TV

Family Guy
13x01 The Simpsons Guy
Family Guy returned to BBC Two last night for the first time in yonks (before it heads to ITV2 later this year), beginning with this crossover episode that aired in the US last September. It was quite good.

this week on 100 Films

This week over at 100 Films in a Year saw a new-look monthly update, packed with far more goodies than ever before. Check it out here:




As well as that, four brand-new reviews were published this week...


The Eagle (2011)

Adapted from Rosemary Sutcliff’s children’s adventure novel, director Kevin Macdonald’s film is, perhaps surprisingly, almost leisurely paced, as much about mood as it is about action. Big fights and battles clearly aren’t the film’s goal or forte, though an early sequence where Roman forces battle druids outside the fort Tatum commands is excellently done.

Read more here.


Fury (2014)

In some respects it's a bit “seen it all before”. The desaturated photography, muddy landscape and slightly-ramshackle military campaign are all very post-Saving Private Ryan, though writer-director David Ayer lends enough of his own directorial flair that it feels more visually distinctive than most Ryan rip-offs.

Read more here.


The Guest (2014)

I loved The Guest. I loved Dan Stevens’ character and his performance. I loved each and every one of the perfectly-placed supporting cast. I loved the wit and the action scenes. I loved the ’80s-inspired plotting. I loved the score. Indeed, I loved pretty much everything about it.

Read more here.


The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Widely regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s French-produced silent movie depicts the last hours in the life of Joan of Arc, a nineteen-year-old who is on trial by the Church for claiming God instructed her to fight to free France from British rule. You probably know it doesn’t turn out well for her.

Read more here.


Plus six archive reviews were reposted on the new blog...


Breathless (1960)

Godard's first and most famous film; part of the beginning of the nouvelle vague, a French movement defining a particular youth culture at the time... This is definitely what most people would call an 'arthouse' film, though is decidedly less so than the one other Godard film I've seen

Read more here.


The Crowd (1928)

Late silent-era drama — though you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a comedy until halfway, when the light antics of a young couple in ’20s New York give way to some increasingly dark drama (interesting trivia: seven endings were shot for distributors to choose from, some happy and some sad; all chose sad ones.)

Read more here.


Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)

The plot is more or less suitably movieised — a more-epic-than-usual tale of Stewie’s origins (sort of) — though it seems slightly held back by its genesis as three TV episodes and the need for it ultimately to be split back up. With subplots that begin and end within each half-hour(-ish) segment, it plays about as well as watching a three-parter back to back

Read more here.


Fantômas: In the Shadow of the Guillotine (1913)

The first of the silent Fantômas films. It's interestingly structured: there's no 'origin story' for Fantômas, he just is an infamous master criminal, who's introduced in what would undoubtedly be a pre-titles sequence today

Read more here.


Fantômas: Juve Versus Fantômas (1913)

Second instalment... full of crazy schemes and action set pieces, which means it’s actually a great deal of fun, relatively fast-paced and densely plotted, exciting and deliberately amusing

Read more here.


The Good German (2006)

is this a case of style over substance? Some critics accuse it of just that, saying it concentrates more on the look & feel than the characters. They do have a point, but the style is, if not incidental, then still not the sole purpose. The tale is more about the mystery — indeed, mysteries — than the characters.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

this week on 100 Films

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


The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Peter Jackson’s epic Tolkien adaptation blunders its way to a conclusion with an instalment some have declared the trilogy’s best, presumably because they really enjoy watching someone else play video games. That’s what about half of this sextet-completing movie feels like, as it concludes the three-part Hobbit narrative with a CGI-riddled rendering of the titular battle.

Read more here.


A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

The second feature from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, after the justly popular Ted, A Million Ways to Die in the West is a disappointing mixed bag, half pretty-decent character- and situation-based comedy, half cringingly infantile toilet-humour tomfoolery.

Read more here.


Plus five archive reviews were reposted on the new blog...


Browncoats: Redemption (2010)

Undoubtedly the greatest thing about this project -- fans coming together to celebrate and recreate something they love in aid of charity -- is down to producer Michael C. Dougherty's thought and organisation. Sadly, the worst things about it -- the writing and direction -- are also his responsibility. We must be forgiving -- it is made by amateurs, and for charity -- but it's a shame someone(s) more proficient weren't found for the important creative roles.

Read more here.


Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity (2006)

investigates the cult sparked by the prematurely-cancelled TV series Firefly and its continuation movie, Serenity — a movie that only exists thanks to the fans’ dedication. The activism, and success, of Firefly’s fans makes for a key difference from other fan docs: these aren’t just people who queue for obscene amounts of time to see something they like; these are people who helped turn a cancelled TV show into a successful movie.

