Articles

Skyfall poster: New James Bond movie unveils teaser image
by Simon Reynolds (from Digital Spy)
Trailer soon! Yay!

Click to enlarge.

TV

Archer
3x09 Bloody Ferlin
Will we get episode 11 next week? Or 12? Or some other? Who can tell! Not 5*, apparently.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Die Walküre
[2nd half]
Seven hours down, only nine to go...

Have I Got News For You
43x05 (11/5/12 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

House
8x20 Post Mortem
Another great episode, I thought. Which is good because there's only two more to go...

Comics

Uncanny X-Men #10 by Kieron Gillen, Carlos Pacheco & Paco Diaz

This was the last issue before Uncanny went all AvX-y, so it's the last one I intended to read until that great big six-month crossover finished. I'd been thinking about ditching this anyway so it didn't feel like a hardship. But it ends on an intriguing note, the whole issue building into a crossover that had felt exploitatively pointless but now is interesting -- and now I want to know what happens!

But God, AvX is going to be expensive: at £2.65 an issue (+ p&p) it's over £40 for the main series alone, never mind the extra issues of Uncanny involved (and that's ignoring any other tie-in series or one-shots, like the #0 issue and AvX: Vs). And after a bit of reading on some sites apparently it's not very good actually. So maybe I won't bother after all. Or just read it on the sly like a very naughty boy.

Articles

First Trailer For US Sherlock Holmes Show Elementary And Official Blurb
by Brendon Connelly (from Bleeding Cool)
It doesn't look bad, but that character isn't Sherlock Holmes, he's just Generic Autistic Spectrum Detective. But what can you really tell from a couple of minutes? We'll see.

TV

Die Walküre
[1st half]
La Fura dels Baus' 2007 staging of the second opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle (currently showing weekly on Sky Arts 2). I'm enjoying it, but I still can't handle 4½ hours of opera in a single sitting, hence only watching half.
Five hours down, only eleven to go...

Mad Men
5x08 Lady Lazarus
I laughed at this far more than it strictly deserved:

The Making of the Ring
2 Die Walküre (of 4)
Second of four half-hours looking behind the scenes of La Fura dels Baus' production.

Pointless
4x24 (14/4/11 edition)

TV

Castle
2x12 A Rose for Everafter
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Grandma's House
2x04 The day Simon was really determined to heal his Grandma's pain
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Matt Lucas Awards
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Not Going Out
5x05 Examination
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Once Upon a Time
1x06 The Shepherd
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

The Voice UK
1x12 Results Show 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Articles

Weekend Report: Avengers Shatters More Records, Shadows Mostly Sucks
by Ray Subers (from Box Office Mojo)

Marvel's superhero team-up fell 50 percent to an estimated $103.2 million, which is by-far the best second weekend ever... It also topped The Dark Knight for best second weekend hold for a movie that opened to more than $120 million. Other new records include fastest movie to $300 million and $350 million, and highest eight-day, nine-day, and ten-day grosses...

It's now inevitable that the movie will finish above $500 million, and it should also claim third place on the all-time [domestic] chart

this week on 100 Films

Two new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (2010)

Stan “The Man” Lee is indeed The Man when it comes to the world of comic books. In the 1960s he revolutionised the medium in the US, introducing complex and realistic characters to a world that had previously focused on perfect super-humans. In a period of just two years he co-created the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man and the X-Men, and after that rejuvenated Captain America (cancelled a decade earlier) for a modern audience. If there’s anyone in the comic world deserving of a dedicated feature-length documentary, it’s Stan Lee

Read more on my new blog or my classic blog.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

You need some pretty fine talent to replace two of our greatest actors — Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, of course — and in Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy you certainly have that. Fassbender carries much of the emotional weight of the film, but it’s thanks to McAvoy’s support that the film is lifted to a higher level. He provides calm, humour and fundamental decency to balance Fassbender’s rage and emotion.

Read more on my new blog or my classic blog.

More next Sunday.

TV

Episodes
2x01 Episode 1
Hurrah for the return of Episodes! I enjoyed the first series, in spite of the apparently endless criticism it got, and I enjoyed this very much too.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
1x11 Live Show 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
6x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Horrible Histories
4x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
4x22 So Long, and Thanks for All the Red Snapper
Nice Hitchhikers-referencing title. Shame the rest of the episode wasn't up to a great deal -- lots of good bits and ideas, actually, but somehow it came to much less than the sum of its parts.
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 18th May.]

Collection Count

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

A few updates this week. I'd thought it would be a few more, but those three things were posted yesterday and will probably now populate next week's update. So there you go.

Number of titles in collection: 1,476 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,153 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 323 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 3,674 [up 7]
Number of films in collection: 1,563 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,479 [up 6]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Have I Got News For You
43x04 (4/5/12 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Maestro at the Opera
Episode 1 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Noel's Are You Smarter Than Your 10 Year Old?
3x04 Episode 4
3x05 Episode 5
I... well... yeah.

Films

The Lion King (1994)
[goodness-knows-what-th +1 watch]

TV

The Graham Norton Show
11x01 (13/4/12 edition)

Not Going Out
5x04 Running
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Weekend Report: Avengers Smashes Records
by Ray Subers (from Box Office Mojo)

The superhero team-up got off to an unprecedented $207.4 million start this weekend, which obliterates the previous all-time weekend record set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last Summer ($169.2 million)…

It was the fastest movie ever to reach $100 million, $150 million, and $200 million, and it set new records for Saturday ($69.6 million) and Sunday ($57.1 million) grosses…

[It] has already grossed more than Thor ($181 million), Captain America: The First Avenger ($176.6 million) and The Incredible Hulk ($134.8 million). It's still behind Iron Man and Iron Man 2 ($318.4 million and $312.4 million, respectively), though it should pass those movies next weekend.

Wow.

TV

Castle
2x11 The Fifth Bullet
Guest starring Buffy's Marc Blucas, House's Anne Dudek and 24's Carlo Rota. Why so many recognisable faces all at once? Who knows.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Das Rheingold
La Fura dels Baus' 2007 staging of the first opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle (currently showing weekly on Sky Arts 2). I'm no opera expert (far from it), but this is a pretty amazing spectacle, full of giant robot-like creatures and sci-fi imagery on huge video screens, amongst other incredible feats. Plus highly dramatic music and an engrossing fantasy/mythical story. I really enjoyed it.
Three hours down, only 13 to go...

Grandma's House
2x03 The day Simon attempted to express actual feelings just like a person
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mad Men
5x07 At the Codfish Ball

The Making of the Ring
1 Das Rheingold (of 4)
First of four half-hours looking behind the scenes of La Fura dels Baus' production. Worth it for the look at the incredible free live show staged outside their stunning opera house during performances of the operas.

Pointless
4x23 (13/4/11 edition)
I got all 12 in round two! Woo!

TV

Once Upon a Time
1x05 That Still Small Voice
Oh, a daft real-world plot and a decent fairy-tale-world one! Makes a change.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Pointless Celebrities
2x04 (5/5/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
2x02 Silent Voices
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Voice UK
1x10 Live Show 2 Results
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Negotiator (1998)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]