Castle
2x07 Famous Last Words
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
House
8x16 Gut Check
Just a Minute [2012]
1x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
This has been brilliant. I hope they do more for the telly.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Sarah Millican Television Programme
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Articles
William Boyd to Write the Next James Bond Novel!
by John Cox (from The Book Bond)
Completely out of the blue, IFP have announced a new James Bond novel! It'll be published in autumn 2013 and be written by William Boyd, and it'll take Bond back to the '60s. So much for the modern-day reboot. Will it follow or ignore Devil May Care? Only time will tell.
by John Cox (from The Book Bond)
Completely out of the blue, IFP have announced a new James Bond novel! It'll be published in autumn 2013 and be written by William Boyd, and it'll take Bond back to the '60s. So much for the modern-day reboot. Will it follow or ignore Devil May Care? Only time will tell.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
TV
Fry and Laurie Reunited
I've had this recorded since whenever it first aired (sometime in 2010!), so it was nice to finally watch it. It was good, too, though a bit repetitiously structured -- too much "previously"/"coming up" stuff around the ad breaks. It had a 90-minute slot, but I dread to think how short it would be if you removed the ads and cut out all the needless fluff.
The Matt Lucas Awards
1x01 Episode 1
Not as much fun as I hoped it'd be. But there's promise. Big improvement would be making it a bit tighter -- trim just five minutes (to make it a regular 30 instead of 35) and it would probably feel less leaden.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Pointless
4x12 (29/3/11 edition)
I've had this recorded since whenever it first aired (sometime in 2010!), so it was nice to finally watch it. It was good, too, though a bit repetitiously structured -- too much "previously"/"coming up" stuff around the ad breaks. It had a 90-minute slot, but I dread to think how short it would be if you removed the ads and cut out all the needless fluff.
The Matt Lucas Awards
1x01 Episode 1
Not as much fun as I hoped it'd be. But there's promise. Big improvement would be making it a bit tighter -- trim just five minutes (to make it a regular 30 instead of 35) and it would probably feel less leaden.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Pointless
4x12 (29/3/11 edition)
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
TV
Game of Thrones
1x09 Baelor
1x10 Fire and Blood [season finale]
Bloody good, this is. Don't even know where to begin with comments on it, especially in case anyone reading this hasn't bothered to watch it. But you really should. One thing that's nice is that it doesn't feel at all final. Yes, some things come to a head, but just as many in the penultimate episode as in the final one, and loads of stuff is left hanging. This isn't a series of consecutive discrete stories, it's one long story that has to be broken up due to sheer length. Great stuff.
And so it continues in season two, which has of course already begun. But I'll try to leave a bit of a break before I begin watching that. But golly I want to know what happens next.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Mad Men
5x03 Tea Leaves
Mark Lawson Talks To
Mark Gatiss
Well, that was brilliant. If you missed it, sorry it's no longer on iPlayer to point you towards.
1x09 Baelor
1x10 Fire and Blood [season finale]
Bloody good, this is. Don't even know where to begin with comments on it, especially in case anyone reading this hasn't bothered to watch it. But you really should. One thing that's nice is that it doesn't feel at all final. Yes, some things come to a head, but just as many in the penultimate episode as in the final one, and loads of stuff is left hanging. This isn't a series of consecutive discrete stories, it's one long story that has to be broken up due to sheer length. Great stuff.
And so it continues in season two, which has of course already begun. But I'll try to leave a bit of a break before I begin watching that. But golly I want to know what happens next.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Mad Men
5x03 Tea Leaves
Mark Lawson Talks To
Mark Gatiss
Well, that was brilliant. If you missed it, sorry it's no longer on iPlayer to point you towards.
DVD Extras
Game of Thrones
From the Book to the Screen
Creating the Show Open
Features from the GoT season one Blu-ray. Interesting, but shame they have a tendency to repeat each other. Not so much among these ones, but I had a quick look at the half-hour "making of" and many of the interview snippets from these appear there too. Not much depth either (they last barely five minutes each), but elsewhere on the set are seven audio commentaries and an hour-long Anatomy of an Episode, so hopefully there's more meat to those.
That said, the title sequence featurette is an exception. Though brief, it gives you a good idea how they came up with that awesome opening.
From the Book to the Screen
Creating the Show Open
Features from the GoT season one Blu-ray. Interesting, but shame they have a tendency to repeat each other. Not so much among these ones, but I had a quick look at the half-hour "making of" and many of the interview snippets from these appear there too. Not much depth either (they last barely five minutes each), but elsewhere on the set are seven audio commentaries and an hour-long Anatomy of an Episode, so hopefully there's more meat to those.
That said, the title sequence featurette is an exception. Though brief, it gives you a good idea how they came up with that awesome opening.
