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.