Comics

Batwoman #1 by J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman
[2nd read]
Batwoman #3 is out today... but I won't be getting that until at least Saturday, so, as with Animal Man (and soon Aquaman), I'm having an in-print re-read of the issue I previously read digitally, and...

Batwoman #2 by J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman
...catching up issue 2, too. And it's not as if I don't have enough other DC stuff to tide me over until this week's releases finally arrive.
Anyway, the art in this series is exceptional. Williams's art is beautifully detailed, the inks making everything unusually crisp and accentuated, sometimes inverting the style to make characters different (e.g. the DEO agent), and that's not to mention his varied and interesting layouts; while Dave Stewart's colours are thoughtfully applied -- look at the opening four pages, for instance, where Batwoman herself is very painterly, the location and Plebe have modern comic colouring, and the nameless gang of stock robbers are rendered in the blocky simple colours of old comics. This kind of thing goes on throughout. Brilliant stuff.

Articles

Treasury to close loophole that allows VAT-free DVDs
(from BBC News)
That would be the loophole exploited by the likes of Play.com to offer their low prices -- it's how they started out, and various other companies have copied it since, including Amazon for some of their orders.
It'll be interesting to see how this change effects things, mainly in terms of if prices for consumers shoot up. Supposedly this is to help smaller UK-based businesses be able to compete, but I can imagine bigger companies like Amazon keeping their lower prices and swallowing the cost of VAT in order to price out the competition. Or they might not bother. Fingers crossed things don't get jacked up too much...

TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
2x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Death in Paradise
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Junior Bake Off
Episode 1 (of 13)
Having enjoyed the adult version -- or "the grown-up version", if you want it to sound less porn-y -- the kids' one seemed worth a go. Largely similar, but with a much more annoying presenter.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
3x33 (28/10/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

'No evidence' for extraterrestrials, says White House
(from BBC News)

The US government has formally denied that it has any knowledge of contact with extraterrestrial life. The announcement came as a response to submissions to the We The People website, which promises to address any petition that gains 5,000 signatories...

More than 17,000 citizens joined the two petitions, and the White House has since amended the requirements for response to a minimum of 25,000 signatories.

As da kidz say, "lol".

TV

The Case
Part 3 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Misfits
2x05 Episode 5
2x06 Episode 6
Way back when it started, I nearly didn't watch Misfits, but I was glad I did because it turned out to be brilliant. It's always nice to have been on to something before everyone else jumped on the bandwagon (the second series had over double the first's viewing figures). But however much I liked the first series, this second one has been better in every respect.
It feels grander in scale, without seriously stepping outside the bounds of our five protagonists and their community service. It's more ambitious in its arc plots, both in terms of characters and genre-y elements, and that's made for an even better series all round.
And now I'm almost caught up (Episode 6 is, really, the season finale, though it was followed by a Christmas Special a few days later) so I can join everyone else in enjoying the currently-airing third run (it's second episode went out last night)... hopefully before I get it seriously spoiled.
[Watch episodes five and six (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless
3x32 (27/10/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear USA
1x03 Episode 3
Tonight's challenge was the closest they've yet come to real Top Gear. Still a pale imitation of the British version overall, of course.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Hairspray (2007)
[2nd watch]
This was #53 of 100 Films 2008 and is reviewed by me here.

TV

The Case
Part 2 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
42x03 (28/10/11 edition; extended repeat)

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
3x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Gambit (1966)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

Articles

There's little sign of intelligent life on Twitter, never mind over Los Angeles by David Mitchell
(from The Observer)
Why a surprising amount of twitter users are surprisingly less intelligent than, of all people, Victoria Beckham. It's most amusing, but the real killer comes in the penultimate paragraph. As many a twitter user would say, "#fail".

this week on 100 Films

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

Saw 3D (2D) (2010)

the support group for Jigsaw survivors is a nice idea, but they don’t find anywhere to go with it. At least the notion of a fake Jigsaw survivor making a mint out of selling his fake story is an idea that has legs... Accompanying this is, of course, the arc plot that has stretched across the series. As the final film it’s time to wrap that up… Sadly, it isn’t particularly satisfactory.

True Grit (1969)

Mattie Ross is a great character — plain speaking, knows her own mind, ready & prepared for anything… and isn’t ever shown up either, instead besting everyone’s low expectations of her. Actress Kim Darby was 21 at the time but is completely convincing not only as a 14-year-old but as a 14-year-old who’s wise beyond her years.

More next Sunday.

