Wednesday 30 June 2010

Music

Night Work by Scissor Sisters
Finally got round to putting this on. Liked a lot of it quite a bit, but not as much as Ta-Dah. Likely to grow; not certain it's catchy enough to usurp their previous album in my affections.

Articles

Review of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse by Roger Ebert
(from rogerebert.com)
Ebert gives the latest Twilight claptrap a thorough slating and two thumbs down. Quite right, I'm certain.

Tuesday 29 June 2010

TV

Top Gear
15x01 (27/6/10 edition)
"Oh not again!"
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

EastEnder Jessie Wallace to star in Corrie drama
(from BBC News)
Actress Jessie Wallace, who played Kat in EastEnders, is to star in a drama about the birth of Coronation Street... The drama, being filmed in Manchester, will air on BBC Four later this year.
Well that's just meta personified.

Monday 28 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x11 Resurrection Ship Part 1
2x12 Resurrection Ship Part 2
Holy frak. I'm beginning to really see where all the plaudits come from -- BSG was pretty great before, but these mid-season episodes are really pushing it to another level.
The only thing standing between these being listed right after Pegasus was midnight -- a pair of gripping cliffhangers easily ensured my undivided attention for the full two-and-a-half hours of these three episodes back to back.

Mock the Week
9x02 (24/6/10 edition)
It comes to something when Jack Whitehall is your most famous guest. Not necessarily a problem, but it really does come to something when he's also the funniest. (See also: Graham Norton a few weeks back.)
Relatedly -- that white South African guy's act seemed to consist wholly of impersonating black South Africans in a rather awkward, arguably racist fashion. Uncomfortable. And not in the good Frankie Boyle-ish way.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Sunday 27 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x09 Flight of the Phoenix
2x10 Pegasus [extended version]
The BSG Blu-rays (and some/all of the DVDs) contain a total of seven extended episodes, the first of these being Pegasus. Whereas the creators have labelled some of these episodes "editor's cuts" -- effectively meaning a long, unpolished version of the episode -- the extended Pegasus is a "director's cut" -- meaning the full-length version they would've liked to broadcast were they not stuck with a specific length slot. So, in this case, I've decided to eschew the broadcast version and jump straight to the extended one; quite what I'll do when I get to "editor's cut" episodes is something I'll equally over-think when the time comes.
More pertinently, then: what a frakkin' huge cliffhanger! Glad I don't have to wait months for the resolution -- on I go.

Damages
3x13 The Next One's Gonna Go in Your Throat [season finale]
If this does turn out to be the series finale, it was a great one, wrapping up all the major plot threads from all three seasons once and for all -- at last. But it leaves it open for more, so fingers crossed there'll be another case for Patty Hewes.

Doctor Who Confidential
5x13 Out of Time [season finale]
I often find I miss New York, something this episode was all-too-good at reminding me. As for the two slight hints about next season... reassuring, but disappointingly vague. Which I suppose it what we should expect from Moffat & co.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
5x05 Duel Citizenship
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Mulan (1998)
[#64 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

I Couldn’t Care Fewer. by Andrew Taylor
(from Apathy Sketchpad)
I agree.

Ooops! The Daily Mail falls victim to spoof Steve Jobs iPhone recall Tweet by Will Sturgeon
(from The Media Blog)
This is priceless. You must read it. Go on.

this week on 100 Films

3 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

2012 (2009)
It’s a CGI-focused visually epic spectacular built on a story that lacks an original plot or real characterisation. Sounds familiar… Ah yes — Avatar. I’m sure those who loved Cameron’s Oscar-loser will get something from 2012 too.

Final Destination (2000)
very much “high concept” filmmaking — the concept being, in case you’ve somehow missed it, that a bunch of characters manage to dodge Death thanks to a premonition, so now Death’s out to settle the score — so the dodgier aspects, like the mediocre dialogue and performances, slide by because, well, they don’t matter that much.

First Blood (1982)
"Rambo" has become a byword for violent excess. But the first film has marginally nobler aims: here, the not-yet-titular hero is a Vietnam vet dealing with a mixture of PTSD, unresolved service issues, and poor treatment from the 'folks back home'

More next Sunday.

Saturday 26 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x06 Home Part 1
2x07 Home Part 2
2x08 Final Cut
Guest starring Dexter's dad!
Also: if all of the Colonies' paper, photos, cards, etc -- and, most pertinently, video recordings -- are octagonal (as opposed to our use of quadrilaterals) then why are their TVs and monitors still rectangular? ("Because production design didn't think it through," is the real-world answer, of course.)

Damages
3x12 You Were His Little Monkey
All the threads are, of course, coming together just in time for the season (and, possibly, series) finale.

Doctor Who
31x13 The Big Bang [season finale]
See here for my thoughts on this episode.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Eleven Things We've Learnt This Year by Patrick Mulkern
(from Doctor Who Blog at Radio Times)
A slightly different way of looking at the Doctor Who finale. Which is always nice.

Review of The Big Bang by Richard Edwards
(from SFX)
Just in case you fancied some more thoughts.

Doctor Who 31x13: The Big Bang

Just some quick initial thoughts. Normally these would go in today's TV post but they looked a little unwieldy, so...

