Tuesday 30 June 2020

TV

Jonathan Creek
2x02 Time Waits for Norman [2nd or so watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Without a Clue (1988)
[#155 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Monday 29 June 2020

TV

Elementary
6x16 Uncanny Valley of the Dolls

Jonathan Creek
2x01 Danse Macabre [2nd or so watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Staged
1x01 Cachu Hwch
1x02 Up to No Good
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Sunday 28 June 2020

TV

Elementary
6x15 How to Get a Head

Films

The House of Fear (1945)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #30

this week on 100 Films

5 new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)
Sporadically funny; often dated; with tired and rehashed routines; longer than Alexander Lemtov’s penis; and surprisingly emotional at the end… Actually, maybe The Story of Fire Saga is like Eurovision after all.
Read more here.


The 100-Week Roundup VI
Featuring...
- The Day the Earth Stood Still
- Full Metal Jacket
- Wind River
- Body of Lies
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Saturday 27 June 2020

TV

The Twilight Zone
1x11 And When the Sky Was Opened
1x14 Third from the Sun
+ the audio commentary by TZ expert Marc Scott Zicree & TV producer David Simkins on Third from the Sun

Films

The Invisible Man (2020)
[#154 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

After upgrading Red Dwarf I-VIII to Blu-ray last week, as well as buying the latest 'series', I decided to complete my collection, which means an upgrade for Back to Earth and new purchases for X to XII (I hadn't bought them before because I was torn between getting DVDs to match the rest of my collection or buying Blu-rays because they're better quality. Upgrading the older series settled that debate). Unfortunately, XI turned up damaged, so that'll get added to the stats when a replacement arrives.

This week was mostly TV-based, as I also bought the miniseries versions of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Watchmen. Five seasons of TV totals 28 episodes added -- you can tell they're mostly not US series, eh?

Number of titles in collection: 2,393 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,090 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,303 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 63 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,190 [up 12]
Number of films: 2,689 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 174 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,929 [up 28]
Number of short films: 754 [up 3]

It's also time for the monthly running time update. It's felt like a fairly busy four weeks, but what effect has it had?

Total running time of collection (approx.):
451 days, 9 hours, and 5 minutes.
(Up 3 days and 55 minutes from last month.)

Not a small amount by any means, but not as big as last month, nor that really big month earlier this year.

See you next week, faithful reader.

Wednesday 24 June 2020

Films

Man on Wire (2008)
[#149 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Who Killed Captain Alex? (2010)
[#150 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
What do you mean you've never heard of it? It's the 243rd greatest film of all time!

Tuesday 23 June 2020

Films

Chicken Run (2000)
[#148 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Crawl (2019)
[#147 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Monday 22 June 2020

Films

Shazam! 3D (2019)
[#146 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
+ a couple of featurettes on the Blu-ray

Sunday 21 June 2020

TV

Hey Duggee
2x44 The Comedy Badge
Apparently this is my little nephew's favourite show, so we thought we'd watch an episode. It was actually quite fun (as programmes aimed at 2-to-5-year-olds go).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Shelf Isolation
1x02 Denise Mina
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The South Bank Show [Sky Arts]
5x01 George R.R. Martin
This was filmed back in 2015, when Martin was being criticised for taking so long to finish The Winds of Winter. Five years on, there's still no publication date in sight.

Films

Do the Right Thing (1989)
[#145 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #6
+ a look through some of the Criterion Blu-ray's special features, including one where Spike Lee reads out some of the contemporary racist reactions from the mainstream media

this week on 100 Films

7 new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Gemini Man (2019)
a film that, at every point I can remember it being talked about, was discussed more for its various technical feats than anything else. Partly that’s because there are a couple of angles. Firstly, the most obvious: it stars Will Smith as an ageing assassin who must fight… a 25-years-younger Will Smith, achieved with motion capture and CGI. Secondly, director Ang Lee shot it in 3D 4K HFR — that’s High Frame Rate, if you don’t know, with the picture running at 120 frames per second rather than the 24fps we’ve been used to for the past 90-odd years. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that Gemini Man often feels more like a tech demo with a plot grafted onto it than it does a fully functioning movie in its own right.
Read more here.


