TV

2009 Unwrapped with Miranda Hart
A look back over the year's big news stories and entertainment events... except none of them are real. A triumph for comedy and (admittedly, basic these days) special effects, it's particularly enjoyable on New Year's Eve.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Film 2009 with Jonathan Ross
Episode 28 Films of the Year
Despite the title, they don't seem to bother with the reader-voted Best Films of the Year list any more. Which is a shame, because surely that's what such shows should be about? There's the UK Box Office Top 5 -- commented on by the staff of the UK's best independent cinema (and, clearly, it wasn't their intelligence that won them that accolade) -- but that's not a real assessment of quality, is it, cos the masses flock to crap -- Transformers 2 is in there, for one.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

New Year Live
I like that the BBC have cut this down to just half an hour -- and half of that the fireworks display -- rather than the over-long content-free indulgence it used to be.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

And that's the end of that. And I didn't make it, for the first year ever (of three). Better luck next year...

TV

Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra
What a brilliant show this is -- informative, educational, funny and entertaining at the same time. Highly recommended. (It was shown by the BBC back in May, though at only 60 minutes -- on the DVD it's a full 49 longer, and worth it.)

QI
7x05 Groovy (extended repeat) [Christmas special]
[Watch the shorter version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

An American in Paris (1951)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Articles

'Hellish' Celebrity Big Brother house unveiled by Neil Smith
(from BBC News)
It looks gorgeous. I'm almost tempted to watch just for the set. But I won't.

Ramis preppingGhostbusters 3 for 2011 by Mike Moody
(from Digital Spy)
Fingers crossed they can pull it off...

Thriller, Muppets selected for film archive by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Along with 23 others -- some definitely worthy, others I've never heard of.

Films

Rock n Roll Nerd (2008)
[#92 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Articles

Blunt album is decade's biggest seller by Oli Simpson
(from Digital Spy)
Well, that's just going to annoy some people. (Read the article for the full top five. It's not any more heartening, though at least there's no Coldplay.)

Sutherland 'wants 24 film set in Europe' by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
I wish they'd get on with it then -- it's a great idea, for all the reasons (well, reason) Sutherland says.

TV

Cranford
2x02 Part Two: October 1844 [final episode]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Cranford: Under the Bonnet
Not your usual behind-the-scenes, exploring the history of the books and world the series is set in rather than how they filmed it and how everyone gets on famously.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Cinderella (1965)
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Three days to watch nine more films, amongst other Christmassy duties? Not to mention Christmas TV. Nope, doesn't look good...

TV

Doctor Who Confidential
4x18 Lords and Masters
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Outnumbered
3x00 Christmas Special
As utterly brilliant as ever. Hurrah for Outnumbered.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ruth Jones' Christmas Cracker
The Gavin & Stacey star/writer hosts a festive chat/variety special, shown only on BBC Wales -- which of course means it's rather Welsh. Good fun though, particularly Ness interviewing Russell T Davies and Katherine Jenkins.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Gavin & Stacey
3x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Gruffalo
[#89a in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
[Watch it in HD (again) on iPlayer.]

Hamlet
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
The RSC's award-winning version starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, here converted to a film as a Christmassy treat.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer, and in HD from tomorrow evening.]

Poirot
11x04 Appointment With Death [season finale]
It's over a year since ITV last bothered to air a Poirot -- here, finally, is the last episode in the eleventh series. There's not only more already filmed (with one airing in just over a week), but more still currently filming.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Victoria Wood With All the Trimmings [2nd watch]
Her 2000 Christmas special. The cultural references are technically a little dated, but it's amazing to remember the state of things a decade a go... including how little's changed.

TV

Doctor Who [new]
4x17 The End of Time Part One [Christmas special]
Well, that was a little disappointing. For every moment of brilliance -- the Doctor/Wilf scene in the cafe, the Master in numerous humourous outfits at the climax -- there were several of utterly fan-centric public-excluding science-fiction/fantasy-overloaded groaningness -- the Master's technobabble-stuffed resurrection, the unusually slow pace, the po-faced narration.
It was an episode of two halves, then... just two halves that occurred concurrently, flicking back and forth between the two. Fingers crossed Part Two can pull off a better goodbye for the Tenth Doctor.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gavin & Stacey
3x05 Episode 5
Here's a new way to create a Christmas special: just show an ordinary episode of the series. It's a very good one mind.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Live at the Apollo
5x05 (24/12/09 edition)
Gina Yashere's been living and working in the States... and you can tell. It's her pacing, repetition, the way she addresses the audiences -- stylistically it feels slightly more American stand-up than British stand-up. At least she was quite funny, though I preferred Ed Byrne's and Adam Hills' routines.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
7x04 Geography (extended repeat)
Why have they suddenly reintroduced QI XL halfway through this series? Not that I'm complaining really, but it is a tad odd. Though, once again, they're not bothering to put it on iPlayer. Sometimes the BBC really let themselves down.
[Watch the shorter version (again) on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
Christmas Special 2009
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

