TV

Lucifer
3x08 Chloe Does Lucifer
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Not Going Out
10x04 Schooling

Films

Death on the Nile (1978)
[#151 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco
1x07 Fog of War
1x08 In for a Pound [season finale]

Criminal: United Kingdom
1x01 Edgar
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

The Goes Wrong Show
1x01 The Spirit of Christmas [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (2019)
[#150 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Sort-of-sequel to Agatha and the Truth of Murder.

this week on 100 Films

There was 1 new post on 100 Films in a Year in the past week...


A seasonal message from 100 Films

it’s been a funny old year... On the one hand, the number of new films I’ve watched already puts it in my top five years ever. And I’ve had easily my most number of visitors ever, with the number of hits already up over 24% from last year. But on the other... My actual blogging has been much more sporadic, with only 124 posts published so far this year (for comparison, every year from 2015 to 2018 ended up with over 200). And consequently my review backlog has reached insane proportions — a whopping 178 films I’ve watched but not reviewed.

Read more here.

More next Sunday.

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2019/2020 Episode 1 (of 10)
aka Champion of Champions
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gavin & Stacey
A Special Christmas [Christmas special; 2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x07 Off the Record
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Not Going Out
10x09 Driving Home for Christmas [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Brightburn (2019)
[#149 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Would I Lie To You?
13x05 Episode 5
13x06 At Christmas
[Watch Episode 5 and At Christmas (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

University Challenge
Christmas 2019 Royal Holloway v Sussex
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vienna Blood
1x02 Queen of the Night
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Gavin & Stacey
A Special Christmas [Christmas special]
Tidy.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mrs Brown's Boys
A Wonderful Mammy [Christmas special]
Mrs Brown's Boys is only on at Christmas nowadays, which is probably for the best, because it's pretty much the only time I'd watch it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2019 Liverpool v Hull
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

A lot less than usual for Christmas Day. I'll be catching up on stuff later.

University Challenge
Christmas 2019 Guildhall School of Music and Drama v UCL
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

QI
17x09 Quizmas [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2019 Birmingham City University v Wadham College, Oxford
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Goes Wrong Show
1x01 The Spirit of Christmas
Magnificently funny. So glad there are five more of these to look forward to.
[Watch it (again... and again and again, it's so good) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2019 Leeds University v Clare College, Cambridge
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Have I Got News For You
58x10 (20/12/2019 edition) [season finale]
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vienna Blood
1x01 The Last Seance
I could offer comment, but I could just as easily point you to this (completely spoiler-filled) review from The Guardian. In short: bit predictable and formulaic with very little new (it owes a certain debt to Sherlock Holmes), but decently made and reasonably entertaining nonetheless.
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

After several weeks of total silence, there were a couple of new posts on 100 Films in a Year this week.

First, a review of a certain major motion picture...


Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Remember those people who tried to crowdfund a shitty fanwank-filled remake of The Last Jedi? Turns out J.J. Abrams let them make Episode IX under his name instead…

Read more here.


Then, my last regular TV column of the year...





More (hopefully) next Sunday.

TV

Death on the Tyne
This sequel to 2017's Murder on the Blackpool Express sadly isn't as good. They made a third one this year (Dial M For Middlesbrough), so I hope that's better.
[Watch it (again) on UKTV Play.]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 21
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Eighth Grade (2018)
[#148 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Collection Count

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

Normally things dip into a lull here just before Christmas as I wait to see what I've got on the big day, but between some sales and new releases I've actually ended up with a solid number of additions this week.

Number of titles in collection: 2,272 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,124 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,148 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,915 [up 9]
Number of films: 2,644 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes: 8,681 [no change]
Number of short films: 676 [up 1]

Next week's update will not only cover my Christmas haul, but will be a few days late so as to be fully end-of-year-y. See you then, faithful reader.

TV

Watchmen
1x09 See How They Fly [season finale]
Or possibly series finale, based on what cast and crew have been saying. It's been such a success, though, that I'm sure HBO will be hoping for more.

Films

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
[#147 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Oh dear. What a disappointment.

TV

The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco
1x05 Not Cricket
1x06 Iron in War

Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition (2003/2004)
[4th or so watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #29

TV

Lucifer
3x06 Vegas with Some Radish
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Not Going Out
10x02 Holiday Share
10x03 Facts of Life

Shetland
5x05 Episode 5
5x06 Episode 6 [season finale]

TV

Lucifer
3x05 Welcome Back, Charlotte Richards
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Shetland
5x03 Episode 3
5x04 Episode 4

Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition (2002/2003)
[4th or so watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #28

Unfortunately, I have to echo what I wrote last time. Some of the stuff in this film is so, so great (Helms Deep; most of the stuff with Rohan, actually; Gollum; Faramir; individual scenes, moments, and lines), but the overall film feels very, very long.

