this week on 100 Films

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


Persona (1966)

I can’t promise gravity or insight. In fact, practically the opposite, because I think that Persona is almost wilfully obtuse. That’s not because the film is stupid, but because it’s “slow to understand” — people have been debating its meaning for almost 50 years now, and it seems that still no one really knows what it’s about... Obviously that’s some people’s bag, but it leaves me slightly baffled

Read more here.


Rear Window (1954)

a heady mix of suspicion, tension, voyeurism, and a light romantic subplot — Hitchcock through and through. It’s one of his best-regarded films, too: Vertigo may gain the Sight & Sound plaudits, but Rear Window is second only to Psycho on the IMDb Top 250; and, as I write, they sit precisely side by side, which on a list that long is tantamount to equality.

Read more here.


Runner Runner (2013)

Sometimes, films are so maligned that you feel you just have to see for yourself. Or I do, anyway. Crime thriller Runner Runner, with its 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, is one of those occasions... It’s fatally marred by flabby storytelling, which substitutes voiceover and aimless montages for plot, with a pace that’s shot to hell

Read more here.


Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

I very nearly spent a little over two and a half of my precious hours watching the fourth Transformers movie... And then I remembered that the last two Transformers films were rubbish, and that Age of Extinction had met with an even worse reception upon its theatrical debut last July, so why would I want to waste so much of my time on something I was sure to think was dross? ... Lest you came here hoping for some thoughts on Transformers 4 from someone who had actually endured it, here are some choice quotes from (and links to) other pieces that I have appreciated

Read more here.


Plus eight archive reviews were reposted on the new blog...


Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

The story is intensely procedural: we meet the lead character, defence attorney Paul Biegler, moments before he first learns of the case; leave the story almost immediately after the verdict; and in between, every single scene is bent to Biegler’s research and the trial itself. It’s so thorough, accurate and real that it is (reportedly) still used as a working example in law education.

Read more here.


Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

It’s easy to see how Gentlemen Prefer Blondes helped launch Marilyn Monroe as a sex-symbol superstar — her ditzy, breathy blonde, who may just be cleverer than she looks, is clearly the star of the film.

Read more here.


South Pacific (1958)

Honestly, I think this must be one of the most uninformative 'reviews' I ever wrote...

Read more here.


Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope (DVD Edition) (1977/2004)

Much criticism has been made of Lucas deciding to modify the original trilogy for the 1997 re-release, and then further for the 2004 DVD release. It’s not necessarily unjustified, but it is sometimes picky. If Han shooting first bothered you, you may be a little pleased to know they now shoot at the same time.

Read more here.


Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (DVD Edition) (1980/2004)

Little here is visually different from the ’97 Special Edition. Cloud City benefits from the CGI windows and lighting it was given back then, though the views look as fake as ever. The big change comes in dubbing both Boba Fett and the Emperor with appropriate actors from the prequel trilogy

Read more here.


Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (DVD Edition) (1983/2004)

here seem to be only minor differences or effects improvements here — it does make you wonder what the fans were kicking up such a fuss about! ... The main addition for the DVD is Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. It doesn’t work at all; in fact, it manages to make it look as if there was never anyone there at all.

Read more here.


Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2010)

can boast an awful lot of firsts within the Star Wars franchise: the first animated Star Wars in cinemas, the first not to feature Frank Oz as Yoda, the first not to open in May, the first not to have a text-crawl intro… It’s also the first not to open at number one at the box office. None of these facts are likely to endear itself to die-hard Star Wars fans. I’m not one, but it did little to endear itself to me either.

Read more here.


Starwoids (2001)

A fan documentary, Starwoids tells the tale of two groups of Star Wars fans who queued for six weeks to be the first to see The Phantom Menace. Alongside this, the film takes a couple of diversions into general Star Wars fandom.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gotham
1x15 The Scarecrow
In which Bruce Wayne goes for a walk! Drama!
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Person of Interest
3x03 Lady Killer
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)
[#52 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Articles

The 100 best films of the decade (so far)
#51-100, #21-50, #1-20
by Mike D'Angelo, A.A. Dowd, Jesse Hassenger, Alex McCown, Benjamin Mercer, Josh Modell, Kiva Reardon, Vadim Rizov, Nick Schager, Cameron Scheetz and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (from A.V. Club)

Does what it says on the tin. An interesting set, of which I've only seen 21. Loads more sound worthwhile, though.

