TV

The Graham Norton Show
28x12 New Year's Eve Show
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
20x09 The Last Leg of the Year [2020]
Apparently the last time I watched The Last Leg was over five years ago. It doesn't seem to have changed much.
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2020 ep6 Durham v Downing, Cambridge
Christmas 2020 ep7 New College Oxford v Reading
Christmas 2020 ep8 Semi-Final 1
Christmas 2020 ep9 Semi-Final 2
[Watch this series (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Yesterday, I set a record for the highest number of new films I've watched in a year. But today, I'm just trying to make sure December 2020 doesn't fall short of my goal of 10 new films per month...

Death to 2020 (2020)
[#264 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Does this count as a film or a "TV special"? Netflix have well and truly blurred the line at this point — so I'm going with "Film", because I need it to reach my target.

Minions 3D (2015)
[#263 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Not Going Out
11x00 Resolutions [special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2017)
[#261 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Under the Skin (2013)
[#262 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #12 (i.e. the last one — hurrah!)

Films

Tenet (2020)
[#260 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ several featurettes from the film’s special features (8 out of 13, to be precise); mainly ones about how they achieved depictions of time running simultaneously forwards and backwards

Films

Presto (2008)
[2nd watch]
Saw this in the cinema before WALL-E with my mum, but she couldn’t remember it so we pulled it up on Disney+. She still didn’t remember it, but it is bloody good.

Soul (2020)
[#259 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

There was just my final pre-Christmas monthly TV column over at 100 Films in a Year this week...





More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

This would've been a running time update, but I've pushed it to next week to cover the yearly totals. I'm not currently expecting anything between now and next week, but you never know (especially with my procilivity for caving to sales).

Number of titles in collection: 2,509 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,081 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,428 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 93 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,438 [up 10]
Number of films: 2,886 [up 8]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 807 [up 4]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2020
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Dad's Army
7x06 Turkey Dinner [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got 30 Years for You
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Morecambe and Wise Show
The Lost Tapes Episode 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Russell Howard Hour
4x15 The Big Issues [special]

University Challenge
Christmas 2020 ep5 UCLAN v Loughborough
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories —
Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum
The Stolen Relic by David Marcum
Not sure how I feel about the religious, supernatural aspect of this story, but it gave it a suitably seasonal aspect, at least.

TV

Blankety Blank
Christmas Special
I'm always up for a revival of Blankety Blank (the last one was on ITV in 2016), and this is no exception. It was pitched as a Christmas one-off, but I would imagine they'll be more if it was a hit.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mrs Brown's Boys
Mammy of the People [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
18x18 2020 Christmas Special
Unable to do their usual Christmas special, Strictly resorted to a viewer-voted countdown of the 25 best dances from the show's history — which, in many respects, made for a more entertaining special than usual.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Wheel
1x05 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

And also...

La La Land (2016)
[final 20 minutes]
I'm counting this in the TV section rather than Film because we only caught the last 20 minutes on BBC Two before calling it a night for Christmas Day (so it's not a proper, i.e. full, rewatch). But I have to mention it anyway because, my God, what an ending! And what a remarkable, strangely fitting capstone to this most unusual Christmas.

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories —
Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum
The Adventure of the Missing Irregular by Amy Thomas
The Adventure of the Knighted Watchmaker by Derrick Belanger

These were both pretty good, I thought. Glad to see the collection picking up.

TV

Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomine for Christmas
Very silly, of course, but all in the right spirit. There's a slightly extended version also available on iPlayer, so I might (re)watch that at some point. [Watch the BBC Two edit (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
2x07 The Ghost of Christmas [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse
Sometimes, I count TV movies as movies for 100 Films. And sometimes, I don't. Maybe I should be more consistent on this...

University Challenge
Christmas 2020 ep4 Nottingham v Sheffield
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Upstart Crow
4x00 Lockdown Christmas 1603 [Christmas special]
Apparently it's been two years since the last episode of Upstart Crow, which amazed me when I realised it because, well, it doesn't feel like it's been that long. I have nothing more insightful to add to that — it's just weird.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (2020)
[#258 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
A proper Christmas film for Christmas Eve Eve.

Die Hard (1988)
[5th watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #45. Another proper Christmas film for Christmas Eve Eve.

