this week on 100 Films

The big news this week (because I want you to vote in it) is that I've introduced 100 Films in a Year's first ever poll. As I'm mid-way through a re-watch, I thought it would be appropriate to ask: which is your favourite Harry Potter film? Vote at that link. Please.


As well as that, three brand-new reviews were published this week...


Green Lantern: Extended Cut (2011)

my expectation that the film would be irredeemably awful is at least partly why I found it surprisingly enjoyable... I’m not going to try to argue Green Lantern is a great movie, or even that it doesn’t contain significant flaws, but as a comic book-y two-hour diversion, I found it passably entertaining.

Read more here.


Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

My Harry Potter retrospective resumes with a new director bringing a new energy to the franchise.

Read more here.


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

One of the more overlooked facets of Rowling’s work is her penchant for allegory and gentle satire... Here it’s the press under fire. Rita Skeeter may have a greatly reduced role compared to the novel, but her Quick-Quotes Quill — which, essentially, just makes stuff up — is present and correct.

Read more here.


And also, new to the new blog...


For Your Consideration (2006)

The best bits come in the second half, when the cast and crew of the fictional film-within-a-film hit the campaign trail. The styles of TV shows that various people appear on — the different levels awarded to the leads, other cast members, the writers, and so on — has some decent satire

Read more here.


Once (2006)

a very modern indie musical. And I mean indie as in “indie film”, not “indie music”. Lord save us from a musical of indie music.

Read more here.


Primer (2004)

there’s a great conceit here, with a decent plot built around it; but it drags the idea of treating your audience’s intelligence with respect too far into the realms of Simply Not Explaining Things Properly

Read more here.


Star Trek (2009)

It’s Star Trek, Jim, but not as we know it.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
33x13 Nightmare in Silver

Author Neil Gaiman returns (after the good-but-overrated The Doctor's Wife) for a second pop at Who, this time attempting to increase the scariness of the Cybermen. And I really liked this episode. It's imperfect, a bit rough round the edges, in need of some polishing of both the script and direction... but, overall, likeable.

Reaction online seems more mixed. I saw a lot of positive comments on twitter, but the Radio Times' Who guy hated it. Unduly, I thought, and a lot of the plot holes his article picked up on were either explained in the episode or easily explicable via things that happened in the episode. It's a double shame the extra polishing I mentioned didn't happen, then, because it would've also led to a more positive reception from critics like that.

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


How I Met Your Mother
8x15 P.S. I Love You
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


Star Trek: The Next Generation
3x26 The Best of Both Worlds Part 1 [season finale]
4x01 The Best of Both Worlds Part 2

The two-parter from TNG, with that cliffhanger. And it's great! I mean, it's a little dated now (it is 23 years old), but in kind of a nice way -- its pace is brilliant, neither too slow nor as mad-dash-frantic as a lot of current genre telly.

I watched the recently released Blu-ray, which edits it all together into a movie (ironically thereby losing the famous cliffhanger), and it looks bloody stunning in HD. It's not just an image quality thing, it's the quality of the sets, the lighting, and the wonderful model effects... This stuff, made for TV nearly a quarter of a century ago, is still better than lot of today's big-budget movie CGI.


The Voice UK
2x07 The Battle Rounds 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

DVD Extras

Regeneration: Engaging the Borg

Half-hour making of about The Best of Both Worlds, found exclusively on its standalone Blu-ray (i.e. not on the Season 3 set, though I suppose they could yet put it on the Season 4 set). It's got interesting information, but it feels poorly constructed: a selection of interview snippets, behind-the-scenes footage and episode clips strung together almost at random, rather than a properly considered documentary.

Still, seeing how else it could be done makes you all the more appreciative of the skill that goes into the classic Doctor Who DVDs.

Collection Count

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

A selection of imported BDs account for this week's boosts -- including a six-disc set for a single film. Madness.

Number of titles in collection: 1,561 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,162 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 399 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 3,904 [up 13]
Number of films in collection: 1,677 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,761 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Arrow
1x21 The Undertaking
I imagine that, in a Lost-y kinda way, the producers see the island flashbacks as an integral part of Arrow's structure. They did an island-centric ep a few back and have said they'll do more in season 2. This episode has no island flashbacks... and I didn't miss them. I thought I quite liked the island stuff, but, well, there you go.

