this week on 100 Films

One new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Garfield (2004)

Offering little in the way of laughs, the film’s main success is the cute (real) dog who co-stars as Garfield’s competriot, Odie. The real wonder is how they got him to interact with the CGI cat.

Read more here.



But also, new to the new blog were...


Elektra (2005)

The plot starts out as sub-Leon assassin nonsense, before turning into sub-X-Men superhero nonsense.

Read more here.


Genevieve (1953)

According to IMDb, “the film ran into censorship problems in the US… because of the moment when Wendy asks for a coin so she can ‘spend a penny’. References to toilets were specially taboo in the US at that time.” Bless.

Read more here.


Salt: Director's Cut (2010)

The UK TV premiere of Angelina Jolie-starring sleeper agent action-thriller Salt is on Channel 4 today at 9pm.

On Blu-ray (and/or DVD) it comes in three different versions, and my review helpfully compares them all. I imagine it's the theatrical one on TV, and unfortunately that's not the best...

Read more here.


There Will Be Blood (2007)

It makes minimal concessions to its audience from the very start, beginning with an extended montage that covers relatively vast tracts of time with virtually no dialogue, before segueing into a story that introduces and discards characters and events with little hint of their relevance, and eventually makes a huge leap forward for an equally impenetrable ending

Read more here.


The Wizard of Oz (1939)

one of those films whose reputation unavoidably precedes it. Considering it’s nearly 70 years old now, that’s a reputation long in the making. The biggest problem with this is that, coming to it for the first time as an adult, one knows just about everything that’s going to happen.

Read more here.



More next Sunday.

TV

The Good Life
2x01 Just My Bill

Shetland
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
Adaptation of Ann Cleeves' novel Red Bones. Thought it was very good, very Scandi / Nordic Noir. There are three other novels so I hope they make more.
[Watch parts one and two (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Comics

2000 AD #1789-1791

Featuring...

• Judge Dredd The Days After, by John Wagner & Henry Flint
• Judge Dredd The Bean Counter, by Al Ewing & Nick Dyer
• Judge Dredd The Rich Cabaret, by Al Ewing & Andrew Currie
• Durham Red The 'Nobody Wants This Job' Job, Parts 5-6, by Alan Grant & Carlos Ezquerra
• Tharg's 3rillers Present 1947, Parts One - Three, by Kek-W & Michael Dowling
• The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael Manhunt, Parts One - Three, by Rob Williams & Dom Reardon
• Nikolai Dante Sympathy for the Devil, Parts 4-6, by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser
• Future Shocks Other People's Machines, by David Baillie & Mark Simmons

The longest Dredd epic ever (so I'm told) comes to an end here, setting up a different status quo for 2000 AD's biggest character. Al Ewing's run gets off to a good start, particularly in the intriguing Rich Cabaret, which comes with great art from Andrew Currie.

1947 is a solid self-contained little story, much better than another lacklustre Future Shock from writer David Baillie. Ichabod Azrael -- or, to give it its full title, The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael (and the Dead Left in His Wake) -- is a funny one, where I feel I may've preferred the original series (handily summarised by Tharg in his intro that Prog, thank goodness).

And Nikolai Dante comes to its final conclusion, with an open-ended finale that I don't imagine pleased everybody. I ought to go look up some reaction really…

Next Prog: all part ones (bar Ichabod). Neat.

Collection Count

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

You may remember (but probably won't) that back in September I decided to have a rethink about what I count as a film for the purposes of this tally, dropping the total by 79 as I (at least temporarily) removed concert films and the like. Well, after six months or not really coming to any other conclusion, I've begun to reinstate at least some of them -- hence the huge jump below. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but I don't fancy a fourth count (alongside films, TV episodes and shorts), so other than not counting them at all (which, when some run well over two hours, doesn't seem right), they go back. Most return to the Films column, but a couple go in Shorts or TV episodes depending on their length or content. The total added back was 50. I know I allowed one or two things to slide by with nothing counted, but where all 29 others have gone, God only knows...

Anyway, stuff I actually added this week includes the already-hard-to-come-by limited edition of The Man Who Wasn't There, '90s TV 'hoax' Ghostwatch, and the newly-released fan-produced documentary, Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains. All DVDs! What is the world coming to...

Number of titles in collection: 1,544 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [up 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 387 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,870 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,663 [up 45]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,737 [up 5]
Number of short films in collection: 377 [up 3]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Anna & Katy
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Comic Relief 2013
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Raven (2012)
[#30 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Comics

2000 AD #1786-1788

Featuring...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Wot I Did During the Worst Dissaster in Mega-City History & Chaos Day, Parts One - Two by John Wagner & Henry Flint
• Durham Red The 'Nobody Wants This Job' Job, Parts 2-4 by Alan Grant & Carlos Ezquerra
• Grey Area One of Our Own, Parts 2-4 by Dan Abnett & Lee Carter
• Nikolai Dante Sympathy for the Devil, Parts 1-3 by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser
• Future Shocks A Guide for Prisoners Arriving from the Year 2149 by David Baillie & Warren Pleece
• Future Shocks Silent Running by David Baillie & Anthony Williams
• Future Shocks Downloan by David Baillie & Nick Dyer

PJ Maybe vs the Dark Judges? Great. The two-part Chaos Day feels inaptly named, though -- after all the build-up and disaster, not much occurs on the day itself. Grey Area substitutes endlessly re-explaining its own premise with a predictable 'twist' ending. It remains promising at least. I didn't like -- or really get -- any of the Future Shocks. Shame.

