Films

The Predator (2018)
[#28 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Insert Name Here
4x04 Emma
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Punisher
2x13 The Whirlwind [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

TV

The Punisher
2x12 Collision Course
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Serenity (2019)
[#27 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

The 91st Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars. Hurrah for Olivia Colman and Spider-Verse! As for the controversial Best Picture winner, well, it's certainly not the year's best film, I'll say that.

Films

Green Book (2018)
[#26 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Great News
2x13 Early Retirement [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Live from the Red Carpet: Oscars 2019

Films

Roma (2018)
[#25 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
Will this win Best Picture? We'll find out in just a few hours' time...

this week on 100 Films

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


Ocean's Eight (2018)

Eight works as breezy entertainment. It’s not as perfectly slick and polished as Eleven — but then, that would’ve been asking a lot. It’s not as boundary-pushing as Twelve (a seemingly muddled film that gets interesting the more you think/read about it), but nor is it as aimless and derivative as I found Thirteen.

Read more here.


Roma (2018)

Drawn from writer-director Alfonso Cuarón’s memories of growing up in the Colonia Roma neighbourhood of Mexico City, Roma is the story of what happens to a middle-class family’s housemaid, Cleo (played by newcomer Yalitza Aparicio), over the course of ten months in 1970 and 1971. It’s also one of the best-reviewed films of the year, winner of BAFTA’s Best Film award (amongst others), and a frontrunner for the same at tonight’s Oscars. No pressure, then.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Punisher
2x11 The Abyss
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Rope (1948)
[#24 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
Blindspot 2019 #2

Collection Count

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

Just one addition this week, which is nice because I thought there were going to be none. I suppose I shouldn't buy new stuff every week, really...

Number of titles in collection: 2,191 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,140 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,051 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 19 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,674 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,507 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,426 [no change]
Number of short films: 654 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Great News
2x12 The Fast Track
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

The Punisher
2x10 The Dark Hearts of Men
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Ocean's Eight (2018)
[#23 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Great News
2x11 Competing Offer
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema
1x07 Oscar Winners [special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Punisher
2x09 Flustercluck
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Would I Lie To You?
12x10 The Unseen Bits
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Sherlock Gnomes (2018)
[#22 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Great News
2x10 Catfight
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Music

Hamilton - Original Broadway Cast Recording

Obviously everyone's been talking about Hamilton for years, and I've head large chunks of the soundtrack in bits and pieces, now and then, but this is the first time I've listened to it properly from beginning to end, really paying attention. It's rather good, isn't it?

TV

The Punisher
2x07 One Bad Day
2x08 My Brother's Keeper
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Attack the Block (2011)

Despite my reservations about the characters, the film is a great calling card for writer-director Joe Cornish. Although tonal similarities between the movies invite comparisons to what Shaun of the Dead did for Edgar Wright (especially as he’s friends with Cornish and an executive producer here), I feel like Wright’s breakout film was even more assured. Instead I think of something like Guy Ritchie and Lock Stock: an imperfect film in itself, but which suggests a lot of potential from the man behind the camera.

Read more here.


Hereditary (2018)

As a horror movie, it’s one of the most genuinely unsettling I’ve seen for some time, with imagery that makes my hair stand on end just remembering it. It’s all the more effective for the way it grounds itself in real-life tragedy, with a powerhouse performance from Collette that, yes, if it were in a straightforward indie drama would surely be a frontrunner this awards season.

Read more here.


Zatoichi Challenged (1967)

It’s a kinda boring Zatoichi adventure on the whole, with a thin, recycled plot and a first half-hour that’s almost a total aside from the actual story. It’s saved by the climax, one of the best sequences in any Zatoichi film, which single-handedly makes the movie worth a watch.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #7

Collection Count

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

More 4K additions this week. Last time I bulked up my collection with multi-buy offers, this week it's vouchers and new releases. Now, I must try to not get too carried away and keep doing this every week...

There's one new regular Blu-ray, too. That's the remake of Suspiria, which hasn't been released on 4K; indeed, it's not been scheduled for release in the UK at all, so I've imported the US disc.

Number of titles in collection: 2,190 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,140 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,050 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 19 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 5,672 [up 15]
Number of films: 2,505 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 8,426 [no change]
Number of short films: 654 [up 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Mastermind
2018/2019 Episode 17 (of 31)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Fences (2016)
[#21 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Inception: The Cobol Job (2010)
[#20a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
Shorted animated comic prequel to Inception.

Inception (2010)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #6. Yes, this is the first time I've seen Inception since the cinema. On the bright side, that wait meant I got to return to it on 4K Blu-ray, which looks superb and sounds even better.