Tomb Raider 3D (2018)
successfully recreates the running, jumping, shooting, puzzle-solving action of its inspiration without too overtly abandoning real-life logic for video game logic. Well, I say “real-life logic” — it’s actually “action/adventure movie logic”, but I think that’s allowed in an action/adventure movie. As an entry in that genre, it’s fun enough. It’s not going to compete for greatest-of-all-time status with its urtext, the Indiana Jones films, nor does it quite challenge the heights of more-overt homages like The Mummy, but it’s not a bad couple of hours’ entertainment in their mould.
Read more here.


The 100-Week Roundup V
Featuring...
- Blade of the Immortal
- Cash on Demand
- Free Enterprise
- Iron Monkey
- Muppet Treasure Island
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Saturday 20 June 2020

Films

7500 (2019)
[#144 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Tomb Raider 3D (2018)
[#143 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

Oh dear, I'm at it again: although it doesn't beat the new record I set back in April, this week slots into second place in the rankings of my most new purchases in one week, with 16... not that you'd know it from looking at the top stat. That's thanks to one box set replacing eight previous individual releases (Red Dwarf series I-VIII), and kept low by three more DVD-to-BD upgrades.

Hidden by that drop in DVD numbers is a rare purchase on the format (I say "rare": the last time I bought a DVD was only two weeks ago. You wait ages for one to come along, etc).

Number of titles in collection: 2,387 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,091 [down 10]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,296 [up 15]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 62 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,178 [up 15]
Number of films: 2,687 [up 13]
Number of additional cuts: 174 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,901 [up 1]
Number of short films: 751 [up 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 19 June 2020

Films

Cairo Station (1958)
[#142 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Theatre

Fleabag
Available to rent via Amazon, the original one-woman stage version of the successful TV show. I've never seen the TV version, so I guess I didn't quite know what to expect from this -- more than just "a comedy", given the level and kind of praise it's attracted. But jeez, I wasn't expecting it to get so dark. Lovers of small furry animals, beware.

Thursday 18 June 2020

Films

Gemini Man (2019)
[#141 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

On 4K UltraHD Blu-ray, where it's also in high frame rate (HFR) at 60fps (as opposed to the usual 24fps. It was actually shot at 120fps, but nothing supports that. And it was shot in 3D, but 4K doesn't do 3D, annoyingly).

Articles

How A Filmmaker Got The No. 1 Movie In America During A Pandemic
by Lisa Finn (from Patch)

In short: they made a short horror film on Zoom, rented a cinema to screen it, bought all the tickets, and with virtually nothing else showing that was enough to get them to #1. Ingenious. The short is now available to rent online, so maybe I will...

Wednesday 17 June 2020

Tuesday 16 June 2020

Monday 15 June 2020

Sunday 14 June 2020

Films

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
[#136 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

No new film reviews over at 100 Films in a Year this week, but there was a new TV column...





More next Sunday.

Saturday 13 June 2020

TV

Macbeth
The Royal Shakespeare Company production from 2018, starring Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack. It's already available on iPlayer as part of the Culture in Quarantine series, and will also be shown on BBC Four tomorrow (Sunday) night. I posted some thoughts on Letterboxd, and will expand on them further in my next 100 Films TV column.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Split Second (1992)
[#135 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

For once, this week's updates are exactly what you see -- no upgrades, partial or full; no hidden recounts -- just four new titles, with nine discs between them, containing 11 feature-length films and 15 short films.

But there's a bunch of stuff currently in the post or on order that should make next week's update both fairly big (if they all turn up) and as fiddly as normal.

Number of titles in collection: 2,382 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,101 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,281 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 62 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,163 [up 9]
Number of films: 2,674 [up 11]
Number of additional cuts: 172 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,900 [no change]
Number of short films: 749 [up 15]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 12 June 2020

TV

Daniel Sloss: X
Only just found out about this, because it hasn't had a proper UK release. It's well worth seeking out, though -- both hilarious and insightful.

