Days in New York...

1

For a full explanation, please see the start of the countdown.

TV

Doctor Who [new]
4x13 Journey's End [2nd watch; season finale]
See here for my thoughts on this story. [coming soon]

Heroes Season 3 Trailer
A brilliant two-minute trail for the forthcoming third season of Heroes, subtitled "Villains". It looks absolutely fantastic, even if it does use the very tired "Choose a Side" tagline.

Tin Man
Part 3 Conclusion (aka Tin Man) [final episode]
Y'know, one of the worst things about this is that it's packed with the cheap fantasy trick of pointlessly renaming everyday things in the fantasy world, such as "years" being called "annuals". It just draws attention to itself, making otherwise fine bits of dialogue objectionable. Well, actually, there are plenty worse things -- the CGI springs to mind, which would have been much better if they hadn't tried to reach beyond their means with such a large volume of needless or needlessly-long shots. I do find the references to the original stories amusing though, even if they help cement this as nothing more than an interesting curio for The Wizard of Oz than a fully independent piece of drama.

Films

Body of Lies Trailer (#2A)
It's better than the crappy one they showed before The Dark Knight, but I still have no bloody idea what it's actually about (other than, y'know, the War on Terror -- so what else is new?)

Articles

Empire Essay: Rififi by Kim Newman
(from Empire Online)
Effectively an extended review, but an interesting article-like one -- though be warned that it's spoiler-packed.

Reviews from Empire Online of:

The 39 Steps by Ian Freer
"the most satisfying of Hitchcock’s Brit period, a thrilling, rollercoaster romp, made before the phrase ‘rollercoaster romp’ existed."


The 39 Steps by Kim Newman
"After the curtain has fallen, you'll be happy for a week."


Le Cercle Rouge DVD by David Parkinson
"noir-ish urban Western"


The Lady Vanishes by Alan Morrison
"a fun romp celebrating the stiff-upper-lippedness of our great nation."


The Lady Vanishes DVD by David Parkinson
"Hitchcock was the master of confined spaces and he makes splendid use of the train's compartments and corridors... However, it's the dialogue and characterisation that make [it] so mischievously gratifying."


The Passion of Joan of Arc by David Parkinson
"so humblingly powerful or so purely cinematic. One of the most inspired and inspiring films ever made."


Rififi DVD by Michael Hayden
"A masterful piece of genre filmmaking. Dassin's direction raises this textbook French film noir to crime classic status."


Le Samourai by Kim Newman
"Keeping the dialogue minimal and the action high on the agenda, life in Paris' underworld proves to be surprisingly yet suitably violent and threatening."