Collection Count

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

Should've been more this week, but damn post... More next time.

Number of titles in collection: 1,755 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,207 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 548 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,369 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,896 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,482 [up 8]
Number of short films in collection: 444 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Flash
1x17 Tricksters

The Mentalist
7x09 Copper Bullet
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

White House Down (2013)
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

2013's other "White House is taken by terrorists" movie, Olympus Has Fallen, has its UK TV premiere on Channel 5 this Sunday at 9pm. I shall compare them.

TV

Critical
1x07 Episode 7

Elementary
3x16 For All You Know

Films

High Noon (1952)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Mad Men
7x08 Severance
Or 8x01, if they had any honesty. Starts on Sky Atlantic tomorrow, if you're waiting for that.

Outnumbered
4x01 The Funeral [2nd watch]

Films

Man of Tai Chi (2013)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
3x17 Suicidal Tendencies

Forever
1x14 Hitler on the Half Shell

Films

Monsters University (2013)
[#48 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Elementary
3x15 When Your Number's Up

Outnumbered
3x06 The Hospital [season finale; 2nd watch]

Relatively Clever
1x01 Episode 1
Well that was pretty awful.

Films

Pain & Gain (2013)
[#47 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

The Mentalist
7x08 The Whites of His Eyes
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

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

Films

The Rocketeer (1991)
[#46 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

To kick things off this week, it's April! That means it's time to look back at what occurred on 100 Films in a Year in March...




On to regular business: three brand-new reviews were published this week...


God Bless America (2011)

on the surface, a little too ridiculous, but that’s masking a witty comedy and surprisingly truthful character piece. The latter is where the film’s most consistent joys are to be found. It’s carried by the charisma of the two leads; they’re a joy to spend time with, even if you for some reason objected to their righteous crusade.

Read more here.


Nativity 2: Danger in the Manager! (2012)

Today has something to do with Jesus, right? Well, this has something to do with Jesus, kinda.

Read more here.


The Shining (1980)

Kubrick turned his hand to horror for this Stephen King adaptation. Poorly received on release and reviled by King, it has since been reassessed as a classic. I’ve never read the novel, so have no opinion on the film’s level of faithfulness... As a movie in its own right, however, The Shining is bloody scary.

Read more here.


Plus five archive reviews were reposted...


Educating Rita (1983)

Julie Walters makes her big screen debut opposite Michael Caine in this British comedy drama about a 26-year-old University student and her disenchanted drink-sodden tutor, adapted by Willy Russell from his own play and directed by the man behind Alfie and three Bond films.

Read more here.


High Society (1956)

Cole Porter-scored musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, which is probably most famous for featuring Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and being star Grace Kelly’s final film before becoming a princess. Despite rarely singing, Kelly is by far the film’s standout element — it’s easy to believe three different men would be vying for her affection

Read more here.


The Man Who Sued God (2001)

funny, and righteous, and silly, and fantastical -- in an "oh, if only it were true!" way -- because in reality any such case would likely be laughed out of court and the insurance companies allowed to continue with their sorry and disreputable business. And some of these things which meant I loved it -- the "only in a film" moral victories, the sillification of the church(es), and so on -- will mean others hate it

Read more here.


Taxi Driver (1976)

I didn’t buy Travis’ slide into psychosis, which is unfortunate as it’s the core of the film and why it’s meant to be so great. In fact, I found Robert Pupkin’s broadly similar, self delusion-based character arc in The King of Comedy more believable.

Read more here.


Trainspotting (1996)

Choose great direction.
Choose iconic images.
Choose a great soundtrack.
Choose a brilliant cast.

Choose the rest of this review here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Voice UK
4x15 The Final [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
[#45 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

As well as Interstellar (as mentioned last week), this week saw a whole host of titles picked up in the sales -- six, to be precise, with more to come next week. And there I was thinking it was going to be a quiet month...

Number of titles in collection: 1,754 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,207 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 547 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 4,367 [up 7]
Number of films in collection: 1,895 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 444 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gotham
1x14 The Fearsome Dr. Crane
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Outnumbered
3x05 The Restaurant [3rd watch]
(I've only mentioned seeing this once before, but I've definitely seen it more times than that. Maybe only most of it... Anyway, that's the numerical discrepancy explained.)

