The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
[#25 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
Blindspot 2026 #3
This was meant to be part of WDYMYHS 2019. Seven years late, I've finally got there!
Saturday, 16 May 2026
Video Games
Buffet Knight: Decadent Full Course
Had felt a little like I was going back and forth over the same areas making minor progress... then opened up one new pathway and loads more of the map. Fun times. Probably playing it incredibly inefficiently, just wandering around, back and forth, but hey, that's kinda what I was taught to do by...
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
I don't really know if I should log this — it's kind of like logging wallpaper, considering it just sits there. Though wallpaper doesn't drop a new varient every now and then that you can give a name, I guess.
Had felt a little like I was going back and forth over the same areas making minor progress... then opened up one new pathway and loads more of the map. Fun times. Probably playing it incredibly inefficiently, just wandering around, back and forth, but hey, that's kinda what I was taught to do by...
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
I don't really know if I should log this — it's kind of like logging wallpaper, considering it just sits there. Though wallpaper doesn't drop a new varient every now and then that you can give a name, I guess.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
This week, a trio of Masters of Cinema titles turned up a whole week early, thanks to ordering direct. Plus another Akira Kurosawa in HD from the BFI, and a feature-length Hammer documentary from, er, Hammer themselves. Two of those are upgrades, but in both cases the previous copies are in box sets, so they're going nowhere.
Number of titles in collection: 3,695 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,730 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 528 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,862 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,749 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 494 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,296 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
This week, a trio of Masters of Cinema titles turned up a whole week early, thanks to ordering direct. Plus another Akira Kurosawa in HD from the BFI, and a feature-length Hammer documentary from, er, Hammer themselves. Two of those are upgrades, but in both cases the previous copies are in box sets, so they're going nowhere.
Number of titles in collection: 3,695 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,730 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 528 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,862 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,749 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 494 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,296 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 15 May 2026
Thursday, 14 May 2026
Fiction
Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber
IV. The Lords of Quarmall pp.61–92 [the end]
And that is also the end of The First Book of Lankhmar, meaning I'm theoretically halfway through the series. That said, I've read four of its seven books, which cover 24 stories and leave 13 to go. It won't come as much of a surprise, then, that those 13 include three of the four longest tales (Lords of Quarmall ranks third), including the only full-length novel — which is what's up next (after I read an unrelated book or two first, just for variety's sake).
IV. The Lords of Quarmall pp.61–92 [the end]
And that is also the end of The First Book of Lankhmar, meaning I'm theoretically halfway through the series. That said, I've read four of its seven books, which cover 24 stories and leave 13 to go. It won't come as much of a surprise, then, that those 13 include three of the four longest tales (Lords of Quarmall ranks third), including the only full-length novel — which is what's up next (after I read an unrelated book or two first, just for variety's sake).
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
When I started Skyrim, I aimed to not use fast travel — half the fun is traversing the world and stumbling upon things. Eventually I caved and began to use it to quickly transport loot for sale; then, after I’d explored some regions so thoroughly there were no more landmarks to discover and the random encounters were becoming repetitive, I allowed myself to skip around those areas sometimes. I think this ‘limited and specific’ kind of use is preferable to both “no fast travel whatsoever” and “using fast travel willy-nilly”.
However, there are some quests that require you to ping back and forth around the map to complete their objectives. I’ve mostly tried to treat these as either a way to explore new areas (setting off to the next objective, getting sidetracked by a gazillions things on the way, and eventually reaching my goal several hours of playtime later) or let them sit in my journal, thinking “I’ll do that next time I’m in the area anyway”. The latter is part of why I have a lot of stuff backed up; and, honestly, I can’t remember the storylines associated with many of them, because in some cases it’s been literally hundreds of hours since I received the quest. I did once do a quest like that by fast travelling back and forth to its various objectives. It meant I completed it promptly, but it also felt kinda unsatisfying to ‘cheat’ like that.
Nonetheless, with the amount of stuff I’ve got sat waiting, and the aforementioned struggle to follow storylines properly (I’ve also completed quests where I’ve just ticked the boxes having forgotten why I’m doing what I'm doing, and that’s even more unsatisfying), maybe it’s time to allow myself to do a bit more teleporting and get a few things properly completed. I mean, I’ve still got three cities left unvisited, including some major ones (one is part of an entire new island), and they’re definitely gonna bring a whole lot more stuff to do! And that's without starting/resuming any of the major questlines...
When I started Skyrim, I aimed to not use fast travel — half the fun is traversing the world and stumbling upon things. Eventually I caved and began to use it to quickly transport loot for sale; then, after I’d explored some regions so thoroughly there were no more landmarks to discover and the random encounters were becoming repetitive, I allowed myself to skip around those areas sometimes. I think this ‘limited and specific’ kind of use is preferable to both “no fast travel whatsoever” and “using fast travel willy-nilly”.
However, there are some quests that require you to ping back and forth around the map to complete their objectives. I’ve mostly tried to treat these as either a way to explore new areas (setting off to the next objective, getting sidetracked by a gazillions things on the way, and eventually reaching my goal several hours of playtime later) or let them sit in my journal, thinking “I’ll do that next time I’m in the area anyway”. The latter is part of why I have a lot of stuff backed up; and, honestly, I can’t remember the storylines associated with many of them, because in some cases it’s been literally hundreds of hours since I received the quest. I did once do a quest like that by fast travelling back and forth to its various objectives. It meant I completed it promptly, but it also felt kinda unsatisfying to ‘cheat’ like that.
Nonetheless, with the amount of stuff I’ve got sat waiting, and the aforementioned struggle to follow storylines properly (I’ve also completed quests where I’ve just ticked the boxes having forgotten why I’m doing what I'm doing, and that’s even more unsatisfying), maybe it’s time to allow myself to do a bit more teleporting and get a few things properly completed. I mean, I’ve still got three cities left unvisited, including some major ones (one is part of an entire new island), and they’re definitely gonna bring a whole lot more stuff to do! And that's without starting/resuming any of the major questlines...
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Video Games
Buffet Knight: Decadent Full Course
Completed the second dungeon today, of which I believe there are five, and I was thinking "this game is going quite quickly"... until I realised my playtime so far is 3½ hours, which means five dungeons + I presume some kind of equivalent endgame is likely to be over 10 hours, which is a perfectly reasonable game length, especially for an indie. Skyrim may have distored my perspective...
(Actually, it's almost the perfect time for this comparison, because 3½ hours is exactly how long I played Skyrim on Monday, during which I completed a couple of bits of some quests (I don't think I did a whole one) and spent a lot of time running around 'n' admining — vs doing about ⅔ of Buffet Knight in that time.)
Completed the second dungeon today, of which I believe there are five, and I was thinking "this game is going quite quickly"... until I realised my playtime so far is 3½ hours, which means five dungeons + I presume some kind of equivalent endgame is likely to be over 10 hours, which is a perfectly reasonable game length, especially for an indie. Skyrim may have distored my perspective...
(Actually, it's almost the perfect time for this comparison, because 3½ hours is exactly how long I played Skyrim on Monday, during which I completed a couple of bits of some quests (I don't think I did a whole one) and spent a lot of time running around 'n' admining — vs doing about ⅔ of Buffet Knight in that time.)
Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Monday, 11 May 2026
Fiction
Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber
IV. The Lords of Quarmall pp.36–53
I didn't mention it yesterday because I was too busy waffling about something else, but this story was co-written by Leiber's mate, Harry Fischer, who actually co-created Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser with Leiber in the '30s (vaguely based on themselves). While Leiber became a fairly prolific author, it seems Fischer did not (his Wikipedia entry is entirely concerned with his role in co-creating this pair, citing no other works, but elsewhere I found a reference to him becoming a businessman). Exactly how much he contributed to the conception of the characters and their world is unclear, but this story was his only published contribution. He wrote 10,000 words of it in 1937 (one of the characters' ealiest stories to be penned, therefore) and Leiber finished the remainder over 25 years later (adding over 20,000 words). Maybe it's because I know this fact, but it does feel like the style of prose in this story is slightly different; not glaringly, egregiously so, but enough that I noticed it.
IV. The Lords of Quarmall pp.36–53
I didn't mention it yesterday because I was too busy waffling about something else, but this story was co-written by Leiber's mate, Harry Fischer, who actually co-created Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser with Leiber in the '30s (vaguely based on themselves). While Leiber became a fairly prolific author, it seems Fischer did not (his Wikipedia entry is entirely concerned with his role in co-creating this pair, citing no other works, but elsewhere I found a reference to him becoming a businessman). Exactly how much he contributed to the conception of the characters and their world is unclear, but this story was his only published contribution. He wrote 10,000 words of it in 1937 (one of the characters' ealiest stories to be penned, therefore) and Leiber finished the remainder over 25 years later (adding over 20,000 words). Maybe it's because I know this fact, but it does feel like the style of prose in this story is slightly different; not glaringly, egregiously so, but enough that I noticed it.