TV

The Punisher
2x06 Nakazat
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Zatoichi and the Fugitives (1968)
[#20 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Great News
2x09 Love is Dead
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Insert Name Here
4x03 Mark
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Les Misérables
Part 6 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Hereditary (2018)
[#19 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Films

Leave No Trace (2018)
[#18 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Les Misérables
Part 5 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Punisher
2x05 One-Eyed Jacks
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Would I Lie To You?
12x09 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
[#17 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

The British Academy Film Awards 2019
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Gods and Monsters (1998)
[#16 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

this week on 100 Films

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


High Flying Bird (2019)

it took less than two minutes for High Flying Bird to leave me feeling lost and confused, as it dives into an “inside baseball” (as the saying goes) depiction of basketball right from the off. It felt like watching a French movie without subtitles, except here the language isn’t French, it’s basketball.

Read more here.


Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Despite being adapted from a kids’ picture book, and resolutely rated PG, it didn’t strike me as a kids’ movie at all. It’s glum, depressing, and surely only understandable when filtered through an adult perspective.

Read more here.


The Ragtag Review Roundup

A real mixed back of films that have basically nothing in common. In today’s roundup:
- American Psycho (2000)
- Logan Lucky (2017)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Memories of Murder (2003)
[#15 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2019 #2

Collection Count

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

Having last week promised more 4K UHD discs soon, that's all I have to add this week! There were six of them, almost all upgrades: two from other Blu-rays, two from DVDs (now that's a quality jump!), and one where I'm also keeping the previous edition (for now, at least); plus one brand-new title, too.

All of which works out like this:

Number of titles in collection: 2,186 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,140 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,046 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 16 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 5,657 [up 11]
Number of films: 2,499 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,426 [up 1]
Number of short films: 652 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Russian Doll
1x07 The Way Out
1x08 Ariadne [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

High Flying Bird (2019)
[#14 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Russian Doll
1x05 Superiority Complex
1x06 Reflection
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Would I Lie To You?
12x08 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Punisher
2x04 Scar Tissue
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Russian Doll
1x03 A Warm Body
1x04 Alan's Routine
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Insert Name Here
4x02 Mo

Podcasts

David Tennant Does a Podcast with…
1 Olivia Colman
2 Whoopi Goldberg

I don't have a specific category for podcasts -- maybe I should add one? I'm more likely to listen to those than regular radio nowadays.

Anyway, this one does what it says on the tin, and it's a lovely way to spend a bit of time with some friends nattering.

TV

Hanna
1x01 Forest
Amazon's TV adaptation of the 2011 movie is actually released in March, but they made the first episode available for 24 hours following the Super Bowl. If you're quick it might still be there...
[Watch it (again), if you're quick, on Amazon Prime.]

Films

First Reformed (2017)
[#13 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Les Misérables
Part 4 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

It's a new month, which means it was time for 100 Films in a Year's first progress report of 2019...





Also this week, 2 new reviews were published...


Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

The team behind neo-noir modern classic Nightcrawler (writer-director Dan Gilroy, stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo, cinematographer Robert Elswit, among others) reunite for this direct-to-Netflix genre mash-up — it’s part art-world satire, part mystery-thriller, part horror. The Verge described it as “Robert Altman’s Final Destination”, and that so succinctly articulates what the film reminded me of that I decided to just lift it. Well, just pilfering someone else’s work is in-keeping with the film’s themes, at least.

Read more here.


Zatoichi the Outlaw (1967)

The sixteenth Zatoichi movie begins by boldly declaring it’s “the first feature by Katsu Productions”, the production company of series star Shintaro Katsu. While the change isn’t radical — this is still the Zatoichi we know and love — there does seem to be a different style and tone about this particular instalment.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

I say "every week" -- I missed last week, for various dull reasons, so this week's count includes a fortnight of updates, plus a "monthly" running time update that actually counts five weeks. Ah well.

Of note: a new 4K UHD title, which turned up just yesterday. There'll be even more of those coming soon...

Number of titles in collection: 2,184 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,142 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,042 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 10 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,646 [up 16]
Number of films: 2,497 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 8,425 [up 47]
Number of short films: 653 [up 2]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
417 days, 10 hours, and 28 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 11 hours, and 5 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Russian Doll
1x01 Nothing in This World Is Easy
1x02 The Great Escape
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
[#12 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

The Punisher
2x03 Trouble the Water
Didn't mean to leave it 11 days between episodes of this, but I've been away and busy.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
[#11 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]