TV

Doctor Who
15x15 The Sun Makers Part Three
Really enjoying this. It only came 162nd (out of 241) on DWM's last poll of greatest Who stories, with a score of 66%. That's definitely too harsh -- there are certainly worse things above it.

The Great British Bake Off
5x08 Advanced Dough
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
1x25 (19/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

American Hustle (2013)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Derren Brown: Infamous
I hope that woman at the end has changed her phone number...
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Doctor Who
15x14 The Sun Makers Part Two

Scott & Bailey
4x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Two Tribes
1x24 (18/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
15x13 The Sun Makers Part One
After the Doctor and friends robbed a bank on Saturday, here they come up against evil taxmen, in the most thinly-veiled 'satire' ever made (I suspect).

Tumble
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]

Two Tribes
1x23 (17/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Always (1989)
[#92 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Crimes of Passion
1x04 Roses, Kisses and Death
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Frankenweenie (2012)
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

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


Braveheart (1995)

I figured I ran the risk of affecting the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum if I posted this review yesterday (because of course I have that kind of reach and influence), but after Mel Gibson’s historical(ly-dubious) epic wound up on my 2014 WDYMYHS list, it seemed too good an occasion to miss. So whether Scotland is about to become independent or not, here are my thoughts on a movie that hopefully didn’t actually influence anyone’s vote…

Read more here.


Dark Shadows (2012)

Director Tim Burton’s most recent live-action movie is an adaptation of a 1960s soap opera… albeit one featuring vampires, witches, ghosts and sundry other supernatural goings-on. You wouldn’t get that on EastEnders (more’s the pity).

Read more here.


The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

The big one everyone wants to see, of course, is Jackie Chan vs. Jet Li. Rather than engineer it to form part of the climax, they duel halfway through, in an encounter that settles on a victor just as much as that opening credit does. Nonetheless, it’s an epic bout in terms of both scope and length.

Read more here.


Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

This new take has trashier, almost grungy, stylings, which at least make it more interesting than the "mainstream blockbuster"-styled first attempt. That doesn't make it a good film by any means, but it does make it somehow less objectionable

Read more here.


Plus five were new to the new blog...


Bride & Prejudice (2004)

Melodramatic love story/stories? Check. A couple of over-acted comedy characters? Check. Characters bursting into song? Check. Bright, colourful, extravagant song-and-dance numbers? Check.

Read more here.


Ladies in Lavender (2004)

Charles Dance’s first film as writer and director. Judi Dench and her long-time friend Maggie Smith play believable sisters in a beautiful Cornish setting who discover a young Pole washed up on their beach.

Read more here.


Miracles (1989)

It’s 1930s Hong Kong and Jackie Chan accidentally becomes the head of a mafia-like gang. The film follows a “gang war” plot for about 40 minutes before abruptly changing tack to become an identity-based farce! It’s all a bit messy

Read more here.


Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

“What if Max Schreck really was a vampire?” is the simple, thoroughly daft, and equally promising, premise of this low-budget horror/drama/comedy. Having the advantage of such a good concept to kick things off, all starts well, but the longer it runs the more it loses it.

Read more here.


Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Most negative reviews accused the film of being essentially a TV episode, not earning itself a spot on the big screen. They may have a point. The subject matter isn’t at fault... but the execution of it is frequently low-key.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
7x03 (19/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

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

Doctor Who
34x05 Time Heist
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Extra
1x05 Time Heist
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
1x22 (16/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
8x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Absolutely no changes this week. Hey-ho.

Number of titles in collection: 1,697 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 494 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,232 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,830 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,242 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
1x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
13x08 (18/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Wall (2012)
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]
aka Die Wand

TV

Doctor Who
26x07 Ghost Light Part Three [2nd watch]

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

Would I Lie To You?
8x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Spirit (2008)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
26x06 Ghost Light Part Two [2nd watch]

The Great British Bake Off
5x07 Pastry
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Musketeers
1x10 Musketeers Don't Die Easily [season finale]
Seems like it would've been quite easy to write the Cardinal out after all... Anyway, good show. Look forward to series two.

Films

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
[#88 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
26x05 Ghost Light Part One [2nd watch]
It's quite hard to think of a classic Who serial that's very like Listen, so this is the best I could come up with: the Doctor taking his companion to a mysterious and nigh-unfathomable thing from their past in a dark, creepy and complex tale.
It also means that, for the second week in a row, my tie-in four-parter is less than four parts. Ho hum.