TV REVIEW Doctor Who "The End Of Time" Part One by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
Like most reviews around the web this afternoon, it's packed with praise... though does note some of the flaws, if not all the ones I regarded as such.

TV

Is anything not a special or finale?

Have I Got News For You
38x09 (18/12/09 edition; uncut repeat) [season finale]
Also, Christmas special.
[Watch the short edition (again) on iPlayer.]

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x07 Best Of [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x13 Where Are They Now? [season finale]
Very little new material, but the best bits of this series were good, and outtakes are always nice. Well, these ones were.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
3x08 Absent Father Christmas [Christmas special]
Goodbye, Not Going Out. At least it went with a funny episode.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
Apt title, which is nice. Very funny also. And, unlike most comedy shows, every last word was written by Victoria Wood herself. Super.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Victoria Wood: Seen On TV
Feature-length documentary shown earlier this week as part of Victoria Wood Night on BBC Two. Interesting and, courtesy of lots of classic clips, very funny.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

...No.

Articles

Press Notes by Marcus
(from Doctor Who News Page)

[Russell T] Davies has caused controversy by voicing his concerns about the future of the BBC, should The Conservative Party win the 2010 General Election. Davies told The Mirror he fears the BBC will be dismantled by the Tories and is convinced that a move to freeze the licence fee by the Conservatives will be the beginning of the end for the corporation. "They'll dismantle it slowly. It'll get smaller and smaller until it just supports Radio 4 and some news. I'll come back and fight them at the barricades. I feel a bit like Alan Bennett, who said his favourite things about Britain were the BBC and the NHS." Davies's remarks were picked up by many UK papers, but not it seems in Conservative Central office. When journalist Ian Dale rang their press office for a statement he was told they wouldn't comment on it, because "Mr Davies is a backbench MP and, as such, his opinion isn't necessarily party policy".

Articles

Swedish Christmas straw goat burnt
(from BBC News)
"A giant straw goat - the traditional Scandinavian yuletide symbol - erected each Christmas in a Swedish town has been burned to the ground yet again."

TV

The Funny Side of...
Episode 6 Christmas
'Funny' in quite a loose way, unfortunately.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

James May's Toy Stories
1x05 Lego
1x04 Scalextric
Welcome daily repeat run for this series (bookended by new episodes) as I missed it first time round. Why they're repeating it so thoroughly out of order, though, is anyone's guess.
[Watch Lego and Scalextric (again) on iPlayer.]

Merlin
2x12 The Fires of Idirsholas
2x13 The Last Dragonlord [season finale]
[Watch The Fires of Idirsholas and The Last Dragonlord (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
7x13 Christmas [special]
Said so.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x04 (23/10/08 edition) [2nd watch]
22x01 (2/10/08 edition) [2nd watch]
Today's Christmas-present-wrapping repeat-viewing provided by Dave.

Articles

The Joke’s On Who 2 by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
"By some systems of counting Planet Of The Dead could be considered Doctor Who’s 200th story (if you count Shada, for example, and The Trial Of A Time Lord as four separate stories)"
Well this is a thorough "oops" moment for a sci-fi mag -- the exact opposite is true (you have to not count it & count them as one to make it #200). Interesting list otherwise though. (Part 1 is here, incidentally.)

TV

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
17x15 (18/12/09 edition) [season finale; 1st half]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gavin & Stacey
3x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Live at the Apollo
5x03 (18/12/09 edition)
5x04 (19/12/09 edition)
[Watch episode 3 and episode 4 (again) on iPlayer.]

Merlin
2x11 The Witch's Quickening
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
8x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Cameron 'has story for Avatar sequels' by Simon Reynolds
and
Cameron: 'Avatar follow-up not prequel' by Hugh Armitage
(from Digital Spy)
"I have a trilogy-scaled arc of story right now"
Oh.

