TV

Loads more superheroes!

Arrow
4x13 Sins of the Father

Daredevil
2x07 Semper Fidelis
2x08 Guilty as Sin
"Oh, that's quite a cliffhanger -- I'll just watch one more." ... "Oh no, an even bigger cliffhanger! But it is late and that shall have to wait."

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x04 White Knights

Gilmore Girls
5x12 Come Home [2nd watch]

Films

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[#67 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2016 #3

TV

The Flash
2x13 Welcome to Earth-2

Gilmore Girls
5x11 Women Of Questionable Morals [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x11 If-Then-Else
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Films

The Color Purple (1985)
[#66 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x03 Blood Ties

Gilmore Girls
5x10 But Not as Cute as Pushkin [2nd watch]

Grantchester
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
[#65 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Turbo Kid (2015)
[#64 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]


Along with Legends of Tomorrow, a very superheroic day.

TV

Arrow
4x12 Unchained

Films

Brooklyn (2015)
[#63 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Lincoln (2012)
[#62 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Elementary
4x15 Up to Heaven and Down to Hell

The Flash
2x12 Fast Lane

Gilmore Girls
5x09 Emily Says "Hello" [2nd watch]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Hangover (2009)

The high-concept plot is neat, though not as cleverly executed as it could be. The humour is straightforward, perhaps best exemplified by an Asian guy saying “motherfucker” in a silly high-pitched voice

Read more here.


Home (2015)

Home’s biggest problems are all in its most fundamental aspect: the story. It doesn’t just have plot holes — the whole premise and inciting incident don’t even hang together. I don’t believe this is just a movie for little kids, I reckon it was written by them too. That’s surely the only way to explain its absence of plausible logic.

Read more here.


Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

As irreverent and cameo-filled as ever (so many famous people, you won’t even know who some are!), something just doesn’t work this time — it’s neither as funny nor as charming as their last outing.

Read more here.


One-Armed Swordsman (1967)

not a fight-a-minute actioner like some of its genre stablemates, but it doesn’t need to be. When action does explode onto the screen, it’s fantastically done, with a fair few smaller tussles along the way before it reaches an almighty climax... However, for me the film also worked very well as a drama, and even sometimes as a romantic drama.

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Cube (1997)

everyone interested in the more intelligent end of the sci-fi spectrum should see Cube... Throw a mismatched group of characters into a confined, mysterious setting and, hey presto, instant drama.

Read more here.


Die Hard (1988)

Smart, witty, and thoroughly ruthless, Alan Rickman’s big-screen debut is a flawless turn that defined thriller villains (British-accented terrorists with a secret plan) for at least the next half-decade. No one does it better, though.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gilmore Girls
5x08 The Party's Over [2nd watch]

The Voice UK
5x12 The Quarter-Final
5x13 The Quarter-Final Results
[Watch the Quarter-Final and the results (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Scotland, Pa. (2001)
[#61 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

The time of "one new release a week" that I mentioned seven weeks ago is almost at an end! Last week had one that I didn't bother to highlight, while this week has one plus next week's... except I actually had two on order for next week, so that'll still happen. And then there's nothing, ladies and gents! After all that time, nowt!

Well, except for some stuff coming from America that'll turn up I-don't-know-when. Yeah, this counting malarkey ain't likely to stop any time soon.

Number of titles in collection: 1,848 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,210 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 638 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 4,734 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 2,020 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,197 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 472 [up 7]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x02 Pilot Part 2
Clearly they took all the money that was meant to pay for the script and spent it on special effects instead.

Gilmore Girls
5x07 You Jump, I Jump, Jack [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x10 The Cold War
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Films

Bridge of Spies (2015)
[#60 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Daredevil
2x05 Kinbaku
2x06 Regrets Only

Gilmore Girls
5x06 Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant! [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x09 The Devil You Know
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

The Voice UK
5x11 The Knockouts 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
4x11 A.W.O.L.

