the double rainbow saga continues...

The funniest take on "Double Rainbow" so far

-- Stephen Friz Frizzle

(For the start of this double rainbow thingamie, look here.)

TV

Stand Up for the Week
1x03 (9/7/10 edition)
I have come to the only reasonable conclusion for my continuing Jack Whitehall dilemma: he must be getting funnier. This explains why I've been finding him funny of late without meaning I've lost my sense of (good) humour. Win-win!
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Fiction

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Part 1, Chapter 1
Giving iBooks a test run on my iPhone, a sample chapter from the complete Sherlock Holmes seemed a good a choice as any.
I tried several different editions: two showed why reading books on your phone is as ridiculous as it sounds, one was excellent and showed why it can actually work. Goes to show how care and attention to your product can make all the difference. Not to mention that the book itself is a great opening to Holmes' first case.

Articles

Today seems to be Steven Moffat Press Release Day at the BBC...

Father who? The Doctor crashes Christmas
(from the BBC Press Office)
Interesting casting for the Doctor Who Christmas special. Still no title or plot details though.

Sherlock press pack
(from the BBC Press Office)
Soon to be Moffat's Other Series, I'm rather excited for this present-day re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes. Page two has a great interview with Moffat and co-recreator Mark Gatiss about their thinking behind the series and how they've gone about adapting various elements of the original adventures.

TV

The Mentalist
2x21 18-5-4
Why, in dramas, are people's email addresses always something like "beastslayer646"? I don't know anyone that has [generic gamer name]+[random numbers] for their address -- and I don't believe the kind of people who have them in dramas would settle for that either.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Murderland
Part 3 Carol's Story [final episode]
Despite ITV's promotion claiming this final part follows the murdered mother, the title gives away the truth: it's actually the tale of the grown-up girl, part one's Carrie with the adult version of her name. Hard to say if that's marketing trying to cover something perceived as a twist, or just trying to liven up an otherwise unexemplary flashback structure with the idea that the final episode followed the deceased victim.
Still, the plot itself manages a couple of final reveals that subvert where it seemed to be leading you, although the ultimate culprits aren't that surprising really -- it's the kind of end that pulls of moderately unexpected twists without making them properly shocking or raising the level of the series above "good". Ho hum.

Rev.
1x02 Episode 2
I'm not particularly a fan of Christians, but these 'iChristian' types must be the worst by a country mile.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

3 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Guess Who (2005)

The plot isn’t a direct copy of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, preferring to take the gist of the concept and a few of the story beats and surround them with a bunch of Funny Situations. I won’t bother you with details; suffice to say, the film does manage the odd laugh or smile. The ending is suitably lovey-dovey, sentimental, and, I think many would add, hogwash.

Insomnia (1997)

Watching this Norwegian original after having seen Christopher Nolan’s American version, it feels like someone watched the remake then was asked to retell it: it hits most of the main plot beats and memorable sequences, but seems to gloss past the nuances and character.

Pale Rider (1985)

Pale Rider is, in many ways, a pretty stock Western. The plot is likely to be familiar even to those who haven’t seen a great deal of the genre: in rides a mysterious stranger, sees injustice, climactic shoot-out, mysterious stranger rides into the sunset/from whence he came/forever on. Eastwood offers only one significant addition to this concept. The mysterious stranger is, on the one hand, a preacher — “surely a man of God is opposed to violence?”, etc. And on the other, is he even human?

More next Sunday.

this is so double rainbow

As Nathan Fillion said, watch this...



...then this...



(Please let me know if these don't work. They can always be found via Fillion's tweets here and here (and here).)

TV

Murderland
Part 2 Hain's Story
Astonishingly, some of the more obvious 'twists' have been avoided, while at the same time managing to pull a few interesting ones. Thus far, though, the notion of re-presenting the same flashbacks from different perspectives has only resulted in going back over stuff we've already seen, and I wouldn't even believe they'd shot from different angles for each person's viewpoint if I hadn't read so.

Top Gear
15x02 (4/7/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

How I Met Your Mother
5x07 The Rough Patch
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Mentalist
2x20 Red All Over
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Sandbaggers
3x01 All in a Good Cause [2nd watch]
It's been over a year since I last watched The Sandbaggers (sadly in that time just missing out on the third series' 30th anniversary, which would've been neat), so, as with Dexter before it, it made sense to re-watch this first episode.

Articles

Firefly: The Credits Sequence It Deserved! by Garrison Dean
(from io9)
I'm not sure "deserved" is the right word. "Would've had in the '80s" is the concept. Also, be amused by the dim-witted comments that miss the joke.