Films

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
[2nd watch]

This was #80 in 100 Films 2011. Revisiting it before I watch the sequel tomorrow.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x12 Beach House
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Critical
1x06 Episode 6

The Flash
1x16 Rogue Time

TV

Killer Magic
1x01 Toys
Almost a year after the pilot, BBC Three finally have a series of this.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
7x07 Little Yellow House
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Person of Interest
3x02 Nothing to Hide
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

Arrow
3x16 The Offer

Elementary
3x14 The Female of the Species

Films

Empire of the Sun (1987)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

There's only about half-a-dozen Spielberg films I've not seen now...

TV

The Flash
1x15 Out of Time

In and Out of the Kitchen
1x03 The Lodger [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

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

TV

Outnumbered
3x04 The Pigeon [2nd watch]

Films

Tarzan (1999)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Big Knife (1955)

The entire film takes place in his house, with a parade of supporting characters coming and going to variously persuade him to stay, persuade him to quit, or persuade him to do other things (saucy!) It’s not just the limited location that makes it feel stagey, though, but also the style of dialogue and the performances. I’m never quite able to put my finger on it, but there’s a certain way playwrights seem to pen dialogue that just feels like it’s from theatre

Read more here.


Bill the Galactic Hero (2014)

essentially, a giant student film... a not-for-profit venture; indeed, any venue in the world can acquire a good-enough-to-screen quality copy for free, so long as it’s being shown in aid of charity. It's also available online, for free. This combination of factors (student film; shown only for charity; etc) makes it a little hard to be judgemental about it — witness, for instance, [the positive reviews on certain websites]. But judge we must, and, sadly, in many ways it’s just not very good.

Read more here.


The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Extended Edition) (2013/2014)

the best addition is more Beorn, authoritatively played by Mikael Persbrandt. He felt underused and half-arsed in the theatrical version, like they’d cut out a book character to make way for more film-added stuff later on. I have no idea how big his role is in the novel [but] here, we get more of a sense of him as a character, with two whole worthwhile scenes supplementing his sole one from the other cut.

Read more here.


Looper (2012)

the near-future world most of the action takes place in has been well-realised by [writer-director Rian] Johnson and his design and effects teams... Their vision is Blade Runner-esque in its decrepitude — this is a future where the global financial crisis has rolled on, so flying motorbikes exist but most people drive present-day cars retrofitted with solar panels

Read more here.


Requiem for a Dream (2000)

A lot of people say that it's the bleakest or most depressing movie ever made, and you kind of think, “yeah well, we’ll see — how bad can it be?” ... I’m not sure you can quite be prepared for what comes later. Even if you were told what happens, or see some of the imagery, or feel like you can see worse stuff on the internet... It’s the editing, the sound design, the sheer filmmaking, which renders the film’s final few minutes as some of the most powerful in cinema.

Read more here.


Plus six archive reviews were reposted on the new blog. They include the complete Red Riding trilogy, which you can read all about here, or follow the individual links further below...


Brick (2005)

There’s a nagging sense that you’re watching a student short film for large chunks of Brick... This is accompanied by a niggling worry that it’s also been vastly overrated. But it does, eventually, kick into gear

Read more here.


Brute Force (1947)

Early on it's quite humourous... Then there are the flashbacks to the outside world, laden with undercooked romance and awkward dialogue. In the final act it turns decidedly grim... A balanced, varied tone is not necessarily a problem, but the flashbacks are almost uniformly unwelcome asides and, by separating the distinctly comical from the resolutely grim by placing them firmly at either end of the film, they don't quite gel as a whole.

Read more here.


Red Riding: 1974 (2009)

The Red Riding Trilogy covers nine years of police corruption and child kidnap/murder in Yorkshire, amongst one or two other things, and begins here with a very film noir tale, courtesy of author David Peace and screenwriter Tony Grisoni, slathered in neo-noir stylings, courtesy of director Julian Jarrold.

Read more here.


Red Riding: 1980 (2009)

a factual grounding hasn’t helped the story one jot. Where the first idled, this meanders... it’s all too straightforward: the people you suspect did it actually did, as it turns out, and there’s no serious attempt to conceal that.

Read more here.


Red Riding: 1983 (2009)

bests its predecessors in almost every assessable value. The story and characters have more genuine surprises and suspense than ever, while the performances are at the very least the equal of what’s gone before... but best of all is the stunning sepia-tinged cinematography, which uses the popular RED cameras to amazing effect.

