TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2015
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

It'll Be Alright on the Night
(30/12/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Top Gear
From A-Z Part 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
at Christmas [2015]
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Dressed to Kill (1946)
[#200 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Slow West (2015)
[#199 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

200!

TV

And Then There Were None
Part 3 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Miranda Hart: My, What I Call, Live Show
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
From A-Z Part 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2015 Exeter v Magdalen, Oxford
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

AfterDeath (2015)
[#197 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Heaven Can Wait (1943)
[#198 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

And Then There Were None
Part 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Celebrity Mastermind
2015/2016 Episode 2 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Detectorists
2x07 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A Gert Lush Christmas
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Nation's Favourite Disney Song
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Peter and Wendy
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996)
[#196 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

And Then There Were None
Part 1 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Britain's Favourite Children's Books
Read the full list of 100 titles here.
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Celebrity Mastermind
2015/2016 Episode 1 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
8x14 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Dreamgirls (2006)
[#195 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

Not many additions this Christmas, but here they are nonetheless -- including how things have changed in the past year.

Number of titles in collection: 1,825 [up 2 this week; up 106 in 2015]
Of which DVDs: 1,212 [up 1 this week; up 7 in 2015]
Of which Blu-rays: 613 [up 1 this week; up 99 in 2015]

Number of discs in collection: 4,665 [up 5 this week; up 362 in 2015]
Number of films: 1,993 [up 1 this week; up 141 in 2015]
Number of TV episodes: 7,063 [up 12 this week; up 611 in 2015]
Number of short films: 465 [no change this week; up 27 in 2015]

Plus it's time for the final running time update of the year...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
340 days, 12 hours, and 7 minutes.

(Up 1 day, 10 hours, and 24 minutes from last month.)
(Up 29 days, 5 hours, and 8 minutes from last year.)

Last year the year-on-year increase was 15½ days, the year before it was 19 days, and now it's over 29 days! Madness! Though in 2014 I only added 75 titles and 354 episodes of TV, so several of this year's numbers are much bigger.

See you next week, faithful reader.

this week on 100 Films

7 brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

In terms of consumer advice, you’re not going to watch this sequel without having seen the first, and therefore “more of the same (more or less)” will suffice for a review. In terms of a more analytical mindset… well, what is there to analyse, really? I’m not sure this movie has anything to say.

Read more here.


Boyz n the Hood (1991)

John Singleton became the first African-American Best Director Oscar nominee, as well as the youngest, for this debut. 23 years on, his story of the lives and troubles of young black men in L.A. remains sadly pertinent.

Read more here.


Horns (2013)

Did Daniel Radcliffe murder his girlfriend? Sprouting devilish horns doesn’t help his case… Ostensibly a fantasy-horror murder-mystery, in execution this is mostly black comedy

Read more here.


Jurassic World (2015)

the plot is fundamentally a rehash of the first movie, but the devil is in the details, and in my book Jurassic World does enough new to shrug off any kind of “stealth remake” allegations. What it does definitely retain is a faithfulness to the Spielbergian tone of the first movie — a stated goal of director/co-writer Colin Trevorrow, and one I feel he’s absolutely pulled off. There’s adventure, humour, a sense of scale and wonder.

Read more here.


Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

You can certainly watch Fury Road as just a two-hour chase and (presuming you like action antics) get something out of it. The volume of action, the style with which it’s executed, and the impressive audacity of the stuntwork, all mean the film functions on a purely visceral level.

Read more here.


Terminator Genisys (2015)

some people will already be predisposed to hate the film. Why mess with a classic, etc. I can see where they’re coming from; at the same time, it’s an interesting idea. Time travel is a key part of the Terminator series, and John grows up with the knowledge that one day he will send Reese back to 1984 to save his mother — but what if Skynet knew that too?

Read more here.


The Wrestler (2008)

Mickey Rourke’s Oscar-robbed performance is the primary draw of this drama about a washed-up pro wrestler struggling to make ends meet.

Read more here.



Plus, Merry Christmas!




More next Sunday.

TV

Michael McIntyre's Big Christmas Show
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
14x13 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Happy Feet Two (2011)
[#193 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Morning Glory (2010)
[#194 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
3x06 Salmon Mousse and Bullshit [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on Dave OD.]

