Films

Oliver & Company (1988)
[2nd or so watch]
[#11 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

I haven't seen this since I was a little kid — probably over 30 years ago — so I've no idea if I only watched it once or multiple times. (Thoughts on the film itself on Letterboxd.)

Videos

Critical Role
2x80 The Folding Halls [2nd half]
Happy Fun Ball, Part 2. It's neither as happy nor as fun without Twiggy, but it does make a change from all the Very Serious story threads the Nein have been pursuing for quite some time.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#128 'The Folding Halls'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x80 The Folding Halls [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#127 'Through the Trees'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Plus...

State of the Role: Campaign 3 Finale and What’s Next for 2025!
The latest update on Critical Role's status revealed (to no surprise to anyone who's been following things) that Campaign 3 ends next week. But then there's going to be a miniseries and such shenanigans, so the campaign wrap-up won't air until mid March — and who knows when Campaign 4 will start after that? (I presume they're saving that announcement for later, because various other things are tied up in it (which system will they play?!) and, well, this is quite enough news to be going on with.) So, maybe I'll have time to finish Campaign 2 before C4 after all... maybe...?

Videos

Critical Role
2x79 Through the Trees [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x79 Through the Trees [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x78 Between the Lines [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#126 'Between the Lines'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Films

Fist of Fury (1972)
[#10 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #1

Non-Fiction

You Don't Have to Have a Dream by Tim Minchin
The Trick

Comics

The Uncanny X-Men
#5 Red Wave, Conclusion: Thunder in Our Hearts by Gail Simone & David Marquez

X-Men
#7 The Iron Night by Jed MacKay & Netho Diaz

Videos

Critical Role
2x78 Between the Lines [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

TV

Michael McIntyre's Big Show
8x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Empire of Light (2022)
[#9 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Comics

The Uncanny X-Men
#4 Red Wave, Part Four: The Eye of a Hurricane by Gail Simone & David Marquez

X-Men
#6 Bark by Jed MacKay & Netho Diaz

Videos

Critical Role
2x77 A Tangled Web [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#125 'Refjorged', 'Dalen's Closet' & 'A Tangled Web'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Collection Count

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

Nothing to add this week, because preorders are still on their way. Next week should be busier... and, actually, I've got another bulk US order on the way too, so it might be a pretty big'un.

In the meantime, this week it's time for the latest monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 3,455 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 991 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,464 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 425 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 8,329 [no change]
Number of films: 4,375 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 430 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,209 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
584 days, 18 hours, and 11 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 2 hours, and 1 minute from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D (2016)
[#8 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Videos

Critical Role
2x77 A Tangled Web [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x76 Refjorged [2nd half]
"This is peak Dungeons & Dragons right here."
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapter 12 [the end]

Non-Fiction

You Don't Have to Have a Dream by Tim Minchin
Prologue
Nine Life Lessons

Videos

Critical Role
2x76 Refjorged [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x75 Rime and Reason [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#124 'Rime and Reason'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

TV

Blackadder II
2x04 Money [2nd watch]
2x05 Beer [2nd watch]
2x06 Chains [season finale; 2nd watch]
From one extreme (i.e. a nine-month pause) to the other (watching half the series in one sitting), I guess.

Videos

Critical Role
2x75 Rime and Reason [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Films

Milano Calibro 9 (1972)
[#7 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
+ featurette Italia Violenta, in which Matthew Holness (yes, the Garth Marenghi guy) talks about his love of the poliziotteschi and this film in particular

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapters 10–11

Comics

X-Men
#5 Psychic Rescue in Progress by Jed MacKay & Ryan Stegman

Videos

Talks Machina
#123 'Manifold Morals'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

TV

The Wheel
5x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger (2025)
[#6 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Comics

The Uncanny X-Men
#3 Red Wave, Part Three: The Inside Man by Gail Simone & David Marquez

X-Men
#4 Upstarts by Jed MacKay & Netho Diaz

I've failed spectacularly at my goal of keeping up with my X-reading, so I've totally lost track of which issue is 'next' in publication order across the various books. But I do know that X-Men and Uncanny X-Men have a four-issue crossover coming up ("coming up" for me — it's finished publication), and that I have four issues of each book to go before said crossover, so if I just alternate issues between those two it will work out fine.

(I've still only read one issue of Exceptional X-Men, which has published up to #5, so I need to get a wriggle on with that separately.)

