TV

24: Legacy
1x10 9:00PM - 10:00PM

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

Twin Peaks
2x13 Episode 20 aka Checkmate

Films

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
[#61 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2017 #4

this week on 100 Films

A new feature debuted on 100 Films in a Year this week. Called "review round-up", it aims to help race through some of my massive backlog of reviews. The first edition covers Dazed and Confused, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and Under the Shadow. Here's the link:





Additionally, there was 1 brand-new regular review...


The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Despite sharing a title and setting, this second Western remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is almost as different from The Magnificent Seven (1960 version) as that was from the original. Maybe that’s over-egging the point, but The Magnificent Seven (2016 version) is certainly not just a straight-up do-over of the popular Western classic.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
36x03 Thin Ice
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Grantchester
3x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Twin Peaks
2x12 Episode 19 aka The Black Widow

Films

The 39 Steps (1935)
[#60 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Blindspot 2017 #4

Collection Count

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

Except for last week, when I was away from home, so this actually counts the last fortnight -- all the more Blu-rays to factor in to the monthly running time update, then!

It would've been a big week by any measure, but when you add in the week before as well... Well, there were 12 additions to my collection this fortnight (so much for "11 additions by the end of May"!), including one BD-to-BD upgrade, as well as the Ultimate Edition of Peter Jackson's King Kong, a single two-disc set that replaces the content previously held across three titles and seven discs(!)

And what all that jiggery-pokery does to the numbers is...

Number of titles in collection: 1,969 [up 8]
Of which DVDs: 1,186 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 783 [up 11]

Number of discs in collection: 5,041 [up 17]
Number of films: 2,173 [up 11]
Number of TV episodes: 7,697 [no change]
Number of short films: 531 [up 1]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
372 days, 14 hours, and 42 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 8 hours, and 7 minutes from last month.)

Despite the mass of titles this fortnight (and a busy week last time, too), that's actually the smallest running time increase for six months!

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Car Share
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
3x18 Abra Kadabra

Twin Peaks
2x11 Episode 18 aka Masked Ball

Vera
7x02 Dark Angel

Films

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

24: Legacy
1x09 8:00PM - 9:00PM

Twin Peaks
2x10 Episode 17 aka Dispute Between Brothers

Who Dares Wins
10x01 (15/4/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Car Share
2x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
36x02 Smile
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

Over at 100 Films in a Year this week, it was time for my monthly TV review...





...and 2 brand-new reviews were also published...


Guardians of the Galaxy 3D (2014)

I commented in my original review that some sequences seemed to have been designed with 3D in mind — specifically the chase through Knowhere, which I described as “little more than a blur.” I feel like past-me was correct, because I had no such issues with the sequence this time out. Even though I enjoy it, I’m still one of those people who regard 3D as fundamentally little more than a gimmick, but it does lend a scope, scale, and pizzazz throughout the movie that’s a lot of fun

Read more here.


The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

When it works, The Legend of Tarzan® is a straight-up old-fashioned adventure movie, albeit with slicker action sequences and created with lashings of CGI. When it doesn’t, it comes across as oddly muddled. As with so many blockbusters last year (Suicide Squad and Rogue One spring immediately to mind), it feels like it was chopped and changed a lot in the edit.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Sully (2016)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

aka Sully: Miracle on the Hudson

TV

The Graham Norton Show
21x03 (21/4/17 edition)
I'm away for a few days and haven't really watched anything (hence no updates), but I did happen to catch this.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
5x18 Disbanded

Broadchurch
3x08 Episode 8 [series finale]
In which Hardy and Miller catch whodunnit.
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Twin Peaks
2x08 Episode 15 aka Drive with a Dead Girl
2x09 Episode 16 aka Arbitrary Law
In which Coop and Harry catch whodunnit.

TV

24: Legacy
1x08 7:00PM - 8:00PM

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
4x03 Episode 3

Twin Peaks
2x06 Episode 13 aka Demons
2x07 Episode 14 aka Lonely Souls
Got a bit off schedule with this lately. With the new season coming next month, I need to stay on track.

TV

Elementary
5x18 Dead Man's Tale

Unforgotten
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]

Films

The Magnificent Seven (2016)
[#57 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

this week on 100 Films

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


Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)

You surely know the story of A Christmas Carol, so what matters is which particular adaptation this is and if it’s any good. Well, this is the one made by Robert Zemeckis back when he was obsessed with motion-captured computer animation, following the financial (though, I would argue, not artistic) success of The Polar Express and Beowulf. Fortunately A Christmas Carol seemed to kill off this diversion in his career, because it’s the worst of that trilogy.

Read more here.


The Russia House (1990)

Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer are on fine form in this romantic spy thriller adapted from a John le Carré novel... I’m not sure Connery, playing against type as a washed-up ageing no-name, has ever been better. There’s a top-notch supporting cast too, including Roy Scheider as a CIA agent, James Fox as Connery’s MI6 handler, plus Michael Kitchen, Klaus Maria Brandauer, David Threlfall, and even Ken Russell.

Read more here.


Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The cover of Star Trek Beyond’s Blu-ray proudly proclaims that it’s “the best reviewed action movie of the year”. I don’t think that’s true, but it does indicate the mindset producing these films nowadays: they’re not the serious-minded sci-fi the Trek franchise was once known for, but action-orientated summer blockbusters. As that, Beyond is pretty entertaining.

Read more here.