TV

Not Going Out
10x01 Parachute

Shetland
5x01 Episode 1
5x02 Episode 2

Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition (2001/2002)
[4th or so watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #27

Can't believe it's been another four-and-a-half years since I watched this trilogy! I knew it'd been a while, but it doesn't feel like that long. Mad. Anyway, the important thing is it's still great.

TV

Lucifer
3x04 What Would Lucifer Do?
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Not Going Out
10x00 Ding Dong Merrily on Live [Christmas special; 3rd watch]

Strictly Come Dancing
17x25 The Final [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

This week would normally be the next running time update, but I've bumped that to the end of the month to do my usual post-Christmas / end-of-the-year running time & totals (rather than do it now and again in two weeks!)

As for this week's additions, there's a new release of Sergio Leone's final Western (which upgrades my DVD copy to a BD copy), and a couple of pickups from Anime Ltd's Christmas sale (which add quite a few bits and pieces).

Number of titles in collection: 2,268 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,124 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,144 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,906 [up 8]
Number of films: 2,637 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,681 [up 26]
Number of short films: 675 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Have I Got News For You
58x09 (13/12/2019 edition)
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Have I Got News For You
58x08 (6/12/2019 edition)
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Watchmen
1x07 An Almost Religious Awe
1x08 A God Walks into Abar
O. M. G.

TV

Watchmen
1x06 This Extraordinary Being

TV

There's Something About Movies
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 20
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

There's Something About Movies
1x03 Episode 3
1x04 Episode 4
1x05 Episode 5

TV

There's Something About Movies
1x01 Episode 1
1x02 Episode 2

Collection Count

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

This week's big (literally) addition is a massive (literally) treat to myself: the complete Game of Thrones box set -- the limited edition version, which comes in a huge box. Oh, but it is beautiful! As well as nice packaging, it contains some exclusive special features worth owning, hence why I've bought it despite already owning seasons 1-7.

I owned all of those with their Amazon-exclusive bonus discs, which are recompiled onto just two discs in the new set; plus the first three seasons have been re-encoded onto fewer discs, too. So although this big new set adds a whole extra season (six episodes), in every other stat it's a net reduction. (Number of films also goes up one because of a different purchase. So, for what it's worth, the Thrones set is 33 discs and 73 episodes.)

But while it may've cut back on some numbers here, its physical impact on my shelf space is gigantic (did I mention it's big?)

Number of titles in collection: 2,266 [down 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,125 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,141 [down 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,898 [down 4]
Number of films: 2,635 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,655 [up 6]
Number of short films: 675 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Comedians Giving Lectures
1x07 Episode 7
1x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch the whole series (again) on UKTV Play.]

The Great Model Railway Challenge
2x08 The Final: Surprise Surprise [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

One Night: Joshua vs Ruiz
Not normally my kind of thing, though enjoying all of the Rocky/Creed movies last year has changed my perspective somewhat. (And I only half watched this anyway.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Great Model Railway Challenge
2x06 Semi-Final 1: Myths, Monsters, Legends & Fables
2x07 Semi-Final 2: Blockbuster Films
[Watch semi-finals one and two (again) on My5.]

TV

The Great Model Railway Challenge
2x05 Heat Five: The Sky's the Limit
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

TV

Comedians Giving Lectures
1x05 Episode 5
1x06 Episode 6
[Watch the whole series (again) on UKTV Play.]

TV

The Great Model Railway Challenge
2x04 Heat Four: Uncharted Territory
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 19
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Comedians Giving Lectures
1x02 Episode 2
1x03 Episode 3
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch the whole series (again) on UKTV Play.]

Strictly Come Dancing
17x22 Week 11 Results (aka Musicals)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

World on Fire
1x07 Episode 7 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

No new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, but it was time for the monthly progress report...





More next Sunday.

