Films

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
[#96 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #18

Zatoichi in Desperation (1972)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Archer
6x10 Reignition Sequence

The Twilight Zone
2x14 The Whole Truth

Films

Ice Age: Continental Drift 3D (2012)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Lunchbox (2013)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

The Two Popes (2019)
[#92 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Music

Human. :II: Nature. by Nightwish

I'll always buy a new Nightwish album, though while I was waiting for this one to turn up (it took 10 days longer than it should've thanks to current events) I looked back at their last one and realised I'd only listened to it once in the five years since it came out (not logged on here, for some reason). I listened to it again and, frankly, could see why (though there are some tracks I like).

This new one is a double album, with CD1 containing nine tracks and CD2 a 31-minute track split into eight sections -- so very Nightwish (it's been 20 years since they released a studio album without at least one song over 10 minutes, and the last one included a 24-minute piece). Anyway, it made for amiable enough background music, but not much jumped out at me. I'll have to listen to it again -- I'll try not to wait five years this time.

TV

Star Trek: Picard
1x07 Nepenthe
[Watch it (again) on Prime Video.]

Films

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Ready or Not (2019)
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

The Twilight Zone
1x31 The Chaser

Films

The Escape (2016)
[#89a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Wedding Guest (2018)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Elephant Man (1980)

The Elephant Man is sometimes placed alongside Dune and The Straight Story as anomalies in Lynch’s filmography, which is more often characterised for its horror-inducing oddness and sometimes-incomprehensible plotting. Of course, upon proper examination, all three of these movies exhibit Lynchian touches, perhaps none more so than The Elephant Man. It’s there in the avant-garde opening; the dream sequence; the sound design, for which he’s co-credited; the focus on industrial machinery. The film can certainly be read as a Victorian melodrama, but in execution it’s far from a Merchant Ivory movie.

Read more here.


Extraction (2020)

the action sequences are great, more than making up for the lightweight plot mechanics. Letting stunt coordinators move into full-on directing has been the saviour of the action movie genre in recent years, working wonders for the John Wick series in particular... Hargrave is the latest to suggest he might have a bright career ahead of him on the basis of his ability to stage electrifyingly choreographed combat scenes.

Read more here.


Men in Black: International (2019)

It’s not that the movie is bad per se, it’s just mediocre; bland; uninspired. It’s devoid of wit or charm — which, considering the cast, is kind of remarkable. I mean, it’s not just Hemsworth and Thompson — two appealing, capable leads. There’s also Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson, and Rebecca Ferguson pops up (I didn’t even know she was in it ’til she did), and there’s Rafe Spall (limited by having to be a blatant red herring), and the voice of Kumail Nanjiani. Whoever’s your favourite out of that talented cast, they’re wasted.

Read more here.


Review Roundup: Superman Sequels

You'll believe a franchise can die!
Featuring:
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
4x36 The Faceless Ones Episode 6

Films

Extraction (2020)
[#88 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Music

Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Nightwish
[2nd listen]

I listened to this back when it came out in 2015 (I assumed I'd logged it here, but it seems not), but haven't listened to it in full since; though there are two tracks (Shudder Before the Beautiful and Alpenglow) that I've listened to over 100 times each (fun what you can learn from iTunes Apple's Music app).

Anyway, it was alright. Not my favourite. Their new album's out now but I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive.

Collection Count

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

Thanks in part to nothing turning up (when it should have) last week, this week is a record-breaker! It's the most new additions I've had in a single week since starting this column. The previous high was 14 in July 2011, but this week sees 18 new purchases for a +16 net (one DVD-to-BD upgrade and one BD-to-4K upgrade).

Now, I really must slow down my purchasing.

Number of titles in collection: 2,356 [up 16]
Of which DVDs: 1,108 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,248 [up 17]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 48 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,097 [up 26]
Number of films: 2,758 [up 17]
Number of TV episodes: 8,807 [no change]
Number of short films: 719 [up 12]

All of that was just in time for the monthly running time update. Although there were lots of new titles and discs, many of them were quite short films, and the previous weeks of this month were nothing special, so this month's increase isn't huge (though there have been plenty lower).