TV

Cranford
2x01 Part One: August 1844
Hilariously funny, heartbreakingly sad, and altogether excellent.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Merlin
2x10 Sweet Dreams
"It is destiny, my love. ... Destiny and chicken." Brilliantly funny episode, this one.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Misfits
1x06 Episode Six [season finale]
I nearly didn't bother watching Misfits, but I'm glad I did because it turned out to be a cracking little series. Looking forward to season two already.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Russell Howard's Good News
1x09 Xmas Special (extended repeat)
The closing stand-ups featured in this series have all been fairly weak, but this one really took the biscuit. So bad I actually gave in and fastforwarded him. I think the audience wished they could've done the same.
[You can (still) only see the shorter version on iPlayer.]

Spooks
8x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
14x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

new review at 100 Films

Avatar (2009)

It’s hard to resist flaw-spotting with Avatar after reading so many praise-filled reviews... But for all the derivative plot, blunt message, cheesy dialogue, thrilling action, spectacular imagery, pretty good CGI and debatable 3D, it may have a greater problem in gaining anything like widespread acceptance... For every SF/F-loving sycophant there’ll be a member of the general public who thinks it’s a load of old tosh.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently a whole pile of feature films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

Collection Count

Collection Count, now in its ninth week, tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics.

For the first time, there are no changes whatsoever to report this week. How dull. But that's Christmas -- one shouldn't go buying stuff before it! Next time we'll be the other side of The Big Day, so I'm sure there'll be much to report.

Fortunately, it's time for the monthly running time update, so at least there's something to cover in this post. And do please stay 'til the end for a mini announcement.

Number of titles in collection: 1,102 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,053 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 49 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 2,706 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,148 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 3,780 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Total running time of collection (approx.):
186 days, 20 hours, and 39 minutes.
(Up 3 days, 17 hours, and 49 minutes from last month.)

What with next Friday being Doctor Who Day Christmas Day, Collection Count will be having a week off. (Probably.) Perhaps two. Look for a post-Christmas, no-doubt-sizable, tenth update sometime early in the New Year. (Or on December 27th, if I feel like it.)

See you anon, faithful reader.

TV

Best Ever Family Films
Not sure about the order. Or all the films included. And it's rather dated, especially with some of the commentators. But hey-ho, it's good Christmastime schedule-filling.

Misfits
1x05 Episode Five
Aww, poor Simon.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Spooks
8x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [Swedish]
1x07 Den Svaga Punkten (aka The Tricksters)
After the epic cinema-released dramatics of episode six, it's back to lower-key normality here. The subtle touches that acknowledge previous events -- Linda's glasses, for example -- are nice.

Articles

Patrick Stewart 'to be knighted' by Sarah Rollo
(from Digital Spy)
Considering the source and rumoursome nature of this story, that headline should probably end with a question mark. But that's Digital Spy for you. Very well deserved if true though.

RATM: 'Campaign is a historic revolt' by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)

"I'm sure he's a very nice young lad. If there is any backlash against him it is totally undeserved, but it's the fault of The X Factor for pushing forward this 'guaranteed number one pop single'. To then turn around and cry, boo hoo hoo, that people are complaining about it - I don't have much sympathy for the X Factor people.
If we're going to start feeling sorry for young men who are going to have the number two single at Christmas, then that's putting our sympathies in the wrong place. Whatever sympathy is out there, then please use it to leave your donations for Shelter.
There are people who really deserve sympathy and support at Christmas, not the latest X Factor poster boy.

Also see a raft of articles on the forthcoming Hamlet, starring David Tennant, here.

Articles: Hamlet

Been reading lots around the web today about the forthcoming David Tennant, on BBC Two on Boxing Day. Its imminence, plus a screening/Q&A at the BFI and the launch of the extensive tie-in website, means there's a lot around now. Here's some of the best bits I've seen...

'Go make you ready'
and
'For this relief much thanks'
by John Wyver (from Illuminations Blog)
The blog of the company that made this Hamlet, here reacting to the screening and general such like things. Always worth a read, this blog.

Hamlet (BFI, 14th December 2009) by Julia Raby
(from Between the Acts)
Despite a few irritants (misplaced words, misspellings), this is a nice spoiler-free first analysis of the film and some talk of the Q&A.

Hamlet for the cross-platform age by George Entwistle
(from About the BBC)
"The reason we co-commissioned Hamlet, and the reason the project is so near to our hearts, is that we believe this version, with this cast, has the potential to engage audiences who wouldn't normally turn up for Shakespeare."

Hamlet on TV by Mark Lawson
(from TV matters from guardian.co.uk)
On the choice of scheduling for Hamlet, and other such matters. Includes well-reasoned criticism of Simon Cowell, so is of course perfect. (See also Lawson's article on the original stage production, The play's the thing.)

