TV

The Americans
4x07 Travel Agents

Miranda
1x04 Holiday [5th watch]
Remarkable difference in number of views compared to the last one, eh. On the DVD this is called Mum's the Word, which is probably the worst change of the lot.

The Musketeers
2x01 Keep Your Friends Close
Thought it was about time we got on with this (it's only been two years since we last watched it, after all). I'd forgotten how catchy the title music was.

Films

The Sting (1973)
[#127 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2016 #7

this week on 100 Films

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


Barry Lyndon (1975)

This is not a simple, narrow-focused, cause-and-effect kind of story, but a fictional biopic, that ranges across Europe and across time to… what effect? It’s a Kubrick film, so the ultimate goal of the tale, the message(s) it may be trying to impart, are debatable. You could see a story of the pitfalls of hubris. You could see an exploration of how a certain class lived in this time period. You could just see a man who led an adventurous life.

Read more here.


The Imitation Game (2014)

This Turing is surely somewhere on the autistic spectrum, which at best has speculative historical basis, but Cumberbatch embodies well that social awkwardness with hidden inner genius. It would've been easy for him to slip into familiar traits from that other antisocial clever-clogs he plays, Sherlock Holmes, but at worst there are only vague and infrequent nudges to our memory of that performance. Rather, I'd argue he fully subsumes himself into this role.

Read more here.


Noah (2014)

The director of The Fountain tackles the Biblical tale of the flood as if it were also a science-fiction/fantasy adventure — familiarity with the story leads us to assume it’s set in the past, but watch without baggage and the setting looks like a post-apocalyptic future.

Read more here.


Zootropolis (2016), aka Zootopia

There’s a quote on the cover of Zootropolis’ US Blu-ray that calls it the best Disney movie in 20 years. As much as I liked Bolt and Tangled, and Mulan and The Princess and the Frog, and, yes, even Frozen, I think Zootropolis is at the very least a contender for that crown.

Read more here.


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


Mary Poppins (1964)

When I was little, the whole part of the film around the bank, Feed the Birds, etc, was The Boring Bit between the fun and the return of the fun. Now, I still think most of Feed the Birds is a little insipid, but the instrumental reprise as Mr Banks walks slowly back to the bank, his world and everything he knows torn asunder, his humiliation imminent… It’s heartbreaking, and the music is most of the reason why.

Read more here.


The Mask of Zorro (1998)

The key to most good swashbucklers is the sword-fighting, and The Mask of Zorro is up to scratch. Banderas was trained by Bob Anderson, a legendary sword master — he also worked on Highlander, The Princess Bride, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and many more. Not least, he coached Errol Flynn of all people — and Anderson reckoned Antonio Banderas was the best swordsman he’d worked with since Flynn.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.