Read more here.


Ray (2004)

It’s easy to see why Walk the Line has been described as “Ray with white people”; but Ray has also been described as being an outstanding performance in an average film, and I’d pretty much agree with this too.

Read more here.


Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005)

you'd expect this documentary to focus itself on Lord of the Rings fandom. To a degree it does, but it also encompasses a history of the books and their popularity, as well as various thematic issues contained within them

Read more here.


Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Despite its unpronounceable title, Synecdoche, New York starts out like a relatively normal comedy/drama… but then weird touches begin to crop in. A house that's on fire when a character buys it and continues to be on fire for the next several decades, for instance. No one in the film bats an eyelid. Then the really weird bit arrives; the bit you all probably know; what the film's about (except, of course, not what it's About), as Philip Seymour Hoffman's theatre director begins to construct a life-size New York within a warehouse.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Americans
2x09 Martial Eagle

Family Guy
12x01 Finders Keepers

this week on 100 Films

The main news this week is that it's May (did you notice?), which can only mean it's time to look back at April. This month's top list: the five worst superhero movies. That I've seen.

As well as that, two new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Ip Man 2 (2010)

The only major downside comes when the Brits turn up for the final act. Stereotyped and poorly acted, presented with palpable jingoism and xenophobia, their presence and storyline drag the film down.

Read more here.


Ted (2012)

Family Guy’s stock in trade is two things: non-sequiturs, which Ted replaces with a plot; and an edgy, borderline-offensive sense of humour, which Ted retains, and in some cases pushes farther, unrestrained by the demands of US network TV.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Rain-lashed, fog-drenched Victorian London streets! Brutal murders by foul foreigners! Dastardly plots against the crown! Galloping carriages! Romantic subplots! A smattering of comedy! A song-and-dance number! (No, really, there is.) And a final shoot out… in the Tower of London!

Read more here.


Harry Brown (2009)

Michael Caine killing hoodies... If that doesn’t get you excited about seeing this movie, then what kind of film fan are you? A mentally mature one, probably. But hush, don’t spoil our fun — those of us who may occasionally hanker for a morally simple form of voyeuristic vigilante justice want to see Sir Michael shooting yobs

Read more here.


The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

One of the novel’s strong points is its occasional Gothic styling, and this is something the film version does very well. Dartmoor looks fantastic, like something Tim Burton would have created were he working in the ’30s. It’s clearly a set, but it’s dramatic and moody and completely effective.

Read more here.


Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

more a spy thriller than a traditional detective tale. That’s not to say Holmes’ abilities as a detective aren’t present, but if you switched him for a generic British Intelligence agent the plot would be unlikely to suffer and the dialogue probably wouldn’t need much work.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Cuckoo
1x01 The Homecoming
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Family Guy
10x23 Internal Affairs [season finale]
10x22 Family Guy Viewer Mail #2
BBC Three finished this season of Family Guy last night. The new season began in the US last night. Not everything makes it over here promptly yet then, I guess.
And they showed them the way round listed above, which does seem to make more sense. It was the second one I was watching for, because it contained (essentially) Family Guy If It Was British. Which was... alright. The bit from Stewie's point of view was better.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Once Upon a Time
1x19 The Return

The Rob Brydon Show
3x03 Episode 3

TV

Children in Need 2011
Being the post-midnight stuff, of course, which this year was back to being mostly repeats unfortunately. Great total though -- the highest ever by over £5 million!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Family Guy
It's a Trap!
Family Guy complete their run through the original Star Wars trilogy with this spoof of Return of the Jedi, released on DVD & Blu-ray last December and later aired (in an edited form) as the end of season nine back in May.
And that's it, because they're not bothering with the prequels. Unless they change their minds, of course. Which I doubt.

House
8x05 The Confession
Some people have been really laying into this series of House, but I've liked it. However, I do agree that getting the old team back in this episode gives it a real boost.

The Jury
2x04 Part 4 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Merlin
4x08 Lamia
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
3x39 (5/11/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spy
1x04 Codename: Bookclub
I think this is the best comedy on TV right now. Love it.

In the unlikely event anyone is curious, I've now decided to give up on Wilfred. Having watched the first four episodes a while ago, I just don't care enough to spend another three-and-a-bit hours of my life watching the rest.