While I did like last week's part one, I think I enjoyed that even more. Plot threads left dangling for next season, yes, but that's a good thing. And the promise we'll find out all about River soon... well, I still don't like her that much, but at least we should get answers.

Favourite parts: Rory! Yay for Rory! Always liked Rory. Love a three-person TARDIS crew, so I'm ever so glad he seems to be sticking around. Full name-in-opening-titles status next season, please. Also liked the wedding speech to bring the Doctor & TARDIS back into existence -- clever use of a well-known phrase + long-established Who history.

And the Stone Dalek was at least 100 times cooler than the multi-coloured plasticky regular new ones.

My one major disappointment, however: that the Doctor gave up on the rewind at The Eleventh Hour. What a perfect opportunity for a Greatest Hits of all ten Doctors! Considering we've seen them more than usual this season (especially William Hartnell), it seemed a golden opportunity. Oh well.

Still, a good, epic season finale, with a nice ending... even if it was missing a substantial Christmas special tease.

Friday 25 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x04 Resistance
2x05 The Farm

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x21 (18/6/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

BBC hoping to revive Ashes Gene Hunt? by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
This is, a) from The Mirror, and b) features no comment from Philip Glenister or Matthew Graham. Not sounding likely, is it? Thank God. (Unless they have a really great idea, that is.)

It looks like Peter Jackson will direct The Hobbit after all by Sean O'Neal
(from A.V. Club)
"Believe it when I see it" and all that.

More Proof the Video Game Industry is Out of Ideas (E3 2010) by David Wong
(from Cracked.com)
Moves from an amusing opening (see picture below) to a more serious point about how the games industry is perhaps headed for a fall.



No Human Centipede for UK cinemas? by David Jenkins
(from Film on Time Out London)
From my own perspective, I can't say I'm sorry -- it sounds dire and I've no intention of seeing it -- but Jenkins makes his case with two good points:
looking to the US as a critical barometer, the film split journalists into two separate and very distinct camps... the important thing – and the thing the UK will miss – is that there is a debate to be had, and a DVD-only release will dull the potential coverage the film would have been assured from broadsheet critics.
And, relatedly:
could someone not get the film a week’s run in a single cinema just so we’re able to get Daily Mail critic Chris Tookey’s take on things?
He's always good for a laugh... albeit never one he intended.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

That TV series I mentioned turned up, plus one unexpectedly early Blu-ray, leaving a nice little boost for all of this week's numbers.

Number of titles in collection: 1,185 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,095 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 90 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,920 [up 25]
Number of films in collection: 1,247 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,111 [up 60]

Statistic of the week:

Number of titles produced in the '80s:
120
(10.1% of the total)

I've previously covered titles produced in the '00s, '90s, and over 100 years ago, so continuing in that theme (as I haven't for a few weeks), this is the current tally for the '80s.

See you next week, faithful reader.

Thursday 24 June 2010

TV

Damages
3x11 All That Crap About Your Family
I don't think there was a single flashforward in this episode. Far too much going on in the present, I suppose, not least Frobisher's increasingly hilarious film -- check out that Ray Fiske!

Tinga Tinga Tales
Why Woodpecker Pecks
Why Hippo Has No Hair
I know this is only a little kids' show, but surely that doesn't excuse it the gaping great plot holes in the Woodpecker episode?
[Watch both episodes (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2010
John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut concludes. Or concluded, I suppose, now. I would point you to it on iPlayer, but due no doubt to some shortsightedness somewhere in the BBC it's not there.

Articles

Steven Moffat talks Who finale, future by Neil Wilkes & Matthew Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Moffat is quite frankly irritating in many of his interviews. This one's no exception, but it's mostly confined to the middle -- the beginning, where he discusses how much of the finale he had planned, and the end, where he discusses lessons learnt and if he'd have RTD back, are interesting.

Red teaser trailer

I'd not heard of this film, or the comic it's based on, before. Now I really want to see it.

Trailer: job done.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x02 Valley of Darkness
2x03 Fragged

The Graham Norton Show
7x11 (21/6/10 edition)


"I was a dominatrix called Mistress Veronica."

[Watch that bit here, or watch the whole episode (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2010
Been keeping a vague eye on Wimbledon so far, but paid proper attention today: picking up a match I saw some of the end of yesterday before play stopped for light... which, as you may have heard, turned to the record-demolishing Longest Match Of All Time -- John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut, in which the final set alone eventually beat the previous record for Longest Match Ever.

Magazines

Radio Times 26 June - 2 July 2010

One wonders if the Radio Times is subtly displaying a dislike for Mongrels, BBC Three's new puppet show. I quote:

"The mistake is thinking puppets can do all the work - you need a good script."

Mongrels is written by Daniel Peak and Jon Brown, who have previously worked on Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and My Hero.

Or, to put it another way:

"you need a good script."

This script is by some guys who previously wrote some godawful shit.

Tuesday 22 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x01 Scattered
Feels like ages since I watched BSG, but it's only been a week. That's what happens when you race through [the equivalent of] 17 episodes in 7 days. Week on, week off -- seems like a good viewing plan. Not that I expect to get through season two in a week.