'Both at the first and now...' by John Wyver
(from Illuminations Blog)
Last word to the Illuminations blog, again, here collecting previews, reviews and other such links relating to the film.

TV

Merlin
2x09 The Lady of the Lake
I can only presume the full significance of that title is to become clear later...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
8x04 Episode 4
Guessed the twist, but not the manner of its executions. Nice splat.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
3x09 The Best of Would I Lie to You? & Unseen Bits [special]
Does what it says on the tin.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Avatar (2009)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Despite being thoroughly unimpressed by the trailers and the hype, here I am, seeing it on opening weekend. In fairness, it's about the only time I'll have to get to the cinema until January, so this is the only way I can guarantee seeing it in 3D.

Articles

Russell T Davies And The Lure Of America by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
Lots of very clever things about the differences between American and British TV. Fascinating, I thought.

TV

Buzzcocks Extra
These little extra bits have been on the BBC Red Button throughout this series of Buzzcocks, but I've never bothered to look at them before. I don't know if this is typical of what they offer, but in this week's team captains Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding discuss a variety of "Christmas debates", like Santa vs Santana, snowmen vs Snow Patrol and Slade vs sleighs (please note that they didn't all begin with 'S'). S'all good-natured fun.
[Watch it online at BBC Comedy Extra.]

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
17x14 (11/12/09 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Merlin
2x08 The Sins of the Father
Ah, exciting action/adventure fare. Love a good swordfight.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x12 The Doctor Who Special
Fun-filled festive edition of the music quiz... with a Doctor Who theme, obviously. Also, a timely reminder that Bernard Cribbins is absolutely wonderful in every way. Barmy, but brilliant.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [Swedish]
1x06 Mastermind
An excellent, filmic episode, justifying its theatrical release.
[Due to its original theatrical release, this also counts as #88 in 100 Films in a Year 2009.]

We Need Answers
2x03 Poetry, God, Politics and Geography
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Stephen Gately partner complains to PCC

by Oli Simpson (from Digital Spy)

Stephen Gately's civil partner Andrew Cowles has formally complained to the Press Complaints Commission over a Daily Mail article about the singer's death.

According to BBC News, Cowles claims that Jan Moir's column, published in October, breached guidelines on accuracy, intrusion into grief or shock, and discrimination.

Despite Moir later expressing regret over her piece, in which she labelled the Irish star's passing "strange, lonely and troubling", the article prompted a widespread public backlash. A PCC investigation will also consider the 25,000 complaints that followed its publication.

"We're now investigating this complaint which we are taking forward formally and we'll consider it together with the 25,000 complaints as soon as possible," PCC director Stephen Abell said.

Good.

TV

Miranda
1x06 Dog [season finale]
A nice conclusion to a brilliant series. Already can't wait for the just-commissioned series two.
[Watch it again on iPlayer.]

The Royal Variety Performance 2009
I would describe it as "varied".

Articles

BBC hands second series to Miranda by Dan French
(from Digital Spy)
French seems to be under the impression that the TV industry is run be people going around handing each other things all the time. I don't know, maybe it is, but I do find it makes for consistently irritating headlines.
Oh, and this is marvellous news.

The Oscar Badmouthing Has Begun! by Nikki Finke
(from Deadline Hollywood)
Ah, film awards -- so honest and lovely, aren't they?

Rage extend chart lead over McElderry by David Balls
(from Digital Spy)
Hurrah! But can it keep it up?

TV

Have I Got News For You
38x08 (11/12/09 edition; uncut repeat)
I thought Dominic West was an odd choice to host, but he surprised me by being rather good. Super.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
14x04 Episode 4
Yes, last week's. Well, actually, last week-and-a-half's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Michael Clayton (2007)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Time is getting severely low to reach my target before the year's out. Still, I was also only at 87 about this time last year and I made it to 100 (just), so there's plenty of hope yet.

Articles

A Christmas Carol returns to UK BO summit by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
To return to the top spot in the 6th week of release is pretty incredible. On the other hand, who thought it was a bright idea to release such a Christmassy film a full two months before the big day?! Of course it's doing better business now, especially with it about to be kicked out of many 3D screens in favour of Avatar.

SFX Soapbox by Richard Edwards
(from SFX #191, p.35)
"The bit of the mag where angry SFX writers go to spout off. This month: Richard Edwards rants about people who refuse to call science fiction science fiction."
A brilliant -- and very truthful -- rant. (I believe this issue is out from tomorrow, despite being dated February 2010. Magazines are barmy.)