The Graham Norton Show
13x05 (3/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x07 (4/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece (1961)
[#46 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Articles

We Need To Talk About Steven...
by Eddie McGuigan (from Outpost Skaro)

Opinion piece on the state of Doctor Who under Steven Moffat's showrunnership. I don't agree with everything it says, but a lot of it seems sadly spot-on.

Vote for your favourite Harry Potter film!

Just for fun!

[link]

TV

The Good Life
3x07 The Last Posh Frock [season finale]

The Job Lot
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

Scott & Bailey
3x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Watson and Oliver
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer].

TV

Ben Earl: Trick Artist
1x02 Art
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Have I Got News For You
45x05 (3/5/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x17 Kanes and Abel's

Articles

A Field in England premieres in cinemas and on Film4 on the same day!
(from Film4 Blog)

The article's first paragraph sums up why this is of interest as succinctly as I ever could, so:

Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England – the first feature film commissioned by Film4.0 – will be the first ever film to be released in UK cinemas, on freeview TV, on DVD and on Video-on-Demand on the same day – with Film4, Picturehouse Entertainment, 4DVD and Film4 Channel partnering for this innovative watch-it-where-you-want experiment on Friday 5th July.

TV

Elementary
1x21 A Landmark Story
Title feels kinda self congratulatory, with nothing to justify it in the episode's actual story.

Lego Star Wars
The Padawan Menace
The Empire Strikes Out
These two made-for-TV CG specials are quite fun, actually, with nods for adult fans as well as silliness for kids... and also adults.

Not Going Out
6x04 Conference
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
3x06 (1/12/12 edition)

Vicious
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

TV

The Mentalist
5x20 Red Velvet Cupcakes
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Pointless
6x49 (21/5/12 edition)

The South Bank Show
39x01 Tim Minchin

TV

The Good Life
3x06 Whose Fleas Are These?

Films

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
[#45 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]


Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
[#45a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]
This was previously #78 in 100 Films 2007.

this week on 100 Films

The main news this week is that it's May (did you notice?), which can only mean it's time to look back at April. This month's top list: the five worst superhero movies. That I've seen.

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


Ip Man 2 (2010)

The only major downside comes when the Brits turn up for the final act. Stereotyped and poorly acted, presented with palpable jingoism and xenophobia, their presence and storyline drag the film down.

Read more here.


Ted (2012)

Family Guy’s stock in trade is two things: non-sequiturs, which Ted replaces with a plot; and an edgy, borderline-offensive sense of humour, which Ted retains, and in some cases pushes farther, unrestrained by the demands of US network TV.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Rain-lashed, fog-drenched Victorian London streets! Brutal murders by foul foreigners! Dastardly plots against the crown! Galloping carriages! Romantic subplots! A smattering of comedy! A song-and-dance number! (No, really, there is.) And a final shoot out… in the Tower of London!

Read more here.


Harry Brown (2009)

Michael Caine killing hoodies... If that doesn’t get you excited about seeing this movie, then what kind of film fan are you? A mentally mature one, probably. But hush, don’t spoil our fun — those of us who may occasionally hanker for a morally simple form of voyeuristic vigilante justice want to see Sir Michael shooting yobs

Read more here.


The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

One of the novel’s strong points is its occasional Gothic styling, and this is something the film version does very well. Dartmoor looks fantastic, like something Tim Burton would have created were he working in the ’30s. It’s clearly a set, but it’s dramatic and moody and completely effective.

Read more here.


Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

more a spy thriller than a traditional detective tale. That’s not to say Holmes’ abilities as a detective aren’t present, but if you switched him for a generic British Intelligence agent the plot would be unlikely to suffer and the dialogue probably wouldn’t need much work.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
33x12 The Crimson Horror

At this point I think it's clear that it would be to everyone's benefit if Mark Gatiss stuck to writing Victorian-set Doctor Whos. As much as I liked Cold War, it wasn't well-received universally and I'd agree wasn't perfect. Tonight's episode, however, was marvellous -- funny, scary, exciting, innovative; a pretty perfect mix.