TV

Downton Abbey
2x06 Episode 6
So, the war is over, and the house, staff and patients mark it with a big silence at 11am on 11th November... Shame ITV couldn't've scheduled this series better so as to land this episode closer to / on Remembrance Sunday, really.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Merlin
4x06 A Servant of Two Masters
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Misfits
2x04 Episode 4
With series three now underway, I really should get more of a wriggle on with this. But it's so good it feels wrong to rush it. This episode, yet more speedily-arrived big twists. Writer/creator Howard Overman certainly doesn't let his ideas come close to outstaying their welcome.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Comics

2000 AD #1754
This Prog's ECBT 2000AD reviews:

visual review

Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Elusive Part 02

Ampney Crucis Investigates... The English Assassin Part Five

Future Shocks Hacked

Angel Zero Part 04

Low Life The Deal Part 5

The uber-meta Future Shock is awesome, and about a gazillion times better than bloody Indigo Prime which it replaces (but only for a couple of Progs -- boo!) The script by Simon Spurrier is cleverly self-refential, while Jon Davis-Hunt's detailed art is every bit how I like comics to look. Apparently he drew a Dredd strip in a Megazine I've yet to read, so I look forward to that.
Mind you, Rob Williams' hilarious ("by all things legally binding!") and inventive (Dirty Frank's use of his kaiju) script, plus D'Israeli's gorgeous black-white-grey art, mean Low Life runs it close for best Thrill of the Prog.

TV

Derren Brown: The Experiments
1x02 The Gameshow
Not quite as fascinating as last week, because the results never seemed in doubt to me... but then, I didn't necessarily expect them to be baying for his TV to be smashed up, or calling out all those things to be done in/to his flat. And did anyone watching on TV (as opposed to in the studio audience) really believe the final accident wasn't a pre-arranged stunt? If Derren fooled you that easily... well, you need to watch more of his programmes.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Graham Norton Show
10x02 (28/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
3x31 (26/10/10 edition)
I had some good ideas for the final Marilyn Monroe answer, but as the couple won we didn't get to see all the other pointlesses! Boo!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
9x08 Inequality (XL edition)
Loads of great stuff in the XL version again! (I'm going to keep mentioning that until they just don't even bother with the 30 minute edition.)
[Watch QI XL (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
5x08 Episode 8

Articles

Cowboys & Aliens slammed as Universal boss admits to "s***ty movies" by Tara Fowler
(from Digital Spy)
To quote said boss, "One of the worst movies we ever made was Wolfman... Cowboys & Aliens was a mediocre movie... Land of the Lost was just crap." Well crikey. On the other hand, he did acknowledge that box office flop Scott Pilgrim was "good".
DS is, of course, just the news -- for a bit of analysis of this funny-but-maybe-not-a-good-idea story, see here.

The return of The Killing by Vicky Frost
(from the Guardian)
An interesting interview with the creator, Søren Sveistrup, ahead of the series' return to BBC Four later this month. Also worth a look for fans is this blog post (linked to in that article) which reels off all the unanswered questions/plot threads from the first series. It doesn't make it any less good, but it does point out a lot of gaps.

Collection Count

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

Absolutely nothing to report this week. Oh well. Next week maybe, but it depends on how quickly various places get pre-orders to me...

Number of titles in collection: 1,395 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,141 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 254 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,469 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,482 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,270 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey
Episode 3 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Pointless
3x30 (25/10/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
[2nd watch]

Like Wolverine, I haven't watched this since the cinema -- never mind 2½ years ago, that's 5½ years ago!

Consensus has it as ruining the franchise, but I don't think it's that bad. Flawed, certainly, and not as good as the first two, but all things considered it's not that bad. It's easy to lay the blame at the door of director Brett Ratner... and it's probably right, too. Shame Singer went off to make an unsuccessful Superman movie instead.

There's talk now of an X4. This one does a lot of wrapping up while still leaving the door open for more. With a strong story, script and director it would certainly be welcome, but equally a lot of time has passed: as I said, this is 5½ years old already -- how many of the cast would want to return now? And how do you cope with an X-Men film that's lost several of its most famous characters? Could be a chance for second-string heroes to shine...

...or they could just make First Class 2. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Comics

A week & a day late, but my comics from last week are finally here! Hurrah!

All Star Western #2 by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti & Moritat

The first issue of All Star was one of the absolute highlights of The New 52's first month, so I suppose it's not too surprising that #2 doesn't quite reach the same heights. It's not as long as that bumper-length first part, for one thing, meaning there's less room for the story to continue. It's not bad by any means -- there's a great multi-page shoot-out for one thing -- but it's a bit short, and with too many splash pages.

There's also a six-page back-up strip, El Diablo, written by Gray & Palmiotti and drawn by Jordi Bernet. It's very pulpy and a bit trashy, particularly the dialogue, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume this is a style choice.


Batman: The Dark Knight #2 by David Finch & Paul Jenkins

You may remember I thought this was easily the weakest of the New 52 Batman books last issue... and, sadly, this issue does little to change that. It is better -- I don't almost hate it -- but it's kinda uninspiring. It feels like someone trying to build The Ultimate Batman story by roping everyone in (this issue we get cameos from almost all the other Bat-characters currently in the DCU, plus a pile of villains), but by including so much it's a bit unfocused and I just don't care about the central idea. Plus, it essentially recycles #1's cliffhanger -- boo. Finch's art is good, but that's about all I'm really enjoying.

