TV

Friends
3x11 The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister [4th or so watch]

Suburgatory
2x11 Yakult Leader
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Wrong Mans
1x03 Dead Mans
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Non-Fiction

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook
Book One, Chapters 3-4

TV

Castle
3x03 Under the Gun
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Cowboy Bebop
1x07 Heavy Metal Queen
1x08 Waltz for Venus
And to think, I was once worried I would finish the first half of the series long before the second box set was out -- and that was before the release date was put back to today. Still, good a time as any to resume.

Doctor Who
21x22 The Twin Dilemma Part Two
The accepted wisdom that it was a mistake to make the Doctor so unlikeable in his first outing remains true, but, nonetheless, Colin Baker's performance is the best thing here by a mile.

Friends
3x10 The One Where Rachel Quits [4th or so watch]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
27x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
1x01 The First Doctor
BBC America's 11-part Doctor Who retrospective, which has been running all year over there at a rate of one a month, finally makes it to the UK courtesy of Watch, who are airing the whole thing across six weekends. It's a bit of a beginner's guide, but that also means it serves as a pleasant-enough overview for those of us more familiar with the show's history. Plus you get to hear the thoughts of insiders like David Tennant and Steven Moffat.

Downton Abbey
4x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Friends
3x09 The One with the Football [4th or so watch]

DVD Extras

Doctor Who: The Golden Age

Short featurette on the Tenth Planet DVD (officially out tomorrow) that sets out to expose the fallacy that there was once a "golden age" of the programme. And it's quite right too. Of course different people have different favourite eras, for whatever reason, but you can't really single out a point when it was unquestionably better than at any other point.

this week on 100 Films

Firstly, allow me to point you towards the 100 Films in a Year summary of what's on TV today. They all happen to be on Channel 5, oddly.


Now then, down to regular business. Three brand-new reviews were published this week, and they were...


The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

“Old fogies go to India” is the setup of this frothy comedy-drama... But when said fogies are played by Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie and Penelope Wilton, it will surprise no one to learn there’s something here for us all.

Read more here.


The Debt (2011)

a team of Mossad agents are hailed as heroes following a high-value mission, only to face serious repercussions decades later. A cast led by Oscar winner Helen Mirren and nominees Jessica Chastain and Tom Wilkinson help affirm this as serious-minded Cold War drama

Read more here.


Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece (1961)

the first of two live-action Tintin movies made by the French in the ’60s. It seems quite a low-budget affair, but that might just be applying modern tastes to an era of more simple means. For all the flat direction and pound-store costumes, there’s still a globetrotting plot involving sunken ships, numerous chases, helicopters, and that kind of thing.

Read more here.


And there were loads new to the new blog (four today alone), as follows...


Angels & Demons (2009)

It still concerns itself with Hanks’ Langdon dashing about trying to solve insanely cryptic clues in a limited timeframe, surrounded by irritating policeman, suspicious friendly characters, and a girl who is almost pointless. However, it’s a lot less talky

Read more here.


Angels & Demons: Extended Version (2009)

the extended cut is basically the same as the theatrical version. If you enjoyed that then you might want to seek this out for your next viewing, just because why not? If you weren’t impressed before, however, there’s no special incentive to try again.

Read more here.


Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)

It’s a biography of Cardiff’s work, moving chronologically through his major contributions to cinema. The insights are numerous thanks to the number of films covered and a lot of footage from an interview with Cardiff himself.

Read more here.


Glory (1989)

it would be easy to slide into Issue of the Week melodrama in handling such a tale, but Zwick manages it without undue sentiment — there’s an appropriate realisation of the importance of events, perhaps even occasional reverence, but time is taken to show doubts and prejudices.

Read more here.


Hercules (1997)

the tale is told with surprising faithfulness. There’s still a healthy dose of anachronistic content to liven up the humour though. In fact, the sequences with Hercules’ adoring fans and merchandising empire ring even more true in this Twilight-obsessed world than they did 13 years ago.

Read more here.


Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

The first half hour is great fun, but then it gets weird, adds in hefty doses of over-complex plotting, and drags along fairly slowly until it finds an exciting climax a little late on.

Read more here.


Vantage Point (2008)

I don’t imagine you’ve missed the endless comparisons [to Rashomon] But, in fact, it’s nothing like it... There are no lies and no real misdirection; none of the characters interpret what they see, we’re just shown it from where they were standing.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Atlantis
1x03 A Boy of No Consequence
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
3x07 The One with the Race Car Bed [4th or so watch]
3x08 The One with the Giant Poking Device [4th or so watch]

Films

Fast & Furious (2009)
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Comics

Dredd Underbelly: Part Two by Arthur Wyatt & Henry Flint
(from Judge Dredd Megazine #341)

In which things suddenly, almost inexplicably, leap forward from last time. It feels like some of the story has been skipped, even. Ho hum.

