G-A-Y Days(s)- Tales of the City (1993)- DVD Rip (480p-x264)

This was a request fill. I've seen Tales of the City...twenty years ago. To be honest, I've forgotten everything about it. That doesn't mean it was bad, it means I'm more than likely suffering from Early Onset. I don't even remember what I did yesterday, let alone twenty years ago. Safeway dating??? That's about it. Enjoy!




From Culture Shock:

In 1993 Armistead Maupin's comic novel about San Francisco in the '70s, Tales of the City, is adapted for television by Britain's Channel 4, to be aired the following year in the United States on PBS' American Playhouse. With its interwoven plots and interrelated characters, some of whom are gay, the upcoming miniseries creates a stir in some circles.

Telephones ring off the hook at public TV stations across the country, both before and after Tales of the City first airs in January 1994, with some viewers demanding the show be cancelled. Responding to state legislators' threats to recommend budget cuts, PBS feeds two versions, one as produced and one edited to remove scenes such as two men waking up in bed together. A week after the miniseries' premiere, the Family Research Council's Robert Knight appears at a public hearing of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the agency which funnels government monies to PBS. He terms the series "a slick piece of gay propaganda." He is not alone in characterizing both CPB and Tales of the City, which depicts recreational drug use and openly homosexual relationships nonjudgmentally, as "anti-family, anti-religious," and "pro-gay." Reverend Don Wildmon's American Family Association advocates budget cuts, sending each member of Congress a videotape with clips the AFA deems particularly salacious.




In Oklahoma, a PBS station airs the edited version, but even this triggers a legislative campaign against the program and public TV. In Georgia, the state Senate approves a nonbinding resolution demanding that Georgia PTV "cease airing it and never air it again." And in Chattanooga, TN, WTCI receives hundreds of negative calls, as well as a bomb threat, and pulls Tales of the City from its schedule an hour before airtime.

But fans of the program flood stations with their own calls. Tales of the City garners critical raves and PBS' highest ratings ever for a dramatic series.

Two years later, PBS chooses not to make the sequel, based on Maupin's More Tales of the City. Maupin accuses PBS of "caving" to conservative protestors, and People for the American Way, which monitors anti-gay groups and public policy, labels the decision "a bad omen for free speech." Showtime, a commercial cable channel, picks up the miniseries, now produced by Montreal-based LaFete Productions, and airs the sequel, once again to critical acclaim, in 1997.

In addition to its record-breaking ratings, Tales of the City receives two Emmy nominations, and the National Board of Review honors it as Best Miniseries. It also wins the Peabody Award, the most prestigious in broadcasting. Armistead Maupin remains a powerful and popular voice in both literary and gay circles.




Technical Information:

Show Title: Tales of the City
Year: 1993
Country: UK/USA

Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p-x264
Container: .mkv
Programs used: mkvmerge

Resolution: 702x480
Aspect Ratio: 3:2
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~1636 kb/s
Frame Rate: 29.97 fps

Audio: English- MPEG4 AAC Stereo
Subtitles: None


Note: This video was not deinterlaced before it was converted to x264, but you can manually deinterlace it in both VLC (through the video menu) and Media Player Classic (through navigate/shader).




Episode Title: Part 01
Size: 604 MB
Length: 0:51:37


Part 01 Megaupload Link




Episode Title: Part 02
Size: 609 MB
Length: 0:52:19


Part 02 Megaupload Link




Episode Title: Part 03
Size: 569 MB
Length: 0:49:05


Part 03 Megaupload Link




Episode Title: Part 04
Size: 563 MB
Length: 0:48:49


Part 04 Megaupload Link




Episode Title: Part 05
Size: 558 MB
Length: 0:48:07


Part 05 Megaupload Link




Episode Title: Part 06
Size: 573 MB
Length: 0:49:28


Part 06 Megaupload Link

Cracker- Series 2 (1994)- DVD Rip (480p-x264)

We've taken the last couple of days off to rest our weary souls after the Rasta jag, but we'll be back tomorrow with guns-a-blazin' and new cool posts. Until then, here's an extremely clean and easily downloadable x264 rip of Cracker. It's for those that need a Fitz fix. We should all need a Fitz fix. Out.




