Wednesday 31 May 2023

TV

Taskmaster
4x06 Spatchcock It
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]

Comics

2000 AD #2313
Into this year's progs, now — maybe one day I'll finally catchup. In fact, I'm not enjoying many of the series at this point, so I'm tempted to start skipping the ones I dislike — that would certainly help catch me up faster; but it's also kinda wasteful. I'll see how they go.

Games

Foolish Mortals (demo)

Resuming, and finishing, the demo I started last Friday — it only took about another 20 minutes (vs over an hour I played the other day), so I probably should've just finished it then. Hey-ho. It was good fun, anyway, and I'm looking forward to the full game.

Tuesday 30 May 2023

Monday 29 May 2023

Sunday 28 May 2023

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
6x55 Week 11: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Trigger Point
1x04 Episode 4
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch the whole series (again) on ITVX.]

Films

The Thin Man (1934)
[2nd watch]
[#36 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2023]

Saturday 27 May 2023

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
6x54 Week 11: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Trigger Point
1x01 Episode 1
1x02 Episode 2
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch the whole series (again) on ITVX.]

Collection Count

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

Just one new addition for the final update of May 2023. The next couple of weeks are currently looking similarly as quiet, although there's always the possibility some preorders will ship early. If not, the last couple of weeks of June will be flooded with boutique label releases. Fun times.

Number of titles in collection: 3,093 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,029 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,064 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 260 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 7,595 [up 1]
Number of films: 3,791 [up 1]
Number of additional cuts: 316 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,589 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,053 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 26 May 2023

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
6x53 Week 11: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Games

Foolish Mortals (demo)

I backed this point-and-click adventure on Kickstarter last year, unplayed — the demo existed back then, but not for Mac; but it looked good enough that I decided to take a punt nonetheless. This week, I discovered they'd shared a Mac-compatible version of the demo, so I finally got to play it. Some instability aside (I quickly learnt to save all the time because it was regularly crashing for no reason; it settled down after a certain point, but still doesn't seem wholly reliable), it's good fun — high quality production values, and the kind of tone and atmosphere I'd expected. Looks like I was right to take the punt!

Anyway, I played for about an hour and didn't finish all the demo had to offer. I'd have stuck with it to the end, but other things are pressing on my time — I'll have to finish it next week, now.

Thursday 25 May 2023

Films

The Shiver of the Vampires (1971)
[#35 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2023]
+ the 4-minute intro by director Jean Rollin that's included on Indicator's release, in which he says his goal was to make something “really strange, really bizarre”. Well, I think he achieved that...

Monday 22 May 2023

TV

Taskmaster
4x05 Meat
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]

Sunday 21 May 2023

TV

Have I Got News for You
65x06 (19/5/2023 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended episode (again) on iPlayer.]

Audio Drama

Hell Cats
1x14 Promises Kept [season finale]

Well, I thought that was really good overall. A nice mix of swashbuckling fiction (exactly what you want from a pirate story) and historical fact (there's plenty of gaps in the latter to be filled by the former). It has a very modern sensibility to some of the characters and their relationships, which I guess would rub some listeners up the wrong way, but it's actually fitting — these people were forerunners to modern ideas about the place of women, the value of freedom, and LGBTQ+ lifestyles; while they may not have actually used the same language to express those ideas, it's hard to think they would've disagreed with them. Besides, any work of fiction is as much about the time it was written as it is about the time it's set, so I think it works to view these historical people through a modern lens.

It comes to such a fitting close that I'm almost loathe to listen to the second series (which definitely goes beyond recorded events into the realm of total fictionalisation, from what I can tell)... but it's the same writer and lead actors, and it's set in a different but equally swashbuckling milieu (that of highwaymen), so hopefully it's as entertaining.

[Listen to it (again) on Audible.]

Comics

2000 AD #2312
The second half thereof.

Collection Count

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

I mentioned last time that this post would take a bit of work, because I'm massively behind on adding new acquisitions to my database, which means they're not easily factored in to the total running time — and (as is perhaps obvious) it's time for an update on that. Plus, I was away all of yesterday, so that hardly helped.

Anyway, slightly delayed, here it all is: this week's average-ish pile of new additions (by my standards — this many new additions every week shouldn't really be "average"!), plus the monthly check-in on the length of my collection.

