this week on 100 Films

You may have noticed it's a new month, but I'm currently away and so the 100 Films in a Year April update will have to keep until next week.


Nonetheless, two brand-new reviews were still published this week...


The Sugarland Express (1974)

Largely overlooked these days, I guess because it doesn’t obviously fit with Spielberg’s renowned sci-fi, adventure, and worthy-historical pictures, The Sugarland Express merits more attention. Tonally, and in terms of the level of directorial skill it exhibits, it fits right amongst the pack of his better-remembered works.

Read more here.


Valkyrie (2008)

There's no point beating about the bush: they don't succeed [in killing Hitler]. We all know that. The film's marvel, really, is in making us believe they might... Singer has crafted a proper thriller here, replete with scenes of edge-of-your-seat tension. Many a filmmaker can't manage that with a fictional storyline, never mind one where we know exactly how it turns out.

Read more here.


Additionally, I added five archive reviews to the new blog...


Ghost Town (2008)

It's a gently amusing affair, with little that's especially memorable but is absolutely fine while it goes about its business. Many scenes may raise a smile or a giggle, but little more than that.

Read more here.


The Great Dictator (1940)

one of Chaplin's most widely-known films thanks to setting its sights on the Nazi regime and Adolf Hitler in particular... the real-world targets make his work satirical as well. I'm sure this made for great propaganda when it was released just a year into the war, but Chaplin's skill and accuracy mean it works beyond that: like all good impersonations or spoofs it doesn't make its objects silly for no reason, but instead takes what's inherently laughable about them and exploits it.

Read more here.


Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

adaptation of Patrick Süskind's popular novel, often considered unfilmable because of its focus on the sense of smell. Tykwer covers for that with strong cinematography, with sumptuously rich visuals and a judicious use of close-ups to evoke beauty or disgust as appropriate

Read more here.


Superhero Movie (2008)

Superhero Movie is mainly a spoof of Spider-Man... a film that [at the time of making was] six years old. Unfortunately, this means that most of the best jokes have already been done in numerous other sketch-length spoofs... Superhero Movie takes all this sketchery to the next level, however, crafting its story simply by reworking the first Spider-Man film almost scene by scene, inserting jokes (and, more often, 'jokes') where it can -- which is about once per scene.

Read more here.


Wilde (1997)

Stephen Fry is perfectly cast as Wilde and Jude Law is suitably horrid as the spoilt, stroppy and thoroughly dislikeable Bosie, whose selfishness brings about Wilde's downfall. Also worthy of note is the ever-excellent Michael Sheen in a smaller but vital role

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

This week: nowt.

Number of titles in collection: 1,762 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 554 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,378 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,903 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,482 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 448 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Car Share
1x02 Episode 2
Even funnier than the first. Glad I've bothered now.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Car Share
1x01 Episode 1
I wasn't going to watch this. Then I did, and it was actually quite good.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Game of Thrones
5x03 High Sparrow

The Mentalist
7x11 Byzantium
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Pointless Celebrities
7x02 Morning TV
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (1959)
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x15 Windbreaker City
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Daredevil
1x12 The Ones We Leave Behind
1x13 Daredevil [season finale]
The MCU may have offered us several well-liked films at this point, but I think this is my favourite thing that shared universe has produced so far. Ever so glad it's got a second season, and I can't wait to see what the other Marvel/Netflix series have to offer.

Gotham
1x17 Red Hood
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Person of Interest
3x05 Razgovor
Ugh, HR. When will they let that crap die?
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

Daredevil
1x11 The Path of the Righteous
Great final scene, even if I'm gutted to have that character leave the show.

Vera
5x03 Muddy Waters
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Bernie (2011)

Richard Linklater tells this story in a docu-drama style, mixing talking head interviews with dramatic recreations. Many (most) of the interviewees are real-life Carthage residents, presumably giving their real recollections and opinions. It fits this narrative to a T, lending veracity to the unbelievable-if-it-weren’t-true story.

Read more here.


Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

the sense that enough of the truth remains keeps the film inherently captivating. That’s handy for the film, which almost leans on the “it’s all true!” angle as a crutch to help the viewer through its own production. Eastwood’s direction might kindly be described as “workmanlike” — it’s strikingly unremarkable. Cusack is as blank as he ever seems to be

Read more here.


Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (2008)

there’s the son of Captain America and Black Widow; the daughter of Thor and Sif; the son of Hank Pym and Wasp; the son of Hawkeye and Mockingbird; and the son of Black Panther. These kids must work with the still-living members of the original Avengers to fight… Ultron, the villain of this summer’s Live-Action Avengers 2! (Do you ever feel like the Marvel universe goes round in circles?)

Read more here.


Pain & Gain (2013)

For his first non-sci-fi movie in a decade, divisive action director Michael Bay channels Tarantino (kinda) for this based-on-a-true-story crime comedy. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg and Anthony “The Falcon” Mackie star as a gang of dimwitted Florida bodybuilders who come up with a ‘foolproof’ plan to rob a rich gym client.