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories —
Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum
The Case of the Ruby Necklace by Bob Byrne
The Jet Brooch by Denis O. Smith

Every Christmastime for the past five years, I've intended to actually read this collection. In 2016 (when it was published and I bought it), I actually started it... but only managed the introductions (of which there are five! Slightly excessive, I feel), and first piece, a poem, of which my only comment was "oh dear". This time, I re-read the intros, but skipped the poem.

Sadly, the first story didn’t give me any more confidence about the quality of these pastiches — it’s scattered with blatant Americanisms and bits of prose that are on the surface adequate but lack refinement. It’s also not a particularly engaging or remarkable mystery; and the Christmas setting is entirely incidental and not even atmospherically evoked. Either this is just a misguided way to start the collection, or it really shows just how special Doyle’s writing was (or perhaps the kind of authors who focus on pastiching someone else’s characters are at the same level as self-published internet fan fiction, even when they appear in a professional-looking printed volume).

Fortunately, the second of these stories was considerably better; not without issues (the climax, where everyone is happy to blurt out every little detail with only the mildest prodding) was a little lacking in stylistic nuance for my taste, but the mystery, its investigation, and its solution were all neat enough.

There are a total of 31 pieces in the book, which would be perfect for filling December — if one started it on time, which, obviously, I did not. Let's see how much further I get before the season ends and reading these feels inappropriate...

TV

The Goes Wrong Show
2x00 The Nativity [Christmas special]
The BBC list this as being in "series 2" but don't give it an episode number, so I'm assuming (hoping) it counts as a special and that means there's six more episodes on the way — because the more the better, in my opinion! Quite how they keep coming up with so much pure hilarity from what sounds like it should be an easily-exhaustible concept is beyond me.
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

Small Axe
Lovers Rock
[#247 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
This has been appearing on "best film of the year" lists — it was Sight & Sound's #1, even. I... had a very different reaction. I'm not a fan. [Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Ghosts
2x06 Perfect Day [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
2x06 Malice
2x07 Æsahættr [season finale]
Some have thought this second series boring, but I mostly enjoyed it — the benefit of watching it all in just six days, perhaps. Apparently the third (and final) series isn't yet officially commissioned, but I really hope we get it. [Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Staged
1x06 The Cookie Jar [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

The Vicar of Dibley
...in Lockdown Episode 3 (of 3)
Because of its bitty, sketchy nature, I'm sure this series of three short episodes will work just as well as a single half-hour compilation — especially as that contains extra material (to run 34 minutes vs the three parts' total of 27). Wish I'd just waited now...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2019/2020 Episode 10 (of 10)

Ghosts
2x05 Bump in the Night
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
2x05 The Scholar
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

It'll Be Alright on the Night
34x04 (19/12/20 edition)
I know bloopers are pretty much lowest-common-denominator comedy, but they can be funny. Not this selection, though — this was dire.
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Staged
1x04 Bara Brith [2nd watch; extended]
1x05 Ulysses [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

The Vicar of Dibley
...in Lockdown Episode 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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


The 100-Week Roundup XV

Featuring...
- The Other Side of the Wind
- Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero
- Paper Moon
- Hitchcock/Truffaut

Read more here.


A Christmas 100-Week Roundup

Featuring...
- The Christmas Chronicles
- The Man Who Invented Christmas
- A Christmas Carol

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Ghosts
2x04 The Thomas Thorne Affair
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
2x04 Tower of the Angels
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Neil Brand's Sound of TV
1x03 The Score [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x05 Episode 5 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Staged
1x03 Who the F#!k is Michael Sheen? [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

The Vicar of Dibley
...in Lockdown Episode 1 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Just two new additions this week — quieter than normal as of late, but not every week can be a big one (they certainly shouldn't all be!) They're both 4K, which is nice — I'm almost at 100 titles on the format. I won't get there this year now, so we'll see just how quickly 2021 gets me to it.

Number of titles in collection: 2,502 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,081 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,421 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 91 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,428 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,878 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 803 [up 5]

Next week's update will include whatever I get as Christmas presents, so that's 50/50 on whether it'll be a big haul or just a modest addition. See you then, faithful reader.

TV

Ghosts
2x03 Redding Weddy
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x10 The Final [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

His Dark Materials
2x03 Theft
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Leverage
1x03 The Two-Horse Job

Staged
1x02 Up To No Good [2nd watch; extended]
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2019/2020 Episode 9 (of 10)
I'll never understand the Beeb's scheduling of Celebrity Mastermind: they show almost all of it daily around Christmas, but then let the last few episodes peter out well into the new year — this "Christmas 2019" episode didn't air until March 2020, and the series didn't finish until April! The upcoming 2020/21 series is extended (14 episodes instead of 10), so that'll probably end up running 'til next summer...