Articles

The Lists: Top 10 scary PG-rated films by Guy Lodge
(from HitFix)
Rather than the regular "greatest horror movie" Halloween list, HitFix instead takes a look at the ten most frightening family 'friendly' movies. And some of them are properly scary too.

Halloween treats from the Ebert Club! by Roger Ebert
(from Roger Ebert's Journal)
That title's completely irrelevant, but still, that's what it's called. Anyway, this is about sweded films -- that's no-budget home-made abridged/parody versions of well-known movies. The term comes from Be Kind Rewind, as I'm sure you'll know if you've seen it (I rather liked it, incidentally), and it's gone on to be quite a big cult -- there's a Swede Fest, for instance, which is what this article is about. There's a very impressive swede of The Avengers trailer there as an example, and you can see just how good it is on the side-by-side comparison.

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, as part of a sort-of-themed 'vengeance week'. They were...

Harry Brown (2009)

Michael Caine killing hoodies. How great does that sound? As a film premise, that’s awesome. If it doesn’t get you excited about seeing this movie, then what kind of film fan are you, eh? A mentally mature one, probably. But hush, don’t spoil our fun — those of us who may occasionally hanker for a morally simple form of voyeuristic vigilante justice want to see Sir Michael shooting yobs

High Plains Drifter (1973)

As the story progresses we get a gradual unveiling of a mystery in the town’s past, hinted at in flashbacks and dreams; who was responsible for it, what the others did about it — or didn’t do. It’s all revealed nicely across the course of the film, leading to a finely staged conclusion in a vision of Hell.

Jonah Hex (2010)

It’s difficult to know where to begin trying to praise Hex because, as I’ve implied, there isn’t much to praise. Unless you’re a 12-year-old boy, that is. Horses with Gatling guns! Giant cannons firing explosive balls! Corpses coming to life! Megan Fox’s corset-boosted cleavage! The undemanding pre-/early-teen is well catered for here. Possibly the undemanding child-minded adult too.

Law Abiding Citizen: Director's Cut (2009)

the setup makes it more interesting than your regular revenge movie... we’re presented with a situation where there are no clear-cut heroes and villains. Butler wants the killers of his family to suffer — normally, this vigilante is the hero. But... he’s a terrorist, normally the villain. Similar goes for Foxx — he’s the attorney, the good guy, he locks up criminals… but he’s part of a corrupt system that let a guilty man go free.

Also this week, the monthly update covering June, the halfway point of the year. Are we there already?! Crikey.

More next Sunday.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
6x16 Desperation Day
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Luther
2x01 Episode 1
I wasn't sure we'd see the return of Luther, but here it is, in rejigged form as two two-parters. Which would seem to lend itself to the Sunday/Monday broadcast recently afforded Case Histories, but for some reason they've scheduled it across four Tuesdays. Each to their own. Anyway, the rejig they've made so much of in the press running up to the series isn't very significant. Sure, characters are gone and new ones are here, and some of the relationships have changed, but the series still feels the same and functions in the same way. So it's still as awkward, weird, sick, but strangely likeable.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mystery Science Theater 3000
4x24 "Manos" The Hands of Fate [season finale]
Having enjoyed the MST3k movie last year, I decided to start my viewing of the series with perhaps the most famous episode, in which the Satellite of Love gang riff off one of the worst movies of all time. And it truly is a dreadful movie... and, unfortunately, doesn't seem to give them much to work with. It has its moments as an episode, but there were too many long stretches without notable funnies. Though fans do say not to start newbies with this episode, so...
(Incidentally, MST3k follows Family Guy and Robot Chicken as my... I don't know what, really, but it's filling their void. Sure, they had 22-minute and 11-minute episodes respectively, while MST3k runs 90 minutes per episode, but I watched big chunks of the other two, so it kinda works out.)

TV

Britain's Next Big Thing
Episode 7 (of 7)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Family Guy
9x07 Road to the North Pole [Christmas special]
5x09 Road to Rupert
BBC Three had a night of Family Guy's Road to... episodes last night, which I V+d and watched in the early hours. Sadly, they chose to only show five of the six (skipping Road to Germany), two of which I'd watched quite recently, and then my recording of the last one mucked up -- so their 'night' turns into 'two episodes'. Hey-ho.
The first one is last Christmas' hour-long (in the US) special and is all kinds of sick and twisted. I loved it. New favourite Christmas TV special! Yay!

this week on 100 Films

3 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week. As they included both versions of Assault on Precinct 13, I did a Make/Remake feature on them here.

And the rest of the reviews included...