Survey provides hints on the new Back to the Future game by Ian Fisher
(from Shogun Gamer)
I saw this earlier in the week and somehow forgot to post it. Telltale -- makers of the forthcoming Back to the Future games, amongst many other great things (sadly not including the Doctor Who 'Adventure ' Games) -- have been surveying fans on what they'd like to see included. Which firstly provides hints at what might be in there, but, more importantly, "it’s nice to see a developer be upfront and ask gamers what they want to see". Too true.

Collection Count

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

This week, a Blu-ray replaces a two-disc DVD, a new single-disc DVD is added, and some more Blu-rays turn up to make it look like nothing unusual happened at all. Thrilling.

Number of titles in collection: 1,188 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,095 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 93 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 2,923 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,251 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,111 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Number of music DVDs:
56
(4.7% of the total)

I don't buy music DVDs too often, but (obviously) occasionally I do -- including this week, hence the inspiration for the stat. Do note that by this I don't mean Musicals, but concert DVDs, making-ofs attached to albums, that kind of thing.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne
Part 3 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x15 Scar

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x23 (2/7/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne
Part 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Stand Up for the Week
1x02 (2/7/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Metropolis 2010 reissue trailer
Eureka's rather lovely trailer for their forthcoming release of the (almost-)complete Metropolis. It's in cinemas from September 10th, and on DVD & Blu-ray before the end of the year.

Pale Rider (1985)
[#67 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

fix

Seems the TV post on July 1st was completely mucking up the page. This has now been fixed, so you can see the quite interesting Roger Ebert article properly now.

TV

Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne
Part 1 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
5x06 Bagpipes
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

Back To The Future 'hoax' - we confess! by Dan Goodswen
(from Total Film)

Total Film 'Future Day' shenanigans cause Twitter chaos

Ha!

International Number Ones: Because every country is best at something by David McCandless
(from Information is Beautiful)
And we're best for... CCTV. Typical.
(It falls down slightly because not every country has a label.)

Review of Inception by Nev Pierce
(from Empire)
If you didn't think the excitement/anticipation levels for Inception could be ratcheted any higher... well, Empire's review may surprise you. (In a good way.)

Some overused Doctor Who plot devices we'd like a moratorium on by Charlie Jane Anders
(from io9)
Some of these are stretching things a bit -- they've only been used twice, for example, and it's only because they're so good that we've even noticed -- but Anders also has a point about many of them.

TV

Murderland
Part 1 Carrie's Story
I've had this miniseries sat waiting to be watched for almost nine months(!) It is, as you may guess from the title, about a murder; but each episode is told from the perspective on a different character -- in part one, it's the teenage daughter of the victim. It's a very good performance from young Bel Powley as the titular Carrie, and it's quite amazing just how much like The Past the mid-'90s now look, but the mystery is thus far only mildly intriguing. Perhaps things will click together in the next two episodes.

Mock the Week
9x03 (1/7/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

1945-1998 (2003)
[#66a in 100 Films in a Year 2010]
I suppose this falls somewhere between the stools of "short film", "Art" and "Internet video", but, still, it's long enough and focused enough that I'm going to count it -- and, of course, review it. At some point.
You can watch it (for free) here.

Articles

Have you seen this movie?
(from Today at BBC News)

The British Film Institute has launched a search for 75 films which have disappeared from view.

Here's a gallery of some of the Most Wanted.

Inception is bleeding into the real world!
(from Live for Films)
That's a damn cool advert.

Click to enlarge.

UKATV Manga Interview
(from UK Anime Network)
An interview (obviously) "with Jerome Mazandarani at Manga Entertainment about the latest announcements from the May London Expo and how these announcements could shape the future of company."
It's a particularly interesting insight into how the UK DVD business works, with emphasis on the anime side of things (obviously), but I think the possibly-supririsngly-low sales numbers are a good indicator of just how little small companies actually sell, and why they have to be very careful about what they choose to release (I'm thinking mainly of the likes of Masters of Cinema and the BFI in this regard). It also indicates why some are beginning to move more towards Blu-ray -- some of Manga's biggest releases are selling 50/50 on DVD/Blu-ray, with their biggest recent title even managing 60% on Blu-ray.
(Note, while page one of the interview (linked above) is a video, there's a transcript over the next three pages. I prefer a transcript, me.)

Your favourite Who episodes revealed by Neil Wilkes
(from Digital Spy)
Series 1/5/31/fnarg Who eps, ranked and rated by Digital Spy readers. My initial thought was that many episodes were ranked too low, but then better ones kept turning up. That said, I'd move up Amy's Choice and The Eleventh Hour, and sacrifice both parts of the finale (a little) to make some room at the top. Also, the places look less bad if you do the sensible thing and combine the two-parters into single stories.
(That said, since the RTD re-launch each half of a two-parter has often had a slightly different tone or feel -- none more so than this year's finale, in fact. And that said, they're still more often than not blatantly two halves of a whole.)