Collection Count

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

A big pile of Doctor Who DVDs this week (six, to be precise) sees my DVD collection of the classic series become almost complete... just as they find some more stories. But I have those on pre-order now, so yay. And aside from such as-yet-unreleased titles (which, obviously, I couldn't own) and a few Special Editions (which are all still a bit pricey), there's only one story I don't have! So if anyone sees The Ambassadors of Death for about a fiver, do let me know...

Number of titles in collection: 1,623 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,193 [up 7]
Of which Blu-rays: 430 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,033 [up 9]
Number of films in collection: 1,719 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,994 [up 27]
Number of short films in collection: 404 [up 12]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Doctor Who
21x21 The Twin Dilemma Part One

While everyone else (not literally, but you know what I mean -- that's how it feels) is busy watching The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear off iTunes, I'm waiting for the DVDs (November and February respectively) -- and, instead, watching a story I've never seen.

Last night, while waiting for the official confirmation of which missing episodes had been found, I worked out that there are around 310 previously-existing episodes of Who that I've never watched. So while this new find is exciting on many levels, and is all kinds of improbable and wonderful, for me it's not a "must see now!" moment -- it just increases the number of episodes I've never seen (and decreases the number of missing episodes I've not listened to, haha!) That's why I'm in no rush... which is great, because each story is something like £10 on iTunes, and then £13 again for each on DVD in only a few months, so I'm saving £20.

Anyway: #bbbDW50 (note the new link). It's time for the Sixth Doctor, and (as I mentioned before) after jumping 8½ years to get from the Fourth to Fifth Doctors, the time skipped to reach this is just one week.

There are several reasons for that choice, but one is the marvellous symmetry of it: Androzani is The Greatest Doctor Who Story Ever Made™, and it is immediately -- immediately -- followed by The Worst Doctor Who Story Ever Made™. Plus it's one of only two Sixth Doctor tales I've never seen (the other is Timelash, the second-worst story ever), which is a bonus.

And it really is dreadful. The writing, the acting, the costumes, the sets, the monsters, the music... everything is awful. It's slow, it's dull, it's unlikeable, it's irritating. It's not even so-bad-it's-funny. And ever so slow -- the Doctor and Peri spend the entire episode in the TARDIS! Dear God!

I imagine it doesn't improve from here.


The Great British Bake Off
4x08 Quarter Final
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


Have I Got News For You
46x01 (4/10/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Non-Fiction

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook
Book One, Chapter 2

TV

Friends
3x06 The One with the Flashback [4th or so watch]
Oh, if only they'd known how many more flashbacks they'd do...

Mock the Week
12x11 (3/10/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
21x20 The Caves of Androzani Part Four [2nd watch]

And so The Greatest Doctor Who Story Ever Made™ comes to a close. It really is a corker, I think. OK, the monster is crap (and also needless), and there's a couple of bits of duff dialogue here and there -- but in the same way that no Who story is completely without merit, no great one is completely without some drawback. Everything else about Androzani is so exceptional -- particularly in this final part, where it all comes together magnificently -- that the minor sticking points can be largely overlooked.

Next time: after jumping 8½ years to get from the Fourth to Fifth Doctors, the time skipped to reach the Sixth is... one week. If you don't know what that means... well, you'll see...


Friends
3x04 The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel [4th or so watch]
3x05 The One with Frank Jr. [4th or so watch]


The Two Ronnies Spectacle
1x02 The Sketches

Films

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Non-Fiction

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook
Foreword by Philip Pullman
Introduction by Russell T Davies
Introduction by Benjamin Cook
Book One, Chapter 1

In 2008, then-showrunner Russell T Davies and DWM journalist Benjamin Cook co-wrote a book about Davies' experiences writing & running Who. I devoured it in 10 days back in January 2009, because it was fascinatingly insightful, brilliantly written, and gorgeously designed to boot.

Come the time for a paperback version in 2010, and Davies had finished his time on the show -- the original book covered Davies' final full series, after which they (of course) produced a run of specials. So the paperback is updated to include those episodes... but what's extraordinary and special and wonderful is that this update isn't just a chapter or two stuck on the end, oh no. Of the paperback's 693 pages, fully 353 of them are part of the updated section. Or, to put it another way: over half. It's another whole book again! Wonderful if you didn't buy the original Writer's Tale (essentially you're getting a whole extra book free); and even if you did, it makes the paperback a worthwhile proposition (if they'd just published the new stuff it would surely command the same price).

