Films

Pan (2015)
[#115 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Game of Thrones
6x10 The Winds of Winter [season finale]

Films

The Lobster (2015)
[#114 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x15 Destiny
1x16 Legendary [season finale]

Films

The Present (2014)
[#113a in 100 Films in a Year 2016]
Magnificent animated short. Watch it online here.

this week on 100 Films

3 brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


The Boxer from Shantung (1972)

displays a greater focus on plot and character than is perhaps typical for a Shaw Bros movie, but doesn’t exactly stint on action either — the sequences are a little more spread out than usual, and it results in a just-over-two-hours runtime that isn’t typical for these films. Fortunately, it’s an engrossing enough story that this isn’t a problem, even if the narrative has a rise-and-fall kind of shape that is fairly familiar in the gangster genre.

Read more here.


The Descendants (2011)

Though marred by heavy-handed voice-over exposition (it baffles me that it won a Best Screenplay Oscar), it’s lifted by strong performances from the daughters (Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller) and Clooney, inverting his usual confident demeanour.

Read more here.


Independence Day (Special Edition) (1996/1998)

This was the first time I’d watched Independence Day's extended Special Edition cut, and I’d advise not bothering. It adds around 8½ minutes of new material, but the scenes don’t add all that much, and some of them are so awkwardly rammed in that it’s almost irritating

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Our Hero: The Bride, aka Black Mamba, aka [bleep], is a deadly assassin out for revenge against the gang of former associates who tried to murder her, in particular their leader, Dave. No, wait, that’s not right. What was his name? Anyway…

Read more here.


Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

The film's best quality is probably its humorous dialogue... Downey Jr is hilarious, of course, but even he's outmatched by Val Kilmer as sarky investigator Gay Perry. Even more impressively, love interest Michelle Monaghan holds her own against them both. The plot may be so confusing it's easily forgotten, but the whodunnit reveal is beside the point when the journey there is so entertaining.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Nowt to report this week. More next week? Probably not... but you never know.

Number of titles in collection: 1,874 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 666 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,787 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 2,057 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,214 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

The Bank Job (2008)
[#113 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Films

Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973)
[#112 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

aka Иван Васильевич меняет профессию
aka Ivan Vasilyevich menyayet professiyu
aka Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession

TV

Game of Thrones
6x09 Battle of the Bastards
Wow.

TV

Upstart Crow
1x06 The Quality of Mercy [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Barry Lyndon (1975)
[#111 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2016 #6

this week on 100 Films

It's that time of the month at 100 Films in a Year: the TV review! Spoiler-free coverage of Game of Thrones, Preacher, and more...




As well as that, the blog's raison d'être continued with 4 brand-new reviews...


Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)

Why is this film notable? In fact, is it notable? Well, it was voted in to The 50 Greatest Cartoons by some of 1,000 animation professionals, so there’s clearly something there... Maybe it’s the subversiveness that makes it significant? It comes from an era when that must have been a factor, surely — there’s a certain Monty Python-ness to it, and it was made the same year Flying Circus first aired.

Read more here.


Deadpool (2016)

it’s a pretty standard superhero origin plot. But the devil is in the details, and it’s how Deadpool tells its story that matters — the narrative is just a framework on which to hang the gags. The immediate point of comparison on a superhero comedy is surely Kick-Ass, and it doesn’t take deep analysis to see that Deadpool isn’t as subversive as that movie. Where Kick-Ass comments on, at times even deconstructs, the superhero genre, Deadpool takes its rules as a given and throws a shedload of humour on top of it. Is that a problem? It depends what you’re looking for.

Read more here.


Hercules (Extended Cut) (2014)

The answer to the question, “Hey, remember Brett Ratner? Whatever happened to him?”, Hercules stars Dwayne Johnson in full The Rock mode as the eponymous demigod. In this comic book adaptation, we’re introduced to Hercules at a point in his life after the famous labours but before he’d passed into legend, when he’s just a mercenary… or maybe he’s always just been a mercenary, and the legends are a tall tale to help him and his band of warriors sell their wares.

Read more here.


Ip Man 3 (2015)

Early bouts are not bad, though surprisingly underwhelming, but things really pick up later on. An elevator fight between Ip and a Thai boxer is the absolute high point, an incredible close-quarters action scene that spills out into a stairwell, but Donnie Yen vs Mike Tyson is a very good sequence also, and the climax ain’t half bad.