Doctor Who
35x13 The Husbands of River Song [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

John Bishop's Christmas Show 2015
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
8x00 Christmas Shopping [special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
13x11 Merriment (XL edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Stick Man
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
9x08 At Christmas [special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

About Time (2013)
[#192 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Elementary
4x03 Tag, You're Me

Live at the Apollo
11x07 Christmas Special [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

University Challenge
Christmas 2015 UCL v Birmingham
Christmas 2015 Oriel, Oxford v Trinity, Cambridge
Christmas 2015 Manchester v UEA
[Watch these episodes on iPlayer.]

TV

The Making of The Sound of Music Live
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
[#191 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

The Sound of Music Live
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Building Empire (2006)

Building Empire is an unofficial commentary to The Empire Strikes Back. It contains video clips, audio from cast and crew, alternate angles, reconstructed scenes, text facts and insights into the development and creation of the film.

Read more here.


Ed Wood (1994)

Before he descended into self-parody, Tim Burton made movies like this: a biopic of the eponymous ’50s filmmaker, renowned for his so-bad-they’re-good productions. Burton still contributes his trademark dark quirkiness, but it conjures a subject-appropriate tone rather than aimless Burtonesqueness.

Read more here.


Escape from Tomorrow (2013)

Disney meets David Lynch in this arthouse-y psychological thriller, best known for being shot on the QT (i.e. illegally) in DisneyWorld.

Read more here.


The Informant! (2009)

Matt Damon turns whistleblower (or does he?) in this amusing romp based on a true story of complicated corporate fraud.

Read more here.


Le Mépris (1963)

the centrepiece is a 34-minute quiet, passive-aggressive argument between the playwright and Bardot in the aforementioned flat. They go round in circles about staying together or being apart. The point? Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps it’s the unknowableness of the other gender (whichever gender you are). Perhaps it’s just the unknowableness of other people fullstop. Perhaps it’s the unknowableness of our own emotions

Read more here.


Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)

the best James Bond movie released in 2015... For all the effort Spectre made to bring classical Bond elements back into the fold, Rogue Nation arguably feels more like a classically-styled Bond movie. It’s not a faultless like-for-like comparison... but the almost-indefinable sensation of this experience is Bondian.

Read more here.


Mr. Holmes (2015)

The story is slight and the pace sedate, the latter seemingly to stretch the former to feature length. I’m not saying it needs the quick-cut whizziness of Sherlock or the Downey Jr movies — doubly so as this is a movie about an older, slower Holmes — but there are times when it could do with a bit of a kick up the backside.

Read more here.


Returning to Jedi (2007)

Returning to Jedi is an unofficial commentary. It contains video, audio and information from over one hundred sources taking you deep into the making of Return of the Jedi.

Read more here.


Star Wars Begins (2011)

Star Wars Begins is an unofficial commentary on Star Wars. It contains video clips, audio from the cast and crew, alternate angles, bloopers, text facts and insights into the development and creation of the film.

Read more here.


Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (2015)

The characters and performances are likeable, with Raffey Cassidy standing out as a marvellous young find... There are some suitably entertaining action scenes, some moments of visual splendour thanks to the future city, and one long take that is exquisite.

Read more here.


Willow (1988)

A fantasy adventure with a tone and pace reminiscent of Indiana Jones — no surprise it was conceived by George Lucas — Willow somehow passed me by during my prime “watching ’80s genre movies” phase. It’s just a fun romp

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Nowt this week. Next is Christmas, so we shall see...

Number of titles in collection: 1,823 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,211 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 612 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,660 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,992 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,051 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Live at the Apollo
11x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Outnumbered
1x02 The Special Bowl [4th watch]

TV

Elementary
4x02 Evidence of Things Not Seen

Have I Got News For You
50x09 (4/12/2015 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
4x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Le Mépris (1963)
[#190 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]
aka Contempt

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2015 #9

TV

Castle
5x24 Watershed [season finale]

Detectorists
2x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Escape from Tomorrow (2013)
[#189 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
4x08 Legends of Yesterday
Part 2 of 2

The Flash
2x08 Legends of Today
Part 1 of 2

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
4x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Begin Again (2013)
[#188 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (2015)
[#187 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

As the 100 Films in a Year advent calendar continues, brand-new reviews of 14 films were published this week. They were...


The Babadook (2014)

Perhaps it’s best to not say too much about what’s going on, because the film does a fantastic job blurring the lines between reality and dreams, facts and imaginings, whether it’s all happening or is all in Amelia’s head. For the majority of the film you’ll wonder: is this real? Is she being pranked? By who? A stalker? Her kid? Is she going insane and imagining it all?