The Mentalist
2x18 Aingavite Baa
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Articles

First Look: Mad Men season 4 poster by Michael Ausiello
(from The Ausiello Files at EW.com)
Mad Men has a history of thematically dense, striking, iconic posters, and this latest is no exception, conveying the new state of affairs and new themes of the forthcoming fourth season. Now just have to wait until it reaches UK shores. (And by "have to" I mean "choose to", of course.)


Click to enlarge.

Most Magical Things to Buy in Hogsmeade (and Some to Avoid) by Chris Kohler
(from Underwire at Wired)
Not a list of things mentioned in the books or films or whathaveyou, but stuff you can now actually purchase in the recently-opened Harry Potter theme park. It mentions not only the 'cool' stuff, but also some of the misguided tat on offer.
(If you're interested, Underwire has several other articles about the park's opening.)

Monday 21 June 2010

TV

Damages
3x10 Tell Me I'm Not Racist
What in the holy moly is going on with Damages this season?! All these weird dream sequences are highly bizarre.

Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema
Another excellent film documentary from Paul Merton (shown back in March), which rather does what it says on the tin.

Sunday 20 June 2010

TV

Dexter
3x12 Do You Take Dexter Morgan? [season finale]

The Graham Norton Show
7x10 (14/6/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
[#63 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

20 (very amusing) tweets from the Death Star
(from Sci Fi Wire)
Topless Robot is having a contest to see who can come up with the best tweets from the Death Star, and it's more than worth 5 minutes of your time to read through the submissions. We've picked out 20 of the best below, but there are dozens more.

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

The Condemned (2007)
It amuses me is how many reviews call this “a brainless action movie”. I’m not going to argue that it's actually a polemic on the evils of the media or modern violence-obsessed culture, but it has more to think about than the majority of action movies — meaning it’s neither brainless nor devoid of importance between action scenes.

Inkheart (2008)
it doesn’t bother to set out the rules, a major oversight in a fantasy movie such as this. The central conceit is that when Brendan Fraser’s character reads a novel aloud, what he’s reading enters our world — and, in exchange, some one or thing is sucked into the book. But how is it decided what comes out and what goes in? What can and can’t be read? Why not just write your own story to get you out of trouble?

Knowing (2009)
it's an intriguing mystery. Arguably this conquers all. There are attempts at giving the characters depth, but these are more about giving them a reason to care about the plot. That’s not necessarily a problem — I’d suggest if you’re watching a film like Knowing with the intention of focusing on the characters rather than the mystery then you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

Tu£sday (2008)
The high-profile cast frequently belie what you’re watching. Most of the production has an amateurish feel. The look is like plain digital video, the choice of shots often obvious and lacking variety, the editing not as tight as it should be. The screenplay feels a draft or two away from completion, particularly dialogue.

More next Sunday.

Saturday 19 June 2010

TV

Dexter
3x11 I Had a Dream
Not what I was expecting from the penultimate episode! S'looking like a good finale.

Doctor Who
31x12 The Pandorica Opens
And talking of "looking like a good finale", how's he gonna get out of that one?! And where's our "Next Time" trailer? (Relatedly: today's Articles.)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Confidential
5x12 Alien Abduction
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
9x01 (17/6/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Games

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Episode One City of the Daleks
I had meant to post fuller thoughts on this earlier today. Oops. Some soon.
[Download City of the Daleks for free (in the UK) from the official website.]

Articles

[Doctor Who] Series 5 DVDs to exclude "Next Time" trailers
(from Radio Free Skaro)

What the... Not best pleased about this, I must say.

If you want to complain (as I have), send an email about it to DVDenquiryline@2entertain.co.uk. If you'd like a ready-written email, just click this link and add your name at the end. (FYI, this is the same as the letter I sent, which also mentions some sound effects that are missing during the title sequence.)

Complaining might seem pointless, but their responses so far indicate that any feedback is passed on to the relevant people -- if enough people voice their displeasure, things might change. Do remember to be polite though -- not only does it make them more likely to listen, it's also not the fault of the person who'll read & respond to your email.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

Absolutely no changes this week, which my bank balance will be happy about... although there is another big Complete Series set currently winging its way over from the States... Still, 'til that turns up (hopefully next week), there's always a new stat of the week.

Number of titles in collection: 1,183 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,094 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 89 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 2,895 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,246 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,051 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Number of Steelbooks:
23
(1.9% of the total)

Steelbooks: pretty packaging. I like pretty packaging. Ergo, I like Steelbooks.

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 18 June 2010

TV

Damages
3x09 Drive It Through Hardcore

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x20 (11/6/10 edition)
I say I watched this... I fastforwarded Katherine Heigl and stopped when Diddy came on. Which just leaves the opening monologue and Frankie Boyle, really. Life's too short for interviews with such uninteresting people.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
5x04 The Sexless Innkeeper
Very clever 'single couple' montage. We likes this, yes.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Wallander [Swedish]
2x08 Skytten (aka The Sniper)

Articles

27 Star Wars references that are also sexual references
(from Sci Fi Wire)
Many immature "lolz" to be had.

The Critics Are Crazy About Jonah Hex! by S.T. Vanairsdale (from Movie|Line)
and
Capone's Jonah Hex review is nearly as incomprehensible as the film itself!!! by Capone (from Ain't It Cool News)
To say "it hasn't gone down well" would be an understatement...