Gilmore Girls
5x05 We Got Us a Pippi Virgin! [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x08 Point of Origin
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Films

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
[#59 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Elementary
4x14 Who is That Masked Man

Gilmore Girls
5x03 Written in the Stars [2nd watch]
5x04 Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too [2nd watch]

Grantchester
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

One-Armed Swordsman (1967)
[#58 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

The Flash
2x11 The Reverse-Flash Returns

Gilmore Girls
5x02 A Messenger, Nothing More [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x07 Honor Among Thieves
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

TV

Daredevil
2x03 New York's Finest
2x04 Penny and Dime

Gilmore Girls
5x01 Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller [2nd watch]

Films

The Descendants (2011)
[#57 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

Can you believe it's already been a month since my inaugural "Past Month on TV" post? I can't. Anyway, this week on 100 Films in a Year saw the second volume:




Back in the blog's raison d'être, 3 brand-new reviews were published...


47 Ronin (2013)

Blighted by behind-the-scenes difficulties, 47 Ronin wound up among the biggest box office bombs of all time — a fate not entirely undeserved.

Read more here.


Amistad (1997)

Despite being “a slavery drama”, most of the film functions as a legal drama: though it begins with the slave uprising, and later has an extended flashback showing their kidnap and transportation, the thrust of the film lies in the courtroom arguments about who owns the ship’s ‘cargo’ and consequently what should be done with them.

Read more here.


Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)

follows the shape of its forebear, but with less inventiveness and more comedy, both intentional and not: the villain’s weapon of choice is a collapsible stool. Each to their own.

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Conspiracy (2001)

“A group of men have an administrative meeting” is possibly the least exciting logline for a movie you could ever read, but when those men are Nazis, at the height of the Third Reich’s pomp and opulence, and the businesslike meeting is to plot one of the greatest atrocities ever committed by mankind, it becomes horrendously fascinating.

Read more here.


Daredevil (2003)

The runt of the litter when it comes to the (first) modern explosion of superhero movies, Daredevil has, believe it or not, always had its fans. [...] Okay, the Netflix series has now easily surpassed it, but the Daredevil movie is still a moderately underrated film for its era.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Daredevil
2x01 Bang
2x02 Dogs to a Gunfight

Gilmore Girls
4x21 Last Week Fights, This Week Tights [2nd watch]
4x22 Raincoats and Recipes [season finale; 2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x06 Pretenders
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

The Voice UK
5x10 The Knockouts 1
The second half (Ricky's team), of course.
[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: 1,845 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,210 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 635 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,731 [up 5]
Number of films in collection: 2,017 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,197 [up 10]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

Plus this week it's time for a running time update, so...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
346 days, 19 hours, and 42 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 3 hours, and 30 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
1x01 Pilot Part 1

Gilmore Girls
4x19 Afterboom [2nd watch]
4x20 Luke Can See Her Face [2nd watch]

The Voice UK
5x10 The Knockouts 1
Only the first half (Paloma's team), because after that I'd had enough for one sitting.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Boxer from Shantung (1972)
[#56 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
[#55 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x18 Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom! [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x04 Brotherhood
4x05 Prophets
[Watch Brotherhood and Prophets (again) on My5.]

TV

Arrow
4x10 Blood Debts

Gilmore Girls
4x16 The Reigning Lorelai [2nd watch]
4x17 Girls in Bikinis, Boys Doin' the Twist [2nd watch]

The X Files
10x06 My Struggle II [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

TV

Elementary
4x13 A Study in Charlotte

Gilmore Girls
4x15 Scene in a Mall [2nd watch]

Grantchester
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

Elementary
4x12 A View with a Room

Gilmore Girls
4x14 The Incredible Sinking Lorelais [2nd watch]

this week on 100 Films

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


Daybreakers (2009)

offers an original and imaginative world (how would mankind cope if we couldn’t go out in daylight? Maybe like this). It’s somewhat let down by a few campy performances and a sensibility that reverts to action sequences, but originality counts for a lot

Read more here.


Kill List (2011)

mixes in its genre elements — and they’re elements from a couple of different genres at that — so gradually that it’s hard to discuss them without spoiling the film... It’s kind of a compilation of traditional British movie genres: we begin with kitchen sink, then discover we’re actually watching a crime film, before the final act swerves (though not without foreshadowing) into folk horror.