Read more here.


Finally, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Josie and the Pussycats (2001)

‘Product placement’ is when companies pay for their products to be featured in a film. I’m clarifying this because it’s important to know that Josie spoofs (rather than features) product placement relentlessly... The great irony of the film’s critical reception is that this spoofing of product placement is kinda on-the-nose, and yet swathes of oh-so-clever critics completely missed that. Rotten Tomatoes even use half of their Critical Consensus summary to say that “the constant appearance of product placement seems rather hypocritical.” Point, missed.

Read more here.


Jurassic Park (1993)

For a certain generation, Star Wars is undeniably the defining cinematic experience. For a more recent one, I guess it’s Harry Potter or something. In between, you have my lot — and as became quite clear with the unexpectedly phenomenal response to Jurassic World this time last year, we have Jurassic Park. It was the first film I ever saw at the cinema, and much of it has been lodged in my memory every since. That it’s beloved shouldn’t be such a surprise, really: it was huge back in 1993, and is one of only ten films that can lay claim to ever having been The Highest Grossing Movie Of All Time.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Have I Got News For You
51x08 (27/5/2016 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Fantastic Four (2015)
[#110 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

After a busy few weeks, just one newbie this time.

Number of titles in collection: 1,874 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 666 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,787 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 2,057 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,214 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Steve Jobs (2015)
[#109 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Films

Ip Man 3 (2015)
[#108 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Preacher
1x03 The Possibilities
[Watch it (again) on Amazon Prime Instant Video.]

Films

Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)
[#107a in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Game of Thrones
6x08 No One

TV

Arrow
4x23 Schism [season finale]

Upstart Crow
1x05 What Bloody Man is That?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Deadpool (2016)
[#107 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

4 brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

Top villain Jürgen Prochnow is so underused one wonders why he’s even in the film — Brigitte Nielsen’s more striking henchwoman could’ve been brains as well as brawn. Either way, they’re the character equivalent of a MacGuffin: this is all about Murphy

Read more here.


Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)

according to director John Landis, [Eddie Murphy] envious of the careers of Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes, who were starring in straight action movies. Consequently, Murphy was keen to downplay the film’s comedy — much to its detriment, of course, as it’s Murphy’s comedy that makes this series work.

Read more here.


A Boy and His Dog (1975)

It’s a film fuelled by weirdness, left-field ideas, and a controversial tragicomic ending. It’s a “not for everyone” kind of film that, I must confess, I found hard to properly engage with

Read more here.


The Revenant (2015)

it’s like an old-fashioned blockbuster — the kind of thing you’d’ve seen in the 1950s (epic revenge Western) or 1970s (bleak revenge Western) as among the year’s biggest movies — crossed with a slow-paced, scenery-loving, meditative arthouse piece. If it’s about anything (beyond, y’know, the plot), it’s surely about nature — both the amazing vastness of natural spaces, but also the brutality of survival.

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


The Incredibles (2004)

Even before the present glut of big-screen super-heroics, Pixar were in on the game with this affectionate genre entry. Writer-director Brad Bird mixes together classical superhero antics with elements of 1960s spy-fi to create a retro world of optimistic heroics and larger-than-life villainy — at odds with the dark-and-serious tone of so many superhero movies of the past 17+ years, but all the more memorable for it.

Read more here.


Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

I know we’re all supposed to love Raiders most, but I think Last Crusade is actually my favourite Indy movie. [It has] plenty of the requisite derring-do, an almost Bondian globetrotting storyline, and a high-stakes climax, complete with gruesome death for the villain. Spielberg once said it was his favourite Indy movie too, so I’m in good company.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Spy (Extended Cut) (2015)
[#106 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

One new addition this week, which is actually a new release out on Monday (yay HMV!) It is time for the running time update, though, so there's exciting then.

Number of titles in collection: 1,873 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 665 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,785 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 2,056 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,214 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

And that running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
349 days, 18 hours, and 25 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 10 hours, and 11 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
[#105 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x14 River of Time

Gilmore Girls
7x14 Farewell, My Pet

Preacher
1x02 See
[Watch it (again) on Amazon Prime Instant Video.]