Articles
‘Ridiculously Photogenic Guy’ image goes viral
by Eric Pfeiffer (from The Sideshow at Yahoo! News)
Missed this story last week when it happened, but it is quite amusing -- especially the various examples here.
by Eric Pfeiffer (from The Sideshow at Yahoo! News)
Missed this story last week when it happened, but it is quite amusing -- especially the various examples here.
Monday, 9 April 2012
TV
The Mentalist
4x18 Ruddy Cheeks
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 20th April. Probably.]
Pointless
4x11 (28/3/11 edition)
Scott & Bailey
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Twenty Twelve
2x02 Boycott Part 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
4x18 Ruddy Cheeks
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 20th April. Probably.]
Pointless
4x11 (28/3/11 edition)
Scott & Bailey
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Twenty Twelve
2x02 Boycott Part 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Comics
Batgirl #6 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
It's been ages since I last read Batgirl -- nearly 11 weeks, in fact, and back then it was 14 weeks since the time before. I seem to keep forgotting about it, which I suppose goes to show how much I care. And/or how good it is, depending on your point of view. But it was in the middle of a story last I left, and so I shall finish that at least. And it's quite a good one, to be fair -- I don't like the details of Simone's writing (some of the dialogue really grates for me), but the overall tale was worth reading.
It's been ages since I last read Batgirl -- nearly 11 weeks, in fact, and back then it was 14 weeks since the time before. I seem to keep forgotting about it, which I suppose goes to show how much I care. And/or how good it is, depending on your point of view. But it was in the middle of a story last I left, and so I shall finish that at least. And it's quite a good one, to be fair -- I don't like the details of Simone's writing (some of the dialogue really grates for me), but the overall tale was worth reading.
Articles
Homophobes Slam EA With Thousands of Letters Over Same-Sex Romance
by Kate Cox (from Kotaku)
Good on EA for standing up to these bigots.
You can sign a message expressing support for EA at AllOut.org, urging them to "keep fighting the Dark Side" in the style of Yoda.
by Kate Cox (from Kotaku)
One recent, particularly irrational anti-gay "family values" campaign has kicked off a wave of thousands of letters to EA disapproving of the addition of same-sex romance options to [massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars:] The Old Republic... The letters chide EA for being "pressured" into adding LGBT-friendly content and claim that the availability of options for players somehow forces homosexuality onto impressionable young children...
EA VP of Corporate Communications Jeff Brown accurately called out the letter-writing campaign, saying... "This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment... EA has not been pressured by any groups to include LGBT characters in our games. However, we have met with LBGT groups and sponsored industry forums to discuss content and harassment of players in online forums. In short, we do put options for same-sex relationships in our games; we don't tolerate hate speech on our forums.
Good on EA for standing up to these bigots.
You can sign a message expressing support for EA at AllOut.org, urging them to "keep fighting the Dark Side" in the style of Yoda.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
TV
Just a Minute [2012]
1x08 Episode 8
A particularly anarchic edition, for some reason.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Once Upon a Time
1x01 Pilot
The big new US fantasy series (that may be a rip-off of Fables (I haven't read that so can't say with certainty, but the concept is certainly similar)) finally reaches our shores. It's quite good. The fantasy/fairytale world is a bit too stock American-vision-of-European-folklore, rendered with all the usual made-for-US-TV cheap CGI and whatnot, but it could be worse. As a whole episode, there's an awful lot of setup and exposition here. There's promise though, so we'll see.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Room 101: Extra Storage
12x03 Episode 3
Being the extended episode they skipped before, including a whole extra round.
1x08 Episode 8
A particularly anarchic edition, for some reason.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Once Upon a Time
1x01 Pilot
The big new US fantasy series (that may be a rip-off of Fables (I haven't read that so can't say with certainty, but the concept is certainly similar)) finally reaches our shores. It's quite good. The fantasy/fairytale world is a bit too stock American-vision-of-European-folklore, rendered with all the usual made-for-US-TV cheap CGI and whatnot, but it could be worse. As a whole episode, there's an awful lot of setup and exposition here. There's promise though, so we'll see.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Room 101: Extra Storage
12x03 Episode 3
Being the extended episode they skipped before, including a whole extra round.
Films
Repo Chick (2009)
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
I was going to follow this with The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, which was on 15 minutes later on Film4, but then BBC Two allowed the golf to overrun by 20 minutes and my plans were scuppered. Damn you sport!
And if I'd known it would turn up on iPlayer... Grr.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
I was going to follow this with The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, which was on 15 minutes later on Film4, but then BBC Two allowed the golf to overrun by 20 minutes and my plans were scuppered. Damn you sport!