I've had this second edition/sequel/whatever it is for years now (I got it for Christmas the year it came out, if I remember rightly; though as it's a 5th printing, maybe it was for a later birthday/etc); but, even though I loved the first volume, it somehow wound up being put unread on my shelf. Well, with the 50th anniversary fast approaching, what better time to dig it out and dig in? The only question: do I re-read all of what I read before (it is nearly 5 years ago now -- more than enough time has passed to need a recap/appreciate a re-experiencing), or just go straight to the new stuff? It's a bloody long thing to re-read, after all; but if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

Something I notice before I begin: the original had 15 chapters (and an epilogue-bit), while this version of the first book has just 12. I don't imagine they've omitted three chapters' worth of stuff, so I guess it got restructured. They did remove the four early-draft scripts that were in the hardback, so perhaps that necessitated some combining of chapters. Anyway...

TV

Friends
3x03 The One with the Jam [4th or so watch]

The Sarah Millican Slightly Longer Television Programme
3x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Wrong Mans
1x02 Bad Mans
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
21x19 The Caves of Androzani Part Three [2nd watch]
Aside from the poorly-realised Magma Creature, Androzani really is brilliant. The direction is first-rate, the performances are top-notch, the story is second-to-none... even the lighting, notoriously dreadful throughout the Davison era, has been nailed. And that cliffhanger...!

Friends
3x02 The One Where No One's Ready [5th or so watch]
We once studied this at university as a perfect example of economical but hilarious screenwriting. And it really is.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
27x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Newsroom
2x05 News Night with Will McAvoy

Fiction

Solo by William Boyd
Part Four, Chapters 6-12
Part Five, Chapters 1-2 [the end]

Well, I thought that was really good. A cracking spy story, a well-observed recreation of Bond and Fleming (without slipping in to parody), all-round a good read. It does have a bit of an open-ended conclusion, though, so (when combined with the fact it was so good) I dearly hope IFP can persuade Boyd back for another go.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the 90s
Channel 4 seem to have these on fairly regularly now, but I normally only bother with the 'traditional' year-end one. This one, however, had a good line-up of guests. And it was quite fun, so, yeah.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Castle
3x02 He's Dead, She's Dead
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Friends
3x01 The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy [4th or so watch]
I feel like I've seen season three even less than season two, but who bloody knows.

Films

Team America: World Police (2004)
[3rd watch]

Matt. Damooon.

Fiction

Solo by William Boyd
Part Three, Chapters 1-5
Part Four, Chapters 1-5

this week on 100 Films

First up, as it's now October that means its time for the always exciting 100 Films in a Year monthly update.

How good was September? This good. Also at that link: five great Shakespeare adaptations.


And that wasn't all this week, oh no. There were also three new reviews published, including...


Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Deluxe Edition) (2013)

Given the choice, I think this adaptation functions better in its original, intended, two-part version; but the single-film version is not fundamentally different to double-billing its constituent parts. [But] though there are aesthetic reasons for choosing to watch The Dark Knight Returns as two separate features, there are several unavoidable reasons why picking up the Deluxe Edition is preferable.

Read more here.


Les Misérables (2012)

Jackman is the star of the show, and brings his musical theatre background to bear on a clearly-sung but emotive performance. He was unlucky to be in the same awards year as Daniel Day-Lewis’ all-conquering turn in Lincoln, because otherwise those gongs might well have been his.

Read more here.


Safe House (2012)

Denzel Washington is a fugitive, Ryan Reynolds is the CIA rookie who ends up looking after him — and later, chasing him — after Something Goes Wrong at the titular abode in this workmanlike thriller

Read more here.


And finally, reviews new to the new blog...


Great Expectations (1998)

It comes across more as an academic exercise in turning a British Victorian novel into a modern American movie than a believable tale that works in isolation. Indeed, many of the changes appear to be designed purely to help distance it: the changed character names, the focus on the love story, and so on. Yet it directly recreates many scenes from the novel, and it obviously retains its title

Read more here.


Solaris (2002)

When Andrei Tarkovsky adapted Stanislaw Lem’s thoughtful science fiction novel in 1972, it took 165 minutes. When Steven Soderbergh did it 30 years later, it took just over 90. Lem hated them both, stating that he didn’t write about people’s “erotic problems in space”, but for those concerned with what the film is about rather than what it (perhaps) should have been about, it seems that an abbreviated running time is no barrier to loading any adaptation of Solaris with a weighty thoughtfulness.

Read more here.


Stormbreaker (2006)

An adaptation of the first in Anthony Horowitz’s bestselling series of Alex Rider novels. It does a good job of translating the book, aided by an extensive cast of recognisable Brits (and some Yanks) and some entertaining action sequences.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Belatedly, here's this week's small update... followed by the always-fun monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 1,616 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,186 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 430 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,024 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,719 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,967 [up 1]
Number of short films in collection: 392 [no change]

And that all-action running time update tells us...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
288 days, 22 hours, and 6 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 3 hours, and 13 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Atlantis
1x02 A Girl By Any Other Name
That name presumably being "Morgana", as the makers of this (and, funnily enough, Merlin) seem to have borrowed her arc plot for Medusa.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
2x23 The One with the Chicken Pox [4th or so watch]
2x24 The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding [season finale; 4th or so watch]

Films

Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
[2nd watch; #84a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

To mark Doctor Who's 50th anniversary on my film blog, I'm intending to write Make/Remake articles on the two Dalek movies. Which naturally means re-watching them, because I haven't seen them for years (and now own them on Blu-ray).

Initial impression is, I liked this a good deal more than I used to, which I think might have been received wisdom about them being almost a blight on Who history. It's certainly of comparable quality to the original serial, which it sticks to very closely.

Fiction

Solo by William Boyd
Part Two, Chapters 9-18

The end of the Africa section of the novel -- next up, Bond goes the titular solo. It's a bit meandering at times, but it builds to a helluva last-minute twist; actually, the kind of twist you feel you should've seen coming, but I didn't at all. Super stuff.

TV

Doctor Who
21x18 The Caves of Androzani Part Two [2nd watch]

Downton Abbey
4x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Friends
2x22 The One with the Two Parties [4th or so watch]

The Great British Bake Off
4x07 Pastry
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Friends
2x21 The One with the Bullies [4th or so watch]

Mock the Week
12x10 (26/9/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
21x17 The Caves of Androzani Part One [2nd watch]

After just four episodes in the presence of the Fourth Doctor (the lowest amount yet, but not the lowest overall), #bbbDW50 races on to the titular Time Lord's fifth incarnation.

This one's a pretty clear choice for a celebration of the show's 50th anniversary: it's the story most recently voted the best ever by fans, in (where else) DWM's Mighty 200 survey. There are a number of contenders for such a lofty position (other regular incumbents include Genesis of the Daleks and The Talons of Weng-Chiang), but Androzani is also a deserving choice -- not least because two of its four episodes feature some of Doctor Who's best ever cliffhangers. (The fact that the middle one's remarkably poor should just be overlooked.)

Despite being a personal favourite too, I've only actually seen it once -- I first got into Who through the Target novelisations, and Androzani was one I read and loved from those early days of my fandom. Nice to revisit it properly, then -- it deserves it, it's bloody great.


Friends
2x20 The One Where Old Yeller Dies [4th or so watch]


The Hoff's Best Film ...Ever!
1x06 The Hoff's Best Romantic Comedy Film ...Ever! [season finale]
Action, Horror, Sports, Sci-Fi... Yeah, rom-com totally fits with that.


Suburgatory
2x10 Chinese Chicken
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

Unintentional comedy day...

Friends
2x18 The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies [4th or so watch]
2x19 The One Where Eddie Won't Go [4th or so watch]

The Hoff's Best Film ...Ever!
1x04 The Hoff's Best Dance Film ...Ever!
Action, Horror, Sports, Sci-Fi... Yeah, dance totally fits with that.

The Sarah Millican Slightly Longer Television Programme
3x01 Episode 1
Miss Millican goes the way of most BBC comedy programmes and gets a buried-in-the-schedules extended-by-10-minutes repeat of her programme.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer, or watch the shorter version in HD.]

The Two Ronnies Spectacle
1x01 Two Become One
Like Bring Me Morecambe & Wise, but with the Two Ronnies. So that's nice.

The Wrong Mans
1x01 The Wrong Mans
A new comedy-thriller from Horrible Histories' Mathew Baynton and Gavin & Stacey's James Corden. Very promising first part -- funny and thrilleringy.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
13x04 Terror of the Zygons Part Four [2nd watch]

OK, so maybe I was wrong about the Skarasen the other day. Some dodgy effects at the end aside, though, this is a cracking conclusion to a great story. Top choice for the Fourth Doctor, if I do say so myself.

