TV

His Dark Materials
3x05 No Way Out
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
1x07 Week 2: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

The Snowman: The Film That Changed Christmas
A nice mix of making-of history and retrospective about the film’s impact and enduring appeal.
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Films

Tim Minchin: Back (2022)
Not strictly "a film" — it's a comedy special... except it's not really a "comedy special", because what Minchin does isn't standup or even just "funny songs"... so, cabaret? Feels reductive. Anyway, whatever it is, this particular recording of this particular show did, in fact, get a theatrical release, so that makes it "a film" in that sense.

More review-like thoughts on Letterboxd.

TV

Ghosts
4x03 The Hardest Word
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
3x04 Lyra and Her Death
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Only Connect
18s02 Mystery: Endeavours v Whodunnits
Appropriate viewing the same day as Knives Out. And I actually got more than one question right! Wonders will never cease.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
1x06 Week 2: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Knives Out (2019)
[3rd watch]

In my experience, most murder mysteries struggle to stand up to repeat viewings, or even remakes; and that applies to some of the greats. Once you know who did it and how, watching it again and again is just an exercise in ever-diminishing returns. Not so Knives Out. If anything, I’ve enjoyed it more each time I’ve watched it, catching all the little bits of fun dialogue and neat nuances in the performances. Remarkable.

Also, finally showed it to my partner, a big murder mystery fan (reads tonnes of them, watches tonnes of them, etc, but for whatever reason we’ve just not found the right time for this one until now), and she thought it was great too. Hurrah!

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2022
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium
[Watch it (again) on Disney+.]

His Dark Materials
3x03 The Intention Craft
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
1x05 Week 1: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Ghosts
4x02 Speak as Ye Choose
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
13x11 The Great Christmas Bake Off 2022
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

His Dark Materials
3x02 The Break
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
1x04 Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

The Rookie
4x15 Hit List

TV

Blankety Blank
2x10 Christmas Special [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Christmas Comedy Club with Lost Voice Guy (2022)
They did one of these last year, and on ITVX there's no way to differentiate between the two (other than reading the full blurb, which lists the guests; and then to know whether you're watching 2021's or 2022's, you'd have to know who appeared on each). In other words: ITVX still has some work to do.
[Watch it (again) on ITVX.]

Luke Evans: Showtime
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Only Connect
18s01 Christmas: Polyhymnians v Channel Islanders
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
1x03 Week 1: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Wonderland: The Story of Christmas

this week on 100Films.co.uk

Firstly, as it's Christmas Day, a short seasonal message from 100Films.co.uk...




Aside from that, the big news this week was that I've officially given up on the eponymous challenge for this year. More on that here...


Abandoning the 100 Films Challenge 2022

Why? When I’m so close and it seems so possible, why? Well, it may look doable on paper, but it isn’t in real life. Not this particular real life, for me, here in 2022. Not for any grand or scary reason; just simple scheduling.

Read more here.


Aside from that, 5 new reviews were posted...


2022 | Week 35

Featuring...
- Mona Lisa (1986)
- Mirror (1975)
- Clerks (1995)
- Persuasion (2022)
- He Walked by Night (1948)

Read more here.


More next Sunday... although, as that's New Year's Day, maybe not.

TV

Blankety Blank
2x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A Ghost Story for Christmas
Count Magnus
Not a bad little spooky tale, but I made the mistake of watching it right after the Inside No. 9 special, which was so excellent and clever and well-made that, I’m sorry to say, it made this look lesser is every respect by comparison.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
3x01 The Enchanted Sleeper
Doesn't feel like two whole years since the last season of this. It took me a few minutes to settle back into some elements of the story, and it feels a bit like this episode was scene-setting for where future instalments will go, but it also promises some interesting things. And I love the theme music. Great to have it back; going to be sad when it ends.
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
30x09 Christmas Special

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
1x02 Week 1: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

This Cultural Life
2x03 Tim Minchin
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Normally this week would also have the next monthly running time update, but as next week's post will be on (or just after) December 31st, I'm going to leave it until then, to include all the end-of-year increases too.

As for normal business... some of my long-delayed orders finally turned up, just before the pre-Christmas post cutoff! Hurrah! There's a good few packages of stuff still stuck somewhere, but I guess that's to be expected (especially as several of them are coming from the US). So long as they turn up eventually, that's all that really matters.