Also, while there was a lot of talk about the effort that's gone into making the costumes match across books etc etc, the writers & artists don't seem to have put much effort into tying things other ways. I'm glad they don't have stories flowing across 4 or 5 or 6 or more different titles, but surely things like the Batmobile should look at least similar? And where do all the stories fit in -- is Batman conducting the four different investigations in his four different books simultaneously? And what about his appearance in dozens of other books?

I guess you're not meant to think about it too much...

Articles

James Bond 23 Is Skyfall by Phil de Semlyen
(from Empire)
In case you missed it, all the details from today's Bond 23 press conference -- well, most: few more bits & bobs here. It all sounds very exciting, though I'm disappointed they won't be continuing the storyline of the Quantum organisation from the previous two films.

TV

The Case
Part 1 (of 5)
New issue-driven daytime drama, about the trial of a man who helped his lover commit suicide -- or did he just kill her?
It's quite good in places -- Dean Andrews' performance as the accused in particular, as well as Ruthie Henshall against type as a bitchy barrister -- but it's also very daytime. The direction, writing, editing, most performances… you just couldn't show it at 9pm on BBC One, it doesn't feel right.
Very good title sequence though.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Frozen Planet
Part 1 To the Ends of the Earth
As if you need me to tell you, this is properly incredible.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Perfect Couples
1x08 Perfect Job
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless
3x29 (22/10/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Sofie Grabol spills the secrets on Sarah Lund and The Killing II by David Brown
(from Radio Times)
I wouldn't call it secrets exactly, but here's a little preview before the second series starts on BBC Four soon-ish.

TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
2x06 Episode 6
The lab bits have always been silly and fairly pointless, but this week's teleporter really takes the biscuit.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
3x01 Episode 1
I'm always pleasantly surprised to see this back -- for some reason I keep assuming they'll've cancelled it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
3x28 (21/10/10 edition)
So, the repeat run just skipped an episode. Why? Not a clue.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

X2 (2003)
[4th or so watch]

The critical consensus at the time, which has been upheld by audiences since, is that while X-Men was very good, X2 trounced it -- look on IMDb now and you'll see X2 still has the highest score of the trilogy (First Class tops it for the franchise though). I wasn't convinced in the cinema and I haven't been convinced re-watching it on DVD -- X2 is very good, but I love X-Men.

I'm not sure if being older (it must be half a decade since I last watched it) or watching Blu-ray made any difference to my appreciation of the film, but it did remind that it's a damn fine movie. Certainly, taken together, I believe the first two X films are among the absolute finest the superhero genre has to offer.

It'll be interesting to see The Last Stand again, hopefully tomorrow: I've always thought it was flawed, but I never hated it with the same vitriol as other fans. Maybe watching it immediately after these, however, I'll have a change of heart.

Articles

Around-the-World Roundup: 'Tintin' Animates Overseas Box Office by Ray Subers
(from Box Office Mojo)

Despite the Guardian campaigning against it for goodness knows what reason, it seems Tintin has been massively popular, especially in France. I ought to make the effort to see it really...

Best. Video. Ever.

The Ballad of Russell & Julie

from the David Tennant-era wrap party

TV

Death in Paradise
1x01 Episode 1
That was really rather good. Nice Agatha Christie vibe, which I don't think you get too often these days. Also, genuinely surprising ending that I didn't see coming in the slightest. Well done, don't see that often/ever.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x04 Episode 4
Loved the fill-in-the-blank YouTube comment round! More please.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
3x26 (19/10/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

X-Men (2000)
[5th or so watch]

This was the first film I ever saw twice in the cinema -- I've loved X-Men ever since the early '90s animated series captured my imagination, and this was everything I'd wanted from a long-hoped-for movie version. I don't think it'd be too wrong to credit its success with kicking off the huge popularity of superhero movies that we're still very much living through.

Over a decade on from its original release, I still think the first movie is brilliant, though First Class may've supplanted it as my favourite of the series now. I never loved X2 quite as much as everyone else, so I'm very interested to see what I think tomorrow -- it's been a good few years (five or six) since I watched any of the first trilogy, so re-evaluation is a real possibility.

Comics

Nightwing #2 by Kyle Higgins & Eddy Barrows
The plot thickens... which is always good for a second issue! Glad I followed the reviews to pick this series up, it's a good solid superhero book.

Articles

Jack The Ripper in the 23rd century: 21-plus unexpectedly scary episodes of not-so-scary TV shows by Erik Adams, Meredith Blake, Marah Eakin, Zack Handlen, Will Harris, Noel Murray, Phil Nugent, Sean O'Neal, Carrie Raisler, Tasha Robinson, John Semley, David Sims & Todd VanDerWerff
(from A.V. Club)
That is, to clarify, scary episodes of series that aren't usually scary. Not sure I've even heard of most of them, but interesting nonetheless. Plus, Doctor Who's Blink is in there. (Presumably it's quite a long list because all those writers wanted their say...)