TV

Have I Got News For You
39x02 (8/4/10 edition; extended repeat)
Bizarrely belated repeat (it's from the start of April... as if the date above didn't tell you that) for this particularly good edition of HIGNFY, now with even more laughs.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2010
[Watch the Men's Singles final, as well as other matches, on iPlayer.]

Films

Guess Who (2005)
[#66 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]
An inverted semi-remake of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Not as good, of course.

this week on 100 Films

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

Clue (1985)

it’s the kind of film that’s unremittingly daft, but it knows it is, and if one gets on board with that then it’s a very enjoyable experience... a mix of hilarious farce and fast-paced screwball comedy. It’s Agatha Christie meets Fawlty Towers.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

It could easily have been a simplistic message movie — these people are liberal, these people are racist, etc — but instead there’s complexity at every turn... these characters could just become ciphers for the arguments and debates; but they’re not, they’re characters, having believable reactions, and from this comes the debate.

Also this week, as we've moved into July it's time for the monthly look at my progress.

More next Sunday.

TV

The Mentalist
2x19 Blood Money
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Wimbledon 2010
[Watch the Ladies' Singles final, parts one and two, as well as other matches, on iPlayer.]

Films

Get Smart (2008)
[#65 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Music

Renegades [EP 1] by Renegades

Renegades [EP 2] by Renegades

Feeder's new album, Renegades, turned up today, at which point I realised I still hadn't listened to these two EPs -- by Feeder labelling themselves as Renegades (don't ask me why, no one really seems to know). So, I thought I ought to get round to it before spinning the album, especially as 5 of the songs are duplicated on there.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x13 Epiphanies
2x14 Black Market

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x22 (25/6/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2010
Men's semi-final day. Cheerio British hope then.
[Watch Murray v Nadal and Berdych v Djokovic (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

FlashForward is 'most missed' axed show by Morgan Jeffery
(from Digital Spy)
On the one hand, you think, "really? Really?" On the other, look at its competition in that poll. On another, with the likes of Law & Order and Scrubs there it's a bit bizarre how much it won by. On a fourth hand, several L&O franchises remain and Scrubs was apparently past its best.

Is Aaron Johnson too perfect for Spider-Man? by Ben Child
(from Film Blog at guardian.co.uk)
This article posted just hours before it turned out that, yes, he probably was. And quite right too -- Kick-Ass rather undermines Spider-Man.

Collection Count

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

No updates to the regular numbers this week, but at least there's the running time update to make up for it.

Number of titles in collection: 1,185 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,095 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 90 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 2,920 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,247 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,111 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Total running time of collection (approx.):
205 days, 4 hours, and 32 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 19 hours, and 14 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Rev.
1x01 Episode 1
BBC Two's new Church-based sitcom is very good. Recommended, for what that's worth.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Stand Up for the Week
1x01 (25/6/10 edition)
Well, now, that was at least as rude as was implied, eh. Some of it was quite funny though, so that's OK. Though I'm slightly concerned: this is the third thing I've seen with Jack Whitehall in a row where I thought he was one of the best bits -- do I actually like him?!
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

The Great Box-Office Scam by Roger Ebert
(from rogerebert.com)
An article from 1985 (mentioned today on twitter) which feels as relevant 25 years later as it surely was then. And it's funny reading about "recent hits" like Rambo and "movies about to come out" like Pale Rider, Silverado and Back to the Future -- and, mentioned in more or less the same tone, movies that are now forgotten.

Music

Night Work by Scissor Sisters
Finally got round to putting this on. Liked a lot of it quite a bit, but not as much as Ta-Dah. Likely to grow; not certain it's catchy enough to usurp their previous album in my affections.

Articles

Review of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse by Roger Ebert
(from rogerebert.com)
Ebert gives the latest Twilight claptrap a thorough slating and two thumbs down. Quite right, I'm certain.

TV

Top Gear
15x01 (27/6/10 edition)
"Oh not again!"
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

EastEnder Jessie Wallace to star in Corrie drama
(from BBC News)

Actress Jessie Wallace, who played Kat in EastEnders, is to star in a drama about the birth of Coronation Street... The drama, being filmed in Manchester, will air on BBC Four later this year.

Well that's just meta personified.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x11 Resurrection Ship Part 1
2x12 Resurrection Ship Part 2
Holy frak. I'm beginning to really see where all the plaudits come from -- BSG was pretty great before, but these mid-season episodes are really pushing it to another level.
The only thing standing between these being listed right after Pegasus was midnight -- a pair of gripping cliffhangers easily ensured my undivided attention for the full two-and-a-half hours of these three episodes back to back.