Gatiss' previous Victorian ep, series one's The Unquiet Dead, was his previous best. His intervening offerings have floundered from poor (The Idiot's Lantern, Victory of the Daleks) to divisive (Night Terrors, Cold War -- both of which I liked, incidentally). He obviously has a clear sense for the Gothic, as well as what's unsettling in the right context; so by all means let The Moff's Sherlock buddy contribute again... but perhaps confine him to what he does best.

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


Veronica Mars
1x16 Betty and Veronica


The Voice UK
2x06 The Blind Auditions 6
The last of the chair-spinning audition eps. This is where the audience disappeared last year, so it'll be interesting to see what happens next. Personally, as good as the blinds are, I also like the battle rounds. And they have an interesting new twist this year, so that might work.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


Would I Lie To You?
7x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Not so amazing, sadly.

Collection Count

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

This week, a DVD-to-BD upgrade disappears under two other new BDs and a new DVD, and a movie-length edit of two TV episodes causes a debate about whether that counts as a film or two TV episodes. (Clue: I went with the former.)

Number of titles in collection: 1,557 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,162 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 395 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,891 [up 6]
Number of films in collection: 1,673 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,761 [up 7]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Good Life
3x05 The Wind-Break War

The Graham Norton Show
13x04 (26/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
8x14 Ring Up!
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Veronica Mars
1x15 Ruskie Business

Articles

Fan buys 14,000 Doctor Who books to donate to schools
by Stephen Kelly (from Radio Times)

How heartening.

TV

Brushing Up On...
1x01 British Tunnels
Not normally my kind of programme, but the Radio Times did fawn over it so. I thought it was quite good.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
45x04 (26/4/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
6x48 (18/5/12 edition)
Whenever they cancel Pointless, I'll have enough saved up to keep me going for years.

Ruth Jones' Easter Treat
This was on in 2011! I missed it at the time, but have had it sat around for nearly two years. God, time flies...
The above link is accurate, but for some reason dead at the time of posting. But you can still watch a clip of the best bit -- featuring Tim Minchin -- on the BBC Comedy site here. Oh, and the second best bit -- featuring Michael Sheen -- is also there. Tidy.

Scott & Bailey
3x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Arrow
1x20 Home Invasion

Once Upon a Time
2x02 We Are Both
Is that... can it be... no! Character development?! Well, we'll see how long that lasts. I don't believe either the writers or the actors can keep it up for long.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Playhouse Presents
1x08 Walking the Dogs
That was quite good. Definitely one of the better ones.

Veronica Mars
1x14 Mars vs. Mars

TV

The Job Lot
1x01 Episode 1
The second half of ITV's big new Monday night comedy double bill, which was fine but in many respects is just the latest in a long line of Office imitators. And The Office is 12 years old now...
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x06 (27/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Playhouse Presents
1x11 Psychobitches [season finale]
Having sat through six of these to this point and not especially liked many of them, I've decided to be both less linear and more selective with my viewing going forward. So I've completely ditched the tenth episode, starring the irritating Trevor Eve and almost-as-bad Richard E. Grant; and also jumped ahead to this one, because I fancied something lighter.
Unfortunately, it's essentially a half-hour-long adult-rude Horrible Histories sketch, but not as funny.
Still, the remaining three episodes from the first run, as well as the two thus far shown in the second, all sound quite interesting. Fingers crossed...

Vicious
1x01 Episode 1
The first half of ITV's big new Monday night comedy double bill, with a big starry cast and 'cutting edge' setup (it's about an old gay couple!), but very traditional live-audience production. It was a little stagey, but had enough good lines to carry it. Room for improvement, but shows promise.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

Watson and Oliver
2x01 Episode 1
A lot of people really didn't like the first series of this. It might be fairer to say many hated it. But I quite enjoyed it, so I was pleased (if surprised) to see it recommissioned. I thought this was a little more consistent than the first series, but it's still a sketch show so it's still hit-and-miss.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer].