Mark Millar: I want my films to do for Scotland what Lord Of The Rings did for New Zealand by Matt Bendoris
(from The Scottish Sun)
Key point: comic book writer Mark Millar is launching his own production company, aiming to adapt some more of his own comics, largely set in Scotland. Many more details at the link -- it's a surprisingly long and involved article considering it's from The Sun.

TV

Have I Got News For You
42x02 (21/10/11 edition; extended repeat)
The coincidence of which editions Alexander Armstrong has hosted in the past few years is quite incredible.

Pointless
3x25 (18/10/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
10x06 Episode 6 [series finale]
So here we are -- after 10 years, 86 episodes, and almost every main character dying (seriously, although two of the original three leads escaped alive, almost every other main character has been killed off), Spooks comes to an end. It long ago fell from the heights of its realism-based early years, if you ask me -- anyone remember the whole episode Danny spent mulling over whether it was OK to assassinate someone? They did that kind of thing in a heartbeat in later years -- it remained a decent enough spy thriller/action series to the end.
Indeed, the final episode was one of the best for a while, with a genuinely tense climax -- the benefit of it being the last-ever episode I suppose, in which Anything Can Happen more readily than in a regular episode. Great cameo in the closing moments too, though it's a shame they didn't use him a bit more. I also think it ended on pretty much the right note at the very end. Job well done, Kudos.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
[2nd watch]
Probably the most-derided of the X-Men films, I actually quite liked this. In part, I'd already heard all the dreadful reviews before I went in, so my expectations were probably suitably lowered. I haven't watched it since that first cinema viewing (two-and-a-half years ago, when it was #23 in 100 Films 2009), and seeing it again on Blu-ray I still don't think it's too bad. OK, it has some awful CGI, a miscast Gambit, bastardised Deadpool, and a pile of clichés, but despite that...

Comics

Nightwing #1 by Kyle Higgins & Eddy Barrows
The final addition to my regular reads from DC's New 52, because apparently it's very good -- well, it is -- and apparently is going to be quite closely connected to what's going on in Batman. Don't know about the latter yet, but as one features someone out to kill Bruce Wayne (not Batman) and this features someone out to kill Dick Grayson (not Nightwing), I can see the potential for a link. Mind you, if they're not connected then these writers ought to talk to each other more.

Articles

The Lists: Top 10 scary PG-rated films by Guy Lodge
(from HitFix)
Rather than the regular "greatest horror movie" Halloween list, HitFix instead takes a look at the ten most frightening family 'friendly' movies. And some of them are properly scary too.

Halloween treats from the Ebert Club! by Roger Ebert
(from Roger Ebert's Journal)
That title's completely irrelevant, but still, that's what it's called. Anyway, this is about sweded films -- that's no-budget home-made abridged/parody versions of well-known movies. The term comes from Be Kind Rewind, as I'm sure you'll know if you've seen it (I rather liked it, incidentally), and it's gone on to be quite a big cult -- there's a Swede Fest, for instance, which is what this article is about. There's a very impressive swede of The Avengers trailer there as an example, and you can see just how good it is on the side-by-side comparison.

this week on 100 Films

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

The Damned (1963)

an interesting film, but one that is perhaps somewhat undercut by its age; a kind of ’60s SF that would probably require a distinctly different approach if you were to attempt to make it today. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it has that kind of disconnect from reality that’s markedly ’60s.

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

Many other Disney films have stand-out sequences; things to latch an appreciation on to. The best often have several of these stacked up, in some cases non-stop from start to finish. The Princess and the Frog is missing anything like that, but what it has instead is a very consistent tone, where the musical numbers fit effortlessly into the flow of the story rather than stopping the film for a showpiece.

Plus, as it's Halloween tomorrow, a review of the final Saw film will be available after midnight here.

More next Sunday.

TV

The Jonathan Ross Show
1x08 (22/10/11 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Merlin
4x05 His Father's Son
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

X-Men: First Class (2011)
[2nd watch]
I saw this in the cinema back in June, making it #60 for this year's 100 Films, but the picture and sound quality were so wretched that I've waited until now to watch it again on Blu-ray (officially out Monday) before reviewing it. I enjoyed it even more the second time.

Articles

Isn’t It About Time You Gave Mirrormask Another Chance? by Lee Harris
(from SFX)
I've never seen MirrorMask. I think it's about time I gave it a chance. I have it on DVD... somewhere...

Minecraft awarded GameCity videogame arts prize by Leo Kelion
(from BBC News)
Interesting views on how gaming has become more widespread, thanks to Normal People playing them on smartphones, etc. "I think that technology is a real red herring. What technology is driving forward is the ability for games to look more real... I don't think that is in itself something that makes them art. Otherwise we wouldn't cry at Bambi." And so on.

TV

QI
9x07 Incomprehensible (XL edition)
[Watch QI XL (again) on iPlayer.]