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
2x03 Episode 3

Two Tribes
1x21 (15/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
7x02 (12/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Celebrity Squares
1x01 Episode 1
Despite being billed in some places as a 21st Century version, this feels like it was made in the '70s.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Mock the Week
13x07 (11/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Scott & Bailey
4x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Crimes of Passion
1x03 No More Murders
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Braveheart (1995)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2014 #9

Seemed an appropriate choice this week.

this week on 100 Films

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


Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

Disney attempted to replicate the success of Mary Poppins with this, another musical adaptation of a fantastical British novel set in Britain with British people in it — including some kids who, based on their accents, must be from the same part of London as Dick Van Dyke’s Bert.

Read more here.


Idiocracy (2006)

The creator of Beavis and Butthead imagines a future America in which, essentially, everyone has become his once-famous animated creations. I think — I never watched it. Basically, everyone’s a moron.

Read more here.


Monsters vs Aliens (2009)

it’s The Avengers with ’50s B-movie monsters. If that doesn’t sound like a fun concept, you’re probably already on a hiding to nothing. It has a love and understanding of B-movies that should keep many a genre fan happy, suggesting it was created for them almost as much as its true audience [i.e. kids]

Read more here.


Plus four were new to the new blog...


Be Kind Rewind (2008)

The work of Michel Gondry and the comedy of Jack Black are both, shall we say, acquired tastes, and not ones you would necessarily expect to overlap. Yet here they do — at least to an extent — but while Black is again doing his usual schtick as the Ker-Azy Best Mate, it’s the writer-director who is perhaps offering some surprises.

Read more here.


It Happened Here (1966)

Alternate histories are always fun, and nothing seems to have provoked more than the Second World War. Which, as a defining event in modern history for a good chunk of the world, is understandable. It Happened Here is perhaps one of the earliest examples, depicting a 1940s Britain under Nazi occupation.

Read more here.


Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

arguably Agatha Christie’s most famous novel, perhaps because of its widely-known twist ending, or perhaps because it’s inspired in part by a high-profile true story, or perhaps because of this multi-Oscar-nominated all-star adaptation.

Read more here.


Over the Hedge (2006)

CGI movies are far too common these days, meaning that the quality is dropping... Over the Hedge is certainly derivative — its character arc is almost directly lifted from Toy Story, for example — but it is beautifully animated

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
34x04 Listen
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Extra
1x04 Listen
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
3x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Tumble
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
1x20 (12/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Dark Shadows (2012)
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Collection Count

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

A classic TV series on DVD, half a new one on Blu-ray, and a movie on BD too, make for increases in almost every tally this week.

Number of titles in collection: 1,697 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 494 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,232 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 1,830 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,242 [up 23]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
1x06 Episode 6
Having an unrepentant Diana on feels like it's reopened that can of worms just after it had finally died down...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
5x06 (5/9/14 edition) [season finale]
Ending a week too early to cover the Pistorius verdict! Shame. Great episode, though.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Two Tribes
1x19 (11/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Great British Bake Off
5x06 European Cakes
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Musketeers
1x09 Knight Takes Queen

Two Tribes
1x18 (10/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
20x22 The King's Demons Part Two [season finale; 3rd watch]
What an odd ending. Essentially, the Doctor uncovers the Master's plot... and then all the time travellers just leave. There must be some very confused 13th Century nobles left behind, but we never see any of that. The downsides of being only two parts, I guess. You have to wonder if three is the ideal length for a Who story -- two is a bit rushed and unsatisfactory, whereas with four (or more) a good deal of the middle episodes is often spent doing sod all.

Two Tribes
1x16 (8/9/14 edition)
1x17 (9/9/14 edition)
[Watch episodes 16 and 17 (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
20x21 The King's Demons Part One [3rd watch]
Any Doctor Who fans reading this will notice that, despite my stated aim of watching a four-parter after every new Who episode this year, The King's Demons has only two parts. There are a couple of reasons for this: one, it has the best connection to Robot of Sherwood that I could think of (it's set in the same era, with the same king on the throne; and, in the second half, features a robot); two, it has a neat connection to a story we'll be watching later (more on that when we get there); and three, due to a familial invasion we only have time for a two-parter this week anyway -- what serendipity!