TV

The Great Model Railway Challenge
2x03 Heat Three: Best of British
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Michael McIntyre's Big Show
5x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
17x21 Week 11 (aka Musicals)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 2,271 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,125 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,146 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,902 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,634 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,649 [no change]
Number of short films: 675 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Have I Got News For You
58x07 (29/11/2019 edition)
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Watchmen
1x05 Little Fear of Lightning

Films

The Irishman (2019)
[#146 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Watchmen
1x03 She Was Killed by Space Junk
1x04 If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own

World on Fire
1x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Have I Got News For You
58x06 (22/11/2019 edition)
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 18
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Watchmen
1x02 Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship

TV

Agatha Raisin
2x01 The Wizard of Evesham [2nd watch]

Films

Easy Virtue (2008)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #26

this week on 100 Films

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


Judy & Punch (2019)

There’s no set version of Punch and Judy — each puppeteer has their own spin on the events of the tale and which characters show up — but there are certain elements that are, I suppose, considered standards and widely associated with the show. Here, Foulkes takes all of those familiar tropes and remixes them into a freshly imagined origin story... The setting is somewhere in Europe (never specified, and there’s a wide-ranging mix of accents to be heard), sometime in the past (it seems quite medieval, but there are buildings and notions that date from later), in a town called Seaside… which is nowhere near the sea. Judy & Punch comes with a hefty dose of absurdity and whimsy that calls to mind the work of Terry Gilliam

Read more here.


Shorts of FilmBath Festival 2019

Across the 2019 FilmBath Festival programme, 46 short films were screened — 23 attached to feature films, 17 at a dedicated ‘Shorts Showcase’, and six at the IMDb New Filmmaker Award ceremony (five in competition, one the film made from the winning screenplay of the IMDb Script to Screen Award). I saw 14 of these, one way or another, and have compiled my reviews into this (commensurately long) post.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who Series 12 Trailer
Exciting!

Films

What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #25

Collection Count

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

Three new purchases this week, though as one is a BD-to-BD upgrade it doesn't register at all on these stats.

Number of titles in collection: 2,270 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,125 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,145 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,900 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,633 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,649 [no change]
Number of short films: 675 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great Model Railway Challenge
2x02 Heat Two: Classic Books
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

TV

World on Fire
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

World's Most Scenic Railway Journeys
1x03 New Zealand
No offence to the featured people of New Zealand, who all seem thoroughly lovely and likeable, but this episode kind of plays like a Taika Waititi mockumentary.
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

TV

Novels That Shaped Our World
1x01 A Woman's Place
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

World on Fire
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The five nominees for the IMDb New Filmmaker Award at FilmBath Festival 2019. The winner was Gladiators on Wheels, while the audience award went to Hey You.

Facing It (2018)
[#145e in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Gladiators on Wheels (2019)
[#145b in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Hey You (2019)
[#145a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Tight Spot (2018)
[#145c in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

When Voices Unite (2017)
[#145d in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

His Dark Materials
1x03 The Spies
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 17
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

His Dark Materials
1x02 The Idea of North
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Jojo Rabbit (2019)
[#145 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
[#144 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

this week on 100 Films

Just 1 new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Little Monsters (2019)

Strumming a ukulele in her yellow sundress as she communicates with children on their level, Miss Caroline screams “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”. Fortunately, in the hands of Oscar-winner Nyong’o, there’s more to her than that, be it her savvy handling of Dave (clearly the latest in a long line of lustful dads) or wielding a spade to fight the undead. That sentiment perhaps extends to the film as a whole: it may be constructed from familiar building blocks, but its peppered with enough little moments of freshness

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Two new titles this week; an adjustment to the total number of discs (which I somehow totally messed up last week); and the monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 2,268 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,125 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,143 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,898 [down 3]
Number of films: 2,631 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,649 [no change]
Number of short films: 675 [up 1]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
431 days, 9 hours, and 55 minutes.
(Up 8 hours and 56 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Judy & Punch (2019)
[#143 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Woman in Stall (2018)
[#142a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 16
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

And Then We Danced (2019)
[#142 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Spooning (2019)
[#141b in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Terra (2019)
[#141a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Films

Filmfarsi (2019)
[#141 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

My Theatre (2019)
[#140a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Films

La Belle Époque (2019)
[#140 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Films

Harriet (2019)
[#139 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

His Dark Materials
1x01 Lyra's Jordan
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

I was away last week and forgot to get the post setup; but as there was only one new addition, and it was a fairly straight DVD-to-BD upgrade, its changes would've been barely noticeable anyhow.

Though they're even less noticeable after one of this week's additions -- something complicated that turned up last minute, hence this update being late (not that anyone cares). That was the Batman Beyond Blu-ray set, which upgrades the series DVD but, in the UK release, doesn't include the movie on Blu-ray (despite how it was advertised). So, I've kept my uncut US DVD of the movie (for now -- I intend to upgrade to a standalone BD version later), and the six-disc BD series set replaces the nine-disc DVD series set -- which means that, despite adding four new titles this week, overall there's a drop in the number of discs.