Read more here.


Macbeth (2015)

The text is heavily cut (a copy & paste & delete-bits job that somehow took three screenwriters), to the displeasure of some critics, though this is primarily because Kurzel chose to supplant some of the dialogue with Filmmaking. In a film?! How very dare he! What I mean, more specifically, is that he’s visualised parts of the text; applied the old rule of “show don’t tell”.

Read more here.


The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Guy Ritchie is a self-confessed non-fan of the classic ’60s spy-fi series, so he seems a somewhat odd choice to helm this long-gestating big-screen reboot... Unsurprisingly, he gives it a bit of the Sherlock Holmeses (namely, a semi-comedic tone and appropriately swish, ’60s-ish direction)

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Casino Royale (2006)

Bourne happened, shifting the playing field of the spy-action genre... What Casino Royale does skilfully is acknowledge the changes brought by Bourne, but adapt them to Bond’s slightly more classical style (something Quantum of Solace fumbled). At the same time, it acknowledges and frequently subverts that Bond formula

Read more here.


Children of Men (2006)

Cuarón mixes intelligent near-future sci-fi with exciting, and excitingly-realised, action sequences to create an action-thriller of a movie that stimulates both the mind and the adrenal glands. A fantastic film in every respect.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The X Files
10x05 Babylon
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Collection Count

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

As predicted, nothing this week. Next week: something.

Number of titles in collection: 1,844 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,210 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 634 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,726 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 2,017 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,187 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Office Space (1999)
[#54 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Elementary
4x11 Down Where the Dead Delight

Gilmore Girls
4x13 Nag Hammadi is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospels [2nd watch]

Penn & Teller: Fool Us
2x01 Phone-y Business
Remember this ITV series from nearly six years ago? Well, it aired in the US in 2014 and was a hit for the network, so they commissioned a new run (now in Las Vegas with US magicians) which Channel 5 have bought over here. There's going to be a third season, too.
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Films

Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
[#53 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x11 In the Clamor and the Clangor [2nd watch]
4x12 A Family Matter [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x03 Wingman
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Films

Fast & Furious 7 (2015)
[#52 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]
aka Furious Seven

TV

Dickensian
1x20 Episode 20 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
2x10 Potential Energy

Gilmore Girls
4x09 Ted Koppel's Big Night Out [2nd watch]
4x10 The Nanny and the Professor [2nd watch]

Films

Kill List (2011)
[#51 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x08 Die, Jerk [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x02 Nautilus
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Shetland
3x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The X Files
10x04 Home Again
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Films

The Book of Life (2014)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x07 The Festival of Living Art [2nd watch]

Shetland
3x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Barely Lethal (2015)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
[#48 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

A new month (nearly a week ago, I know) means it's time for a look back at the past month over at 100 Films in a Year, and February was a good'un:




Around that, three brand-new reviews were published to this week...


12 Years a Slave (2013)

[Chiwetel Ejiofor gives] an incredible lead performance — restrained most of the time, evoking Solomon’s internal life subtly rather than showily, but with carefully executed break-outs of emotion.

Read more here.


Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo. (2012/2013)

I’ve read more than one review bemoaning the confusion at the opening of the film [...] for me this was the most engaging and exciting segment of the movie. As well as a couple of thrilling action scenes, it juggles character relationships in interesting ways, establishing a new status quo unlike that we’ve seen before in the franchise. It culminates in a fantastic stand-off between former allies — indeed, former friends.

Read more here.


Snatch. (2000)

Guy Ritchie’s second feature met with relative indifference 16 years ago, consensus deeming it Lock Stock Mk.2 and finding Ritchie needed to branch out if he was to meet his debut’s promise... The consensus is very different today: taking IMDb’s Top 250 as a bellwether, Snatch is #94 and Lock Stock is #138.

Read more here.


Finally, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

Technical Wizardry: The cinematography and editing, according to some.
Letting the Side Down: The cinematography and editing, according to some.