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
3½ hours this evening. That's quite definitively back on the horse.
3½ hours this evening. That's quite definitively back on the horse.
Sunday, 10 May 2026
Fiction
Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber
IV. The Lords of Quarmall pp.1–35
So, I said I wasn't intending to break the longer stories down in future, but then I saw the thickness of this one in my copy — it's only 92 pages, but physically that looks like a (short) novel. Although, in fairness to past me, I said I wasn't intending to repeat this division (i.e. reading Stardock in many small chunks over almost two weeks), not avoid any division. I do plan to read this in larger, less infrequent 'chapters'.
IV. The Lords of Quarmall pp.1–35
So, I said I wasn't intending to break the longer stories down in future, but then I saw the thickness of this one in my copy — it's only 92 pages, but physically that looks like a (short) novel. Although, in fairness to past me, I said I wasn't intending to repeat this division (i.e. reading Stardock in many small chunks over almost two weeks), not avoid any division. I do plan to read this in larger, less infrequent 'chapters'.
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Back into Skyrimming after another semi-accidental two-week break. It's not due to lack of interest — it started as a busy week not giving me time, which turned into wanting to make sure I did something when I played again (as opposed to just noodling around for the sake of it), and that turned into self-pressure to, I guess, have an idea what I was setting out to 'achieve' before I even loaded it up. But sometimes it's best to just get back on the horse, right? It's not that I don't want to — I'm not having to force myself to play it, exactly — but at this point (i.e. well past 200 hours in-game and many real-time months of near-exclusivity) I want my playtime to be productive. And, after so long dedicated to one game, my head is being turned by others more than ever. Maybe it's time to finally dive into the main quest and all that…
Back into Skyrimming after another semi-accidental two-week break. It's not due to lack of interest — it started as a busy week not giving me time, which turned into wanting to make sure I did something when I played again (as opposed to just noodling around for the sake of it), and that turned into self-pressure to, I guess, have an idea what I was setting out to 'achieve' before I even loaded it up. But sometimes it's best to just get back on the horse, right? It's not that I don't want to — I'm not having to force myself to play it, exactly — but at this point (i.e. well past 200 hours in-game and many real-time months of near-exclusivity) I want my playtime to be productive. And, after so long dedicated to one game, my head is being turned by others more than ever. Maybe it's time to finally dive into the main quest and all that…
this fortnight on 100Films.co.uk
I should have posted an update about 100Films.co.uk last weekend, noting the publication of my April review on May 1st. But the same busy-ness that kept me from posting the 'failures' post on May 2nd also kept me from posting this on May 3rd — so here we are, technically looking back at the past fortnight (really, the past 10 days).
That means this post encompasses the entirety of my April retrospectives, beginning with the general review...
...and concluding with my viewing 'failures'...
More next Sunday? Probably not. Next month? For sure.
That means this post encompasses the entirety of my April retrospectives, beginning with the general review...
...and concluding with my viewing 'failures'...
More next Sunday? Probably not. Next month? For sure.
Saturday, 9 May 2026
Video Games
Buffet Knight: Decadent Full Course
Got completely stuck on this for a bit. I ended up wandering around for ages, trying to find the way forward — it looked like there was nowhere else on the map I could get to, no one else I could talk to, nothing else I could complete... I ended up skimming through a playthrough I found on YouTube that showed me I'd overlooked a single passageway that led to an area I'd not been yet, which unlocked exactly what I needed to do next. Oopsie! And phew — thank goodness for the internet.
Though it also highlights the 'danger' when playing smaller indie games like this. With something like Skyrim, which is phenomenally popular and has a decade-and-a-half of people playing it, there's an overabundance of guides and tips and help out there. But a small title like this, which only has a handful of reviews on Steam even, I couldn't find any guides, couldn't guarantee someone else who'd played it would answer if I posted on a forum or whatever, and was lucky that video existed. Let's hope I don't get so stuck again, then.
Got completely stuck on this for a bit. I ended up wandering around for ages, trying to find the way forward — it looked like there was nowhere else on the map I could get to, no one else I could talk to, nothing else I could complete... I ended up skimming through a playthrough I found on YouTube that showed me I'd overlooked a single passageway that led to an area I'd not been yet, which unlocked exactly what I needed to do next. Oopsie! And phew — thank goodness for the internet.
Though it also highlights the 'danger' when playing smaller indie games like this. With something like Skyrim, which is phenomenally popular and has a decade-and-a-half of people playing it, there's an overabundance of guides and tips and help out there. But a small title like this, which only has a handful of reviews on Steam even, I couldn't find any guides, couldn't guarantee someone else who'd played it would answer if I posted on a forum or whatever, and was lucky that video existed. Let's hope I don't get so stuck again, then.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Five new additions this week, including a pair of 4K upgrades from All the Anime, Wolf Children and Summer Wars, but only one replaces my previous copy for now. The latter I own in a box set with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which AtA are supposedly going to be releasing a matching set of later, so I'll hang on to my current copy for now. (I say that as if I instantly sell them — I have hundreds of DVDs and Blu-rays that I've 'replaced' but not sold on yet. I really should get on that.)
Number of titles in collection: 3,689 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,724 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 527 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,855 [up 10]
Number of films: 4,743 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 493 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Five new additions this week, including a pair of 4K upgrades from All the Anime, Wolf Children and Summer Wars, but only one replaces my previous copy for now. The latter I own in a box set with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which AtA are supposedly going to be releasing a matching set of later, so I'll hang on to my current copy for now. (I say that as if I instantly sell them — I have hundreds of DVDs and Blu-rays that I've 'replaced' but not sold on yet. I really should get on that.)
Number of titles in collection: 3,689 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,724 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 527 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,855 [up 10]
Number of films: 4,743 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 493 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 8 May 2026
Fiction
Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber
II. Stardock pp.52–65
It's a little ridiculous how many teeny-tiny pieces I've broken this single story down into over the past two weeks (started because I didn't have time to read the whole thing one evening but wanted to read some, and then just kinda continued from there). There are four more novella-length stories in the Lankhmar canon and (barring them having chapter breaks of their own) this isn't a division I intend to repeat... although, despite being classed as a similar length, two are actually 50% longer and one is over 2½ times as long, so maybe I shouldn't be so certain.
II. Stardock pp.52–65
It's a little ridiculous how many teeny-tiny pieces I've broken this single story down into over the past two weeks (started because I didn't have time to read the whole thing one evening but wanted to read some, and then just kinda continued from there). There are four more novella-length stories in the Lankhmar canon and (barring them having chapter breaks of their own) this isn't a division I intend to repeat... although, despite being classed as a similar length, two are actually 50% longer and one is over 2½ times as long, so maybe I shouldn't be so certain.
Video Games
Buffet Knight: Decadent Full Course
It's funny that the general narrative around video game prices is they're so expensive nowadays. Yeah, sure — if you're buying a AAA title when it's brand-new, and/or if you're locked into an ecosystem like the Nintendo Switch. On PC, however, almost everything's dirt cheap, especially if you're buying indie titles or waiting for sales and bundles. That's led me into the habit of just buying stuff. I mean, you can't go wrong if a game's only a quid or two, right? Even if you don't like it (or, even more likely, don't get round to playing it), it's pocket change.
Nonetheless, for some reason I decided to play the demo of this rather than just purchase it... and have really enjoyed it, so I'm gonna buy it. And because I've started it (and already sunk an hour-and-a-half into it, and only about finished the content in the demo in that time — it's a very generous trial!), I might just keep going with it — whereas if I'd outright bought it, I'd probably have just added it to my backlog. Funny old world, eh.
It's funny that the general narrative around video game prices is they're so expensive nowadays. Yeah, sure — if you're buying a AAA title when it's brand-new, and/or if you're locked into an ecosystem like the Nintendo Switch. On PC, however, almost everything's dirt cheap, especially if you're buying indie titles or waiting for sales and bundles. That's led me into the habit of just buying stuff. I mean, you can't go wrong if a game's only a quid or two, right? Even if you don't like it (or, even more likely, don't get round to playing it), it's pocket change.
Nonetheless, for some reason I decided to play the demo of this rather than just purchase it... and have really enjoyed it, so I'm gonna buy it. And because I've started it (and already sunk an hour-and-a-half into it, and only about finished the content in the demo in that time — it's a very generous trial!), I might just keep going with it — whereas if I'd outright bought it, I'd probably have just added it to my backlog. Funny old world, eh.
Thursday, 7 May 2026
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Video Games
Bubumbu
Played the entire game again to mop up all achievements. First time was on my desktop Mac, this time on Steam Deck — if anything, I enjoyed playing it with trackpads more than with a mouse... although my thumb felt surprisingly tired afterwards.
(Also, you'll be pleased to hear that Bond reward turned up in my IOI account today. I've uninstalled Hitman again already, probably forever this time.)