Articles

Joss Whedon On Kickstarter And Firefly: "It Doesn't Just Open The Floodgates."
by Adam B. Vary (from BuzzFeed)

After the phenomenal success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter (that link is a good in-depth article about it, by-the-by; also this), naturally fans have begun to ask, "what's next?" And it'll come as no surprise to anyone that top of the most-asked list is some kind of continuation for Firefly/Serenity. Realising that if he didn't answer the question he'd be asked non-stop, here Whedon reveals what the chances are. In short: he's a bit busy right now.

TV

The Hour
2x02 Episode 2
Picking this one back up. Apparently the series ends on a cliffhanger, even though it's been cancelled. Shame.

The Last Leg
2x07 (8/3/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Only Connect
Comic Relief Special: Neuromantics vs Muppets
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Stella
2x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
Unlike The Hour, this feels like it could be the last-ever episode, but it'll be back for a third run. Ironic.

Weekly comics? Since 1977.

TV

Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
2x03 Episode 3

Comic Relief's Big Chat with Graham Norton
Part 1 (of 4)
6 or 7 hours of live chat? Yeah, I've iPlayered it to watch in chunks, beginning with the first hour-and-a-half. So far, too much back stage suff with some idiot off Radio 1. More Graham with guests, please -- that's what this is meant to be after all.
[Watch it all (again) on iPlayer.]

The Matt Lucas Awards
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
19x07 Africa Special Part 2 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Elementary
1x17 Possibility Two

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

How I Met Your Mother
8x06 Splitsville
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Stella
2x09 Episode 9

Films

Meet the Parents (2000)
[#29 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
2x02 Episode 2
Missed episode one. That's what happens with stuff on Dave. I imagine it'll be on again...

Anna & Katy
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Broadchurch
Part 1 (of 8)
ITV's much-lauded new thriller. Solid start, clearly plenty of untugged threads to fill the remaining seven episodes.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Haywire (2011)
[#28 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Comics

2000 AD #1785

Featuring...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Tea For Two by John Wagner & Edmund Bagwell
• Flesh Midnight Cowboys, Part Twelve by Pat Mills & James McKay
• Durham Red The 'Nobody Wants This Job' Job, Part 1 by Alan Grant & Carlos Ezquerra
• Grey Area One of Our Own, Part 1 by Dan Abnett & Lee Carter
• Cadet Anderson: Psi-Division Algol, Part Six by Alan Grant & Steve Yeowell

Flesh limps to an end... well, an 'end', because it's all a big setup for the next arc. Can't say as I care. Cadet Anderson also goes away, taking Yeowell's sketches with it. Durham Red is set in the character's past, taking a really dangerous job. Might she die then?! In her past? Oh, the palpable lack of tension.

Dredd was a nice aside and Grey Area still has promise though, so there's that.

Articles

Joss Whedon Q&A On Eve Of SXSW
by Jan Yamato (from Deadline)

Joss chats about Much Ado, Avengers 2, S.H.I.E.L.D., and various other things in that vein.

Films

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
[#27 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]


(I also finished Battleship, in case you were wondering.)

Magazines

Bleeding Cool Magazine #1

Articles

JN-T: The Life And Scandalous Times Of John Nathan-Turner REVIEW
by Ian Berriman (from SFX)

This sounds very much like a must-read, I must say.

this week on 100 Films

Two new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

early in Batman’s career Bruce falls in love and finds happiness, causing him to question whether to continue down the path he’s already dedicated his life to. The scene where he talks to his parents’ grave, expressing his guilt at potentially finding happiness after so much mourning, is one of the most powerful, emotional moments in all of Batman’s many iterations.

Read more here.


Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

It may not match the TV series in places, in my subjective opinion, but in its own right it shines. Gary Oldman does the impossible and offers a Smiley that is neither an imitation of Guinness’ nor a deliberate counterpoint, but stands apart as an equally proficient rendering of the character.

Read more here.



And new to the new blog...


The Happening (2008)

Shyamalan’s worst film to date. [Written before The Last Airbender.]

Read more here.


Hitman: Unrated (2007)

Hitman seems to be doing its best to blend in and go unnoticed — much like a good hired assassin would do, you’d imagine. Except in this film, all the assassins are bald and have barcodes tattooed on the back of their head — not at all conspicuous.

Read more here.


In Bruges (2008)

hilariously funny... The easily-offended might disagree, and some jokes are a tad too obvious, but it’s nice to genuinely laugh at a film rather than force the odd smirk so as to at least get something from an otherwise wasted 90 minutes

Read more here.


Ocean's Twelve (2004)

This all-star sequel to the 2001 Rat Pack re-make received a thorough slating from critics on release... it’s still a pretty enjoyable film. But it’s true that the first is better.

Read more here.


Ocean's Thirteen (2007)

Thirteen is Twelve with Eleven’s sheen. Its critical success relative to its immediate predecessor is, I think, another of the gang’s expertly executed cons.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Let's Dance for Comic Relief 2013
Episode 4 (of 4)
An unsurprising and deserving winner, though there were several others I preferred.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
5x12 Little Red Corvette
The Volker thing ended sooner and more abruptly than I expected. Assuming it is over...
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Top Gear
19x06 Africa Special Part 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Battleship (2012)
[#26 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

This is so good that, just over an hour in, during an action sequence, I fell asleep. Will be trying to complete it tonight.