Articles: Avatar reviews

FILM REVIEW: Avatar by Richard Edwards
(from SFX)
Despite the four-and-a-half stars, it seems SFX have hit upon a fundamental flaw: great effects, weak story. The most telling sentence, I feel, is halfway through: "Avatar’s problem is that it’ll automatically get a star docked as soon as it arrives on the small screen".

Review of Avatar by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire)
At the end of a five-star review: "a flawed but fantastic tour de force that, taken on its merits as a film, especially in two dimensions, warrants four stars."
Just to emphasise this point.

Review of Avatar by Roger Ebert
(from rogerebert.com)
A thoroughly sycophantic (unfortunately) offering from Ebert.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
6x10 (7/12/09 edition)
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
7x03 Games
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

We Need Answers
2x02 Love
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

shameless eBay self promotion: post-sale update

After all that, 35 of the 36 items sold. Hurrah! The one outstanding is now relisted:

James Bond novel
From Russia With Love
by Ian Fleming
(Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Some one buy it. Oh go on. You know you want to. It's a great book. Oh go on. Go on go on go on go on go on go on.

Go on?

TV

Argumental
2x14 Best of Argumental [season finale]
Second of two clip show specials rounding out the series. As with the first it really is just clips, no outtakes. At least they were funny.

The British Comedy Awards 2009
Hurrah for the Comedy Awards! Always good fun, even if the opening monologue had clearly been subjected to fervent lawyering this year (it's usually much more cutting). And, for a change, nearly all the right people/shows (read: people/shows I wanted to win) won. Lovely.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Live at the Apollo
5x02 (11/12/09 edition)
Squeezing three comedians into just half an hour leaves them all feeling a little short changed. Still, it means any you don't like re gone fairly quickly.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Miranda
1x05 Excuse
Final episode tomorrow, sadly. It's gone by so quickly... probably because I only started watching last Monday...
[Watch it again on iPlayer.]

shameless eBay self promotion: final update

This is, hopefully, the final update of what I'm currently selling on eBay. All auctions end this evening, at various times until around midnight.

Nearly everything is currently being bid (hurrah!), but the two items that aren't (as of posting) are emboldened. Sold stuff is crossed out, most of it at the end.

'Exclusive' & New DVDs

300 Special Edition, with The Art of the Film mini-book

Crash (2004) (new)

Wanted with mini-comic & exclusive website access code

Films on DVD

The Da Vinci Code Special Edition

Dark City (theatrical cut)

Dark City: Director's Cut (US Region 1)

The Fountain

Highlander 2-disc 'European edition'

Marnie

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Special Edition

The Ultimate Mummy Collection including The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns

No Country For Old Men

Nosferatu (1922) Special Edition

Predator

Underworld Special Extended Edition

Masters of Cinema DVDs

#1 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

#71 Mad Detective

TV on DVD

Band of Brothers in original tin packaging

The Complete Fawlty Towers 3-disc set

The Sopranos Series 1 Collector's Edition

The Sopranos Series 2

The Sopranos Series 3

Books

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

As I said, all items end this evening.

Sold

Batman Begins Special Edition

The Dark Knight Special Edition with mini-comic

Fight Club Definitive Edition (uncut)

Ghostbusters 15th Anniversary Edition

The Great Dictator 2-disc edition

Highlander Immortal Edition

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition

Monty Python's Life of Brian The Immaculate Edition

Se7en 2-disc edition

This is Spinal Tap Special Edition

Underworld Evolution

Zodiac: Director's Cut

TV

Gavin & Stacey
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Merlin
2x07 The Witchfinder
Finally picking up on this again, with just two weeks before it's all deleted from iPlayer. Oops.
Very good episode, though, with Charles Dance making a thoroughly evil villain.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Misfits
1x04 Episode Four
Misfits does the natural time travel episode -- what happens if you change the past? -- though with its own drug-addled spin. Shame that it pushes coincidence to the max by having every major character in the same location months before they all met. That aside, however, it was a well executed episode.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Wallander [Swedish]
1x05 Afrikanen (aka The African)
A relatively weak edition, I thought, particularly at the convenient and improbable climax (would the police really send one person to a potentially-dangerous location while three went to another?)

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine #416
'The David Tennant Issue', a bumper-length edition packed with stuff about the end of the Russell T Davies era. Lots of intriguing tit bits about the 135 minutes of his Who that's left to go...
Next month: 'The Matt Smith Issue', an equally-lengthy issue heralding the new guard, and a redesigned magazine (well, the logo, at the very least) to boot.