Also noteworthy, #bbbDW50 reaches the halfway point today: this is the 25th episode of the 50 we'll be watching to mark the anniversary. (However, because scheduling decisions will see the final 10 episodes squeezed into two weeks, the chronological halfway point was... yesterday. Huh, thought they'd be further apart than that. But I suppose turning the single-episode TV Movie into a three-parter for our schedule counterbalances the speed of the final episodes. Anyway...)

Incidentally, the 5.1 surround sound mix on the DVD sounds fantastic, especially the theme music.


Friends
2x17 The One Where Eddie Moves In [4th or so watch]


The Great British Bake Off
4x06 Sweet Dough
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


Never Mind the Buzzcocks
27x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Fiction

Solo by William Boyd
Part Two, Chapters 7-8

TV

Friends
2x16 The One Where Joey Moves Out [4th or so watch]

QI
11x03 K-Folk (XL edition)

Films

The Falcon in San Francisco (1945)
[#84 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Flight (2012)
[#83 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, and they were...


The Dinosaur Project (2012)

The story concerns a group of present-day explorers heading into the jungle to find dinosaurs. Lead explorer-man’s son tags along for various contrived reasons, and because he is Young and Hip he brings a bunch of cameras that he’s constantly recording from, hence the found footage thing. And the footage is “found” rather than “returned” because, of course, Things Go Wrong.

Read more here.


Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

At times I wondered if the film might just want to be a straight thriller, but that Kubrick couldn’t escape what he saw as the inherent ludicrousness of the situation. Even if you wanted to try reading the film from that angle, the silly bits are too silly to take the rest seriously.

Read more here.


Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

For a film with world-ending consequences, it all feels a little slight and lacking in scale. I’d say it feels “of its era” — a slightly indefinable feeling based on not only the quality of its CGI but also the cinematography, the choice of locations, the tone and pace... — but it’s less of its era, more a few (or more) years earlier.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...


Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982/2007)

You don’t need me to tell you about Blade Runner. It’s one of the most popular movies ever, if not with a mass audience then with a significantly-sized cult following and even wider-spread respect. Still, I’m going to go on about it for a bit anyway.

Read more here.


Cloverfield (2008)

it’s when the monster turns up that things kick off. From then the film does a great job of creating an unrelenting chase/escape, drawing the viewer in with its first-person/eyewitness style. You’re never going to be fooled into thinking it’s a real thing that really happened, obviously, but it comes as close as it’s likely to.

Read more here.


Jumper (2008)

Budget is plastered across the screen in incredible action sequences that show off the promise of the concept to good effect. Griffin jumping a double decker bus at Roland is a particular highlight. The jumping car chase, on the other hand, is visually neat and a good idea, but also entirely pointless

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Atlantis
1x01 The Earth Bull
The BBC's attempt at a Merlin replacement is another rejigging of familiar myths and legends, from the same people who made Merlin. Seems like a safe bet, eh? On the evidence of the first episode, it's certainly of a level with Merlin -- though if they're not careful it'll be too of a level, recycling character arcs and 'twists' on familiar icons that we've seen before.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
2x14 The One with the Prom Video [4th or so watch]
2x15 The One Where Ross and Rachel... You Know [4th or so watch]

Films

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Deluxe Edition (2013)
[#82a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

This animated movie was originally released in two parts, one at the end of 2012 and the next early in 2013. Now it's been combined into one long movie and is out on US DVD and Blu-ray in a couple of weeks (except at Best Buy, where it's already available). I've reviewed both parts separately (here and here), so this single-cut doesn't count as a new number.

(Although my rule for things-I've-seen-before-in-a-new-form is they must be significantly different, and this is double the length of either part individually, and watching in one sitting is very different to watching in two chunks separated by many months... they're still the same two films. It's not much different to double-billing the existing versions.)

You can read more of my thoughts in the review I posted on Letterboxd. The same thoughts (and maybe more) will, of course, eventually turn up on 100 Films too.

Fiction

Solo by William Boyd
Part One, Chapters 1-2
Part Two, Chapters 1-6

aka the new James Bond novel!

After the present-day diversion of Carte Blanche, it's back to 1969 for a continuation of Fleming's Bond. That means it's set after Sebastian Faulks' Devil May Care, the first of the current run of continuation novels from five years ago (which was set in '67), but whether it embraces that into continuity or outright contradicts it I don't know (and can't remember Devil May Care well enough to work out).

As a novel unto itself, it's a funny but entertaining mix. It begins with two chapters about Bond's birthday and his strange almost-encounter with a mysterious woman (presumably something that will have renewed relevance later), but then it's off to Africa for Bond to single-handedly stop a civil war. It certainly feels more like a Fleming novel than Jeffrey Deaver's movie-influenced modern novel, and I think it's fair to say that's definitely a good thing.