Articles

When Bleeding Cool Met Sam Raimi For A Masterclass In Making Oz The Great And Powerful
by Brendon Connelly (from Bleeding Cool)

As someone in the comments section put it, "one of the most interesting insights into the 3D process that I've read". This is a real filmmaker-y insight into how 3D works for the film's benefit, when done well, as well as the technical challenges of making that happen.

Collection Count

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

This week's main acquisitions are the oft-delayed DVD of This is Not a Film, which I've been waiting to see since Cannes 2011; Argo with Extended Cut, as the cover and spine insist it is called; and Game of Thrones season two, which was the most exciting of all, until...

The Hobbit!

10 days before the US release date and over four weeks before the UK, my import of the US Blu-ray arrived this morning. Hurrah for DVD World USA. OK, so it cost a bit more than buying the UK release would -- and that's already over-priced -- but... four weeks early! Four weeks! That's worth a few extra quid.

Number of titles in collection: 1,541 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,154 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 387 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,867 [up 12]
Number of films in collection: 1,618 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,732 [up 10]
Number of short films in collection: 374 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
12x19 (1/3/13 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Matt Lucas Awards
2x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mayday
Part 4 (of 5)
Part 5 (of 5)
[Watch parts four and five (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Comics

2000 AD #1783-1784

Featuring...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction, Parts 19-20 by John Wagner & Colin MacNeil
• Flesh Midnight Cowboys, Parts Ten - Eleven by Pat Mills & James McKay
• The Zaucer of Zilk Parts 9-10 by Brendan McCarthy & Al Ewing
• Time Twisters The Twitch by Simon Spurrier & Simon Gurr
• Cadet Anderson: Psi-Division Algol, Parts Four - Five by Alan Grant & Steve Yeowell
• Terror Tales Kitsuneland by Alec Worley & Mark Harrison

During Part Five of Algol I suddenly realised that one of the characters who had been in it throughout was in fact a man, not a woman. Yay Yeowell art.

Meanwhile, Flesh ends and I won't miss it, and so does Zaucer of Zilk, which I wouldn't say I like exactly but did strangely grow on me.

TV

Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe
1x05 (28/2/13 edition)

The Good Life
1x07 Backs to the Wall [season finale]

The Last Leg
2x06 (1/3/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Mayday
Part 2 (of 5)
Part 3 (of 5)
There's an intriguing supernatural-ish vibe creeping in as this serial passes the halfway point. Interesting to see if that's going anywhere...
[Watch parts two and three (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
1x12 Vertigo

The Good Life
1x06 The Pagan Rite

Mayday
Part 1 (of 5)
BBC One's new nightly mystery-drama about a missing girl and some very spooky woods gets off to a strong start. Properly chilling final shot too.
Disadvantage of nightly episodes: having to keep up. Advantage: not having to wait weeks to find out what happens.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Garfield (2004)
[#25 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Elementary
1x16 Details

Heading Out
1x01 Episode 1
Sue Perkins delves into the world of writing and acting with her first sitcom, and it's largely very good too. Hurrah.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Starlings
1x06 Episode Six

TV

Arrow
1x11 Trust But Verify

The Mentalist
5x11 Days of Wine and Roses
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Pointless Celebrities
Comic Relief Special
With Ben Miller!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Stella
2x08 Episode 8

Comics

2000 AD #1777-1782

Featuring...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction, Parts 13-18 by John Wagner, Henry Flint & Colin MacNeil
• Flesh Midnight Cowboys, Parts Four - Nine by Pat Mills & James McKay
• The Zaucer of Zilk Parts 3-8 by Brendan McCarthy & Al Ewing
• Age of the Wolf II She is Legend, Parts Six - Ten by Alec Worley & Jon Davis-Hunt
• Nikolai Dante The Dante Gambit, Parts 4-6 by Robbie Morrison & John Burns
• Cadet Anderson: Psi-Division Algol, Parts One - Three by Alan Grant & Steve Yeowell
• Time Twisters Contractions by T.C. Eglington & Lee Carter

Colin MacNeil's art is a great fit for Dredd, while Wagner continues to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Mega-City One. One strip where a kitchen sink might be employed as some kind of apocalypse device is The Zaucer of Zilk, which warms on me despite itself. Can't say the same for Flesh, though.

Age of the Wolf is the kind of thing I wish I'd been reading since whenever it started. Cadet Anderson suffers from Steve Yeowell's undetailed style, though it's enlivened considerably by being coloured (here by Eva de la Cruz). The one-off Time Twister is rather good, including more consistent art by Lee Carter than was seen in his recent run on Grey Area.