And if I'd known it would turn up on iPlayer... Grr.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Comics
Aquaman #7 by Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis
If there weren't such lengthy fights there'd be more room for story. Maybe that's part of the aim. Quite good fights, mind, especially the later ones, but maybe losing a page from each to make room for two or three extra pages of plot would be nice.
Justice League #7 by Geoff Johns & Gene Ha
After the six-part "origins of the Justice League" opening story, we now jump forward five years to the present day of the DCU to find out the current status quo. Which is largely what this is about -- establishing things. At least it has the courtesy to call itself a prologue.
Plus, the introduction of back-up strip Shazam!, written by Johns and drawn by Gary Frank, which is even more setup-y than the main story. It does make the whole issue feel rather half-hearted. I'm sure lots of work must go into it, as ever, but telling two stories that are less stories and more setup for stories is kinda disappointing.
If there weren't such lengthy fights there'd be more room for story. Maybe that's part of the aim. Quite good fights, mind, especially the later ones, but maybe losing a page from each to make room for two or three extra pages of plot would be nice.
Justice League #7 by Geoff Johns & Gene Ha
After the six-part "origins of the Justice League" opening story, we now jump forward five years to the present day of the DCU to find out the current status quo. Which is largely what this is about -- establishing things. At least it has the courtesy to call itself a prologue.
Plus, the introduction of back-up strip Shazam!, written by Johns and drawn by Gary Frank, which is even more setup-y than the main story. It does make the whole issue feel rather half-hearted. I'm sure lots of work must go into it, as ever, but telling two stories that are less stories and more setup for stories is kinda disappointing.
this week on 100 Films
1 new review was posted to 100 Films in a Year this week. It's Easter, so here's a film about Jesus...
Nativity! (2009)
More next Sunday.
Nativity! (2009)
it’s kind of a daft plot, really. It’s played relatively straight and realist, but it goes off that beaten track at times. Which I suppose is fine — why not, after all? No one promised grim social realism — it’s a Christmas family film, with some moral messages and a sort of romance and sweet kids and a cute dog. And regular readers know how much I love a cute dog.Read more on my new blog or my classic blog.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
TV
Game of Thrones
1x07 You Win or You Die
1x08 The Pointy End
Now that's what I call a twist! Um, at the end of You Win or You Die, that is; though The Pointy End has its fair share of surprises, and a cliffhanger-ish ending all of its own. Ned Stark may be the only honourable man in the whole of Westeros, and it looks like that will do him no favours.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x06 Episode 6
1x07 Episode 7
[Watch episodes six and seven (again) on iPlayer.]
Perspectives
2x02 Lenny Henry: Finding Shakespeare
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
The Voice UK
1x03 The Blind Auditions 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
1x07 You Win or You Die
1x08 The Pointy End
Now that's what I call a twist! Um, at the end of You Win or You Die, that is; though The Pointy End has its fair share of surprises, and a cliffhanger-ish ending all of its own. Ned Stark may be the only honourable man in the whole of Westeros, and it looks like that will do him no favours.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x06 Episode 6
1x07 Episode 7
[Watch episodes six and seven (again) on iPlayer.]
Perspectives
2x02 Lenny Henry: Finding Shakespeare
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
The Voice UK
1x03 The Blind Auditions 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Comics
All Star Western #7 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti & Moritat
Excellent as ever. Moritat's art is better than I feel some would give him credit for.
Plus a back-up strip starring Western superheroes Nighthawk and Cinnamon, drawn by Patrick Scherberger, giving the former some Batman-esque roots.
Excellent as ever. Moritat's art is better than I feel some would give him credit for.
Plus a back-up strip starring Western superheroes Nighthawk and Cinnamon, drawn by Patrick Scherberger, giving the former some Batman-esque roots.
Friday, 6 April 2012
TV
Archer
3x04 The Man From Jupiter
Being the episode they should've shown last week (note, however, that the Demand 5 URLs are completely wrong, and I guess will be until episode nine). No one corrected the continuity announcer though (who last week definitely introduced this episode, and with this week's not-quite-matching intro was presumably describing next week's episode).
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Game of Thrones
1x06 A Golden Crown
A pivotal episode, this -- I knew so going in, thanks to it being the subject of a picture-in-picture "Anatomy of an Episode" feature on the Blu-ray (on top of having a regular commentary track), which is regularly stated because it's so important. (It also manages to take up an entire disc, and the Anatomy feature makes it eight minutes longer -- maybe it's just separately encoded rather than a genuine PiP thing? Anyway, doesn't really matter.) It is quite pivotal -- the final scene in particular resolves a major plot -- but perhaps no more so than the preceding episode, although by dealing with the fallout from that it nails a lot of colours to masts. Still, s'all great stuff.