From The Unofficial Guide to Cracker:

For the second series, in 1994, Cracker's run was extended to nine episodes - three stories of three episodes each. The quality, again, was extremely high, although the second story (about a suburban cult surrounding a school headmaster who was having an affair with one of his students) was noticeably the weakest of the three (and the first not to have been written by the shows creator, Jimmy McGovern). The first story, To Be A Somebody, risked controversy again with its treatment of a difficult subject - the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. It was a subject close to McGovern's heart, which he later further developed as a separate docu-drama. The result was arguably the best and most moving Cracker story, helped by an award winning performance by Robert Carlyle as Albie. Once again, the story pulled off the balance between understanding Albie's story and his suffering, and seeing the horrific results of his crime. This time the damage hit closer to home - because Albie's third victim was Bilborough himself. In an intensely dramatic and painful sequence, Bilborough is led to Albie's flat and stabbed by him, dying within minutes while his colleagues desperately race to reach him. Ironically DS Beck had already interviewed Albie and let him go, so he was partly to blame for the death.

The episode shocked regular and casual viewers alike, and the repercussions of Bilborough's death lasted well beyond the end of the story. Bilborough's replacement was DCI Wise, a more experienced officer than Bilborough, a more confident personality. Played by Ricky Tomlinson, Wise brought some more humour to the show and developed a more affable relationship with Fitz. While Fitz, Wise and Penhaligon began to work more closely together, Beck became increasingly isolated, racked with guilt over the death of Bilborough. In story three of the second series, Men Should Weep, his emotional turmoil spills over into violence. During a series of rapes, Beck himself puts on a mask identical to the one the rapist wears and rapes Penhaligon, threatening her with a knife. Penhaligon's reaction to the rape and then to the discovery that her attacker was Beck is extremely well played by Geraldine Somerville, and the storylines is sensitively handled in a serial that is another strong contender for the best Cracker story.




Episode 1 Technical Information:

Show Title: Cracker
Season: 2
Year: 1994
Episode Title: 1. To Be a Somebody
Country: UK

Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p x264
Container: .mkv
Size: 2.31 GB
Length: 2:28:03
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, RipBot

Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps

Audio: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: None


Synopsis: A Pakistani shopkeeper is killed and a skinhead seen leaving the premises. The police are at first convinced that it is a racist killing until a white, English psychologist helping out with the case and DCI Billborough are murdered by the same man. Fitz, while facing his own problems with his family and a hurt Penhaligon, is brought in to investigate, convinced that the killer is not a mere racist hood but actually an ordinary citizen gone horribly wrong.


To Be a Somebody Megaupload Links




Episode 2 Technical Information:

Show Title: Cracker
Season: 2
Year: 1994
Episode Title: 2. The Big Crunch
Country: UK

Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p x264
Container: .mkv
Size: 2.31 GB
Length: 2:27.43
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, RipBot

Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps

Audio: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: None


Synopsis: A young girl missing for several days is discovered naked, covered in strange symbols and quoting the Bible. The trail leads to a fringe Christian sect and its charismatic leader.


The Big Crunch Megaupload Links




Episode 3 Technical Information:

Show Title: Cracker
Season: 2
Year: 1994
Episode Title: 3. Men Should Weep
Country: UK

Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p x264
Container: .mkv
Size: 2.32 GB
Length: 2:28:34
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, RipBot

Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps

Audio: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: None


Synopsis: The case of a serial rapist who wears a mask, yet tries to develop a relationship with his victims strikes at the heart of Fitz's personal and professional life when Penhaligon is raped and the rapist, apparently acting on Fitz's advice, starts to kill as well. Meanwhile, Penhaligon begins to discover a connection between her rapist and Jimmy Beck.


