TV

Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema
1x08 Disaster Movies [special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Help (2011)
[#70 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Game of Thrones
8x03 The Long Night
+ all the making-of videos on HBO's website, in particular the 40-minute The Game Revealed featurette which covers the whole episode.

Articles

Arya’s big moment sets up the Game of Thrones ending we deserve
by Dan Selcke (from Winter is Coming)

There's been a looooot of commentary about this week's Game of Thrones (there always is, of course, but this was a particularly big one), and some of the more ridiculous points are refuted in this article, which I more or less agree with entirely.

Films

Mortal Engines 3D (2018)
[#69 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
[#68 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

this week on 100 Films

Time for another TV roundup this week on 100 Films in a Year...





Plus 2 new film reviews were published, including a particularly big one...


Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Within its three hours and one minute running time, Endgame encompasses and represents almost all of the tendencies of other MCU movies — for both good and ill. This is not a perfect movie, and this will not be a 5-star review, which I’m saying upfront because massive spoilers may follow. There’s not much to discuss about the film if we limit ourselves to what’s been revealed in trailers and promos, because they’ve purposely kept almost the entire movie a secret, so I’m just going to talk freely.

Read more here.


Baywatch: Extended Cut (2017)

I actually thought it was fun. Big, dumb, daft fun. And that’s what I think it’s meant to be, so, really, what’s the problem? It’s not clever and it’s not subtle, but why would you expect it to be? Okay, fair enough: maybe you flat-out don’t enjoy this kind of movie. That’s fine. But for anyone who chooses to watch it with realistic expectations about the kind of film it will be, it delivers what you’d expect in reasonably good fashion.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

A couple of new additions this week. I was expecting it to be a load, but one large package didn't turn up in time, so next week's will be pretty humungous instead.

Number of titles in collection: 2,214 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,131 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,083 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 24 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,732 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,535 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [no change]
Number of short films: 657 [up 1]

It's also time for the monthly running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
420 days, 10 hours, and 58 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 6 hours, and 35 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Have I Got News For You
57x03 (19/4/2019 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Avengers: Endgame (2019)
[#67 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Articles

Non-Review Review: Avengers – Endgame
by Darren Mooney (from The m0vie blog)

There are tonnes of reviews of the fourth Avengers movie out there right now, obviously, but this lengthy one has some good insights into what the film fails at. But do be aware, there are spoilers herein.

TV

Ghosts
1x01 Who Do You Think You Are?
1x02 Gorilla War
[Watch episodes one and two (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Captain Marvel (2019)
[#66 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Game of Thrones
8x02 A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Thronecast
8x01 Winterfell
8x02 A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Eesh, both episodes of this post-GoT show were pretty terrible, just in different ways -- the first with guests going off on their own barely-relevant tangents, the second like getting blood from a stone. Based on the Twitter reaction it's not normally this awkward, so maybe I'll stick with future episodes nonetheless.

Travel Man
8x02 48 Hours in Porto
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

University Challenge
2018/19 Episode 37 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

Just 1 short new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018)

Although ostensibly a children’s series, and therefore presumably a children’s movie, this is actually full of gags and references aimed at older viewers, without resorting to cheap double entendres or the like designed to fly over kids’ heads, but instead focusing on the wider universe of superhero movies

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

In the polar opposite of last week's busy-ness, this week has precisely nothing to report. Next week might be the same, though will at least have the monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 2,212 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,131 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,081 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 24 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,728 [no change]
Number of films: 2,533 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [no change]
Number of short films: 656 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
25x03 (19/4/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015)
[#65 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Podcasts

David Tennant Does a Podcast with…
3 Jodie Whittaker

Films

Ice Age (2002)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #16

Films

Click (2006)
[#64 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Game of Thrones
8x01 Winterfell

Films

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
[#63 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
Blindspot 2019 #4

TV

Game of Thrones: The Story So Far
With the eighth and final season starting later tonight, some two years on from the last season, I thought Sky's 90-minute recap of seasons one to seven might be useful.