Number of titles in collection: 2,266 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,125 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,141 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,901 [down 1]
Number of films: 2,629 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,649 [no change]
Number of short films: 674 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

this week on 100 Films

Only 1 new post at 100 Films in a Year this week...


FilmBath Festival – Opening Night

FilmBath is a local festival giving local people a chance to see previews ahead of general release; films that have already been released but didn’t make it to one of Bath’s cinemas; and smaller, interesting movies that might be difficult to see at all outside a festival. The opening night kicked off the festival with a double bill of the first of those, including an exciting late addition to the lineup — so late it didn’t even make the brochure... I saw both films, and I’ll write full reviews nearer their wide releases, but for the time being here are some thoughts.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Little Monsters (2019)
[#138 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Pleased to Eat You! (2019)
[2nd watch]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
[#137 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

The Graham Norton Show
26x07 (8/11/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
58x04 (1/11/2019 edition)
58x05 (8/11/2019 edition)
[Watch the 1/11 and 8/11 editions (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 15
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
13x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
[#136 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

The Report (2019)
[#135 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

The Graham Norton Show
26x06 (1/11/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain.
by Martin Scorsese (from the New York Times)

This Scorsese fella is a clever and insightful chap. I think he'll go far.

TV

Comedians Giving Lectures
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on UKTV Play.]

Would I Lie To You?
13x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall
Part 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

this week on 100 Films

It's been a very quiet time of late at 100 Films in a Year. In fact, it's nearly a whole month since the last "this week on 100 Films" post. But this week finally saw a bit of activity.

Firstly: we're in a new month, so it was time to recap the old one -- what there was of it.





There was also a very belated TV column...





Finally, there was one new film review...


The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012)

Sometimes I think the people who made these movies shouldn’t be allowed to work again. The dialogue, the editing, the obvious green screen, the cheapo effects… it’s not just that it’s a crummy story with dubious morals, it’s that the films are so shittily made.

Read more here.


More next Sunday (hopefully!)

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 31

I thought it'd been a couple of days since I read any of this, but it turned out to be almost two weeks... then I still didn't get round to reading more, and now it's been over a month! But I haven't given up on it, accidentally nor deliberately, I've just been really busy (hence why I went so long without realising).

TV

Would I Lie To You?
13x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist (1998)
[#134 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
Mark Kermode's seminal documentary about the making of The Exorcist has been widely available on home media releases of the film ever since it was made, but for Halloween it's been released in its uncut form for the first time, exclusively on BBC iPlayer.
[Watch the extended version on iPlayer.]

TV

Children in Need: Got It Covered
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

World on Fire
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 14
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Stranger Things 3
3x08 Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Watchmen
1x01 It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice

TV

Stranger Things 3
3x07 Chapter Seven: The Bite
So, after watching the first six episodes over five days, it's now been six whole weeks between my viewings of episodes six and seven. Oops. I really mistimed watching this season! If I'd started just a day or two earlier, it probably would've been fine (because I've been busy, hence not finding the time). Anyway, here I am now.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

For Sama (2019)
[#133 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part Two (2012)
[#132 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Collection Count

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

After some busy time recently, nothing this week. But with all the releases that flood the market in the run-up to Christmas, I'm sure it'll be busy again soon.

Number of titles in collection: 2,264 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,127 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,137 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 36 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,894 [no change]
Number of films: 2,626 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,649 [no change]
Number of short films: 674 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
26x05 (25/10/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
58x03 (25/10/2019 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
17x08 Qanimals
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall
Part 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

Japan with Sue Perkins
Part 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 13
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

World on Fire
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

World on Fire
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

I was so busy with the massive raft of complicated additions & upgrades a fortnight ago that I forgot to mention one very important thing: the number of Blu-rays has now overtaken the number of DVDs! I wasn't sure that would ever happen -- when I started buying BD, I was intending to try to cut back. Obviously that didn't happen.

Anyway, back to this week: several all-new additions, and the monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 2,264 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,127 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,137 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 36 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,894 [up 5]
Number of films: 2,626 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,649 [no change]
Number of short films: 674 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
431 days and 59 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 1 hour, and 49 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
26x04 (18/10/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
58x02 (18/10/2019 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
17x06 Quests Part I
17x07 Quests Part II
[Watch Quests Parts I and II (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
13x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Japan with Sue Perkins
Part 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Teen Titans Go! vs Teen Titans (2019)
[#131 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 12
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Catherine the Great
Part 4 (of 4)
She may've been great, but this series wasn't. Oh well.

