In mid- to late-'60s Britain\, an unusual yet colorful subcu lture sprang up and thrived as a product of the upswing in British pop musi c\, only to meet its doom within a few short years. Though the BBC function ed as the country's main source of news and music\, its programmers offered very little airtime to rock &\; roll -- which left an overwhelming need unfulfilled. In response\, small bands of "\;pirate"\; radio enthu siasts set up broadcasting towers on boats just outside of English boundary waters\, and transmitted signals to an estimated 25 million listeners\, 24 hours a day and seven days per week. Unsurprisingly\, the DJs who took cha rge of these broadcasts could rival just about anyone in terms of flamboyan ce and outsized personalities. With Pirate Radio (released as The Boat That Rocked in the U.K.)\, writer-director Richard Curtis (Love Actually) trave ls back to the Swinging Sixties and takes a headfirst plunge into this colo rful realm.
\nThe story opens in 1966\, aboard a rusty fishing trawl er christened Radio Rock and equipped with pirate broadcasting equipment. H ere\, the slightly daft elitist Quentin (Bill Nighy) presides over a motley crew of joint-toking\, sex-hungry disc jockeys including Dave (Nick Frost) \, a heavyset boob who nevertheless considers himself a hot property with w omen and loves to chase skirts\; "\;The Count"\; (Philip Seymour Ho ffman)\, an American DJ who aspires to be the first person to drop an F-bom b over the British airwaves\; the gloom-laden Irishman Simon (Chris O'Dowd) \; bonked-out hipster Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke)\; womanizer Mark (Tom Wisdom )\; Angus (Rhys Darby)\, a New Zealander whom nobody likes\; and the only f emale member of the group\, lesbian cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson).
\nThese misfits pull off quite a show -- enough of one that they attai n the status of national idols for the youth culture -- but the super-conse rvative government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) detests the whole bu siness and will do almost anything in his power to shut them down. ~ Nathan Southern\, All Movie Guide
DTSTAMP:20130522T182600 SEQUENCE:0 DTSTART:20100413T160000 UID:Wed\, May\, 2013 - 06:26 PM -07:00_207145003@ip-10-159-19-130 SUMMARY:Pirate Radio - DVD END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR