Films

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
[#167 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

The Transporter Refuelled (2015)
[#166 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

It's the time of the month for 100 Films in a Year to look back at recent TV...




Also this week, I published 4 brand-new reviews...


Caesar Must Die (2012)

On the surface, this is a documentary about the inmates of Rome’s high-security Rebibbia prison — many of them with mafia connections — putting on a performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. However, it becomes clear fairly quickly that it’s all been staged... The question becomes: is that a problem? Because while it isn’t a documentary, it also is a documentary.

Read more here.


Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

Unlikely stories can make great movies, or at least fun ones, and if this isn’t the former then it’s largely the latter... Boasting a typically witty script from Aaron Sorkin, and a cast (including Philip Seymour Hoffman) capable of delivering it, it makes a potentially grim topic surprisingly entertaining

Read more here.


Lost River (2014)

there’s definitely some magical realism going on... Adult fairytale would be another term for it; there are slices of some form of Gothic, too. To put it another way, it’s definitely Lynchian. Other directors may have been an influence on Gosling as well, but it specifically brought Blue Velvet to mind for me, without in any palpable way being a clone of that movie.

Read more here.


One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

very ’70s in its bleakness; also in being about someone sticking it to The Man, and The Man winning. We often conflate such qualities with realism — “it’s not all happy, it must be more like real life” — but I wonder if Cuckoo’s Nest is actually too on the nose as an indictment of the system.

Read more here.


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


Serenity (2005)

the real star is Whedon’s screenplay. Packed to the gills with the literate, witty dialogue he’s famed for, it also manages to be emotionally affecting, make points about governments and their power, engage with themes of belief and the importance of freedom, and weave in a subtext that reflects the real-life story of Firefly’s death and rebirth — though Whedon claims that last one was an accident.

Read more here.


The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

exactly the kind of movie primed to emerge as a consensus favourite: it has drama and darkness, but also humour and optimism, and elicits emotions across the spectrum — it’s neither too grim to depress people into not enjoying it, nor too sentimental to make them do that mock “throwing up” noise some people do when things get really schmaltzy.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Black Mirror
2x02 White Bear

Class
1x01 For Tonight We Might Die
The new Doctor Who spin-off has a strong start here. It's basically The Sarah Jane Adventures multiplied by Torchwood, but with a good set of characters to help enliven that familiar format. Similarly, the bit where it tips its hat to all the other TV shows with a similar basic setup is funny, but does make you wonder how it might fare in the longer run. We'll see -- it's earnt a chance.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
7x09 Patisserie Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again
[#165 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]
Coming to Sky Cinema over here next Friday, when I'll review it.

Collection Count

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

Just one big DVD-to-Blu-ray upgrade this week, who's only really result impact on these stats is to halve the number of discs in that set!

Number of titles in collection: 1,894 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,199 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 697 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,872 [down 21]
Number of films in collection: 2,093 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,452 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 496 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
7x03 Clear & Present Danger

The Crystal Maze
Stand Up to Cancer Celebrity Special
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Articles

Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker interview: 'I'm loathe to say this is the worst year ever because the next is coming'
by Jacob Stolworthy (from the Independent)

An extended interview about the new season of Black Mirror, plus other stuff. Brooker's always worth a read.

TV

Castle
7x02 Montreal

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
3x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ripper Street
5x06 Occurrence Reports [series finale]
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.]

Films

Serenity (2005)
[6th watch]

TV

Red Dwarf
11x04 Officer Rimmer

Ripper Street
5x05 A Last Good Act
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.]

TV

Black Mirror
2x03 The Waldo Moment [season finale]
This is by far the lowest-rated episode of Black Mirror according to IMDb users -- whereas all the others range from 8.1 to 9.0, this has 7.1. And they're not wrong. There are some interesting and sometimes amusing ideas, and like all the best Black Mirrors it's sickeningly plausible, but it ends rather abruptly without seeming to have reached an ultimate point, and a future-set coda gets kind of silly. Ah well.