Films

The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
[#134 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Wednesday 10 June 2020

Tuesday 9 June 2020

TV

The Great British Bake Off
9x10 Final [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
5x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Jonathan Creek
1x05 The House of Monkeys [season finale; 2nd or so watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Pearl of Death (1944)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #29

Monday 8 June 2020

TV

Elementary
6x13 Breathe

Grantchester
5x06 Episode 6 [season finale]

The Great British Bake Off
9x09 Pâtisserie
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
5x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Jonathan Creek
1x04 No Trace of Tracy [2nd or so watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Sunday 7 June 2020

TV

Grantchester
5x05 Episode 5

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
5x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Jonathan Creek
1x03 The Reconstituted Corpse [3rd or so watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Gambit (1966)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #28

The Gay Divorcee (1934)
[#132 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
aka The Gay Divorce on iPlayer

this week on 100 Films

No reviews at 100 Films in a Year this week, but there were a couple of other posts. Firstly, a new month began this week (yep, that was only this week), so, as always, it was time to look back at the one just gone...





I also reached my 2,000th film. It was...



Click/tap the picture for more about that.


More (hopefully reviews) next Sunday.

Saturday 6 June 2020

TV

The Great British Bake Off
9x08 Danish
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Elementary
6x12 Meet Your Maker

Films

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
[#131 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
And that's also 100 Films' 2,000th film! More about that here.

The Scarlet Claw (1944)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #27

Collection Count

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

In a very rare occurrence, I actually bought a new DVD this week... but it replaces two old DVDs, so the DVD count still goes down! Poor old DVD, there's just no winning anymore. Actually, that said, although one of the UHD titles I bought this week was a DVD-to-UHD upgrade, the UHD release doesn't include all of the old special features, so I'll be hanging onto the DVD. A DVD victory!

Number of titles in collection: 2,378 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,101 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,277 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 61 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 6,154 [up 13]
Number of films: 2,663 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 172 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,900 [up 6]
Number of short films: 734 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 5 June 2020

TV

Elementary
6x11 You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Grantchester
5x04 Episode 4

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
5x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Jonathan Creek
1x02 Jack in the Box [3rd or so watch]
I didn't remember any specifics from the first episode (which led me to hedge my bets on the 'view count', that maybe I'd not rewatched it since it first aired in 1997), but I remember most of this one vividly (which leads me to think I'd already seen it more than once. But, knowing me, I very much doubt I'd've watched individual episodes multiple times -- I'd've rewatched the whole series. Ah, what does it matter anyway?)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

Nemo: River of Ghosts by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill

The third and final volume in the Nemo trilogy (following Heart of Ice and The Roses of Berlin, set in the world of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I thought these were going to be a trio of standalone books, but either I was wrong or Moore couldn't resist tying them together -- it's not really a three-parter, but they're definitely connected, and you'd only get the most out of this volume by having read the other two. It's also dense with other literary allusions, naturally (that's the style of the LoEG universe, after all), but not so obstructively as in other books. And, thankfully, it's not half in untranslated-German this time!

While an enjoyable trilogy, there's something about these books that feels 'light' to me. I mean, they don't exactly feel light to read, what with all the references you either get or know you're missing, but the stories are kind of slight. I don't know, maybe I'm just being picky. It'll be interesting to get to that League re-read I mentioned and consume them closer together.

Thursday 4 June 2020

TV

Elementary
6x10 The Adventure of the Ersatz Sobekneferu

The Great British Bake Off
9x07 Vegan
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
5x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Jonathan Creek
1x01 The Wrestler's Tomb [2nd or so watch]
Finally doing something I've been meaning to do for years (decades, really): rewatching all of Jonathan Creek from the start (which will eventually lead to a load of episodes I've never seen). I own it on DVD, but you can also currently catch the whole series on iPlayer.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wednesday 3 June 2020

Monday 1 June 2020

TV

Lucifer
4x09 Save Lucifer
[Watch season 4 (again) on Netflix.]

Films

The Children Act (2017)
[#128 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]