Talking Preacher
1x01 Talking Preacher on Pilot
Spin-off talk show. Rather than going weekly, as some of AMC's other such programmes do, the next episode will be after the finale. Shame.
[Watch it (again) on Amazon Prime Instant Video.]

TV

The Flash
2x23 The Race of His Life [season finale]

Gilmore Girls
7x13 I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia

Films

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)
[#104 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Arrow
4x22 Lost in the Flood

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x13 Leviathan

The Flash
2x22 Invincible

Game of Thrones
6x07 The Broken Man

Gilmore Girls
7x12 To Whom It May Concern

Films

Josie and the Pussycats (2001)
[3rd watch]

TV

Arrow
4x21 Monument Point

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x12 Last Refuge

Upstart Crow
1x04 Love is Not Love
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Revenant (2015)
[#103 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

It was a new month at 100 Films in a Year this week (as well as everywhere else, obviously), meaning it was time to look back at the last one:




Other than that, 3 brand-new reviews were published...


The Assassin (2015)

far from your typical martial arts film, and so will appeal to a different kind of viewer. Hou has said it’s more about the spirit and deeper meanings of martial arts than it is the physical combat, and I can only presume that’s true. Besides looking very pretty, and presenting a (barely explained) adjustment in the mentality of one character, it’s difficult to know what to take away from it.

Read more here.


Quigley Down Under (1990)

Tom Selleck is Quigley, who has the ability to shoot things at implausibly long distances, and whose hair has the ability to stay implausibly coiffed even after days abandoned in the outback. He’s been employed by Alan Rickman, who we know is the villain because this was released in 1990.

Read more here.


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

The Turtles’ personalities are pretty one-note, but not unfaithful to the original — the franchise started life as a spoof of things like Daredevil, after all, not a realistic character drama. That said, turning Mike into basically a turtle version of Michael Bay — i.e. he’s focused on lusting after Megan Fox and occasionally causing explosions — is a little cringe-y.

Read more here.


Finally, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Groundhog Day (1993)

Best Supporting Character: Now, don’t you tell me you don’t remember Ned because he’d sure as heckfire remember you. Ned Ryerson. Needlenose Ned. Ned the Head. From Case Western High. Ned Ryerson, did the whistling belly-button trick at the high school talent show? Bing! Ned Ryerson, got the shingles real bad senior year, almost didn’t graduate? Bing, again. Ned Ryerson, dated Phil’s sister Mary Pat a couple times until Phil told him not to anymore? Ned Ryerson? Bing!

Read more here.


Highlander (1986)

Connor MacLeod is an immortal, a race of men living in secret among the rest of us, who must one day come together for the Gathering, after which there can be only one immortal left standing. That time comes in New York, 1985, as hulking savage the Kurgan hunts down the remaining immortals so that he can be the only one, and use the power that imbues to dominate the world. MacLeod is the only man in his way. Who will win? After all, there can be only— yeah, okay, you get it.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gilmore Girls
7x11 Santa's Secret Stuff

Films

Independence Day (Special Edition) (1996/1998)
[#102a in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

This is about the third time I've seen Independence Day, but the first I've seen the extended Special Edition version.

Collection Count

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

It was going to be just two additions this week, but a bunch of stuff turned up this morning. Four brand-new titles, one like-for-like DVD-to-Blu-ray upgrade, but one title alone accounts for over half the discs and almost half the films.

Number of titles in collection: 1,872 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 664 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 4,784 [up 7]
Number of films in collection: 2,055 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,214 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Cop Car (2015)
[#102 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Articles

I don't do an Articles posts for months (years?), then two interesting ones come along at once...


From Must-See TV To Peak TV: 20 Years Of Covering Television
by Alan Sepinwall (from HitFix)

US TV critic Alan Sepinwall has now been reviewing television for 20 years (how did you guess?), so took that as an opportunity to reflect on how much has changed in the medium since 1996. Short answer: a helluva lot. Long answer: read the article, it's good.


What A Co-Director Does On A Pixar Movie? Finding Dory Director Andrew Stanton Explains
by Peter Sciretta (from /Film)

It's a credit you can always seen on Pixar films, but, as they're one of the few places you do see it, it's not widely known what it actually means. Well, here's an explanation, from the horse's mouth.

Films

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)
[#101 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]