Our weekly round-up of our video posts begins with a trio of pieces that cover the odd gamut of what we are doing on that platform.
Firstly, here’s the first of a two-part look at censorship books, here focusing on movies. This covers everything from former BBFC fuhrer John Trevelyan’s self-serving autobiography through to John Martin’s seminal video nasties history Seduction of the Gullible (we have a bigger documentary piece on video nasties in the works, so stay tuned for that), via the GLC’s censorship board (again, the subject of a more in-depth Desperate Living article very soon) and historical books that take us from the earliest days of film censorship right through to the late 1990s.
Next, there’s a look at the odd – and strangely forgotten world of the VHS ‘big box’ collector’s editions of the 1990s. These oversized releases offered widescreen versions back when that was still not the norm, alongside booklets and (sometimes) extra content on the tape itself, making them a precursor of the DVD special edition that would become the norm a few years later. We look at everything from the early examples like The Big Blue and Betty Blue through to the luxurious edition of The Piano that still feels like a high point of movie packaging.
Finally – and something completely different, as they say – we explore the world of alcohol-free beer as the opening episode of an ongoing series. In this episode, we check out Ghost Ship 0.5% and consider the pros and cons of non-alcoholic beer, from the lack of variety in supermarkets to to the price in pubs – as well as the taste, of course.
We’ll be sharing these YouTube round-ups every week, ensuring that Desperate Living regulars don’t miss out on anything while also not dominating this site with our video posts. As we’ve hinted at elsewhere, we will be writing about our new shift to YouTube and how Google’s analytical changes have negatively affected small indie sites like Desperate Living very soon, as well as what we plan to do in response. Stay tuned for that.
Meanwhile – as ever, we ask you to head over to our YouTube channel and subscribe. If everyone who reads Desperate Living regularly or watches these videos does that, it will be very helpful for the future of both the video channel and this site. Don’t forget to like videos too!
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