Mock the Week
9x02 (24/6/10 edition)
It comes to something when Jack Whitehall is your most famous guest. Not necessarily a problem, but it really does come to something when he's also the funniest. (See also: Graham Norton a few weeks back.)
Relatedly -- that white South African guy's act seemed to consist wholly of impersonating black South Africans in a rather awkward, arguably racist fashion. Uncomfortable. And not in the good Frankie Boyle-ish way.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x09 Flight of the Phoenix
2x10 Pegasus [extended version]
The BSG Blu-rays (and some/all of the DVDs) contain a total of seven extended episodes, the first of these being Pegasus. Whereas the creators have labelled some of these episodes "editor's cuts" -- effectively meaning a long, unpolished version of the episode -- the extended Pegasus is a "director's cut" -- meaning the full-length version they would've liked to broadcast were they not stuck with a specific length slot. So, in this case, I've decided to eschew the broadcast version and jump straight to the extended one; quite what I'll do when I get to "editor's cut" episodes is something I'll equally over-think when the time comes.
More pertinently, then: what a frakkin' huge cliffhanger! Glad I don't have to wait months for the resolution -- on I go.

Damages
3x13 The Next One's Gonna Go in Your Throat [season finale]
If this does turn out to be the series finale, it was a great one, wrapping up all the major plot threads from all three seasons once and for all -- at last. But it leaves it open for more, so fingers crossed there'll be another case for Patty Hewes.

Doctor Who Confidential
5x13 Out of Time [season finale]
I often find I miss New York, something this episode was all-too-good at reminding me. As for the two slight hints about next season... reassuring, but disappointingly vague. Which I suppose it what we should expect from Moffat & co.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
5x05 Duel Citizenship
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Mulan (1998)
[#64 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

I Couldn’t Care Fewer. by Andrew Taylor
(from Apathy Sketchpad)
I agree.

Ooops! The Daily Mail falls victim to spoof Steve Jobs iPhone recall Tweet by Will Sturgeon
(from The Media Blog)
This is priceless. You must read it. Go on.

this week on 100 Films

3 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

2012 (2009)

It’s a CGI-focused visually epic spectacular built on a story that lacks an original plot or real characterisation. Sounds familiar… Ah yes — Avatar. I’m sure those who loved Cameron’s Oscar-loser will get something from 2012 too.

Final Destination (2000)

very much “high concept” filmmaking — the concept being, in case you’ve somehow missed it, that a bunch of characters manage to dodge Death thanks to a premonition, so now Death’s out to settle the score — so the dodgier aspects, like the mediocre dialogue and performances, slide by because, well, they don’t matter that much.

First Blood (1982)

"Rambo" has become a byword for violent excess. But the first film has marginally nobler aims: here, the not-yet-titular hero is a Vietnam vet dealing with a mixture of PTSD, unresolved service issues, and poor treatment from the 'folks back home'

More next Sunday.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x06 Home Part 1
2x07 Home Part 2
2x08 Final Cut
Guest starring Dexter's dad!
Also: if all of the Colonies' paper, photos, cards, etc -- and, most pertinently, video recordings -- are octagonal (as opposed to our use of quadrilaterals) then why are their TVs and monitors still rectangular? ("Because production design didn't think it through," is the real-world answer, of course.)

Damages
3x12 You Were His Little Monkey
All the threads are, of course, coming together just in time for the season (and, possibly, series) finale.

Doctor Who
31x13 The Big Bang [season finale]
See here for my thoughts on this episode.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Eleven Things We've Learnt This Year by Patrick Mulkern
(from Doctor Who Blog at Radio Times)
A slightly different way of looking at the Doctor Who finale. Which is always nice.

Review of The Big Bang by Richard Edwards
(from SFX)
Just in case you fancied some more thoughts.

Doctor Who 31x13: The Big Bang

Just some quick initial thoughts. Normally these would go in today's TV post but they looked a little unwieldy, so...

While I did like last week's part one, I think I enjoyed that even more. Plot threads left dangling for next season, yes, but that's a good thing. And the promise we'll find out all about River soon... well, I still don't like her that much, but at least we should get answers.

Favourite parts: Rory! Yay for Rory! Always liked Rory. Love a three-person TARDIS crew, so I'm ever so glad he seems to be sticking around. Full name-in-opening-titles status next season, please. Also liked the wedding speech to bring the Doctor & TARDIS back into existence -- clever use of a well-known phrase + long-established Who history.

And the Stone Dalek was at least 100 times cooler than the multi-coloured plasticky regular new ones.

My one major disappointment, however: that the Doctor gave up on the rewind at The Eleventh Hour. What a perfect opportunity for a Greatest Hits of all ten Doctors! Considering we've seen them more than usual this season (especially William Hartnell), it seemed a golden opportunity. Oh well.