Men Should Week Megaupload Links




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Complete Series 2 Megaupload Links

Season 1

Spy vs. Jazz: Mission: Impossible- Season 2 (1967-68)- DVD Rip (480p-x264)

We posted season one of Mission Impossible awhile back, and it was such a pain-in-the-ass for L&S that I honestly didn't think there would ever be a season two posted. But (I'm supposing) realized that Martin Landau was still a cast-member, and it would be an abomination not to trudge through his tenure. Here's the fruits of her labor.




Technical Information:

Show Title: Mission: Impossible
Season: 2
Year: 1967-1968
Country: USA

Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p-x264
Container: .mkv
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, Womble, JoinVobFiles, RipBot

Resolution: 720x480
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 29.97/23.97 fps

Audio: English- Dolby AC3 5.1 @ 448 kb/s
Subtitles: None




Episode: 01. The Widow
Original Airdate: September 10, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:10

Synopsis: First episode to feature Peter Graves as Jim Phelps. The IMF capture a heroin distributor and Cinnamon goes undercover as his "widow" in order to shut down part of "the Syndicate."


The Widow Megaupload Link




Episode: 02. Trek
Original Airdate: September 17, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:11

Synopsis: The IMF team must recover some Incan gold artifacts, but their mission is further complicated when the one man who can lead them to the stolen artifacts goes blind.


Trek Megaupload Link




Episode: 03. The Survivors
Original Airdate: September 24, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:11

Synopsis: The IMF team must rescue two top-secret governmental scientists and their wives who have been working on a dangerous new weapon.


The Survivors Megaupload Link




Episode: 04. The Bank
Original Airdate: October 1, 1967
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:10

Synopsis: The head of a bank in the East Zone (James Daly) murders would-be defectors after being entrusted with their money, and the IMF must eliminate him before he can use the embezzled money to launch a new Nazi movement.


The Bank Megaupload Link




Episode: 05. The Slave (Part 1)
Original Airdate: October 8, 1967
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:10

Synopsis: Unbeknownst to his brother, the king of a near-eastern nation is secretly practicing slavery, and the IMF team must put a stop to it. Part of the IMF's plan is to unleash a cloud of bats inside the prince's bedroom.


The Slave (Part 1) Megaupload Link




Episode: 06. The Slave (Part 2)
Original Airdate: October 15, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:12

Synopsis: Continuation of the previous episode. The IMF implicate the king in the slave trade by arranging to have the king's brother discover his kidnapped wife, an English woman, being bid on in a slave auction underneath the king's palace.


The Slave (Part 2) Megaupload Link




Episode: 07. Operation Heart
Original Airdate: October 22, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:13

Synopsis: When an innocent American archaeologist becomes entangled in a plot to assassinate the president of a South American nation (Pernell Roberts), the IMF must rescue the seriously ill American and prevent the president being killed by his chief of security.


Operation Heart Megaupload Link




Episode: 08. The Money Machine
Original Airdate: October 29, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:13

Synopsis: An African banker (Brock Peters) is using counterfeit currency to finance his investments, and the IMF must put him out of business and recover the stolen printing plates he is using to make the counterfeits.


The Money Machine Megaupload Link




Episode: 09. The Seal
Original Airdate: November 5, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:10

Synopsis: A stolen jade statuette is sacred to a small Asian country, and in order to prevent an international incident the IMF must recover it from the private high-security collection of a wealthy American defense contractor (Darren McGavin) by using a specially-trained cat named Rusty.


The Seal Megaupload Link




Episode: 10. Charity
Original Airdate: November 12, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:10

Synopsis: The IMF must stop a pair of married con-artists who are running a charity scam and buying platinum with the money they are stealing. The Wayne Manor set from the 1966 TV series Batman is featured in this episode.


Charity Megaupload Link




Episode: 11. The Council (Part 1)
Original Airdate: November 19. 1967
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:09

Synopsis: In order to close down an Italian crime syndicate, Rollin poses as its don, Frank Wayne.