Podcasts

Nerd Poker: Dungeons and Dragons with Brian Posehn & Friends
Episode 6 Swim Toward the Light

Five episodes in eight days then nothing for a month? Such is my way. But hey, they took a year off at some point -- I can pick it up again after a few weeks.

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapters 13 - 14
Epilogue [the end]

A fascinating book, all told. Don't think it's going too far to say it's a must-read for anyone with an interest in the behind-the-scenes goings-on of this era of Who. I hope we get similar on the RTD and Moffat eras someday, because I sense there are some juicy untold stories lurking there too.

TV

Elementary
1x20 Dead Man's Switch

The Good Life
3x04 I Talk to the Trees

Mad Men
6x04 To Have and To Hold

The Mentalist
5x19 Red Letter Day
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapter 11 - 12

Former head of drama and controller of BBC1 Jonathan Powell does not come off well in this book at all, especially in this section, dealing with the 1989 cancellation of Who. Naturally fans would blamed him and could be expected to be cross, but it's the comments from colleagues and other professionals that are most damning, not about the decision to ditch Who but his general attitude and ability. Russell T Davies gets particularly -- and appropriately -- blunt on page 318:

He gave his attention to The Barchester Chronicles or whatever was going to win him a BAFTA and let me tell you, 30 years later that stuff isn't coming to bite you on the arse but the Doctor Who stuff is. Your sins will find you out!

TV

Ben Earl: Trick Artist
1x01 Crime
With Dynamo snaffled up by whichever cable/satellite-channel-I-don't-get it is that he's on, here's Channel 4's latest answer to him -- and, I presume, intended Derren Brown replacement, as he seems to do fewer and fewer TV programmes. Initial impressions are OK, but he doesn't have quite the same wow factor as the other two.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Veronica Mars
1x13 Lord of the Bling

Films

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
[#43a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]

See also last week.

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapter 10

this week on 100 Films

Just two new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Extended Version (2001/2004)

Included on the film’s original DVD release back in 2002, albeit under a series of frustrating mini-games, were six short deleted sequences and one extended one… and it’s those and those alone that were added back into the film in 2004.

Read more here.


Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Extended Version (2002/2005)

The difference in running time is 13½ minutes, spread across 19 differen extensions.... Unsurprisingly, many are of little significance, often just fleshing out minor characters or adding comedy beats. So are any especially beneficial?

Find out here.


And nothing new to the new blog! Oops.

Still, more next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
33x11 Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS

Well, I thought that was really good. Any fans expecting a revelation about what was at the heart of the TARDIS, or what weird lava-ish creatures the Doctor kept locked in its depths, was in for disappointment... but, really, did you expect them to rewrite the book in such a mad fashion? I didn't. It was nice that was all tied into the episode's plot, rather than just expanding the universe for the sake of it. And still, there was all that stuff about Clara getting a look at that Time War book and finding out the Doctor's name -- which, clearly, is both pronounceable by humans (one theory being that it wasn't) and meant something to her (but who knows what!?)

Anyway, what a fantastic look around the rest of the TARDIS! After they did it in The Doctor's Wife and all it amounted to was some identikit corridors and the old console room, it was nice to get a proper look -- the swimming pool! the library! some room full of stuff to do with Amy and River! And, I'm sure many will say, a much more impressive Eye of Harmony than they had in the TV movie.

Plus, only Doctor Who could do what would seem to be a 'bottle' episode and still require as many new sets, effects, costumes and characters as a regular episode.

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


The Voice UK
2x05 The Blind Auditions 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,554 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,162 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 392 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,885 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,671 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,754 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Good Life
3x03 A Tug of the Forelock

The Graham Norton Show
13x03 (19/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x12 Clash of the Tritons

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
3x02 (19/4/13 edition) [season finale]
Sometimes, my "[season finale]" convention feels silly.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Have I Got News For You
45x03 (19/4/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
8x13 Band or DJ?
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Playhouse Presents
1x06 Care
A new series of this started last week (apparently it's the second, though four-part miniseries A Young Doctor's Notebook was presented as part of the strand in between), but I never finished the first run, so, yeah, doing that now.