Spy
1x02 Codename: Tramp
This is too good to be on Sky.

Top Gear USA
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

2000 AD #1753
And the ECBT 2000AD reviews are...

visual review

Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Elusive Part 01

Ampney Crucis Investigates... The English Assassin Part Four

Indigo Prime Everything and More Part Four

Angel Zero Part 03

Low Life The Deal Part 4

Still not liking Indigo Prime, but everything else is great, especially Low Life.

Articles

Micro-budget film is back with Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing by Ben Child
(from Film Blog at the Guardian)
Not much that hasn't been covered in other articles I've linked to, I don't think, but it's almost worth it just for the final paragraph's image of Michael Bay.

Collection Count

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

A couple of new titles this week, plus the removal of a DVD I upgraded to BD ages ago and then forgot to ditch.

The big episode count boost is thanks to getting the complete '90s X-Men animated series on DVD. I've been waiting for this for a long, long time, so I'm very happy.

Also, X-Men: First Class on Blu-ray! I'm fairly ecstatic. (Sorry.)

Number of titles in collection: 1,395 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,141 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 254 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,469 [up 22]
Number of films in collection: 1,482 [up 9]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,270 [up 76]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Christ on a bike, where has this week gone?! It feels like only yesterday (well, the day before yesterday, if I'm honest) that I was watching the first Joanna Lumley.

And I haven't watched Misfits for a week and a half, but it feels like less time than I paused between episodes one & two and three, which was only six days. (I know, you're fascinated to know this.)

I think my body clock needs winding...

The Graham Norton Show
10x01 (21/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
2x11 Revisited [season finale]
Not revisiting the just-finished series two, but looking back to series one. Indeed, I'm quite glad I didn't watch the first series in a way, because this was just a recap/highlights with a few new comments and a couple of "where are they now"s.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey
Episode 2 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Perfect Couples
1x07 Perfect House
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

Brad Bird Explains Why We Haven’t Seen an Incredibles Sequel Yet by Kevin Melrose
(from Spinoff Online at Comic Book Resources)
Because he doesn't have an idea for one, essentially. Which is fine -- I loved The Incredibles and would love a sequel, but there's no point if it's just for the sake of some easy cash.

The Science and Future of 3D Films, With Legend3D Founder, COO and CTO Dr. Barry Sandrew
Parts 1, 2 & 3 by Mark Hughes
(from Forbes)
This interview/polemic has an irritatingly fawning tone and a loose interpretation of some facts -- see in particular Sandrew and Hughes' dubious analysis of some figures at the bottom of part 2 page 1 -- but it's nonetheless interesting thanks to its inside-the-industry perspective.

TV

Pointless
3x24 (15/10/10 edition)
They put a shot of the four-team round one in the middle of the three-team round two! Shocking behaviour.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

Batman #2 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Proper detective work, proper action, a whole heap of story and subplots too, plus Capullo's style is growing on me a lot. It's only 20 pages long, but those pages are so expertly used that it feels a lot longer -- where other books feel brief at this length, Snyder's Batman feels like it's an extra-long (for modern comics) issue. And that's obviously a good thing.
For more praise that I agree with, see CBR's review. "This is the sort of issue you could drop into anyone’s hand, no matter their level of knowledge or involvement, and make them a fan for life."

Articles

Downton Abbey bosses hit back at critics over 'ludicrous' storylines claims by Simon Boyle
(from Mirror)
Downton Abbey is not a soap because it gets incredibly high ratings and "combines comedy, romance and tension around 20 characters"? OK, if you say so...

New Mission: Impossible Poster Online by James White
(from Empire)
Or, as the poster seems very very keen for you to call it, Ghost Protocol. How small is that Mission: Impossible logo?! Especially relative to what is, technically, the subtitle. Bizarre. Obviously someone in the film's marketing has decided the M:I name is the opposite of a selling point.

Click to enlarge.

Steven Spielberg discusses Jurassic Park 4 and Indiana Jones 5 by Venkman
(from Geektyrant)
JP4 is on the scriptwriting stage and George Lucas is still developing a story for Indy 5... but never mind that, because what's most interesting here is what he has to say about the last Indy film:

I never liked the MacGuffin. George and I had big arguments about the MacGuffin. I didn't want these things to be either aliens or inter-dimensional beings.

More just-as-interesting comments at the link.

Unofficial Title Sequence for The Adventures of Tintin by Gig Patta
(from LatinoReview)
There's more to that title than meets the eye, though: the director/producer of Tintin, who is no less than Steven Spielberg of course, saw the video and liked it enough to invite its maker to the premiere... and give him a job on the next movie. Well crikey!
In case you don't fancy following the link, here it is:

TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

House
8x03 Charity Case

Pointless
3x23 (1/10/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
10x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

Judge Dredd Megazine #313

That story that was on part seven last time? I give up. It makes no sense. Maybe if I'd been reading since the start... But no, I'm not wasting my time. It's called Numbercruncher, if you happen to care.