Read more here.


Casablanca (1942)

remembered now as much for its selection of ever-quotable lines as for anything else — you don’t have to have seen the film to know that if you go walking into all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world and someone’s looking at you, kid, then maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon you should round up all the usual suspects again, Sam, for the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Or something.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x06 An Affair to Remember [2nd watch]

The Voice UK
5x09 The Battles 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
[#47 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

After this week's new release arrived early last week, next week's new release arrives early this week. Probably nothing at all next week, then.

Number of titles in collection: 1,844 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,210 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 634 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,726 [up 7]
Number of films in collection: 2,017 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,187 [up 14]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x05 The Fundamental Things Apply [2nd watch]

Shetland
3x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Blackhat (2015)
[#46 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Dickensian
1x19 Episode 19
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
4x04 Chicken or Beef? [2nd watch]

Grantchester
2x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x03 The Hobbit, the Sofa, and the Digger Stiles [2nd watch]

Person of Interest
4x01 Panopticon
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Films

Chappie (2015)
[#45 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Death in Paradise
5x08 Episode 8 [season finele]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
4x10 Alma Matters

Films

Lucy (2014)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

The 88th Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars. One of the best ceremonies for quite a while, with a few good surprises too. Great that Mad Max did so well.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x10 Yippie Kayak
A sitcom doing a Die Hard riff in a department store for its 2015 Christmas special? Never seen that before.
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Dickensian
1x18 Episode 18
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
4x02 The Lorelais' First Day at Yale [2nd watch]

Ripper Street
4x06 Edmund Reid Did This [season finale]
Cliffhangertastic! Hope we don't have to wait too long for the next (presumably final) series.
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video.]

TV

Oscars 2016: Nominations Special

Oscars 2016: Preview Live

Films

Cinderella (2015)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo. (2012/2013)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

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


AfterDeath (2015)

A low-budget British single-location thriller with a mostly unknown cast... mainly trades on the mystery established by its situation. The characters are quickly sketched and somewhat archetypal, and the twists in their storylines aren’t all that surprising, but combined with the relatively brisk running time this means they crack on with trying to solve what’s going on.

Read more here.


Heaven Can Wait (1943)

It starts brilliantly: the bookend scenes are excellent, and the early parts of the plot are buoyed by consistent wit and enjoyable characters, particularly Charles Coburn as a slyly raucous grandfather. As it heads into its second half, it loses momentum and focus

Read more here.


Paddington (2014)

a fine example of why you can’t judge a film by its marketing, because the critics were right: this is a joyous, funny movie; a delight for all ages. It also shows that sometimes euphemistic PR phrases like “creative differences” or “we agreed he wasn’t right for the part” aren’t actually euphemistic at all: Firth would’ve been all wrong for Paddington [...] Whishaw, on the other hand, nails it

Read more here.


Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

at this point, one or two other people on the internet have written the odd word about The Force Awakens — you have to really go looking, but trust me, there are some articles out there. [So,] for an angle of moderate uniqueness, I’ll talk about the five elements of the film that have been singled out for recognition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Bloody Sunday (2002)

The British Army don’t come across in the best light, with Tim Piggot-Smith’s Major General Robert Ford issuing hostile orders, and the troops eager for a fight. The depiction is tempered by Nicholas Farrell as Brigadier Patrick MacLellan, battling his conscious even as he must carry out his orders.

Read more here.


The Bourne Identity (2002)

Perhaps the Paul Greengrass-helmed sequels have been even more influential... but for me this first film is still the best of the bunch: an engaging mystery-thriller adrenalised by excellent action sequences.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gilmore Girls
4x01 Ballrooms and Biscotti [2nd watch]

The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story
1x02 The Run of His Life
So, turns out this is a comedy (I guess)...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
5x08 The Battles 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The X Files
10x03 Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster
This is definitely a comedy. And so good for it.
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

Collection Count

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

As I mentioned a while ago, I'm currently getting one new release a week. This week: next week's arrives early.