Thursday 17 June 2010

TV

Damages
3x08 I Look Like Frankenstein
Well, he came back out of nowhere. Presumably there'll be some greater role to play... just not yet...

Dexter
3x10 Go Your Own Way
Great cliffhanger. This is definitely shaping up to be another fantastic season of Dexter -- only two episodes to go.

Films

True Lies (1994)
[#62 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

500,000 download new Who game by Christopher Dring
(from MCV)
“The result is a lot more than I was expecting,” Simon Nelson, controller of portfolio and multiplatform at BBC Vision told MCV.
“We had set ourselves some fairly stretched targets on this and we’ve blown them away... This has been part of the Who planning process rather than just a bolt on at the end, which too many interactive things have been. I’m hoping that we have demonstrated to the TV and the games side that there is a marriage worth pursuing here... I like to think we’ve broken ground for the TV industry, games industry, the public service sector and hopefully even the commercial sector”
...the BBC is not resting on its laurels and is focused on making sure the rest of The Adventure Games are a success before looking ahead to future projects.
It came out on Mac earlier this week, so I can finally play it. I forgot that until today, which shows what revelations about the kind of game it was did for my initially-high excitement levels.
I might play it later.

Serafinowicz: Five Reasons I Love Apple and Five Reasons I Hate Apple by Peter Serafinowicz
(from Gizmodo)
I agree. Also, presented with funny piccies.

The use of digital media comes at a price by Dan Roberts
(from Executive Style at The Sydney Morning Herald)
Interesting article on the mental and physical impact of spending too much time on computers, the Internet, social networking, etc. The solid evidence is hardly extensive at this point, but it's nonetheless compelling.

Toy Story meets The Wire

Wednesday 16 June 2010

TV

Damages
3x07 You Haven't Replaced Me

Dexter
3x09 About Last Night

Films

The International (2009)
[#61 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]
Taking a little break from Battlestar Galactica to re-apply the time to film watching.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x10 The Hand of God
1x11 Colonial Day
1x12 Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 1
1x13 Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 2 [season finale]
Proof again of BSG's addictiveness -- I'd intended to watch my usual two episodes, but couldn't resist ploughing on through the finale. Which leaves me having got through the whole miniseries & first season in just one week. "Oops." A break before season two... maybe...
In these episodes we have examples of everything the series has been doing best: full-on action in Hand of God; full-on politics in Colonial Day; resolutions and more mysteries in both parts of Kobol's Last Gleaming; and throughout, issues of religion, torture, democracy, and more. And a great set of cliffhangers too, without losing sight of this being a serial: there are some answers and resolutions, but many plots are left mid-way. It's a confident series that doesn't opt for "wrap everything up + cliffhanger", or even "wrap everything up for now + cliffhanger", but pushes on as if this is just a midseason ep. Thank goodness their confidence was rewarded.

Damages
3x06 Don't Forget to Thank Mr. Zedeck

Dexter
3x08 The Damage a Man Can Do
Now there's a nifty cliffhanger! It doesn't feel like it -- probably because I've watched this season so broken up -- but I'm now heading into the final third of the season. Exciting times.

Articles

Christopher Eccleston talks about Doctor Who exit
(from BBC News)
On the one hand, it's nice someone's finally talking about it -- exactly why and under what circumstances Eccleston left the series has always been a bit of a mystery -- but, at the same time as adding a bit of clarity, it also muddies the waters. I mean, what exactly does
I didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in. I thought if I stay in this job, I'm going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong.
mean? It gives his reasons better than before, but is still quite unclear -- what environment? What culture? Who imposed it? The show's producers? The BBC?
I suppose the wait for more revealing years-later interviews continues...

The Nintendo 3DS Is Real, and Doesn't Need Glasses
(from Gizmodo)
As you may well have heard. Highlights:
There is a 3D depth slider to choose a degree of 3D, to maximize or even turn it off entirely. ... two cameras on the outside. So you can take 3D photos. ... The 3DS can also play back 3D hollywood movies
Talk of what it's like to actually use here.

Monday 14 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x08 Flesh and Bone
1x09 Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down
Holy moly, a comedy episode! Well that's not something I'd expected to see in BSG.

Damages
3x05 It's Not My Birthday
There seem to be an increasing number of unheralded super-weird dream sequences on TV these days. Or maybe it's just my imagination.

Dexter
3x07 Easy as Pie
A rather excellent episode, revisiting notions of Dexter's code -- who is and isn't worthy of his 'talents'?

Articles

Damon Lindelof Writes the Sequel to Armageddon You'll Wish Was Real by Christopher Rosen
(from Movie|Line)
I'm no fan of Armageddon (though I do need to see all of it) or Lost (though I do intend to catch up now it's all finally done), but this is still quite funny. Especially as "it’s no less ridiculous than anything in the Michael Bay original Armageddon and actually seems almost believable as a movie project". And is called -- frankly, brilliantly -- Armageddoner!