Still, a good, epic season finale, with a nice ending... even if it was missing a substantial Christmas special tease.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x04 Resistance
2x05 The Farm

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x21 (18/6/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

BBC hoping to revive Ashes Gene Hunt? by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
This is, a) from The Mirror, and b) features no comment from Philip Glenister or Matthew Graham. Not sounding likely, is it? Thank God. (Unless they have a really great idea, that is.)

It looks like Peter Jackson will direct The Hobbit after all by Sean O'Neal
(from A.V. Club)
"Believe it when I see it" and all that.

More Proof the Video Game Industry is Out of Ideas (E3 2010) by David Wong
(from Cracked.com)
Moves from an amusing opening (see picture below) to a more serious point about how the games industry is perhaps headed for a fall.

No Human Centipede for UK cinemas? by David Jenkins
(from Film on Time Out London)
From my own perspective, I can't say I'm sorry -- it sounds dire and I've no intention of seeing it -- but Jenkins makes his case with two good points:

looking to the US as a critical barometer, the film split journalists into two separate and very distinct camps... the important thing – and the thing the UK will miss – is that there is a debate to be had, and a DVD-only release will dull the potential coverage the film would have been assured from broadsheet critics.

And, relatedly:

could someone not get the film a week’s run in a single cinema just so we’re able to get Daily Mail critic Chris Tookey’s take on things?

He's always good for a laugh... albeit never one he intended.

Collection Count

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

That TV series I mentioned turned up, plus one unexpectedly early Blu-ray, leaving a nice little boost for all of this week's numbers.

Number of titles in collection: 1,185 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,095 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 90 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,920 [up 25]
Number of films in collection: 1,247 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,111 [up 60]

Statistic of the week:

Number of titles produced in the '80s:
120
(10.1% of the total)

I've previously covered titles produced in the '00s, '90s, and over 100 years ago, so continuing in that theme (as I haven't for a few weeks), this is the current tally for the '80s.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Damages
3x11 All That Crap About Your Family
I don't think there was a single flashforward in this episode. Far too much going on in the present, I suppose, not least Frobisher's increasingly hilarious film -- check out that Ray Fiske!

Tinga Tinga Tales
Why Woodpecker Pecks
Why Hippo Has No Hair
I know this is only a little kids' show, but surely that doesn't excuse it the gaping great plot holes in the Woodpecker episode?
[Watch both episodes (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2010
John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut concludes. Or concluded, I suppose, now. I would point you to it on iPlayer, but due no doubt to some shortsightedness somewhere in the BBC it's not there.

Articles

Steven Moffat talks Who finale, future by Neil Wilkes & Matthew Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Moffat is quite frankly irritating in many of his interviews. This one's no exception, but it's mostly confined to the middle -- the beginning, where he discusses how much of the finale he had planned, and the end, where he discusses lessons learnt and if he'd have RTD back, are interesting.

Red teaser trailer

I'd not heard of this film, or the comic it's based on, before. Now I really want to see it.

Trailer: job done.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x02 Valley of Darkness
2x03 Fragged

The Graham Norton Show
7x11 (21/6/10 edition)

"I was a dominatrix called Mistress Veronica."

[Watch that bit here, or watch the whole episode (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2010
Been keeping a vague eye on Wimbledon so far, but paid proper attention today: picking up a match I saw some of the end of yesterday before play stopped for light... which, as you may have heard, turned to the record-demolishing Longest Match Of All Time -- John Isner vs Nicolas Mahut, in which the final set alone eventually beat the previous record for Longest Match Ever.

Magazines

Radio Times 26 June - 2 July 2010

One wonders if the Radio Times is subtly displaying a dislike for Mongrels, BBC Three's new puppet show. I quote:

"The mistake is thinking puppets can do all the work - you need a good script."

Mongrels is written by Daniel Peak and Jon Brown, who have previously worked on Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and My Hero.

Or, to put it another way:

"you need a good script."

This script is by some guys who previously wrote some godawful shit.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
2x01 Scattered
Feels like ages since I watched BSG, but it's only been a week. That's what happens when you race through [the equivalent of] 17 episodes in 7 days. Week on, week off -- seems like a good viewing plan. Not that I expect to get through season two in a week.

The Mentalist
2x18 Aingavite Baa
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Articles

First Look: Mad Men season 4 poster by Michael Ausiello
(from The Ausiello Files at EW.com)
Mad Men has a history of thematically dense, striking, iconic posters, and this latest is no exception, conveying the new state of affairs and new themes of the forthcoming fourth season. Now just have to wait until it reaches UK shores. (And by "have to" I mean "choose to", of course.)

Click to enlarge.

Most Magical Things to Buy in Hogsmeade (and Some to Avoid) by Chris Kohler
(from Underwire at Wired)
Not a list of things mentioned in the books or films or whathaveyou, but stuff you can now actually purchase in the recently-opened Harry Potter theme park. It mentions not only the 'cool' stuff, but also some of the misguided tat on offer.
(If you're interested, Underwire has several other articles about the park's opening.)