Number of titles in collection: 3,092 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,029 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,063 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 260 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 7,594 [up 11]
Number of films: 3,790 [up 7]
Number of additional cuts: 316 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,589 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,053 [up 1]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
539 days, 23 hours, and 5 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 14 hours, and 7 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday 19 May 2023

Thursday 18 May 2023

Wednesday 17 May 2023

TV

Taskmaster
4x02 Look At Me
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]

Tuesday 16 May 2023

TV

Taskmaster
4x01 A Fat Bald White Man
[Watch it (again) on Channel 4.]

Comics

2000 AD #2312
The bumper-length end-of-year Chrismas Prog for 2022 — so I'm only about five months behind still. At 100 pages, it's about three times as long as a regular issue (appropriate, as it covers for three weeks of the normally-weekly comic), so I ended up only reading the first half today.

Articles

Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio & Robert De Niro On How They Found The Emotional Handle For Their Cannes Epic Killers Of The Flower Moon
by Mike Fleming Jr (from Deadline)

A fantastic piece on Scorsese's new film. It begins with the backstory and the thoughts of DiCaprio and De Niro, and then there's an extended interview with Scorsese where he also talks about his general thoughts/experience of making films right now. Great stuff.

Monday 15 May 2023

TV

Have I Got News for You
65x05 (12/5/2023 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended episode (again) on iPlayer.]

Sunday 14 May 2023

Saturday 13 May 2023

TV

Eurovision Song Contest: Liverpool 2023
Grand Final
A great show on the whole, even if I didn't understand the winner at all (it was a perfectly adequate song, but there were so many other better or more interesting ones, so I don't get why it was such a runaway hit). On the bright side, it means a return to Sweden, who last time they hosted gave us one of the greatest Eurovision moments of all time. No pressure for 2024, guys...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]


The One Show at Eurovision
9/5/2023 edition
10/5/2023 edition
11/5/2023 edition
12/5/2023 edition
13/5/2023 edition: Eurovision Countdown

As you might guess from the title, BBC One's early evening magazine programme The One Show has been in Liverpool all week to cover Eurovision. I didn't realise how much coverage they'd given it — I assumed it would be little bits here and there, but actually it dominated each episode, with only an interview or short feature per episode deviating. So I caught up on all of that earlier today.

It's not just me who's spent most of the day in a Eurovision bubble, though: the actual BBC One schedule dedicated 8 hours to Eurovision-related programming throughout the afternoon & evening! It began with a repeat of last week's Ultimate Guide, there was then a repeat of last year's Weakest Link tie-in special, followed by new tie-in editions of Pointless Celebrities and The Hit List. So, mostly themed specials of game shows, then. I decided to skip all of that (I did have some other things to do), but joined for The One Show countdown to the main event.

[Watch the countdown (again) on iPlayer.]

Audio Drama

Hell Cats
1x13 The Final Show
[Listen to it (again) on Audible.]

Collection Count

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

Another more-than-healthy pile of new arrivals this week, almost all brand-new releases (to be exact, almost half of these titles have been out for a while, but they were bundled in a preorder with something that's out next week, so my copies have only just turned up).

Also in this batch: 4K releases of the two 1970s Musketeers films, upgrading a BD doublepack. I massively enjoyed those films when I first saw them a few years ago (I checked: it was 2011. Twelve years ago is my idea of "recently"), so looking forward to revisiting them in 4K.

Number of titles in collection: 3,086 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,029 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,057 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 257 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 7,583 [up 11]
Number of films: 3,783 [up 9]
Number of additional cuts: 315 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,589 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,052 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader, when it's time for a running time update — but I'm massively behind in adding all my recent acquisitions to my database, so it's gonna require a rather large amount of work on my part to get that figure ready. Don't be surprised if the post is delayed...