Two Tribes
1x15 (5/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Grey (2011)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
7x01 (5/9/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Crimes of Passion
1x02 King Lily of the Valley
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
[#84 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Articles

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Jack the Ripper unmasked: How amateur sleuth used DNA breakthrough to identify Britain's most notorious criminal 126 years after string of terrible murders
by Russell Edwards (from Mail Online)

Sorry to link to the Daily Fail, but this is a rather fascinating story, all over Twitter today.

I started reading it with a high degree of scepticism -- surely it wouldn't turn out to be true? It would be someone deluding themselves about some "well, maybe... kinda..." evidence. But it does sound pretty convincing, actually. I'm sure other experts will weigh in and review the evidence over the coming days/weeks/months, and perhaps then we'll know for certain.

this week on 100 Films

Right back at the start of this week, September started! Which of course means 100 Films in a Year took pause to look back at August. Read all about it here.


Following that, four brand-new reviews were published. They were...


The Battle of the Somme (1916)

Arguably the most famous clash of the First World War, the Battle of the Somme lasted four-and-a-half months from July to November 1916 and, with over a million men wounded or killed, is “one of the bloodiest battles in human history.” As the BBC’s History website puts it, although it was “intended to be a decisive breakthrough, the Battle of the Somme instead became a byword for futile and indiscriminate slaughter”. Not that you’d guess it from this contemporary documentary, which is essentially a propaganda piece produced by the British government.

Read more here.


Crimes of Passion: Death of a Loved One (2013)

the latest Scandi-crime acquisition for BBC Four, airing in their regular “foreign crime” slot of Saturday nights at 9pm. [This first episode debuted in cinemas in March 2013.] Marketed as “Mad Men meets The Killing”, it would be more accurately be described as “Agatha Christie with subtitles”.

Read more here.


The House of Fear (1945)

it felt to me like it wasn’t really going anywhere until Holmes suddenly figured it all out at the end. Certainly he draws on clues encountered along the way, but even then most of those come late on.

Read more here.


Wrath of the Titans (2012)

A confused story connects workmanlike action sequences and mediocre CGI... New ideas sporadically rear their head, but Liebesman can’t ring anything interesting from them. Its predecessor’s strong points — creature design; retro-styled gods — are AWOL.

Read more here.


But just one review was re-posted to the new blog this week (oops).


Clash of the Titans (2010)

the film is built to provide action sequences, though these are passable and rarely more. They’re fine while they’re happening, but pretty much forgotten after — none of it shows a great deal of inspiration. The history of film is littered with far worse examples, but that’s about the best I can say.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

I half forgot to post this yesterday, half hadn't done all the sums -- so here it is today! Complete with exciting monthly running time update...

Number of titles in collection: 1,694 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,202 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 492 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 4,224 [up 6]
Number of films in collection: 1,829 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,219 [up 5]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

And the aforementioned running time update tells us...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
304 days, 7 hours, and 50 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 23 hours, and 59 minutes from last month.)

Yep, one minute off exactly two days. Ah well.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Doctor Who
34x03 Robot of Sherwood
Really enjoyed that. It aimed to be a fun romp, and it was a fun romp -- what more can you ask? Looks like we're back to Super Seriousness next week, which will please some. Not that it displeases me, but I like the tone of my Who to be varied.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Extra
1x03 Robot of Sherwood
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
1x13 (3/9/14 edition)
1x14 (4/9/14 edition)
[Watch episodes 13 and 14 (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
[#83 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Crimes of Passion
1x01 Death of a Loved One
BBC Four's latest Scandi crime import, which I'm actually watching when it's on (more or less) rather than just downloading and never quite getting round to. This first episode received a theatrical release in Sweden, making it 100 Films in a Year 2014 #82; I'll have a review up in the morning.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
5x05 (29/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
[#81 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
15x08 The Invisible Enemy Part Four
That was that, then. Not a very well-regarded story (it came 196th in DWM's recent poll) and it doesn't particularly deserve to be either. Some good bits though.

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
2x01 Episode 1

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
3x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Doctor Who
15x07 The Invisible Enemy Part Three
Considering this was made in the mid-'70s on a BBC kids' TV budget, I thought the special effects/sets inside the Doctor's brain looked pretty good. The nucleus of the swarm -- aka the giant prawn -- was godawful, though.