Swiss Army Man (2016)

If you’ve heard of Swiss Army Man, it’s likely for one thing and one thing only: this is the movie where Daniel “Harry Potter” Radcliffe plays a farting corpse with an erection. But rather than the childish super-gross-out comedy that short pitch would seem to suggest, Swiss Army Man is actually quite a sweet indie comedy-drama. With some super-gross-out comedy thrown in, natch.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
36x01 The Pilot
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Unforgotten
1x05 Episode 5

Films

The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
[#56 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Or, as the film's multiple title cards would have it, The Legend of Tarzan®.

Collection Count

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

As promised, this is a pretty busy week. I should rein myself in... but I haven't, because the next few weeks are all looking busy too: there'll be at least 11 further additions before May is over. Well, at least those are spread out!

Number of titles in collection: 1,961 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,189 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 772 [up 7]

Number of discs in collection: 5,024 [up 13]
Number of films: 2,162 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 7,697 [up 10]
Number of short films: 530 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Unforgotten
1x04 Episode 4

Who Dares Wins
9x13 (8/4/17 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Twin Peaks
2x05 Episode 12 aka The Orchid's Curse

Unforgotten
1x03 Episode 3

Films

Guardians of the Galaxy 3D (2014)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2017 #8

In preparation for the sequel. Also, to try out my new 3D TV -- so technically this is the first time I've seen the 3D version, with its shifting aspect ratio (which is very effective).

TV

Broadchurch
3x05 Episode 5
3x06 Episode 6
3x07 Episode 7
Catching up again. It's kinda weird to suddenly watch almost half the series in one sitting, but there you go.
[Watch episodes five, six, and seven (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Unforgotten
1x02 Episode 2

TV

Elementary
5x17 The Ballad of Lady Frances

Twin Peaks
2x04 Episode 11 aka Laura's Secret Diary

Unforgotten
1x01 Episode 1

Films

Nocturnal Animals (2016)
[#55 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
4x02 Episode 2

The Flash
3x17 Duet
I get why they wanted to do a musical episode, but that felt half-arsed.

Twin Peaks
2x03 Episode 10 aka The Man Behind the Glass

TV

Arrow
5x17 Kapiushon

Vera
7x01 Natural Selection
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Now You See Me 2 (2016)
[#54 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

this week on 100 Films

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


The BFG (2016)

The writer/director team behind E.T. reunite for another tale of a young kid befriending a strangely-proportioned otherworldly creature who can’t quite speak English properly and has an acronym for a name. This one, of course, is adapted from Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book, here rendered into live-action — or, for a large part, realistic computer animation — by director Steven Spielberg.

Read more here.


War on Everyone (2016)

There are broad similarities to another irreverent comedy thriller from 2006 about a pair of not-so-nice fellas investigating a somewhat-complicated crime plot, but War on Everyone just serves to demonstrate how hard it is to do what Shane Black makes look effortless in The Nice Guys.

Read more here.


The Witch (2015)

aka The VVitch: A New-England Folktale
It’s not a horror movie that suits all tastes, but I thought it was v.v. creepy and v.v. good.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

24: Legacy
1x07 6:00PM - 7:00PM

Twin Peaks
2x02 Episode 9 aka Coma

Who Dares Wins
9x12 (1/4/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Dazed and Confused (1993)
[#53 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Collection Count

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

Just one new thing this week -- and that turned up early because it's due out Monday. Next week will still be a relative big'un, though, with various things currently winging their way to me. Good times.

Number of titles in collection: 1,954 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,189 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 765 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,011 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,158 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 7,687 [no change]
Number of short films: 530 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Crown
1x10 Gloriana [season finale]

Elementary
5x16 Fidelity

Twin Peaks
2x01 Episode 8 aka May the Giant Be with You

TV

The Crown
1x09 Assassins

TV

The Crown
1x08 Pride & Joy

Films

War on Everyone (2016)
[#52 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

The Crown
1x07 Scientia Potentia Est

Films

The BFG (2016)
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

+ all the Blu-ray's special features

TV

The Crown
1x06 Gelignite

Room 101
6x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Flash
3x16 Into the Speed Force

Films

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

this week on 100 Films

A new month has begun this weekend, which means it was time for 100 Films in a Year to look back at the old one...





Additionally, 4 brand-new reviews were published this week...


Don't Breathe (2016)

Don’t Breathe is perhaps the movie equivalent of a theme park attraction: designed to thrill you and scare you during its brief duration, not withstand plot and character scrutiny when dissected afterwards.

Read more here.


Ghost in the Shell (2017)

this iteration of Ghost in the Shell creates a new narrative, but builds it out of liberally repurposed imagery, sequences, character traits, and more from the popular 1995 anime adaptation and its sequel, and apparently from the Stand Alone Complex TV series too... Though to say “new narrative” is something of a kindness because, intricacies aside, the story isn’t new at all.

Read more here.


Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)

with technical advancements that aren’t necessarily beneficial, grander but less memorable action sequences, and less coherent thematic underpinnings, it’s clear that Hollywood doesn’t have the monopoly on sequel-y sequels.

Read more here.


Tokyo Tribe (2014)

the mix of battle rap, comic grotesques, ultra violence, gratuitous nudity, more barmy notions than you can shake a stick at, and probably the kitchen sink too, makes it possibly the most batshit-crazy movie I’ve ever seen.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Crown
1x05 Smoke and Mirrors

Films

Jackie Brown (1997)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Blindspot 2017 #3

Collection Count

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

Three new additions this week, though the disc count goes down because one's a three-disc Blu-ray set that replaces a seven-disc DVD set.

Number of titles in collection: 1,953 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,189 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 764 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 5,009 [down 1]
Number of films: 2,157 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 7,687 [no change]
Number of short films: 530 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.