Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
[#31 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
Blindspot 2025 #3
Thursday, 20 March 2025
Comics
Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
#227 Apocalypse
I’ve been intending to read this classic Daredevil storyline for a while — I bought my copy before the character rights had even reverted to Marvel, meaning the entirety of Daredevil: The TV Series’s conception, production, popularity, cancellation, and Disney+ revival (which, of course, borrows its subtitle from here) has occurred since this was put on my shelf. Yes, that’s ridiculous. Even worse: there are dozens, possibly hundreds, of other books that it’s just as true for. (Comics in particular: I bought this as part of Hachette’s The Ultimate Marvel Graphic Novel Collection, from which I own 50 volumes, and before this I’d read… one. I’m terrible.)
Anyway, it's off to a strong start. They sure did make comics bleak in the ’80s!
#227 Apocalypse
I’ve been intending to read this classic Daredevil storyline for a while — I bought my copy before the character rights had even reverted to Marvel, meaning the entirety of Daredevil: The TV Series’s conception, production, popularity, cancellation, and Disney+ revival (which, of course, borrows its subtitle from here) has occurred since this was put on my shelf. Yes, that’s ridiculous. Even worse: there are dozens, possibly hundreds, of other books that it’s just as true for. (Comics in particular: I bought this as part of Hachette’s The Ultimate Marvel Graphic Novel Collection, from which I own 50 volumes, and before this I’d read… one. I’m terrible.)
Anyway, it's off to a strong start. They sure did make comics bleak in the ’80s!
Videos
Critical Role
2x95 Blessing in Disguise [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x95 Blessing in Disguise [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Videos
Critical Role
2x94 With Great Power... [2nd half]
With this episode, I'm two-thirds of the way through Campaign 2. It took me 6 months to reach one-third, and another 6½ to reach two-thirds, which suggests a fairly consistent pace overall (I slowed down towards the end of last year, explaining why it's taken slightly longer, but I've picked up again in 2025). So, assuming that continues, I should finish Campaign 2 around September or October. Will that be before they start Campaign 4? Seems doubtful, but (for various reasons) I do think it's going to be a while away yet, so maaaaybe. That said, do I even need to finish C2 before starting C4? With Campaign 3 being such a major "end of an era" piece, C4 is certain to be some kind of fresh start, so perhaps I'll just watch it alongside finishing C2. I'm sure I can manage to follow multiple campaigns at once. Whatever — it's all just speculation for now; I'll make a decision when the time arrives.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x94 With Great Power... [2nd half]
With this episode, I'm two-thirds of the way through Campaign 2. It took me 6 months to reach one-third, and another 6½ to reach two-thirds, which suggests a fairly consistent pace overall (I slowed down towards the end of last year, explaining why it's taken slightly longer, but I've picked up again in 2025). So, assuming that continues, I should finish Campaign 2 around September or October. Will that be before they start Campaign 4? Seems doubtful, but (for various reasons) I do think it's going to be a while away yet, so maaaaybe. That said, do I even need to finish C2 before starting C4? With Campaign 3 being such a major "end of an era" piece, C4 is certain to be some kind of fresh start, so perhaps I'll just watch it alongside finishing C2. I'm sure I can manage to follow multiple campaigns at once. Whatever — it's all just speculation for now; I'll make a decision when the time arrives.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Monday, 17 March 2025
Sunday, 16 March 2025
Fiction
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
3 A Case of Identity
Following the first two novels (A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four), Adventures is the first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories; it's also the one I've read most of, but not completed. So, rather than return to jumping around through the canon's highlights, I thought I'd polish this off first. (After this book is done, I'll see how I feel about where I go next.)
3 A Case of Identity
Following the first two novels (A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four), Adventures is the first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories; it's also the one I've read most of, but not completed. So, rather than return to jumping around through the canon's highlights, I thought I'd polish this off first. (After this book is done, I'll see how I feel about where I go next.)