As for the others, to refer to them as I did last time: the Dredd was a two-parter that ends here, though leaves an intriguing Big Thing set up for the future. Look forward to that coming back. The one that was on part two (now three, obviously) is Samizdat Squad, and while I can follow it I don't especially care for it.

Finally, Anderson, Psi-Division (which was on part four and finishes this issue) has been a great little tale for the two parts I've read -- the only one I wish I'd been following since the start. I suppose I could always order back issues...

Articles

Joss Whedon on his secret film of Much Ado About Nothing: 'This is the best vacation I've ever taken' by Adam B. Vary
(from Inside Movies at EW.com)
First interview with Joss (plus stars Sean Maher and Amy Acker) about the just-wrapped/just-announced adaptation. Unsurprisingly, there's a tonne of new details in here.

The Jury returns after nine years in retirement by Vicky Frost
(from the Guardian)
Interview-y article about the Julie Walters-starring second series of The Jury, speaking to Walters and writer Peter Morgan. (Much better than Mark Lawson's faintly embarrassing article, where he goes on about it being a remake when (as numerous commenters point out) it isn't.)

TV

Home Cooking Made Easy
1x04 Simple [final episode]

The Jury
Part 5 (of 6)
Part 6 (of 6)
I suppose in a way the verdict was unsurprising, but I'm still glad they reached it. A good final pair of episodes too, generating genuine tension and wrapping everything up satisfactorily -- which, in some cases, meant leaving it ambiguous or unfinished. I don't really understand why this was so ignored at the time and isn't more often mentioned as an example of great British drama, because I think it deserves to be. Looking forward to the sequel, whenever that's on.

Pointless
3x22 (30/9/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

RED (2010)
[#88 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

Comics

Batman and Robin #2 by Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason
This series is becoming increasingly reliant on the past. I'm sure that's great for long-term readers, but it's not so good as part of (what's supposed to be) a line-wide new-reader-friendly re-launch. I coped with the first issue because I'm vaguely aware of some recent events in the Batman comics universe; this issue, it's really pushing my limit. We'll see how it goes -- I'll stick with it because nasty little git Damien, Bruce Wayne's son, is an interesting (if annoying) loose cannon.

Justice League #2 by Geoff Johns & Jim Lee
It's been a long wait for the second issue of DC's new flagship title -- nearly two months since #1! -- but critics found it worth the wait: after notoriously underwhelming reviews for that first issue, the follow-up has received much better notices. Personally, I enjoyed the first issue, and felt this one maintained the very good standard.

Resurrection Man #2 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Fernando Dagnino
While this is still solid, all told I'm not as keen on it as the first issue. Resurrection Man is, I believe, the return of a long-dead series (oh irony), which makes it difficult to know if it's building on stuff from before or kicking off whole new mysteries. Considering the bafflement of the main character, hopefully things will get explained eventually, either way.

Articles

Drew Pearce to Write Sequel to As-Yet-Unreleased Sherlock Holmes Sequel by Kate Erbland
(from Film School Rejects)
To clarify, he's writing Sherlock Holmes 3 (as in the, the second sequel to the Downey Jr/Ritchie one). As the article says, "Pearce may very well be your favorite screenwriter whose work you’ve never actually seen" -- he's got several huge films in the offing, none of them yet released. Or even in front of cameras.

Joss Whedon & Nathan Fillion Do Shakespeare by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
Apparently around making The Biggest Blockbuster Ever (Maybe Probably Sort Of), Joss Whedon has found time to gather together a bunch of his chums (cast members from Buffy, Angel, Firefly and possibly others abound) to make a film of Much Ado About Nothing. What? Apparently it's not a hoax either. We'll see...
The official website, such as it is, is here.

Edit: there's a full press release confirming it all to be for real here. (It's also on the official website, but that has added commentary.)

TV

Downton Abbey
2x05 Episode 5
Mrs Bates is threatening something! ...but now it's sorted.
Mrs Bates is threatening something again! ...but now it's sorted.
Mrs Bates is threatening something else! ...but now it's sorted.
Time to wrap up the whole Mrs Bates thing, eh?
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Pointless
3x21 (29/9/10 edition)
25 people didn't know which war D Day was from?! I despair.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
10x04 Episode 4
As (most of) the rest of the nation's Spooks fans enjoy the series' last-ever episode, I'm still catching up on this final run. It is good though.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
5x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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

Batman: Year One (2011)

this is a very down-to-Earth version of the Batman story. It’s even less sci-fi-y than Chris Nolan’s much-praised realistic films, in fact. There’s no Batmobile, no Batcave, no Bat signal, only a few gadgets (and those that are used are fully plausible), no cartoonish super-villains… This Gotham is a city where crime comes from gangsters, drug dealers, muggers and a thoroughly corrupt police force, and that’s what Batman sets out to fight.