Scott & Bailey
3x04 Episode 4
Well that was grim.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

The Great British Sewing Bee
1x04 Episode 4 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
6x47 (17/5/12 edition)

TV

Broadchurch
1x08 Part 8 [season finale]
Guessed who it would be a few weeks ago, but that doesn't really matter in drama this good. Fascinated to see what they have planned for the next series...
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Good Life
3x02 The Happy Event

Once Upon a Time
2x01 Broken
As ridiculously bad as ever? Of course it is! And yet, weirdly compellingly so. Partly because it's often so bad it's laugh-out-loud funny, which is nice.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

Man on a Ledge (2012)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

The Mentalist
5x18 Behind the Red Curtain
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Not Going Out
6x03 Therapy
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x11 Silence of the Lamb
And that's halfway.
I can't remember if I've said since I voiced my initial sort-of-doubts, but Veronica Mars does get really bloody good. This (and the last) are some of the best episodes thus far.

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapters 8 - 9

Here's where the book gets really good, in a way: chapter 8 is The Chapter -- Hanky Panky, the one that most of the reviews and commentary on the book have focused on. Unsurprisingly, it's not nearly as shocking as some reports made out.

And then there's Doctor in Distress, the tale of Doctor Who's mid-'80s cancellation -- and un-cancellation. It's no wonder some fans are still paranoid that the BBC are sneakily trying to make Who unpopular and get rid of it, considering that's basically what they did back then. You're not paranoid if they're out to get you...

TV

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x05 (20/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x10 An Echolls Family Christmas

Films

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
[#42a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]

Unlike Philosopher's Stone or Chamber of Secrets, there's no extended/altered cut here that would technically merit a review for 100 Films... but if I don't, Azkaban and next week's Goblet of Fire would be the only Potter films to go unreviewed. I figure I may as well bung a few sentences together at least.

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapter 7

this week on 100 Films

This week, I mainly encouraged 100 Films readers to back Alex Cox's Bill the Galactic Hero Kickstarter. It's passed its goal and will be funded now, but if you want to be involved you can still do so here until 1am on Sunday night/Monday morning (UK time).


That aside, one new review was published this week...


Stiff Upper Lips (1998)

Spoof of British ‘Heritage’ films and TV series, particularly the work of Merchant Ivory... Specific targets include Brideshead Revisited and A Room with a View, with individual sequences riffing off the likes of Chariots of Fire and Orlando.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...


Airplane! (1980)

This model of comedy — the silly spoof, as it were — is still in use today in the depressingly endless series of …Movie movies. But where they’re just crude, Airplane! is witty; where they’re just random, Airplane! is irreverent; and where they’re just derivative, Airplane! was original.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Arrow
1x19 Unfinished Business


Doctor Who
33x10 Hide

That's more like it!

I say that, but I've enjoyed most of this series of Doctor Who. Not so the reaction online, though, which seems to largely coincide with my above sentiment. Either way, this is the best episode of the current run so far; possibly the best episode of the series fullstop for some time. Considering writer Neil Cross was responsible for one of the most disappointing episodes in yonks (last fortnight's Rings of Akhaten), that's some turnaround in ability. He actually wrote this episode first, and it was on the strength of this that he was commissioned to write another, and it's easy to see why.

It's billed as A Scary One, and it properly is. No blood or guts or gore, but I'm not convinced this is only a PG (as recently passed by the BBFC). That monster was freaky! And even worse were those photos of the ghost... Shuddertastic. Scares aside, there was a solid story, dispensing with the all-too-repetitive "save the entire world!" palaver we've been getting too much of, really. Instead we had a mystery, which was investigated, and which produced a moderately original solution. Plus all the Clara vs TARDIS stuff was finally made more explicit, amongst an array of other character bits that were never too heavy-handed.

A triumph, then. Hurrah! And next week's looks awesome too...

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


The Voice UK
2x04 The Blind Auditions 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Ted (2012)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

DVD Extras

Teddy Bear Scuffle

A short making-of featurette on Ted that shows how they achieved one of the film's most memorable sequences (if you've seen it, you can guess which). Definitely worth a watch to see the amount of time and effort and skill that had to go in to creating such a short scene.

