Atlantis
1x01 The Earth Bull
The BBC's attempt at a Merlin replacement is another rejigging of familiar myths and legends, from the same people who made Merlin. Seems like a safe bet, eh? On the evidence of the first episode, it's certainly of a level with Merlin -- though if they're not careful it'll be too of a level, recycling character arcs and 'twists' on familiar icons that we've seen before.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Friends
2x14 The One with the Prom Video [4th or so watch]
2x15 The One Where Ross and Rachel... You Know [4th or so watch]
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Films
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Deluxe Edition (2013)
[#82a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
This animated movie was originally released in two parts, one at the end of 2012 and the next early in 2013. Now it's been combined into one long movie and is out on US DVD and Blu-ray in a couple of weeks (except at Best Buy, where it's already available). I've reviewed both parts separately (here and here), so this single-cut doesn't count as a new number.
(Although my rule for things-I've-seen-before-in-a-new-form is they must be significantly different, and this is double the length of either part individually, and watching in one sitting is very different to watching in two chunks separated by many months... they're still the same two films. It's not much different to double-billing the existing versions.)
You can read more of my thoughts in the review I posted on Letterboxd. The same thoughts (and maybe more) will, of course, eventually turn up on 100 Films too.
[#82a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
This animated movie was originally released in two parts, one at the end of 2012 and the next early in 2013. Now it's been combined into one long movie and is out on US DVD and Blu-ray in a couple of weeks (except at Best Buy, where it's already available). I've reviewed both parts separately (here and here), so this single-cut doesn't count as a new number.
(Although my rule for things-I've-seen-before-in-a-new-form is they must be significantly different, and this is double the length of either part individually, and watching in one sitting is very different to watching in two chunks separated by many months... they're still the same two films. It's not much different to double-billing the existing versions.)
You can read more of my thoughts in the review I posted on Letterboxd. The same thoughts (and maybe more) will, of course, eventually turn up on 100 Films too.
Fiction
Solo by William Boyd
Part One, Chapters 1-2
Part Two, Chapters 1-6
aka the new James Bond novel!
After the present-day diversion of Carte Blanche, it's back to 1969 for a continuation of Fleming's Bond. That means it's set after Sebastian Faulks' Devil May Care, the first of the current run of continuation novels from five years ago (which was set in '67), but whether it embraces that into continuity or outright contradicts it I don't know (and can't remember Devil May Care well enough to work out).
As a novel unto itself, it's a funny but entertaining mix. It begins with two chapters about Bond's birthday and his strange almost-encounter with a mysterious woman (presumably something that will have renewed relevance later), but then it's off to Africa for Bond to single-handedly stop a civil war. It certainly feels more like a Fleming novel than Jeffrey Deaver's movie-influenced modern novel, and I think it's fair to say that's definitely a good thing.
Part One, Chapters 1-2
Part Two, Chapters 1-6
aka the new James Bond novel!
After the present-day diversion of Carte Blanche, it's back to 1969 for a continuation of Fleming's Bond. That means it's set after Sebastian Faulks' Devil May Care, the first of the current run of continuation novels from five years ago (which was set in '67), but whether it embraces that into continuity or outright contradicts it I don't know (and can't remember Devil May Care well enough to work out).
As a novel unto itself, it's a funny but entertaining mix. It begins with two chapters about Bond's birthday and his strange almost-encounter with a mysterious woman (presumably something that will have renewed relevance later), but then it's off to Africa for Bond to single-handedly stop a civil war. It certainly feels more like a Fleming novel than Jeffrey Deaver's movie-influenced modern novel, and I think it's fair to say that's definitely a good thing.
Articles
Hitchhiker’s Guide director Dirk Maggs: "Douglas Adams told me there was more to come"
by Tristram Fane Saunders (from Radio TImes)
Including some of Radio 4's reaction to the recent adaptation of Neverwhere he helmed for them.
by Tristram Fane Saunders (from Radio TImes)
The producer and director on doing justice to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, working with Neil Gaiman, and the debt they both owe to Douglas Adams
Including some of Radio 4's reaction to the recent adaptation of Neverwhere he helmed for them.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A Blu-ray! No -- two Blu-rays!
Number of titles in collection: 1,615 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,185 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 430 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 4,023 [up 6]
Number of films in collection: 1,719 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,963 [up 9]
Number of short films in collection: 392 [no change]
Next week it's the monthly running time update. See you then, faithful reader.
A Blu-ray! No -- two Blu-rays!
Number of titles in collection: 1,615 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,185 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 430 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 4,023 [up 6]
Number of films in collection: 1,719 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,963 [up 9]
Number of short films in collection: 392 [no change]
Next week it's the monthly running time update. See you then, faithful reader.
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