16: The Compleat Beatles, Beatlemania, Beatles, Billy J. Kramer, Billy Preston, Compleat, Doc, Doco, Documentary, Fab 4, Film, George Martin, Gerry Marsden, Home Video, Laser Disc, Lazer Disc, Lenny Kaye, Malcolm McDowell, Marianne Faithfull, Merseysound, Movie, Movies, Movies of My Life, Movies of My Life # 16, Movies of My Life # 16: The Compleat Beatles, Movies of My Life started life as a series of posts on the Phantom Billstickers Facebook page, The Beatles, The Compleat Beatles, Tony Sheridan, VHS, Video ·

Archive

March 13, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Revisiting Live at Knebworth (1990)

The grounds of Knebworth House have played host to some huge rock concerts over the years. This British venue was where the re-formed Deep Purple first played in 1985. A year later it was where Queen played its final live show (with Freddie Mercury). In 1979 it was the scene for two Led Zeppelin shows, the band’s return to the UK stage after […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1990, 2CD, Britain, British, Cliff & The Shadows, Cliff Richard, Concert, Dire Straits, Elton John, England, Eric Clapton, Genesis, Gig, Jimmy Page, Knebworth, Led Zeppelin, Live at Knebworth, Live CD, Live Gig, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Pink Floyd, Revisiting Live at Knebworth, Revisiting Live at Knebworth (1990), Robert Plant, Tears for Fears, The Beatles, The Shadows, UK, VHS, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 27, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

How Do You Find Music? How Does Music Find You? How Has That Changed?

Do you ever stop to consider the changes that have been made to the way you find music? Is your approach still the same? Surely it’s changed, you’ve changed formats, the formats have changed – in terms of delivery approach, in terms of regularity, in terms of how and when you receive them – as […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Cassette, CDs, Collecting, Collection, DVD, Facebook, How Do You Find Music?, How Do You Find Music? How Does Music Find You? How Has That Changed?, How Does Music Find You?, How Has That Changed?, Influence, LP, Mp3, Music, Music Collection, Music Journalism, Music Stores, Napster, Online, Record Store, Reviews, Social Media, Spotify, Tapes, Tastemaker, Twitter, VHS, Vinyl, YouTube ·

Archive

October 26, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

Movies of My Life # 15: Happiness

When Happiness arrived – late 1990s – I was already a Todd Solondz fan. Welcome To The Dollhouse had convinced me I needed to watch whatever else he put out into the world – and I did. I have. I’ve seen them all now – pretty much in order, as they’ve arrived. And though I […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Ben Gazzara, Camryn Manheim, Cynthia Stevenson, DVD, Dylan Baker, Film, Happiness, Jane Adams, Jarred Harris, Jon Lovitz, Lara Flynn Boyle, Life During Wartime, Louise Lasser, Molly Shannon, Movie, Movies of My Life, Movies of My Life # 15, Movies of My Life # 15: Happiness, Palindromes, Phantom Billstickers, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Storytelling, Todd Solondz, VHS, Welcome To The Dollhouse ·

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August 26, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Five Films That Stay With Me: Tim Beatson

Tim Beatson is one of the Staff behind the Counter at Videon, Auckland’s 35 year-running Independent Video Library, where he dispenses recommendations and sarcasm in equal measure, in between adding to the Library’s catalogue and ordering more toner for the printer. Here are five films that have stayed with him… Lists are not a strong […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Amelie, Babylon A.D, Cinema, Dr Strangelove, Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, DVD, ET, Film, Films, Five Films That Stay With Me, Five Films That Stay With Me: Tim Beatson, Goblin, Gothika, John Carpenter, Keith Emerson, La Haine, Movies, Munich, Snowtown, Special Guest, Stanley Kubrich, Steven Spielberg, Suspiria, The Hate, The Thing, Tim Beatson, VHS, Video, Videon ·

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August 24, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

V/A: Kung Fury [OST]

Various Artists: Kung Fury [OST] Universal Music AB The 30-minute parody/tribute-film Kung Fury was big, dumb, silly fun. I liked it. But a big part of its success for me, and perhaps this is just me, was the film’s soundtrack. As over the top as the film is, it’s held down (in a relative sense) […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged [OST], 1980s, 80s, David Hasselhoff, Film, Giorgio Moroder, Johan Bengtsson, John Carpenter, Jorgen Elofsson, Kung Fury, Mitch Murder, Movie, Parody, Score, Short Film, Soundtrack, Synth, Tribute, V/A, V/A: Kung Fury [OST], Various Artists, VHS, Vince DiCola ·

Archive

July 27, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Five Films That Stay With Me: Jonny Potts

Jonny Potts is a Wellington writer and performer. His award-winning stand-up show Loose: A Private History of Booze & Iggy Pop 1996-2015 returns to BATS Theatre 19-22 August. He is the host of the podcasts The Year of Reading Massively and The Witching Hours. He’s on some form of stage around Wellington as often as […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged @fastercamels, Actor, Comedian, DVD, Film, Films, Five Films That Stay With Me: Jonny Potts, Jonny Potts, Movies, Podcast, Special Guest, Twitter, VHS, Writer ·

Archive

March 30, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

TV Shows That Meant The World To Me: # 4 – Dr Katz, Professional Therapist

I don’t remember discovering Dr. Katz in any special way – pretty sure it was just late-night TV, often you’d find such great things in that way (remember Herman’s Head anyone?) Those shows that don’t quite play right – but are fantastic to all who find them. Dr. Katz was one of those. It’s become […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Animated, Brian Regan, Comedians, Comedy, Dr Katz - Professional Therapist, Dr. Katz, Jim Gaffigan, Jonathan Katz, Late Night, Laura Silverman, Phantom Billstickers, Professional Therapist, Standup Comedy, Television, TV, TV Shows That Meant The World To Me, TV Shows That Meant The World To Me # 4, TV Shows That Meant The World To Me: # 4 – Dr Katz, VHS ·

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