TV

Damages
3x10 Tell Me I'm Not Racist
What in the holy moly is going on with Damages this season?! All these weird dream sequences are highly bizarre.

Paul Merton's Weird and Wonderful World of Early Cinema
Another excellent film documentary from Paul Merton (shown back in March), which rather does what it says on the tin.

TV

Dexter
3x12 Do You Take Dexter Morgan? [season finale]

The Graham Norton Show
7x10 (14/6/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
[#63 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

20 (very amusing) tweets from the Death Star
(from Sci Fi Wire)

Topless Robot is having a contest to see who can come up with the best tweets from the Death Star, and it's more than worth 5 minutes of your time to read through the submissions. We've picked out 20 of the best below, but there are dozens more.

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

The Condemned (2007)

It amuses me is how many reviews call this “a brainless action movie”. I’m not going to argue that it's actually a polemic on the evils of the media or modern violence-obsessed culture, but it has more to think about than the majority of action movies — meaning it’s neither brainless nor devoid of importance between action scenes.

Inkheart (2008)

it doesn’t bother to set out the rules, a major oversight in a fantasy movie such as this. The central conceit is that when Brendan Fraser’s character reads a novel aloud, what he’s reading enters our world — and, in exchange, some one or thing is sucked into the book. But how is it decided what comes out and what goes in? What can and can’t be read? Why not just write your own story to get you out of trouble?

Knowing (2009)

it's an intriguing mystery. Arguably this conquers all. There are attempts at giving the characters depth, but these are more about giving them a reason to care about the plot. That’s not necessarily a problem — I’d suggest if you’re watching a film like Knowing with the intention of focusing on the characters rather than the mystery then you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

Tu£sday (2008)

The high-profile cast frequently belie what you’re watching. Most of the production has an amateurish feel. The look is like plain digital video, the choice of shots often obvious and lacking variety, the editing not as tight as it should be. The screenplay feels a draft or two away from completion, particularly dialogue.

More next Sunday.

TV

Dexter
3x11 I Had a Dream
Not what I was expecting from the penultimate episode! S'looking like a good finale.

Doctor Who
31x12 The Pandorica Opens
And talking of "looking like a good finale", how's he gonna get out of that one?! And where's our "Next Time" trailer? (Relatedly: today's Articles.)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Confidential
5x12 Alien Abduction
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
9x01 (17/6/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Games

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Episode One City of the Daleks
I had meant to post fuller thoughts on this earlier today. Oops. Some soon.
[Download City of the Daleks for free (in the UK) from the official website.]

Articles

[Doctor Who] Series 5 DVDs to exclude "Next Time" trailers
(from Radio Free Skaro)

What the... Not best pleased about this, I must say.

If you want to complain (as I have), send an email about it to DVDenquiryline@2entertain.co.uk. If you'd like a ready-written email, just click this link and add your name at the end. (FYI, this is the same as the letter I sent, which also mentions some sound effects that are missing during the title sequence.)

Complaining might seem pointless, but their responses so far indicate that any feedback is passed on to the relevant people -- if enough people voice their displeasure, things might change. Do remember to be polite though -- not only does it make them more likely to listen, it's also not the fault of the person who'll read & respond to your email.

Collection Count

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

Absolutely no changes this week, which my bank balance will be happy about... although there is another big Complete Series set currently winging its way over from the States... Still, 'til that turns up (hopefully next week), there's always a new stat of the week.

Number of titles in collection: 1,183 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,094 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 89 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 2,895 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,246 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,051 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Number of Steelbooks:
23
(1.9% of the total)

Steelbooks: pretty packaging. I like pretty packaging. Ergo, I like Steelbooks.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Damages
3x09 Drive It Through Hardcore

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x20 (11/6/10 edition)
I say I watched this... I fastforwarded Katherine Heigl and stopped when Diddy came on. Which just leaves the opening monologue and Frankie Boyle, really. Life's too short for interviews with such uninteresting people.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
5x04 The Sexless Innkeeper
Very clever 'single couple' montage. We likes this, yes.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Wallander [Swedish]
2x08 Skytten (aka The Sniper)

Articles

27 Star Wars references that are also sexual references
(from Sci Fi Wire)
Many immature "lolz" to be had.

The Critics Are Crazy About Jonah Hex! by S.T. Vanairsdale (from Movie|Line)
and
Capone's Jonah Hex review is nearly as incomprehensible as the film itself!!! by Capone (from Ain't It Cool News)
To say "it hasn't gone down well" would be an understatement...

TV

Damages
3x08 I Look Like Frankenstein
Well, he came back out of nowhere. Presumably there'll be some greater role to play... just not yet...