Played the entire game again to mop up all achievements. First time was on my desktop Mac, this time on Steam Deck — if anything, I enjoyed playing it with trackpads more than with a mouse... although my thumb felt surprisingly tired afterwards.
(Also, you'll be pleased to hear that Bond reward turned up in my IOI account today. I've uninstalled Hitman again already, probably forever this time.)
Tuesday, 5 May 2026
Video Games
Hitman: World of Assassination
After my disastrous first attempt at this game, I never thought I'd be back; but, long story short, there's a free Bond tie-in level that, if you play it, unlocks a bonus in the forthcoming James Bond game, and I'm told all you have to do is "play it" in the sense of "start it" (as opposed to "complete it") to unlock the bonus — so I did that.
The content isn't in my account yet, but I guess it takes time to sync up — hopefully that's all it is, anyway, because I don't want to have to work out how to actually complete the level or something. I did also give the game a go again... in the sense that I actually finished the tutorial this time, before heading into the relevant content, where I wandered around a bit, realised I had no real idea what I was doing, got into a shootout, and kept firing 'til I got killed, because fuck this.
I hope the Bond game isn't too much like Hitman, because this isn't really my kinda fun.
After my disastrous first attempt at this game, I never thought I'd be back; but, long story short, there's a free Bond tie-in level that, if you play it, unlocks a bonus in the forthcoming James Bond game, and I'm told all you have to do is "play it" in the sense of "start it" (as opposed to "complete it") to unlock the bonus — so I did that.
The content isn't in my account yet, but I guess it takes time to sync up — hopefully that's all it is, anyway, because I don't want to have to work out how to actually complete the level or something. I did also give the game a go again... in the sense that I actually finished the tutorial this time, before heading into the relevant content, where I wandered around a bit, realised I had no real idea what I was doing, got into a shootout, and kept firing 'til I got killed, because fuck this.
I hope the Bond game isn't too much like Hitman, because this isn't really my kinda fun.
Monday, 4 May 2026
Sunday, 3 May 2026
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
4x26 Week 6: Monday
4x27 Week 6: Tuesday
Having caught up, it's back to some old episodes I missed at the time and fortunately downloaded (because they've not been on iPlayer for ages).
Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
4x26 Week 6: Monday
4x27 Week 6: Tuesday
Having caught up, it's back to some old episodes I missed at the time and fortunately downloaded (because they've not been on iPlayer for ages).
Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
Saturday, 2 May 2026
TV
Leverage: Redemption
1x14 The Great Train Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x99 Champions Week 3: Thursday
9x100 Champions Week 3: Friday [season finale]
Sort of a series finale, too, as this is Osman's last full season as host — it will be Michael Sheen's House of Games soon; but I believe Osman is hosting one final week first.
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
1x14 The Great Train Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x99 Champions Week 3: Thursday
9x100 Champions Week 3: Friday [season finale]
Sort of a series finale, too, as this is Osman's last full season as host — it will be Michael Sheen's House of Games soon; but I believe Osman is hosting one final week first.
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Number of titles in collection: 3,685 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,720 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 524 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,845 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,737 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 490 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Number of titles in collection: 3,685 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,720 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 524 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,845 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,737 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 490 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 1 May 2026
TV
How I Met Your Mother
2x01 Where Were We? [2nd watch]
2x02 The Scorpion and the Toad [2nd watch]
Poker Face
2x06 Sloppy Joseph
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x96 Champions Week 3: Monday
9x97 Champions Week 3: Tuesday
9x98 Champions Week 3: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
2x01 Where Were We? [2nd watch]
2x02 The Scorpion and the Toad [2nd watch]
Poker Face
2x06 Sloppy Joseph
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x96 Champions Week 3: Monday
9x97 Champions Week 3: Tuesday
9x98 Champions Week 3: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 30 April 2026
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x95 Champions Week 2: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
9x95 Champions Week 2: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Fiction
Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber
II. Stardock pp.1–6
Stardock is about the same length as Ill Met in Lankhmar, which I did read in one sitting; but it’s not that much shorter than Adept’s Gambit, which I did not. However, like the former and unlike the latter, it does not have chapters, hence page numbers.
II. Stardock pp.1–6
Stardock is about the same length as Ill Met in Lankhmar, which I did read in one sitting; but it’s not that much shorter than Adept’s Gambit, which I did not. However, like the former and unlike the latter, it does not have chapters, hence page numbers.
Monday, 27 April 2026
TV
Critical Role
4x12 The Giant's Belt [2nd half]
Watching one episode a month is not a great way to go about catching up.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Critical Role Cooldown
Campaign 4, Episode 12
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
4x12 The Giant's Belt [2nd half]
Watching one episode a month is not a great way to go about catching up.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Critical Role Cooldown
Campaign 4, Episode 12
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Fiction
Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber
I. In the Witch's Tent
After a little time off for some other books, it's back to Nehwon for the fourth volume of adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. This is a low-key start — a "short story" so short that it barely qualifies as a story — but next up is one of the longest tales so far.
I. In the Witch's Tent
After a little time off for some other books, it's back to Nehwon for the fourth volume of adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. This is a low-key start — a "short story" so short that it barely qualifies as a story — but next up is one of the longest tales so far.
Sunday, 26 April 2026
Films
A Wednesday (2008)
[#21 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2026 #2
[#21 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2026 #2
Non-Fiction
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Chapters 23–26
Epilogue [the end]
This being a non-fiction / journalistic / historiographic work, there's also an extensive amount of notes and bibliography at the end. Some of it looked quite interesting, but other bits are dry citations, and my Kindle said it was over an hour of reading time — it wasn't that interesting.
Chapters 23–26
Epilogue [the end]
This being a non-fiction / journalistic / historiographic work, there's also an extensive amount of notes and bibliography at the end. Some of it looked quite interesting, but other bits are dry citations, and my Kindle said it was over an hour of reading time — it wasn't that interesting.
Audiobook
Doctor Who: The Code of Flesh
written by Andrew Lane, read by Dan Starkey
I've been meaning to continue these audio-exclusive 8th Doctor adventures ever since I listened to the first two-and-a-half years ago. Yes, I know that's ridiculous; but hey, I got here eventually. Hopefully I won't leave it so long before the next one (there are four in this sequence, so far) because they're quite good.
written by Andrew Lane, read by Dan Starkey
I've been meaning to continue these audio-exclusive 8th Doctor adventures ever since I listened to the first two-and-a-half years ago. Yes, I know that's ridiculous; but hey, I got here eventually. Hopefully I won't leave it so long before the next one (there are four in this sequence, so far) because they're quite good.
Saturday, 25 April 2026
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Nothing new this week — the one title I was expecting got pushed back. Doesn't really matter — I don't get round to watching stuff anyway, do I?
But to stop this being wholly pointless, it's that time of the month: the running time update.
Number of titles in collection: 3,685 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,720 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 523 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,842 [no change]
Number of films: 4,737 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 489 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
Total running time of collection (approx.):
617 days, 7 hours, and 25 minutes.
(Up 23 hours and 9 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Nothing new this week — the one title I was expecting got pushed back. Doesn't really matter — I don't get round to watching stuff anyway, do I?
But to stop this being wholly pointless, it's that time of the month: the running time update.
Number of titles in collection: 3,685 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,720 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 523 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,842 [no change]
Number of films: 4,737 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 489 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
Total running time of collection (approx.):
617 days, 7 hours, and 25 minutes.
(Up 23 hours and 9 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 24 April 2026
Video Games
Bubumbu
Having finished the first two Monument Valleys, it's on to some of the other puzzle games in my backlog. This is a very short one (about half-an-hour), but it's got cute art and the puzzle mechanics are fun. It's high quality so worth even the short playtime, but it would be even better if there was even more of it. Nonetheless, I didn't get all the secrets on my playthrough (navigating around the maps is a bit tricky, and once you complete the main objectives you're locked out of the bonus ones without a replay), but as it's so short I'm tempted to go back through and find them all.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Having finished the first two Monument Valleys, it's on to some of the other puzzle games in my backlog. This is a very short one (about half-an-hour), but it's got cute art and the puzzle mechanics are fun. It's high quality so worth even the short playtime, but it would be even better if there was even more of it. Nonetheless, I didn't get all the secrets on my playthrough (navigating around the maps is a bit tricky, and once you complete the main objectives you're locked out of the bonus ones without a replay), but as it's so short I'm tempted to go back through and find them all.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Thursday, 23 April 2026
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
I didn't reach a particularly significant milestone today or anything (I've played 208½ hours; didn't visit any new towns, or complete any major quests; etc). But, for various reasons, I decided to log the third in my occasional and slightly random series of "how are things going?" screenshots (the first was at 73 hours, the second at 151 hours).