Number of titles in collection: 1,842 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,210 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 632 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,719 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 2,016 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,173 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gilmore Girls
3x22 Those Are Strings, Pinocchio [season finale; 2nd watch]

Room 101
5x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
6x04 The Sea Glass [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance. (2009/2010)
[2nd watch]

This was #65 in 100 Films 2011. As with 1.11, re-watched in preparation for the release of 3.33, my copy of which is in the post as I type.

I also watched all of the special features this time. Some interesting deleted scenes, but crikey do they have a lot of near-identical trailers.

TV

Dickensian
1x17 Episode 17
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x21 Here Comes the Son [2nd watch]

The Great Sport Relief Bake Off
3x04 Episode 4 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x09 The Swedes
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Gilmore Girls
3x20 Say Goodnight, Gracie [2nd watch]

Films

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone. (2007/2009)
[2nd watch]

This was #41 in 100 Films 2010. Re-watched in preparation for the long-awaited release of Evangelion 3.33 within the next week.

Articles

The man who made 'the worst video game in history'
by Richard Hooper (from BBC News Magazine)

Interesting profile about the guy who programmed the infamous E.T. game in 1982.

TV

Death in Paradise
5x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Dickensian
1x16 Episode 16
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x18 Happy Birthday, Baby [2nd watch]
3x19 Keg! Max! [2nd watch]

Films

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Gilmore Girls
3x16 The Big One [2nd watch]
3x17 A Tale of Poes and Fire [2nd watch]

Ripper Street
4x05 No Wolves in Whitechapel
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video.]

Films

Big Eyes (2014)
[#39 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

The Hangover (2009)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Dickensian
1x15 Episode 15
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x15 Face-Off [2nd watch]

Vera
6x03 The Moth Catcher
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

The Equalizer (2014)
[#37 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)
[#38 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

First up, a new feature I launched this week on 100 Films in a Year: a monthly TV review. Read more here:




In regular business, 2 brand-new reviews were published this week...


The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition (2014/2015)

What, if anything, does extending the last one by 19½ minutes bring to the table? ... Most obvious, and most discussed, is the dwarves’ war chariot action scene, whose bloody decapitations saw the film earn an R in the US and 15 over here. A seven-minute action sequence in the middle of the battle, it’s by far the largest single addition, and is mainly notable for all that blood and its use of the word “jambags”.

Read more here.


Spectre (2015)

Regular readers will remember I shared my spoiler-free thoughts on Spectre when it came out. Consequently, this review contains major spoilers, of the “if you read this you will know every twist that happens in the movie” variety.

Read more here.


Finally, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Blade (1998)

the story is pretty standard, and the dialogue is laughable or worse. But creative cinematography and non-stop, decently choreographed gratuitous violence make watching this comic-book movie (Blade is a minor, almost-forgotten Marvel comic) entertaining.

Read more here.


Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (1982/1992)

Visually, Blade Runner is a non-stop marvel: the noir cinematography, the vehicle and set design, the lived-in world, the believable effects… The entire thing is imaginatively conceived and magnificently realised with unwavering plausibility.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Dickensian
1x14 Episode 14
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x13 Dear Emily and Richard [2nd watch]
3x14 Swan Song [2nd watch]

The Voice UK
5x07 The Blind Auditions 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Noah (2014)
[#36 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

This week: two new single-disc Blu-rays, one an upgrade from a two-disc DVD (hence the lack of change in total discs).

Number of titles in collection: 1,840 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,210 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 630 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,716 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 2,014 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,173 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

Plus this week it's time for a running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
345 days, 16 hours, and 12 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 17 hours, and 53 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Dickensian
1x13 Episode 13
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x11 I Solemnly Swear [2nd watch]
3x12 Lorelai Out of Water [2nd watch]

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

Films

Grand Piano (2013)
[#34 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Home (2015)
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x08 Ava
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Elementary
4x09 Murder Ex Machina

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

TV

Gilmore Girls
3x10 That'll Do, Pig [2nd watch]

The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story
1x01 From the Ashes of Tragedy
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ripper Street
4x04 Men of Iron, Men of Smoke
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video.]