Tangled (2010)

It’s funny, which is its biggest asset, and exciting at times — as usual, the highly movable camera of CG animation adds fluidity, speed and excitement to the action sequences, [but the] comedic-ish fantasy-kingdom world can come across a bit like lightweight Shrek [and] the songs are distinctly unmemorable

More next Sunday.

TV

Derren Brown: The Experiments
1x01 The Assassin
Brilliant (as ever from Derren), with some perhaps unexpected conclusions. Watching some of the extra video interviews online, it seems even the experts were surprised how things went.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Jonathan Ross Show
1x07 (15/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Jury
Part 4 (of 6)

Merlin
4x04 Aithusa
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Perfect Couples
1x06 Perfect Crime
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless
3x20 (28/9/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Magazines

New Empress Magazine #3

The latest issue of the quarterly small press film magazine feels practically tailor-made to my interests, with almost every article piquing my curiosity.

After the reviews (of which over half interest me before even reading), there's an interview with the director of the BBFC; an entry in their 'why I hate film' series about the brilliance of TV; pieces on Westerns, going to the cinema by yourself, and the noir cityscape of Blade Runner; retrospectives on Jurassic Park, Casablanca, Bhaji on the Beach, and why Bring It On is actually good; plus a look back at much-underrated miniseries The 10th Kingdom.

There's also an article entitled "How Blu-ray killed the classics", which is interesting even if I disagree with it almost entirely.

(There's other good stuff too, but those were the ones that particularly appealed to me.)

This issue can be ordered online here if you're in the UK. Back issues, subscriptions and internationally-shipping copies are also available from their store.

Collection Count

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

This post represents the second anniversary of my collection counting. Hurrah!

Interestingly, this time last year I was switching my Back to the Future DVDs for the shiny new Blu-ray set; this year, I've done the same for Jurassic Park. I imagine it'll be Indiana Jones this time next year then, eh.

First up in my round-up is, as ever, the totals as they currently stand, with how they've changed since last week. A couple of DVD-to-BD upgrades leave this lot largely stable.

Number of titles in collection: 1,392 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,139 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 253 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,447 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,473 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,194 [up 26]

Secondly, how have they changed in a year? Well, unsurprisingly, all numbers have gone up -- indeed, the increases for many are even bigger this year than they were last. In a recession? Oops. Here's how they've increased over the last 12 months:

Number of titles in collection: up 166 (13.5%)
Of which DVDs: up 36 (3.3%)
Of which Blu-rays: up 130 (105.7%)

Number of discs in collection: up 440 (14.6%)
Number of films in collection: up 179 (13.8%)
Number of TV episodes in collection: up 914 (21.4%)

The overall increase is only slightly down (three titles fewer), but the increase in DVDs is under half what it was last year. That means Blu-rays make up the difference, the increase there being some 50 titles bigger than last year's. The increase in discs is also around 50 higher than it was last year; there are about 20 fewer new films, but nearly 300 more TV episodes added. Crikey.

Most of the percentage increases are lower than last year, because obviously they were all starting from a higher total. The one exception is TV episodes, thanks to an increase almost 50% bigger than last year's. Crikey.

Finally, and often most spectacularly, the running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
248 days, 22 hours, and 31 minutes

That's up 1 day, 2 hours, and 2 minutes from last month... but what you really want to know is how much it's changed in a whole year, eh?

Well... it's increased 36 days, 15 hours and 33 minutes from last year. That's just over five solid weeks of viewing.

To put it another way, it's grown my collection's running time by 17.3%. And that rise is 12.5% bigger than last year's increase. That'd be all those TV episodes, I guess.

Anyway, that's all. Regular service resumes next week. See you then, faithful reader.

TV

The Jury
Part 3 (of 6)

Pointless
3x19 (27/9/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
9x06 Inventive (XL edition)
I like Nina Conti, but I'm not sure how well a ventriloquist is suited to a panel show. They had a large section on ventriloquists, at least... most of which was cut out of the regular episode. Another tick in the box for XL editions, then.
[Watch QI XL (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear USA
1x01 Episode 1
It's not as good as the original British version -- the presenters are a bit weak, and certainly don't have the same camaraderie/rivalry as our lot; it's not as well made, either, lacking the slickness of direction the British one often shows -- but for all those faults it's a surprisingly entertaining re-make of the format.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

2000 AD #1752
For this Prog, ECBT 2000AD added a new section to their regular reviews line-up, an initial-impressions art-only review. After that, the regular reviews are...

Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Downtime

Ampney Crucis Investigates... The English Assassin Part Three

Indigo Prime Everything and More Part Three

Angel Zero Part 02

Low Life The Deal Part 3

The Dredd story this Prog seems to have been quite controversial among some of 2000 AD's readership (or maybe it's just one being vocally annoyed, I dunno) -- it's a one-shot in the middle of the big on-going Day of Chaos storyline -- but it also seems the majority side with it being a highly effective little tale looking at Dredd's current place in his world. With which I wholeheartedly agree. (Also, reading comments on this reminds me I'm still around four weeks behind with my reading. Ugh.)
Indigo Prime, on the other hand, is so befuddling and long-term-readers-only-y that it's the first Thrill I've seriously considered just skipping since I started reading.