Sunday 13 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x06 Litmus
1x07 Six Degrees of Separation
A pair of similarly-themed but notably different episodes that are the first concrete examples of the series tackling themes that have earnt it such plaudits; namely, notions of justice, particularly in wartime, and religion. Importantly, there are few easy answers, and, I expect, further ramifications to come.

Damages
3x04 Don't Throw That at the Chicken
Much like Dexter a week (and a bit) ago, other series coming to an end means I can restart Damages, almost three months after I last watched it. Thank goodness for "previously on"s.

Dexter
3x06 Sí Se Puede
It feels considerably more than 10 days since I restarted Dexter. Too used to marathoning through it, I suppose, especially when I've got through nine BSGs in five days.

Articles

Scribes thrive on serial series by Robert Koehler
(from Variety)
Interesting (if brief) article on how US TV has, in the past decade or so, definitively moved away from the syndication-friendly format (i.e. standalone episodes suitable to be seen at random in any order) to the DVD-friendly serial format (i.e. long story arcs running the course of a whole (if not several) seasons).
(Variety limits the number of articles you can read without registering, and then limits further without paying. On Safari (and I presume other browsers, but I don't know), however, if you stop the page loading once the text has appeared, you can usually catch it before the password barrier pops up. Nifty.)

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Burn After Reading (2008)
as two minor characters observe at the end, we’ve learnt nothing. There’s been a sporadically complex set of coincidences and accidents, some good laughs and some surprises too, but the end result is… what? But maybe that’s the point.

Ghost Town (2008)
The high-concept at the film’s centre — that Ricky Gervais sees dead people and doesn’t want to — is neat enough. It largely sticks to its rules, it manages a few moments of humour, it doesn’t get too repetitive, it often plays the most obvious card

Ivanhoe (1952)
Most notable is an excellent siege sequence, a moderately epic extended battle that is certainly the film’s high point. The randomly hurled arrows and choreography-free sword fights may look a tad amateurish almost sixty years on, when we’re used to slickly staged and edited combat sequences, but the scale and rough excitement of the battle easily makes up for it.

Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)
The cast are adequate, even if Richard Greene’s no Errol Flynn and Peter Cushing’s no Alan Rickman (here at least). Terence Fisher’s direction is rather flat a lot of the time, though a few scenery shots, riding sequences and fights bring out a bit more dynamism.

More next Sunday.

Saturday 12 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x04 Act of Contrition
1x05 You Can't Go Home Again

Doctor Who
31x11 The Lodger
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Confidential
5x11 Extra Time
And that's all the football I intend to watch this year.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
2x17 The Red Box
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Wallander [Swedish]
2x07 Läckan (aka The Leak)

Articles

BBC to revamp The One Show by Paul Millar
(from Digital Spy)
Is there a legal requirement that press releases must always describe HD as "glorious high definition"? How about another adjective, at least.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

Despite another 24 hour delay, it's back to the teeny-tiny increases this week: one new DVD, and one new BD-that-replaces-a-DVD half cancelling it back out.

Number of titles in collection: 1,183 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,094 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 89 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,895 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,246 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,051 [up 6]

Statistic of the week:

Number of titles unrated:
135
(11.4% of the total)

Having previously done titles rated U, 18, and 15 (i.e. the lowest, highest, and largest-in-my-collection of the UK ratings), the only one with any significance left is "unrated". These are titles that are either E (for Exempt) in the UK, or other discs that are somehow allowed out unclassified, or some of my US imports, where ratings on DVDs aren't compulsory.

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 11 June 2010

TV

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x19 (4/6/10 edition)
I'm not sure why I keep linking to tv.com for Wossy episodes -- their editor for this section is clearly a bit of a dick.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
5x03 Robin 101
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

all 11 Doctors in a box

Ever since Character began doing classic series action figures, this is the one box set I've been dying to get my hands on.


Click to enlarge.

All 11 Doctors' action figures in one presentation box. Beautiful.

The fact I already own most of them is irrelevant; besides, at least they've gone to the effort of making some a variant -- celery-sticked 5th Doctor (at last!) is perhaps the most obvious example; the 7th is now hatless (and brown-coated, though he was in the TARDIS set too); the 3rd, 4th Doctors are also different (or "slightly different", depending which versions you already own); the 6th may also have a slightly different costume, while the 10th is specs-on version (which, when they released so damn many 10th-era box sets with him, is hardly uncommon). Plus the 8th Doctor is new, and, as far as I'm concerned, I only recently got the Unearthly Child 1st Doctor so this is a big variant; plus I never got the 2nd and have yet to get an 11th.

Ah, the life of a collector.


Click to enlarge.

The set's due out in August. RRP is £49.99 but obviously the Forbidden Planets have discounts. Cheaper of the two is .co.uk -- only 50p on the page, but standard p&p is a whole £3 less than .com, a good saving in my book.