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
5x07 Episode 7

Ripper Street
5x04 The Dreaming Dead
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.]

Films

Raising Arizona (1987)
[#164 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

The Great British Bake Off
7x08 Tudor Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ripper Street
5x03 All the Glittering Blades
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.]

Star Trek
1x28 The City on the Edge of Forever

Star Trek: The Animated Series
1x02 Yesteryear
All of the Star Trek TV series are available on Netflix, which I've currently got for Luke Cage, so I thought I'd watch some of the most acclaimed episodes while I can. I picked these two almost on a whim, not realising they're actually connected. How serendipitous.

this week on 100 Films

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


Armageddon (1998)

Many Hollywood blockbusters have ludicrous concepts, but Armageddon feels designed to plow new furrows of ridiculousness. Apparently NASA show the film to new managers and ask them to spot the errors. There are at least 168. It only takes a few minutes before it’s already so OTT that it seems like a spoof of Bay — I mean, the title card explodes for crying out loud.

Read more here.


Cop Car (2015)

The director of minor horror Clown and (more significantly to the history of cinema, maybe) next year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, Jon Watts drew the attention that landed him the latter job with this festival-hit thriller

Read more here.


Deep Blue Sea (1999)

There is definitely a level of “so bad it’s good” about it. It’s definitely not a good movie in the traditional sense, but it is fun; and unlike, say, Armageddon, it’s clearly not taking itself too seriously. Nicely, it gets by without the constant winks-and-nods at the audience you get in today’s deliberately-trashy genre movies

Read more here.


The Quay Brothers in 35mm (2015)

Christopher Nolan made a few headlines last year when his first post-Interstellar film was announced for near-immediate release... an eight-minute short documentary, Quay, about British-based American-born identical-twin animators the Quay brothers. The short was screened theatrically as part of a programme of animated shorts directed by the brothers, curated by Nolan to accompany his documentary, [which included In Absentia, The Comb, and Street of Crocodiles.]

Read more here.


The Salvation (2014)

The spirit of the Spaghetti Western is kept alive in this Euro-minded South Africa-shot revenge Western.

Read more here.


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


Schindler's List (1993)

The stark black-and-white cinematography acknowledges the incomprehensibly horrific events, while Spielberg’s divisive penchant for sentimentality seems well-matched to the tale, offering a measure of hope from humanity’s darkest days.

Read more here.


Se7en (1995)

I normally say Se7en is my favourite movie... There are more easily enjoyable movies in my 100 Favourites, but there are none that are any better made, nor any that better expose the dark heart of humanity.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Ripper Street
5x02 A Brittle Thread
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.]

Would I Lie To You?
10x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Moneyball (2011)
[#163 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

A number jumble this week, with some new additions, some upgrades, and some just being sold off.

Number of titles in collection: 1,894 [down 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,200 [down 5]
Of which Blu-rays: 696 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,893 [down 4]
Number of films in collection: 2,093 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,452 [down 60]
Number of short films in collection: 496 [down 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Black Mirror
2x01 Be Right Back
It's only taken me 3½ years to get round to this (seriously, where does time go?!)

Castle
7x01 Driven
Normally I prefer a gap between seasons of things, but as six ended on a cliffhanger...

Ripper Street
5x01 Closed Casket
[Watch it exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.]

Films

Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2016)
[#162 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Castle
6x23 For Better or Worse [season finale]

Red Dwarf
11x03 Give & Take

TV

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
5x04 Episode 4

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
3x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Musketeers
2x07 A Marriage of Inconvenience

Films

The Big Short (2015)
[#161 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Castle
6x22 Veritas

Luke Cage
1x12 Soliloquy of Chaos
1x13 You Know My Steez [season finale]

TV

Castle
6x21 Law & Boarder

The Great British Bake Off
7x07 Dessert Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Would I Lie To You?
10x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

A Knight's Tale (2001)
[#160 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

The Quay Brothers in 35mm (2015)
[#159 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]
Including the shorts In Absentia, Quay, The Comb, and Street of Crocodiles.

this week on 100 Films

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


The Magnificent Seven (1960)

With even less screen time to go round than in Kurosawa’s original, the cast only get to provide thumbnail sketches of their characters. However, bearing that in mind, only Vaughn really feels shortchanged on time, while McQueen manages to steal every scene he’s in, even when he was supposed to just be in the background — much to Brynner’s annoyance.

