Collection Count

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

Six new purchases this week, including a DVD-to-BD upgrade, a BD-to-4K upgrade, and four fresh Blu-rays.

Number of titles in collection: 2,198 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,134 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,064 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 23 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,698 [up 8]
Number of films: 2,516 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [up 4]
Number of short films: 654 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Deadwood
2x06 Something Very Expensive

The Twilight Zone
3x24 To Serve Man
The top episode according to IMDb users seemed to pack more of a punch to me, even if it's main success lies in waiting 25 minutes for a killer punchline.

DVD Extras

Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create - Sanjuro
As I watched all of Yojimbo's extras when I watched the film (apart from the audio commentary), here I am settling up with Sanjuro's. Yes, I've been meaning to watch this since I watched that film 9 months ago -- where does time go?!

TV

Deadwood
2x05 Complications (Formerly "Difficulties")
+ the audio commentary by exec producer, and director of this episode, Gregg Fienberg.

The Twilight Zone
1x22 The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
With a new revival on the way, Screen Crush published a ranking of all 156 episodes of the original series. I've always meant to watch some, so now seemed like a good time. This was their #1 pick. It was good, though it felt like a familiar analogy I've seen before. Maybe everyone was copying this.

Films

You Were Never Really Here (2017)
[#45 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
2x04 Requiem for a Gleet

+ the audio commentary on episode three by creator David Milch, which includes a chunk where he explains the thinking behind a scene from the pilot!

TV

Deadwood
2x03 New Money

+ the commentary on episode one by Molly Parker and Anna Gunn. Several episodes this season have more than one commentary, so I'm going to be a bit out of sync with those at times.

Films

Upgrade (2018)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
2x01 A Lie Agreed Upon Part I [2nd watch]
2x02 A Lie Agreed Upon Part II

I always find it fascinating when series that are one long narrative decide to label a pair of episodes a two-parter, because why? Why are these two episodes deemed halves of a whole when every episode is one sliver of the bigger whole? Often it feels like there’s no compelling reason why those two episodes are titled to imply they should be considered as one (though I can’t think of any specific examples right now). As for this two-parter, at the end of the first half it seemed to confirm my suspicion that was the case again, but as part two took shape it became clear it was indeed still dealing with the specific events of part one, rather than things that shape the overall season. So, fair enough.

Plus I listened to the audio commentary on Part I by Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane. Early on, Olyphant notes he’s received letters complaining that their commentary on season one was not informative enough, and so the pair resolve to make this commentary... even less informative. I'd say they succeed, but it's funny along the way.

Films

Brigsby Bear (2017)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Samaritan Zatoichi (1968)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
1x12 Sold Under Sin [season finale; 2nd watch]

+ the audio commentary by stars Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane, which is perhaps the least genuinely informative of the season, but once they warm up it is quite irreverently fun.

this week on 100 Films

You could say this is the "last fortnight on 100 Films in a Year" because I didn't post an update last week, but that's because there was nothing to report! In the last week, though, there have been 6 new reviews...


Deadpool 2: Super Duper $@%!#& Cut (2018)

It runs almost 15 minutes longer than the theatrical cut... The Blu-ray’s scene selection menu offers an indication of which chapters feature new material, and the answer is “most of them” — those 15 minutes are spread relatively thinly throughout almost the entire film. There are a handful of wholly new scenes (as many as ten, depending how you count it), most of them quite short (one is under nine seconds), a couple of extended fight sequences, and then lots of added lines here and there. Plus there’s a smattering of gags that have been changed for alternatives.

Read more here.


Free Solo (2018)

“Anyone can be happy and cosy. Nothing good happens in the world by being happy and cosy.” So says Alex Honnold, the subject of this documentary, when discussing the different approaches to life of his girlfriend, who he thinks wants to be “happy and cosy”, and himself, who seeks perfection in extreme endeavour. It’s as succinct a summation of his attitude to life as any in this Oscar-winning documentary.

Read more here.


Mandy (2018)

Mandy is today’s premiere on Sky Cinema, which feels like an ill fit to me. Maybe I’m being unfair, but I always feel like Sky Cinema (and by extension its viewer base) is much more focused around mainstream blockbuster kind of movies, especially for a Saturday premiere. Instead, it feels like Mandy should be making its TV debut on Film4 at about 11pm in the middle of the week. I can see some tuning in expecting a violent revenge action-thriller and giving up after a few minutes of its particular weirdness. For those on its wavelength, however, it’s an experience (and it’s definitely an experience) that’s thrilling in very a different way.

Read more here.


Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Princess Mononoke's original Japanese trailers emphasise that it’s “13 years after Nausicaä”, which intrigued me, because director Hayao Miyazaki had made plenty of other films in between. But, having watched the earlier movie, the connection and similarities become clear: Nausicaä features an ecological message, a threat from nature that isn’t, industrial humans (with a female general) being the actual villains, innocent townsfolk that need saving, a princess who’s the only one who understands, and a boy from a different kingdom who helps her. They’re not identical, of course, but there’s a lot of overlap…

Read more here.


Princess Mononoke (1997)

Miyazaki has imagined a very lyrical and meaningful story, about nature vs industry, and their possible coexistence. The theme isn’t exactly subtle in the film, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t well portrayed. He’s populated the narrative with interesting characters, too. There’s little easy right or wrong here, with those on all sides coming across as nuanced individuals, with complicated relationships.

Read more here.


Triple Frontier (2019)

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but I think some of the commentary dismissing it as mere standard fare has done it some disservice. As a heist/action movie it’s more than competent, with some turns and developments that keep it surprising and fresh, and visuals that reward seeing it on the best-quality screen you can.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Deadwood
1x11 Jewel's Boot is Made for Walking [2nd watch]

Films

Downsizing (2017)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

The Italian Job (1969)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

The Italian Job (2003)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #11

The original Italian Job is so gloriously '60s — irreverent, mischievous, anarchic — but I do enjoy the blockbuster slickness of the remake as well.

Collection Count

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

This week's additions include the latest Doctor Who: The Collection box set release, covering season 18. For the first time in this range, it allows me to ditch the DVD copies of every story in the season (as they go about these re-releases they're moving some of the old special features around, so I'm hanging on to some DVDs just in case they never finish the project and I still want those extras). For similar reasons, it also allows me to get rid of a DVD that was rereleased in a different Blu-ray box set, meaning the net total of TV episodes actually goes down a little.

I also acquired two new film Blu-rays, which altogether sends the numbers into the following tizzy of varying ups and downs...

Number of titles in collection: 2,193 [down 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,135 [down 4]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,058 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 22 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,690 [up 3]
Number of films: 2,512 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,423 [down 3]
Number of short films: 654 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Deadwood
1x10 Mister Wu [2nd watch]

TV

Deadwood
1x09 No Other Sons or Daughters [2nd watch]

Films

Deadpool 2: Super Duper $@%!#& Cut (2018)
[#39a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
You could say "2nd watch", because I'd already seen the theatrical cut.

TV

Deadwood
1x08 Suffer the Little Children [2nd watch]

Films

Holmes & Watson (2018)
[#38 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Triple Frontier (2019)
[#39 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]