Dexter
3x10 Go Your Own Way
Great cliffhanger. This is definitely shaping up to be another fantastic season of Dexter -- only two episodes to go.

Films

True Lies (1994)
[#62 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

500,000 download new Who game by Christopher Dring
(from MCV)

“The result is a lot more than I was expecting,” Simon Nelson, controller of portfolio and multiplatform at BBC Vision told MCV.
“We had set ourselves some fairly stretched targets on this and we’ve blown them away... This has been part of the Who planning process rather than just a bolt on at the end, which too many interactive things have been. I’m hoping that we have demonstrated to the TV and the games side that there is a marriage worth pursuing here... I like to think we’ve broken ground for the TV industry, games industry, the public service sector and hopefully even the commercial sector”
...the BBC is not resting on its laurels and is focused on making sure the rest of The Adventure Games are a success before looking ahead to future projects.

It came out on Mac earlier this week, so I can finally play it. I forgot that until today, which shows what revelations about the kind of game it was did for my initially-high excitement levels.
I might play it later.

Serafinowicz: Five Reasons I Love Apple and Five Reasons I Hate Apple by Peter Serafinowicz
(from Gizmodo)
I agree. Also, presented with funny piccies.

The use of digital media comes at a price by Dan Roberts
(from Executive Style at The Sydney Morning Herald)
Interesting article on the mental and physical impact of spending too much time on computers, the Internet, social networking, etc. The solid evidence is hardly extensive at this point, but it's nonetheless compelling.

Toy Story meets The Wire

TV

Damages
3x07 You Haven't Replaced Me

Dexter
3x09 About Last Night

Films

The International (2009)
[#61 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]
Taking a little break from Battlestar Galactica to re-apply the time to film watching.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x10 The Hand of God
1x11 Colonial Day
1x12 Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 1
1x13 Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 2 [season finale]
Proof again of BSG's addictiveness -- I'd intended to watch my usual two episodes, but couldn't resist ploughing on through the finale. Which leaves me having got through the whole miniseries & first season in just one week. "Oops." A break before season two... maybe...
In these episodes we have examples of everything the series has been doing best: full-on action in Hand of God; full-on politics in Colonial Day; resolutions and more mysteries in both parts of Kobol's Last Gleaming; and throughout, issues of religion, torture, democracy, and more. And a great set of cliffhangers too, without losing sight of this being a serial: there are some answers and resolutions, but many plots are left mid-way. It's a confident series that doesn't opt for "wrap everything up + cliffhanger", or even "wrap everything up for now + cliffhanger", but pushes on as if this is just a midseason ep. Thank goodness their confidence was rewarded.

Damages
3x06 Don't Forget to Thank Mr. Zedeck

Dexter
3x08 The Damage a Man Can Do
Now there's a nifty cliffhanger! It doesn't feel like it -- probably because I've watched this season so broken up -- but I'm now heading into the final third of the season. Exciting times.

Articles

Christopher Eccleston talks about Doctor Who exit
(from BBC News)
On the one hand, it's nice someone's finally talking about it -- exactly why and under what circumstances Eccleston left the series has always been a bit of a mystery -- but, at the same time as adding a bit of clarity, it also muddies the waters. I mean, what exactly does

I didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in. I thought if I stay in this job, I'm going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong.

mean? It gives his reasons better than before, but is still quite unclear -- what environment? What culture? Who imposed it? The show's producers? The BBC?
I suppose the wait for more revealing years-later interviews continues...

The Nintendo 3DS Is Real, and Doesn't Need Glasses
(from Gizmodo)
As you may well have heard. Highlights:

There is a 3D depth slider to choose a degree of 3D, to maximize or even turn it off entirely. ... two cameras on the outside. So you can take 3D photos. ... The 3DS can also play back 3D hollywood movies

Talk of what it's like to actually use here.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x08 Flesh and Bone
1x09 Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down
Holy moly, a comedy episode! Well that's not something I'd expected to see in BSG.

Damages
3x05 It's Not My Birthday
There seem to be an increasing number of unheralded super-weird dream sequences on TV these days. Or maybe it's just my imagination.

Dexter
3x07 Easy as Pie
A rather excellent episode, revisiting notions of Dexter's code -- who is and isn't worthy of his 'talents'?

Articles

Damon Lindelof Writes the Sequel to Armageddon You'll Wish Was Real by Christopher Rosen
(from Movie|Line)
I'm no fan of Armageddon (though I do need to see all of it) or Lost (though I do intend to catch up now it's all finally done), but this is still quite funny. Especially as "it’s no less ridiculous than anything in the Michael Bay original Armageddon and actually seems almost believable as a movie project". And is called -- frankly, brilliantly -- Armageddoner!

