Films

The Bourne Legacy (2012)
[#55 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

I'll write a full review of this on 100 Films in due course (hopefully by the end of the week, as it's on Sky Movies Premiere from Friday and I do like to tie in to things); but for now I'll say that it's massively disappointing. It puts all my criticism of Ultimatum yesterday in the shade, because (as I said) that's only a smidgen off the other Bourne films, while this is leagues apart. For much of the running time it's not even good as a generic action-thriller, because it's quite spectacularly dull.

Ironically, this is the first Bourne film that leaves the storyline truly open-ended. The other sequels found threads to pick up on, true, but if the series had stopped after either Identity or Supremacy, you had a complete tale (and Ultimatum too, of course). This closes on basically a cliffhanger. And I say that's ironic because it's also the first time that I have no desire to see a follow-up.

I believe they could have continued this series without the character of Jason Bourne -- there's potential in some of the ideas here. But this version just doesn't work, as a compelling film or worthy successor.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
8x18 Weekend at Barney's
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Ripper Street
1x03 The King Came Calling

Films

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
[2nd watch]

Here we go, then: the most uber-praised of all the Bourne movies, which I haven't seen since it reached DVD in late 2007.

And I still think it's overrated.

Really, I'm talking relative to the other two films. In and of itself, it's a great action-thriller, rattling along with both story and action, pushing boundaries in entertaining fashion. But it feels like the series is retreading old ground -- oh look, another shady CIA conspiracy, even higher up than the last two! And oh look, a twist where an agent who seemed newly assigned actually had an ulterior motive to be after Bourne all along! And so on.

And then there's the final act, which feels like too pat a conclusion. Bourne finds out everything (including stuff I'm sure we'd well guessed); all sorts of stuff gets publicly exposed and people are brought to justice; etc etc.

There are some great sequences along the way -- the Waterloo bit is amongst the series' very finest, the New York car chase rivals Supremacy's (though I still think Identity's Mini tops both), and the Tangier sequence, while being thoroughly silly (how the hell can all these people chase each other across all those rooftops and tiny side streets?), is still pretty great.

But overall, I find it slightly less enjoyable than the previous two... though if Identity is 5/5, perhaps Supremacy is 4.9/5 and Ultimatum is 4.8/5. Something like that.

Fiction

Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
Book Two, Chapters 6-8
Book Three, Chapters 1-5
Envoi [the end]

Well, that was rather good. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi with a comical, satirical edge. It's not as laugh-out-loud funny as something like Hitchhiker's, but it has a point (or points) to make, and a set of organisations and world views to criticise, and it tackles both entertainingly.

For a lot more about the novel -- including an interview with Harrison, details on the BBC radio and comic book adaptations, and the numerous sequels -- have a look here.

TV

The Voice UK
2x11 The Knockouts 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
7x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
[3rd watch]

The second Bourne film attracted much controversy and debate when it was first released, mainly to do with director Paul Greengrass' style of up-close, fast-cut, handheld photography. Watched nine years on, it doesn't look anything like as radical -- this style has become fairly standard. It's one I think works better on a small screen than in the cinema, I think. A wall-sized picture moving around at such a dizzying rate can be confusing and troublesome, but a smaller TV context makes it more followable.

As for the film itself, it's a worthy sequel. On IMDb the first one has the user voters' edge by something like 0.3 out of 10, and I'm inclined to agree -- they've both great (I'd rate both several higher than the IMDb averages, incidentally), and both have a lot to offer in slightly different ways, but overall the first one edges it.

Fiction

Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
Chapters 6-8
Book Two, Chapters 1-5

Just to clarify, there is no "Book One" -- it's chapters 1 to 8, then Book Two (and, later, Book Three).

this week on 100 Films

You may have noticed that it's now June, so we begin this week's update by looking back at May. It's a bumper post this month, including some results from my Harry Potter poll and a top five of movie car chases, as well as the usual list and analysis of what I've been watching.

Alongside that, two brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)

Designed to launch Monty Python to a US audience who wouldn’t have seen the TV series, And Now For contains around 40 sketches [from the TV series]...