Read more here.


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


The Big Heat (1953)

It’s rather grim and very violent, to be blunt. Even if most of the violence is off screen, it’s still described in fair detail — and most of it’s against women too. Lang adds intensity to this mix, a quiet sort of tension. It becomes clear that this is a tale where anything could — and does — happen; where it is, for once, genuinely true that no one is safe.

Read more here.


Roman Holiday (1953)

the cast work well together. The film is often painted as a Peck/Hepburn two-hander — easier to sell the romance angle that way — and I’m sure it would work as that, but Albert’s in it enough to qualify for attention, and is fairly essential to what makes it quite so likeable in my opinion. He and Peck carry much of the humour while Hepburn charms as a sweet girl finally allowed to be herself.

Read more here.


Snake Eyes (1998)

Let's start with the opening take. It's a fake (there are eight cuts), which is pretty obvious, but it's still a nifty way of starting the film... it sets up nearly everything we need to know for the rest of the film. Almost every element of the conspiracy is tucked away in there somewhere, from the blatantly obvious to the tiniest detail we won't even notice.

Read more here.


Ultimate Avengers (2006)

The primary problem is balance. [It] spends the entire first half assembling the team, the story crawling along at a snail’s pace; consequently, there’s nothing like enough time to do the remaining plot justice, leaving much of it to feel rushed. However, the tale itself retains an appropriately comic-book feel

Read more here.


Ultimate Avengers II (2006)

yes, it’s a modern genre sequel, so yes, it’s ‘darker’. In this case that means “more adult”, touching on issues you might not expect in superhero animation with such a low certificate — marital problems, survivor’s guilt, political isolationism, even vague allusions to alcoholism. None are dealt with in any great depth I should add, but it will likely please adult fans wishing for something more “grown-up”.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Arrow
3x20 The Fallen

Daredevil
1x10 Nelson v. Murdock

Elementary
3x18 The View from Olympus

Outnumbered
4x06 The Exchange Student [season finale; 2nd watch]
Some people say Outnumbered lost it as it went on, but this is a really great episode. The "kids say the funniest things" element definitely faded a bit with time, but the writing and plot construction could still be sharp. The titular German kid is the best bit of the episode, too.

Films

Blitz (2011)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

After the crazy month, just one addition this week. There are very few pre-orders on the horizon right now, actually, so any additions in the immediate future will be spur-of-the-moment purchases.

Number of titles in collection: 1,762 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 554 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,378 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,903 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,482 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 448 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Daredevil
1x09 Speak of the Devil

Have I Got News For You
49x02 (17/4/2015 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Mad Men
7x10 The Forecast

Films

Killing Them Softly (2012)
[#57 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Critical
1x09 Episode 9

Outnumbered
4x05 The Cold Caller [2nd watch]

TV

Daredevil
1x08 Shadows in the Glass

The Flash
1x18 All Star Team Up

Forever
1x17 Social Engineering

Films

Room 237 (2012)
[#56 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
3x19 Broken Arrow

Daredevil
1x07 Stick
A virtually standalone episode -- wonders will never cease! And then a big teasing ending. Could be a new arc plot; more excitingly, could be a first tease for The Defenders.

Elementary
3x17 T-Bone and the Iceman

Game of Thrones
5x02 The House of Black and White
Two shows with major character deaths today, but Game of Thrones isn't one of them. What're the odds?!

The Mentalist
7x10 Nothing Gold Can Stay
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Outnumbered
4x04 The Parents' Evening [2nd watch]

TV

Between three episodes of Daredevil and one each of Gotham and Person of Interest, it's been a very Batman-esque day...

Daredevil
1x04 In the Blood
1x05 World on Fire
1x06 Condemned
I was only going to watch one episode again, but it really is very good, so two seemed a nice idea... and then they went and ended it on an almighty cliffhanger! The season may all be one long story, but World on Fire and Condemned are a bit of a two-parter within that. It’s times like this that Netflix's "release it all at once" policy really pays off.

Forever
1x16 Memories of Murder

Gotham
1x16 The Blind Fortune Teller
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Outnumbered
4x03 The Labrador [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
3x04 Reasonable Doubt
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

TV

Daredevil
1x03 Rabbit in a Snowstorm
This seems to be one of the season's lowest-rated episodes on many a site (IMDb, for example), but I thought it was possibly the best yet. Still very much in the setting up phase though, with major new characters being introduced each episode.