The Great British Bake Off
5x05 Pies and Tarts
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Tumble
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
15x06 The Invisible Enemy Part Two
There's K9, and the miniaturisation! This isn't a very well-regarded story, and it's not all that, it's true. Has its moments though, most of them courtesy of Leela's humour.

The Musketeers
1x08 The Challenge

Two Tribes
1x11 (1/9/14 edition)
1x12 (2/9/14 edition)
[Watch episodes 11 and 12 (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
15x05 The Invisible Enemy Part One

This week's selection avoids the obvious choice of a Dalek story for something more conceptually linked: this is the story in which the Doctor is shrunk to enter his own body.

So I've read, anyway -- this is one I've not seen before (bonus!), and it doesn't happen in this episode. It's also the first story with K9... who's also not in this episode. Hey-ho.

TV

Two Tribes
1x10 (29/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [Swedish]
3x04 Saknaden (aka The Loss)

Films

The Shining (1980)
[#80 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2014 #8

this week on 100 Films

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


G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

wants to have its cake and eat it by being both a sequel and a fresh movie for newcomers. Unfortunately it doesn’t work: it feels disjointed from the first film, but there’s too much carried over for it to feel standalone.

Read more here.


Gravity (2013)

This is a survival story, predicated on two things: one, the desperate attempts of our heroine to triumph against increasingly-poor odds; and two, the spectacle of weightlessness and space. Not every movie needs a complex storyline to keep it going; not every film needs to only be about its plot.

Read more here.


Sightseers (2012)

Like The Trip, only with quaint museums instead of restaurants and murder instead of impressions, the third feature from director Ben Wheatley is succinctly described as “a black comedy”.

Read more here.


St. Trinian's: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)

Despite an occasionally slicker appearance, including some CGI-aided pirate-y flashbacks, and bigger sequences, like a commando raid on the school or a large flashmob musical number at Liverpool Street station, the whole doesn’t come together quite as well as the first movie. (Plus, the use of the term “flashmob” instantly dates it.)

Read more here.


And seven archive reviews (and one other piece) were new to the new blog...


The Brothers Bloom (2008)

From the director of the acquired taste that was Brick, The Brothers Bloom looks like it might be a little more mainstream: it’s got a lead cast who are all Oscar nominees and it has a con/heist plot — always popular — and a light tone. But while it’s not as specialised as Brick‘s near-impenetrable dialogue and considered (over-considered?) tone, it’s certainly Quirky.

Read more here.


Confetti (2006)

Largely improvised Britcom, shot in a documentary style, about three couples trying to win a most original wedding competition.

Read more here.


For All Mankind (1989)

It’s not a documentary in the sense that most people perceive the form — i.e. a highly realistic presentation of the facts — but instead something a little more interpretive, aiming to recreate the feeling and experience of travelling to the moon, not the hard facts of who went when and how it was done. As such it is both beautiful and artistic, featuring stunning photography that has been sensitively edited and scored.

Read more here.


Indy 4: Initial Thoughts

I'll post a proper review another time, but these are a quick handful of reactions having finished the film less than an hour ago. They are, as the title notes, spoiler-free.

Read more here.


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Make no mistake, Harrison Ford is still Indiana Jones. The hair may be grey, the face covered in more lines, but the attitude and humour is still there. This is an older Indy, of course... [They] could have used his age as a crutch, leaving him with some comedy running away while the much younger Mutt got stuck in; this isn't the case, and that's great.

Read more here.


In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

The telling is dominated by the words of the actual astronauts, describing their personal experiences and feelings. Rather than following a mission-by-mission chronology it mixes all their stories together, thereby telling the tale of a journey to the Moon and exploring its surface only once. It’s a neat way of editing it because it avoids repetition while also covering a variety of perspectives.

Read more here.


Paths of Glory (1957)

the film remains bleakly realistic: the depressing Old Boys’ Club-style hierarchy of the military (still all too much in effect, as series like Generation Kill reveal); the unjust unrecorded trial (an excellent courtroom sequence that can stand up to any other); through to the inescapable finale.

Read more here.


Starter for Ten (2006)

You'd assume the plot would focus on the characters' aim to win University Challenge, coupled with a woefully predictable romantic subplot; sadly, it turns out the woefully predictable romance is the main plot and the quiz only turns up now and then to lend some structure.

Read more here.