Ironically, US reviews were mixed and the film did little business at the box office, while in the UK it was popular enough to turn a profit, despite the fact it contained nothing new for British fans — “indeed many were disappointed that the film seemed to belie its title.”

Read more here.


The Lost Weekend (1945)

Directed by the inestimable Billy Wilder, winner of the Grand Prix at the first Cannes, winner of the Best Picture Oscar, and also Best Actor, Director, and Screenplay, it's a wonder that The Lost Weekend isn't better known...

Read more here.


And finally, new to the new blog...


Million Dollar Baby (2004)

it’s an incredibly anti-boxing movie. No good character’s life isn’t in some way ruined by the ‘sport’: Meg is paralysed and ultimately loses her life, not to mention realising how awful her family are; Morgan Freeman’s lost the sight in one eye and is reduced to cleaning up a run-down gym; ‘Danger’ gets beat-up; and Frankie’s lost his daughter, gets screwed over by his protégé, and ultimately loses Meg too. In no way is this a cheery depiction of boxing.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Have I Got News For You
45x08 (24/5/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
6x08 Boat [season finale]
In every interview, Lee Mack seemed to build up the will-they-won't-they angle, and then in the last episode... barely a mention. Hey-ho.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
2x10 The Knockouts 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Bourne Identity (2002)
[4th watch]

The last time I watched a Bourne film was when I saw The Bourne Ultimatum for the first and (to date) last time way back in December 2007, which means it's somewhere in the region of six or seven years since I last saw this. And it's 11 years old now! Crikey! Still feels quite fresh though, and I think its influence is still apparent on cinema -- just look at Euro-thrillers like the year-before-last's Unknown, for example.

The latest Bourne film, Legacy, is on Sky Movies Premiere from next Friday. I've had it on Blu-ray for a while now, intending to do a full series re-watch in the lead up to it (what with it being so long since I last saw any of them), so now's finally the time. If all goes to plan, expect to see Supremacy here tomorrow, Ultimatum on Monday, and Legacy on Tuesday, with a 100 Films review to follow before it's on TV (hopefully!)

Articles

Matt Smith to leave after Christmas Special
by Chuck Foster (from Doctor Who News)

Well, there you go. I do like Smith, but I can't help but feel this is one in the eye for all those smug whatnots who misread his comments months ago and assumed he'd already confirmed he was in series 8.

Collection Count

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

This week, I got the two '60s Dalek movies on Blu-ray, replacing my old DVD. Aside from a calculation error on the number of films, that's it.

Number of titles in collection: 1,565 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,162 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 403 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,908 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,678 [down 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,765 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
13x08 (24/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
6x07 Magic
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
6x50 (22/5/12 edition)

TV

The Good Life
4x02 The Green Door

Veronica Mars
1x21 A Trip to the Dentist
1x22 Leave It to Beaver [season finale]
Ah-ha, the mystery is solved! But ooh, a cliffhanger too...

Films

The Seventh Seal (1957)
[#54 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Articles

Doctor Who: 11 thoughts on Series 7
by Rob Smedley (from Cult Box)

Some pretty fair points about "maybe the most divisive run yet since the show’s 2005 revival".

TV

Mad Men
6x08 The Crash

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Watson and Oliver
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Once Upon a Time
2x03 The Lady of the Lake
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Veronica Mars
1x20 M.A.D.

Would I Lie To You?
7x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2012)
[#53 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Fiction

Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
Chapters 4-5

TV

Mad Men
6x07 Man with a Plan

Miranda
1x02 Teacher [2nd watch]
Somewhat unbelievably, I haven't actually watched this since it first aired 3½ years ago. Ought to take the time to do a full re-watch.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

DVD Extras

A Conversation with J.K. Rowling and Daniel Radcliffe

The creator/author and star of the Harry Potter series have a chat with each other for an hour. That's it. Some people are never going to find that appealing, of course, but for the interested it's fascinating. And even at an entire hour, one wishes there was more time -- so many interesting topics go accidentally unexplored, and you just feel that there's so much more left both could say about... everything, really.

(This was originally included on the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Blu-ray, but the version I watched is a 15-minutes-longer cut included in the Wizard's Collection.)