Despite being only 57½ hours on from 151 hours, my Quests Completed has more than doubled in that time. I guess I went through a period of focusing on quests more, before tailing off again. I'm intending to get back on that soon. Somewhat interestingly, though, my Side Quests Completed has gone from 4, to 8, to 12 — if you didn't know better, it would look like that was the stat dictating these updates.
One additional thing I thought to do this round is create a graph to show my progress over time, because that's the kind of thing I think is fun. I've picked a few select stats to include, and it looks like this:
Skyrim tracks loads of other stats for you — locations discovered, people killed, spells learned, ingredients harvested, locks picked, and about 90 more (including, somewhat infamously, "bunnies slaughtered") — but, sadly, I haven't been screenshotting them all along, and the game itself doesn't offer any history or graphs or anything (more's the pity). It feels a bit late in the day to begin tracking it all... but I took screenshots of everything this time, just in case I want to. And if I ever do a second run,* you bet I'll be screenshotting from the start!
* There are plenty of "forever players", who start the game over and over again, trying all sorts of different things, for thousands of hours overall. It's one of the reasons the game has endured for so long. But I can't imagine that'll be me — I've got literally hundreds of other games I want to play, including multiple other hundreds-of-hours-long RPGs, so I'm not likely to do Skyrim over again when I've got those other adventures to experience. Doesn't mean I won't come back to it one day though, especially as there's definitely stuff I won't do in this playthrough (you can only join one side in the Civil War, for example; and I'm pretty sure at least one quest is already bugged to unplayability for this run; and, to be honest, I've got so much left to do, there's still a chance I'll want a change before I finish it all).
I didn't reach a particularly significant milestone today or anything (I've played 208½ hours; didn't visit any new towns, or complete any major quests; etc). But, for various reasons, I decided to log the third in my occasional and slightly random series of "how are things going?" screenshots (the first was at 73 hours, the second at 151 hours).
Despite being only 57½ hours on from 151 hours, my Quests Completed has more than doubled in that time. I guess I went through a period of focusing on quests more, before tailing off again. I'm intending to get back on that soon. Somewhat interestingly, though, my Side Quests Completed has gone from 4, to 8, to 12 — if you didn't know better, it would look like that was the stat dictating these updates.
One additional thing I thought to do this round is create a graph to show my progress over time, because that's the kind of thing I think is fun. I've picked a few select stats to include, and it looks like this:
Skyrim tracks loads of other stats for you — locations discovered, people killed, spells learned, ingredients harvested, locks picked, and about 90 more (including, somewhat infamously, "bunnies slaughtered") — but, sadly, I haven't been screenshotting them all along, and the game itself doesn't offer any history or graphs or anything (more's the pity). It feels a bit late in the day to begin tracking it all... but I took screenshots of everything this time, just in case I want to. And if I ever do a second run,* you bet I'll be screenshotting from the start!
* There are plenty of "forever players", who start the game over and over again, trying all sorts of different things, for thousands of hours overall. It's one of the reasons the game has endured for so long. But I can't imagine that'll be me — I've got literally hundreds of other games I want to play, including multiple other hundreds-of-hours-long RPGs, so I'm not likely to do Skyrim over again when I've got those other adventures to experience. Doesn't mean I won't come back to it one day though, especially as there's definitely stuff I won't do in this playthrough (you can only join one side in the Civil War, for example; and I'm pretty sure at least one quest is already bugged to unplayability for this run; and, to be honest, I've got so much left to do, there's still a chance I'll want a change before I finish it all).
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Last time I said I should definitely concentrate on quests more than crafting going forward. So today, I... spent an hour-and-a-half mostly building my third house, and moving materials around to do said building, and other such tasks (and one very minor quest along the way). Oops. But hey, at least this is the last house, so once it's built I won't feel the need to do it again (because I won't be able to) — hurrah! Although, all my houses (eight owned, ten not — yet) still need a lot of decorating...
Monument Valley II
The Lost Forest
Whereas Monument Valley I's expansion was like a whole extra game, more-or-less doubling its length, the sequel's is just a single level.
There's now a third game, but as it only came to PC less than a year ago (following a period of Netflix mobile exclusivity), it's still a bit overpriced for my liking (assuming it's of a comparable complexity and length to the first two). I'll get it someday.
Last time I said I should definitely concentrate on quests more than crafting going forward. So today, I... spent an hour-and-a-half mostly building my third house, and moving materials around to do said building, and other such tasks (and one very minor quest along the way). Oops. But hey, at least this is the last house, so once it's built I won't feel the need to do it again (because I won't be able to) — hurrah! Although, all my houses (eight owned, ten not — yet) still need a lot of decorating...
Monument Valley II
The Lost Forest
Whereas Monument Valley I's expansion was like a whole extra game, more-or-less doubling its length, the sequel's is just a single level.
There's now a third game, but as it only came to PC less than a year ago (following a period of Netflix mobile exclusivity), it's still a bit overpriced for my liking (assuming it's of a comparable complexity and length to the first two). I'll get it someday.
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
TV
Critical Role
4x12 The Giant's Belt [2nd hour]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
4x12 The Giant's Belt [2nd hour]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Video Games
Monument Valley II
Finished the main game. It's probably better than the first game's original levels, because it's a bit longer and has more variety; but that was greatly improved by its expansion, so it's much for muchness overall. That's not a criticism — these are both fun puzzle games.
Finished the main game. It's probably better than the first game's original levels, because it's a bit longer and has more variety; but that was greatly improved by its expansion, so it's much for muchness overall. That's not a criticism — these are both fun puzzle games.
Monday, 20 April 2026
TV
Critical Role
4x12 The Giant's Belt [1st hour]
Dear God, I am so far behind — this episode is from January. It was a lot easier to watch tonnes of CR when I also hadn't got back into gaming and reading and was just ditching film watching for it. Ah well, I persevere, because whenever I do make time for it, I still enjoy it.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
4x12 The Giant's Belt [1st hour]
Dear God, I am so far behind — this episode is from January. It was a lot easier to watch tonnes of CR when I also hadn't got back into gaming and reading and was just ditching film watching for it. Ah well, I persevere, because whenever I do make time for it, I still enjoy it.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Sunday, 19 April 2026
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
After another few days off, back to Skyrim! It's not that I've got bored of it or something, it's just about finding time while also doing other things. And, y'know, I have played over 205 hours of it — I'm getting a little bit of an itch to play other stuff as well (not instead). Still tonnes to do though, and I completed a lengthy-ish quest today which felt rewarding and reminds me that there's still a lot of fun to be had... though maybe I should now focus more on those kinds of storylines instead of the tonnes of random exploring and crafting I've been doing for so long.
Monument Valley II
Stuffed
Can't remember where I got this from (in a bundle of some kind, I guess). Played the tutorial and had a brief go at the main game. Didn't care for it. Well, that's another one off the "to try" list, at least!
After another few days off, back to Skyrim! It's not that I've got bored of it or something, it's just about finding time while also doing other things. And, y'know, I have played over 205 hours of it — I'm getting a little bit of an itch to play other stuff as well (not instead). Still tonnes to do though, and I completed a lengthy-ish quest today which felt rewarding and reminds me that there's still a lot of fun to be had... though maybe I should now focus more on those kinds of storylines instead of the tonnes of random exploring and crafting I've been doing for so long.
Monument Valley II
Stuffed
Can't remember where I got this from (in a bundle of some kind, I guess). Played the tutorial and had a brief go at the main game. Didn't care for it. Well, that's another one off the "to try" list, at least!
Saturday, 18 April 2026
Video Games
You Suck at Parking
After over a week, this had settled enough in my memory that I felt like it was worth another go. I lasted about 5 minutes. It feels like it could be fun, but the controls are unintuitive and that makes it suck. Uninstalled.
After over a week, this had settled enough in my memory that I felt like it was worth another go. I lasted about 5 minutes. It feels like it could be fun, but the controls are unintuitive and that makes it suck. Uninstalled.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Five new releases this week, all of them genre fare but from boutique labels. The highlight is John Woo's The Killer in 4K from Arrow, although Tsui Hark's remake of The One Armed Swordsman, The Blade, is very exciting too.
Number of titles in collection: 3,685 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,720 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 523 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,842 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,737 [up 5]
Number of additional cuts: 489 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Five new releases this week, all of them genre fare but from boutique labels. The highlight is John Woo's The Killer in 4K from Arrow, although Tsui Hark's remake of The One Armed Swordsman, The Blade, is very exciting too.
Number of titles in collection: 3,685 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,720 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 523 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,842 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,737 [up 5]
Number of additional cuts: 489 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 17 April 2026
Video Games
Balatro
It's been over 6 months since I last played this game that's supposedly soooo addictive and soooo unputdownable and soooo amazing. I always feel I should play it more because of that reputation, but I never quite got it. It came up somewhere today and I thought, "maybe it's time to try again".
First chunk of time was spent trying to remember how the hell it all works. And then... yeah, it's still fine, I guess. Feels like there's too much going on, too much to work out, and it takes too long* for it to just be fun. Still don't get it.