The Council (Part 1) Megaupload Link




Episode: 12. The Council (Part 2)
Original Airdate: November 26, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:11

Synopsis: Continuation of the previous episode. This two-part story was released theatrically outside the US as Mission: Impossible vs. The Mob.


The Council (Part 2) Megaupload Link




Episode: 13. The Astrologer
Original Airdate: December 3, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:11

Synopsis: Nikolai Kurzon, the exiled leader of the Baltic state of Veyska, is kidnapped by the head of the secret police, so the IMF team must mount a daring rescue mission - somehow kidnapping an unconscious man from a plane in mid-air!


The Astrologer Megaupload Link




Episode: 14. Echo of Yesterday
Original Airdate: December 10, 1967
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:09

Synopsis: An arms manufacturer is supplying arms to neo-Nazis, and Cinnamon is used to remind him of his late wife, who was murdered by Hitler.


Echo of Yesterday Megaupload Link




Episode: 15. The Photographer
Original Airdate: December 17, 1967
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:13

Synopsis: The IMF must break the enemy's encryption code to prevent a pathogen release in the United States.


The Photographer Megaupload Link




Episode: 16. The Spy
Original Airdate: January 7, 1968
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:11

Synopsis: A map of NATO's missile defense system must be duplicated in order to fool a female spy.


The Spy Megaupload Link




Episode: 17. A Game of Chess
Original Airdate: January 14, 1968
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:12

Synopsis: A gold shipment, sent to fund an anti-communist resistance movement, has been seized by the country's government and the IMF must get it to its intended recipients, but an international chess champion and con artist is also after the gold.


A Game of Chess Megaupload Link




Episode: 18. The Emerald
Original Airdate: January 21, 1968
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:13

Synopsis: Microfilm detailing an enemy plot is affixed to an emerald in the possession of a notorious arms dealer; the IMF must obtain the microfilm and eliminate the enemy agent who has been sent to buy the gem.


The Emerald Megaupload Link




Episode: 19. The Condemned
Original Airdate: January 28, 1968
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:10

Synopsis: When a childhood friend of Phelps' is sentenced to death in Latin America, the IMF go "off-book" to save him.


The Condemned Megaupload Link




Episode: 20. The Counterfeiter
Original Airdate: February 4, 1968
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:12

Synopsis: The IMF must arrange the arrest of the owner of a chain of medical clinics who is distributing counterfeit pharmaceuticals.


The Counterfeiter Megaupload Link




Episode: 21. The Town
Original Airdate: February 18, 1968
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:11

Synopsis: In an "off-book" mission, Phelps accidentally discovers that a small town is filled with enemy sleeper agents; he is drugged and declared paralyzed by a stroke, but Rollin smells a rat.


The Town Megaupload Link




Episode: 22. The Killing
Original Airdate: February 28, 1968
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:08

Synopsis: Conventional law-enforcement methods cannot stop a criminal mastermind, but his superstitions may be his undoing.


The Killings Megaupload Link




Episode: 23. The Phoenix
Original Airdate: March 3, 1968
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:12

Synopsis: A museum curator (Alf Kjellin) must be prevented from giving an experimental alloy to a foreign power


The Phoenix Megaupload Link




Episode: 24. Trial by Fury
Original Airdate: March 10, 1968
Size: 896 MB
Length: 0:50:10

Synopsis: The IMF must save a Latin American political prisoner who is falsely accused of being an informant by other prisoners while being held in isolation in his totalitarian country's prison camp.


Trial by Fury Megaupload Link




Episode: 25. Recovery
Original Airdate: March 17, 1968
Size: 895 MB
Length: 0:50:08

Synopsis: When U.S. bomber crashes behind the Iron Curtain, the IMF must recover its fail-safe before a brilliant U.S. defector (Bradford Dillman, who previously starred in Court Martial alongside Peter Graves) can reveal its secrets to the communists.