And attentive-eyed regular readers (not that I think I have any of those) will notice I've decided to change the way I list comics titles/issues. I liked acknowledging that individual issues have titles (as I do with TV episodes, for example), and it better reflects that the creative team might only be in effect for that one issue (something that definitely needs amending, based on the slightly awkward way I've listed the authors of collected volumes in the past).

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapters 8–9

Videos

Critical Role
2x74 Manifold Morals [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Collection Count

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

Three additions this week — all new releases, all 4K. Two are Arrow catalogue titles — The Cell and Inglourious Basterds (slightly begrudgingly replacing my old Blu-ray — "begrudging" purely because it has some postcards I quite like but I have nowhere else convenient to store them. I may yet solve this problem before I sell it on) — and the other a brand-new release (The Wild Robot).

Number of titles in collection: 3,455 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 991 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,464 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 425 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 8,329 [up 4]
Number of films: 4,375 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 430 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,209 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Eraserhead (1977)
[#5 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
Blindspot 2025 #1

Premonitions Following an Evil Deed (1995)
[3rd or so watch]

RIP David Lynch

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapter 7

Videos

Critical Role
2x74 Manifold Morals [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapter 6

Videos

Critical Role
2x73 Uthodurn
Yay, a live show! These are such fun, even to watch from home.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#122 'Uthodurn'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapters 3–5

Videos

Critical Role
2x72 Clay and Dust [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#121 'Clay and Dust'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapters 1–2

Back in 2020, I started trying to read more of the original Sherlock Holmes stories that I've never read (because there are quite a few of them, actually). It looks like I made it through six before stopping again, for whatever reason. I always intended to continue… it's just that, me being me, it's taken over four years to get back on that horse. Anyway, here I go again, diving in with what some regard as the best of the four Doyle Holmes novels.

Videos

Critical Role
2x72 Clay and Dust [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Theatre

Hamilton
UK & Ireland Tour at Wales Millennium Centre
I was due to see this back in early December, but a storm happened to blow through that weekend and travelling wasn't worth the risk — especially as we were able to re-book for today in (slightly) better seats at a lower price.

Videos

Critical Role
2x71 Family Gathering [2nd half]
I'm gonna guess some people don't like episodes like this, because they're not action-packed (not even a vague intimation of a fight), nor full of plot developments, nor big emotional scenes; but they're also where we get to just hang out with the characters a bit, and feel like they're people rather than just 'adventurers'. It's a worthwhile thing for any long-running series to invest in, but I also feel like it's the heart of roleplaying — i.e. fully embodying being someone else.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#120 SDCC 2019 Panel
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Films

Run Lola Run (1998)
[#4 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Videos

Critical Role
2x71 Family Gathering [1st half]
This episode marks the pivot point of Campaign 2: 70 episodes watched before it, 70 episodes to go after it... although the campaign finale is basically double-length, so it wouldn't be unfair to call the end of this episode the halfway point. (Unless we're talking about running time, of course.)
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

It was, in a way, a week of two halves at 100Films.co.uk. In the first, I wrapped up last year with the final post of my annual review...


The Best of 2024

this is a ‘top ten’ in the sense that it’s the top 10% of my 2024 viewing. I watched 131 films for the first time last year, which means this time it’s a top thirteen. I’ve called this “best films” because I always have, but this year I’ve definitely leant more into “favourites” in my decision-making.

Read more here.


Then, a trio of posts kicked off my 2025 Challenge...





Blindspot 2025

Regular readers will know that my Blindspot selection process is often tortuously complicated. I don’t just pick twelve films I feel like watching, but compile various “great films” lists and use them to concoct some kind of ranking. Not so this year...

Read more here.


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen These Films You’ve Bought Multiple Times?

I want to make a confession: sometimes I buy new copies of films I already own but have never seen. Never mind blind buying, I blind upgrade. It's stupid, I know... Nonetheless, the theme of this year’s WDYMYHS was provoked by my relatively recent purchase of Le Samouraï in 4K... I wanted a selection methodology that would force me to finally watch Le Samouraï, so what better than the very reason I wanted to be forced to watch it?