Tomorrow, it's the monthly update for August. That, and more, next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
34x02 Into the Dalek
Consensus seems to be that this was better than last week. While I didn't dislike last week, I'd agree with that. Not a classic maybe, but a very solid Dalek adventure.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Next week on Doctor Who (in my world), the 4th Doctor is shrunk and goes inside himself to battle The Invisible Enemy...

Doctor Who Extra
1x02 Into the Dalek
This was an improvement, too. More decent episode-focused detail, and the voiceover seemed to have calmed down too -- possibly as a result of all the criticism online? It's just a shame it doesn't have Confidential-style 'witty'/'clever' episode titles. I kinda miss those.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
2x13 A-Tisket, A-Tasket [2nd watch]

Tumble
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Collection Count

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

Last-minute changes abound, as one imported Blu-ray turned up three days later than it should have, and then another turned up three days early!

Number of titles in collection: 1,692 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 489 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,219 [up 14]
Number of films in collection: 1,827 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,214 [up 37]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [up 3]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
5x04 (22/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Two Tribes
1x08 (27/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
12x04 Robot Part Four [2nd watch]
The fact this episode is entirely made up of climax is a reminder of how sometimes (often?) classic Who was constructed as a movie split into parts. As for Robot itself, I think the first half is very good and there are excellent ideas and concepts throughout, but some of the execution (both in the writing and realisation on screen) is a let down in the latter two instalments.

Next time on Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi goes Into the Dalek...

The Musketeers
1x07 A Rebellious Woman

Two Tribes
1x09 (28/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Wrath of the Titans (2012)
[#78 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
12x03 Robot Part Three [2nd watch]
This isn't the best-regarded of Who stories, but I'd been really liking it... until this episode, when things all got a little silly. UNIT were the most ineffective military ever at stopping the villains escape: "they've gone round the corner into a van! We'll just stand here and shoot at the back of the van!"; "The truck's driving at us! We could shoot the driver, but instead let's just jump out of the way!" Ah well.

The Great British Bake Off
5x04 Desserts
Controversy in the Bake Off tent! A virtual riot on Twitter! Will our little baking show ever be the same again?!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Safe (2012)
[#77 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
12x02 Robot Part Two [2nd watch]

The Musketeers
1x06 The Exiles

Two Tribes
1x07 (26/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Kings of Summer (2013)
[#76 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
12x01 Robot Part One [2nd watch]

After the success of our 50th anniversary viewing, it's time for some more tie-in classic Who. This time, it'll be a series of four-parters, watched Monday through Thursday between Capaldi episodes, and the aim is for each to have some connection to the episode just gone by.

In this case, Moffat has referenced the Pertwee/Baker regeneration and the style of the ensuing story as being influences on Deep Breath, so it seemed an apt choice. (Stylistically, Talons of Weng-Chiang would have been closer; but a) that's a six-parter, and b) not all the ties will be so obvious.)


Ripper Street
2x08 Our Betrayal Part Two [season finale]

The would've-been-"series-finale" were it not for Amazon. S'a good show, I look forward to the next run... when it eventually arrives on the BBC. Or earlier, perhaps...


Two Tribes
1x06 (25/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
5 The Five Orange Pips

One of Doyle's favourite Holmes adventures, and one of those awarded five stars by The Pocket Essential Sherlock Holmes; also the inspiration (loosely) for The House of Fear, which I was finally writing my review for today, hence reading the story.

TV

Gilmore Girls
2x12 Richard in Stars Hollow [2nd watch]

Ripper Street
2x07 Our Betrayal Part One

Two Tribes
1x05 (22/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Local Hero (1983)
[#75 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]
Peter Capaldi again (again)!

St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)
[#74 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Lair of the White Worm (1988)

Perhaps it’s “so bad it’s good”, but I’m also not sure of that — I think perhaps director Ken Russell and his ensemble knew they were creating the ludicrous. There’s an indefinable charm that a hundred slicker, objectively more accomplished, films just can’t match.

Read more here.


Thor: The Dark World (2003)

When it works, The Dark World is exciting, inventive, and often genuinely hilarious. Placing most of the movie’s biggest laughs during its climactic battle — which already features a thrilling conceit in and of itself — makes the ending one of the best action sequences in the entire Marvel movie canon.

Read more here.