Read more here.


Blue Ruin (2013)

Its guiding principle is neat: a semi-comedic version of what would actually happen if an Ordinary Joe tried to enact violent vengeance on murderous criminals.

Read more here.


Circle (2015)

The way the characters interact and the decisions they make are rooted in human nature, and the film keeps you engrossed by exposing their prejudices and how that affects their decision making... This is more of a “what would I do?” kind of film, though; a high-concept thriller, rather than a true character exposé.

Read more here.


A Clockwork Orange (1971)

writer-director Stanley Kubrick adapts Anthony Burgess’ novel into a film so controversially violent the director himself eventually banned it from release in the UK for decades. Almost 45 years on, it’s testament to the film’s power that it is still in parts shocking.

Read more here.


Coherence (2013)

It’s a more gentle kind of sci-fi, though; more domestic. It’s about how these particular people react to the strange situation, rather than being about the situation itself

Read more here.


The Dark Crystal (1982)

there’s fantastic puppetry and strong design… but the story and the manner of its telling — the dialogue, structure, and characters — alternate between boring, annoying, and laughable.

Read more here.


The Decoy Bride (2011)

it’s a standard rom-com, of the form we’ve seen dozens of times, but it’s no worse than most and better than plenty.

Read more here.


The Grandmaster (2013)

As a Western viewer, if you know anything about Ip Man beyond “he’s the chap who trained Bruce Lee”, it’s probably thanks to the pair of eponymous biopics starring Donnie Yen. Heck, if you know that much there’s a fair chance it’s due to those films. This take on the man, directed and co-written by Wong Kar Wai and starring Tony Leung as Ip, is tonally very different

Read more here.


Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)

This melancholic apocalyptic comedy wasn’t too well received, which is a shame because I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

Read more here.


sex, lies, and videotape (1989)

Four acquaintances partake in duplicitous relationships and candid sexual discourse in writer-director Steven Soderbergh’s debut drama.

Read more here.


Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)

Aardman’s stop-motion silent comedy will certainly lose to Inside Out across the board come awards season (apart from at the BAFTAs, perhaps), but it’s the more inventive, amusing, innovative, accomplished, and impressive achievement. Delightful.

Read more here.


Stranger by the Lake (2013)

It’s the arthouse gay sex thriller! I’m just going to mention that before it comes the elephant in the room: this movie features lots of ultra-explicit gay sex... it’s worth getting past the initial titillation, because pornography isn’t the point. Rather, it’s an intriguing dramatic thriller about what we’re prepared to accept, risk, or ignore in the name of attraction

Read more here.


They Live (1988)

the meat is satire. Thirty years on, it remains thematically relevant; perhaps even more so. That no one’s actively considering a remake suggests how Hollywood has lost its political teeth.

Read more here.


You're Next (2011)

a horror-thriller that’s really a dark comedy. Murderous home invaders get a surprise when one of their targets is a secret badass.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

A Most Wanted Man (2014)
[#186 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Terminator Genisys (2015)
[#185 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

Not the final pre-Christmas update, but the final one that's likely to have anything to report. Probably. I also suspect it'll be a small Christmas for this Collection Count -- possibly even nonexistent, in fact. But we'll see in a fortnight. For now:

Number of titles in collection: 1,823 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,211 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 612 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,660 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,992 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,051 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
5x23 The Human Factor

Detectorists
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Jessica Jones
1x12 AKA Take a Bloody Number
1x13 AKA Smile [season finale]

TV

Elementary
4x01 The Past is Parent

TV

Castle
5x22 Still

Live at the Apollo
11x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
4x07 Brotherhood

Films

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
[#184 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Castle
5x21 The Squab and the Quail

The Flash
2x07 Gorilla Warfare

Articles

Ranking all 9 series of Doctor Who (and the specials) from 2005 to 2015
by Morgan Jeffery (from Digital Spy)

This starts off with an act of pure stupidity (no way series one is the worst), but then pretty quickly gets pretty accurate. Not necessarily the exact order I'd put them in, but not bad.

TV

Castle
5x20 The Fast and the Furriest

Detectorists
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
35x12 Hell Bent [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Jessica Jones
1x10 AKA 1,000 Cuts
1x11 AKA I've Got the Blues

this week on 100 Films

Lots to cover on 100 Films in a Year this week!