Read more here.


A Room with a View (1985)

In the novel, characters frequently mean something entirely different to what they say, but you wouldn’t guess so in the film. Similarly, a lot of the novel’s wittiness is lost — unsurprising, as much is carried in Forster’s narration, which here is largely left unadapted.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x11 Stakeout
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Two Tribes
2x27 (20/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x14 The Semi-Final
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Mad Max 2 (1981)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

aka The Road Warrior, but only if you're American.

Collection Count

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

After some busy times of late (nine additions last month), absolutely nothing to report this week. Next week: Interstellar.

Number of titles in collection: 1,748 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,207 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 541 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,360 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,889 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 443 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Critical
1x05 Episode 5

Gotham
1x13 Welcome Back, Jim Gordon
"A long time ago, we used to be friends..."
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Two Tribes
2x26 (19/3/15 edition)
Why did they skip 24 and 25? Not more wrong answers, I hope.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Valkyrie (2008)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Forever
1x13 Diamonds Are Forever

In and Out of the Kitchen
1x02 Valentine's Day
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
2x23 (18/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Looper (2012)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

The Mentalist
7x06 Green Light
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Person of Interest
3x01 Liberty
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Two Tribes
2x22 (17/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
[#39 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
3x15 Nanda Parbat

Elementary
3x13 Hemlock

Two Tribes
2x21 (16/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Videodrome (1983)
[#38 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
3x14 The Return

Critical
1x04 Episode 4

Films

God Bless America (2011)
[#37 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Two Tribes
2x20 (13/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
[#36 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

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


Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

When it comes to hitman movies, I’d’ve said there’s Léon and then there’s everything else. Now, I’d happily slot Ghost Dog in that gap.

Read more here.


Machine Gun Preacher (2011)

The film on the whole is too preachy, both about Christianity and the situation in Africa. It doesn’t feel like a professional medium-budget movie made by experienced filmmakers with a name cast, but instead like one of those specialist Christian movies, Preacher(gun)manmashed together with a polemical charity documentary about Africa, and then with some Rambo action sequences grafted on for good measure.

Read more here.


Punisher: War Zone (2008)

The 2004 film of Marvel’s foremost vigilante killer was the Punisher as mainstream Hollywood PG-13 blockbuster, but this follow-up takes a different route. It’s more the grimy, low-budget, direct-to-DVD, B-movie version of the character; all action, gore, and a conscious lack of class. For some that will make the entire endeavour distasteful, but I can’t help but feel it’s a more faithful depiction of the character.

Read more here.


Ten Little Indians (1965)

one of Agatha Christie’s bleakest books, this follows the track of most adaptations and uses the upbeat ending Christie herself wrote for a stage adaptation. Apparently other changes abound, with characters and their actions updated to have a more ’60s vibe. Novel purists may wish to avoid it.

Read more here.



Plus eight archive reviews were reposted on the new blog...


Agatha (1979)

It’s easy to see the attraction of Christie’s disappearance: it’s a real-life mystery about arguably the greatest mystery author ever, with enough unusual events surrounding it to make it extra suspicious and a long enough gap for something significant to have happened. But while the idea is initially exciting, when it comes to retelling it there isn’t a great deal there

Read more here.


Clockwise (1986)

all go wrong it does, in a manner that’s rather reminiscent of Fawlty Towers — not in the sense that Cleese is repeating himself, but rather that you could replace Stimpson with Basil Fawlty and merrily carry on along much the same path; though, I hasten to add that Stimpson is not a clone of Fawlty, but he is prone to ending up in similar accident-and-misunderstanding-based farcical situations.

Read more here.


Exam (2009)

Eight young professional types go into a job exam/interview; the next hour-and-a-half is all mysteries and riddles... The film occurs in real-time (more or less) in a single room. These are two narrative tricks I always enjoy the potential of... Writer-director Stuart Hazeldine's screenplay is inventive enough to keep the story rolling throughout the entire film

Read more here.


Force of Evil (1948)

I found it dull. The romance subplot feels tacked on and implausible, the main gambling plot is often poorly explained. I never felt properly attached to any of the characters — it doesn’t help that the lead is half-villainous, but then that’s worked fine elsewhere — and as the plot rumbles confusingly on I cared less and less, which made it tough to sit through.

Read more here.


Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert [3D] (2008)

Rubbish. In almost every way possible. I could expand on that in numerous ways, but what would be the point?