Thursday 10 June 2010

TV

Aida
So, my first proper experience with opera. I quite liked it; this version, staged in 2009 for the Bregenz Festival, was certainly a spectacular piece of theatre (you can see a couple of photos of the huge set at the link above). Seems to me that opera is rather like a classically-scored foreign-language musical... which I'm sure many opera fans would like to lynch me for saying.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x01 33
1x02 Water
1x03 Bastille Day
I'd only intended to watch one episode, but got rather drawn in and... well, you can see. It's nice to have a bit of politics with your sci-fi -- it makes a change -- and a series that treats the viewer with a little bit of respect. For example, it's obvious what's going on in 33 -- the Cylons are attacking every 33 minutes -- but in the whole episode no one states it. Few genre shows would have the confidence not to have the very first line be, "so this will be the 237th time they've attacked after a 33 minute gap", or whatever.
The worst I would say about the series so far is that you can sometimes tell the writers' background is in genre/Star Trek TV, rather than 'proper drama'. Occasionally the story or way it's constructed reminds you that this is, really, a bunch of Star Trek writers putting all their efforts into making a 'proper drama' instead of just another space opera, rather than some 'proper drama' writers choosing to use sci-fi as a medium for social/political comment (like, for example, David Milch was aiming at with Deadwood, which was originally going to be set in the totally-different time period of Ancient Rome before Rome turned up). But it's loftier aims largely keep it above stuff we've all seen numerous times before... so far, at least.

Articles

Die Hard 24/7 Starring John McClane & Jack Bauer Is The Wrong Call, But The Right Direction by Josh Wigler
(from MTV Movies Blog)
20th Century Fox once mulled over the idea of teaming the Die Hard and 24 heroes together in a movie called — wait for it — Die Hard 24/7. The source reports that "the project didn't pan out because Kiefer was more interested in launching his own 24 movie franchise ... than doing buddy shtick in Bruce's already established series."
Well... hm...
Be warned, the full article (which doesn't contain any more details on the project than that, just some opinion) has massive spoilers for 24 season 8.

Even New Line Execs Can’t Figure Out Why the Fourth Final Destination Made Nearly $200 Million, But Here Comes No. Five by Claude Brodesser-Akner
(from )
It's quite incredibly how much of a turnaround the franchise has seen with its fourth entry --
it’s made $115 million internationally, which is $55.5 million more than the next highest-grossing entry, the first one. Some areas seem particularly crazy about death: Colombia’s grosses quintupled from the third film in the franchise. Australian grosses are three and a half times greater. Dutch, Israeli, and German grosses tripled. And French and Brazilian grosses doubled.
-- and no one, least of all the studio who released it, seems to know why.

Feeder Call Out video - exclusive, honest!

Exclusive to you for the next 24 hours, the code below contains the hot new video for the single Call Out.

Please post it anywhere you like online, and host your own premiere!

Yep, exclusive to me. And everyone else who gets their emails. And now to you, if you click that "share" button.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
Miniseries Part 1 (of 2)
Miniseries Part 2 (of 2)
Here I go, at last -- only 6½ years after it was first on and 9 months after buying the Blu-ray, I'm finally commencing perhaps the greatest TV series ever made. Does it top The Wire? And/or Everything Else Ever Made Ever? Based on the evidence of these opening three hours -- which play more like an epic movie (albeit with series-launching cliffhanger) than a two-part miniseries, if you ask me -- there's a good chance it might.

Luther
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
So, that's that then. Not sure if another series is a good idea; even less sure if it's going to happen. We'll see I suppose.
One thing I did rather like about Luther, by-the-by, is how they cut their "next time" trailer (and, in the finale, the episode's closing moments) in amongst the end credits, thereby circumventing the BBC guidelines that are designed to allow that irritating shrinking thing that means you can't see everyone's names. Well done, Luther production team, very clever. I bet the BBC modify their guidelines to stop anyone copying.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Back to Future, Jurassic Park to become games by Derrik J. Lang
(from Google News)
You'd assume they'd be ultra-mainstream action-y titles, wouldn't you... but they're actually coming from Telltale, the company behind such point-and-click-esque adventure games as Sam and Max and Tales of Monkey Island. So will they be that style, or something new for the company? It would lend itself to Back to the Future, but what about Jurassic Park? How do you do the dino-fighting action? Or is that out the window in favour of Plot? Only time will tell.

Major Indy 5 News: Bermuda Triangle, the last of Harrison Ford
(from Sci Fi Wire)
I know I'm in the minority, but I thought Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was pretty entertaining. That said, this next adventure does sound more promising -- a more supernatural MacGuffin (though they could go sci-fi with it if they wanted, of course) and, perhaps, a degree of abandonment for CGI (which was overdone in Crystal Skull).

Russell T Davies Talks About Torchwood Series 4 and Doctor Who Series 31 (video)
(from Gallifreyan Embassy)
The post-announcement news-dribble continues with another RTD interview. More repetition and reassurances, as you'd expect. Also worth watching for the mildly amusing pronunciation of "John Barrowman".