Films

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
[#62 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

this week on 100 Films

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


It Comes at Night (2017)

Described by Kim Newman in his Empire review as “existing between a Sundance and a FrightFest film”, which is a neat way of putting “arthouse horror”, this went down very poorly with many viewers, seemingly because it was mis-sold by its trailers. As someone who went in pretty much cold, however, I thought it was very good.

Read more here.


Samaritan Zatoichi (1968)

if you don’t worry about logical character behaviour too much, there’s an awful lot to enjoy in Samaritan Zatoichi. Such niggles hold it back from being amongst the series’ very best instalments, but there’s much else to recommend it, including likeable supporting characters, great fight scenes, and various other memorable set pieces.

Read more here.


The Silence (2019)

A horror movie in which the world is under attack from creatures who hunt and kill via sound, and we follow a family who attempts to survive by hiding in a remote farmhouse, aided by the fact they’ve all learnt sign language to communicate with their deaf teenage daughter. If you’re thinking “wait a minute, that’s a description of A Quiet Place,” you’re right. It’s also a wholly accurate summary of this new Netflix film. [In fact,] The Silence is based on a novel published in 2015, and filming began in September 2017... But while it’s not The Silence’s fault that A Quiet Place beat it to the punch, it is the film’s own fault that it’s not very good.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Deadwood
3x12 Tell Him Something Pretty [series finale]

Is it still a "series finale" if they make another instalment 13 years later? (Deep philosophical question, that.)

I also listened to the commentary by series creator/mastermind David Milch, which is disappointingly bitty. I guess these were recorded back in the mid ‘00s, when DVDs had been around a while but maybe people still weren’t fully familiar with commentaries... maybe? I dunno. It's just that I’ve not listened to a great many audio commentaries, all told, but the ones on this show are among the weakest I’ve heard. And that’s a shame, because I’m sure these are all intelligent people who could’ve offered some real insight, it just seems they needed better prompting. “You don’t have to talk about just what’s on screen in front of you” would’ve been a good bit of advice for many of them. Also: nearly every fucking track mentions that Richardson was initially an extra who got promoted to an actual character.

One thing, though, that’s both neat and depressing: Milch talks about one or two intentions for future plot lines, but also at one point says, “we’ll get to that in the two-hour films.” I've always heard rumours about Deadwood concluding with two or three feature-length TV movies, but it seems clear they really believed that would happen. Of course, for whatever reason, it didn’t. At least we’ve got the belated movie finally coming next month, which, though ten or more years late, will hopefully be at least somewhat akin to what Milch had planned all along.

I also watched a featurette exclusive to the complete series box set, The Meaning of Endings: David Milch on the Conclusion of Deadwood, in which Milch offers a bit more insight than on his commentary, I guess thanks to it being filmed with a bit more distance. He’s meant to be discussing some of the plot lines he'd intended for the fourth season, but instead winds up musing on the value or otherwise of endings as defining a work of art’s purpose and value. Very Milch.

And outside of the world of Deadwood...

The Twilight Zone
2x28 Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?
5x03 Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

Films

Rampage 3D (2018)
[#61 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
[#60 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Collection Count

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

Six new additions this week -- it was going to be just two, then a flurry of orders arrived in double-quick time this morning. Half of them imports too, most of those for the sake of 3D. First up, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse from Australia (for 3D); then, The Hunger Games box set from Germany (for #3 and #4 in 3D; also, it contains a bunch of box set-exclusive extras that didn't appear on the UK releases that I already own); and while I was getting the latter, Strange Days (I've had my eye on it for a while, and this saved on postage). The three UK titles are Aquaman (in 3D, of course) and a couple of Masters of Cinema titles thanks to their 2-for-£25 offer.

Number of titles in collection: 2,212 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,131 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,081 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 24 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,728 [up 16]
Number of films: 2,533 [up 9]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [no change]
Number of short films: 656 [up 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Deadwood
3x11 The Catbird Seat

Films

Game Night (2018)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #15. It's been almost 11 months since I first watched this and I've been meaning to rewatch it ever since! If anything it's even better on a second viewing. I also watched the Blu-rays meagre selection of special features, which just left me wanting more. Shame.

