TV

Glastonbury 2019
Sigrid
The Cure
Plus bits & bobs of all sorts of other stuff, mainly based on what the Beeb decided to pad their main-channel shows with, but I did dip into Kylie’s set a few times.
[Watch these sets, and many more (again), on iPlayer.]

Films

Shaft (2019)
[#98 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

this week on 100 Films

Time for a TV review this week at 100 Films in a Year...





Plus, 3 new films reviews...


Shaft (2000)

This is almost 20 years old now (obviously), and yet all the white privilege bullshit that drives its story makes it feel like it could’ve been made yesterday. (Why are you so enable to evolve societally, America?) Other than that apparently-eternal timeliness, it’s a pretty standard kinda thriller, with most of its charm coming via an array of likeable performances.

Read more here.


Stalker (1979)

Described by the blurb on its Criterion Collection Blu-ray release as “a metaphysical journey through an enigmatic post-apocalyptic landscape”, Stalker is… probably that… I guess…?

Read more here.


True Romance (1993)

Directed by Tony Scott from Quentin Tarantino’s first screenplay, this is pretty much everything you’d expect from an early Quentin Tarantino screenplay directed by Tony Scott... I’m a fan of both men’s work, so of course it was up my alley. I don’t think it’s the best from either of them, but mixing together the distinct styles of two such trend-setting iconoclasts does produce a unique blend.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Glastonbury 2019
The Killers
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

As mentioned last week, there are a few more additions this week (3 releases with 9 feature films across 12 discs, plus 1 BD-to-UHD upgrade that added 1 disc), just in time for the monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 2,238 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,132 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,106 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 30 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,814 [up 13]
Number of films: 2,569 [up 9]
Number of TV episodes: 8,609 [no change]
Number of short films: 671 [up 2]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
426 days, 7 hours, and 59 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 17 hours, and 7 minutes from last month.)

That's my biggest monthly increase this year by far... although there were a couple even bigger in 2018, never mind in previous years, so it's not one for the all-time record books.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Glastonbury 2019
Stormzy
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Summer of Rockets
Part 5 (of 6)
[Watch the entire series (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Summer of Rockets
Part 3 (of 6)
Part 4 (of 6)
[Watch the entire series (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Summer of Rockets
Part 1 (of 6)
Part 2 (of 6)
[Watch the entire series (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Beecham House
1x01 Episode 1
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch episodes one and two (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

The Truth About...
Getting Fit
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Happytime Murders (2018)

there are some legitimately funny bits along the way, often found among the riffs on the puppet thing (for example: one of the victims is drowned, and before bagging the body they ring him out). Unfortunately it isn’t funny as often as it should be, too often relying on worn or lacklustre humour. I mean, it tries to run with the old playground favourite “idiots say what?” as a running gag. It also leans on puppets being lewd and crude as the extent of the gag, which simply isn’t that funny in itself, partly because it isn’t as original as the film seems to think it is.

Read more here.


Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

Before Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle there was Zathura, which is sort of a sequel to Jumanji… but more of a spin-off, I guess… well, really it’s a completely unrelated movie with the exact same plot... But this game is about space, so it’s completely different, obviously... I did enjoy it — in some respects, more than I enjoyed Jumanji when I rewatched that recently — but it also doesn’t feel as polished and complete as its predecessor

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Opera

La damnation de Faust
at Glyndebourne

Collection Count

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

Only one new addition this week, but there are already several box sets in the post and more releases due to dispatch imminently, so there should be a bump next week just in time for the monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 2,235 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,132 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,103 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 29 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,801 [up 1]
Number of films: 2,560 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,609 [no change]
Number of short films: 669 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
25x12 (21/6/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

CGI art with a heart: How Toy Story started a revolution in cinema
by Robbie Collin (from the Telegraph)

A good reminder of the impact and importance of the original Toy Story.

