TV

The Americans
5x12 The World Council of Churches

The Persuaders!
1x13 The Morning After

Films

Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D (2011)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2017 #20

TV

The Americans
5x11 Dyatkovo

Films

Baby Driver (2017)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2017 #19... though it was my first time watching the so-called "Big Screen Edition", which is the Blu-ray version of the IMAX cut of the film: it's about 30 seconds longer and has two sequences in an IMAX aspect ratio.

TV

The Americans
5x10 Darkroom

The Persuaders!
1x12 The Ozerov Inheritance

Films

Transformers (2007)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2017 #18

TV

The Americans
5x09 IHOP

The Persuaders!
1x11 Greensleeves

Twin Peaks
3x08 The Return Part 8

TV

The Americans
5x08 Immersion

Films

District 9 (2009)
[#88 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Blindspot 2017 #6

this week on 100 Films

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


10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

We’ve all read reviews where a critic (or blogger!) will write something like, “it would benefit from being 10 minutes shorter”. That sounds very precise and therefore clever, but it’s really a number plucked from thin air. No one who’s written a sentence like that has actually sat down with a film, noted all the bits they’d cut, added them up, and then presented that total in their review. It is, at best, intuition (at worst, it’s random and thoughtless). However, with 10 Cloverfield Lane I can say exactly how much needs to be cut: 9 minutes and 10 seconds. To be exact, those’d be the 9 minutes and 10 seconds between a (spoilery) revelation and the credits rolling.

Read more here.


Moonlight (2016)

In telling the story of a young gay black man, Moonlight is exposing a world and lifestyle that’s not seen much, or at all, in (mainstream) cinema — that is, being black and gay. Or just being gay, really. Or black, to an extent. There’s an inherent positivity in getting such untold stories out into the open. Nonetheless, there’s a certain universality to Chiron’s experience.

Read more here.


Our Kind of Traitor (2016)

Some of Traitor’s detractors have a problem with it right from the off, finding the premise to be inherently ridiculous. I disagree. In fact, I think it’s quite a good plan on Dima’s part: to use an unsuspected casual acquaintance to smuggle important documents to the authorities. The way the MacKendricks continue to be involved does wind up stretching credibility, but that’s narrative structure for you — it’d be a real trick to construct a satisfying relay of perspective characters.

Read more here.


Space Jam (1996)

It is joyless. Not funny. Not clever. It’s just flat. The concept of character is nonexistent — no one has an arc. It wastes time on a subplot about a bunch of players who aren’t Michael Jordan. (I say “wastes time” — the whole thing’s a waste of time.) Bill Murray turns up for no apparent reason — did he need the money? Does he really love basketball? I don’t know. He brings some small joy just by being him. Elsewhere, there’s a grand total of one funny line.

Read more here.


Review Roundup

Quick reviews of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie, and Young Frankenstein.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
36x11 World Enough and Time
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Persuaders!
1x10 Chain of Events

Pitch Battle
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Collection Count

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

A couple of new additions this week, but really it's all about the monthly running time update. Yes, it's that time! And it's a pretty huge one -- the biggest in almost 10 months, in fact. A major part of that was getting all of Star Trek: The Original Series at the start of the month: it accounts for exactly 75% of this month's increase.

Number of titles in collection: 1,989 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,181 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 808 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 5,089 [up 3]
Number of films: 2,193 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 7,784 [no change]
Number of short films: 566 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
377 days, 18 hours, and 10 minutes.
(Up 3 days, 19 hours, and 26 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Americans
5x07 The Committee on Human Rights

Films

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

The Americans
5x06 Crossbreed

Films

Moana 3D (2016)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

The Americans
5x05 Lotus 1-2-3

The Persuaders!
1x09 Someone Like Me

Films

John Wick (2014)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2017 #17

TV

The Americans
5x04 What's the Matter with Kansas?

Twin Peaks
3x07 The Return Part 7

TV

The Americans
5x03 The Midges

The Persuaders!
1x08 Take Seven

Films

The LEGO Batman Movie 3D (2017)
[#84 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

this week on 100 Films

This week it was time for 100 Films in a Year to review the past month's TV, including the first third of the new Twin Peaks, four new episodes of Doctor Who, and much more...





In regular business, there were 2 brand-new reviews...


New Tale of Zatoichi (1963)

With studio Daiei apparently realising they had a potential long-running series on their hands, blind masseur cum roving wrong-righter Ichi makes his colour debut in this third film. Despite the obvious visual change, New Tale picks up on plot threads from the previous film, concluding a trilogy of sorts that spans the series’ first three instalments.

Read more here.


Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2016)

It’s a great tale, but unfortunately it’s told in a really sloppily made documentary. The narrative is a complete jumble — it jumps in and out of stories all over the place, getting distracted by something else before looping back around. Exposition and setup are bungled, leaving the viewer constantly playing catch-up and trying to piece things together.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
36x10 The Eaters of Light
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Persuaders!
1x07 The Old, the New and the Deadly

Pitch Battle
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Mamma Mia! (2008)
[3rd watch]
Well, I half watched it. Pretty sure I've half-watched it before too, but I obviously didn't bother to log that.

Moonlight (2016)
[#83 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]
+ all the Blu-ray's featurettes

Collection Count

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

Including one thing that was supposedly dispatched at 6AM this morning and arrived here at 10AM (yeah, right), and not including one thing that was dispatched days ago and was due to arrive today but hasn't (weird).