Tower Block (2012)

Screenwriter James Moran seems to have hit a good idea for a single-location thriller, and there are neat sequences in the mix, but there’s not quite enough juice in the concept or characters to sustain a full 90 minutes.

Read more here.


And six reviews were new to the new blog...


Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (2003)

Documentary, based on the best-selling acclaimed book by Peter Biskind, about the decade in Hollywood between the death and effective re-birth of the studio system. It’s a broad story, with many threads, which means this film has a tendency to sprawl all over the place as it attempts to take an overview of it in chronological order.

Read more here.


The King and I (1956)

there are some recognisable songs and an Oscar-winning performance from Yul Brynner, as well as truly sumptuous sets and costumes.

Read more here.


The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965)

it does a lot of things for a bit: Carry On-level double entendres, intense thriller-like scenes, slapstick sequences, an occasional New Wave-esque light jazz score… flitting around from one style to another with no immediately obvious rhyme nor reason, except perhaps a desire to try out interesting things and see where they lead.

Read more here.


Monster (2003)

Charlize Theron uglies up (and wins an Oscar) portraying Aileen Wuornos, one of America’s first female serial killers, in this ‘true crime’ biopic.

Read more here.


Ong-Bak (2003)

This is a tricky film to rate. The plot is pretty inconsequential and drags things out a bit toward the end, but that’s not what you come to a film like Ong-Bak for — it’s here for the action.

Read more here.


Sherlock Holmes (2010)

You wait decades for a new Sherlock Holmes film and then two come along at once. One is the Guy Ritchie-directed Robert Downey Jr-starring genuine blockbuster moneymaker. The other is thankfully not the rumoured Sacha Baron Cohen/Seth Rogen/Judd Apatow/other faintly irritating people comedy vehicle, but instead this direct-to-DVD cash-in from mockbuster kings The Asylum. Yes, I’d rather this version, thanks.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
34x01 Deep Breath
There seems to be a mixed response online... but then there's almost always a mixed response online. I didn't think it was as good as The Eleventh Hour, or even The Christmas Invasion, but on the whole it was a pretty good episode. The best bit, of course, was Capaldi. An excellent performance that shows great promise for the future.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Extra
1x01 Deep Breath
The "new Confidential" is... quite a lot like Confidential, actually. Shame it was so short -- there's a lot to explore in Deep Breath, and with just 11 minutes all they could really say was, "Look! New Doctor!"
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
1x03 (20/8/14 edition)
1x04 (21/8/14 edition)
[Watch episodes three and four (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

American Movie (1999)
[#73 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,690 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 487 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,205 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,827 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,177 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 435 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Last Leg
5x03 (15/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The One Show
21/8/14 edition
Peter Capaldi was on yesterday's show ahead of his Doctor Who debut tomorrow. Coming on the back of a whistlestop seven-city world tour that only ended on Monday, and before a BFI Q&A session on Saturday -- and then also this today -- they've certainly made him pound the promotional trail hard!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Tumble
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
[#72 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Blue Peter
The 12th Doctor: A Blue Peter Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
1x01 (18/8/14 edition)
1x02 (19/8/14 edition)
New quiz show fronted by Richard "Pointless" Osman. Pretty good format, very question-packed.
[Watch episodes one and two (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Battle of the Somme (1916)
[#71 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

The Great British Bake Off
5x03 Bread
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ripper Street
2x06 A Stronger Loving World

Films

Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2014)
[#70a in 100 Films in a Year 2014]
Still the most recent Marvel short, as found on the Blu-ray of…

Thor: The Dark World (2013)
[#70 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Articles

Doctor Who Confidential returns online under new guise
by Alex Fletcher (from Digital Spy)

Doctor Who Confidential's back?!

No, not really. Though the series description -- "the inside take on series 8 from the people who made it... Casual viewers will enjoy the fun, fast pace and lighter side of Doctor Who Extra but there’s plenty for fans, too... reflecting on how Doctor Who’s history is echoed in this current series" -- does sound an awful lot like Confidential's initial setup.

Only 10 minutes an episode, though. Still, better than nothing.

TV

Cuckoo
2x02 Potato Party
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
2x11 Secrets and Loans [2nd watch]

A Touch of Cloth III
3x02 Too Cloth for Comfort Part Two

TV

Cuckoo
2x01 A New Beginning
Taylor Lautner -- who knew?!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
2x10 The Bracebridge Dinner [2nd watch]

Ripper Street
2x05 Threads of Silk and Gold

A Touch of Cloth III
3x01 Too Cloth for Comfort Part One
You feel like this should have lost its spark by now, but it's as funny as ever.