* people talk about the addictiveness of "just one more run", but even one go through takes over half-an-hour for me?! That's not "play multiple runs", that's "hope I have time for one" territory.
Monument Valley II
It's been over 6 months since I last played this game that's supposedly soooo addictive and soooo unputdownable and soooo amazing. I always feel I should play it more because of that reputation, but I never quite got it. It came up somewhere today and I thought, "maybe it's time to try again".
First chunk of time was spent trying to remember how the hell it all works. And then... yeah, it's still fine, I guess. Feels like there's too much going on, too much to work out, and it takes too long* for it to just be fun. Still don't get it.
* people talk about the addictiveness of "just one more run", but even one go through takes over half-an-hour for me?! That's not "play multiple runs", that's "hope I have time for one" territory.
Monument Valley II
Videos
007 First Light Title Sequence
Watched some of the BAFTA Game Awards this evening, mainly to see the premiere of this — the title sequence for the forthcoming James Bond game. I wasn't sure about the song at first, but it plays really nicely with the titles, which I think they've done an excellent job on. Excited for the game... though not sure when I'll actually get to play it as I doubt it'll run on my Steam Deck.
Beyond the Light
Episode 4 Music
And to go with the above, they released the fourth instalment of their behind-the-scenes dev diary, looking at music and sound.
Watched some of the BAFTA Game Awards this evening, mainly to see the premiere of this — the title sequence for the forthcoming James Bond game. I wasn't sure about the song at first, but it plays really nicely with the titles, which I think they've done an excellent job on. Excited for the game... though not sure when I'll actually get to play it as I doubt it'll run on my Steam Deck.
Beyond the Light
Episode 4 Music
And to go with the above, they released the fourth instalment of their behind-the-scenes dev diary, looking at music and sound.
Thursday, 16 April 2026
Films
3-D Rarities (2015)
Part 2: Hollywood Enters the Third Dimension
[#17 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
Concluding yesterday's programme. This half contains a mix of shorts and trailers for 3D features, as well as the only 3D newsreel.
Part 2: Hollywood Enters the Third Dimension
[#17 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
Concluding yesterday's programme. This half contains a mix of shorts and trailers for 3D features, as well as the only 3D newsreel.
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Films
3-D Rarities (2015)
Part 1: The Dawn of Stereoscopic Cinematography
[#17 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
A programme of tests, shorts, and the like from the early days of 3D film. I only watched the first half because of my usual poor time management. Part 2 tomorrow, hopefully.
Part 1: The Dawn of Stereoscopic Cinematography
[#17 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
A programme of tests, shorts, and the like from the early days of 3D film. I only watched the first half because of my usual poor time management. Part 2 tomorrow, hopefully.
Tuesday, 14 April 2026
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Monument Valley II
Casually chipping away at this one short level at a time — I may have played it on three occasions, but my total playtime is still under half-an-hour.
Monument Valley II
Casually chipping away at this one short level at a time — I may have played it on three occasions, but my total playtime is still under half-an-hour.
Monday, 13 April 2026
Fiction
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Chapters 23–25 [the end]
There's also an epilogue exclusive to a collector's edition, although fans have shared it online. I always assume bonuses like that are going to be inconsequential little something-and-nothings to persuade completist fans to buy a new copy, but this one is actually substantial — longer than most (possibly all) chapters in the book proper, and with some significant events that cast everything in a different light. I have to wonder: is it Hoover's preferred ending? Or one of those 'my publisher made me do it' kinda extras that wouldn't be in a 'preferred text' edition?
Chapters 23–25 [the end]
There's also an epilogue exclusive to a collector's edition, although fans have shared it online. I always assume bonuses like that are going to be inconsequential little something-and-nothings to persuade completist fans to buy a new copy, but this one is actually substantial — longer than most (possibly all) chapters in the book proper, and with some significant events that cast everything in a different light. I have to wonder: is it Hoover's preferred ending? Or one of those 'my publisher made me do it' kinda extras that wouldn't be in a 'preferred text' edition?
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Celebrated (I guess) my return to Skyrim by visiting my seventh city, Morthal, and acquiring a nearby house. It's only a minor one, so not a whole lot to do there, but it's another milestone.
Monument Valley II
Celebrated (I guess) my return to Skyrim by visiting my seventh city, Morthal, and acquiring a nearby house. It's only a minor one, so not a whole lot to do there, but it's another milestone.
Monument Valley II
Sunday, 12 April 2026
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Unbelievably, it's been two whole weeks since I played Skyrim. Any regular readers* would be forgiven for thinking I'd accidentally given up on it, knowing my MO. Well, I guess if I left it too long I might've, as that is the kind of thing that typically happens to me. But no: hitting 200 hours gave me a little bit of decision paralysis about what to do next in-game, then real life got in the way and left me without much time, and once I'm out of a habit...! Of course, the only fix was just get back in the saddle. I didn't play too much today, but I progressed enough to feel like I was getting back into the swing of it. Onwards to 300 hours!
* don't worry, I know I don't actually have any readers except future-me.
Unbelievably, it's been two whole weeks since I played Skyrim. Any regular readers* would be forgiven for thinking I'd accidentally given up on it, knowing my MO. Well, I guess if I left it too long I might've, as that is the kind of thing that typically happens to me. But no: hitting 200 hours gave me a little bit of decision paralysis about what to do next in-game, then real life got in the way and left me without much time, and once I'm out of a habit...! Of course, the only fix was just get back in the saddle. I didn't play too much today, but I progressed enough to feel like I was getting back into the swing of it. Onwards to 300 hours!
* don't worry, I know I don't actually have any readers except future-me.
Saturday, 11 April 2026
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Not everything I mentioned last week has arrived (the lingering effects of the Easter double Bank Holiday, I guess), but there was still this...
Number of titles in collection: 3,680 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,715 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 521 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,834 [up 9]
Number of films: 4,732 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Not everything I mentioned last week has arrived (the lingering effects of the Easter double Bank Holiday, I guess), but there was still this...
Number of titles in collection: 3,680 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,715 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 521 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,834 [up 9]
Number of films: 4,732 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 10 April 2026
Video Games
Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
Can't really say I "played" this, but I certainly left it running in the background for an hour-and-a-half and collected (and named) a bunch more ducks.
Can't really say I "played" this, but I certainly left it running in the background for an hour-and-a-half and collected (and named) a bunch more ducks.
Thursday, 9 April 2026
Fiction
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Chapters 1–3
Not usually my kind of thing, but something inspired me to buy this... only I can't remember what because it was so long ago now. Quite possibly that it's supposed to have an incredible twist — according to its own blurb, at least. It's largely Romance-y so far (even if the very first thing to happen is someone being brutally killed by a car!), so we'll see.
Chapters 1–3
Not usually my kind of thing, but something inspired me to buy this... only I can't remember what because it was so long ago now. Quite possibly that it's supposed to have an incredible twist — according to its own blurb, at least. It's largely Romance-y so far (even if the very first thing to happen is someone being brutally killed by a car!), so we'll see.
Video Games
Inertial Drift
As I said, I may have finished 'story mode' (with one character, anyway — I wonder how different the others are...), but there's still a load of options and unlockables. If I had one criticism, it's that the game could be a bit more guided about what I could/should do next.
Monument Valley II
New 'story' (it barely qualifies as such, but sure, technically there's something), same gameplay... which is fine, because the first one was hardly an epic that exhausted the concept.
You Suck at Parking
Got this in a mystery bundle — I never would've chosen to buy, but thought I'd give it a go. Played for 16 minutes and had kind of had enough. Maybe I'll get an itch to try it again. Maybe I never, ever will.
As I said, I may have finished 'story mode' (with one character, anyway — I wonder how different the others are...), but there's still a load of options and unlockables. If I had one criticism, it's that the game could be a bit more guided about what I could/should do next.
Monument Valley II
New 'story' (it barely qualifies as such, but sure, technically there's something), same gameplay... which is fine, because the first one was hardly an epic that exhausted the concept.
You Suck at Parking
Got this in a mystery bundle — I never would've chosen to buy, but thought I'd give it a go. Played for 16 minutes and had kind of had enough. Maybe I'll get an itch to try it again. Maybe I never, ever will.
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
TV
Leverage: Redemption
1x13 The Hurricane Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x92 Champions Week 2: Tuesday
9x93 Champions Week 2: Wednesday
9x94 Champions Week 2: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
1x13 The Hurricane Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x92 Champions Week 2: Tuesday
9x93 Champions Week 2: Wednesday
9x94 Champions Week 2: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Videos
Beyond the Light
Episode 1 Gameplay
Episode 2 Cast & Characters
Episode 3 Story
Quite looking forward to the new James Bond game, so finally caught up with this series of behind-the-scenes promo videos. Not sure if the game will run on my Steam Deck so don't know when I'll actually play it, but someday...!