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapters 5 - 6

Collection Count

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

One new addition this week, and a couple of tweaks to bring numbers I thought were right in line with my big DVD database. No idea how they got out of sync, which always worries me.

Number of titles in collection: 1,551 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,160 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 391 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,882 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,668 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,754 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [up 3]

Plus this week it's time for a running time update, so...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
280 days, 1 hour, and 34 minutes.
(Up 21 hours and 21 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
3x01 (12/4/13 edition)
Clearly this went down well the first time, because this is now the third time they've done it. I guess I missed -- or, just as likely, purposefully avoided -- the second time. This was fun though.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Graham Norton Show
13x02 (12/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
3x05 Strictly Come Dancing Special

Veronica Mars
1x09 Drinking the Kool-Aid

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapter 4

TV

Have I Got News For You
45x02 (12/4/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
8x12 The Final Page Part 2
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Matt Lucas Awards
2x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Scott & Bailey
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Veronica Mars
1x08 Like a Virgin

TV

Anna & Katy
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Great British Sewing Bee
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Broadchurch
Part 7 (of 8)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Mad Men
6x03 The Collaborators
That felt more like it. (This episode is on Sky Atlantic tomorrow.)

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x04 (13/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Dinosaur Project (2012)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

DVD Extras

The Evolution of The Dinosaur Project

24-minute making-of on the Dinosaur Project BD. In some respects, it makes the film seem more impressive... which is kinda the wrong way round.

It also looks like they made a rod for their own backs by making it "found footage", which is somewhat ironic as that seems to be many people's top complaint about it. If only they just hadn't bothered...

TV

Arrow
1x18 Salvation

The Good Life
3x01 The Early Birds

The Mentalist
5x17 Red, White and Blue
Can't believe it's taken them 'til season five to use that title!
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Plebs
1x04 The Herpes Cat
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Scott & Bailey
3x02 Episode 2
A very sloppy flashback episode -- hard to tell what was set in the past and what in the 'present' (which is already removed in some way thanks to that opening to episode one that ended with "eight months earlier"), and no tension because we know where it all ends up. If this had been linear and the first episode it would've been fine, but why have last week's isolated case only to jump back into the ongoing stories here? Daft.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapter 3

Articles

Solo revealed as title of William Boyd James Bond book
by Simon Reynolds (from Digital Spy)

Not the most exciting title ever, but obviously I'm still looking forward to this.

You can read the full press release at The Book Bond.

TV

Not Going Out
6x02 Skiing
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x07 The Girl Next Door

Films

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

The BBFC, IMDb (when referring to its original title), and the film's title card call it 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer; but Wikipedia and the film's posters call it the more sensible Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. So which is it? I'd go with the film's copyright, but there wasn't proper info for that at the end of the film. Grr.


Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Extended Version (2002/2005)
[#40a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]

Similar to Philosopher's Stone last week, it's been years and years since I've seen this; indeed, I'm not even convinced I've seen it since the cinema, over a decade ago. But I feel I must've, so, we'll go with third watch.

Already longer than its predecessor, here they've added 13½ minutes (just over double the 6½ on Philosopher's), pushing it to nearly three hours long. I'm not sure such length is all warranted, but hey-ho.

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Chapter 2

this week on 100 Films

Just one new review on 100 Films in a Year this week...


Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

It doesn’t make much sense, it’s scrappy around the edges, but at times it exhibits a kind of loose fun and modest excitement. I can see why it appeals to those who saw it at the right age.

Read more here.


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


The Black Dahlia (2006)

It’s one of many problems in a film that tries hard to be a proper noir but fails in almost every respect: performances (most of which wind up flat), corny dialogue, plot, pretty-but-vacant direction, and even voice-over narration.

Read more here.


Death Race (2008)

There’s no denying that Death Race is B-movie tosh, but at least it’s an example of fairly entertaining B-movie tosh... It caters perfectly to its intended audience: there’s fast cars, sexy girls, lots of action, big explosions.