Fiction

Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
Chapters 1-3

The first Proper Book I'm reading on my Kindle, after buying it half by accident. It's the novel on which Alex Cox's Kickstarter (which I backed) is based, so it seemed a bright idea to read it. And it's good.

It's part of Gollancz's SF Gateway series, which, as they describe in the introduction, are ebooks of titles that might not see print in traditional circumstances, allowing readers access to things they might otherwise have to root around in endless second-hand shops in a vain hope of finding, if they even heard about them in the first place. Or, to put it another way, the kind of thing that makes the current explosion in ereaders and digital books actually worthwhile.

TV

Have I Got News For You
45x07 (17/5/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
3x07 (8/12/12 edition)

Films

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
[#52a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[2nd watch]

This was #2 in 100 Films 2012, and now it completes my Harry Potter re-watch, which has neatly filled all the Sundays in April and May. And it's flown by, too!


Shane (1953)
[#52 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

this week on 100 Films

Three brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Django Unchained (2012)

I’m going to offer pretty unrelenting praise for Django Unchained, but it’s hard to know where to begin. With the cinematography and its extraordinary range? Or how about those action sequences? Or there’s always QT’s renowned music choices? Or the performances?

Read more here.


The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

The third film in the series ditches a number for a subtitle; ditches the US settings for Japan; and ditches every character from the earlier films in favour of a fresh start. What remains is the tone and the content. The plot is the usual mix of street racing and gangster posturing, though at least the “woohoo hot chicks!” and rap culture business has been toned down from last time.

Read more here.


The Last Boy Scout (1991)

a wonderful noir feel permeates through much of the film. This is thanks in part to cinematographer Ward Russell. Technically this is neo-noir, but it makes you want to call it “neon-noir” — pitch black frames punctuated by glowing coloured lights.

Read more here.


Additionally, new to the new blog were...


Final Destination (2000)

The most important part, all things considered, are the ways Death settles the score. No mysterious “natural causes” demises here — it's all about inventive executions. Even after a decade, in which some of the Great Big Shocks have been revealed in various Top 10s and “OMG do you remember the bit where…” conversations, some bits remain impressive and/or amusing.

Read more here.


Final Destination 2 (2003)

To say any more about the deaths would be to ruin the film. Trust that they are suitable inventive, occasionally surprising — there’s a neat twist in who the first handful of victims are — and the build up to each littered with red herrings and misdirections.

Read more here.


Final Destination 3 (2006)

the deaths? Some are moderately inventive, and one or two even provoked a crumb of the intended amusement, but somehow it didn’t click as it was clearly intended to (i.e. more with the humour of the second than the fear of the first).

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Job Lot
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

The Voice UK
2x09 Super Battle Saturday
Someone clearly decided two solid hours on Saturday night would be a better idea than taking up time on both Saturday and Sunday. I'm undecided if they were right.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Articles

How Shakespeare Saved Avengers
by David Itzkoff (from the New York Times)

A brief but interesting piece on Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, featuring interviews with Mr Whedon and his wife (and producer) Kai Cole.

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,565 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 402 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,908 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,680 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,765 [up 4]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
13x07 (17/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
8x17 The Ashtray
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Playhouse Presents
2x02 Snodgrass
Definitely among the better ones. Maybe series two will be an improvement...

Scott & Bailey
3x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
A suitably epic/dramatic finale, but as plausible as ever. I presume this has remained as popular as ever and this won't be the last we see of them...
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Not Going Out
6x06 Play
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Playhouse Presents
1x09 The Man
That was definitely among the better ones. But then, quality writer, quality cast, what do you expect?
Also, that concludes my experiences with series one of Playhouse. It was a mixed bag, which I suppose you should expect from an anthology series, though on the whole it felt like it erred towards the less-good. I've still got most of series two so far recorded, though.

Ripper Street
1x02 In My Protection
Blimey, was this really on in January?! I knew I'd left it a while, but didn't think it was that long.

Scott & Bailey
3x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Watson and Oliver
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
7x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Mad Men
6x06 For Immediate Release
Ooh, intriguing developments! I have a feeling it's going to go very badly in the long (or possibly short) run, though...

