Films

iBoy (2017)
[#11 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Collection Count

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

As promised, a whole host of additions this week -- just in time for the running time update! In the mix we have new Blu-rays, new DVDs, DVD-to-Blu-ray upgrades, and a whole season of TV, making updates across the board. Huzzah!

Number of titles in collection: 1,930 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,193 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 737 [up 7]

Number of discs in collection: 4,972 [up 9]
Number of films: 2,132 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes: 7,622 [up 20]
Number of short films: 508 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
368 days, 1 hour, and 8 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 14 hours, and 31 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Missing
2x01 Come Home

Room 101
6x01 Episode 1
Seems I stopped watching Room 101 halfway through the last series. Not sure why. Weird.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Enemy of the State (1998)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2017 #1

TV

Elementary
5x04 Henny Penny the Sky is Falling
The 100th episode. An appropriate subplot for the occasion; not so much the title...

Not Going Out
8x01 Romance
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
5x09 What We Leave Behind

Films

The Conversation (1974)
[#10 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Blindspot 2017 #1

+ the alternate ending from the original screenplay, included among the Blu-ray's special features.

TV

Death in Paradise
6x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Insert Name Here
2x03 Mary
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Charlie Bartlett (2007)
[#9 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Let It Shine
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Eye in the Sky (2015)
[#8 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

this week on 100 Films

It was time for my monthly TV review over at 100 Films in a Year, with a bumper-sized crop of things to cover in-depth...





As well as that, I published 3 brand-new film reviews...


Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016)

Considering its pedigree, it should come as no surprise that The Art of the Deal: The Movie plays like a very long, out of control sketch. Just like all sketch comedy, some jokes land better than others, and just like most sketch comedy, it begins to outstay its welcome by the end.

Read more here.


Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

the animation is genuinely stunning — beautiful to look at, as well as being technically audacious and consequently impressive. Some of it is so grand that several times I forgot that most of what we’re seeing on screen was built for real and animated by hand over several years. I say “most” because it is augmented with CGI [which] doesn’t detract from the technical workmanship on display. That included the largest stop-motion puppet ever built [of which] there’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse during the end credits that is breathtaking.

Read more here.


Raising Arizona (1987)

before now all I could have told you about Raising Arizona is that “it has the longest pre-titles ever (except it doesn’t)”. Well, that and it stars Nic Cage and was directed by the Coen brothers. But now I’ve watched it and, three months after the fact, …that’s still almost all I can tell you. I also remember there was a kinda-cool semi-fantastical thing going on with, like, a demon biker or something. Oh, and it’s quite funny.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Into the Wild (2007)
[#7 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2017 #1

Fiction

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Dismal Dinner by Lemony Snicket

So, while reading some stuff about Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, one of the lists of stuff they could adapt mentioned this in passing. Being the only ASoUE work I'd not heard of, I looked it up. Turns out it's just a short 'story' that was given away with kids' snacks as part of the promotion for the 2004 film, and you can even read it all online here. Which I did. It was as pointless as its provenance suggests, but hey-ho, that's free gifts with kids' snacks for you.

Collection Count

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

Nothing to report this week, but there's plenty on order so I imagine things will get lively soon.

Number of titles in collection: 1,924 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,194 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 730 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,963 [no change]
Number of films: 2,125 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 7,602 [no change]
Number of short films: 508 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

A Series of Unfortunate Events
1x07 The Miserable Mill Part One
1x08 The Miserable Mill Part Two [season finale]

TV

Elementary
5x03 Render, and Then Seize Her

TV

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
Part 4 Fall

A Series of Unfortunate Events
1x05 The Wide Window Part One
1x06 The Wide Window Part Two

TV

A Series of Unfortunate Events
1x03 The Reptile Room Part One
1x04 The Reptile Room Part Two

Films

Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016)
[#6 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

The Flash
3x09 The Present

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
Part 3 Summer

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 10 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

DC's Legends of Tomorrow
2x07 Invasion!
Concluding the crossover.

Sherlock
4x03 The Final Problem [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
[#5 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

+ all of the Blu-ray's special features.

this week on 100 Films

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


Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

The most recent feature from the director of the very-different-to-each-other What We Do in the Shadows and Thor: Ragnarok, this very-different-again adventure-comedy-drama was a surprise hit in its native New Zealand, then around the rest of the world, before it wound up as Empire magazine’s pick for the best film of 2016.

Read more here.


Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973)

maybe it’s a kind of Stockholm syndrome, but I ended up rather enjoying it. It’s not genius, but it’s a fairly amusing farce once it gets going. Very of its time as an early-’70s mainstream-style silly comedy, but what’s wrong with being of your time?

Read more here.