Episode 1 Gameplay
Episode 2 Cast & Characters
Episode 3 Story
Quite looking forward to the new James Bond game, so finally caught up with this series of behind-the-scenes promo videos. Not sure if the game will run on my Steam Deck so don't know when I'll actually play it, but someday...!
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
TV
How I Met Your Mother
1x22 Come On [season finale; 2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x90 Champions Week 1: Friday
9x91 Champions Week 2: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x18 The Good, The Bad, and The Oscar [season finale]
1x22 Come On [season finale; 2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x90 Champions Week 1: Friday
9x91 Champions Week 2: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x18 The Good, The Bad, and The Oscar [season finale]
Monday, 6 April 2026
TV
How I Met Your Mother
1x21 Milk [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x87 Champions Week 1: Tuesday
9x88 Champions Week 1: Wednesday
9x89 Champions Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x16 The Return
7x17 Mutiny and the Bounty
1x21 Milk [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x87 Champions Week 1: Tuesday
9x88 Champions Week 1: Wednesday
9x89 Champions Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x16 The Return
7x17 Mutiny and the Bounty
Sunday, 5 April 2026
TV
How I Met Your Mother
1x20 Best Prom Ever [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x84 Redemption Week 2: Thursday
9x85 Redemption Week 2: Friday
9x86 Champions Week 1: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x14 Mad About Murder
7x15 A Deadly Secret
1x20 Best Prom Ever [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x84 Redemption Week 2: Thursday
9x85 Redemption Week 2: Friday
9x86 Champions Week 1: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x14 Mad About Murder
7x15 A Deadly Secret
Tabletop Games
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game
Really should get round to buying the Two Towers game they released...
Really should get round to buying the Two Towers game they released...
this week on 100Films.co.uk
For the first time this year (well, unless you count December 2025's posts being in January), both parts of a 100Films.co.uk monthly review have arrived in the same week!
As always, it begins with a general overview of the month...
...and concludes with my "failures"...
More next Sunday? Stranger things happen at sea...
As always, it begins with a general overview of the month...
...and concludes with my "failures"...
More next Sunday? Stranger things happen at sea...
Saturday, 4 April 2026
TV
How I Met Your Mother
1x19 Mary the Paralegal [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x80 Redemption Week 1: Friday
9x81 Redemption Week 2: Monday
9x82 Redemption Week 2: Tuesday
9x83 Redemption Week 2: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x12 April Fools
7x13 Three Billboards
1x19 Mary the Paralegal [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x80 Redemption Week 1: Friday
9x81 Redemption Week 2: Monday
9x82 Redemption Week 2: Tuesday
9x83 Redemption Week 2: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x12 April Fools
7x13 Three Billboards
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
I expected a bunch of preorders to turn up today, but I guess yesterday's Bank Holiday has delayed them. Next week, then — along with the preorders for the week after, I'd hope. It won't be anything like a record-breaker, but it could be my biggest week since... um, a couple of weeks ago.
Number of titles in collection: 3,676 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,711 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 518 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,825 [up 1]
Number of films: 4,726 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
I expected a bunch of preorders to turn up today, but I guess yesterday's Bank Holiday has delayed them. Next week, then — along with the preorders for the week after, I'd hope. It won't be anything like a record-breaker, but it could be my biggest week since... um, a couple of weeks ago.
Number of titles in collection: 3,676 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,711 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 518 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,825 [up 1]
Number of films: 4,726 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 3 April 2026
TV
How I Met Your Mother
1x17 Life Among the Gorillas [2nd watch]
1x18 Nothing Good Happens After 2 AM [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x77 Redemption Week 1: Tuesday
9x78 Redemption Week 1: Wednesday
9x79 Redemption Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x10 Chaos Agent
7x11 Speed
1x17 Life Among the Gorillas [2nd watch]
1x18 Nothing Good Happens After 2 AM [2nd watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x77 Redemption Week 1: Tuesday
9x78 Redemption Week 1: Wednesday
9x79 Redemption Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
The Rookie
7x10 Chaos Agent
7x11 Speed
Thursday, 2 April 2026
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
9x76 Redemption Week 1: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
9x76 Redemption Week 1: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Fiction
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
Part 2, Chapters 6–8 [the end]
Well, I enjoyed that a good deal more than its reputation would suggest. It's still probably the lesser of the four novels, and so short that it barely warrants calling that; and the Sherlock Holmes-starring first part is really an aggrandised short story, which could have been considerably brisker if it didn't repeat iself so often; and the second half is very pulpy, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. So, perhaps it borders on "guilty pleasure" territory, but hey, at least I enjoyed it.
Part 2, Chapters 6–8 [the end]
Well, I enjoyed that a good deal more than its reputation would suggest. It's still probably the lesser of the four novels, and so short that it barely warrants calling that; and the Sherlock Holmes-starring first part is really an aggrandised short story, which could have been considerably brisker if it didn't repeat iself so often; and the second half is very pulpy, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. So, perhaps it borders on "guilty pleasure" territory, but hey, at least I enjoyed it.
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Monday, 30 March 2026
Video Games
Inertial Drift
Completed 'story mode' in just over 2 hours. There's a lot of other content, though — in some respects, the story just feels like an extended tutorial.
Completed 'story mode' in just over 2 hours. There's a lot of other content, though — in some respects, the story just feels like an extended tutorial.
Sunday, 29 March 2026
TV
Peaky Blinders
6x06 Lock and Key [series finale]
Hmm. This does feel like a series finale... but also, there are quite a few things left unresolved, so it's no surprise they've always said there'd be a movie continuation. I had somehow garnered the impression that the series per se had ended and the movie was a kind of additional story and/or epilogue, but from this it feels like it would be necessary to actually end things. Well, I guess I'll see when I watch it.
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
6x06 Lock and Key [series finale]
Hmm. This does feel like a series finale... but also, there are quite a few things left unresolved, so it's no surprise they've always said there'd be a movie continuation. I had somehow garnered the impression that the series per se had ended and the movie was a kind of additional story and/or epilogue, but from this it feels like it would be necessary to actually end things. Well, I guess I'll see when I watch it.
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
Fiction
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
Part 1, Chapters 1–5
There are 60 canonical Sherlock Holmes stories (56 short stories and four novels) and I've read 44 of them, including three of the novels. So what better way to mark reaching 75% — or, to put it another way, arriving at the final quarter — than by reading that fourth novel.
(Not that it's really an occasion that needs "marking". But that's probably for the best, considering this novel is widely regarded as one of the weaker adventures. Either way, it comes next in publication order (more or less), considering I last finished Return; although I've jumped around plenty in the past (I've already read four stories from the remaining two books), so that's immaterial as well.)
Part 1, Chapters 1–5
There are 60 canonical Sherlock Holmes stories (56 short stories and four novels) and I've read 44 of them, including three of the novels. So what better way to mark reaching 75% — or, to put it another way, arriving at the final quarter — than by reading that fourth novel.
(Not that it's really an occasion that needs "marking". But that's probably for the best, considering this novel is widely regarded as one of the weaker adventures. Either way, it comes next in publication order (more or less), considering I last finished Return; although I've jumped around plenty in the past (I've already read four stories from the remaining two books), so that's immaterial as well.)
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
I crossed the 200-hour mark today. And to think the fact it would take at least 27 hours once gave me pause, and I could scarcely conceive of spending 130+ hours finishing it. And yet I’m still nowhere near done — here’s a little “state of the game”…
I have:
• visited 4 major cities and 2 minor cities
• cleared 5 Civil War forts
• bought 2 ‘vanilla’ player houses
• bought 2 plots of land and fully built houses on them
• acquired 2 Creation Club houses
• joined the Companions.
I have not:
• visited 1 major city and 3 minor cities
• visited the island of Solstheim
• cleared 4 Civil War forts
• bought 3 ‘vanilla’ player houses
• bought the 3rd plot of land
• acquired 8 Creation Club houses
• progressed the main quest beyond the very beginning (there are no dragons flying around my Skyrim)
• become a werewolf
• joined the Imperials, nor the Stormcloaks
• joined the Thieves Guild
• joined the College of Winterhold
• joined the Dark Brotherhood
• joined the Dawnguard nor become a vampire.
Obviously a whole bunch of very specific stuff could be added to both of those lists, but that’s an overview — the point being: I have done quite a lot, but there’s still so much to do. I wonder where I’ll be at 300 hours? Because, based on what I haven’t done, it’s hard to imagine I won’t hit that mark — at least.
Great game.
I crossed the 200-hour mark today. And to think the fact it would take at least 27 hours once gave me pause, and I could scarcely conceive of spending 130+ hours finishing it. And yet I’m still nowhere near done — here’s a little “state of the game”…
I have:
• visited 4 major cities and 2 minor cities
• cleared 5 Civil War forts
• bought 2 ‘vanilla’ player houses
• bought 2 plots of land and fully built houses on them
• acquired 2 Creation Club houses
• joined the Companions.