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Playhouse Presents
1x07 The Snipist
Taking half-an-hour to tell a story that wouldn't adequately fill a four-page Future Shock? Ugh. And I was quite looking forward to this one too.

Veronica Mars
1x19 Hot Dogs

Comics

Judge Dredd: The Dark Judges
Judge Death by John Wagner & Brian Bolland

I just got a hand-me-down Kindle, one of the black and white ones, but recent enough to read comics. So colour ones look daft, but black and white ones look rather nifty. So I got this book, cheap-like. This story -- the first ever to feature one of Dredd's most memorable nemeses -- first appeared in 2000 AD Progs 149-151 back in 1980.

TV

Vicious
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Les Misérables (2012)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

On Dangerous Ground (1952)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Case Histories
2x01 Started Early, Took My Dog
Considering the first series was on in 2011, I assumed they weren't bothering with more. But no, here it is! And despite now being in single 90-minute episodes instead of 120-minute two-parters, it somehow feels slow. But quite good. Though why can't someone turn the lights on for some/any/all of the interior scenes?
Though, aww, look at the cute doggie!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
5x22 Red John's Rules [season finale]
So that's Arrow, Elementary and The Mentalist all down for the summer. Maybe it's time to resume Dexter...
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Collection Count

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

This one's late for the same reasons as yesterday's 100 Films update. Not too many things to add, but a few -- and a running time update to calculate too. But first, the regular stats:

Number of titles in collection: 1,564 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,162 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 402 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,907 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,680 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,761 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]

And the new running time is...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
281 days, 12 hours, and 7 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 10 hours, and 33 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Elementary
1x23 The Woman
1x24 Heroine [season finale]
A two-part finale, shown as a single long episode in the US but being split up over here (I think the first half is on this Tuesday). It was a little slow in places, but some fine twists that I wasn't expecting.

The Good Life
4x01 Away From It All

Have I Got News For You
45x06 (10/5/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
[#48a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]

This was previously #70 in 100 Films 2011.

And now, it's almost the end of my Harry Potter re-watch! All being well, this time next week it'll be the grand finale. It's flown by.

this week on 100 Films

A busy week has delayed my regular weekend round-ups, but here's one now...

So, just one new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

I have much more I could have said about The Dark Knight Rises, but damn I’m fed up with still having films from 2012 on my to-do list! A fuller piece may well accompany a re-watch in the future.

Read more here.


But there were quite a few new to the new blog...


The Damned United (2009)

I have no idea if Sheen’s Clough is anything like the real man — though, based on form, I imagine he’s spot on — but it’s an outstanding performance regardless. Effortlessly charming on first encounter, [but] the cocksure and awkward-to-work-with man beneath the charismatic veneer is gradually revealed.

Read more here.


Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

a different kind of war film. While it seems to have been promoted as the story of the battle for Iwo Jima, it’s more about the experience of three men, both on the island and upon their return to America

Read more here.


Funny Face (1957)

Funny Face has Audrey Hepburn falling in love with someone old enough to be her dad. Fortunately, there’s enough other entertaining stuff going on to keep us distracted from that fact.

Read more here.


Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Companion to Flags of Our Fathers, and widely considered the better of the two, showing the same battle from the Japanese perspective.

Read more here.


Righteous Kill (2008)

It’s dull. Properly dull — not slow, not measured, not leisurely — just dull. Director Jon Avnet tries to spice things up occasionally with some swishy camerawork or editing [but] it doesn’t work; if anything, it makes it worse.

Read more here.


The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network sounds like it should be awful — Facebook: The Movie? What?! — but it’s actually brilliant.

Read more here.


Thumbsucker (2005)

It's so good that all I can remember about it is that I've seen it.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
33x14 The Name of the Doctor [season finale]

Well, that was a nice 45-minute teaser for the anniversary special!

In all seriousness though, there were some neat things in this episode, including bits that finally made it feel like part of the celebratory 50th anniversary year; but as a satisfying self-contained episode in its own right, no -- it was too embedded in resolving hanging issues from the past (not all of them that interesting; or, alternatively, not that interestingly resolved) and setting up where the series is going next.