Radio Times 19 December 2009 - 1 January 2010
...and today, I made it to the end. Hooray!

Collection Count

Collection Count, now in its eighth week, tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics. It's 24 hours late this week for no other reason than that it is.

I've been selling some DVDs this week (as you may've noticed), as well as replacing others with Blu-rays, but the sheer volume has been enough to show no dip in numbers. Always nice.

Number of titles in collection: 1,102 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,053 [up 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 49 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,706 [up 14]
Number of films in collection: 1,148 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 3,780 [up 33]

Statistic of the week:

Audio commentaries:
672 titles (61% of the collection) have at least one audio commentary (or, on Blu-ray, picture-in-picture track). I've only listened to all the commentaries on 8 (1.2%) of these.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
17x13 (4/12/09 edition)
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x05 Episode 5
Missed episode four, dammit, especially as it sounds particularly good. The BBC seem to decide at random which programmes are worth of an iPlayer series link...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x11 (9/12/09 edition)
Frankie Boyle is the last guest host before next week's David Tennant-fronted Doctor Who special. Fortunately, he appears to be relatively unneutered by the BBC's political correctness-obsessed censors. Hooray for his particular brand of hysterical vileness!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Magazines

Radio Times 19 December 2009 - 1 January 2010

So, there weren't enough hours in the day -- today I made it almost to the end of the TV listings (almost!) Tomorrow, the end of the magazine? Perchance to dream...

Articles

15 Must-See Movies On TV This Christmas by Mark Powell
(from Total Film)
Just in case you need more guides for what to watch this Christmas.

John Simm to star in Hamlet next year by Oli Simpson
(from Digital Spy)
Well, that's just going to invite comparisons with David Tennant's version, isn't it?

Russell T Davies And The Heritage Of Doctor Who by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
SFX's Doctor Who Countdown continues with a fourth part to their Russell T Davies interview, here discussing why he never did a multi-Doctor story.

shameless eBay self promotion: update 3

It's Friday! What a good day to bid on something on eBay, eh?

So, here's what I'm selling then. In a different move to the last few days' updates, stuff being bid on in is now normal while the few remaining unbid-on-or-sold-(yet) items are emboldened. Stuff that's sold is crossed out.

'Exclusive' & New DVDs

300 Special Edition, with The Art of the Film mini-book

Crash (2004) (new)

Wanted with mini-comic & exclusive website access code

Films on DVD

The Da Vinci Code Special Edition

Dark City (theatrical cut)

Dark City: Director's Cut (US Region 1)

The Fountain

Highlander 2-disc 'European edition'

Marnie

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Special Edition

The Ultimate Mummy Collection including The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns

No Country For Old Men

Nosferatu (1922) Special Edition

Predator

Underworld Special Extended Edition

Underworld Evolution

Masters of Cinema DVDs

#1 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

#71 Mad Detective

TV on DVD

Band of Brothers in original tin packaging

The Complete Fawlty Towers 3-disc set

The Sopranos Series 1 Collector's Edition

The Sopranos Series 2

The Sopranos Series 3

Books

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

All auctions end at some point on Sunday.

Sold

Batman Begins Special Edition

The Dark Knight Special Edition with mini-comic

Fight Club Definitive Edition (uncut)

Ghostbusters 15th Anniversary Edition

The Great Dictator 2-disc edition

Highlander Immortal Edition

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition

Monty Python's Life of Brian The Immaculate Edition

Se7en 2-disc edition

This is Spinal Tap Special Edition

Zodiac: Director's Cut

TV

Live at the Apollo
5x01 (4/12/09 edition)
Didn't think we'd see this again, after Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow seemed to replace it. But I swear it used to be longer than half an hour...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
8x03 Episode 3
An exemplary episode, even if it once again stretches credibility -- a given with Spooks these days, I suppose. It's also one of those episodes where one agrees with the terrorists, to at least some degree, which is always an interesting conundrum; particularly for the writer I should imagine.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Fatal Instinct (1993)
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Ah, iTunes' 99p Film of the Week, what randomness thou dost produce.

Magazines

Radio Times 19 December 2009 - 1 January 2010

Ah, the legendary (their word) Christmas issue.

I do love the Christmas RT. Every year it's an epic of a magazine, stuffed to bursting (literally -- the cover's two-thirds off mine already) with previews, interviews, reviews, other 'views, the film guide and, of course, two whole weeks' worth of TV and radio listings.