TV

Deadwood
3x10 A Constant Throb

+ the commentary on episode nine by actress Robin Weigert. This is the only one where it’s one actor commentating solo, which seemed odd, and indeed it wasn't meant to be: intended co-commentators Kim Dickens and Powers Boothe were missing due to jury duty and a job, respectively. The result is a bit of a patchy track, as with so many of these Deadwood commentaries, but when Weigert does pipe up she’s sometimes insightful.

Films

Amour (2012)
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
3x09 Amateur Night

Films

The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
[#57 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

The Silence (2019)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
3x08 Leviathan Smiles

Films

Early Man (2018)
[#56 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
3x07 Unauthorized Cinnamon

Films

Aquaman 3D (2018)
[#55 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
3x06 A Rich Find

The Twilight Zone
3x08 It's a Good Life

this week on 100 Films

A new month began this week (right back at the start, remember?), meaning it was time to look back at the last one on 100 Films in a Year...





Plus, 2 new reviews were published this week...


Cotton Wool (2017)

there are around 243,000 carers under the age of 19 in England and Wales alone, with 22,000 of those under the age of nine. Writer-director Nicholas Connor’s short film seeks to highlight this issue — it’s quite shocking how many young lives are affected by the need to look after other family members because there’s no one else to do it. But the short is also “inspired by their courage”, and so it strikes an optimistic tone about the power of love and the value of family, rather than spending too much time in condemnation of a system that leaves these youngsters largely unsupported.

Read more here.


Resident Evil (2002)

Writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson took inspiration from early John Carpenter movies to create a lean action/thriller/horror flick, which drives the viewer from set piece to set piece with quickly-sketched characterisation (or, in many cases, none at all) and a mysterious backstory to be uncovered. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s a solid 90-minutes-and-change genre fix.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Deadwood
3x05 A Two-Headed Beast
+ the commentary by actors W. Earl Brown, Sean Bridgers, and Jim Beaver, which is one of the better ones, insightful but also chatty and entertaining.

Films

A Good Year (2006)
[#54 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #14. Continuing the trilogy after an unintentional month-long pause. I don't intend to wait so long until I rewatch the third one... but you never know.

Collection Count

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

A whopping 11 new titles this month! How come? Well, Zoom had an excellent 3D Blu-ray clearance sale on, which I used to pick up the last three Resident Evil movies dirt cheap; and, alongside that, I decided to complete my set and upgrade the first three to Blu-ray (I've had them on DVD since, well, DVD was a thing). I also got one other title in that 3D sale (it was two-for-X job).

The other four also come courtesy of Zoom, this time their Criterion gift card. I missed out on the last 2-for-£25 Criterion sale because one title I really wanted wasn't in it, after which I forgot about the sale and missed it. But I noticed that title was now included in those available with Zoom's 4-for-£50 gift card, so I splashed out. Filling the other three slots was easy -- I could've done it thrice over.

So, that's how we get to a big pile of newness this week -- all sales titles. Next week: some new releases!

Number of titles in collection: 2,206 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,131 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,075 [up 10]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 24 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,712 [up 12]
Number of films: 2,524 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [no change]
Number of short films: 654 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Deadwood
3x04 Full Faith and Credit

Films

Creed II (2018)
[#53 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Resident Evil (2002)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #13

TV

Deadwood
3x03 True Colors

Films

The Gold Rush (1925)
[#52 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2019 #4

TV

Deadwood
3x02 I Am Not the Fine Man You Take Me For
+ the commentary on episode one by executive producers Mark Tinker (who also directed that episode) and Gregg Fienberg.

The Twilight Zone
1x08 Time Enough at Last

Films

Searching (2018)
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood
3x01 Tell Your God to Ready for Blood

Films

Cotton Wool (2017)
[#50a in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Thronecast
Gameshow of Thrones
Only a fortnight to go until the final season begins! Helping tide us over, this hour-and-a-half of panel game jollity from Sky.

The Twilight Zone
1x05 Walking Distance

Films

The Howling (1981)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Waltz with Bashir (2008)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]