Read more here.


Mr. Turner (2014)

There are two stars in Mike Leigh’s biopic of famed British artist J.M.W. Turner: Timothy Spall, grunting his way through the title role with a deceptively layered realisation of an apparently simple but deeply complex man; and Dick Pope’s cinematography, which makes almost every frame look like a rich landscape painting, so that you feel you can almost see the brushstrokes.

Read more here.


Pixels (2015)

the virtual definition of brain-off entertainment. The story has the plausibility of a kids’ daydream, the humour is frequently unimaginative, and the action sequences mostly coast on their basic concept rather than trying to elevate them... But for all that mediocrity, I spent 100 minutes feeling gently entertained. I laughed a few times; the action was, as I say, passable

Read more here.


Pride (2014)

Perhaps most remarkable is Dominic West as a veteran homosexual, whose dancing display has to be seen to be believed. Bill Nighy and Paddy Considine are understated as quiet, hesitant characters who have inner steel, and Jessica Gunning makes a similar impact as a housewife who is completely emboldened by the activism. I don’t like just listing actors, but it would be a disservice not to mention Faye Marsay, Andrew Scott, Imelda Staunton… I could go on. Screenwriter Stephen Beresford finds meaningful stories and character arcs for each of these, while director Matthew Warchus controls the story so that it never devolves into a collection of subplots.

Read more here.


Westworld (1973)

while the original film does offer Crichton’s superb concept, plus a few straightforward action/suspense thrills, it’s too slight to really deliver on the inherent promise.

Read more here.


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


Saved! (2004)

At the first assembly of the school year, cool headmaster Pastor Skip flips onto stage (“Give it up to the Lord, Jesus is in the house! Let’s get our Christ on, let’s kick it Jesus style! … Who’s down with G-O-D? Alright! Jesus rules! Jesus rules!”), before... Cassandra starts ‘speaking in tongues’ (“mah puhsah issa hot puhsow”), though Hilary Faye sees through it (“she’s saying she’s got a hot p—!”)

Read more here.


Saving Private Ryan (1998)

the greatest war movie ever made? Maybe... It’s certainly the most influential World War 2 movie of modern times — nearly 20 years later, its desaturated colour palette remains de rigueur for films set in the war. So too its realistic depiction of combat, which is more plausible than some of the Boy’s Own adventures that came before, though not so ridiculously gruelling as some that have come in its wake.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Castle
6x20 That '70s Show

Luke Cage
1x10 Take It Personal
1x11 Now You're Mine

Films

The Russia House (1990)
[#158 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,897 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,205 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 694 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 4,897 [up 6]
Number of films in collection: 2,088 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,512 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 498 [up 25]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Line of Duty
1x05 Episode 5 [season finale]

Luke Cage
1x09 DWYCK

TV

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
5x06 Episode 6

Line of Duty
1x04 Episode 4

TV

Line of Duty
1x03 Episode 3

Luke Cage
1x07 Manifest
1x08 Blowin' Up the Spot

TV

Castle
6x19 The Greater Good

Line of Duty
1x02 Episode 2

Luke Cage
1x05 Just to Get a Rep
1x06 Suckas Need Bodyguards

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
5x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

Line of Duty
1x01 Episode 1

Luke Cage
1x03 Who's Gonna Take the Weight?
1x04 Step in the Arena

Red Dwarf
11x02 Samsara
Has it really been four years since Series X? Where does time go?! Anyway, I accidentally left it too long to see episode 1 on catch-up, but I get the impression watching them out of order doesn't matter, so I'll find it later.