Tuesday 8 June 2010

TV

The Graham Norton Show
7x09 (7/6/10 edition)
After last week's preconceptions-smasher, this edition just re-asserted that people like Usher and Miley Cyrus are a bit dim and rather irritating. It comes to something when Jack Whitehall seems the most interesting, funny and intelligent of your guests.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Luther
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

2012 (2009)
[#60 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

DVD Extras

The Perfect Souffle: Testing Final Destination
Interesting featurette on the process of test screening a film, i.e. when they show it to an audience to see what they like and dislike, in order to perhaps make audience-pleasing changes before release. Everyone involved is keen to stress how useful it really is, how they don't have to listen to audience feedback and how it's nothing to do with who has final cut, honest. Which, as you can still tell from a few of the filmmakers interviewed, isn't quite the whole truth. But, when used responsibly and appropriately, it makes it clear that the oft-reviled process can be quite useful, mainly if you're making a film that's designed to simply please/entertain an audience.

Articles

iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3G infographic by Jason Calacanis
(from calacanis.com)
Sums that one up nicely. (Despite the title, it's actually a comparison between the 3GS and iPhone 4, which might not sound like much but the 3GS and 3G had a number of differences as it was.)

Torchwood interviews with Starz chief Chris Albrecht, creator Russell T. Davies by James Hibberd
(from the live feed at The Hollywood Reporter)
Does what it says on the tin. A few worthwhile snippets in there for fans, including some reassuring comments from RTD.

Monday 7 June 2010

TV

The Graham Norton Show
7x08 (31/5/10 edition)
"Oh no," I thought, before commencing this episode, "Chris Rock and Joshua Jackson? This is going to be dire." But no, it turned out to be rather good. File me under 'surprised'.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
39x09 (3/6/10; extended repeat) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Final Destination (2000)
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

After Long Sojourn, Silent Films Return Home by Dave Kehr
(from the New York Times)
To summarise the article in a more reader-friendly fashion than that headline, 75 'lost' Hollywood silent movies have been found in New Zealand, including some made by or starring notable names like John Ford and Clara Bow. Many are now being returned to the US for restoration. All of which is fantastic news.

International partnership secures new series of Torchwood
(from Torchwood Official Website)
Hurrah!
I've chosen this BBC press release to cover the news because most of the US reports focus on it being a Starz series, ignoring the fact it (seems to be, anyway) primarily a BBC One series that Starz have expensively bought the rights to.

Sunday 6 June 2010

TV

The British Academy Television Awards 2010
BAFTA do pick some odd nominees. And winners. But hey-ho, that's awards for you.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
31x10 Vincent and the Doctor
A surprisingly excellent and brave episode. Well done on Richard Curtis for not shying away from Van Gogh's depression and suicide, particularly at the end, having the encounter with Amy & the Doctor not making it all alright. All credit to Tony Curran for pulling it off with a great performance too. Also, to Curtis again, for featuring a monster that was introduced late, dealt with early, and seemed to exist to support the characters and story rather than the other way round. Also, appropriate for the BBC to put the Action Line number up at the end, signalling the importance of what had just been covered.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
7x03 (23/7/09 edition) [2nd watch]
7x04 (30/7/09 edition) [2nd watch]
Ah, random late-night Dave. Though why half the adverts seemed to be aimed at women is a mystery.

Wallander [Swedish]
2x06 Prästen (aka The Priest)

Articles

FlashForward fans for 'blackout' protest by Mike Moody
(from Digital Spy)
As fan campaigns to bring back TV shows go, this is a nicely original but very relevant one. Well done FlashForward fans.

Sex and the City 2: What happened to good old Sex? by Victoria Coren
(from Comment is free at guardian.co.uk)
An interesting, humorous take on the widely-despised sequel, which finds it to be "the most radical and challenging film of the year".

this week on 100 Films

3 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Alice in Wonderland (3D) (2010)
this new Alice positions itself freshly by following in the footsteps of the specific side of the filmic fantasy genre started by Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings. Although it uses the original’s most famous elements, the narrative and its structure — particularly a final epic (well, epic-ish) battle in which our unlikely heroine emerges as the long-prophesised One Who’ll Win It For The Good Guys — is familiar from those recent films

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
National Treasure 2 essentially offers more of the same. That’s often levelled as a criticism, but in this instance it’s absolutely fine: it isn’t a rehash — there’s a new mystery with new puzzles — but is another adventure in the same vein, with clue-hunting and the occasional action sequence.

Public Enemies (2009)
I’d be among the first to be worried about Mann’s unglamorous, cheap digital video style — indeed, when I saw the first trailer, I was distinctly unimpressed — but colour me converted, because it largely works here. I wouldn’t want to see it on every film, but as a stylistic choice it’s a valid one

Also this week, the first in a new monthly series looking at my progress. This one was, naturally, for May 2010.

More next Sunday.

Saturday 5 June 2010

TV

The Mentalist
2x16 Code Red
"Someone's murdered me" -- great opening. Tad wasted on a decent-but-run-of-the-mill mid-season episode of another detective show, though.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II [special]
So, it's just over a year since I watched the first Robot Chicken Star Wars special, and apparently this one was on in 2008. Sometimes I feel behind the times.

Articles

Last Time Sources Checked This Still America
(from the Onion)
Amusingly (deliberately) cliché-packed.

Friday 4 June 2010

TV

How I Met Your Mother
5x02 Double Date
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Luther
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Public Enemies (2009)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]
Read the 100 Films review here.