TV

The Good Life
1x05 The Thing in the Cellar

Films

Anonymous (2011)
[#24 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Comics

2000 AD #1772-1776

Featuring...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction, Parts 8-12 by John Wagner, Ben Willsher & Henry Flint
• Age of the Wolf II She is Legend, Parts One - Five by Alec Worley & John Davis-Hunt
• Nikolai Dante The Wedding of Jena Makarov, Parts 10-11 by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser
• Nikolai Dante The Dante Gambit, Parts 1-3 by Robbie Morrison & John Burns
• Grey Area Personal Space, Parts Two - Three & Xenophobia by Dan Abnett & Lee Carter
• What If...? Max Bubba Hadn't Killed Wulf by Alan Grant & Carlos Ezquerra
• What If...? Cassandra Anderson Hadn't Become a Judge by Alan Grant & Robin Smith
• Flesh Midnight Cowboys, Parts One - Three by Pat Mills & James McKay
• The Zaucer of Zilk Parts 1-2 by Brendan McCarthy & Al Ewing

The introduction to Age of the Wolf II implies it's a sequel picking up 10 years after the original, but the story itself seems to dive in among existing threads and characters. Either it's designed to throw everyone in at the deep end, or it's the usual 2000 AD trick of newbie-alienating. On one level it doesn't matter; on another, if it's the former then ultimately it should cover everything we need to know, whereas if the latter it might be best to just give in and go with the flow. Great art, at least.

Ever since I first saw the cover of The Zaucer of Zilk, and some of the interior art while flipping through the Progs when they arrived, I thought it looked like it would be awful. And it is. Or, at my kindest, I'd say it's not my cup of tea. Or as the strip would likely have it, it's zot zy zup of zea. (Bloody stupid thing.)

this week on 100 Films

First up, it's now March, which means it's time to look back at February. This month, the top 5 is favourite Best Picture Oscar winners. Which are yours?

As well as that, seven new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


The Hunger Games (2012)

Seen by some as a Battle Royale rip-off and by others as no more than the new Twilight, The Hunger Games is different enough from its Japanese forebear and immeasurably better than that detestable cross-media abstinence-fest.

Read more here.


Iron Sky (2012)

Throw in a moderately witty spoof of the Downfall-based Hitler YouTube meme, and moderately audacious elements like the Nazis turning a black astronaut white as part of their new attitude to racial purity, and you have a film that is moderately successful on its own terms.

Read more here.


Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Perhaps the best word to describe it would be “sedate”. Even the action sequences, of which there are a couple, can’t muster much speed, let alone jeopardy.

Read more here.


Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (2009)

it was shot in 2009 but not released until 2011, when it was slated by critics (a measly 39% on Rotten Tomatoes), flopped at the US box office (it opened at an unimaginably painful 67th place (who knew there were that many films out at once?), grossing just $25,423 total), and went straight to DVD in the UK. Ouch.

Read more here.


Tom Conway as the Falcon, Part I

Featuring reviews of The Falcon's Brother, The Falcon Strikes Back, and The Falcon in Danger.

Read more here.



And finally, new to the new blog...


Johnny English (2003)

Every joke is sign-posted at least a good few seconds in advance, sometimes several minutes, yet that’s half the fun — you know what’s about to go wrong and that nothing can stop English doing it anyway.

Read more here.


Sunset Blvd. (1950)

it’s tempting to say Sunset Blvd. is overrated. But really that would be a slightly sensational way of saying I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Elementary
1x15 A Giant Gun, Filled with Drugs

Let's Dance for Comic Relief 2013
Episode 3 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
[#22 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Johnny English Reborn (2011)
[#23 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Comics

2000 AD #1770-1771

Prog.1771 was a (slightly) bumper-length Prog to commemorate 2000 AD's 35th anniversary. What this means in practice is two variant covers, slightly better paper than normal, a free poster, lots of ads for future strips, and two more Thrills than usual -- all for a slightly higher price than your regular issue. Well, it is only a half decade...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction, Parts 6-7 by John Wagner & Ben Willsher
• Grey Area The Do & Personal Space, Part One by Dan Abnett & Lee Carter
• Nikolai Dante The Wedding of Jena Makarov, Parts 8-9 by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser
• Absalom Ghosts of London, Parts Six - Seven by Gordon Rennie & Tiernen Trevallion
• Strontium Dog The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, Chapter Two: The Project, Parts Eight - Nine by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra & Hector Ezquerra
• What If...? Gunnar Survived the Quartz Zone Massacre by Andy Diggle & Colin Wilson
• What If...? The Visible Man Returned to Earth by Pat Mills & Henry Flint

Grey Area could be great if Abnett didn't remind readers of the entire premise every other instalment. It grates, especially when reading them in such close proximity. I know elsewhere I moan about my lack of understanding when it comes to long-running stories, but they're things that have returned from months/years away only to pick up where they left off -- Grey Area has been running weekly for a couple of months at this point, we don't need telling what it's about again.

As, to all intents and purposes, a new fan, the two What Ifs make barely any sense. Nice art by Colin Wilson though. Conversely, I'm beginning to get a handle on Nikolai Dante and enjoying it -- makes me want to find the whole thing and read it through. Maybe they'll reprint it all in collections at some point (they have as it's gone along, but I think some of the early ones are out of print).

Collection Count

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

This week, I got the Men in Black Trilogy BD dirt cheap. I like the first one, haven't seen the second since it came out, and haven't seen the third yet... so maybe not the world's greatest purchase... especially as I already own the first on DVD and BD (though the latter was free). But, hey, it was cheap, and I can flog my current copies to make it cheaper still.

Until Saturday morning, most changed numbers actually went down this week... but then I received two random sales purchases, and this happened:

Number of titles in collection: 1,536 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,152 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 384 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,855 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,614 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,722 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 374 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
12x18 (22/2/13 edition)

"Are you a Judi Dench fan?"
"Uh, yeah, of course, of course."
"No, is that seriously what that T-shirt means?"
"Heh heh, no."
"What does it mean?"
"Uh, it's some, y'know, the kids these days, their urban, urban slang, Graham."
"Ok. Does it mean anything?"
"Heh heh, it's vacuous, it doesn't mean anything."

a) it does mean something.
b) if you don't think it means anything, why the hell are you wearing it?!