Collection Count

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

I'm a couple of days late this week because it's time for the mega monthly running time update, and I'd got behind on keeping track of said running times. It's all good now, though, so here we go:

Number of titles in collection: 1,892 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,204 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 690 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,891 [up 10]
Number of films in collection: 2,084 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,512 [up 64]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
360 days, 16 hours, and 55 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 21 hours, and 33 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
6x18 The Way of the Ninja

Would I Lie To You?
10x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

2016 entered its final quarter this week, which meant it was yet again time for 100 Films in a Year to reflect on the past month...




Additionally, 4 brand-new reviews were published this week...


High-Rise (2015)

I was looking forward to this sci-fi-ish ’70s social satire, but, having let it percolate for a few months, I still have no real grasp of what it was about. I mean, it’s obviously about society, but what its point about society is… I have no idea.

Read more here.


Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

A story of young love, Wes Anderson style, the writer-director has described Moonrise Kingdom as “an autobiography about something that didn’t happen”. That feels like a good way to regard the film. There’s clearly an emotional truth to Sam and Suzy’s discontented lives and their desire to connect with a like-minded individual, especially at an age when romantic feelings are beginning to emerge; but there’s no way the rest of the events — which unfold with Anderson’s typical almost-real / almost-fantastical quirkiness — actually happened.

Read more here.


Rushmore (1998)

Having only seen Anderson’s three most recent films, it’s interesting to observe the early days of his distinctive style. The squared-off framing and blocking, the mannered acting, the interludes and asides, the not-quite-real / not-quite-fantasy quirkiness of it all… These things have only become more pronounced since, presumably as Anderson has become more confident in his own voice, or possibly as other behind-the-scenes forces have become more comfortable letting him do his thing.

Read more here.


Spotlight (2015)

As a film, this story is effectively a conspiracy thriller: a team of journalists expose a wide-reaching criminal cover-up within a respected and powerful institution. If it were fiction, you’d struggle to believe it, the scale of the conspiracy so vast that the very notion of it would be implausible. So it’s all the more astonishing — and horrifying — that it was real.

Read more here.


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


The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The outré style belies an underlying cleverness, with witty writing that features abundant references to sci-fi B-movie classics, precisely pitched performances, and, of course, the unforgettable toe-tapping tunes. Whether alone or in a packed auditorium throwing stuff and shouting back at the screen, it’s just fun. To watch it is to, indeed, give yourself over to absolute pleasure.

Read more here.


Romeo + Juliet (1996)

I alluded to critics’ dismissal of this adaptation — here are some choice quotes: “the kind of violent swank-trash music video that may make you feel like reaching for the remote”; “a classic play thrown in the path of a subway train”; “destined for the trash heap of Shakespeare adaptations”; “a monumental disaster.” I’d argue its subsequent, and largely enduring, success has put those old fuddy-duddies on the wrong side of history.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Castle
6x16 Room 147
6x17 In the Belly of the Beast

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
3x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Luke Cage
1x01 Moment of Truth
1x02 Code of the Streets

Films

The Nice Guys (2016)
[#156 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
[#157 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
5x05 Episode 5

The Great British Bake Off
7x06 Botanical Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Westworld (1973)
[#155 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Castle
6x15 Smells Like Teen Spirit

Films

The Saint's Return (1953)
[#154 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]
aka The Saint's Girl Friday

TV

The Musketeers
2x06 Through a Glass Darkly

TV

Castle
6x14 Dressed to Kill

Would I Lie To You?
10x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
[2nd watch]

This was #1 in 100 Films 2012.

TV

Scott & Bailey
5x02 Episode 2
5x03 Episode 3 [series finale]

Films

Mr. Turner (2014)
[#153 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

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


Badlands (1973)

"He was 25 years old. He combed his hair like James Dean. He was very fastidious. People who littered bothered him. She was 15. She took music lessons and could twirl a baton. She wasn’t very popular at school. For awhile they lived together in a tree house. In 1959, she watched while he killed a lot of people." As 60-word summaries go, that pretty fairly covers the characters, plot, and, to some degree, the film’s tone.