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

I should probably also note that the main cop character is black and the main criminal is white, which I imagine was revolutionary in the ’70s. To be honest, it would probably go against the norm today — note how the remake reverted to (stereo)type.

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

In terms of the representation of race on screen, this is a film that could certainly be seen as a step backwards. While the original had a black police officer in charge of a white criminal, here not only is the lead officer white — as are all but one of the dozens of other policemen — but all the criminals inside the precinct are black or (in one case) hispanic. Ouch.

Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)

it does feel like three Family Guy episodes stitched together. Much like that other stitched-together-from-three-animated-TV-episodes movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the events of part one (or the first twenty-odd minutes) seem entirely separated from the two-parter that makes up the back hour. Fortunately the Family Guy team seem to have more common sense than their Lucasfilm counterparts, choosing to link back round to the start for their film’s climax, tying it all together after all.

More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
32x04 The Doctor's Wife
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Eurovision Song Contest: Düsseldorf 2011
Thought this year's winner was a bit of a mediocre effort -- there were several much better songs. Still, at least the unusually close voting made for relatively interesting viewing.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Family Guy Presents Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show

Vera
1x02 Telling Tales
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Britain's Next Big Thing
Episode 4 (of 7)
Having Theo Paphitis as on-screen presenter (but not even narrator) on the first three episodes of this felt pointless, but now it's moved from wannabes pitching their product to the actual business of getting them on to shop shelves, he seems to have more to do. So that's nice.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Family Guy: Groundbreaking Gags
BBC-produced talking-heads documentary about Family Guy's extraordinarily outrageous humour -- and there's certainly plenty of it to talk about. If you've never watched the show, this is probably a good primer for why you may well not like it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
41x04 (6/5/11 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

$#*! My Dad Says
1x09 Make a WISiH
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

The Graham Norton Show
9x02 (22/4/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Robot Chicken
1x08 The Deep End
1x01 Junk in the Trunk
1x16 Nightmare Generator
1x18 The Sack
Taking over from my box set of Family Guy seasons one to three is my box set of Robot Chicken seasons one to three. As per the early seasons of my previous US adult-orientated animated comedy of choice, I'm watching these in whatever order they're on the disc, which is different from listed broadcast order, but my obsessive nature numbers them with the latter. Not that it matters.

The Royal Wedding
On the BBC, of course -- who'd want to watch something like this anywhere else? Watched almost all of the eight hours of main coverage from 8am; saw a sliver of the highlights/evening reception programme too.
[Watch it (again) in three parts, plus the highlights, on iPlayer.]

Films

Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
[#47 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
Direct-to-DVD Family Guy movie, made as part of the fourth season just after the show was un-cancelled. It later aired in an edited/censored three-part form as episodes 28 (Stewie B. Goode), 29 (Bango Was His Name, Oh!) and 30 (Stu and Stewie's Excellent Adventure) of season four... though I also believe those episodes 'aren't officially counted' and aren't on the separate season DVD releases (because they were a) censored and b) already released as this). So that's interesting then.

TV

Extraordinary Dogs
1x12 The Uncommon Nose
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Family Guy
3x18 From Method to Madness
3x19 Stuck Together, Torn Apart
3x20 Road to Europe
3x21 Family Guy Viewer Mail #1
And that completes my Family Guy DVD set, which (as I may have mentioned) I've had waiting to be watched since sometime during the series' cancellation (and it came back in 2005, so... yeah...)

House
7x18 The Dig
Well look who's back! About time too. And, as usual these days, it means the arc/character plots are far more interesting than the forgettable Case of the Week.

TV

The Event
1x14 A Message Back
Getting increasingly far behind on this. I'll have to make an effort to catch up.

Extraordinary Dogs
1x10 Instinct: The Sixth Sense 2
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Family Guy
3x15 Ready, Willing, and Disabled
3x16 A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas
3x17 Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows

Monroe
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

$#*! My Dad Says
1x05 Not Without My Jacket
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

Family Guy
3x11 Emission Impossible
3x12 To Love and Die in Dixie [2nd watch]
3x13 Screwed the Pooch
3x14 Peter Griffin: Husband, Father...Brother?

Just Good Friends
3x01 Paris

The Mentalist
3x14 Blood For Blood
Good ending, but implausible setup -- surely a witness of that level would have more than one officer guarding him?!
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Monroe
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Family Guy
3x09 Mr. Saturday Knight
3x10 A Fish Out of Water

House
7x16 Out of the Chute

The Killing [aka Forbrydelsen]
1x20 Day 20 [season finale]
And, thankfully, The Killing II will be on later this year.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]