Read more here. It was part of Channel 4's 3D Week, which I also posted about this week.


Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

every inch a Boy’s Own adventure, packing every facet of that genre of storytelling into its brisk running time. There’s secret bases, ray guns, giant robots, flying aircraft carriers, snow-bound Himalayan treks, creature-infested secret jungle islands, huge underground bases, space rockets, planes that are also submarines, tree bridges over impossibly deep gorges… If it’s part of the genre, it’s probably here, and all finally executed with ’00s-level special effects.

Read more here.


Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

melding several styles into a cohesive whole — mystery, rom-com, existentialism, a bit of fantasy, and those IKEA graphics from Fight Club. Some plot beats may be clichéd, but that’s almost the point; besides, there’s plenty of originality to make up for it.

Read more here.


The World of Tomorrow (1998)

Before Sky Captain, there was this: a six-minute reel, shot, edited and, er, special-effects-ed, by Conran on an amateur basis over four years, demonstrating the production techniques and storyline he had in mind for a feature-length homage / reimagining of ’40s cinema serials.

Read more here.



More next Sunday.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x10 The Pontiac Bandit Returns
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Voice UK
4x12 The Quarter-Final
4x13 The Quarter-Final Result
[Watch the quarter final and the results (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Extended Edition) (2013/2014)
[#35a in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

As per last year, I'm watching the extended version of the previous film immediately before the 'new' one -- it's out on DVD/Blu-ray in the US on Tuesday (already have my copy), and in the UK on April 20th.

Collection Count

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

Two new additions, plus one switch from BD to DVD that I forgot to account for previously. It's also that time of the month: the running time update! Woo!

Number of titles in collection: 1,748 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,207 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 541 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,360 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,889 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 443 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
314 days, 18 hours, and 39 minutes.
(Up 23 hours and 26 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gotham
1x11 Rogues' Gallery
1x12 What the Little Bird Told Him
C5 bring Gotham back with a double-bill. I did wonder why, 'til it turned out to be a two-parter.
[Watch both episodes (again) on Demand 5.]

Two Tribes
2x19 (12/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x09 The Road Trip
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Comic Relief 2015
Part 2 (of 2)
The rest.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
2x11 The Lips and Arseholes of Alan Davies [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on Dave OD.]

Comic Relief 2015
Part 1 (of 2)
The first three hours (despite what the listed running time says).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
1x14 Fallout

TV

In and Out of the Kitchen
1x01 The Diet
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

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

Two Tribes
2x18 (11/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
3x13 Canaries
or, "The One Where Everyone Tells Everyone Else Everything".

Critical
1x03 Episode 3

Forever
1x12 The Wolves of Deep Brooklyn

Two Tribes
2x17 (10/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Mentalist
7x05 The Silver Briefcase
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Only Connect
Comic Relief Special: Waterbabies v Tillers
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x11 The Knockouts 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Violet & Daisy (2011)
[#34 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

Just three brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, again. They were...


The Hound of the Baskervilles (1981)

Sherlock Holmes has appeared in more films than any other fictional character... “Who’s the best?” debates usually settle around Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett and, these days, Benedict Cumberbatch, however the “Sherlockian’s Sherlock” is, believe it or not, a Russian: Vasily Livanov, who starred in five popular (in their homeland) Russian miniseries/TV movies between 1979 and 1986 that some regard as definitive adaptations. The most famous Holmes adventure of them all was the subject of the third series, a two-part feature-length adaptation.

Read more here.


Last Passenger (2013)

If you’ve ever found a late-night train commute dull, this single-location thriller may make you rethink any complaints. Half-a-dozen people travelling from London to Tunbridge Wells find their train speeding out of control. It’s up to them to discover what’s happening and how to stop it.

Read more here.


Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014)

manages the tricky feat of feeling both too rushed and too long. There’s no time for mystery or surprise as it hurtles through the plot — not that there’s too much of that, either. Half of it recycles Buzz’s arc from Toy Story 1... the other half is a villain with what I think is an original idea, but isn’t given enough time to be developed.

Read more here.


A more solid six archive reviews were reposted, however...


The Band Wagon (1953)

There are several great numbers: Astaire dancing his way around an amusement arcade; That's Entertainment, written for the film and easily demonstrating why it quickly became a standard; and a big closing dance routine... that I actually liked! It's a hard-boiled crime thriller told through the medium of dance

Read more here.