Articles

Squirrelling Out Details On Watchmen 2 by Rich Johnston
(from Bleeding Cool)
Looks like it's happening after all, perhaps as a series of prequel stories. Hm. Well, at least prequels would be better than sequels: there's a gap in the Watchmen universe for stories from their costumed-heroics days, whereas a sequel would have to get all kinds of dealing-with-what-happened-y.

TV

Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey
Episode 1 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Jury
Part 2 (of 6)
This is almost 10 years old now, which makes it an interesting one for considering how TV drama has changed in the last decade. In many respects, not much -- it doesn't feel as old as a 10-year-old drama felt as little as three or four years ago, I don't think. In terms of things like camerawork, acting, pace, and so on, I wouldn't be surprised if this was new. You wouldn't get that similarity if you compared a production from 1991 to one from 2001.
That said, there are chunks of the story you'd have to change if making it now. Take the juror who's spent two episodes searching for someone he used to know, for instance: never mind phoning round old friends and employers, now he'd get her in a few seconds on Facebook. But these a minor points (and there aren't many of them) compared to that general stylistic one.

Spy
1x01 Codename: Loser
An original comedy… on Sky?! Starring someone from (ugh) My Family?! Oh dear.
But no, not oh dear -- it's actually really good. Because to say Robert Lindsay is "from My Family" is to underrate him; and it actually stars Darren Boyd, who's had supporting roles in all kinds of things for ages and deserves a lead role; and there's The One You Remember From Horrible Histories to provide some able support. Super.

Articles

Akira? A caricature, more like by Ben Child
(from Film Blog at the Guardian)
On why the US remake of Akira is a bad idea. It's not a fundamentally impossible proposition, but the way they're going about it -- with a hack director and Z-list cast -- is what will kill it.

Cool Tintin Concept Art by Helen O'Hara
(from Empire)
What it says on the tin.

TV

The Great British Bake Off
2x10 Masterclass Part 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
10x12 (13/10/11 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
3x18 (24/9/10 edition)
For some reason the BBC have abandoned the current series of Pointless mid-way to delve back two series to an apparently random point in series three, with episodes originally aired a little over a year ago. What's interesting is how different it all looks... but only slightly. The set and structure have clearly been slightly tweaked at some point (possibly when it made the move from BBC Two to BBC One) -- it's not massively different, but sort of subtly, uncannily so.
But hey, I've never seen these episodes, so it's got all the same play-along-at-home fun as a brand new one would.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

It's new comics day! So while I wait for Forbidden Planet to get round to sending mine, and then wait for them to get round to arriving ("Saturday at best" is the usual time frame), it makes sense to read some of those late-arrivals I haven't got round to from the last fortnight of releases...

Animal Man #2 by Jeff Lemire & Travel Foreman
The villains and their crimes are horribly gruesome in this, but then I guess it's a horror comic (well, a superhero-horror comic) so it goes with the territory. The stuff with Buddy's family is brilliant though, giving it a completely different tone to most superhero books. It's not just a surface "this hero has a family!" schtick either, but one that Lemire is using really well as part of his story. You may remember that the first issue was a surprise sell-out hit, and I see no reason why that won't continue.
Though why one character is called Reg in dialogue but clearly has a name badge saying "Ned", I don't know.

Batgirl #2 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
You may recall I wasn't massively enamoured with the first issue of Batgirl (unlike many a fangirl/boy, apparently), but I was intrigued enough by the villain to keep reading. This issue was much better, I felt, in large part again thanks to the villain -- Batgirl herself is too repetitive, especially in the over-recapping of the first issue at the start. I'll stick with this until the end of this arc, to find out what happens with said villain, but I imagine I'll drop it then.

(And one of these days I'll get round to my backlog of CLiNT -- it puts my piles of unread 2000 ADs & Megazines to shame.)

Articles

Review of Batman #2 by Ryan K. Lindsay
(from Comic Book Resources)
A second absolutely glowing five-star review for Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo's Batman book. Look forward to getting my copy sometime in the next 8+ days, then, depending on how efficient Forbidden Planet are feeling.

Five new DC Comics #1s recommended for movie lovers by Matt Singer
(from IFC)
We're over halfway through the #2s now, so this article is perhaps a little late to the party, but it's still a slightly different angle to look at The New 52 from.

TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Jury
Part 1 (of 6) [2nd watch]
I watched this first episode when it first aired way back in 2002, but I don't think I got any further with it. It's actually pretty good, so I don't know why. It's also packed with familiar faces, some who were well known at the time but others who've gone on to be movie stars and the like in the decade since. Anyway, ITV3 are repeating the whole series this week before a new version/second series begins on ITV1 sometime -- what a good opportunity to give it another go.

Pointless
5x35 (14/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]