Total running time of collection (approx.):
444 days, 22 hours, and 51 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 12 hours, and 54 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
27x03 (24/4/20 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
59x04 (24/4/20 edition)
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Sheik (1921)
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Son of the Sheik (1926)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

The Big Night In
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Men in Black: International (2019)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

End of the Century (2019)
[#84 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Long Day's Journey Into Night 3D (2018)
[#83 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

The Twilight Zone
1x35 The Mighty Casey
Another of the series' very worst episodes.

Films

Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (2006)
[#82 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Secret Life of Pets 2 3D (2019)
[#81 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Archer
6x09 Pocket Listing

Doctor Who
4x35 The Faceless Ones Episode 5

Films

6 Underground (2019)
[#80 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Quiz
Part 1 (of 3)
Part 2 (of 3)
Part 3 (of 3)
I didn't necessarily intend to watch it all in one sitting, but it was so good.
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

The Sarah Jane Adventures
6x00 Farewell, Sarah Jane [special]
A touching little video, written by Russell T Davies and featuring a host of cameos, to mark the anniversary of Lis Sladen's death.
[Watch it (again) on the YouTube.]

this week on 100 Films

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


The 100-Week Roundup II

including...
Laura
Jigsaw
and
Inferno in 3D

Read more here.


The Avengers (1998)

much to my surprise, I kind of loved it... the film embraces the mannered, quirky tone of the TV series, then turns it up to eleven. Personally I think it’s a tonne of fun, with arch performances, ripe dialogue, and a deliciously camp air. If it wasn’t for WB’s post-production fiddling, which has left the plot feeling a bit janky and spasmodic, I reckon this would be a cult classic by now.

Read more here.


Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

Some people criticised Homecoming for having too much Iron Man and going too far in making Spider-Man into Iron Man Jr. I felt they got the balance about right, all things considered — it’s not very true to comic book canon, but, as the third big-screen iteration of Spidey in the modern era, it made a reasonable change. Far from Home is where it becomes overpowering. It has to lean heavily on the overall continuity of the MCU, which means all the business of The Blip (as what we call The Snap is called in-universe) and Iron Man’s death is front-loaded into the movie. The former is waived away as quickly as they can; the latter weighs heavy on the entire rest of the plot.

Read more here.


Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D (1991/2017)

As you might expect from a genuine 3D advocate like Cameron, a lot of the effect is quite subtle — it’s aiming for realistic spacing, not an in-your-face exaggeration of depth. That kind of subtlety is arguably a reason a lot of people feel 3D adds little [but] Put a good subtle-3D shot against its 2D counterpart and suddenly you’re aware of the natural awareness of shape and depth the extra dimension is adding. [T2] does have moments that I think demonstrate that kind of effect. And, at other times, the 3D is much more obvious; mostly during big action set pieces, as you’d expect.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

The Rock (1996)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #17

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ the audio commentary by co-writer Mark Rosenthal. I don’t very often listen to audio commentaries, so why I did this one, of all films, I don’t really know. But here we are. It was moderately interesting.

Collection Count

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

There should have been loads turning up this week -- at least 13 additions, maybe even 15 or 16, which would've been record-setting (see other recent updates for more on that). The reason being that, after a couple of quiet weeks, I got suckered by an Easter sale; and there were some new releases due too.

But none that has turned up yet. Not a sausage. It's a mix of both slow dispatch and slow delivery times. Some of it is due to the current situation, but, honestly, the big load of sale items are from somewhere that's always tardy at dispatch during their sales. And as for the new releases, at least one seems to have gone AWOL, if it was even dispatched at all. So nothing's arrived this week, but I have spent an awful lot of time checking on statuses or trying to chase things...