Read more here.


The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)

The artificially-extended Hunger Games trilogy-turned-tetralogy climaxes here. Presumably you’ve seen the first three and so know what you’re into by this point — either you’re invested or you’ve given up. Unless you want to know “does it end well?” before embarking on the whole thing, of course. While Mockingjay Part 2 is not the series’ finest instalment, it brings things to a decent head… eventually.

Read more here.


Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

the film wasn’t a success, either critically or commercially — despite casting a young, theoretically popular lead in Chris Pine, it didn’t attract the young audience needed to produce blockbuster numbers these days. I guess playing the “thriller” rather than “action” card didn’t pay off... I think the reaction has been unduly harsh, because Shadow Recruit is very effective at what it sets out to do, and is, in my view, easily the most entertaining Jack Ryan movie since at least the first

Read more here.


Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

the film is a romantic confection made up of sunny Côte d’Azur locations, pretty vintage costumes, gently witty dialogue, and quality actors gamely playing along. Colin Firth is hardly stretched as a romantic lead, but Stanley’s pompousness and sarcastic cynicism gives the role a little bite. Emma Stone’s big eyes do half the work for her, though she still gives it her all in a way that makes her character and performance endearing.

Read more here.


Ted 2 (2015)

The plot (about Ted trying to become a legally recognised person) exists to string together comedic set pieces. Perhaps that’s why the pace feels off: individual parts are funny, but it’s slow going.

Read more here.


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


Road to Perdition (2002)

On the surface it’s a revenge thriller, replete with ’30s mob style and Tommy Gun massacres, but under that is a more emotive tale about masculinity as it pertains to the father/son dynamic. It’s all handled with sensitive artistry by director Sam Mendes, supported by first-rate technical merits across the board

Read more here.


The Rock (1996)

While it functions well in Bay’s familiar wheelhouse of adrenaline-pumping action-thriller, it’s elevated by a screenplay that offers dialogue which, at times, can be witty and/or intelligent; and, most importantly, which creates sympathetic characters on both sides of the conflict. There aren’t many actioners where you can say “the writing’s the best bit”, are there?

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
3x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Scott & Bailey
5x01 Episode 1

Collection Count

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

A few week's worth of orders coalesced into the last few days, leaving me with my biggest single weekly update in... about a month. Man, I buy too much stuff.

Number of titles in collection: 1,890 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,204 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 688 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 4,881 [up 17]
Number of films in collection: 2,084 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,448 [up 27]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
6x13 Limelight

The Great British Bake Off
7x05 Pastry Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Magnificent Seven (1960)
[#152 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Castle
6x12 Deep Cover

TV

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
5x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

Castle
6x11 Under Fire

TV

Castle
6x09 Disciple
6x10 The Good, the Bad & the Baby

TV

Castle
6x08 A Murder is Forever

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
5x03 Episode 3

this week on 100 Films

It's the time of the month for 100 Films in a Year to look back at recent TV...




Also this week, I published 4 brand-new reviews...


American Ultra (2015)

Max Landis’ wish-fulfilment screenplay (by which I mean Max Landis’ screenplay is about fulfilling Max Landis’ wishes) sees Jesse Eisenberg as a laggard stoner who turns out to be a CIA sleeper agent with Bourne-esque abilities, which are revealed when the director of a rival CIA programme (Topher Grace) sets out to kill him and anyone who stands in their way, including girlfriend Kristen Stewart.

Read more here.


Fast & Furious 7 (2015)

the action is ridiculous and implausible. Even the stuff that doesn’t seem physically impossible is overblown. But it’s so ludicrous that the film can’t possibly be trying to claim it’s real anymore, and therefore it kind of works — they’ve committed to it. Though anyone who started out enjoying this series for its broadly-realistic car-racing thrills must be pretty disappointed in it by this point.