Shame, actually, because there was room (and need?) for a calmer, more reflective, and ending-y finale, rather than another cliffhanger.

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



Eurovision Song Contest: Malmö 2013
[Watch it (again) soon on iPlayer.]

Articles

Why do Doctor Who fans hate Doctor Who?
by Penelope Irving (from The Black Hole Blog at Spaceforce)

I think it’s a product of the show’s longevity, its uniquely remoldable format and its status as a cultural icon. Other fandoms have deep divisions, but they are usually over specific issues. I’m not sure the phenomenon of fans who are active and committed, and who also seem to loathe the current show, exists in other fandoms.

TV

Arrow
1x23 Sacrifice [season finale]
Crikey, that was certainly Big! And it's nice to once again have a series that gets on with its stories, rather than making everything multi-year mystery that never seems to end. Some proper twists and surprises too.
(For UK-pace viewers, this is on Sky1 on Monday.)

The Graham Norton Show
13x06 (10/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
8x16 Bad Crazy
Aww, what a lovely cameo by convicted rapist and ear-biter Mike Tyson.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Django Unchained (2012)
[#48 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Ben Earl: Trick Artist
1x03 Science
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher
The Murder in Angel Lane
ITV's 2011 adaptation of the titular true-crime "non-fiction novel" went down so well that they commissioned this completely fiction follow-up, clearly designed to launch a series. It's quite good, but at the end strayed too far from real-life plausibility into pure Detective Drama territory. And it feels a bit weird to take a real person, tell a very true story about them, and then begin making stuff up under the same title.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Arrow
1x22 Darkness on the Edge of Town

The Job Lot
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x08 (11/5/13 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x18 Weapons of Class Destruction

Watson and Oliver
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer].

Music

Random Access Memories by Daft Punk

It feels like this has been trending on Twitter for ages (I think it's just "all week" -- but still, that's a long time in Twitter terms), I guess because it's streaming for free and, for some reason, out of the blue, everyone loves Daft Punk these days. The actual tweets suggested quite a mixed reception, so I caved and listened to it too, and I quite liked it.

Personal favourite track is #5, Instant Crush (starts at 22:49 on the stream), and I like the Apollo 17 quote on Contact. Plus Get Lucky really does get in your head, doesn't it.

TV

Elementary
1x22 Risk Management
That would've been a much bigger surprise if they hadn't announced the casting...

Plebs
1x05 Bananae
1x06 Saturnalia [season finale]
[Watch Bananae and Saturnalia (again) on ITV Player.]

Vicious
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

Would I Lie To You?
7x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Mad Men
6x05 The Flood

The Mentalist
5x21 Red and Itchy
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Not Going Out
6x05 Rachel
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
2x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

DVD Extras

Creating the World of Harry Potter
Part 7 Story

An eight-part documentary series found on the Harry Potter Ultimate Editions and in the Wizard's Collection, covering the entire making of the series in themed parts. Whereas most 'episodes' are made up of old & new interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and the like, this is just a 45-minute conversation between author J.K. Rowling and the screenwriter of 7 of the 8 movies, Steve Kloves. Very informative and enlightening it is too.

TV

The British Academy Television Awards 2013
Last year I described the awards as "rather uncomfortable". This year, I thought it was mostly good fun, with some very worthy and entertaining winners. So that's all good.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
33x13a She Said, He Said: A Prequel
The prequel to the season finale. It was promoted as one of the longest they've ever done, which is a technicality because it's all of 3½ minutes. But it's an odd one -- normally these are pointless bonus scenes set just before the episode takes place, perhaps teasing one element of it... but this feels more like a specially-shot trailer, recapping the mysteries of the season and ending with a tease for the episode. Weird.
[Watch it (again) on the official Doctor Who site.]

The Voice UK
2x08 The Battle Rounds 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
[#47a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[2nd watch]

This was #84 in 100 Films 2009. I remembered it as being little more than 2½ hours of setup for Deathly Hallows, but it's actually much better than that.


The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
[#47 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

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