Films

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #24

TV

The Great Model Railway Challenge
2x01 Heat One: The Restless Earth
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Collection Count

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

A much more straightforward update than last week! Three new titles, three new films, plus nine bonus TV episodes, across four discs. Easy peasy.

Number of titles in collection: 2,261 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,127 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,134 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 36 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,889 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,623 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,649 [up 9]
Number of short films: 674 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Catherine the Great
Part 3 (of 4)

The Graham Norton Show
26x03 (11/10/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
58x01 (11/10/2019 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Catherine the Great
Part 2 (of 4)

Articles

Ang Lee: A Visionary Director Comes Face-To-Face With 3D’s Dimming Prospects
by Geoff Boucher (from Deadline)

Good long-ish read on Ang Lee's new movie and how he hopes to push technological boundaries in cinema.

TV

Catherine the Great
Part 1 (of 4)
Not a promising start. It looks suitably opulent (especially in UHD), but the writing and acting (despite a starry, talented cast) are thoroughly mediocre.

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 11
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Strictly Come Dancing
17x06 Week 3 Results (aka Movies)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

We begin with a look back at last month on 100 Films in a Year...





After which, 1 new review was published...


Colossal (2016)

you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just another indie rom-com. Anne Hathaway moves back to her Nowheresville hometown, reconnects with childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), and romance is surely in the air. But Colossal has a couple of surprises up its sleeve. Concurrent with Gloria’s return home, a giant monster begins to rampage around Seoul, and she comes to realise these two disconnected events are, in fact, connected. Meanwhile, the relationship storyline has a few twists in store too.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

As intimated last week, there's a whole pile of additions this time. Most of which arrived right at the end of the week, and several required some real working out about what they upgraded or didn't from my existing collection -- hence why this post is on Sunday (not that there's anyone to notice).

So, those additions include:
- the Spider-Man: Legacy 4K box set, containing Spider-Man 1-3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 1&2, which replaces a variety of editions I own on DVD and Blu-ray, but not all my existing copies(!) I may let go of some more in future, if I find this new set duplicates the old one's contents after all.
- the latest release in Doctor Who: The Collection, which as it's Season 23, aka Trial of a Time Lord, is just a one-for-one DVD-to-BD upgrade
- Arrow's Oldboy / the Vengeance Trilogy on Blu-ray, which replaces my standalone Oldboy Special Edition DVD but not my Vengeance Trilogy box set (only because that's a nice box with some swag in it)
- Criterion's release of The Magnificent Ambersons, which replaces a DVD I had bundled with the US BD of Citizen Kane
- and two other titles, with four films between them.

Whew!

And yet, as you'll see, the net number of new titles is... zero. Eesh.

Number of titles in collection: 2,258 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,127 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,131 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 35 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,885 [up 14]
Number of films: 2,620 [up 8]
Number of TV episodes: 8,640 [no change]
Number of short films: 674 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

QI
17x05 Questions & Qualifications
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
17x05 Week 3 (aka Movies)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Joker May Represent The Post-Avengers Future For Comic Book Superhero Movies
by Scott Mendelson (from Forbes)

Excellent broad-sweep analysis of recent superhero era(s) and what the immediate future may hold for mainstream cinema as a whole -- i.e. "everything's a superhero movie".

Films

An array of shorts...

Allan + Waspy (2019)
[#130e in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Cumulus (2018)
[#130b in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Fifteen (2018)
[#130a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
aka Quince

Pleased to Eat You! (2019)
[#130c in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Special Delivery (2018)
[#130d in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

QI
17x04 Queasy Quacks
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco
1x03 Charlotte's Web
1x04 Madhouse

Films

Howards End (1992)
[#130 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco
1x01 Presidio
1x02 Wake
American-produced sequel/spin-off from The Bletchley Circle. And it certainly feels like cheap US TV rather than a properly British show, unfortunately.

Films

Agatha and the Truth of Murder (2018)
[#129 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Collection Count

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

Ah, a lull -- there's absolutely nothing to report this week. Next week will, I think, be a different story.