Read more here.


Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010)

It’s an action-fantasy movie… starring owls. It’s animated, but in a dark, realistic way (think Rango with less cartoonishness and less light). It’s based on a kids’ book series… but directed by Zack Snyder, clearly reining in his R-rated impulses (violence occurs just off screen, leading to “did that happen?” confusion)

Read more here.


Pride and Prejudice (1940)

The first adaptation of Jane Austen’s ever-popular novel, MGM’s film is a compromised endeavour: by executives softening dialogue and rewriting characters; by changing its setting to permit grander costumes; by Gone with the Wind using all the Technicolor stock, forcing the lavish production to shoot in black-and-white.

Read more here.


Finally, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 huge '80s blockbuster classics...


Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

It’s pretty much a perfect adventure movie: relentlessly paced, packed with action, lightened with humour, full of likeable heroes, who are brave and competent but also a little bit flawed, and hissable villains, with scene after scene of imaginative situations and fabulously staged derring-do.

Read more here.


Return of the Jedi (1983)

These days, the answer to the question “how did they do that?” is “CGI”. Back in the ’80s, however, they had to be a bit more creative... For example, the shot where the Imperial fleet spring their trap on the Rebels was the most complex matte shot ever attempted, with dozens of separate model elements having to be printed in.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)
[#151 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

The Survivalist (2015)
[#150 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,886 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 685 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,864 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 2,079 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,421 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
3x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

We Love Sitcom
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Tokyo Tribe (2014)
[#149 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

One of Us
Part 4 Adam and Grace [finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
10x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Castle
6x07 Like Father, Like Daughter

The Great British Bake Off
7x04 Batter Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Castle
6x06 Get a Clue

The Musketeers
2x05 The Return

Films

Tale of Tales (2015)
[#148 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

One of Us
Part 3 Glenarvon Loch
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
[#147 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

One of Us
Part 2 Beneath the Surface
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
10x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Barely Lethal (2015)

if its establishing concept sounds like something you might enjoy, and you go in with suitably lowered expectations, then I think there’s a fair chance you’d find it to be a frequently amusing, occasionally very funny, and sometimes quite sweet high school comedy — with added doses of action comedy for good measure.

Read more here.


Ben-Hur (1959)

the other subtext I alluded to earlier: the possibility that Judah and Messala were once lovers. The claim originates with screenwriter Gore Vidal, who may or may not have written some or all of the screenplay that was used for shooting. According to Vidal, he and Stephen Boyd discussed the idea before shooting began, and then Boyd played the scenes with it in mind. [...] the content of the film makes it easy to believe — the scenes between Messala and Judah, especially when they’re first reunited, absolutely play like there’s a romantic history between them.

Read more here.


Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)

With ten varied adversaries to defeat, Return puts greater emphasis on the action than did its more dramatic forebear. The fighting is solid, with the enemies’ different skills adding some occasional freshness, but the plot underneath is thin.

Read more here.


Steve Jobs (2015)

Sorkin’s writing is awe-inducing, especially to anyone who’s ever dabbled in or dreamed of being a writer. The construction of it all, at every level — from line to line, from scene to scene, from act to act, across the whole piece… And this is a particularly magnificent construction, so precisely structured, rife with mirroring and repetition, and yet done so well that it doesn’t feel locked in to or constrained by an unwavering structure.

Read more here.


Ten Little Indians (1974)

The third English-language screen adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famed mystery, one of the best-selling novels of all time, relocates the action to the middle of a desert but is otherwise a word-for-word remake of the 1965 version [...] It’s interesting, therefore, that this lacks the atmosphere or tension of that version.

Read more here.


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


Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

an exciting, humorous, creepy, fun movie. That the sequels haven’t lived up to it is disappointing, but the first still stands as a near-perfect example of big-budget swashbuckling entertainment — it’s basically the dictionary definition of a summer blockbuster.

Read more here.