Firstly, it's a new month, so here's a look back at the old one:




Then, my 2015 advent calendar kicked off. Read all about that here:




As you'll learn if you read that, my plan is to post two reviews a day throughout advent. So that means, this week, 12 new reviews were posted(!) They were:


Ant-Man (2015)

Marvel are currently fond of mixing “superhero” with “another genre” to produce their movies — which makes sense, given the standard two-or-three superhero narratives were already becoming played out by the time Iron Man came along, never mind in the raft of movies Marvel Studios have released since. Here, “superhero” is mixed with “heist movie”; more specifically, “heist comedy”. It’s superheroes by way of Ocean’s Eleven, basically.

Read more here.


L'Atalante (1934)

my view hews closer to the original reception. Reportedly a French distributor called it “a confused, incoherent, wilfully absurd, long, dull, commercially worthless film,” while critics called it “amateurish, self-indulgent and morbid.” OK, maybe it’s not that bad, but there are nuggets of truth in there.

Read more here.


Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

I didn’t expect to care for this all that much… but I actually thought it was really fun. It’s not the funniest movie ever, nor does it have the most thrilling action, or the most engrossing or surprising plot, but it does all those things — well, the first two — well, maybe just the first one — well enough. It’s sort of incessantly likeable.

Read more here.


Brazil (1985)

It’s clever, it’s funny, it’s massively imaginative in both its visuals and its storytelling, and its influences on the 30 years of dystopian fiction that have followed is… well, fairly clear, because it also has influences of its own, so whether future works are influenced by the original influence or whether the influencee has become the influencer is an over-complex matter for over-complex people to discuss ad infinitum.

Read more here.


End of Watch (2012)

Ah, found footage. Some despise it. I’m not sure anyone loves it. I don’t mind it, so long as it’s used appropriately. Here, the found footage aspect is abandoned literally as soon as it’s introduced, rendering it absolutely pointless.

Read more here.


Europa Report (2013)

Astronauts head to a Saturnian moon to examine its water in this scientifically-accurate drama. The voluminous “special thanks” to space-related organisations shows how seriously the filmmakers took that accuracy, and it pays off in the exploration of some neat ideas.

Read more here.


The Fifth Estate (2013)

It’s The Julian Assange Movie, in which Benedict Cumberbatch dons a lanky white wig and an Australian accent to portray one of the most significant figures of our times, whether you like it or not.

Read more here.


Force Majeure (2014)

At its best, writer-director Ruben Östlund’s YouTube-inspired film is a droll dark comedy. Told in wisely-deployed long takes that benefit the cast, there’s also gorgeous photography and a dramatic score

Read more here.


Go (1999)

When people call 1999’s Fight Club “the first film of the 21st Century”, it sounds a bit clever-clever. When you watch 1999’s Go, you see what they mean. Fincher forged forward; Liman encapsulated “just been” — indeed, it’s been called the most ’90s movie ever made.

Read more here.


Life Itself (2014)

Roger Ebert was an influential, respected, beloved critic for decades, and one with an interesting life: he began in old-school newspaper journalism, defined TV movie criticism, and eventually spearheaded the profession’s move online. So it merits recounting in this documentary

Read more here.


The Swimmer (1968)

A strange air means this quickly begins to feel like a Twilight Zone-esque mystery, but it’s actually something else entirely… though to reveal too many secrets would spoil it.

Read more here.


Tank Girl (1995)

Critically derided, this anarchic adaptation of the rebellious comic has become a cult fave. You can see why: a ramshackle plot allows for plenty of outré zaniness, including a big musical number to a punky Cole Porter cover, and surely no one predicted the bizarre truth about the Rippers!

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
[#183 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

After last week's madness, just one addition... of a ten-film box set.

Number of titles in collection: 1,821 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,211 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 610 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,657 [up 12]
Number of films in collection: 1,990 [up 10]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,051 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
5x19 The Lives of Others

Have I Got News For You
50x08 (27/11/2015 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Jessica Jones
1x08 AKA WWJD?
1x09 AKA Sin Bin

TV

Arrow
4x06 Lost Souls

Live at the Apollo
11x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Castle
5x18 The Wild Rover

Detectorists
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Jessica Jones
1x06 AKA You're a Winner!
1x07 AKA Top Shelf Perverts

TV

Castle
5x17 Scared to Death

The Flash
2x06 Enter Zoom