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

His Dark Materials
2x02 The Cave
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Leverage
1x02 The Homecoming Job

Staged
1x01 Cachu Hwch [2nd watch; extended]
If you didn't know, Netflix has an extended version of this BBC lockdown hit — there's about 29 minutes of new material spread across the six episodes, which is a fair old chunk (equivalent to almost two whole extra episodes, given the original-cut episodes’ short running time). Hence why I'm now rewatching it: because it was good and I'd like to see the extra stuff. Plus, there are new episodes coming in January, so it's a good time for it.
[Watch the extended episodes (again) on Netflix.]

TV

His Dark Materials
2x01 The City of Magpies
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Leverage
1x01 The Nigerian Job

TV

Ghosts
2x02 About Last Night
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Smiley’s People
Part Six (of 6)

TV

The Good Place
4x13 Whenever You're Ready [series finale]
A surprisingly emotional finale. I'm gonna miss this crazy gang.
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x09 Patisserie Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Smiley’s People
Part Five (of 6)

TV

The Good Place
4x11 Mondays, Am I Right?
4x12 Patty
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Neil Brand's Sound of TV
1x02 Advertising and Jingles
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Smiley’s People
Part Four (of 6)

this week on 100 Films

Just one post on 100 Films in a Year again this week, and it wasn't even a film review. Must try to rectify that soon...





More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

11 new additions this week, one an upgrade from Blu-ray to Blu-ray, which makes for a net total of 10 — and that means I land on exactly 2,500 titles in my collection! Mindboggling. In just a couple of weeks, we'll find out exactly how many of those were added this year — it's felt like rather a lot...

Number of titles in collection: 2,500 [up 10]
Of which DVDs: 1,081 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,419 [up 9]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 89 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,424 [up 12]
Number of films: 2,876 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 798 [up 6]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Good Place
4x10 You've Changed, Man
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Smiley’s People
Part Three (of 6)

Who Dares Wins
12x06 (3/8/19 edition)

TV

Ghosts
2x01 The Grey Lady
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x09 The Answer
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Smiley’s People
Part Two (of 6)

TV

Ghosts
1x06 Getting Out [season finale; 2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x07 Help Is Other People
4x08 The Funeral to End All Funerals
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Smiley’s People
Part One (of 6)

TV

Elementary
7x12 Reichenbach Falls
7x13 Their Last Bow [series finale]
So, that's the end of that. The last episode kind of felt just like a series of fakeouts, with a bit of an inconclusive final beat (the episode title is far from accurate), but hey-ho.

Ghosts
1x05 Moonah Ston [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x06 A Chip Driver Mystery
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x08 Dessert Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

TV

Baptiste
1x06 Into the Sand [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
7x11 Unfriended

The Good Place
4x05 Employee of the Bearimy
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Agatha and the Midnight Murders (2020)
[#256 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Baptiste
1x05 Lucy
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x04 Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

TV

Baptiste
1x04 Vertrouwen
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
1x04 Free Pass [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
4x03 Chillaxing
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x07 1980s Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

As 2020 races towards its conclusion, it was time for the penultimate monthly review of the year at 100 Films in a Year this week...





More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Even as we head towards Christmas, I'm still growing my collection, with seven new additions this week (one a DVD-to-BD upgrade).

Number of titles in collection: 2,490 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,080 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,410 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 88 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,412 [up 8]
Number of films: 2,866 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 203 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 792 [up 7]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Baptiste
1x03 For Blood
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
7x10 The Latest Model

The Good Place
4x01 A Girl from Arizona Part 1
4x02 A Girl from Arizona Part 2
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Sound of TV with Neil Brand
1x01 Theme Tunes
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Baptiste
1x02 Measure of a Man
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
1x03 Happy Death Day [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x06 Japanese Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games Night
1x01 Episode 1
This daytime quiz was such a hit during lockdown that they've given it a primetime evening variation, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's quite good fun, with a nice degree of play-along-at-home-ability.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Baptiste
1x01 Shell
Instead of a third series of The Missing, they created this spin-off for its hero detective, in which the detective who previously searched for a missing person now… searches for a missing person. Hmm.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

TV

Elementary
7x09 On the Scent

Ghosts
1x02 Gorilla War [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
11x05 Pastry Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Films

Klaus (2019)
[#255 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

Millennium Actress (2001)
[#254 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary (2019)
[#253 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

Just my somewhat-belated and shorter-than-usual monthly TV column over at 100 Films in a Year this week...