I have not:
• visited 1 major city and 3 minor cities
• visited the island of Solstheim
• cleared 4 Civil War forts
• bought 3 ‘vanilla’ player houses
• bought the 3rd plot of land
• acquired 8 Creation Club houses
• progressed the main quest beyond the very beginning (there are no dragons flying around my Skyrim)
• become a werewolf
• joined the Imperials, nor the Stormcloaks
• joined the Thieves Guild
• joined the College of Winterhold
• joined the Dark Brotherhood
• joined the Dawnguard nor become a vampire.
Obviously a whole bunch of very specific stuff could be added to both of those lists, but that’s an overview — the point being: I have done quite a lot, but there’s still so much to do. I wonder where I’ll be at 300 hours? Because, based on what I haven’t done, it’s hard to imagine I won’t hit that mark — at least.
Great game.
Saturday, 28 March 2026
Fiction
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
13 The Adventure of the Second Stain [the end]
Considering I only opened this up as an interim measure between novels, it feels like an achievement to finish off another volume — and a very good story to end on, too... although I might just read some more Holmes next.
13 The Adventure of the Second Stain [the end]
Considering I only opened this up as an interim measure between novels, it feels like an achievement to finish off another volume — and a very good story to end on, too... although I might just read some more Holmes next.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
The headliner this week, as far as I'm concerned, is John Woo's Hard Boiled on 4K UHD from Arrow. There was a time when Woo's movies from that time were among a whole bunch of classics that seemed like they might never get released again due to rights reasons. I even caved and bought some bootlegs a while ago, just to get them in HD (I do still have DVDs knocking around). It's wonderful that we now get proper restorations in full UHD.
Number of titles in collection: 3,675 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 965 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,710 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 518 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,824 [up 6]
Number of films: 4,724 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [up 2]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
Also, it's time for the latest monthly running time update...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
616 days, 8 hours, and 16 minutes.
(Up 13 hours and 30 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
The headliner this week, as far as I'm concerned, is John Woo's Hard Boiled on 4K UHD from Arrow. There was a time when Woo's movies from that time were among a whole bunch of classics that seemed like they might never get released again due to rights reasons. I even caved and bought some bootlegs a while ago, just to get them in HD (I do still have DVDs knocking around). It's wonderful that we now get proper restorations in full UHD.
Number of titles in collection: 3,675 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 965 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,710 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 518 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,824 [up 6]
Number of films: 4,724 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [up 2]
Number of short films: 1,293 [no change]
Also, it's time for the latest monthly running time update...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
616 days, 8 hours, and 16 minutes.
(Up 13 hours and 30 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 27 March 2026
Thursday, 26 March 2026
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Weird not to have played this since Sunday! It was because I hadn't decided what I wanted to focus on next, and I didn't want to run around doing much of nothing just for the sake of playing it. I still haven't exactly decided, but I progressed some quests and did a bit of skill levelling with specific goals — in fact, I got my first skill maxed out to 100! — so at least I feel I achieved something today. And somehow, that made over two hours of my time just disappear!
Monument Valley
Ida's Dream
One final multi-part level, originally created for charity. It's been good to play things like this and Upstairs in between bouts of Skyrim. I have dozens of other similarly-short games in my massive backlog (not to mention a bunch of games I'd already started and should go back to!), so I think I'll try to play some more of them here and there, rather than leaving them until I complete Skyrim (because goodness knows when that will be!)
Weird not to have played this since Sunday! It was because I hadn't decided what I wanted to focus on next, and I didn't want to run around doing much of nothing just for the sake of playing it. I still haven't exactly decided, but I progressed some quests and did a bit of skill levelling with specific goals — in fact, I got my first skill maxed out to 100! — so at least I feel I achieved something today. And somehow, that made over two hours of my time just disappear!
Monument Valley
Ida's Dream
One final multi-part level, originally created for charity. It's been good to play things like this and Upstairs in between bouts of Skyrim. I have dozens of other similarly-short games in my massive backlog (not to mention a bunch of games I'd already started and should go back to!), so I think I'll try to play some more of them here and there, rather than leaving them until I complete Skyrim (because goodness knows when that will be!)
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
TV
Critical Role Cooldown
Campaign 4, Episode 11
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Tale Gate
Discussing Up To C4E11
Critical Role's new talkshow, which airs an episode live after each arc concludes. Except I'm so far behind I have to catchup recorded, obv. I watched the longer version, exclusive to Beacon, which has an extra segment titled 'The Night Cap' where they answer questions from subscribers.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or the longer version on Beacon.]
Campaign 4, Episode 11
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Tale Gate
Discussing Up To C4E11
Critical Role's new talkshow, which airs an episode live after each arc concludes. Except I'm so far behind I have to catchup recorded, obv. I watched the longer version, exclusive to Beacon, which has an extra segment titled 'The Night Cap' where they answer questions from subscribers.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or the longer version on Beacon.]
Fiction
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
9 The Adventure of the Three Students
10 The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
I can't quite decide which novel to read next (do I immediately continue Redwall? Return to Lankhmar? A long-belated continuation of The Once and Future King? Or something else entirely), hence why recently I'm using the meantime to take in some unread Sherlock Holmes stories. No bad thing.
9 The Adventure of the Three Students
10 The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
I can't quite decide which novel to read next (do I immediately continue Redwall? Return to Lankhmar? A long-belated continuation of The Once and Future King? Or something else entirely), hence why recently I'm using the meantime to take in some unread Sherlock Holmes stories. No bad thing.
Tuesday, 24 March 2026
TV
Critical Role
4x11 Make Merry [2nd half]
And finishing with the Soldiers, wrapping up the session that began last episode, and their first arc along with it.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
4x11 Make Merry [2nd half]
And finishing with the Soldiers, wrapping up the session that began last episode, and their first arc along with it.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Fiction
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
8 The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
Another particularly well-known one, I think. Certainly, though I've never read it, I've seen it adapted (faithfully or in part) often enough that I knew the solution just from the title.
8 The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
Another particularly well-known one, I think. Certainly, though I've never read it, I've seen it adapted (faithfully or in part) often enough that I knew the solution just from the title.
Video Games
Inertial Drift
Another hour-ish and I feel like I'm racing (hoho) through Story Mode. But that's fine — I don't think the game's over when the 'story' is over; it's far from the only mode on offer. Indeed, I suspect it's deliberately designed to introduce you to all the different tracks, race modes, etc, so afterwards you can just play around learning how different cars control across various combos of tracks and modes.
Another hour-ish and I feel like I'm racing (hoho) through Story Mode. But that's fine — I don't think the game's over when the 'story' is over; it's far from the only mode on offer. Indeed, I suspect it's deliberately designed to introduce you to all the different tracks, race modes, etc, so afterwards you can just play around learning how different cars control across various combos of tracks and modes.
Monday, 23 March 2026
TV
Critical Role
4x11 Make Merry [1st half]
Continuing the episode with an extended sequence with the Schemers (who won't start their first dedicated arc until episode 19).
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Peaky Blinders
6x04 Sapphire
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
4x11 Make Merry [1st half]
Continuing the episode with an extended sequence with the Schemers (who won't start their first dedicated arc until episode 19).
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Peaky Blinders
6x04 Sapphire
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
Video Games
Inertial Drift
Today, starting a racing game I actually own. This one looked fun but I was slightly wary of the control scheme (it uses both sticks for navigation, one for steering and one to control your drifting), but I took to it pretty naturally. I mean, sure, I kept hitting barriers and stuff, but I do that plenty in regular racing games. I only played for half-an-hour, not because it was bad but because it's not open world, so you don't get that time-burning exploration/discovery gameplay. I enjoyed it a lot though, so definitely intending to stick with it.
Today, starting a racing game I actually own. This one looked fun but I was slightly wary of the control scheme (it uses both sticks for navigation, one for steering and one to control your drifting), but I took to it pretty naturally. I mean, sure, I kept hitting barriers and stuff, but I do that plenty in regular racing games. I only played for half-an-hour, not because it was bad but because it's not open world, so you don't get that time-burning exploration/discovery gameplay. I enjoyed it a lot though, so definitely intending to stick with it.
Sunday, 22 March 2026
TV
Critical Role
4x11 Make Merry [cold open]
All three tables this episode! First up, a short sequence with the Seekers (before their first full arc starts next episode).
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Peaky Blinders
6x03 Gold
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
4x11 Make Merry [cold open]
All three tables this episode! First up, a short sequence with the Seekers (before their first full arc starts next episode).
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon or Twitch.]
Peaky Blinders
6x03 Gold
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
Fiction
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Book Three, Chapters 9–15 [the end]
Really enjoyed this. Which is good, because I've already got the next five thanks to buying a bundle.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
3 The Adventure of the Dancing Men
Quite a well-known and well-regarded Holmes story, but I thought that, aside from the memorable ingenuity of the eponymous cipher, it was quite a middling one.
