TV

24
8x10 1:00AM - 2:00AM

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x15 Operation: Broken Feather
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Friends
10x13 The One Where Joey Speaks French [5th or so watch]

Films

Solomon Kane (2009)
[#34 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

The UK TV premiere of this is on Film4 at 9pm on Thursday. Consequently, look for a review here from about 1pm.

TV

24
8x09 12:00AM - 1:00AM

Castle
3x18 One Life to Lose
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Friends
10x12 The One with Phoebe's Wedding [5th or so watch]

TV

24
8x08 11:00PM - 12:00AM
I thought they'd reached the end of another plot already... but no, not quite yet. Though they are burning through sub-villains with great speed -- I mean, Jack and co have already taken down not one but two supposedly-major Russian crime operations!

Friends
10x11 The One Where the Stripper Cries [5th or so watch]
I've said before that the occasionally-reviled late-era Friends actually contains some of its all-time-classic episodes, and this is a case in point.

The Guess List
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

24
8x06 9:00PM - 10:00PM
8x07 10:00PM - 11:00PM

All About TWO
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
10x09 The One with the Birth Mother [5th or so watch]
10x10 The One Where Chandler Gets Caught [5th or so watch]

How I Met Your Mother
9x12 The Rehearsal Dinner
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

24
8x05 8:00PM - 9:00PM

Friends
10x08 The One with the Late Thanksgiving [5th or so watch]

Game of Thrones
4x01 Two Swords
Wait, what's this -- more GoT already? Yes, well, with one major event already having happened -- and been widely discussed all over the internet & everywhere else -- and with many more promised by Those In The Know for later in the season, I decided that, for my own sake, I should forgo my normal year-long wait for the Blu-ray release and just enjoy the series at the same time as everyone else. I'll only have the whole damned thing spoiled if I don't.

The Mentalist
6x17 Silver Wings of Time
Well that was disappointingly obvious.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Comics

Nemo: Heart of Ice by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill

A spin-off from / aside to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, starring Captain Nemo's daughter as introduced to us in Century Vol.1. Moore's taken a break from ongoing League storytelling for a trilogy of these more-or-less-standalone tales: the second was released last month, the third is due... sometime. Considering Moore and O'Neill have managed one a year of late, hopefully in March 2015, and we can have League Vol.IV in 2016.

Heart of Ice is a slighter, more straightforward story than we're used to from League books (especially the last two), which makes it kind of refreshing: it's a clean adventure yarn, not an intricate and disturbing puzzle (though it's disturbing in places, naturally). Nonetheless, it's still packed with obscure allusions, making this guide not essential but worthwhile.

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,665 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,199 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 466 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,158 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,791 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,126 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 409 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

24
8x04 7:00PM - 8:00PM [extended version]

It's time to play Count The 24 Story Arcs, because, 3½ episodes in, Story Arc 1 is already at an end, with Story Arc 2 -- which at least spins out of it -- already underway. The rules of the game are: seasons one, two and three did it best, when there were two or three major arcs across an entire season; season four and on mucked it up by having a frankly ludicrous number of arcs/threats every year. Getting through the first so quickly isn't promising, but we'll see -- maybe this new one will run and run...

Also, the "extended" element of this episode is one c.2-minute scene forcibly inserted between the climax and credits. Rather ruins the effect, that. The scene isn't bad in itself, and if they'd inserted it five minutes earlier all would've been fine, but put where it is... I shan't bother with the set's six other elongated episodes (I can just jump to three minutes before the end and watch the extensions in isolation!)


Friends
10x07 The One with the Home Study [5th or so watch]
aka The One Where Phoebe and Mike Give Their Wedding Money to Charity But Then Don't But Then Do But Then Don't.


Have I Got News For You
47x03 (18/4/2014 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

24
8x02 5:00PM - 6:00PM
8x03 6:00PM - 7:00PM

Friends
10x06 The One with Ross's Grant [5th or so watch]

Films

Visions of Light (1992)
[#33 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Comics

She-Hulk #3 by Charles Soule & Javier Pulido

TV

24
8x01 4:00PM - 5:00PM
It's been three years and 11 months since the finale of this final season aired, so it's really about time I got round to it -- especially with the revival miniseries imminent (its US premiere is under two weeks away now). I've read recently that it's not a particularly great season (very different to what I heard at the time, it would seem), but this is an OK start... and it's been so long since I last watched any 24 (over four years since season seven, and it was a couple of years before that that I watched season six) that I'm not sure I'll be able to make many comparisons anyway.