More next Sunday.

TV

Michael McIntyre's The Wheel
1x01 Episode 1
Over-complicated and kind of silly, but also passably entertaining.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Knives Out (2019)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #44

Collection Count

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

More titles from my US spending spree arrived this week, alongside a couple of UK new releases. I'm just waiting on two more of the former now. As for the latter, those never end...

Number of titles in collection: 2,484 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,081 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,403 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 87 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,404 [up 16]
Number of films: 2,860 [up 17]
Number of additional cuts: 200 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 785 [up 14]

It's also time for the monthly running time update. It's been a pretty busy month (a net increase of 28 titles), so how big a bump has that generated?

Total running time of collection (approx.):
463 days, 19 hours, and 4 minutes.
(Up 3 days, 9 hours, and 19 minutes from last month.)

That's the fifth month this year to have an increase in excess of 3 days. Next time I do one of these I'll be including the year-on-year increases, and I think it's gonna be a biggy!

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Ordet (1955)
[#252 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #11

Films

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
[#251 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

FilmBath Shorts
[#250j–v in 100 Films in a Year 2020] And that's the last thing I'll be watching from AMPLIFY! as the festival is now well and truly over (although I do still have some screeners knocking about...)

Films

CINECITY Open Shorts
[#250a–i in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

My Mexican Bretzel (2019)
[#250 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ the Q&A that followed the film on AMPLIFY!, which you can also watch on YouTube.

Plus, I finally got round to watching some of the festival's shorts programmes. Across these I watched 26 short films today, so I'll list the programmes rather than every individual short...

Cornwall Film Festival South West Regional Shorts
[#249a–k in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Cornwall Film Festival International Shorts
[#249l–s in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

New Voices Shorts
[#249t–z in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

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


The IMDb New Filmmaker Award 2020

Why would you watch an awards show after its happened? Well, in this case, you get to hear the judges’ musings on what makes a good film — and when those judges are BAFTA-nominated director Coky Giedroyc, Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Amanda Posey, and the CEO of IMDb, Col Needham, those are opinions worth listening to. Even better, you get to watch the five nominated shorts in full, and they’re good a bunch. But don’t just take my word for it: take my, er, word for it, in the form of these reviews…

Read more here.


Some Beasts (2019)

Sometimes, one thing can ruin an entire movie. Depending on how harsh a critic you are, I’d say that’s quite rare. Unless it’s threaded throughout the entire film (like, say, a terrible lead performance, or a consistently poor cinematography decision), a small constituent part would have to be truly horrendous to take the entire rest of the movie down with it. Some Beasts is one of those films. The problem arrives in the final 20 minutes, which makes it a massive plot spoiler. Out of some lingering respect for storytellers, I provide this spoiler warning; others would argue content of this nature doesn’t deserve such courtesy.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

I went a bit crazy with orders from the US recently (thanks to Barnes & Noble's Criterion sale being price-matched by Amazon.com), and that's bearing fruit now as they start to arrive. Every title is a Blu-ray, but it's a real mix of upgrade types (including DVD-to-BD, DVD-to-4K, BD-to-4K, BD-to-BD, and BD-but-I'm-keeping-the-DVD-too), as well as plain ol' new acquisitions. Consequently, the net title increase doesn't tell the whole story -- though even that's higher than normal. I really need to learn some self control...

Number of titles in collection: 2,478 [up 9]
Of which DVDs: 1,082 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,396 [up 12]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 87 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,388 [up 14]
Number of films: 2,843 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 197 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [no change]
Number of short films: 771 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Fisherman's Friends (2019)
[2nd watch] Rewatchathon 2020 #43

Films

Influence (2020)
[#248 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ the Q&A that followed the film on AMPLIFY!, which you can also watch on YouTube.

I also watched tonight's live Q&A about You Will Die at Twenty (having watched the film itself yesterday, of course).

Films

You Will Die at Twenty (2019)
[#248 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

The IMDb New Filmmaker Award 2020
Including the 5 nominated shorts, which become 100 Films in a Year 2020 #247a—e.
[Watch the ceremony and shorts (again) on AMPLIFY!]