In terms of what did arrive, it's enough to make for an above-average week in most stats, and a blazer of an increase in one figure in particular. Y'see, this week's single biggest addition is also an oddity: a new DVD! (But the DVD count stays the same because I upgraded something else to 4K.) It's Network's box set of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series of British '60s B-movies. The 47-film complete series set adds 20 discs and 54 films to my tallies (because it includes seven bonus films made around the same time). Not many single sets are so large. With a running time of over two solid days, it'll certainly have a significant impact on next week's update...

Number of titles in collection: 2,987 [up 10]
Of which DVDs: 1,039 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,948 [up 10]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 221 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 7,392 [up 33]
Number of films: 3,644 [up 62]
Number of additional cuts: 296 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,508 [up 10]
Number of short films: 1,025 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Blankety Blank
2x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
4x01 Happy Holiday
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Father
1x07 Rivka Rebel

Inside No. 9
8x01 The Bones of St. Nicholas [Christmas special]
Only the second episode of Inside No. 9 I've watched, and I thought it was fantastic — a proper spooky ghost story for Christmas. I really should go back and catch up on the whole series.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's Festive House of Games
1x01 Week 1: Monday
The regular House of Games (as opposed to the prime time version, right? But this isn't really a third version...) gets a Christmassy makeover for the next two weeks. And the modifications go slightly beyond slapping sleigh bells over the theme and a tree in the corner, so that's nice.
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

The Rookie
4x14 Long Shot

TV

Cunk on Christmas
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

House of the Dragon
1x10 The Black Queen [season finale]
I've been too busy trying to finish my 100 Films Challenge to get round to this finale; but having abandoned that, well, now I have time. And it was worth the wait — which will hopefully be true of season two, too, because I really want to know what happens next but that's a couple of years away.

TV

Live at the Apollo
17x01 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mystery Science Theater 3000
Jackbox Holiday Showdown: Hosts vs Mads
I haven't watched any MST3K since September (oops), leaving me with almost half (6 out of 13) of the current season still to watch (oops). And the finale is a Christmas special, too, so by the time I get round to that in, like, June it'll be thoroughly out of date. Or maybe it'll take me all of 2023 to get caught up and I'll just watch it a year late, who knows? Anyway, this isn't an episode, either, but a livestream special in which the cast compete at Christmas-themed party games. Fun times.
[Watch it (for free) on the Gizmoplex.]

QI
20x09 Toys, Tinsel, and Turkeys (XL version) [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Morecambe & Wise Show
6x07 Christmas Show 1971
I'm sure I saw various Morecambe and Wise Christmas specials when I was growing up in the '90s, but I have no idea which ones specifically; and, of course, there are routines in this one (not least "Andrew Preview") that have been repeated on numerous clip shows, so I've definitely seen them there. Anyway, whether I've seen this before or not, I didn't intend to watch it this evening, but got sucked in because it's so good — the comedy is timeless. Funny to think, though: when Shirley Bassey turns up and sings Diamonds Are Forever, she's not perfoming some old classic from her back catalogue (what we now know it as), but her then-recent single. Weird.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Russell Howard Hour
6x13 Christmas Special
Not the whole show, just the bit with Garth Marenghi. Worth it.

Scouting for Toys
1x09 Karl Lagerfeld
1x10 Barbie [season finale]
[Watch the series (again) on UKTV Play.]

Collection Count

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

At this point I've thoroughly lost count of how much stuff I'm expecting by when — some has arrived; lots hasn't; some has arrived but had to go back, or wait for a replacement; new stuff has been ordered, and arrived, or not...! I am keeping track of it all, order by order, just to make sure stuff arrives (or that I'm chasing stuff that hasn't), but I've lost track of what the total is in terms of the number I've been citing in these updates.

In the end, just two new titles did turn up this week (with around 17 more that I seriously thought might but didn't, and more still in the post that will take some time to get here (a trio from Australia that were only dispatched yesterday, for example)). One of those was a BD-to-4K upgrade, too; so despite the fact that I'm expecting an absolute tonne of stuff (and have been expecting some of it for three weeks or more now), this week's update is rather meagre...

Number of titles in collection: 2,977 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,039 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,938 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 218 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 7,359 [up 2]
Number of films: 3,582 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 296 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,498 [up 7]
Number of short films: 1,024 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Mr. Soft Touch (1949)
[#89 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Films

Jackass 3D (2010)
[#88 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
Like Saw 3D, although I watched this in 2D, it's still called Jackass 3D. (It's never had a true-3D disc release. I thought I'd found a copy to download, but it turned out to be faked.)

TV

Mock the Week
20x10 (2/12/2021 edition)
20x11 (9/12/2021 edition)
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
2022/23 Episode 16
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

The Wheel
3x06 Episode 6
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes (1948)
[#87 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]