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


How I Met Your Mother
8x05 The Autumn of Break-Ups
Love Brover.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


Top Gear
19x05 (24/2/13 edition)
Effectively the last of the series, because they're off on a two-episode jaunt along the Nile in their 'Christmas Special' next week.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
[#21 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

That's a helluva title, isn't it? Shame about the film -- a definite case of the overrated for me.

Comics

2000 AD #1769
Featuring...
• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction, Part 5 by John Wagner & Henry Flint
• Grey Area Feel the Noise, Part 3 by Dan Abnett & Karl Richardson
• Nikolai Dante The Wedding of Jena Makarov, Part 7 by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser
• Absalom Ghosts of London, Part Five by Gordon Rennie & Tiernen Trevallion
• Strontium Dog The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, Chapter Two: The Project, Part Seven by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra & Hector Ezquerra

TV

Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe
1x04 (21/2/13 edition)

Climax!
1x03 Casino Royale
The first ever screen appearance of James Bond -- sorry, 'Card Sense' Jimmy Bond, an American secret agent. For all the drawbacks -- it's a 48-minute '50s-TV adaptation of the novel, so is Americanised and sanitised -- it's actually not that bad. And Peter Lorre is a perfect choice for Le Chiffre.
Sadly, though a complete version now exists, MGM insist on only putting out the initially-found truncated version which is missing the final few minutes/seconds. Shame.

The Last Leg
2x05 (22/2/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

The Ice Warriors: missing episodes animated
by Chuck Foster (from Doctor Who News)

BBC Worldwide have finally confirmed that August's DVD release of Second Doctor adventure The Ice Warriors will indeed include animated versions of the missing episodes two and three, as well as the previously announced 'telesnap' version of the episodes

Finally indeed!

And, even better news, they've been done by a different company to the awful Reign of Terror animations. The preview clip looks pretty decent.

(Sadly, the Reign of Terror chaps were commissioned to do the very-important Tenth Planet 4, so we still must hope they've improved.)

TV

Death in Paradise
2x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
And there will be a third series. Hurrah!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Good Life
1x04 Pig's Lib

Stella
2x07 Episode 7

Films

Safe House (2012)
[#20 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Articles

Wikipedians wage war over a capital "I" in a Star Trek film
by Kevin Morris (from The Daily Dot)

Wikipedians and Wikipedia Star Trek fans have engaged in a heated conflict that's raged for nearly two months. In total, more than 40,000 words have been lobbed in the fight.

The point of contention? Whether "Into" should be capitalized in the movie's name.

How bloody ridiculous. And it came to the most ridiculous conclusion ever too:

users have reached a compromise. A way to please everyone and no one—and at the same time make the encyclopedia look rather ridiculous.

The first line of the entry now reads:

Star Trek into Darkness (usually written as Star Trek Into Darkness)

I despair.

TV

Arrow
1x10 Burned

Elementary
1x14 The Deductionist

The Good Life
1x03 The Weaker Sex?

TV

The 85th Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars, obviously.

Mixed reactions in the press, but then there always are. I thought it was largely a good show, Seth MacFarlane was largely a funny host, and largely the right people won. I'd've liked more for Skyfall of course, but that's life. And a tie in one category! Only the sixth ever. That was quite exciting... though, apparently, not exciting enough to make most news stories. But I guess it was in a technical category.

Oh, and shame on Sky for cutting off the closing song. Wouldn't've happened on the BBC.


How I Met Your Mother
8x04 Who Wants to Be a Godparent?
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


The Mentalist
5x10 Panama Red
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]


The Sarah Millican Television Programme
2x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


Stella
2x06 Episode 6

TV

The Culture Show
Forget the Oscars, Here Are the Kermodes [2013 special]
A little to my surprise, I watched 2011's Kermodes. That's one of the advantages of this blog -- reminding me of things I've completely forgotten.
I assumed I'd just missed it last year (and probably had it downloaded somewhere, still waiting to be watched), but I can find no evidence of it on the BBC's Culture Show website. I guess it just didn't get its own special, especially as you can indeed find the results online.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Oscar 2013: Red Carpet Live
As usual, the ceremony begins at 1:30am over here, so here's a lot of speculation and red carpet nonsense from Sky's chosen team (read: whoever would agree to come in for the night). Apparently this is now Sky's ninth year having exclusive rights to the ceremony. About time it went back to the Beeb, no?

Room 101: Extra Storage
13x07 Episode 7

Top Gear
19x04 (17/2/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
[#19 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

The year on this one is a real matter of perspective. It was made and first shown in 2011, but widely released (here, in the US, and everywhere else) in 2012. Websites disagree, but the latter turns up more Google hits, so...