Arrow
2x17 Birds of Prey
Which (unlike with last episode's titular team) doesn't really feature the Birds of Prey. I bet some fans were pissed.

Friends
10x05 The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits [5th or so watch]

Comics

Batman Eternal #2 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV & Jason Fabok

TV

Elementary
2x19 The Many Mouths of Aaron Colville

Friends
10x03 The One with Ross's Tan [5th or so watch]
10x04 The One with the Cake [5th or so watch]

The Guess List
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Comics

Batman Eternal #1 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV & Jason Fabok

To celebrate Batman's 75th anniversary, DC are releasing this weekly epic by a host of top creators (there's also a "consulting writer" credit for Ray Fawkes, John Layman and Tim Seeley) -- so as it's weekly, I thought I really ought to get reading. Solid start; much promise.

Also:

Batman #28 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV & Dustin Nguyen

I'm way behind on Batman (OK, let's be honest: a) I'm waaaay behind, and b) I'm waaaay behind on almost everything else too), but #28 steps aside from the main storyline for a preview/flashforward/something to the events of Batman Eternal. Apparently it's set between issues 39 and 40 of the weekly, meaning they won't catch up to it until next year (depending on Christmastime release dates, those two issues might both be out in January 2015).

And it's every inch the issue that knows it's a teaser, full of lines so self consciously cryptic, so avoiding mentioning names or specifics, that you don't think anyone would ever say them in real life -- like, "you know how bad it is out there... you know how much we need what you have in here." Ooh, why's it bad? What does she have? Why would you only allude to it like that if you both know what it is?

Still, it is intriguing, and presents much excitement of its own, so it's all good.


She-Hulk #2 by Charles Soule & Javier Pulido

Less grim than the above. Tonnes of fun, in fact. Hurrah.

TV

Friends
10x01 The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss [5th or so watch]
10x02 The One Where Ross is Fine [5th or so watch]
The final season begins!

Mad Men
7x01 Time Zones
The final season begins!

Person of Interest
2x16 Relevance
...yeah, this is just an episode. But at least it's a Special one.

Films

The Punisher (2004)
[#32 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Friends
9x22 The One with the Donor [5th or so watch]
9x23 The One in Barbados Part 1 [5th or so watch]
9x24 The One in Barbados Part 2 [season finale; 5th or so watch]

Law & Order: UK
8x03 I Predict a Riot
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Castle
3x17 Countdown
In which the show tries to pretend Castle and Becket might die... twice. On the bright side, a lovely new cool-blue title card (that I guess won't stick around).
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Friends
9x21 The One with the Fertility Test [5th or so watch]

Have I Got News For You
47x02 (11/4/2014 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
9x11 Bedtime Stories
A lot of people have been very critical of HIMYM's final season, but this proves it can still manage "best episode ever?"-level awesome.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Collection Count

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

Once again, no additions to report this week (though I've just ordered some stuff, so next might be busy). Indeed, a slow month all round: only two new titles added, making for a teeny tiny running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 1,664 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,199 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 465 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,156 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,790 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,126 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 409 [no change]

As I intimated at the start, it's time for the running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
297 days, 16 hours, and 16 minutes.
(Up 6 hours and 13 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x14 The Ebony Falcon
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Friends
9x20 The One with the Soap Opera Party [5th or so watch]

The Mentalist
6x16 Violets
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

Arrow
2x16 Suicide Squad

Shetland
2x06 Blue Lightning Part 2 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

The Guess List
1x01 Episode 1
It's basically just Blankety Blank with a twist, but it works, so why not?
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Shetland
2x05 Blue Lightning Part 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
1x01 Meet Rin Tin Tin
1x03 Rin Tin Tin in the Flaming Forest

On DVD, 'remastered' into colour with new music and (some) dialogue. It seems less than half of the episodes have been 'restored' in this way, and these are the first two. (Not that I'm likely to end up watching many/any more, but I thought I'd point this out anyway.)

TV

Castle
3x16 Setup
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
1x06 Episode 6

Friends
9x19 The One with Rachel's Dream [5th or so watch]
Even at this stage, I remember some episodes better than others. This is one I recall well.

Have I Got News For You
47x01 (4/4/2014 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Alter Egos (2012)
[#30 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

The Falcon's Adventure (1946)
[#31 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

Three new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


The Box (2009)

I believe the short story is all of six pages long — not exactly feature-length. Kelly has bulked it up by expanding the characters, who are now based on his parents to an almost freakish degree, and a massive back-end extension (the short story accounts for 30 to 40 minutes of the two-hour film) that heads deep into the same “what the…?” territory that he mined in his previous directorial efforts.