Book Three, Chapters 9–15 [the end]
Really enjoyed this. Which is good, because I've already got the next five thanks to buying a bundle.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
3 The Adventure of the Dancing Men
Quite a well-known and well-regarded Holmes story, but I thought that, aside from the memorable ingenuity of the eponymous cipher, it was quite a middling one.
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
I've once again got myself into a cycle of doing stuff like buying homes, decorating homes, moving belongings around, etc — spent another two hours on it today, not doing much of anything else. Time to go do some actual quests or something, methinks!
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Why play one of the 600+ games I’ve bought for my Steam Deck or 3DS when I could have a go at a random racing game on Amazon Luna? (Well, I do pay for Luna (as part of Prime) and bought the Luna controller but barely use it since I got my Deck, so maybe it’s not that ridiculous. But I did buy two new racing games on Steam recently, so why not start them instead?! Next time I fancy racing, I guess I will.)
Upstairs
Speedran the entire game again to get the two achievements I missed first time through.
I've once again got myself into a cycle of doing stuff like buying homes, decorating homes, moving belongings around, etc — spent another two hours on it today, not doing much of anything else. Time to go do some actual quests or something, methinks!
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Why play one of the 600+ games I’ve bought for my Steam Deck or 3DS when I could have a go at a random racing game on Amazon Luna? (Well, I do pay for Luna (as part of Prime) and bought the Luna controller but barely use it since I got my Deck, so maybe it’s not that ridiculous. But I did buy two new racing games on Steam recently, so why not start them instead?! Next time I fancy racing, I guess I will.)
Upstairs
Speedran the entire game again to get the two achievements I missed first time through.
Saturday, 21 March 2026
Video Games
Upstairs
Short (I completed it in 1¾ hours, and I look at everything and explore every dialogue tree; though somehow I didn't collect two achievements, so there must be options I missed) point-and-click adventure game that was just released by an independent dev. It's a lot of fun, with good puzzles (logical but you don't feel like everything's just handed to you) and a number of gags that made me laugh. Technically the story is horror, and rather dark at that, but the pixel art and humorous tone nonetheless make it feel close to the style of classic LucasArts games... though they'd surely never have done anything this bloody. Definitely worth a look on Steam or Itch.io if it seems your kind of thing.
Short (I completed it in 1¾ hours, and I look at everything and explore every dialogue tree; though somehow I didn't collect two achievements, so there must be options I missed) point-and-click adventure game that was just released by an independent dev. It's a lot of fun, with good puzzles (logical but you don't feel like everything's just handed to you) and a number of gags that made me laugh. Technically the story is horror, and rather dark at that, but the pixel art and humorous tone nonetheless make it feel close to the style of classic LucasArts games... though they'd surely never have done anything this bloody. Definitely worth a look on Steam or Itch.io if it seems your kind of thing.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Six new additions this week, and all nice straightforward ones that just make numbers go up.
Number of titles in collection: 3,673 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 966 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,707 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 515 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,818 [up 8]
Number of films: 4,720 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,132 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [up 9]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Six new additions this week, and all nice straightforward ones that just make numbers go up.
Number of titles in collection: 3,673 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 966 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,707 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 515 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,818 [up 8]
Number of films: 4,720 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 487 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,132 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,293 [up 9]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 20 March 2026
Fiction
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Book Three, Chapters 1–3
Had a couple of days' interruption and all told it's taken me over a week to get back into it, having been progressing pretty consistently before (I read it on 8 of the 9 days before said interruption). Kinda ridiculous that my ability to read books is so dependent on habit and momentum, but there it is. Actually, I think I'm the same with TV and games and probably everything else. Not sure what that might say about me...
Book Three, Chapters 1–3
Had a couple of days' interruption and all told it's taken me over a week to get back into it, having been progressing pretty consistently before (I read it on 8 of the 9 days before said interruption). Kinda ridiculous that my ability to read books is so dependent on habit and momentum, but there it is. Actually, I think I'm the same with TV and games and probably everything else. Not sure what that might say about me...
Thursday, 19 March 2026
TV
Peaky Blinders
6x01 Black Day
So, I only got round to series 5 because series 6 was imminent and now, four years later, I'm only getting round to series 6 because the followup movie is imminent (well, it's already in cinemas, but it's on Netflix from tomorrow). What will make me watch the movie?! Hopefully that it's a new release and so counts towards my 100 Films Challenge (I had kind of intended to watch series 6 this week and finish with the movie at the weekend. Obviously, that didn't happen). For now, though, I shall focus fully on the final season — which, as it happens, picks up four years after the last series. Neat.
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
6x01 Black Day
So, I only got round to series 5 because series 6 was imminent and now, four years later, I'm only getting round to series 6 because the followup movie is imminent (well, it's already in cinemas, but it's on Netflix from tomorrow). What will make me watch the movie?! Hopefully that it's a new release and so counts towards my 100 Films Challenge (I had kind of intended to watch series 6 this week and finish with the movie at the weekend. Obviously, that didn't happen). For now, though, I shall focus fully on the final season — which, as it happens, picks up four years after the last series. Neat.
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]
Video Games
Monument Valley
Forgotten Shores
Stopped parcelling it out and just finished the last four levels. While the base game was neat, it got repetitive. After that experience, I expected Forgotten Shores to just add more levels — but no, it does clever stuff with the mechanics, becoming more surprising and often more challenging in the process. In other words, it finally delivered what I'd hoped for from the original game. Hurrah!
Forgotten Shores
Stopped parcelling it out and just finished the last four levels. While the base game was neat, it got repetitive. After that experience, I expected Forgotten Shores to just add more levels — but no, it does clever stuff with the mechanics, becoming more surprising and often more challenging in the process. In other words, it finally delivered what I'd hoped for from the original game. Hurrah!
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
TV
Critical Role
Leveling Up The Soldier Table | Lvl 3 to Lvl 4
I missed that this video was released before episode 10 (I assumed it was after episode 11, when the Soldiers table wrapped up their arc). Well, I can't go back in time and watch it at the appropriate point, so here will have to do.
[Watch it free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon.]
Leveling Up The Soldier Table | Lvl 3 to Lvl 4
I missed that this video was released before episode 10 (I assumed it was after episode 11, when the Soldiers table wrapped up their arc). Well, I can't go back in time and watch it at the appropriate point, so here will have to do.
[Watch it free on YouTube, or for subscribers on Beacon.]
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
I acquired my second plot of land to build a house yesterday, and today set about building and decorating it... and did just that (which also includes pinging around the map to pick up and buy supplies — it takes a lot of raw materials to build these places) for an hour and three-quarters!
I've avoided games like Stardew Valley because I didn't see the appeal of farming and crafting and all that in a game, but look at me in Skyrim! Though it's less that I enjoy it, more that I want the end result. It does feel kinda like a waste of time to have spent one long play session on it. Same when I finish construction or buy a vacant house and then have to think about filling it with 'trophies' (i.e. weapons and armour I've looted/crafted that look good). If there was a way you could dump stuff in a location and auto-decorate, I'd definitely prefer that.
I acquired my second plot of land to build a house yesterday, and today set about building and decorating it... and did just that (which also includes pinging around the map to pick up and buy supplies — it takes a lot of raw materials to build these places) for an hour and three-quarters!
I've avoided games like Stardew Valley because I didn't see the appeal of farming and crafting and all that in a game, but look at me in Skyrim! Though it's less that I enjoy it, more that I want the end result. It does feel kinda like a waste of time to have spent one long play session on it. Same when I finish construction or buy a vacant house and then have to think about filling it with 'trophies' (i.e. weapons and armour I've looted/crafted that look good). If there was a way you could dump stuff in a location and auto-decorate, I'd definitely prefer that.
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Crimson Desert review: The Forza Horizon of action RPGs
by Mollie Taylor (from PC Gamer)
Even though I'm 'back into' gaming now, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to new releases — I've got a couple of decades of stuff to catch up on, and a 600-game backlog (and several hundred more wishlisted) because of it — but there's so much hype around this one, I had to at least get some idea of whether it's going to live up to expectations or not.
Based on this, I think the jury's out — and might be for some time: the game's so huge and packed with variety, it's going to be a while before people see enough of it to form final opinions, I think. Which is fine by me — if it's good, maybe I'll buy it on sale in three or four or five years.
by Mollie Taylor (from PC Gamer)
Even though I'm 'back into' gaming now, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to new releases — I've got a couple of decades of stuff to catch up on, and a 600-game backlog (and several hundred more wishlisted) because of it — but there's so much hype around this one, I had to at least get some idea of whether it's going to live up to expectations or not.
Based on this, I think the jury's out — and might be for some time: the game's so huge and packed with variety, it's going to be a while before people see enough of it to form final opinions, I think. Which is fine by me — if it's good, maybe I'll buy it on sale in three or four or five years.
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