As a regular buyer of movies from the States, I regularly buy DVDs and VHS direct from Amazon.com but it seems that our erstwhile post office will happily charge VAT at a reasonable price of around £4.50 but then, I can't believe they get away with this but they do, they slap on a further £8.00 in handling fees! Handling fees, what the blue blazes can cost that much??? I don't mind paying the VAT but I do mind, very very much, having to pay this extortionate 'fee' to receive my goods. Talk about having people over a barrel, it is disgusting. I wouldn't mind if Royal Mail were consistent but they are not and I have found that DVD sets which are quite expensive will not be hauled out of the system for these punitive fees whereas one, yes one, small single DVD will kop for the lot. This happened today, I've been trying to get the follow up to 'Peege' which is called 'Portrait of Grandpa Doc' and I was able to get it from Amazon.com at a price of $29.99 - for a 28 minute film. Yes, it's hellishly expensive and some would say overpriced bearing in mind this is the cost of some full DVD sets, but these movies are quite rare and only produced on a 'demand' system. These two mini movies are the early works of the wonderful Bruce Davison (amongst others) and as a sometime artist myself, was interested in the story line of Grandpa Doc, and as I say it is the follow up to the heart wrenching 'Peege' about a young man (Davison) spending time with his infirm grandmother (who has been left to her own devices in a care home) after the rest of the family has left. They merely passed the time as families do, not really taking much notice of the old lady who is to all intents and purposes in a vegetative state but when the grandson really talks with the old lady instead of at her, the whole dynamic changes. Such beautifully restrained and emotive perfomances, it is literally real life unfolding before the eyes. Grandpa Doc is the follow on where the grandson wants to paint a picture of his beloved grandpa but cannot find the starting point. He is preparing for a one man show of his work and wants this to be the centre piece. Eventually, through reminiscing he manages to complete a painting he is happy with, and which portrays his grandpa the way he wants it to. I'm just off to watch it now and shall return at some point to tell you how it was.
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