Pulp Fiction (1994)

Most films can be divvied up into heroes and villains one way or another — I’ve certainly managed it for the previous 70 films in this list. Pulp Fiction muddies its waters considerably, with criminals for heroes at the best of times, and the “short story collection” style meaning there’s an abundance of characters anyway, some of whom arguably change sides from one tale to the next. Nonetheless, you’d have to point to hitmen Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, and their ever-so-Tarantino rambling conversations about nothing and everything, as the film’s primary duo.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
5x02 Episode 2

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
5x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Rushmore (1998)
[#146 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,885 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,202 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 683 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,863 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 2,076 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,421 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Are You Being Served?
You Can't Teach a New Dog Old Tricks [2016 special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Castle
6x05 Time Will Tell

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

One of Us
Part 1 The Storm
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Castle
6x04 Number One Fan

The Great British Bake Off
7x03 Bread Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Midnight Special (2016)
[#145 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
5x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Kung Fu Panda (2008)
[2nd watch]

This was #18 in 100 Films 2010.

TV

Doctor Foster
1x05 Episode 5 [season finale]

John Bishop: In Conversation With...
1x01 James Corden

Films

Spotlight (2015)
[#144 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

2016 entered yet another new month this past week, meaning it was time to look back at August on 100 Films in a Year...




As well as that, only 2 brand-new reviews were published this week... but one of them was an epic...


The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)

100 Films in a Year #1000 — Written, directed, and narrated by film journalist/historian/fan Mark Cousins, The Story of Film: An Odyssey is an epic 15-hour account of innovation throughout the history of moviemaking, which began its premiere broadcast five years ago today. It’s an acclaimed work, to be sure, but one that also attracts its fair share of controversy — about films and filmmakers that Cousins chose to leave out, in some cases about those he chose to include, and about how the documentary itself was made: the oddly framed interviews, the artistic shots of baubles, Cousins’ accent and vocal inflections.

Read more here.


Zoolander (2001)

The story of an almost-past-it model who’s brainwashed into being an assassin, it’s essentially a one joke film (“aren’t models dumb?”), but gets surprisingly good mileage out of that. Not relentlessly amusing, nor the best thing on anyone’s CV, but some bits are very funny.

Read more here.


And my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts, too...


One Hour Photo (2002)

“Family photos depict smiling faces… births, weddings, holidays, children’s birthday parties. People take pictures of the happy moments in their lives. Someone looking through our photo album would conclude that we had led a joyous, leisurely existence free of tragedy. No one ever takes a photograph of something they want to forget.”

Read more here.


Phone Booth (2002)

Regular readers will know of my fondness for the single-location thriller, and this is one of the films that helped define that love. And events occur in real-time, which is just a bonus. Colin Farrell and Kiefer Sutherland are both on excellent form as the hostage who maybe has it coming and the hostage taker who maybe has a point.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Castle
6x03 Need to Know

Doctor Foster
1x04 Episode 4

Collection Count

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

One new title this week, and a couple of tweaks on numbers that I must've got wrong somewhere. Hey-ho.

On the bright side: running time update! Yay!

Number of titles in collection: 1,884 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,202 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 682 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,862 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 2,075 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,421 [down 1]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
357 days, 19 hours, and 22 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 4 hours, and 53 minutes from last month.)

That's the biggest running time increase in six months, which was also caused by adding a complete TV series -- a slightly longer once, hence being slightly bigger!

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
3x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Ben-Hur (1959)
[#143 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2016 #9

TV

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
5x01 Episode 1
Seems I accidentally missed a whole series of this back in April & May. Hey-ho.

The Great British Bake Off
7x02 Biscuit Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Foster
1x03 Episode 3

Films

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
[#142 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2016 #8

TV

Castle
6x02 Dreamworld

Doctor Foster
1x02 Episode 2

TV

Castle
6x01 Valkyrie
Got fed up of waiting for this to appear on whichever-Channel-5-channel-it's-on-these-days.