Best in Show (2000)

The script, acting and direction always err just this side of believability, meaning if you came to this cold (and managed to not recognise any actors) you might be fooled into believing it was genuine. That doesn’t mean it’s short on laughs however — quite the opposite

Read more here.


Eastern Promises (2007)

Viggo Mortensen’s Oscar-nominated performance is the focus... Apparently thoroughly immersed in the role, he gives a distinguished performance throughout and is central to what are by far the film’s most memorable moments: a nude steam baths fight, which has become justifiably infamous, and a game-changing twist

Read more here.


Jane Eyre (1944)

Despite a suitably dramatic entrance, Orson Welles’ stilted and occasionally overplayed performance, as well as a lack of chemistry with the equally weak Joan Fontaine, does nothing to liven up what is already a rather uninspired production.

Read more here.


Rock n Roll Nerd (2008)

aspiring filmmaker Rhian Skirving decided to film [her neighbour] Tim Minchin’s last ditch attempt at making it. They expected to film, at best, a small-scale suburban documentary about a wannabe failing to become a somebody, but what they wound up with was something rather different. Minchin was a hit at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, from where he was whisked off to the famous Fringe, where he had “the most successful first season of any performer in the history of Edinburgh…” Not what either of them had expected

Read more here.


Unthinkable (2010)

wholly reliant on the script and performances to draw us into its story, and its debate. The debate in question is torture, and whether it’s excusable, and under what circumstances, and how far it’s OK to go. Though it’s grafted on to a story, it’s pretty clear that screenwriters Oren Moverman and Peter Woodward are as much, if not more, concerned with the issues at play... In my opinion, it works; at least, works well enough.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Great Comic Relief Bake Off
2x05 An Extra Slice
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x10 The Knockouts 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
[#33 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,747 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 539 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,357 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,888 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 443 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Two Tribes
2x16 (9/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x09 The Battles 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x08 USPIS
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Elementary
3x11 The Illustrious Client
3x12 The One That Got Away

Two Tribes
2x15 (6/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
2x10 The Land of Happy Donkeys
[Watch it (again) on Dave OD.]

The Last Leg
6x08 (27/2/15 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Mentalist
7x04 Black Market
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

Critical
1x02 Episode 2

The Flash
1x13 The Nuclear Man

The Great Comic Relief Bake Off
2x04 Episode 4 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Two Tribes
2x14 (5/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wolf Hall
Part 6 Masters of Phantoms [finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wolf Hall: The Inside Story
Illuminating half-hour interview with star Mark Rylance and director Peter Kosminsky.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
[#32 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

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


Godzilla (2014)

after over an hour and a half of teasing us, there’s an almighty brawl, and Godzilla is shown off in all his glory. Edwards isn’t trying to hide the monster, he’s saving it. He’s denying us shots of it not to punish the viewer or to trick us, but literally to tease us, to build excitement and suspense and desire for the final battle. Too many people aren’t used to this — modern blockbusters have trained them for non-stop show-us-all-you’ve-got action from start to finish — and that’s a shame, and their loss, because Edwards’ method is superior

Read more here.


Show Boat (1951)

the boat sets sail to the strains of Ol’ Man River, a downright fantastic song. “I get weary and sick of trying / I’m tired of living and scared of dying” — a bit fatalistic for a bright little musical about two people falling in love on a show boat? No, it’s just an indication of where things are going — into darkness, as modern parlance would have it

Read more here.


Not the best week for archive reviews, either, with a mere four being reposted to the new blog...


Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

George Clooney’s directorial debut is part biopic, part comedy, and part spy thriller. It’s the last part that works best, but perhaps that’s just because I have a predilection for spy thrillers

Read more here.


Dragonslayer (1981)

the realisation of the dragon is definitely one of the film's high points. It's an impressive creation, brought to the screen in those wonderful pre-CGI days through a total of 16 puppets, which included a 40-foot hydraulic model... Of course it has that veneer of '80s effects work, which is either nostalgic or amateurish depending on your point of view (and, most likely, age).

Read more here.


Rage (2009)

I really didn’t expect to like this: a series of straight-to-camera monologues, performed in front of just plain-coloured backgrounds, about the fashion industry... despite the concept’s innate pretentiousness, it’s an intriguing one. Once Rage settled into its stride (or, perhaps, I settled into its stride), however, I loved it.