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x06 Litmus
1x07 Six Degrees of Separation
A pair of similarly-themed but notably different episodes that are the first concrete examples of the series tackling themes that have earnt it such plaudits; namely, notions of justice, particularly in wartime, and religion. Importantly, there are few easy answers, and, I expect, further ramifications to come.

Damages
3x04 Don't Throw That at the Chicken
Much like Dexter a week (and a bit) ago, other series coming to an end means I can restart Damages, almost three months after I last watched it. Thank goodness for "previously on"s.

Dexter
3x06 Sí Se Puede
It feels considerably more than 10 days since I restarted Dexter. Too used to marathoning through it, I suppose, especially when I've got through nine BSGs in five days.

Articles

Scribes thrive on serial series by Robert Koehler
(from Variety)
Interesting (if brief) article on how US TV has, in the past decade or so, definitively moved away from the syndication-friendly format (i.e. standalone episodes suitable to be seen at random in any order) to the DVD-friendly serial format (i.e. long story arcs running the course of a whole (if not several) seasons).
(Variety limits the number of articles you can read without registering, and then limits further without paying. On Safari (and I presume other browsers, but I don't know), however, if you stop the page loading once the text has appeared, you can usually catch it before the password barrier pops up. Nifty.)

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Burn After Reading (2008)

as two minor characters observe at the end, we’ve learnt nothing. There’s been a sporadically complex set of coincidences and accidents, some good laughs and some surprises too, but the end result is… what? But maybe that’s the point.

Ghost Town (2008)

The high-concept at the film’s centre — that Ricky Gervais sees dead people and doesn’t want to — is neat enough. It largely sticks to its rules, it manages a few moments of humour, it doesn’t get too repetitive, it often plays the most obvious card

Ivanhoe (1952)

Most notable is an excellent siege sequence, a moderately epic extended battle that is certainly the film’s high point. The randomly hurled arrows and choreography-free sword fights may look a tad amateurish almost sixty years on, when we’re used to slickly staged and edited combat sequences, but the scale and rough excitement of the battle easily makes up for it.

Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)

The cast are adequate, even if Richard Greene’s no Errol Flynn and Peter Cushing’s no Alan Rickman (here at least). Terence Fisher’s direction is rather flat a lot of the time, though a few scenery shots, riding sequences and fights bring out a bit more dynamism.

More next Sunday.

TV

Battlestar Galactica [2004]
1x04 Act of Contrition
1x05 You Can't Go Home Again

Doctor Who
31x11 The Lodger
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Confidential
5x11 Extra Time
And that's all the football I intend to watch this year.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
2x17 The Red Box
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Wallander [Swedish]
2x07 Läckan (aka The Leak)

Articles

BBC to revamp The One Show by Paul Millar
(from Digital Spy)
Is there a legal requirement that press releases must always describe HD as "glorious high definition"? How about another adjective, at least.

Collection Count

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

Despite another 24 hour delay, it's back to the teeny-tiny increases this week: one new DVD, and one new BD-that-replaces-a-DVD half cancelling it back out.

Number of titles in collection: 1,183 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,094 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 89 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,895 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,246 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,051 [up 6]

Statistic of the week:

Number of titles unrated:
135
(11.4% of the total)

Having previously done titles rated U, 18, and 15 (i.e. the lowest, highest, and largest-in-my-collection of the UK ratings), the only one with any significance left is "unrated". These are titles that are either E (for Exempt) in the UK, or other discs that are somehow allowed out unclassified, or some of my US imports, where ratings on DVDs aren't compulsory.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x19 (4/6/10 edition)
I'm not sure why I keep linking to tv.com for Wossy episodes -- their editor for this section is clearly a bit of a dick.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
5x03 Robin 101
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

all 11 Doctors in a box

Ever since Character began doing classic series action figures, this is the one box set I've been dying to get my hands on.

Click to enlarge.

All 11 Doctors' action figures in one presentation box. Beautiful.

The fact I already own most of them is irrelevant; besides, at least they've gone to the effort of making some a variant -- celery-sticked 5th Doctor (at last!) is perhaps the most obvious example; the 7th is now hatless (and brown-coated, though he was in the TARDIS set too); the 3rd, 4th Doctors are also different (or "slightly different", depending which versions you already own); the 6th may also have a slightly different costume, while the 10th is specs-on version (which, when they released so damn many 10th-era box sets with him, is hardly uncommon). Plus the 8th Doctor is new, and, as far as I'm concerned, I only recently got the Unearthly Child 1st Doctor so this is a big variant; plus I never got the 2nd and have yet to get an 11th.

Ah, the life of a collector.

Click to enlarge.

The set's due out in August. RRP is £49.99 but obviously the Forbidden Planets have discounts. Cheaper of the two is .co.uk -- only 50p on the page, but standard p&p is a whole £3 less than .com, a good saving in my book.