Comics

2000 AD #1767-1768
• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction, Parts 3-4 by John Wagner & Henry Flint
• Grey Area Feel the Noise, Parts 1-2 by Dan Abnett & Karl Richardson
• Nikolai Dante The Wedding of Jena Makarov, Parts 5-6 by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser
• Absalom Ghosts of London, Parts Three - Four by Gordon Rennie & Tiernen Trevallion
• Strontium Dog The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, Chapter Two: The Project, Parts Five - Six by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra & Hector Ezquerra

Articles

Twilight Breaking Dawn - Part 2, Kristen Stewart, Rihanna win Razzies
by Colin Daniels (from Digital Spy)

The Twilight finale fairly swept the board, winning seven of the ten awards. Well, it's traditional for awards to give a series' final instalment all it deserves, isn't it.

this week on 100 Films

Two new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Birth (2004)

Nicole Kidman’s rationalist husband dies suddenly; years later, as she gets engaged to another man, a boy arrives claiming to be her husband reincarnated. More realistic art house drama about grief and insecurity than thrill-giving occult mystery, it nonetheless keeps you guessing

Read more here.


The Plank (1967)

The film opens with the credits being sung to the viewer — a surreal touch that indicates the kind of experience you’re in for. The humour is primarily of a slapstick variety, much of it unsurprisingly revolving around the titular slab of wood. Some of it is very amusing, but... I can’t see this as a film that will convert anybody.

Read more here.



And new to the new blog...


The Invention of Lying (2009)

I enjoyed the religious plot. I don’t think it’s misjudged satire, as some reviews have claimed; I think it’s pretty decent satire, in fact... It’s a decently amusing deconstruction of religion and the ideas that underpin it, coming from a rational perspective that can see through the obvious flaws and falsehoods in (specifically) Christianity.

Read more here.


National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

essentially offers more of the same. That’s often levelled as a criticism, but in this instance it’s absolutely fine: Book of Secrets isn’t a rehash — there’s a new mystery with new puzzles — but is another adventure in the same vein, with clue-hunting and the occasional action sequence.

Read more here.


The Wolfman: Unrated Version (2010)

this is not your modern whizzbang horror movie, but something more classically inspired... the film makes this clear pretty quickly — or rather, quite slowly. The plot and character are allowed to unfurl at a gradual rate, building up to bursts of action later on rather than trying to keep the audience’s adrenaline pumping with a constant barrage of set pieces.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Arrow
1x09 Year's End

Elementary
1x13 The Red Team

Let's Dance for Comic Relief 2013
Episode 2 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Muppets (2011)
[#18 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Comics

2000 AD #1764-1766

Featuring...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: The Assassination List, Part 6 by John Wagner & Leigh Gallagher
• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Eve of Destruction, Parts 1-2 by John Wagner & Henry Flint
• Grey Area Meet & Greet, Parts 2-4 by Dan Abnett & Karl Richardson
• Nikolai Dante The Wedding of Jena Makarov, Parts 2-4 by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser
• Past Imperfect H Battalion by T.C. Eglington & Warren Pleece
• Strontium Dog The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, Chapter Two: The Project, Parts Two - Four by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra & Hector Ezquerra
• Absalom Ghosts of London, Parts One - Two by Gordon Rennie & Tiernen Trevallion

'New' Dredd tale Eve of Destruction kicks off a whopping 20-part run (and at the end of it, Chaos Day itself is just two). As Grey Area's first story closes I think it has promise, but, for an acclaimed-in-some-circles writer, Abnett's dialogue is shockingly clunky. The final part read like a recap of the entire premise coupled with a resolution, which was very odd for only the fourth instalment.

This is the last-ever Nikolai Dante story and I'm sure pays off handsomely to fans, but is hardly the right point for newbies. Still has its moments, at least. The Past Imperfect wasn't much cop, all set up for a final reveal that, even though it was the entire point, felt needless. Strontium Dog begins to become more followable as it focuses on the present predicament, and Absalom… begins. We'll see.

Collection Count

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

Only one new thing this week, but no more is required: the Skyfall Steelbook. Splendiferous.

And to liven things up nonetheless, there's the running time update. The thrills just keep on coming.

Number of titles in collection: 1,535 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,152 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 383 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,853 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,611 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,722 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 374 [no change]

As promised...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
277 days, 22 hours, and 27 minutes.
(Up 16 hours and 36 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Dexter
6x11 Talk to the Hand
6x12 This is the Way the World Ends [season finale]
Usually Dexter has a calm, reflective ending... but not this season. Wham-bang-huge-cliffhanger it is! Loads of other plot threads left dangling too -- all the signs of a two-year recommission after season five, then.
Season seven starts in the UK this Sunday on FOX (formerly FX), for them that has it, while season eight is coming before too long to the US.

The Graham Norton Show
12x17 (15/2/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
2x04 (15/2/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Yes, Prime Minister [2013]
1x06 A Tsar is Born [season finale]
This has been distinctly variable. Some funny moments, but an awful lot of too-big stagey acting and far too many recaps of what's going on. It notes in the end credits that it was adapted from the stage play, so I guess they took the two hours (or whatever) of that and extended it to make six half-hours of TV -- on stage, the "all this in one night" thing would work, but on TV, over six weeks, it felt needless. I can't imagine they'll get to have another go, but if they do, I hope it's in the form of a real series rather than a (somewhat misguided) serial.