Number of titles in collection: 2,258 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,130 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,128 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 34 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,871 [no change]
Number of films: 2,612 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,640 [no change]
Number of short films: 674 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Lewis
7x05 Intelligent Design Part 1
7x06 Intelligent Design Part 2 [season finale]
[Watch both parts (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 30

TV

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 10
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Hannibal (2001)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #23

this week on 100 Films

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


Battle at Big Rock (2019)

Set one year on from the cliffhanger-ish ending to the last film, this short presents a vignette in the Jurassic world that will help bridge the gap between the previous feature and 2021’s third/sixth instalment. But aside from that large franchise-minded goal, it’s also a chance to see some different characters have a different kind of encounter within the films’ universe.

Read more here.


Downton Abbey (2019)

As the 2020s loom, with the world in a scary old place for a whole host of reasons, why not retreat to the safety of the 1920s, when posh toffs ran the country because their birthright had put them there rather than because the hoi polloi had actually chosen to vote for them in some act of retrograde nationalism. Downton Abbey does actually feature a subplot where a group of working-class servants secretly plot to overthrow the system… but the system in question is the one about who gets to serve the King and Queen their dinner. The working classes fighting amongst themselves about something fundamentally unimportant while the upper classes carry on serenely above them? It’s almost allegorical, although I suspect not on purpose.

Read more here.


John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

The action-man with the second most quotable line about being back is, er, back — again — for the third chapter in the ongoing saga of what happens if you kill a man’s dog. Basically, lots of people die. Quite right too.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapters 26-29

End of Book Two.

Collection Count

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

After last week's biggie, it's a comparatively quiet one for the collection this week, with just one new addition -- and that doesn't even change the number of discs, because I found a discrepancy somewhere else in the count.

But it's also time for the monthly running time update, so there's that excitement!

Number of titles in collection: 2,258 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,130 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,128 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 34 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,871 [no change]
Number of films: 2,612 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,640 [no change]
Number of short films: 674 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
429 days, 23 hours, and 10 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 1 hour, and 42 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

QI
17x01 Quirky
17x02 Quintessential
17x03 Quarrels
[Watch these episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Downton Abbey (2019)
[#128 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 25

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 24

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 23

TV

University Challenge
2019/20 Episode 8
2019/20 Episode 9
[Watch episodes eight and nine (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Battle at Big Rock (2019)
[#127a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Short film set between Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World 3. Watch it on YouTube here, and read my review here.

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 22

Films

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #22

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapters 20-21

this week on 100 Films

Just 1 new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and it was...


The Predator (2018)

it was quite a poor film… but I also sort of enjoyed it. Not in a Gods of Egypt way (that was kinda “so bad it’s good”; or maybe “so strange it’s good”), nor in a “I can see what they were going for, they just couldn’t quite get there” way, but in a… well, there’s the rub. The film undoubtedly has its problems, but it also has bits I was okay with; liked, even. What it feels like is a decent, middle-of-the-road-ish sci-fi actioner… that they then, for some unfathomable reason, deliberately dicked around with to make it kinda bad.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Stranger Things 3
3x05 Chapter Five: The Flayed
3x06 Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
[#127 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 19

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week. And this week, almost out of the blue (or, should I say, Blu), there's a mass of additions!

Four are sale/offer titles, two new releases that aren't out officially until next week. One upgrades a Blu-ray from 2D to 3D, so only adds a single disc to the totals. Another upgrades a Blu-ray from 2D to 3D, but I'm keeping the old one for a special features disc, so it effectively doubles that film's numbers. Another upgrades a Blu-ray from HD to UHD, adding a new cut of the film and a whole raft of extra discs in the process, more than doubling that film's presence in this numbers.

Not that any of that actually matters. I mean, Apocalypse Now going from making up 0.085% of my discs to 0.187% doesn't really make much difference, does it?

Number of titles in collection: 2,257 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,130 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,127 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 34 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 5,871 [up 15]
Number of films: 2,611 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes: 8,640 [up 3]
Number of short films: 674 [up 1]

Finally, one of the other new acquisitions is the miniseries Shogun, which is noteworthy because it presented something of a dilemma for my episode count. It was originally screened over five nights in the US, but I believe has been shown in as many as ten episodes elsewhere (it's long enough for ten one-hours). However, on home media it's always edited into one long feature spread across multiple discs. On DVD, that made it into four parts; on Blu-ray, it's in three; and either way you could argue it's just one long film, with one set of opening titles and closing credits. So, how to count it? In the end, I've gone with three episodes. I can't imagine I'll watch it in three three-hour chunks (well, I might), but that's how it's presented (thanks to the disc breaks), so...

See you next week, faithful reader.