Customer Reviews

Brass Eye

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If any of you are familiar with The Curmudgeon's other reviews, you may well be scratching your heads at this one. A FIVE star review?! That can't be right. And usually, you WOULD be right. The Curmudgeon has dedicated 95 of his 100 reviews to bringing you the very worst things out there. To celebrate the 50 review milestone I reviewed 5 GREAT things that are available on Amazon, and so, now I've reached 100, I thought I'd do the same again. So, from reviews 100 - 105, it's going to be nothing but good, great and awesome stuff.

It's actually depressing to see that I'm the first person on the whole of Amazon to review Brass Eye, so hopefully the word of The Curmudgeon will prove enough for some more people to buy what is unquestionably one of the most daring, original and downright hilarious comedies ever made.

Chris Morris, he of the same twisted genius that created "The Day Today" was given free reign on Channel 4, the more family friendly BBC shackles removed, giving him a chance to provide some of the most shocking, controversial comedy skits ever shown on television. This gained Chris Morris public enemy number one status ("The most hated man in Britain", one knuckleheaded tabloid shrieked). Why? Well, every week Chris would front what looked like the usual factual, self-important news shows seen around 9 or 10pm. Glossy, serious and overblown, they were ripe for parody. And that's exactly what Chris did, with half hour long shows targeting, amongst other things..

Drugs
Animal Cruelty
Sex
Crime

And, in one of the most infamous television moments ever - a 2001 paedophile special, satirising the knee-jerk reactions the tabloids and the media have for child molesters, their ability to provoke outrage and fear being the main target. This lead to a record number of complaints, as outraged parents totally missed the point of the show.

Throughout Brass Eye, Chris tricks celebrities into talking ABSOLUTE DRIVEL that they read off cue cards, highlighting these parasites as only being interested in appearing on television. Some of these moments are excruciating to watch, as these idiots say anything that's put in front of them. Brilliant, brilliant stuff.

It was never meant to be for the masses to enjoy. This isn't cosy "Friends" territory. This is, for want of a better term, rock and roll comedy; take no prisoners, offend the majority but ultimately get an important message through.

Absolutely unmissable. I urge you to own this program.

And that's part one of five taken care of. Four more things that The Curmudgeon actually likes. But what on earth could they be? Only one way to find out...

The_Curmudgeon_Hates_You@yahoo.co.uk

Chris Morris is the most under-rated British comedian out there. The series Brass Eye pushed the boundaries again, basically continuing from where The Day Today left off. It satirises the medias attitude towards issues such as drugs, animal welfare and most controversially paedophilia, which was a one-off special in 2001.

The special caused uproar at the time and many newspapers got on their high horse about it. Heres a fairly typical quote from part of an article called "The Brass Neck of Brass Eye" which appeared in one Daily paper.

"The supposed satire, presented by Chris Morris, was almost universally condemned and provoked a record 3,000 complaints when it was shown in July and controversially repeated a day later. Among those disgusted by it were Britsh Home Secretary David Blunkett, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Home Office minister Beverley Hughes - who branded it 'unspeakably sick'"

Well I can only thank the newspapers and politians for alerting me to somebody producing some worthwhile TV. You immediately know that anything that makes politicians comment is probably going to a little bit more interesting than "Big Brother" or "I'm a celebrity pay me more money". Just like Beyond The Fringe in the 60's, Monty Python in the 70's and few series over the last 2 decades, Brass Eye points the finger back at the media and indeed other television programs and says "are you sure about that". In fact I didn't see the show at the time and bought the DVD several years later, but I had made a mental note that this was one to get!

Numerous celebrities were duped into appearing on these shows, and if you have a particular celebrity you hate you will love seeing him or her being made a complete fool of. However this is an area where I have some sympathy, as at heart most of us are fairly gullable, and in fairness to them they were trying to help (and of course gain media exposure at the same time).

So the contents of this DVD is going to upset some people, and maybe I am in the minority, but I strongly recommend it.

Chris Morris is the most under-rated British comedian out there. The series Brass Eye pushed the boundaries again, basically continuing from where The Day Today left off. It satirises the medias attitude towards issues such as drugs, animal welfare and most controversially paedophilia, which was a one-off special in 2001.

The special caused uproar at the time and many British newspapers got on their high horse about it. Heres a fairly typical quote from part of an article called "The Brass Neck of Brass Eye" which appeared in one Daily paper.

"The supposed satire, presented by Chris Morris, was almost universally condemned and provoked a record 3,000 complaints when it was shown in July and controversially repeated a day later. Among those disgusted by it were Home Secretary David Blunkett, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Home Office minister Beverley Hughes - who branded it 'unspeakably sick'"

Well I can only thank the newspapers and politians for alerting me to somebody producing some worthwhile TV. You immediately know that anything that makes politicians comment is probably going to a little bit more interesting than "Big Brother" or "I'm a celebrity pay me more money". Just like Beyond The Fringe in the 60's, Monty Python in the 70's and few series over the last 2 decades, Brass Eye points the finger back at the media and indeed other television programs and says "are you sure about that". In fact I didn't see the show at the time and bought the DVD several years later, but I had made a mental note that this was one to get!

Numerous celebrities were duped into appearing on these shows, and if you have a particular celebrity you hate you will love seeing him or her being made a complete fool of. However this is an area where I have some sympathy, as at heart most of us are fairly gullable, and in fairness to them they were trying to help (and of course gain media exposure at the same time).

So the contents of this DVD is going to upset some people, and maybe I am in the minority, but I strongly recommend it.

British Comedy at its most anarchic.Some of the minor celebrities who are duped into saying ridiculous things may not be all that well known in the USA but i'm sure there's still plenty to savour.

The title of my review makes perfect sense in Brass Eye Land, a place where cows are terrorized by men who do odd jobs and live in fields, where the little-known fourth member of the Apollo 11 mission was a sub-mental sex slave, where drunken apparitions of Christ fart on your balls; a place where the news isn't 'presented', but rammed up your thought-hole.
The content here is often dark, bizarre, and daring, but most importantly, hilarious. There is also a realism and attention to detail here that are unparalleled in TV comedy.
If you don't know, Brass Eye is a satire of shocks-based, sensationalistic news programs, where presenters act as crusaders in search of 'the truth', and where you can - as creator, writer, and star Chris Morris says - "Find out exactly what to think."
While the show absolutely caters to the British audience it was intended for - and some references to UK culture WILL be lost on American viewers - what it's parodying is something all too familiar to anyone who's watched To Catch A Predator, or suffered through 5 minutes of Fox News.
Anyway, I'm losing steam now, but this show is really, really good. And while I wish it had more of a following here in the States, it's also nice to feel like it's my special little secret, something I only share with a select few, truly deserving people.
Oh, and the DVD is region 0, so it should theoretically play on any DVD player. It does on mine, anyway. Also check out The Day Today, which was the show that Chris Morris did before Brass Eye, which had a similar, but much more collaborative style, and is also very funny.