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of Everything 2025
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]

Films

The Six Triple Eight (2024)
[#3 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Videos

Critical Role
2x70 Causatum [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#119 'Causatum'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Collection Count

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

The 2025 new releases kick off this week with Se7en on 4K — although it supplements my old Blu-ray rather than replacing it, owing to the changes made by director David Fincher and the omission of some old restoration-related special features.

Also this week: some sale titles, including a couple I ordered back in December that finally arrived, and a couple more 4Ks (including an upgrade from DVD for Chinatown — which, coincidentally, features Fincher on its commentary track).

Number of titles in collection: 3,453 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 991 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,462 [up 8]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 422 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 8,325 [up 13]
Number of films: 4,373 [up 7]
Number of additional cuts: 428 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,209 [up 12]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Videos

Critical Role
2x70 Causatum [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x69 The King's Cage [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#118 'The King's Cage'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

TV

Blackadder II
2x03 Potato [2nd watch]
After an unintended nine-month hiatus, my Blackadder rewatch resumes with the one guest starring Doctor Who and Arthur Dent.

Videos

Critical Role
2x69 The King's Cage [1st half]
Alright, time to try to renew my commitment to getting through Critical Role. It's rumoured Campaign 3 is coming to an end imminently, so me finishing Campaign 2 in time to go straight into Campaign 4 seems unlikely now, but you never know.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Articles

Our culture isn't fantasy - so stop misusing it for mystical books
by Catriona Aitken (from BBC News)
Thought this — about the (mis)treatment of Welsh heritage by fantasy authors — was very interesting.

this week on 100Films.co.uk

A new year began this week (did you notice?) and so 100Films.co.uk has been full of end-of-the-year business.

But first: it was also the end of a month (December, obv), so there was the usual December review...





And my monthly "failures"...





Those end-of-year posts went as follows...


100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024: Final Standing

As the challenge tracker page will soon be replaced with a version keeping tabs on 2025’s effort, here’s an archive of how it looked at the very end of 2024.

Read more here.


2024: The List

Throughout the year, my monthly reviews keep you up-to-date on my progress with the 100 Films in a Year Challenge; what they no longer record is all my first-time watches. Fortunately, to rectifying that omission we have The List: every film I watched for the first time in 2024

Read more here.


2024 Statistics!

When Andy Williams sang “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”, he was on about Christmastime; but ’round these parts, the real most wonderful time of the year comes a little later: in early January, with the annual statistics post. And, friends, that time is here again.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Friends
5x11 The One with All the Resolutions [5th or so watch]
5x12 The One with Chandler's Work Laugh [5th or so watch]
5x13 The One with Joey's Bag [5th or so watch]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
32x06 Episode 6

Films

Here we go again...

Anna Karenina (2012)
[#2 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Death Goes to School (1953)
[#1 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Collection Count

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

After the busy end to last year, the new year begins with... nothing. Well, it's always a quiet time of the year for new releases; but it's a busy one for sales, but still, nowt for me... yet: there's stuff in the post.

Number of titles in collection: 3,446 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 992 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,454 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 419 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 8,312 [no change]
Number of films: 4,366 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 426 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,197 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Friends
5x08 The One with All the Thanksgivings [6th or so watch]
5x09 The One with Ross's Sandwich [6th or so watch]
5x10 The One with the Inappropriate Sister [5th or so watch]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
3x10 Week 2: Friday [season finale]
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
14x02 The Dark Wives [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITVX.]

Vera, Farewell Pet
[Watch it (again) on ITVX.]

TV

Friends
5x07 The One Where Ross Moves In [6th or so watch]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
32x05 Never Mind the Buzzcocks Does Girl Groups & Boy Bands

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
3x09 Week 2: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
14x01 Inside
I haven't watched Vera since 2018 — I find crime dramas too samey to watch too many of them (that's partly why I'm over a year behind on Death in Paradise), and I just didn't feel like more Vera at the time. But it's a pretty good show, really, and these are the final episodes, so it felt right to come back for them.
[Watch it (again) on ITVX.]

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2024
The 20th year of the Big Fat Quiz, apparently. Sometimes I really do think culture has just stood still since the early 2000s.
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]

Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell
A rather nice behind-the-scenes special / celebration, which reminds you just how special and successful this funny little show has been.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

New Year's Eve Fireworks
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
3x07 Week 2: Tuesday
3x08 Week 2: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

The Rookie
6x04 Training Day

Sophie Ellis-Bextor's NYE Disco
Part 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]