TV

Have I Got News For You
57x09 (31/5/2019 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Killing Eve
2x06 I Hope You Like Missionary!
2x07 Wide Awake
2x08 You're Mine [season finale]
[Watch every episode (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Killing Eve
2x04 Desperate Times
2x05 Smell Ya Later
[Watch every episode (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Killing Eve
2x02 Nice and Neat
2x03 The Hungry Caterpillar
[Watch every episode (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Historical Roasts
1x02 Freddie Mercury
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Untouchable (2011)
[#97 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]
aka Intouchables, aka The Intouchables
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2019 #6

this week on 100 Films

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


Murder Mystery (2019)

The actual mystery plot is no great shakes — there are two glaring clues early on that give most of the game away, especially if you’re well-versed in watching murder mysteries and spotting such hints. That’s somewhat beside the point, though, because there’s enough fun to be had along the way to make up for it, and there are still some reasonable red herrings.

Read more here.


Finding Dory (2016)

Nemo didn't desperately need a sequel, so I was worried this would seem like little more than an excuse to return to these characters. In fact, the plot actually works very well. Far from being a desperate stretch, it actually feels like a worthwhile development and follow-up from the first movie. Alongside the worth of the narrative, it's also just a lot of fun to watch

Read more here.


Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)

as the title indicates, the main guest star for this film is the lead character from Akira Kurosawa’s films Yojimbo and Sanjuro, played by the great Toshiro Mifune. I don’t know if that was a deliberate move to mark the series’ 20th movie or if they weren’t even conscious of the milestone, but it certainly feels like it was meant to be a special occasion. “Meant to be” being the operative part of that sentence, because the result is sadly one of the least enjoyable entries in the series so far.

Read more here.


Review Roundup

Featuring:
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Allied (2016)
American Made (2017)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Historical Roasts
1x01 Abraham Lincoln
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Collection Count

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

This week's big addition is a complete series box set of The Twilight Zone, in this beautiful (overpriced, but beautiful) 60th Anniversary Limited Edition. That'll make a hefty contribution to the next running time update (which is a couple of weeks away).

I also acquired another TV series set this week, so the total number of episodes in my collection has risen considerably (though still by less than 2.2% overall!)

Number of titles in collection: 2,234 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,132 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,102 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 29 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,800 [up 30]
Number of films: 2,558 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,609 [up 182]
Number of short films: 669 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Murder Mystery (2019)
[#96 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Deadwood (2019)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Have I Got News For You
57x06 (9/6/2019 edition)
Well, I say "9/6 edition" -- this is the delayed broadcast of the edition they dropped due to the European elections.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Killing Eve
2x01 Do You Know How to Dispose of a Body?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

A bunch of new acquisitions this week, between sales and new releases.

Number of titles in collection: 2,231 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,132 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,099 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 28 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 5,770 [up 10]
Number of films: 2,557 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [no change]
Number of short films: 669 [up 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
25x10 (7/6/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Killing Eve
1x05 I Have a Thing About Bathrooms
1x06 Take Me to the Hole!
1x07 I Don't Want to Be Free
1x08 God, I'm Tired [season finale]
[Watch all episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Killing Eve
1x02 I'll Deal with Him Later
1x03 Don't I Know You?
1x04 Sorry Baby
[Watch all episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Killing Eve
1x01 Nice Face
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

I'm currently in the middle of moving house, which is why there have been fewer than usual updates here, and it's the same over at 100 Films in a Year. The only thing this week was my monthly look-back at May, which doesn't even have a proper header image yet...


The Surprisingly Thorough Considering How Quickly I Dashed It Off Monthly Review of May 2019

I’m going to have to make this quick, because I’m actually right in the middle of a house move. The palaver around that has led to regular tail-offs in posting over the past few months, and during May in particular, though it hasn’t had too much affect on my actual viewing, as you’ll soon see (June may be another story, but that’s next month’s discussion). That’s also why there isn’t my usual header image for this post — they take a disproportionality long time to put together (whereas the post itself is still fairly lengthy because, as the famous adage alludes, it’s easier to write something long than something short).

Read more here.


More next Sunday (hopefully).

Collection Count

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

This week, it's the running time update. This should've been published last week, but I was away from home without the info with me; and there were no new additions last week, so there was nothing else to report anyway.

Number of titles in collection: 2,227 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,132 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,095 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 26 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,759 [up 1]
Number of films: 2,551 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [no change]
Number of short films: 667 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
421 days, 14 hours, and 52 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 3 hours, and 54 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.