Articles

Hitchhiker’s Guide director Dirk Maggs: "Douglas Adams told me there was more to come"
by Tristram Fane Saunders (from Radio TImes)

The producer and director on doing justice to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, working with Neil Gaiman, and the debt they both owe to Douglas Adams

Including some of Radio 4's reaction to the recent adaptation of Neverwhere he helmed for them.

Collection Count

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

A Blu-ray! No -- two Blu-rays!

Number of titles in collection: 1,615 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,185 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 430 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,023 [up 6]
Number of films in collection: 1,719 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,963 [up 9]
Number of short films in collection: 392 [no change]

Next week it's the monthly running time update. See you then, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
3x01 A Deadly Affair
Back on C5! After just... 9 months. Well, still, hurrah!
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Celebrity Fifteen to One
That was surprisingly good fun. I imagine the sheer volume of celebrities required for any one edition will prevent this becoming some kind of back-door pilot, though.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Doctor Who
13x03 Terror of the Zygons Part Three [2nd watch]
Y'know, I think the Skarasen is actually a pretty well-executed effect, all things considered -- I mean, this was 1975, on a UK kids' TV budget. Some (like in the BBC episode guide linked above) assert it ruins the story, but that's going far too far. And with this placing in the top 20 of the Mighty 200, it would seem others agree.

Friends
2x12 The One After the Superbowl Part 1 [4th or so watch]
2x13 The One After the Superbowl Part 2 [4th or so watch]
No Superbowl occurs or is mentioned in either of these episodes. I presume it was originally on immediately after said sporting occasion, a point which is thoroughly lost almost 18 years later.

A Touch of Cloth II
2x02 Undercover Cloth Part Two

A Touch of Cloth: Behind the Scenes
Behind the scenes of A Touch of Cloth II, with a look ahead to A Touch of Cloth III.

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
4x06 80s Night Special
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Friends
2x10 The One with Russ [4th or so watch]
2x11 The One with the Lesbian Wedding [4th or so watch]

Mock the Week
12x09 (19/9/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
3x04 Prodigal Son [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Comics

A Redtail's Dream by Minna Sundberg
Chapter 2

Only about four days of the print campaign left, and I'm beginning to feel pretty sold. It's not perfect storytelling -- see my complaints last time, only now with more typos -- but the story and characters are appealing, and the art can be quite beautiful.

Articles

William Boyd's Solo reviewed
by Cathy Rentzenbrink (from The Bookseller)

The new Bond novel. Sounds good. My copy arrived today (the cover looks great in the flesh), but I didn't get a chance to start it.

TV

Archer
4x06 Once Bitten
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Doctor Who
13x02 Terror of the Zygons Part Two [2nd watch]
Damn fine story, this. Weirdly, I'm certain I've seen it before, but whole swathes are unfamiliar. Like the silly bit where Sarah Jane and some soldiers need to split up while chasing a potentially dangerous fellow... so Sarah Jane goes one way and the three armed men the other. But, y'know, other than that.

Friends
2x08 The One with the List [4th or so watch]
2x09 The One with Phoebe's Dad [4th or so watch]
I think I've quite consistently seen all of Friends' first season, but I've definitely seen some of season two (and, probably, later years) more than others. For instance, I'm very familiar with The One with Phoebe's Dad (which is also The One Where Gunther Has His First Line!), but in a few episodes' time it's The One with the Lesbian Wedding, which I feel like I've only seen a couple of times (I've seen the entire series through at least twice already, so, hey).
This doesn't signify anything, just something I've been mulling over.

The Newsroom
2x04 Unintended Consequences
Every episode, it strikes me how clunky (and therefore painfully predictable) Sorkin's writing can actually be (see also: last time). On the bright side, at least some of the plot lines rattle along to revelations, rather than dragging every mystery out only to pay them all off at once in the finale.

TV

Archer
4x05 Vicious Coupling
Hurrah, C5 have deigned to give us more!
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Downton Abbey
4x01 Episode 1
Oh Downton and your funny ways. It's so painfully on the nose at times, and yet Americans seem to think this is Great Drama... even though they produce plenty of subtle, great drama of their own. But as a high-class soap, with plenty of unintentional hilarity, the Abbey can't be beat.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Friends
2x07 The One Where Ross Finds Out [4th or so watch]

The Last Leg
3x08 (18/9/13 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

Dexter
8x12 Remember the Monsters? [series finale]

Another packed episodes, with a near endless array of things that could be discussed -- and debated. Did the show's writers make all the right choices? I'm not sure. The end was always going to be controversial: some fans wanted Dexter caught, some wanted him dead, some wanted him to live happily ever after -- three different endings that are not compatible. But the particular way they went about it... well, of course some people hate it -- some people have hated the whole season; heck, some people have hated the series for years (and yet still they watch...)