The X Files
10x02 Founder's Mutation
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

TV

Death in Paradise
5x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Dickensian
1x12 Episode 12
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x08 Let the Games Begin [2nd watch]
3x09 A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving [2nd watch]

Films

Crimson Peak (2015)
[#33 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Dickensian
1x11 Episode 11
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x07 They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They? [2nd watch]

Shetland
3x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Home on the Range (2004)
[#32 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

The British Academy Film Awards 2016
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The East (2013)
[#30 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Pillow Talk (1959)
[#31 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

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


Dressed to Kill (1946)

In the seven-and-a-bit years between 31st March 1939 and 7th June 1946, there were a total of 14 films released starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. By coincidence rather than design, I’ve spent nearly eight years viewing and reviewing them all... this entry takes loose inspiration from several tales. The use of secret codes is reminiscent of The Dancing Men, while the plot device of having to track down multiple identical items that hide something comes from The Six Napoleons.

Read more here.


Ex Machina (2015)

a sci-fi movie of the thoughtful variety. It’s a film that considers ideas of artificial life, how we test it and what it means to create it, and only gradually builds in thriller elements that pay off in its final twenty-or-so minutes. In truth, it’s not the most thorough deconstruction of what it means to be human and whether artificial intelligence can have that right, but it does touch on these issues and, in so doing, leaves them open for the viewer to mull over for themselves

Read more here.


Funny Games (1997)

The entire message is, “real-life violence is bad and you shouldn’t enjoy it in fiction, okay?” You don’t need to sit through a tough hour-and-a-half to know that.

Read more here.


The Martian (2015)

the latest in a growing subgenre of serious-minded near-future sci-fi adventures, following in the footsteps of 2013 Oscar winner Gravity and 2014 Oscar washout Interstellar. Where The Martian differs is in the element that tricked Golden Globes voters into thinking they could get away with giving it a comedy nomination (and win): rather than being stuffed to bursting with po-faced peril, it has a lightness of touch and regular doses of humour, making it probably the most feel-good serious sci-fi movie since ever.

Read more here.


Morning Glory (2010)

Rachel McAdams takes a break from time-jumping rom-coms to lead a film where the romantic subplot is merely tacked on, presumably for marketing purposes. Really, it’s about a woman in love with her job.

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Our Villain! No one’s slick as Gaston, no one’s quick as Gaston, no one’s got a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston. Uses antlers in all of his decorating, my what a guy, that Gaston.

Read more here.


The Big Sleep (1946)

Bogie and Bacall’s chemistry in To Have and Have Not led the studio to want more of the same, and her agent was only too keen after the poor reviews of Confidential Agent threatened to sink her career before it had really begun. New sparky dialogue scenes took the place of exposition ones in the final cut, essentially creating the film’s reputation for confusion.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gilmore Girls
3x05 Eight O'Clock at the Oasis [2nd watch]
3x06 Take the Deviled Eggs... [2nd watch]

The Voice UK
5x06 The Blind Auditions 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)
[#28 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

SuperBob (2015)
[#29 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

After a busy few weeks, it's back to "no change" across the board. Don't expect that to last, not at all: it should be non-stop until at least the end of March from here.

Number of titles in collection: 1,839 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,211 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 628 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,716 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 2,012 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,173 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 465 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gilmore Girls
3x04 One's Got Class and the Other One Dyes [2nd watch]

Room 101
5x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
6x02 Tuesday's Child
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Quigley Down Under (1990)
[#27 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Death in Paradise
5x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Dickensian
1x10 Episode 10
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x03 Application Anxiety [2nd watch]

TV

Dickensian
1x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
3x02 Haunted Leg [2nd watch]

Insert Name Here
1x06 Chris [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The X Files
10x01 My Struggle
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

Ex Machina (2015)
[#26 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Death in Paradise
5x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great Sport Relief Bake Off
3x02 Episode 2 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Room 101
5x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The X-Files Re-Opened
Behind-the-scenes special about the X-Files revival, which started airing in the UK last night. Next up: actually watch the actual programme.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]