Vera
5x02 Old Wounds
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

eXistenZ (1999)
[2nd watch]

First saw this many, many years ago, so my memories of it were rather vague, but also positive. Glad to see a re-viewing has only reasserted that. Also, that in the intervening decade-and-a-half the icky special effects haven't gotten significantly less icky.

this week on 100 Films

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


The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Peter Jackson’s epic Tolkien adaptation blunders its way to a conclusion with an instalment some have declared the trilogy’s best, presumably because they really enjoy watching someone else play video games. That’s what about half of this sextet-completing movie feels like, as it concludes the three-part Hobbit narrative with a CGI-riddled rendering of the titular battle.

Read more here.


A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

The second feature from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, after the justly popular Ted, A Million Ways to Die in the West is a disappointing mixed bag, half pretty-decent character- and situation-based comedy, half cringingly infantile toilet-humour tomfoolery.

Read more here.


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


Browncoats: Redemption (2010)

Undoubtedly the greatest thing about this project -- fans coming together to celebrate and recreate something they love in aid of charity -- is down to producer Michael C. Dougherty's thought and organisation. Sadly, the worst things about it -- the writing and direction -- are also his responsibility. We must be forgiving -- it is made by amateurs, and for charity -- but it's a shame someone(s) more proficient weren't found for the important creative roles.

Read more here.


Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity (2006)

investigates the cult sparked by the prematurely-cancelled TV series Firefly and its continuation movie, Serenity — a movie that only exists thanks to the fans’ dedication. The activism, and success, of Firefly’s fans makes for a key difference from other fan docs: these aren’t just people who queue for obscene amounts of time to see something they like; these are people who helped turn a cancelled TV show into a successful movie.

Read more here.


Ray (2004)

It’s easy to see why Walk the Line has been described as “Ray with white people”; but Ray has also been described as being an outstanding performance in an average film, and I’d pretty much agree with this too.

Read more here.


Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005)

you'd expect this documentary to focus itself on Lord of the Rings fandom. To a degree it does, but it also encompasses a history of the books and their popularity, as well as various thematic issues contained within them

Read more here.


Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Despite its unpronounceable title, Synecdoche, New York starts out like a relatively normal comedy/drama… but then weird touches begin to crop in. A house that's on fire when a character buys it and continues to be on fire for the next several decades, for instance. No one in the film bats an eyelid. Then the really weird bit arrives; the bit you all probably know; what the film's about (except, of course, not what it's About), as Philip Seymour Hoffman's theatre director begins to construct a life-size New York within a warehouse.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
1x25 Mayhem of the Music Meister! [2nd watch]
Yeah, I watched it again already. It really is that much fun. Also, only 22 minutes long.

Daredevil
1x02 Cut Man
Had to take a break as soon as I started! Back into it now though, hopefully solidly for the next couple of weeks-ish. Anyway, this is the episode with the single-take hallway fight you may have read about it. And yes, it is a good'un.

Mad Men
7x09 New Business

Pointless Celebrities
7x01 Mixed Bag
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

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

Collection Count

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

Here's all the stuff that should've been here last week -- and more! As I said, so much for a quiet month... and it's all arrived in time for the running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 1,761 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 553 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 4,377 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 1,902 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,482 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 448 [up 4]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
315 days, 19 hours, and 27 minutes.
(Up 1 day and 48 minutes from last month.)

Next month will be quieter.

Probably.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x14 Defense Rests
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Critical
1x08 Episode 8

Have I Got News For You
49x01 (10/4/2015 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
1x25 Mayhem of the Music Meister!
2x11 Chill of the Night!

I watched the first eight episodes of this bright-n-cheerful animated series back in August/September 2012, after which I gave up on it for not being particularly good. However, I recently discovered it's all on Amazon Prime Instant Video, so I decided to watch the first of these episodes, which got a lot of coverage on its premiere back in 2009 for being a musical guest starring Neil Patrick Harris. And it was actually really good fun.

"Maybe the series deserves a second shot?", I thought. Googling to find the best episodes, it seems to actually have a lot of fans, although consensus on which episodes are the best only extends to a handful. The second of the ones I watched seems to be one of only two that gains universal acclaim -- and as the other is the series finale, I thought I might leave it for a bit. Aside from its tacky pre-titles, Chill of the Night is excellent -- much more like a Batman: The Animated Series episode than a Brave and the Bold one, which is no bad thing.

So looks like I may give some more of this a go after all.

TV

Daredevil
1x01 Into the Ring
The first of five connected TV series from Marvel and Netflix. As is the latter's way, the entire season was released last Friday. I shall be pacing myself, so as not to end up like all those people on Twitter currently wishing they hadn't rushed through it.

Game of Thrones
5x01 The Wars to Come
Hurrah for the return of Thrones! Between this, Daredevil, Mad Men, The Americans (which has been back in the US for a while and I've been saving up)... so much good telly at the moment!

Films

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
[#55 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
3x18 Public Enemy

Forever
1x15 The King of Columbus Circle

Outnumbered
4x02 The Girls' Day Out [2nd watch]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x13 Payback
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Vera
5x01 Changing Tides
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Bernie (2011)
[#53 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
[#54 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...


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.