Number of titles in collection: 1,987 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,181 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 806 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 5,086 [up 8]
Number of films: 2,191 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 7,784 [no change]
Number of short films: 566 [up 5]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Americans
5x02 Pests

The Kettering Incident
1x07 Madness
1x08 The Homecoming [season finale]

The Persuaders!
1x06 The Gold Napoleon

TV

The Americans
5x01 Amber Waves

The Persuaders!
1x05 Powerswitch

TV

Doctor Who
36x09 Empress of Mars
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Kettering Incident
1x05 The Forest
1x06 Roy

Who Dares Wins
10x07 (10/6/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Mummy (2017)
[#82 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Twin Peaks
3x06 The Return Part 6

Articles

The Netflix TV boom is over – here's why that's good news for everyone
by Morgan Jeffery (from Digital Spy)

He's got a point...

TV

The Late Late Show with James Corden in London
2x182 (6/6/17 edition)
2x183 (7/6/17 edition)
2x184 (8/6/17 edition)

this week on 100 Films

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


Mr. Nobody (2009)

Jared Leto stars in this sci-fi drama about the last mortal on Earth reflecting on his life… or is it lives? Essentially, the film is an explanation or exploration of scientific theories realised as a character drama, using a nonlinear narrative to mix and contrast different timelines and realities. For some, this makes it a very confusing movie. That said, if you get the theories behind it, I don’t think it’s an especially complex film at all.

Read more here.


The Saint's Return (1953)

Although this was made years after the RKO films and by a different studio, it’s not a reboot or remake. Even allowing for those terms having become more applicable recently than they probably were in the ’50s, The Saint’s Return actually seems to be making a concerted effort to appear connected to the earlier series... It's even shot in a way that's reminiscent of the older films

Read more here.


Split (2016)

the really exceptional part of the movie is McAvoy’s performance. I don’t know how accurately or sympathetically the film handles the science of his character’s condition, but his embodiment of the role — of all the roles — is superb. The multiple distinct personalities aren’t created just by putting on a silly voice or funny costume; McAvoy changes the way he holds himself, the way he stands and moves, the way his face expresses. It’s the kind of performance that in a different kind of film would’ve been all over awards season.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Articles

The Book of Jeremy Corbyn
by Anthony Lane (from The New Yorker)

Chances are you've heard about this somewhere else, but it's brilliant, so...

Collection Count

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

Nothing to report this week, mainly because I'm away -- there's probably some stuff sat on my doormat at home. There'll definitely be a few things next week.

Number of titles in collection: 1,983 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,181 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 802 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,078 [no change]
Number of films: 2,187 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 7,784 [no change]
Number of short films: 561 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
21x10 (9/6/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
53x08 Election Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Cowboy Bebop
1x25 The Real Folk Blues Part I
1x26 The Real Folk Blues Part II [series finale]

TV

Cowboy Bebop
1x24 Hard Luck Woman

The Persuaders!
1x04 Angie... Angie

Films

Wonder Woman (2017)
[#81 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Films

Contact (1997)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

That's Entertainment! (1974)
[#80 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Twin Peaks
3x05 The Return Part 5

TV

Arrow
5x23 Lian Yu [season finale]
Oh look, everybody is definitely dead. I am sure there will be a whole new cast next season, then. Yes siree.

The Persuaders!
1x03 Five Miles to Midnight

Films

Gran Torino (2008)
[#78 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2017 #6

this week on 100 Films

Yet another month of 2017 has passed us by, so it was time to look back at May on 100 Films in a Year...





As well, 5 brand-new reviews were published...


The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Deer Hunter was controversial before it was made (no American company wanted to touch it, leaving British group EMI to put up the initial funding), controversial when it was released (Peter Arnett, who won a Pulitzer for his coverage of the war, called the use of Russian roulette “simply a bloody lie”), and remains controversial today (Mark Kermode called it “one of the worst films ever made, a rambling self-indulgent, self-aggrandising barf-fest steeped in manipulatively racist emotion”), but is cited by some as one of the best movies ever made.

Read more here.


Underworld: Blood Wars (2016)

Kate Beckinsale is back in her role as a werewolf-killing vampire for the fifth entry in the Underworld series, which seems to be as undying as its star creatures... They seem to have made something of an effort to get back to the ‘world’ of the first film, with extravagant vampire covens and underground Lycan forces, while also growing the series’ mythology by introducing us to new areas of vampiredom, primarily a Nordic coven. This move also brings with it a degree of politicking among the vampires, which is kind of what I imagine a millennia-old secret society would be like. I mean, don’t expect House of Cards — it’s done at the level of the action B-movie this series is — but it’s kinda fun.

Read more here.


Plus a new review roundup that covered Charlie Bartlett, Florence Foster Jenkins, and Partners in Crime...





More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
36x08 The Lie of the Land
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
3x23 Finish Line [season finale]

Who Dares Wins
10x06 (27/5/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Muppet Movie (1979)
[#77 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Collection Count

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

Six additions this week, thanks in part to some Amazon misprices I managed to jump on -- all of the original Star Trek for under £11? Yes please!

Number of titles in collection: 1,983 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,181 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 802 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 5,078 [up 29]
Number of films: 2,187 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 7,784 [up 87]
Number of short films: 561 [up 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Arrow
5x22 Missing

Films

Space Jam (1996)
[#76 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Grantchester
3x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]