Articles

Note To Hollywood: How To Get People To Switch To Blu-Ray by Helen O'Hara
(from Empire States...)
Kinda what it says on the tin, plus general pros & cons of Blu-ray -- from the perspective of "actually buying and watching it", not all that theoretical "5x better picture" stuff you normally here. Loads of comments; some are stupid, as ever, but some are good, particularly #115.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

This week, a larger increase than usual these days, due to a fair few cheap DVDs from Play.com in aid of acquiring their limited 20th Century Fox book.


The book itself doesn't show up on my "outstanding orders" page. Still, it should turn up before the month's out; I'll try to remember to let you know if it does in a future update.

Meanwhile, in the running time, two recent Complete Series sets give it a nice big boost.

Number of titles in collection: 1,182 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,094 [up 6]
Of which Blu-rays: 88 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,892 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 1,246 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,045 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Total running time of collection (approx.):
202 days, 9 hours, and 18 minutes.
(Up 5 days, 2 hours, and 5 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Thursday 3 June 2010

TV

Derren Brown Investigates
1x03 The Ghosthunter [season finale]
Verdict: no proof here. Though at least he seemed like a decent guy, unlike the money-grabbing conmen of the other episodes.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Dexter
3x05 Turning Biminese
Thanks to various series ending, I'm finally able to resume a couple that had fallen by the wayside -- namely, this and (shortly) Damages and (hopefully before too long) Sandbaggers (nearly a year since I watched that!)
I was particularly keen to resume Dexter, though, having already had to restart it once. Last time I'd only watched one episode and left it 9 months; this time I'd seen four and it was only 2½ months, making resuming it that much easier -- no need to rewatch. Not that rewatching Dexter would be unrewarding but, y'know, been there before 'n' all that...
Um, so, self-obsessed and largely uninteresting babble aside... good ep. Ayup. Moving on...

Articles

Derrick Bird and the price of infamy by Anton Vowl
(from Enemies of Reason)
Vowl is, as ever, spot on, this time about some of the media's ghoulish reporting of the recent Cumbrian shootings.

Laurie: 'House was undone in the finale' by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
Hugh Laurie's thoughts on what went on in the most recent House season finale.

Mark Kermode on Godard's latest



Selected from the comments section:

Godard feels that English is the language of political and cultural imperialism

Just to establish that, because this is the reasonable response, I feel:

Isn't it slightly unreasonable of [Jean-Marie Straub, a director mentioned in an earlier comment] to refuse to subtitle his films because he "feels an audience should learn the language the film is presented in"? Considering there are several thousand languages in the world, and it takes years to master a language to the level required to fully appreciate all the nuanced dialogue in a film script, aren't the filmmakers practicing a far more blatant level of cultural imperialism by insisting people learn THEIR language before enjoying THEIR film?

At best, he's creating a pointless cultural apartheid, and severely limiting his audience, which might explain why I've never heard of him.

If people want to self-importantly withdraw from international markets then good luck to them. If they want to continue cutting the world into little mutually exclusive sections then they are free to do that, safe in the knowledge that they are contributing absolutely nothing to cross-cultural understanding or awareness.

Put it another way: which is more culturally imperialist -- showing an English-language film to French viewers with French subtitles, to ease understanding for non-English-speakers; or showing a French-language film to English viewers with no subtitles, obscuring understanding for non-French-speakers?

Wednesday 2 June 2010

TV

FlashForward
1x22 Future Shock [series finale]
After spending most of the series not being too fussed about it -- indeed, I've criticised it often enough -- the mystery-packed cliffhanger ending has left me wishing they'd got a second series. Damn you, FlashForward!
That said, I won't miss Mark Benford one bit.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Tuesday 1 June 2010

TV

How I Met Your Mother
5x01 Definitions
Although I only finished watching season four three months ago, it feels an age thanks to having blasted through the first four seasons in one six-month stint. ("Six months" sounds a long time for a "stint", but we're talking 88 episodes here.) So, yes, it's nice to have it back, though slightly odd to return to watching it only weekly rather than whenever.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Stephen Fry on Wagner
Unfailingly interesting, as per usual -- Stephen Fry is consistently proving himself to be a very good documentary maker/host. Which, I suppose, is no surprise.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

A space odyssey of the mind by Jon Kelly
(from BBC News Magazine)
Six would-be astronauts will this week begin a 520-day mock space voyage to simulate a mission to Mars. How will they cope with the huge psychological pressures?
An intriguing idea, but it will be interesting to see if they can last the full 520 days. Doing something like this in some Russian hangar is very different to actually going to space.

Homer Simpson voted greatest TV character by Morgan Jeffery
(from Digital Spy)
No surprise there, really, though others in the top five -- Buffy, Tony Soprano -- are more surprising/welcome. And Harry Potter's there, of course. Though it's a little depressing that Spongebob Squarepants has made the top ten.

Why the Digital Economy Act simply won't work by Cory Doctorow
(from Digital rights, digital wrongs at guardian.co.uk)
If only the government, etc, would listen, rather than pushing on with this nasty piece of legislation.