Read more here.


Chicken Little (2005)

The director of Disney's woeful The Emperor's New Groove re-tells the well-known centuries-old folk take about a chicken who became a middle school baseball champ before foiling an alien invasion.

Read more here.


The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

If the first instalment was indulgent in setting up the adventure we were about to embark on, this middle part is restless to the point of distraction. It buffets us from action sequence to action sequence with barely a chance to catch our breath. Rather than making time fly, however, this has the unfortunate side effect of making everything feel much longer than it actually is.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...


Kinky Boots (2005)

If nothing else it’s worth seeing for Chiwetel Ejiofor (who you may recognise from films such as Serenity, Inside Man and Children of Men [and this year Oscar nominated for 12 Years a Slave]) as a drag queen.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x13 The Bet
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

How I Met Your Mother
9x10 Mom and Dad
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Person of Interest
2x15 Booked Solid

Films

The Sweeney (2012)
[#29 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

DVD Extras

Special Features on The Sweeney

I didn't watch everything the disc had to offer, but interesting short featurettes on the Top Gear-assisted climactic car chase (shot in just two days!) and the Trafalgar Square shoot-out (shot in just six hours!)

Comics

Anne Bonnie #1 by Tim Yates

I quite enjoyed that. A bit like anime-like -- or, rather, like those Western kids' TV series that are anime-inspired (e.g. Avatar: The Last Airbender), but promising nonetheless. We'll see how it goes. #2 is out in June.

Collection Count

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

Absolutely no changes this week. Not expecting any next week either, but at least that's the running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 1,664 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,199 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 465 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,156 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,790 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,126 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 409 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Elementary
2x18 The Hound of the Cancer Cells
Bit of a waste of that title-reference.

Friends
9x18 The One with the Lottery [5th or so watch]

The Graham Norton Show
15x01 (4/4/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

John Dies at the End (2012)
[#28 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish
1x05 I Like Eggs
I didn't think I liked Dave Gorman, but I caught this episode by accident and really liked it. So that's nice. Obviously I don't know if other episodes are up to the same standard, but his deconstruction of ridiculous advertising practices in this one was bang-on and very amusing.
[Watch it (again) on Dave On Demand.]

Friends
9x16 The One with the Boob Job [5th or so watch]
9x17 The One with the Memorial Service [5th or so watch]

The Mentalist
6x15 White as the Driven Snow
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Audio Drama

Doctor Who [Big Finish]
19x03 Minuet in Hell Part Three

I'm beginning to wonder if this is meant to be a comedy... but it's not funny enough for that, and does seem to be taking itself seriously most of the time. Weirdly, there are some potentially good ideas in there, but none of them are explored; it's just a laughable run-around.

Comics

Wolverine #3-4 by Chris Claremont & Frank Miller

I wonder how much this actually inspired the movie, and how much it's just coincidence that some bits are kind of alike.

TV

Arrow
2x15 The Promise

Friends
9x15 The One with the Mugging [5th or so watch]
There seem to be an exceptionally high number of Famous Guest Stars in this season. I guess they knew the end was in sight.

How I Met Your Mother
9x09 Platonish
It's episodes like this that prove why people shouldn't've been so surprised when it all ended how it did. (Yeah, E4 are months away from getting there, but I accidentally found out what happens anyway.)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Trip to Italy
Part 1 Il Cenobio dei Dogi, Camogli
I didn't bother with the first series of The Trip (way back in 2010 now) because I wasn't sure I could take three hours of Steve Coogan. Some good reviews tempted me in for this sequel, though, and I found it to be quite enjoyable. Mainly thanks to Rob Brydon, but Coogan wasn't so bad.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Comics

Wolverine #1-2 by Chris Claremont & Frank Miller

No, not the Wolverine #1&2 I read recently; nor the Wolverine #1&2 that have been published since then; but, in fact, the first ever Wolverine #1&2 from 1982, aka Wolverine vol.1 1&2 -- half of the story that (loosely) inspired last summer's Wolverine movie, The Wolverine.