Personally, I thought it was mostly fitting, in its way. Don't know if it's what I wanted, per se, but (as discussed) it's a damn hard show to know how to end right. Not sure about the coda, though; it was the one moment where it seemed like the writers lacked the courage of their convictions. But what's done is done.


Doctor Who
13x01 Terror of the Zygons Part One [2nd watch]

My choice for the Fourth Doctor's entry in #bbbDW50 is both an acknowledged classic (it came 17th on DWM's Mighty 200, putting it in the top 9% of all Who tales), and the only on screen appearance for monster design icons the Zygons... before their return in November's 50th anniversary special, of course.

It was also going to finally come out on DVD the very week we were scheduled to watch it... until inserting the TV Movie pushed all my plans a week earlier (see also: Ice Warriors). Fortunately, the Fourth Doctor Time Capsule came to my scheduling rescue.

It's a cracking story, too. The monsters are teased gradually, building to a great -- and very sudden -- cliffhanger. There's plenty of mystery, plenty of excitement and humour. Once again, the stuff shot on location on film looks great -- why oh why couldn't the whole show have had the budget to go that route?!


Friends
2x06 The One with the Baby on the Bus [4th or so watch]

Smelly Cat makes its debut! Sung by someone else! Weird.

Articles

Dexter producers explain finale, defend final season
by James Hibberd (from Inside TV on Entertainment Weekly)

Obviously this is riddled with spoilers if you're waiting for next Sunday's UK airing of the finale. Otherwise, interesting.

TV

Dexter
8x11 Monkey in a Box
And lo, my plan did work perfectly: this episode was on UK TV tonight, and the series finale will be on US TV a few hours after I post this. That's tomorrow's viewing, then.
I don't despise this final season as much as some of Dexter's fans (former fans?), but it's not been the best ever. Nonetheless, still excited to find out what happens in the end.

Films

The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
[#82 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

North by Northwest (1959)
[#81 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

this week on 100 Films

Three new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week!


Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter (2013)

Action-packed, funny, character developing, and with some hilarious cameos at the end… You couldn’t ask for much more from a 15 minute superhero-universe short.

Read more here.


Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 (2012)

This is exactly the kind of tale I presume the imminent TV series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be telling. Considering fans seem ultra-hyped for that, I’m not sure why they dislike Item 47 so much

Read more here.


The Muppets (2011)

a film that embraces the Muppets’ anarchic nature and old-fashioned entertainment style, while also integrating them into the modern world... breaks of the fourth wall abound, and constitute most of the film’s best bits.

Read more here.


Plus a whole load were new to the new blog...


The Green Mile (1999)

draws the viewer into believing that miracles may be possible. It’s a whole hour before Michael Clarke Duncan’s near-silent John Coffey (“like the drink, only not spelled the same”) does his healing thing, at which point what was apparently a straightforward period prison drama gains a new dimension.

Read more here.


Henry V (1944)

I didn’t much care for it. It failed to engage me, and I’d put this down to Olivier’s infamous staging (literally) of it.

Read more here.


Henry V (1989)

Olivier’s version is an over-stylised, propaganda-inspired, outdated version of Shakespeare, whereas Branagh’s is a comprehensible, realistic, textured and, perhaps most importantly, genuinely enjoyable interpretation.

Read more here.


The History Boys (2006)

The History Boys isn’t really about what it’s about — the boys applying for Oxbridge is shoved into a corner almost as soon as it’s introduced — but is instead about their learning, and their experience gained while (and from) learning, and a bit about growing up and discovering oneself too.

Read more here.


Thunderbirds (2004)

If you loved the series you’ll never like this; heck, unless you’re under 10 you’ll probably never like this (and that’s being generous). Maybe, someday, there’ll be a decent new version of Thunderbirds. Sadly, this has probably hindered any attempts at that.

Read more here.


Transformers (2007)

It may be clichéd in places, with too much of a tech fetish, shallow female characters, too many faceless soldiers, bouts of weak dialogue, a muddled climax… But it’s still fun.

Read more here.


Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

This is what happens when a studio allows someone like Bay an essentially limitless budget and less than two years to turn a blockbuster around.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Dexter
8x10 Goodbye Miami
Tension!
And, "only 2 episodes remain this season" ever.