Comics

2000 AD #2012

Continuing and concluding the Christmas-before-last bumper Prog, with…

• Aquila Prologue by Gordon Rennie & Leigh Gallagher
• Grey Area Meet & Greet, Part 1 by Dan Abnett & Karl Richardson
• Dandridge A Christmas Ghost Story by Alec Worley & Jon Davis-Hunt
• Sinister Dexter Now & Again by Dan Abnett & Anthony Williams
• Strontium Dog The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, Chapter Two: The Project, Part One by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra & Hector Ezquerra

Aquila and Grey Area are both effective introductions to brand-new series. The latter may be a bit too exposition-y, but it still holds promise. Dandridge is an effective little ghost story. Sinister Dexter is a double whammy of continuing/concluding plot from the previous Progs, and Christmas-special-ish dimension hopping through all 2000 AD's most beloved franchises. And then Strontium Dog is the second arc of a long story for a very old series, making it absolutely impenetrable to newbies like me. Still, at least everything else was good.

TV

Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe
1x03 (14/2/13 edition)

Dexter
6x10 Ricochet Rabbit

The Good Life
1x02 Say Little Hen...

Articles

Interview with Steven Moffat from Gallifrey One
by Kyle Anderson (from Nerdist)

I say "article" -- it's a video. Normally I object to that (I prefer a transcript), but this is worth watching. It's 13 minutes in which DVD documentary maker Ed Stradling chats to The Moff -- that's quite long for a one-on-one interview really, and it goes in to about as much depth as you might expect regarding plans for Who's 50th anniversary, plus wider-ranging discussion of Moffat's Who views. For those that have been worried, he denies the anniversary special is just one 60-minute episode, and confirms there will be a 2013 Christmas special.


An Oscar Voter's Brutally Honest Ballot
by Anonymous, as told to Scott Feinberg (from The Hollywood Reporter)

One of the 371 members of the Academy’s directors branch recently invited me over to his office to listen in as he openly deliberated about how to fill out his final ballot for the 85th Oscars.

A lot of people in the comments think this guy is a right... something-or-other. He is in places; in others, he's bang on. Either way, it's an interesting insight into how people vote for the Oscars... and why the results end up so daft so often.


Plus, while I'm here...

Benedict Cumberbatch and the cast of Neverwhere - first photo and air date revealed
by Paul Jones (from Radio Times)

Looks exciting. It's on the week of March 16th (all 3½ hours of it).

TV

Death in Paradise
2x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Skyfall (2012)
[2nd watch]

Skyfall was #86 in 100 Films 2012, and I afforded it a spoiler-packed 4,800-word review on Christmas Day. I also wrote a (much shorter) spoiler-free piece right after it came out, for those who haven't seen it yet.

And if you haven't seen it... it's out on DVD and Blu-ray now. Buy it, it's brilliant.

TV

Dexter
6x09 Get Gellar
Now that is a twist! Seriously brilliant, on a changes-everything, completely-out-of-the-blue, but-really-should-have-seen-it-coming level.

The Good Life
1x01 Plough Your Own Furrow

The Sarah Millican Television Programme
2x05 Episode 5

TV

Arrow
1x08 Vendetta

Dexter
6x08 Sin of Omission

Comics

2000 AD #1762-1763

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: The Assassination List, Parts 4-5 by John Wagner & Leigh Gallagher
• Sinister Dexter Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Parts Two - Three by Dan Abnett & Anthony Williams
• Indigo Prime Anthropocalypse, Parts Seven - Eight by John Smith & Edmund Bagwell
• Angel Zero Parts 12-13 by Kek-W & John Burns

The end-of-2011 issues, meaning Indigo Prime and Angel Zero both wrap up. Can't say I'll miss either, though Indigo Prime will be back. Dredd has a solid cliffhanger, which must have made for an irritating four or five week break at the time. As for me, well, I'll be on to Prog.1764 in no time. But before that...


2000 AD #2012

...the bumper-length Christmas 2011 issue. A mix of standalones and new stories being kicked off. I only made a start on it today, including:

• Judge Dredd Choose Your Own Xmas by Al Ewing & John Higgins
• Absalom Sick Leave by Gordon Rennie & Tiernen Trevallion
• Nikolai Dante The Wedding of Jena Makarov, Part 1 by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser

The Dredd tale is all kinds of excellence, working as both a read-it-through-in-order and jump-to-a-panel choose-your-own-adventure story. Very clever, Mr Ewing, very clever indeed.

As for the others, Nikolai Dante was running (possibly even starting) when I first bought 2000 AD many, many moons ago. I wasn't too fond of it then; here, it seems quite fun... but is starting mid-story, really, so I've barely a clue what's going on. Same can be said for Absalom. I appreciate these things are paying off long-term readers, but you can see how it puts off newcomers. No wonder comics readership is dwindling across the board when they all seek to pay off people who are aware of years/decades of continuity.

TV

Dexter
6x07 Nebraska
I was worried this episode would be a bit of an aside, but I thought it was a particularly good one. Mass opinion (or as mass as TV.com's viewer ratings get, anyway) seems to disagree.

Elementary
1x12 M.
Elementary really seems to have found its feet in recent episodes (that or I've just got used it), and this is definitely the pinnacle of that. Hopefully they'll go the Sherlock route and introduce and deal with Moriarty for too long, rather than the Mentalist route of stringing it out forever. But it's US network TV, so I fear the latter is more likely.