Today, I've managed to make it as far as what is ostensibly the point of the magazine: the actual TV listings section. Tomorrow, maybe I'll reach the end... but there may not be enough hours in the day...

shameless eBay self promotion: update 2

So, I'm still selling a bunch of stuff on Popular Internet Auction Site eBay. I promise I'll stop advertising it once it's all gone.

Anyway, here's what there is. Stuff being bid on in is emboldened, sold stuff crossed out. Updated as-and-when.

'Exclusive' & New DVDs

300 Special Edition, with The Art of the Film mini-book

Crash (2004) new

Wanted with mini-comic & exclusive website access code

Films on DVD

The Da Vinci Code Special Edition

Dark City (theatrical cut)

Dark City: Director's Cut (US Region 1)

The Fountain

Highlander 2-disc 'European edition'

Marnie

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Special Edition

The Ultimate Mummy Collection including The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns

No Country For Old Men

Nosferatu (1922) Special Edition

Predator

Underworld Special Extended Edition

Underworld Evolution

Masters of Cinema DVDs

#1 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

#71 Mad Detective

TV on DVD

Band of Brothers in original tin packaging

The Complete Fawlty Towers 3-disc set

The Sopranos Series 1 Collector's Edition

The Sopranos Series 2

The Sopranos Series 3

Books

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Sold

Batman Begins Special Edition

The Dark Knight Special Edition with mini-comic

Fight Club Definitive Edition (uncut)

Ghostbusters 15th Anniversary Edition

The Great Dictator 2-disc edition

Highlander Immortal Edition

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition

Monty Python's Life of Brian The Immaculate Edition

Se7en 2-disc edition

This is Spinal Tap Special Edition

Zodiac: Director's Cut

That's all for now. I'll aim to update this when things sell.

TV

Gavin & Stacey
3x02 Episode 2
Plot description, essentially: they order a curry. Yet it's still brilliant!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
38x07 (4/12/09 edition; uncut repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x10 (2/12/09 edition)
Yes, last week's, in which Dermot O'Leary made for a surprisingly effective host, particularly with the X Factor voice over gags.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
7x02 Ganimals
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [Swedish]
1x04 Mörkret (aka The Overdose)

Films

Paths of Glory (1957)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Starring Kirk Douglas, who (as IMDb tells me) happens to be 93 today. And to double the amusement, he was born in 1916, the year this film's set. You have to wonder if someone at Channel 4 planned this...

Articles

Ashes finale will explain Life On Mars by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)

The idea is to unify the two shows... Series three [of Ashes to Ashes] unifies Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes and makes them one show. By the time you get halfway through series three of Ashes To Ashes, you will actually feel like you're watching series five of Life On Mars!"

I always thought it would've been braver to do the first season of Ashes to Ashes as Life On Mars Series 3 -- a complete change of setting and main character in your third season is both barmy and brilliant.
This is the headline news story from Digital Spy's new interview with Matthew Graham (co-creator of Mars and Ashes), which is worth a read for any fan.

Sight and Sound publish their Top Ten Films of 2009
(from MovieMail Latest)
This is literally just the list, re-reported by MovieMail. I think I'll have to see about getting the actual magazine now -- I do like a good Best Of list.

shameless eBay self promotion: update

As mentioned yesterday, I currently have a raft of items for sale on Popular Internet Auction Site eBay. Here's a list of what's currently on the go, now with stuff that's being bid on in bold (and sold stuff crossed out).

'Exclusive' & New DVDs

300 Special Edition, with The Art of the Film mini-book

Crash (2004) new

Wanted with mini-comic & exclusive website access code

Films on DVD

The Da Vinci Code Special Edition

Dark City (theatrical cut)

Dark City: Director's Cut (US Region 1)

The Fountain

Ghostbusters 15th Anniversary Edition

Highlander 2-disc 'European edition'

Marnie

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Special Edition

The Ultimate Mummy Collection including The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns

No Country For Old Men

Nosferatu (1922) Special Edition

Predator

Underworld Special Extended Edition

Underworld Evolution

Masters of Cinema DVDs

#1 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

#71 Mad Detective

TV on DVD

Band of Brothers in original tin packaging

The Complete Fawlty Towers 3-disc set

The Sopranos Series 1 Collector's Edition

The Sopranos Series 2

The Sopranos Series 3

Books

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Sold

Batman Begins Special Edition

The Dark Knight Special Edition with mini-comic

Fight Club Definitive Edition (uncut)

The Great Dictator 2-disc edition

Highlander Immortal Edition

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition

Monty Python's Life of Brian The Immaculate Edition

Se7en 2-disc edition

This is Spinal Tap Special Edition

Zodiac: Director's Cut

That's all for now. I'll aim to update this when things sell.