Read more here.


Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

Woody Allen mixes a bit of the thriller into his usual relationship-based comedy/drama style, with effective results. The combination produces an engaging thriller with the usual character-focused drama woven around it

Read more here.


Mean Streets (1973)

Semi-autobiographical New York gangster movie, guaranteed a place in history as the first collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro

Read more here.


Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

Despite the success of their two Sherlock Holmes films, Fox decided the character was outdated and resolved not to make any more. Universal clearly disagreed, and the popular pairing of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce reprised their roles for this, the first of twelve Holmes films the studio would make with the duo

Read more here.


Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)

As ever it’s packed with inventive humour, both visual and verbal, and Gromit remains one of the finest silent comedy characters ever created. The amount of emotion and story that can be conveyed with a lump of plasticine is tribute to the abilities of Park and his team

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
33x09 Cold War

After last week's misfire, this was a return to form. The studio submarine sets were brilliantly done, there were some great guest turns from Liam Cunningham and David Warner, effective effects (models!)... but best of all, the Ice Warrior -- he looked fantastic. So creepily used too, but also powerfully when appropriate.

Not everyone was enamoured with the episode, it would seem by reading some online reaction, but overall I thought it was very good. Mark Gatiss may be a huge fan and seem like a lovely guy, and he does great work on Sherlock, but his scripts for Who aren't always the sharpest. That said, even though I liked Night Terrors, this was probably his strongest effort since his first. One hopes it's not the last time we see the new-look(-ish) Martians...

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


The Good Life
2x07 Going to Pot? [season finale]


The Voice UK
2x03 The Blind Auditions 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Last Boy Scout (1991)
[#39 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,550 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,160 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 390 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,881 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,666 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,754 [up 8]
Number of short films in collection: 377 [no change]

Despite what the numbers would seem to tell you, I didn't get an eight-part TV series on a four-disc Blu-ray set this week. No, I upgraded my Schindler's List DVD to Blu-ray (same number of films, same number of discs), and bought The Kingdom I&II on DVD (new title, four discs, eight episodes). So, DVDs actually go down one and then up one again, while Blu-rays just go up one.

Fascinating, right?

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
13x01 (5/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


How I Met Your Mother
8x11 The Final Page Part 1

Apparently this originally aired as a one-hour episode in the US. Which is interesting, because in no way whatsoever does this feel like it's only the first half of something. Indeed, HIMYM has had definitely-standalone episodes that were less self-contained than this.

But the answer comes halfway down the Wikipedia page: "episodes 11 and 12 were not planned to be shown together as a two part, one hour combined episode. But the decision was made to present them together after the show was preempted because of Hurricane Sandy." So there you go.

Also, "Before the two episodes were combined, episode 11 was entitled The Silence of the Jinx and episode 12 was entitled The Robin." Why they felt the need to ditch those titles, goodness only knows.

[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


Veronica Mars
1x06 Return of the Kane

TV

Elementary
1x19 Snow Angels
After yonks away, Elementary's back with a pretty good episode. It seems to have found a better groove as the season progresses, being less of a regular cop show and moving (slightly) more in the direction of "adventures" for its leads, which is what Sherlock Holmes should have really. It's still no Sherlock, but it's getting good enough on its own feet.
Unfortunately, it's now another fortnight 'til the next episode. Silly Americans and their silly scheduling.

The Matt Lucas Awards
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x03 (6/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
6x01 Rabbit
There seem to have been a fair few articles slagging off Not Going Out to accompany its return for a sixth run, either explicitly or by association. Well, tosh and piffle. I like it, and I found this a particularly amusing episode. I laughed out loud several times, and that happens too rarely in so many 'acclaimed' 'comedies'.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Plebs
1x03 The Erotic Vase
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Non-Fiction

JN-T: The Life & Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner by Richard Marson
Preface
Chapter 1

You may have heard of this -- I mentioned SFX's review a month ago, and more recently it caused a stir that led to the front page of a couple of tabloids... just as SFX predicted! According to the publisher's site it's not out yet, but they sent out a bunch of copies already (mine arrived today, and based on twitter I've received it a few days later than a lot of people!), so... yeah.