Number of titles in collection: 2,340 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,109 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,231 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 47 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,071 [no change]
Number of films: 2,741 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,807 [no change]
Number of short films: 707 [no change]

Of course, this does mean next week might be a banner one, if everything does finally turn up en masse. See you then, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
27x02 (17/4/20 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Avengers (1998)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #16. I think the first and last time I saw this was at the cinema in 1998, i.e. 22 years ago. I remember not disliking it, but it's got such a poor rep I expected to hate it now -- I was watching out of idle curiosity. But, turns out, I actually enjoyed it. More here.

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
[#78 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

TV

Doctor Who
4x34 The Faceless Ones Episode 4

Films

Had myself a Kathryn Bigelow double-bill for no reason...

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
[#75 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Near Dark (1987)
[#76 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

And then...

The Thin Red Line (1998)
[#77 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
As part of Blindspot 2020, a leftover from WDYMYHS 2019.

TV

Archer
6x06 Sitting
6x07 Nellis
6x08 The Kanes

TV

Doctor Who
4x33 The Faceless Ones Episode 3

Films

Dune: The Alternative Edition Redux (1984/2012)
[#73 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
I have seen Dune before, but only in its 137-minute theatrical cut form, and that was over 20 years ago. This fanedit restores a bunch of material from the extended TV cut, plus even more from some deleted scenes, and runs just shy of 3 hours. It doesn't fix all of the film's problems, but some of what it adds is definitely worthwhile. More info about it here.

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
[#74 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Fiction

Shōgun by James Clavell
Chapter 32
I knew it'd been a little while since I read any of this, but five-and-a-half months?! Oops. And it's been a long time since I was properly, regularly reading it. No wonder I had next to no idea who some of the characters were and what's going on… I'm still less than halfway through it (page 548 of 1,211), but I do want to finish it.

Articles

Behold Dune: An Exclusive Look at Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, and More
by Anthony Breznican (from Vanity Fair)

Oh my, this looks as good as I hoped. Let's hope it's as good as it looks.

Films

Andrei Rublev (1966)
[#72 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #4

TV

Archer
6x05 Vision Quest

Doctor Who
4x32 The Faceless Ones Episode 2

Films

It Chapter Two (2019)
[#71 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

It was time for 100 Films in a Year's monthly TV roundup this week, but it was so long I wound up splitting it in two...







There was also 1 new film review this week...


Yesterday (2019)

a pleasant bit of fluff about a guy becoming famous with borrowed music while finally realising that the girl who’s wasted her life waiting for him to realise she loves him, er, loves him (Jack doesn’t deserve Lily James). Yeah, it’s mostly predictable, but that’s part of the comfort factor. There’s some good music, some likeable performances, and a general amiability to its tone.

Read more here.


And there were 2 new "Guide To"s published as well, both on the same theme...


Sean Connery as James Bond, Part 2

If everything had gone according to plan, this weekend Americans would've been flocking to cinemas to see Daniel Craig's final performance as Bond, James Bond, secret agent 007, in No Time to Die (us Brits would've all been to see it last weekend, of course). As that's not to be, here's something both entirely similar and entirely different: my reviews of Sean Connery's final performance in the role — both of them...

Neither of these films is Connery's finest hour as Bond — they're his worst hours, in fact — but, I must say, they were both better than I had remembered.

featuring Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
Lockdown: Rory's Story
Tonight's Doctor Who Lockdown watchalong was The Doctor's Wife, and to accompany it Neil Gaiman wrote a new scene starring former companion Rory (and a special guest...) Rory was one of my favourite companions, so it's lovely to see him again.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]

Films

Never Too Young to Die (1986)
[#70 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

This week's big news: I bought a DVD! Can't remember the last time I bought a DVD. But then the increase was immediately cancelled out by upgrading another DVD. Hey-ho.

Number of titles in collection: 2,340 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,109 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,231 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 47 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,071 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,741 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,807 [no change]
Number of short films: 707 [up 7]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Doctor Who
4x31 The Faceless Ones Episode 1
On to the next animated classic serial.