Films

The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
[#247 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Small Axe
Mangrove
[#246 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Should this count as Film or TV? It's a series of five thematically-linked feature-length episodes, directed by filmmaker Steve McQueen, and this first one was the opening night film at the London Film Festival. So it's a film... but it's a TV series... but it's a series of films... that most people will watch on TV, one per week... though in the US, the promos don't call it "a series" or "miniseries", but "a collection of five films"... but... Oh, the line is so blurry now!
Anyway, I've listed it as TV, because that's where I watched it, but I'm also going to count it for 100 Films.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Lie (2018)
[#245 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

See also: today's TV post

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Jojo Rabbit (2019)

some people really took against the film. Others, less vitriolic, thought it didn’t measure up to writer-director Taika Waititi’s high standard. I don’t think it’s as good as Hunt for the Wilderpeople or What We Do in the Shadows (both modern classics, more or less), but I did like it a lot. When it hit the mark with its humour, it was very, very funny; but it balances this with emotional and hard-hitting bits.

Read more here.


Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)

the film’s tension crushes in all the time, throughout. Or perhaps not tension, exactly, but worry; uncertainty; anxiety. What’s going to happen? What’s going to go wrong? How are they going to deal with this, that, and the other? Horribly, this is probably what it’s like to be a young woman a lot of the time, especially in America. That’s the film’s power: it takes a real-life experience lived by so many, and it doesn’t just show it to us, it makes us feel it.

Read more here.


Patrick (2019)

To sum this up as “Agatha Christie meets the Coen brothers in a nudist camp” doesn’t feel too wide of the mark. Okay, there’s no murder, so perhaps mystery-genre fans could think of a better author than Christie to sub in. But the fact remains that the missing hammer isn’t just a story hook to hang something else on: it’s a solid mystery narrative, with clues and red herrings and twists. Conversely, it’s not just a mystery... It’s very much a comedy-drama, in that it’s not out-and-out seeking to provoke laughs, but it’s frequently absurd to the point of being laughable

Read more here.


Waxworks (1924)

Often billed as the first portmanteau horror movie, Waxworks only fits the bill in the loosest sense: its “three stories” are actually two stories and a dream sequence, the first (and longest) of which is, if anything, a swashbuckling farce... It’s a welcome watch for fans of silent cinema or early horror (with caveats about its “horror” content duly noted), and there are enough good parts to recommend it, but I wouldn’t argue it’s a classic in any enduring sense

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)
[#244 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Normally I try to leave Christmas movies 'til December, but when you've got multiple family members to keep happy... Maybe I'll let this open the floodgates for 2020 early (I really want to watch Klaus, and Christmas Chronicles 2 is out in something like 10 days).

Collection Count

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

A couple of hours after I posted last week's count, I realised I'd accidentally left out an entire release. Oops! That was a 4K upgrade for the Three Colours Cornetto trilogy, with one box set replacing my three individual editions (a mix of DVD and BD copies). So that's factored in this week now, alongside eight brand-new acquisitions.

Number of titles in collection: 2,469 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,085 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,384 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 85 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,374 [up 15]
Number of films: 2,833 [up 7]
Number of additional cuts: 194 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,982 [up 6]
Number of short films: 771 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Children in Need 2020
I didn't really intend to watch this (I haven't for years), I just wanted to catch up with certain parts later (like the Goes Wrong Show sketch); but I had nothing else to do at the time it started, so I bunged it on and ended up leaving it on in the background throughout. It wasn't bad. Maybe it helps that it was only 3 hours this year — so much less filler.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Coded Bias (2020)
[#243 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

An Impossible Project (2020)
[#242 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ the Q&A that followed the film on AMPLIFY!, which you can also watch on YouTube

A double-bill of two very different tech documentaries: An Impossible Project is about trying to keep analogue alive; Coded Bias is all about algorithms dictating our lives (you can't get much more digital than that!)

Films

Falling (2020)
[#241 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

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


Luxor (2020)

part gentle romantic drama, part tourism video. There are multiple scenes of Hana leisurely roaming around ancient monuments, soaking in the atmosphere and history... There’s a lot going on internally for these characters — a lot of stuff we’re not privy to — which will work for some viewers and wholly turn off others. I found Hana’s mental state to be infectious, to a degree. There’s evident nostalgia for her previous time there, tinged with a certain amount of melancholy.

Read more here.