Friends
2x05 The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant [4th or so watch]

The Great British Bake Off
4x05 Biscuits and Traybakes
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Wolf (1994)
[#80 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Articles

Dark Horse Can't Stop the Signal, Relaunches Serenity
by Graeme McMillan (from Heat Vision at The Hollywood Reporter)

Though the currently released info is a little light on specifics (it's happening; the artist is named), it's certainly made to sound like a "Buffy Season 8" style revival of the story -- i.e. a full-blown on-going continuation, rather than a mini-series or one-off (as the franchise has been treated in comics before). Exciting stuff.


Doctor Who: the man who shot the show's first Radio Times photoshoot 50 years ago reveals all
by Patrick Mulkern (from Radio Times)

With little time and no sets, photographer Don Smith managed to pull together some photos that are amongst the most recognisable of the First Doctor's era. It's like the story of the entire series itself: taking not very much and turning it into something incredible and enduring.

Collection Count

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

After the uniqueness of last week's update being 100% DVDs, it's happened again! Don't worry though, I guarantee at least one brand-new Blu-ray next week.

Number of titles in collection: 1,612 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,184 [up 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 428 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,017 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,717 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,954 [up 8]
Number of short films in collection: 392 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Dexter
8x09 Make Your Own Kind of Music
Man, this season is packed with Plot!

Doctor Who
10x04 The Three Doctors Episode Four [2nd watch]
The Third Doctor phase of #bbbDW50 comes to an end today, with this final episode of the 10th anniversary special. Overall I enjoyed the story more this time round, with the antics between the Doctors being particularly fun, but it still has more than its fair share of silliness -- the waddling "om-nom-nom"ing Gel Guards, for instance, or the bizarre fight at the end of episode three. As anniversary celebrations go, The Five Doctors nailed it better. Hopefully The Day of the Doctor can do the same.

Friends
2x03 The One Where Heckles Dies [4th or so watch]
2x04 The One with Phoebe's Husband [4th or so watch]

QI
11x02 Kit and Kaboodle (XL edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

DVD Extras

Commentary on The Green Death Episode Six and Death of the Doctor by Russell T Davies & Katy Manning

Two big, well-matched personalities have a glorious natter over 79 minutes of Doctor Who-related material. Wonderful.

Films

Macbeth (1948)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Dexter
8x08 Are We There Yet?
Loved the 'dysfunctional family' bits of this episode. But the way things are going, feels like next time is more the finale than only the start of the final third! What strange and exciting new twists are left in store for us?

Friends
2x01 The One with Ross's New Girlfriend [4th or so watch]
2x02 The One with the Breast Milk [4th or so watch]
I know I've seen season one a good deal more than some of the middle years, but this is all still very familiar -- and very funny. So we'll go with "4th watch", because it's a bit less unwieldy.

Comics

A Redtail's Dream by Minna Sundberg
Chapter 1

Some of the dialogue is a little clunky (it's obvious English isn't the author's first language), and the word balloon layout could also use some work at times... but other than speech-related issues, the art is lovely, the characters are mostly likeable, and the story is intriguing. Not yet convinced about spending such a large amount on the hardback, but I'm almost there.

TV

Doctor Who
10x03 The Three Doctors Episode Three [2nd watch]
In which the Third Doctor slow-mo wrestles with a pig-nosed bat-eared avatar of Omega in a black-void dreamspace. Not at all weird.
In other news, I'm beginning to remember why I didn't really like this first time round... though I don't dislike it quite so much.

Friends
1x24 The One Where Rachel Finds Out [season finale; goodness-knows-what-th watch]

The Last Leg
3x07 (11/9/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Suburgatory
2x09 Junior Secretary's Day
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Real Steel (2011)
[#78 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Dexter
8x07 Dress Code
Rastamouse!

Friends
1x23 The One with the Birth [goodness-knows-what-th watch]

The Newsroom
2x03 Willie Pete
Sometimes the writing is ever so fast and clever and all that, and other times it sinks to utterly implausible soap opera theatrics. It always seemed to work in The West Wing, but even this far in I'm not sure how well it does here.

TV

Dexter
8x06 A Little Reflection
An apprentice; a returning face; Dexter struggling with romantic relationships... Feels like the series is on a 'greatest hits' tour for its final season!

Doctor Who
10x02 The Three Doctors Episode Two [2nd watch]
A quarry! It really is a proper anniversary special.

Friends
1x22 The One with the Ick Factor [goodness-knows-what-th watch]

Mock the Week
12x08 (12/9/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Comics

Batman '66 #3 by Jeff Parker & Jonathan Case

End of the first story. My previous comments still stand, in a good way -- I shall continue reading. Probably at my usual daftly-slow rate, but I shall.