Friday Night Dinner
4x06 For Sale [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
3x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Salvation (2014)
[#141 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...


Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Leto and Garner’s characters are fictional. So, some would argue, is Ron Woodroof — this version, anyway. For one thing, reportedly the real Woodroof was widely believed to be bisexual by people who knew him, so depicting him as a raging homophobe (who contracted HIV from a druggie prostitute) is completely inaccurate. I suppose that just calls into question how far one can go when adapting reality into fiction while still claiming it’s a true story, because in some respects it’s more interesting to follow the film’s version of Ron, who has to come to terms with a whole new world.

Read more here.


Duel (1971)

Although Duel has been analysed as a horror movie, or a Western, or a commentary on class war in America, Spielberg didn’t see it that way, regarding it as a pure Hitchcockian suspense thriller. He’s bang on the money. It’s not scary in the way a horror movie would be, and I think calling it a Western is a bit of a reach, though I can kind of see where the class war thing is coming from; but you can absolutely see the ingredients for a Hitchcock movie here.

Read more here.


Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD (2014)

Talking heads documentary about the galaxy’s greatest comic, [it] tells of the project’s birth, then the years when the US industry used the comic to scout talent, cherrypicking all its best creators. Today, it’s an influential institution that punches above its weight.

Read more here.


Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

It’s kind of hard to avoid the praise Grave of the Fireflies has attracted... It’s the third highest-rated animation on IMDb, which also places it in the top 25% of the Top 250, not to mention various other “best animated” and “great movie” lists. I mention all this because I fear the weight of expectation somewhat hampered the film for me. It’s by no means a bad film, but, despite the subject matter, it didn’t touch me to the same degree as, say, My Neighbour Totoro

Read more here.


A Royal Night Out (2015)

Gently amusing and relatively briskly paced, A Royal Night Out is lightweight and unchallenging, the definition of Heritage-ish lazy Sunday afternoon viewing. That means it will rub some viewers up the wrong way, but others will love its simple, old fashioned charms.

Read more here.


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


On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

a shadowy man drives an Aston Martin accompanied by the Bond theme. (As in we hear it — he’s not got it on the stereo.) To his surprise, he’s overtaken by a woman. A few miles down the road, he sees her car stopped by the beach, and she’s walking out to sea. He runs after her, scoops her up and carries her back to the shore. As she wakes up, we see his face for the first time — and it’s not Sean Connery! But he does say, “My name’s Bond. James Bond.” Then he has a punch-up.

Read more here.


Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

In one of the most iconic opening sequences in cinema history, three gunmen arrive at a train station and… wait for a train. For ten minutes. Ten real-time minutes, accompanied only by sounds like a squeaky windmill, a dripping water tower, and distant bird cries. Then the train arrives… and then the train leaves… and then a harmonica plays. And the action… threatens to start. Ah, Leone

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Foster
1x01 Episode 1
Finally catching up on this popular drama from last year (almost a whole year ago, in fact!) It's an interesting start, particularly to see how there's four more episodes in it.

The Great British Bake Off
7x01 Cake Week
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

This week was going to be completely devoid of new additions... until a huge sale-acquired title turned up this morning, and the following happened...

Number of titles in collection: 1,883 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,202 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 681 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,861 [up 24]
Number of films in collection: 2,075 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,422 [up 98]
Number of short films in collection: 473 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

24: Live Another Day
9x12 10:00PM - 11:00AM [series finale]

Films

Duel (1971)
[#140 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

24: Live Another Day
9x10 8:00PM - 9:00PM
9x11 9:00PM - 10:00PM

Miranda
4x02 The Final Curtain [series finale; 2nd watch]

TV

24: Live Another Day
9x09 7:00PM - 8:00PM

Miranda
4x01 I Do, But to Who? [2nd watch]

The Musketeers
2x04 Emilie

The Tick
Pilot
Was underwhelmed by this, unfortunately. Will write more in the next 100 Films TV round-up.
[Watch it (again) on Amazon Prime Instant Video.]