TV

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
1x03 The Bringer of Spiders
Because I watched episodes four and five when they first aired, this is the last one for me. I thought it was a particularly good one too... though I might have said that about any episode: somehow, this slightly bizarre format really works.
[Watch it (again) on Dave OD.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Musketeers
1x05 The Homecoming

this week on 100 Films

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


The Expendables 2 (2012)

Whereas the first film was played straight and fairly serious, the sequel has more of the self-awareness that fans expected — and, indeed, wanted — from the franchise: the action sequences are bigger, faster and dafter; the cameos are longer and more knowing.

Read more here.


Despite my commitment to re-posting archive reviews daily, an incredibly busy week means just one archive re-post...


It (1927)

Proof if it were needed that the format of the rom-com has gone largely unchanged for at least 80 years!

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Great British Bake Off
5x02 Biscuits
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Tumble
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,689 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 486 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,204 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,826 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,177 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 435 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Last Leg
5x02 (8/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless Celebrities
6x12 (9/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Simpsons
25x20 Brick Like Me
I haven't watched The Simpsons in a very, very long time (so long it's never been mentioned on this blog aside from the movie, in fact), but the promise of a LEGO-themed episode (i.e. this one) got my attention. It was pretty good, though the fact so many reviewers have described it as "the best of the season" proves the show must be a shadow of it's former self: not bad -- in fact, funny and entertaining on the whole -- but not laugh-out-loud, instantly-memorable, classic TV. Which I suppose would happen to anything after 25 years and 550 episodes.

this week on 100 Films

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


Amélie (2001)

My quirky review of a quirky film about the quirky life of a quirky girl.

Read more here.


Cloudy 2: Extra Toppings (2013)

On Blu-ray, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 comes with a selection of four “mini-movies” — that’s “shorts” to you and me. When the film airs on Sky Movies Premiere, each screening will be preceded by three of these, under the Extra Toppings title.

Read more here.


And seven were new to the new blog...


Fatal Instinct (1993)

It’s a little difficult to understand exactly why it flopped so badly in the US... perhaps its targets were just too broad to attract a mass audience. While it ostensibly tackles then-recent thrillers like Basic Instinct, Cape Fear and Fatal Attraction, it also has a lot of time devoted to the tropes of film noir, in particular Double Indemnity. Relying so heavily on a 50-year-old film isn’t likely to earn you much favour among the masses.

Read more here.


High Anxiety (1977)

Mel Brooks pays comedic tribute to Alfred Hitchcock — in case you can’t tell, the second credit is a prominent dedication — but those unfamiliar with the Master of Suspense’s output need not apply.

Read more here.


Matchstick Men (2003)

Twists are fine. Twists can be great. You can guess a twist is coming and it can still work. A really good twist works even when you know for certain it’s coming; its existence raises what you’ve seen, makes it all work even on repeated viewings when the element of surprise is obviously gone. Matchstick Men doesn’t have that kind of twist. It has the kind of twist that undermines everything you’ve just seen. Not because it’s illogical — it isn’t in the slightest — but because it tramples over the film’s emotional resonance.

Read more here.


Nosferatu (1922)

One of the earliest and most-referenced horror films, and the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (faithfully, albeit unofficially). With such a weight bearing down upon it I found it quite hard to watch it objectively...

Read more here.


Seraphim Falls (2006)

it makes for an unusual story. It’s centred neatly around Neeson chasing Brosnan, but the encounters they have along the way are increasingly bizarre. It’s readily apparent that there’s some Meaning and Subtext here... but I’m not sure if one has to process this to appreciate the film — it’s a still a chase movie

Read more here.


Sunshine (2007)

what some would call "grown-up science fiction", often more concerned with the crew's moral dilemmas than thrilling action set pieces or dazzling CGI. Luckily, though, the former aren't too pretentious and both of the latter are still present.

Read more here.


Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp collaborate for the sixth time (as the DVD’s blurb is so keen to point out) for a film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical adaptation of the classic tale of the titular barber who slaughters instead of shaves and sells the resultant meat to all of London in the pies of his accomplice, Mrs Lovett.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.