TV

Miranda
1x03 Job
1x04 Holiday
Still brilliant!
[Watch Job and Holiday again on iPlayer.]

Russell Howard's Good News
1x07 (3/12/09 edition, extended repeat)
[You can (still) only see the shorter version on iPlayer.]

We Need Answers
2x01 Women
How I missed the first series of this I'll never know, though to be fair it was only three episodes. It must've gone down well because this new run lasts thirteen. It's utterly, utterly barmy, but quite fun because of it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2006)
[#84 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Following Transformers 2 and Inglourious Basterds, my catch-up of what I missed this summer continues.

DVD Extras

First Footage from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
and
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Sneak Peek
on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Blu-ray

The theme park (aka The Wizarding World of Harry Potter) looks suitably like a Potter fan's dream; Deathly Hallows looks entertainingly different to all the other films.

new review at 100 Films

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

every inch a Boy’s Own adventure, packing every facet of that genre of storytelling into its brisk running time. There’s secret bases, ray guns, giant robots, flying aircraft carriers, snow-bound Himalayan treks, creature-infested secret jungle islands, huge underground bases, space rockets, planes that are also submarines, tree bridges over impossibly deep gorges… If it’s part of the genre, it’s probably here

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently a whole pile of feature films in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

shameless eBay self promotion

I currently have a raft of items for sale on Popular Internet Auction Site eBay. So tardy have I been in promoting these items here that some have already sold, while others are already being bid on. (Long-term readers may recognise some of the items from when I did this before, about 14 months ago.)

Here's a list of what I currently have on the go, then, in case anyone's interested. Several are already being bid on.

'Exclusive' & New DVDs

300 Special Edition, with The Art of the Film mini-book

Crash (2004) new

Wanted with mini-comic & exclusive website access code

Films on DVD

The Da Vinci Code Special Edition

Dark City (theatrical cut)

Dark City: Director's Cut (US Region 1)

The Fountain

Ghostbusters 15th Anniversary Edition

Highlander 2-disc 'European edition'

Marnie

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Special Edition

The Ultimate Mummy Collection including The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns

No Country For Old Men

Nosferatu (1922) Special Edition

Predator

Se7en 2-disc edition

Underworld Special Extended Edition

Underworld Evolution

Masters of Cinema DVDs

#1 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

#71 Mad Detective

TV on DVD

Band of Brothers in original tin packaging

The Complete Fawlty Towers 3-disc set

The Sopranos Series 1 Collector's Edition

The Sopranos Series 2

The Sopranos Series 3

Books

From Russia With Love (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

You Only Live Twice (Penguin Modern Classics edition)

Sold

Batman Begins Special Edition

The Dark Knight Special Edition with mini-comic

Fight Club Definitive Edition (uncut)

The Great Dictator 2-disc edition

Highlander Immortal Edition

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Extraordinarily Deluxe Edition

Monty Python's Life of Brian The Immaculate Edition

This is Spinal Tap Special Edition

Zodiac: Director's Cut

That's all for now. I'll aim to update this when things sell.

TV

Doctor Who [new]
4x16a Dreamland
Full-episode-length animated special, starring David Tennant (of course). More thoughts on this coming soon.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Graham Norton Show
6x09 (30/11/09 edition)
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Miranda
1x01 Date
1x02 Teacher
This is brilliant! Despite all the dross, sometimes we can still produce wonderful sitcoms. Also, loving the return of "You Have Been Watching..." -- fits perfectly with the show's style. Lovely.
[Watch Date and Teacher again on iPlayer.]

Articles

Russell T Davies On The End of Time
and
More Wit And Wisdom Of Russell T Davies
and
Russell T Davies And The Line That Must Never Be Uttered
by Dave Golder (from SFX)

Three-part interview with nearly-gone Who supremo Russell T Davies, days one to three of SFX's Christmas Countdown, covering both the forthcoming 10th Doctor finale and some of his thoughts on his whole tenure. Even though he's been interview countless times over the years, not least in the past few months, there are still some new things for fans to learn.

And Davies certainly knows how to cater for his audience -- his mass press/TV interviews are perfectly fine for a general audience, but for SF/F mag SFX Davies' is thoroughly geek-friendly, referencing specific classic Who stories right from question one.