Recovery Megaupload Link




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Complete Season 2 Megaupload Links


Season 1

Berlin Week: Dominik Graf- Im Angesicht des Verbrechens/In the Face of Crime (2010)- DVD Rip (480p-x264)

Television is an odd medium, in that the serial drama is an excellent way to build a character, which is much harder a process in a film, which usually runs just over two hours...unless you're Sion Sono. And although American cinema has sucked since the mid 70's, American television drama's have stood out as being as good, or even better than British t.v. dramas.

So when L&S and I watched Im Angesicht des Verbrechens, we did some eye-rolling because this German series is desperately trying to mimic the H.B.O style of the Sopranos and the Wire. But they will only get better at it and overall, this is a surprisingly solid series.

I'll shut up now. Check it out, it's a quick download.



From Cathy de Haan at the Goethe Institut:

The Berlinale provided an opportunity to see what films would be heading our way in 2010, at least what German films were in the pipeline – many of the films shown at the festival are shown in cinemas either immediately after the festival or in the course of the year.

For many the best German film at the Berlinale was in the section known as “Forum”. It was Dominik Graf’s Im Angesichts des Verbrechens (In the Face of Crime) – a ten-part TV series commissioned by the WDR radio and TV station. The intense 490-minute screenplay was by Rolf Basedow and focuses on the bloody war between two Russian mafia clans. The cast is made up of interesting newcomers and award-winning, well-established performers: Max Riemelt, Ronald Zehrfeld, Misel Maticevic and Marie Bäumer brilliantly ensure that there is never a dull moment. Cameraman, Michael Wiesweg, illustrates the story with images that are of a hitherto unknown quality for German television – images that were equally as convincing on the screen of the Arsenal festival cinema at the Berlinale.




Technical Information:

Show Title: Im Angesicht des Verbrechens/In the Face of Crime
Country: Germany
Director: Dominik Graf

Source: DVD Rip
Video Codec: 480p-x264
Container: .mkv
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, Womble, JoinVobFiles, SubRip, tsmuxer, RipBot, mkvmerge

Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ 2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps

Audio 1: German/Russian- Dolby AC3 @ 224 kb/s
Audio 2: French/Russian- Dolby AC3 @ 224 kb/s
Subtitles: English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French




Episode Title: 01. Berlin ist das Paradies
Original Airdate: April 27, 2010
Size: 872 MB
Length: 0:48:49


01. Berlin ist das Paradies Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 02. Wo wir sind, ist vorne
Original Airdate: April 27, 2010
Size: 854 MB
Length: 0:47:49


02. Wo wir sind, ist vorne Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 03. Der Überfall
Original Airdate: May 1, 2010
Size: 853 MB
Length: 0:47:45


03. Der Überfall Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 04. Der Verrat
Original Airdate: May 1, 2010
Size: 851 MB
Length: 0:47:39


04. Der Verrat Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 05. Nur ehrliche Liebe ist gute Liebe
Original Airdate: May 4, 2010
Size: 848 MB
Length: 0:47:29


05. Nur ehrliche Liebe ist gute Liebe Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 06. Rosen fallen vom Himmel
Original Airdate: May 4, 2010
Size: 852 MB
Length: 0:47:41


06. Rosen falln vom Himmel Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 07. Wer Angst hat, verliert
Original Airdate: May 8, 2010
Size: 821 MB
Length: 0:45:58


07. Wer Angst hat, verliert Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 08. Was kostet Berlin?
Original Airdate: May 8, 2010
Size: 842 MB
Length: 0:47:08


08. Was kostet Berlin Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 09. Du bekommst, was dir zusteht
Original Airdate: May 11, 2010
Size: 840 MB
Length: 0:47:02


09. Du bekommst, was dir zusteht Megaupload Link




Episode Title: 10. Alles hat seine Zeit
Original Airdate: May 11, 2010
Size: 838 MB
Length: 0:46:54


10. Alles hat seine Zeit Megaupload Link




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Complete Series Megaupload Links