Not read much of it yet, as you can see, but it's a solid opening. The really interesting stuff -- the Doctor Who years, and all the controversy -- is still to come.

Additionally, today I've also spotted a few reviews of the book that exceed the mere critical appraisal to become worthwhile reading in their own right. There's Matthew Sweet's for the Guardian, Brian J. Robb's for Sci-Fi Bulletin, and Anthony Weight's for Doctor Who News. The last includes this particularly insightful, truthful comment near the end:

I think [Nathan-Turner] would have been pleased that he’ll be remembered, and that’s where the curse of Doctor Who is at least paying him something back. [The BBC1 controller when Who was axed in 1989,] Jonathan Powell – refreshingly honest as an interviewee here – may well have been a far superior drama producer to Nathan-Turner, with a track record the latter couldn’t hope to match. He’s produced several BAFTA-winning productions of high quality. But he’ll never have a biography written about him. Nobody will ever research his life in detail, track down and speak to his teachers and schoolfriends. Trace the progress of his career in television, from the studio floor to the producer’s chair. When he dies, it will be little-noted outside of his friends and family.

Doctor Who can destroy careers. But Doctor Who fans remember.

TV

The Great British Sewing Bee
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
45x01 (5/4/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x05 You Think You Know Somebody

DVD Extras

Secrets Revealed! Quidditch
Secrets Revealed! Hagrid
The Harry Potters You Never Met
(from the Harry Potter Wizard's Collection Bonus Disc)

A series off 11-minute (ish) featurettes that are exclusively found on the aforementioned bonus disc. The most interesting is the Hagrid one, showing how they went about making the 6-foot Robbie Coltrane appear like a giant across the eight films. To be honest, I thought they'd given up after the first few, but nooo, they really hadn't -- and it's quite remarkable how it was all done.

The third featurette is about the lead cast's stunt doubles, many of whom remained the same throughout the series. An ominous note creeps in early on when they discuss how Daniel Radcliffe became great mates with the guy who doubled for him on "six of the eight films". Why not all? The featurette reveals what can happen when stunts go wrong...

Finally, the Quidditch featurette is also fairly good, skipping the standard "what blue screen is" stuff that we all know now in favour of the particular challenges of making people fly on brooms, and how they evolved and changed that down the films.

TV

Anna & Katy
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Broadchurch
Part 6 (of 8)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Heading Out
1x06 Episode 6 [series finale]
Apparently this has gone down really badly with both critics and audiences, so I guess it's not coming back. I rather liked it though.

It's Kevin
1x01 Episode 1
A mixed bag, as sketch shows always are. Can't actually tell if I liked it or not.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
5x16 There Will Be Blood
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

Game of Thrones
2x10 Valar Morghulis [season finale]

After Blackwater I was slightly concerned the season finale would be a let down, but nope, it was everything but. Shows how incredible GoT is, really. One of the best bits is that, yeah, there's a cliffhanger, but the real cliffhangers (plural) are the unresolved plot threads; all the storylines left dangling where you just want to know what happens next.

It really is one big long story that has to be divided up to be told, and one day, when it's all over, it might be fun to watch the entire thing back to back (not in one sitting -- it should be over 80 hours long by then), ignoring the season divides, to see the scope of it as a single tale.


The Good Life
2x06 Home Sweet Home

It's amazing how often classic TV series do plots mid-season that would definitely be finale material these days; and then, of course, just have "another episode" at the end. I wonder when the concept of a big climax became de rigueur for series television -- it seems so obvious, structurally.


Mad Men
6x01 The Doorway Part 1
6x02 The Doorway Part 2

Another double-length episode / two-parter (depending how you look at it) to kick off a season of Mad Men. I felt it was missing a certain something... and not just the last seven minutes that my hastily-uploaded copy didn't have. (I shall catch them tomorrow, when I've downloaded a fuller copy.)

For those waiting for it to come to Sky Atlantic, it begins on Wednesday at 10pm. Enjoy the wait.


Veronica Mars
1x04 The Wrath of Con