Read more here.


What About Bob? (1991)

a comedy about mental health. As such, it feels primed for misunderstanding and inappropriateness. And it is indeed a little worrying early on: Bill Murray’s performance is, from the off, superbly believable, but it’s undercut by bad ‘this is a comedy’ music that suggests we’re meant to laugh at his impairments rather than feel sympathy.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Two Tribes
2x13 (4/3/15 edition)
Episode 12 has "been permanently revoked as it was subject to a factual inaccuracy." Oo-er.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Six additions this week, thanks to a good offer from Eureka/Masters of Cinema. They're technically six individual films, but thanks to one of them actually being three-flms-in-one and another having two additional features (that were edited from the main feature), plus all the discs to account for that (and that MoC often do dual format titles where two DVDs contain the material from one Blu-ray), and the numbers below look like there's been at least one many-film boxset.

But there hasn't.

Well, not really.


Number of titles in collection: 1,745 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 537 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 4,354 [up 13]
Number of films in collection: 1,886 [up 10]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 443 [up 1]


See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Room 101
15x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Godzilla (2014)
[#31 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
2x09 Hello, Can I Have a Bath?
[Watch it (again) on Dave OD.]

Death in Paradise
4x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
7x03 Orange Blossom Ice Cream
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Two Tribes
2x11 (2/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
3x12 Uprising

Elementary
3x10 Seed Money

Two Tribes
2x10 (27/2/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Alois Nebel (2011)
[#30 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

The Flash
1x12 Crazy for You

Two Tribes
2x09 (26/2/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wolf Hall
Part 5 Crows
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x07 Lockdown
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Critical
1x01 Episode 1

Two Tribes
2x08 (25/2/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The General (1926)
[#29 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2015 #2

this week on 100 Films

This week has just dipped into a new month, meaning it's time to look back at February on 100 Films in a Year:




Plus, three brand-new reviews were published this week...


Big Hero 6 (2014)

This year’s Best Animated Film Oscar winner is not this year’s best animated film. Not by a long stroke. What it is is one great character, one great emotional plot/subplot, and a lot of stuff that feels like every other big-budget action-orientated CGI animation of the past few years. Most succinctly, this is little more than “How to Train Your Baymax”.

Read more here.


Oldboy (2003)

It’s hard to summarise the effect of Oldboy without just watching it... It’s a film predicated on mysteries, but one that doesn’t rely on remaining mysterious — there are answers for every question, you just have to follow the strange path it leads you on and wait for the answers. Try not to get spoilered.

Read more here.


Song of the Thin Man (1947)

After the small-town detour of the previous film, Song sees the Charleses back in the more glamorous environs we associate with the series, all swanky apartments and floating casinos. That’s a big plus point for me, at least. The mystery is a particularly solid one, with a nice denouement that plays out slightly differently to the series’ regular formula.

Read more here.


And finally, there were three archive reviews reposted too...


Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

German silent movie depicting a day in the 'life' of Berlin, part of the 'city symphony' genre that was popular around the 1920s. This makes it one of those films that is in some way Important, but sadly it's still a bit, well, boring.

Read more here.


Hard Boiled (1992)

Chow Yun-Fat single handedly slaughtering a warehouse full of heavily armed gangsters? Well, of course! Or directly hitting a small object wedged in an electrical pipe with a shaky shooting arm? Naturally! ... It’s a cliché, but there’s something about Woo’s action that makes you want to use the word “balletic”. Not that I’ve ever really watched ballet. I expect it involves fewer guns.

Read more here.


Saturday Night Fever (1977)

couldn't be more '70s if it were made today as a period piece. From the posters on Tony's walls, to the fashions, to how it's shot, it seems to have been designed specifically to exude seventies-ness in a way few other things seem to.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Film 2015
Episode 7 (25/2/15 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
2x07 (24/2/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x08 The Battles 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

No changes this week. I have half-a-dozen things slated to arrive next month, though, so that should all be a bit busier.

Number of titles in collection: 1,739 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 531 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,341 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,876 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 442 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
2x08 My Father's Would Be Assassins
[Watch it (again) on Dave OD.]

Arrow
3x11 Midnight City

The Last Leg
6x07 (20/2/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Two Tribes
2x06 (23/2/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Death in Paradise
4x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great Comic Relief Bake Off
2x03 Episode 3 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
8x10 The Unseen Bits [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]