Comics
Exceptional X-Men
#4 by Eve L. Ewing & Carmen Carnero
#5 by Eve L. Ewing & Carmen Carnero
Swords: The Adventures of Quest Sprout
by Matthew J. Wills
I discovered Swords when I joined Bluesky. It's a free online comic, but I bought this zine that compiles (some of) the adventures of Quest Sprout because (a) support creators, and (b) Quest Sprout is adorable.
#4 by Eve L. Ewing & Carmen Carnero
#5 by Eve L. Ewing & Carmen Carnero
Swords: The Adventures of Quest Sprout
by Matthew J. Wills
I discovered Swords when I joined Bluesky. It's a free online comic, but I bought this zine that compiles (some of) the adventures of Quest Sprout because (a) support creators, and (b) Quest Sprout is adorable.
Saturday, 15 March 2025
Fiction
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Chapters 43–53
Epilogue [the end]
The final twist strays a little too far into the realm of coincidence for my taste, but it's a solid read overall. Would I have seen all the other twists coming if I hadn't had it flagged to me as having an incredible, makes-you-want-to-reread-it twist? Maybe not, and maybe it would've been better for that. Such is the risk when you tell someone "this has a great twist!"
Chapters 43–53
Epilogue [the end]
The final twist strays a little too far into the realm of coincidence for my taste, but it's a solid read overall. Would I have seen all the other twists coming if I hadn't had it flagged to me as having an incredible, makes-you-want-to-reread-it twist? Maybe not, and maybe it would've been better for that. Such is the risk when you tell someone "this has a great twist!"
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
It's the second quiet week in a row, this one even quieter than the last. Next week, however, should be fairly busy (not close to a record-breaker, just averagely excessive), assuming all my preorders due on Monday 24th arrive early (this week, one did and one did not).
Number of titles in collection: 3,486 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 987 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,499 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 443 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,399 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,420 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 439 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,879 [up 8]
Number of short films: 1,225 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
It's the second quiet week in a row, this one even quieter than the last. Next week, however, should be fairly busy (not close to a record-breaker, just averagely excessive), assuming all my preorders due on Monday 24th arrive early (this week, one did and one did not).
Number of titles in collection: 3,486 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 987 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,499 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 443 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,399 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,420 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 439 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,879 [up 8]
Number of short films: 1,225 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 14 March 2025
Thursday, 13 March 2025
Videos
Critical Role
2x93 Misery Loves Company [2nd half]
"Laura. Fucking. Bailey." This episode climaxes with one of the things everyone talks about from Campaign 2: Jester vs the hag. Often, when you reach famous moments like that in a series, they struggle to live up to expectations. This one is still brilliant, in part thanks to the reactions of the other eight people at the table (as Liam says, "so obviously, in the moment, a legendary moment of this campaign." And Taliesin's face, in particular, is all over the place throughout.) Even beyond Laura's stuff, everyone's interviews with the hag are fantastic and character-revealing, which makes this a great episode.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#140 'Misery Loves Company'
After an episode that really showcased Laura, Marisha, and Matt, we get... Taliesin and Ashley. I love 'em, but c'mon. (They did have Laura and Marisha last time which, with hindsight, feels like a Big Mistake.)
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
2x93 Misery Loves Company [2nd half]
"Laura. Fucking. Bailey." This episode climaxes with one of the things everyone talks about from Campaign 2: Jester vs the hag. Often, when you reach famous moments like that in a series, they struggle to live up to expectations. This one is still brilliant, in part thanks to the reactions of the other eight people at the table (as Liam says, "so obviously, in the moment, a legendary moment of this campaign." And Taliesin's face, in particular, is all over the place throughout.) Even beyond Laura's stuff, everyone's interviews with the hag are fantastic and character-revealing, which makes this a great episode.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#140 'Misery Loves Company'
After an episode that really showcased Laura, Marisha, and Matt, we get... Taliesin and Ashley. I love 'em, but c'mon. (They did have Laura and Marisha last time which, with hindsight, feels like a Big Mistake.)
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
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