Films

Final Destination 5 (2011)
[#17 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Comics

2000 AD #1758-1761

Featuring, in order of each strip's first appearance here...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Elusive, Part 6 by John Wagner & Henry Flint
• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: The Assassination List, Parts 1-3 by John Wagner & Leigh Gallagher
• Ampney Crucis Investigates... The English Assassin, Parts Nine - Eleven by Ian Edginton & Simon Davis
• Indigo Prime Anthropocalypse, Parts Three - Six by John Smith & Edmund Bagwell
• Angel Zero Parts 8-11 by Kek-W & John Burns
• Low Life The Deal, Parts 9-12 by Rob Williams & D'Israeli
• Sinister Dexter Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Part One by Dan Abnett & Anthony Williams

Keeping this up for two days in a row?! Unheard of!

The consistently excellent Low Life comes to a consistently excellent end. I ought to find out if previous episodes are available in book form, assuming they're just as good. Ampney Crucis ends too, on a cliffhanger that relies on previous knowledge (which I don't have). Indigo Prime continues to show off great art on an impenetrable story, while Angel Zero plods on in predictable fashion.

And Dredd is Dredd. Which is no bad thing.

Back when Prog.1760 was published ECBT 2000AD linked to a most unusual thing: a medical review of the issue! If you're interested, that can be found here.

this week on 100 Films

Four new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Avengers Assemble (2012)

aka The Avengers / Marvel's The Avengers / Marvel Avengers Assemble / Marvel's Avengers Assemble... the film that represented the culmination of Marvel's uber-successful Phase One cinematic experiment: the disappointing Avengers Assemble.

Yeah, I said "disappointing".

Read more here.


Everything or Nothing (2012)

Eschewing intrusive, dogmatic voiceover narration, Riley instead tells the story through interviews (both new talking-head pieces and archive-drawn audio), illustrative clips, behind-the-scenes photos and film snippets, and music. The latter elements are taken almost exclusively from the Bond franchise itself

Read more here.


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

The climactic Battle of Hogwarts takes up much of the film. A glut of combat and cameos, most surviving characters return. Many get their moment to shine, with particular gratification from Matthew Lewis’ Neville, Julie Walters’ Mrs Weasley, and Maggie Smith’s Professor McGonagall.

Read more here.


Thor (2011)

Director Kenneth Branagh brings all his Shakespearean know-how to one of the most innately successful of Marvel’s recent superhero movies, spinning a yarn of gods and mortals, humility and responsibility, without stinting on action or humour.

Read more here.



And new to the new blog...


Max Payne: Harder Cut (2008)

The reportedly awful A Good Day to Die Hard is in cinemas now. It’s directed by John Moore, whose last film earnt a rare 1-star review from me…

Read more here.


Night at the Museum (2006)

the easily-impressed will love it, the highly cynical will probably despise it, and the rest of us can sit in the middle, being adequately entertained while the film plays but require nothing else from it ever again.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
8x03 Nannies
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Let's Dance for Comic Relief 2013
Episode 1 (of 4)
It's the fifth series of this comedy Strictly now -- I don't think they've managed to make one of these celebs-be-silly-for-charity formats last so long before. But hey, it works. I swear the routines are getting longer though... or maybe they just feel it. And who the hell is Olivia Lee?!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
19x03 (10/2/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Comics

2000 AD #1755-1757

Featuring, in order of first appearance...

• Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: Elusive, Parts 3-5 by John Wagner & Henry Flint
• Ampney Crucis Investigates... The English Assassin, Parts Six - Eight by Ian Edginton & Simon Davis
• Bob Byrne's Twisted Tales Tale #13 by Bob Byrne
• Angel Zero Parts 5-7 by Kek-W & John Burns
• Low Life The Deal, Parts 6-8 by Rob Williams & D'Israeli
• Indigo Prime Anthropocalypse, Parts One - Two by John Smith & Edmund Bagwell

A few months ago I said I was trying to get back into my 2000 AD reading. That failed to subsequently materialise. So now I'm really, really trying -- picking up where I left off in November 2011. 15 months ago. No wonder I struggled to remember what was going on in a couple of stories. Still, off to a solid start… though the latest Prog (with subscribers now, in shops on Wednesday) is #1820, so…

Anyway, particular highlights here come in Prog.1755, with an awesome cover -- well, a great pun -- and a top Bob Byrne's Twisted Tale inside. 1756 takes the wind out by reintroducing the woeful Indigo Prime, but at least there's Low Life to sustain a suitable level of awesome.

Collection Count

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

This week's sole addition: Witness for the Prosecution, apparently the first time it's been released on DVD in the UK.

Number of titles in collection: 1,534 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,152 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 382 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,851 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,610 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,722 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 374 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Dexter
6x06 Just Let Go
Halfway!

The Graham Norton Show
12x16 (8/2/13 edition)
Mark Wahlberg's behaviour caused quite a stir, and... yeah, it was distinctly odd. People speculated he was drunk -- considering he began the show going on about how bad it was they offered the guests drink, I'd say it's pretty darn certain that was the problem.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
2x03 (8/2/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Room 101: Extra Storage
13x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

I Think I Invented Netflix, So Where's My Money?
by Stephen Gallagher (from Hauling Like a Brooligan)

with TV... I believe the pirates have set up a genuine model for the future... Broadcast TV is only good for soaps, news and reality now - background stuff... Drama, being immersive in its nature, struggles to thrive in that environment... no one wants to settle in for that long, or focus that much, at a time that doesn't necessarily suit them. There's always going to be an appetite for TV drama, but people have definitely lost their taste for being scheduled.

I had to really chop up a few paragraphs to get the main point across succinctly. But go read the whole thing, it's full of correctitude.