Friday 12 May 2023

TV

Eurovision: Everyone's a Winner
Well well well, #1 was a surprise... but only because I'd forgotten it was a Eurovision song. Ever since the song in question started getting a lot of radio play, I thought it seemed familiar. I assumed it was very similar to something I couldn’t place; I never expected the answer to be “it finished 20th on Eurovision last year”. Wonders will never cease.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Thursday 11 May 2023

Tuesday 9 May 2023

TV

Eurovision Song Contest: Liverpool 2023
Semi-Final 1
Watching the Eurovision semis for the first time ever. Glad I did, because it was quite the show.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Monday 8 May 2023

TV

Eurovision Welcomes the World
Eurovision's almost here! Hooray! I've never watched the semi-finals before, but I'm considering going all-in on it this year. We'll see.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News for You
65x04 (5/5/2023 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended episode (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Mr. Vampire (1985)

Audio Drama

Hell Cats
1x12 Judgement
[Listen to it (again) on Audible.]

Sunday 7 May 2023

TV

The Coronation Concert
Nearly skipped this — it doesn't have the historical weight of the coronation itself, and these kinds of concerts can be mediocre shows of "who could we book?" But, actually, I'm glad I did, because there were various highlights worth seeing — the Shakespeare collaboration; the drone light shows; the Muppets are always fun. Altogether, worth the time.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

On His Majesty's Secret Service by Charlie Higson
Chapter 3

this week on 100Films.co.uk

No regular reviews at 100Films.co.uk again this week, but yet another new month has begun, and so there was the monthly review...





And, as an addendum to that, all the stuff I didn't watch in April...





More, perhaps, next Sunday. If not then next month, eh?

Collection Count

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

As discussed last time (aka "the day before yesterday"), although this update comes hot on the heels of the last one, it still represents a full week's worth of new additions to my collection... it's just that everything here arrived yesterday morning, is all.

The main contingent is a ten-title order from the US that I placed way back in March and expected to arrive almost a whole month ago now. Well, better late than never.

Number of titles in collection: 3,079 [up 11]
Of which DVDs: 1,029 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,050 [up 11]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 255 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 7,572 [up 16]
Number of films: 3,774 [up 12]
Number of additional cuts: 314 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,589 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,051 [up 5]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Saturday 6 May 2023

TV

The Coronation of TM King Charles III and Queen Camilla
The Preparation
The Coronation
The Celebration
A Day to Remember
More history, innit?
[Watch it all (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

On His Majesty's Secret Service by Charlie Higson
Chapters 1–2

My copy of this much-anticipated new Bond novel (novella, really) turned up today — better than some people, I hear, because Amazon have predicted delivery dates weeks in the future, even for preorders. Shame, especially as it actually starts on May 4th, the release day. Well, so the marketing emphasised — that's actually a flashforward, with the main action beginning back in March. Probably for the best — the coronation tie-in plot could already be a bit gimmicky, so not actually leaning into a "read it in real-time" gimmick as well is good.

Friday 5 May 2023

TV

The Eve of the Coronation
Well, I half watched it — had it on while I did other things. It's history, innit?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Well, "every week" has gone slightly out the window this time: this update should've been posted last Saturday, but I've been too busy to work out the additions (the final result may look simple, but there were a few "am I replacing that DVD?" issues to consider), and so it's gradually slipped until it's almost a full 7 days late. I'm sure no one cares — I could just post a new update tomorrow and be done with — but, well, I care. A little bit.

So, here's the final update for April — only about 15 hours short of being an entire week late compared to its usual posting time. But nothing new arrived in that time, so it's still accurate to last Saturday. But a bunch of stuff is going to arrive tomorrow morning, so I still intend to post another "weekly" update over the weekend. Yeah, I buy too much stuff...

Number of titles in collection: 3,068 [up 10]
Of which DVDs: 1,029 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,039 [up 10]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 253 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 7,556 [up 14]
Number of films: 3,762 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 313 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,589 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,046 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Wednesday 3 May 2023

Audio Drama

Hell Cats
1x11 Bloodsuckers
[Listen to it (again) on Audible.]

Tuesday 2 May 2023

TV

Have I Got News for You
65x03 (28/4/2023 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended episode (again) on iPlayer.]

Monday 1 May 2023

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
6x52 Week 11: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King — Extended Edition (2003/2004)
[5th or so watch]
[#34 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2023]

Perfect way to spend a Bank Holiday weekend: a Lord of the Rings film each day, all in 4K quality. As I said about Fellowship, the lack of grain only bothered me a few times, while several bits looked extra-spectacular thanks to the HDR colours.