Friday 31 March 2017

Thursday 30 March 2017

Wednesday 29 March 2017

TV

Broadchurch
3x03 Episode 3
3x04 Episode 4
Catching up.
[Watch episodes three and four (again) on the ITV Hub.]

The Crown
1x02 Hyde Park Corner

Tuesday 28 March 2017

TV

The Crown
1x01 Wolferton Splash

Films

Young Frankenstein (1974)
[#46 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Articles

The Disc at 20: Packaged Media Resonates in a Digital Age
by Stephanie Prange & Erik Gruenwedel (from Home Media Magazine)

"a staggering 93 percent of movie buyers are still active in the disc format today" ... "For the last 10 years, people have been saying there are two years left in DVD and it’s going to drop off a cliff. Here we are 10 years later and it is still going strong" ... "The DVD business is going to be around a lot longer than people think. It’s still a massive business for us. It’s not going away" ...

"The desire for ownership is strong, and many consumers who value ownership — those who are collectors of movies, television shows, and special-edition packages — and gift-givers prefer the disc format. We anticipate that will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future, meaning the future of the disc remains shiny."

Sunday 26 March 2017

TV

Line of Duty
2x06 Episode 6 [season finale]

Who Dares Wins
9x11 (25/3/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Cold in July (2014)
People often call for more originality in their stories, then criticise a film like this for jumping around in genre and tone. Personally, I didn’t think it changed much in either. The plot is far from straightforward — twists take the story in unexpected directions with each act (if not even more often) — but as a whole it remains a neo-noir crime thriller.
Read more here.


Demolition (2015)
Jake Gyllenhaal is a high-flying banker struggling with the grief of his wife’s death by taking his life apart — literally — in this slightly strange drama
Read more here.


Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
Master movie spoofer Mel Brooks’ penultimate work as director was this riff on the Robin Hood legend... Although generally regarded as one of Brooks’ lesser movies, its deeply silly style tickles
Read more here.


Finally, my second 100 Favourites series came to an end with both my top 10...





...and, of course, some statistics:





That's it for 100 Favourites, but there'll be more reviews next Sunday.

Saturday 25 March 2017

TV

Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief
Episode 4 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Line of Duty
2x05 Episode 5

Films

Ghost in the Shell (1995)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2017 #6

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Collection Count

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

As promised, a whole bunch of new additions this week -- new films, new TV series, DVD-to-Blu-ray upgrades, and even a couple of Blu-rays of things which I also own on DVD but that won't be replacing the DVD for one reason or another (mostly to do with booklets and/or other special features). Which is actually kind of annoying, but there you go. I'll just sell them later if I ever change my mind.

Number of titles in collection: 1,951 [up 8]
Of which DVDs: 1,190 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 761 [up 9]

Number of discs in collection: 5,010 [up 10]
Number of films: 2,155 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes: 7,687 [up 26]
Number of short films: 530 [no change]

And all of that just in time for the monthly running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
371 days, 6 hours, and 35 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 16 hours, and 52 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 24 March 2017

TV

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
4x01 Episode 1
Managed to record a repeat run of the series I missed.

Iron Fist
1x12 Bar the Big Boss
1x13 Dragon Plays with Fire [season finale]

Line of Duty
2x04 Episode 4

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Monday 20 March 2017

Sunday 19 March 2017

TV

Arrow
5x15 Fighting Fire with Fire

Iron Fist
1x04 Eight Diagram Dragon Palm
1x05 Under Leaf Pluck Lotus
1x06 Immortal Emerges from Cave

Who Dares Wins
9x10 (18/3/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

A busy TV review this month on 100 Films in a Year...





Also, 3 brand-new reviews were published this week...


Ghostbusters (2016)
while parts are pretty funny, others are just as lazy as the trailer implied. Considering the volume of alternate lines included in the film’s special features, you have to wonder how some glaring duds, overfamiliar ‘jokes’, and flat-out clichés were left in. Of the lead cast, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Leslie Jones are all equally affected by this sometimes good / sometimes bad oscillation, though Chris Hemsworth as their pretty-but-dim receptionist manages to escape unscathed in a bubble of, if not hilarity, then definite amusement.
Read more here.


The Nice Guys (2016)
Writer-director Shane Black has been doing this kind of action-thriller buddy comedy for decades now, but he’s still got it where it counts — there are quotable lines galore, and visual gags that would be just as quotable if you could quote a visual.
Read more here.


San Andreas (2015)
San Andreas is a most amusing movie. It’s not a comedy, just a generic effects-driven disaster movie in exactly the same style Hollywood has been producing for about 20 years.
Read more here.


Finally, the penultimate part of my new 100 Favourites series counted down #30 to #11...





More next Sunday.

Saturday 18 March 2017

TV

The Flash
3x14 Attack on Central City

Iron Fist
1x01 Snow Gives Way
1x02 Shadow Hawk Takes Flight
1x03 Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch
Funny old show. The first episode is as bad as the critics implied, treaclishly slow, poorly written and acted. Episode 2 does pick up a bit, and the third episode is actually quite good. There are good bits throughout too, promising characters and mysteries, but there's always a weak part around the corner. Hopefully it'll continue to improve over the next 10 parts...

Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief
Episode 3 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Next week there's going to be loads of stuff popping onto this list (just in time for the running time update, too), but for now there's just one new title — which has landed me on exactly 5,000 discs. Five thousand. That's insane.

Number of titles in collection: 1,943 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,191 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 752 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,000 [up 6]
Number of films: 2,150 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 7,661 [up 27]
Number of short films: 530 [up 14]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 17 March 2017

TV

24: Legacy
1x05 4:00PM - 5:00PM

Films

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
[2nd watch]
I actually only watched the first 15 minutes and then my NOW TV subscription expired, but I think that may've been the universe saving me from myself.

The Monster Squad (1987)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Thursday 16 March 2017

Wednesday 15 March 2017

TV

Luther
4x01 Episode 1
4x02 Episode 2 [season finale]

Twin Peaks
1x08 Episode 7 aka The Last Evening [season finale; 3rd watch]

Films

Ghostbusters (2016)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Tuesday 14 March 2017

TV

Twin Peaks
1x07 Episode 6 aka Realization Time [3rd watch]

Who Dares Wins
9x09 (11/3/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Monday 13 March 2017

TV

Broadchurch
3x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Kong: Skull Island (2017)
[#39 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Warcraft (2016)
[#38 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]
aka Warcraft: The Beginning

Sunday 12 March 2017

TV

Twin Peaks
1x06 Episode 5 aka Cooper's Dreams [3rd watch]

Films

The Nice Guys (2016)
[2nd watch]

This was #156 in 100 Films 2016. I haven't got round to reviewing it yet, but hopefully will before it comes to Netflix UK in a couple of days.

this week on 100 Films

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


Deadpool: No Good Deed (2017)
Screened before Logan in the US but only available to us poor disadvantaged foreigners thanks to the magic of the interweb, No Good Deed could be regarded as nothing more than a teaser trailer...
Read more here.


Logan (2017)
Logan’s consistency of style and tone render it easily the best Wolvie solo movie... but for this X-fan it’s not enough to usurp the top-draw traditional superheroics to be found in the three or four genre classics produced by the main series.
Read more here.


Room (2015)
Inspired by the infamous Josef Fritzl case (but most decidedly not a a direct fictionalise thereof), Room is a drama about a horrific crime — at times it could even be said to be a crime thriller — but it’s not interested in dealing with the usual outcomes of such filmic narratives; namely, justice or revenge (or both). Rather, it has a goal both more realistic and humane: it’s about the victims, and the psychological toll the crime exerts upon them.
Read more here.


And my second round of 100 Favourites continued, this week counting down from #60 to #31...





More next Sunday.

Saturday 11 March 2017

TV

Arrow
5x14 The Sin-Eater

Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief
Episode 2 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Twin Peaks
1x05 Episode 4 aka The One-Armed Man [3rd watch]

Films

Room (2015)
[#37 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2017 #3

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,942 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,191 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 751 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,994 [up 1]
Number of films: 2,148 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 7,634 [no change]
Number of short films: 516 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 10 March 2017

Thursday 9 March 2017

TV

Peaky Blinders
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]

Wednesday 8 March 2017

TV

Elementary
5x13 Over a Barrel

Not Going Out
8x06 Marriage Guidance
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Twin Peaks
1x03 Episode 2 aka Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer [3rd watch]

Films

Gattaca (1997)
[2nd watch]

Tuesday 7 March 2017

Monday 6 March 2017

TV

Peaky Blinders
1x04 Episode 4

Room 101
6x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Twin Peaks
1x01 Pilot aka Northwest Passage [3rd watch]
Starting a (re-)watch ahead of season three in May. Sounds a long way off, but there are 29 more episodes, a movie, a feature-length lot of deleted scenes, and at least one novel to get through before then.

Sunday 5 March 2017

Films

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
[#34 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Long Way North (2015)
[#33 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

No Good Deed (2017)
[#32a in 100 Films in a Year 2017]
aka the first trailer for Deadpool 2. Watch it here.

this week on 100 Films

There were more special posts to mark the 10th anniversary of 100 Films in a Year this week. The main one was my 10th anniversary post itself...




There was also a final top 10...




In more regular business, it was a new month, and that meant my regular monthly update...





And finally, I started a new series of 100 Favourites...





Phew!

Back to normal next Sunday.

Saturday 4 March 2017

TV

Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief
Episode 1 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Who Dares Wins
9x08 (4/3/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Demolition (2015)
[#32 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Collection Count

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

Absolutely nothing to report this week. I have a load of stuff on order though, so I'm sure this will remain as uncommon as it feels.

Number of titles in collection: 1,941 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,191 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 750 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,993 [no change]
Number of films: 2,147 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 7,634 [no change]
Number of short films: 516 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 3 March 2017

TV

24: Legacy
1x03 2:00PM - 3:00PM
You'd think after years away they'd come up with some new stuff, but this is already giving in to loads of 24's worst habits.

Broadchurch
3x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Elementary
5x12 Crowned Clown, Downtown Brown

Not Going Out
8x05 Charlie
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
[#31 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Thursday 2 March 2017

TV

Arrow
5x13 Spectre of the Gun
"This week on a very special episode of Arrow..."

Peaky Blinders
1x03 Episode 3

Wednesday 1 March 2017

TV

Death in Paradise
6x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Logan (2017)
[#30 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]