Onion News Network
2x06 Today! Now! Special
Different. Still funny. Who knew ONN would end up having arc plots and stuff?
Pointless
4x10 (25/3/11 edition)
3x04 The Man From Jupiter
Being the episode they should've shown last week (note, however, that the Demand 5 URLs are completely wrong, and I guess will be until episode nine). No one corrected the continuity announcer though (who last week definitely introduced this episode, and with this week's not-quite-matching intro was presumably describing next week's episode).
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Game of Thrones
1x06 A Golden Crown
A pivotal episode, this -- I knew so going in, thanks to it being the subject of a picture-in-picture "Anatomy of an Episode" feature on the Blu-ray (on top of having a regular commentary track), which is regularly stated because it's so important. (It also manages to take up an entire disc, and the Anatomy feature makes it eight minutes longer -- maybe it's just separately encoded rather than a genuine PiP thing? Anyway, doesn't really matter.) It is quite pivotal -- the final scene in particular resolves a major plot -- but perhaps no more so than the preceding episode, although by dealing with the fallout from that it nails a lot of colours to masts. Still, s'all great stuff.
Onion News Network
2x06 Today! Now! Special
Different. Still funny. Who knew ONN would end up having arc plots and stuff?
Pointless
4x10 (25/3/11 edition)
Comics
Daredevil #9 & #10 by Mark Waid & Paolo Rivera
One of the best comics currently going has another strong two-parter, with a great standalone story (nice twists) and moving forward the on-going plot too (more nice twists). Waid's engrossing storytelling is complimented by Rivera's exceptional art, which renders action excitingly and dynamically, and pulls off feats like conveying emotion and indecision just through a series of close-ups on a hand. Simply fantastic stuff all round.
Uncanny X-Men #9 by Kieron Gillen & Carlos Pacheco
Blah. Not bad, just not that interesting either. Which is why I'm skipping AvX -- if it's any good, I'll find out and just read it after. The 7-page preview of #1 included here is a bit promising, though.
One of the best comics currently going has another strong two-parter, with a great standalone story (nice twists) and moving forward the on-going plot too (more nice twists). Waid's engrossing storytelling is complimented by Rivera's exceptional art, which renders action excitingly and dynamically, and pulls off feats like conveying emotion and indecision just through a series of close-ups on a hand. Simply fantastic stuff all round.
Uncanny X-Men #9 by Kieron Gillen & Carlos Pacheco
Blah. Not bad, just not that interesting either. Which is why I'm skipping AvX -- if it's any good, I'll find out and just read it after. The 7-page preview of #1 included here is a bit promising, though.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Once again, nothing new to report. I'm trying to be good about buying stuff, see. Lots of new releases from the 2011's winter season coming out later this month and through May and June though, so once that comes around the numbers will be bolstered. If I can work out where to order them from -- everything's inundated with exclusive Steelbooks and/or prices rising by a quid or two at the better sites, which is annoying.
Number of titles in collection: 1,459 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,149 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 310 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,616 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,548 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,449 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Once again, nothing new to report. I'm trying to be good about buying stuff, see. Lots of new releases from the 2011's winter season coming out later this month and through May and June though, so once that comes around the numbers will be bolstered. If I can work out where to order them from -- everything's inundated with exclusive Steelbooks and/or prices rising by a quid or two at the better sites, which is annoying.
Number of titles in collection: 1,459 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,149 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 310 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,616 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,548 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,449 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
TV
Dirk Gently
1x03 Episode 3
Some fans of the books have criticised this series for not including enough science fiction elements. I can see their point. But despite that, it's still jolly good. More please.
Game of Thrones
1x04 Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things
1x05 The Wolf and the Lion
The first time I decide to watch a two back to back and they make an exceptionally good double bill, with plenty of plots and subplots continuing directly on at this point. Cripples... is still a lot of talking and exposition, but things really begin to heat up as the series reaches the halfway point in The Wolf and the Lion. It's really addictive now too -- I could well imagine watching most or all of it in a single sitting. But no, I shouldn't burn through it too fast -- there's not enough of it for that.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
1x03 Episode 3
Some fans of the books have criticised this series for not including enough science fiction elements. I can see their point. But despite that, it's still jolly good. More please.
Game of Thrones
1x04 Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things
1x05 The Wolf and the Lion
The first time I decide to watch a two back to back and they make an exceptionally good double bill, with plenty of plots and subplots continuing directly on at this point. Cripples... is still a lot of talking and exposition, but things really begin to heat up as the series reaches the halfway point in The Wolf and the Lion. It's really addictive now too -- I could well imagine watching most or all of it in a single sitting. But no, I shouldn't burn through it too fast -- there's not enough of it for that.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
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