The Mole Agent (2020)

sound like the setup for a comedy: it’s about a doddery 83-year-old who must learn to be a spy. And, indeed, there are scene where the film is very amusing; particularly early on, when the octogenarian in question, Sergio Chamy, struggles to get to grips with the technology he’ll need to use... [But] it’s ultimately a powerfully affecting experience. It’s a film that intrigues you with its laughable premise, then swings round to punch you in the emotions with a crystal-clear message.

Read more here.


Rose Plays Julie (2019)

Long Lost Family meets rape revenge thriller in this Irish drama… Between its heavy issues and unwaveringly doom-laden tone, Rose Plays Julie is not a light viewing experience. If you like the idea of slow-burn dramatic thriller that spends a lot of time focused on people's still faces as they process information silently and internally, and leaves you with a lot to chew over when it's done, this is a film for you. If you think that sounds inscrutable or dull, steer clear.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Once again, a mass of stuff only turned up on Saturday morning; and once again, I was busy with other stuff all day (what could possibly be more important than updating my DVD/Blu-ray count?!)

There are 9 additions, all told (one BD-to-4K upgrade is 'hidden' in the count); 6 of those turned up today. Among them were 16 films and a further 5 additional cuts. That's due to there being three chunky box sets: two Hammer collections from Indicator (thanks to a sale), and the long-awaited 4K set of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (one film, tonnes of discs, and several alternate cuts). Tis a beauty. I suppose it ougth to replace my old copy, Arrow's Blu-ray from years ago; but as there are no 1080p film discs in the new set, I also kinda feel like hanging onto it. I'll probably do that "for now" and then just forget about it...

Number of titles in collection: 2,464 [up 8]
Of which DVDs: 1,086 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,378 [up 8]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 83 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 6,359 [up 21]
Number of films: 2,826 [up 16]
Number of additional cuts: 193 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes: 8,976 [up 1]
Number of short films: 771 [no change]

Incidentally, ever since the days of DVD, when an HD format was but a twinkle in someone's imagination, I've not counted CD discs in this tally (because it was a list of my DVDs, not CDs, duh!) That comes to mind because the Dawn of the Dead set includes a trio of soundtrack CDs, which would almost double its contribution to the discs count. I don't even know how many other bonus CDs I have buried away in my film collection. Maybe I should add another stat for it...

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Showrunners (2014)
[#240 in 100 Films in a Year 2020] aka Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show

Films

Rose Plays Julie (2019)
[#239 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

Hot Fuzz (2007)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #42. Considering how much I enjoyed this (and how often it's on ITV2), it's kind of remarkable that I've only watched it once since seeing it at the cinema back in 2007; and, according to my records, that was around when it came out on DVD, in late '07 or early '08 — so I haven't rewatched it in over 12 years. This is a long-overdue rectification of that. (Don't get me started on Shaun…)

Straight afterwards, I watched the audio commentary by director Edgar Wright and his mate, Quentin Tarantino. I only intended to listen to the first couple of minutes, but got sucked in for the full two hours. It’s a very laidback, chatty track; not great for learning about the film itself, but for anecdotes and surrounding inspirations, it’s not uninteresting. It does feel like just hanging out with two movie buff friends having a natter.

Films

An American Werewolf in London (1981)
[#237 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #10. This was supposed to be October's Blindspot film, for Halloween, but I messed up. But hey, it's only one day late!

Robolove (2019)
[#238 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

It's that time of the month again, folks: 100 Films in a Year's monthly review...





Also this week, 5 new film reviews...


Vampires Suck (2010)

there are plenty of cheap, uninspired, crass, and rip-off gags, but some of it also made me laugh, so it’s not a total washout. It’s never as funny as the real thing at it’s funniest (Face Punch forever!), but it wasn’t as uninspired as I expected.

Read more here.


The 100-Week Roundup XIV

Featuring...
- It’s Such a Beautiful Day
- The Lives of Others
- Jennifer’s Body
- Going for Golden Eye

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
[#236 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

This week's updates include a couple of new titles — biggest among them, Indicator's Fu Manchu box set — but (as mooted last week) I've removed the set of eight classic Universal monster movies, so a couple of stats still go down. And then, when tallying up, I discovered I'd forgotten something I bought earlier in the month was actually a DVD-to-BD upgrade, so even more stats drop or stay the same!

Regarding the Indicator set, it contains alternative presentations of several of the films, but I've only counted one as a true alternate cut. That one has a whole different prologue, whereas the others are just alternate title sequences, which I personally consider to be be a curio rather than a genuine additional cut.