The Graham Norton Show
27x01 (10/4/20 edition)
I don't normally watch Graham anymore, but I wanted to see what the lockdown version was like. Turns out, pretty entertaining.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Archer
6x01 The Holdout
6x02 Three to Tango
6x03 The Archer Sanction
6x04 Edie's Wedding
After I finally got round to Archer season 5 over four years after I watched season 4, I figured I'd quite quickly carry on and catch up... but it's been almost two years. Oops. I did give season 5 high scores on IMDb, but in my 100 Films reviews (here and here) I commented that I thought it wasn’t as good as it used to be, which explains why it's taken me so long to get round to continuing. Well, maybe season 6 was a return to form, because I watched all four of these episodes in one sitting purely because I was enjoying it so much.

Red Dwarf
13x01 The Promised Land [special]
[Watch it (again) on UKTV Play.]

Films

The Devil's Harmony (2019)
[#68a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Watch it on Short of the Week.

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
[#68 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Next Karate Kid (1994)
[#69 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

The Diamond Arm (1969)
[#67 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
[#66 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

Aniara (2018)
[#65 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Burning (2018)
[#63 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
[#64 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Films

Stop Making Sense (1984)
[#62 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

As ever, a new month means it was time to look back at the old one at 100 Films in a Year -- and it was a big'un...





Meanwhile, 1 new review was published too...


Hustlers (2019)

Strippers conspire to rip-off Wall Street bastards in the wake of the 2008 financial crash... Crime movies are sometimes criticised for glamourising the illegal acts of their characters... Sometimes it’s unavoidable, because we’re going to be on the criminals’ side however you present it — and I think that’s the case here. Those fuckers had it coming, and these girls brought it to them. Not all heroes wear capes clothes.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema
2x03 Spy Movies [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Star Trek: Picard
1x06 The Impossible Box
[Watch it (again) on Prime Video.]

Films

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
[3rd or so watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #15. First Bond film I've (properly) watched since June 2018; and technically it continues a series rewatch I've been doing since 2012(!)

Collection Count

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

After an incredibly busy month, things calm back down a bit with just four additions this week: one 4K new release, a pair of HMV-exclusive BDs, and one cheap second-hand 3D pickup. Even more shockingly, next week shouldn't see any additions at all! Though you never know when I'll cave to something on offer or get a random whim to pick up an old release -- that's what three of this week's four were, after all.

Number of titles in collection: 2,339 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,109 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,230 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 47 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,069 [up 8]
Number of films: 2,740 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,807 [no change]
Number of short films: 700 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

The Three Caballeros (1944)
[#61 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Theatre

One Man, Two Guvnors

The National Theatre's acclaimed production, filmed. It was released in cinemas in 2011, one of those live broadcast things they do all the time nowadays, and has now been made available on YouTube for free (but only until next Thursday).

The real question for me is: does it count as a film for 100 Films? I mean, is it a film? If it's not a film, what is it? Live theatre, obviously... but live theatre that's been filmed, and was released in the cinemas. Do those very acts make it a film? Argh!

[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]

TV

Doctor Who
4x30 The Macra Terror Episode 4

+ all the special features on the Blu-ray (except the commentary), which are mostly just censored clips, photos, or behind-the-scenes bits from the animation. There are also several alternate presentations of the story, and...

Doctor Who
5x35 The Wheel in Space Episode 1 [mini-episode]
An 11-minute animation of some of The Wheel in Space Episode 1. It's as good as any of the other animations, and it's a nice little bonus in its own way, but ultimately it's rather pointless -- if they do the full story someday, this will be unnecessary; if they don't, well, there's still five-and-a-half episodes not animated.

Films

The Kid (1921)
[#60 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Rang De Basanti (2006)
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Currently ranked as the 219th greatest film of all time on IMDb.

Films

Missing Link (2019)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]