Much like its titular character (that'd be Wolverine), its reputation precedes it. Fortunately, it is very good.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x12 Pontiac Bandit
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Friends
9x14 The One with the Blind Dates [5th or so watch]

Law & Order: UK
8x04 Pride
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Friends
9x12 The One with Phoebe's Rats [5th or so watch]
9x13 The One Where Monica Sings [5th or so watch]

Killer Magic
1x00 Pilot
I swear they used clips from other episodes in the opening montage, but this is a pilot with a six-episode series set to follow later in the year. Which makes me happy because it was really rather good.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Silk
3x06 Episode 6 [series finale]
A lot of people seemed to think this was clearly a season finale that someone thought they could get away with leaving as the last-ever episode. Personally, I thought it rounded quite a lot off, just not in a very cheery way -- essentially, all the bad guys won and our heroes lost. Perhaps writer-creator Peter Moffat was making a point about the justice system?

TV

Castle
3x15 The Final Nail
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Friends
9x10 The One with Christmas in Tulsa [5th or so watch]
9x11 The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work [5th or so watch]
Friends does a clip show and it has a big-name guest star and a major plot development that affects the rest of the series. Win.

Person of Interest
2x14 One Percent

Films

The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
[#27 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

April kicked off last Tuesday, meaning it was time to look back at what happened on 100 Films in a Year in March. Quite a lot, as it turned out. Also there: a list of 5 cancelled TV series that continued on the big screen.


It was also a good week for reviews, with four shiny new ones published. They were...


The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Extended Edition) (2012/2013)

looking back over what was added in the wake of seeing the second film, I can’t help but feel that, when viewed as a trilogy, the little extensions that feed into events of The Desolation of Smaug make the extended edition a marginally preferable version.

Read more here.


The Next Three Days (2010)

it’s inherently quite a daft concept: prisons are (rightfully) incredibly secure places — no ordinary Joe is breaking anyone out of there in a couple of weeks. By rights, a film of this ilk should probably be a Taken-esque slightly-OTT action-thriller... Haggis’ film is a mix of that, and an attempt at depicting a serious, plausible, realistic version of what might happen if a regular, intelligent guy set his mind to such a task.

Read more here.


On the Waterfront (1954)

So much more than one famous scene, On the Waterfront is a movie about a magic jacket, which causes anyone who owns it to stand up for what’s morally right even in the face of oppression, but also to suffer badly when they do.

Read more here.


Trance (2013)

Boyle comments that “it’s more classical than you might expect.” Though it has a storyline that blurs the line between what’s actually happening and what’s happening inside a character’s head, the overall tone and style is actually quite Hollywood. It’s just Hollywood jazzed up with storytelling trickery, a quirky score, dashes of extreme gore and surprising nudity

Read more here.


And finally, new to the new blog...


Michael Clayton (2007)

If this sounds more legal drama than legal thriller, it is. Where this comes unstuck is that director Tony Gilroy does seem to want it to be a legal thriller, and so uncomfortably squidged into the mix are a pair of surveillance experts/assassins and one of the least-tense car chases in movie history

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Friends
9x09 The One with Rachel's Phone Number [5th or so watch]

The Mentalist
6x14 Grey Water
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

The Voice UK
3x15 The Final [series finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Box (2009)
[#26 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

DVD Extras

Special Features on The Box

A selection of cursorily short featurettes, the main revelation being just how much CGI there is in the film (for things like creating a '70s skyline, '70s cars, and covering everything with snow).

Collection Count

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

One disc with three films?! No, it's one disc with two films... and I also noticed a mistake in my cataloguing, hence the other.

Number of titles in collection: 1,664 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,199 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 465 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,156 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,790 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,126 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 409 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Friends
9x07 The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song [5th or so watch]
9x08 The One with Rachel's Other Sister [5th or so watch]
I like these episodes and I cannot lie,
you other viewers can't deny
that Friends was still damn funny even at this point.

Law & Order: UK
8x02 Safe from Harm
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Arrow
2x14 Time of Death

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x11 Christmas
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Friends
9x06 The One with the Male Nanny [5th or so watch]

Films

Trance (2013)
[#25 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Coming to Sky Movies tomorrow, as I write this, but probably today when you're reading it (or in the past, of course). I'll try to have a review up soon.

Audio Drama

Doctor Who [Big Finish]
19x02 Minuet in Hell Part Two

Dear God this is daft.

TV

Castle
3x14 Lucky Stiff
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Friends
9x05 The One with Phoebe's Birthday Dinner [5th or so watch]

Shetland
2x04 Dead Water Part 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Friends
9x04 The One with the Sharks [5th or so watch]
People tend to say Friends 'lost it' somewhere around season five or six, but there's a lot of really great, memorable stuff later on, too.

Shetland
2x03 Dead Water Part 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Searchers (1956)
[#24 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2014 #3