Number of titles in collection: 2,456 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,086 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,370 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 80 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,338 [down 3]
Number of films: 2,810 [down 2]
Number of additional cuts: 188 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,975 [no change]
Number of short films: 771 [up 5]

Also this week, it's time for the monthly running time update. With several box sets rocking up this month (including that huge Universal one last week), does that mean an uncommonly large jump here?

Total running time of collection (approx.):
460 days, 9 hours, and 45 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 19 hours, and 45 minutes from last month.)

Well, I don't actually know what the average monthly increase is. This one doesn't challenge several of the ultra-big jumps I've had this year, but it's not paltry either.

Anyway, see you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Tim's Vermeer (2013)
[#235 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)
[#234 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ from Indicator's new box set, the introduction by BFI curator Vic Pratt, and the first hour of the audio commentary by experts Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (it's not that I got bored and quit; quite the opposite: I'd only intended to listen to the first few minutes, then got sucked in for just over an hour!)

Films

Vampires Suck (2010)
[#233 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Waxworks (1924)
[#232 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

Misery (1990)
[#230 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Mole Agent (2020)
[#231 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Demetri Martin: The Overthinker
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

this week on 100 Films

No new reviews at 100 Films in a Year this week — indeed, the only new post was about why that was...


FilmBath + AMPLIFY!

In a mirror of this post from last year, I’m here again to blame my recent blogging quietness on FilmBath Festival. Yes, even in these Covid-struck days, we are putting on a film festival. It’s different — smaller, for one thing, with just nine films over five days... But, as if to make up for that, we have a New Thing… AMPLIFY! is an online virtual film festival — which, in short, means you can enjoy it if you live anywhere in the UK.

Read more here.


Hopefully, more reviews next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

A later-than-normal update again, because a bunch of stuff turned up on Saturday morning (that's why I set this to normally post at 3pm on Saturday, but it's no good if lots turns up when I'm busy with something else). By "lots" I primarily mean "something to think about": three shiny new titles, that's easy; but I picked up the Universal Classic Monsters 30-film Blu-ray set (which contains 31 films) in Amazon's Prime Day sale and that causes dilemmas. Does it replace my existing 8-film 'highlights' Blu-ray set? Does it also replace my similar DVD set? You might think "duh, of course", but the DVD set comes with some physical extras I'd like to keep.

For now, I've just added it as a brand-new title. Long-term, I suspect the 8-film set will go, but the DVDs won't — I've no need for those discs anymore, so I could sell them and keep the physical extras; but as that wouldn't save me any space (and the DVDs would only make a pittance), what's the point?

Number of titles in collection: 2,456 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,087 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,369 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 80 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,341 [up 28]
Number of films: 2,812 [up 34]
Number of additional cuts: 187 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,975 [no change]
Number of short films: 766 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great British Bake Off
11x04 Chocolate Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Jonathan Creek
5x04 Daemons' Roost [Christmas special; series finale]
It's been almost four years since this episode aired — not as long as the longest gap in the series' history (just under five years between the series four finale and The Grinning Man), but you can see why websites have decided this is probably the final-ever instalment (it certainly is for now, at least). If that's the case, it's not a bad one to go out on: a lot better than other recent episodes, and with some nice nods to the series' history.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Down with Love (2003)
[#228 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Puzzle (2018)
[#229 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Elementary
7x08 Miss Understood

Who Dares Wins
12x05 (27/7/19 edition)

Young Wallander
1x06 Bomb [season finale]
Well, that was... less than great. "Bomb" indeed. Full review in my next 100 Films TV column.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Ghosts
1x01 Who Do You Think You Are? [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Young Wallander
1x05 Billionaire's Black Tie
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Elementary
7x07 From Russia with Drugs

The Great British Bake Off
11x03 Bread Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Young Wallander
1x04 Assassination Closed?
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Jonathan Creek
5x03 The Curse of the Bronze Lamp [season finale]
An array of terrible subplots make you wish this episode was considerably shorter (it’s only an hour but feels like two), but its mystery is still the nearest these latter-day Creeks have come to its heyday highs.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Young Wallander
1x03 Mona & Munck Connection
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Elementary
7x06 Command: Delete

Who Dares Wins
12x04 (20/7/19 edition)

Young Wallander
1x02 Nightclub Smugglers
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

TV

Elementary
7x05 Into the Woods

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
7x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Films

The American President (1995)
[#227 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]