Ninja Scroll (1993)

One of the films credited with helping to popularise anime in the West in the wake of Akira (reportedly it has had a greater and more enduring impact in the US than in Japan), Ninja Scroll is a fast-paced fantastical action flick full of gratuitous swordplay, gratuitous gore, and gratuitous nudity.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
Part 2 Spring

Let It Shine
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A Series of Unfortunate Events
1x01 A Bad Beginning Part One
1x02 A Bad Beginning Part Two

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,924 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,194 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 730 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 4,963 [up 11]
Number of films: 2,125 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 7,602 [up 23]
Number of short films: 508 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
[#4 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Ninja Scroll (1993)
[#3 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]
+ the first half-ish of the audio commentary.

TV

Arrow
5x08 Invasion!
Part 2 (aka 3) of the crossover. Also Arrow's 100th episode, so it's handy they had those aliens to provide a way to bring back lots of dead characters.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
Part 1 Winter

TV

Elementary
5x02 Worth Several Cities

Insert Name Here
2x02 Alex
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Death in Paradise
6x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
3x08 Invasion!
Four-episode crossover ep.2 (because apparently ep.1's content was all of one scene that they repeat here).

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
at Christmas [2016]
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Anomalisa (2015)
[#2 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Arrow
5x07 Vigilante

Elementary
5x01 Folie a Deux
You can never have enough Sherlock Holmes on the telly, I guess.

this week on 100 Films

No new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, but there was a bunch of other stuff going on.

First: wrapping up 2016...


My Top 5 Most-Read New Posts in 2016

…and why I think they made the cut.

Read more here.


2016: The Full List

the usual array of factual analysis of my viewing (lists! statistics! yay statistics!)

Read more here.


The Best & Worst of 2016

it’s now time to consider the quality of that viewing: which films were the worst? Which the best? And what did I miss?

Read more here.


Then, announcing some plans of 2017...


Blindspot 2017

In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept of Blindspot, it’s where you pick 12 films you’ve never seen but feel you should have and resolve to watch one per month over the course of the year.

Read more here.


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…? 2017

So what differentiates my WDYMYHS selection? Well, to mark my 10th blogiversary I’ve attempted to identify the films from the last ten years that I really should have seen.

Read more here.


Rewatchathon 2017

This year I’m adding a new component to my annual goal: in addition to watching at least 100 films I’ve never seen before, I decided to set a target to rewatch more.

Read more here.


Reviews next Sunday, I should imagine.

TV

The Flash
3x07 Killer Frost
This episode should've been called Hugs, the amount they couldn't stop embracing each other. That or Painfully Obvious Reveal That Everyone Saw Coming.

Sherlock
4x02 The Lying Detective
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 9 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Let It Shine
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Green Room (2015)
[#1 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Year #11, here we go...

Collection Count

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

After a busy couple of weeks, a quiet one: just one new box set replacing a couple of older releases (hence why "titles" goes down but "discs" goes up).

Number of titles in collection: 1,919 [down 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,193 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 726 [down 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,952 [up 1]
Number of films: 2,121 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 7,579 [no change]
Number of short films: 508 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Arrow
5x06 So It Begins

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 8 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 7 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
3x06 Shade

Vicious
3x00 A Year [series finale]
Vicious was always a very strange series, and this double-length finale is no exception.
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 6 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Dara O Briain: Crowd Tickler Live
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 5 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Outnumbered
6x00 Christmas Special
On the one hand, this messes up my lovely "complete series" DVD box set. On the other hand, it's really funny. Hurray for new Outnumbered!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Junior Bake Off
4x14 The Final Day One
4x15 The Final Day Two [series finale]
[Watch The Final Day One and Day Two (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
14x09 Noel (XL edition)
Still going with the Christmas telly...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 3 (of 10)
2016/2017 Episode 4 (of 10)
[Watch episode three and four (again) on iPlayer.]

Sherlock
4x01 The Six Thatchers
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

I know it's New Year's Day, but this is all about the final updates for 2016 on 100 Films in a Year. Well, I say "final" -- there's loads of wrapping-up still to do. But, for now, here's a look back specifically at December...





As well as that, I reviewed some of the highlights of Christmas TV...





There were 3 brand-new reviews published as well...


Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Po and co are back in a movie that bucks the sequel trend by being perhaps the best Kung Fu Panda yet... After the occasionally muddled second film, KFP3 sets the legendary adventures of awesomeness back on track with an appealing mix of humour, action, and moral lessons for kiddies and adult viewers alike.

Read more here.


The Last Dragonslayer (2016)

you’re probably thinking The Last Dragonslayer is completely derivative of every other major young-adult fantasy franchise of the last… well, forever. It’s hard to deny that the plot is, at least in its broadest thematic strokes, a pretty familiar affair. What makes the enterprise worthwhile is its humorous execution. This isn’t a spoof of the genre, more a satirical mash-up of familiar fantasy building blocks and modern life

Read more here.


Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich shine in this adaptation of Agatha Christie’s play... Despite expanding the action, it’s still dialogue-heavy and a little stagey in places — but between the engrossingly labyrinthine plot, those captivating performances, and some added humour, such potential criticisms are irrelevant.

Read more here.


And to round things off, my 100 Favourites series concluded with a final post...


The Conclusion

About four years ago, I had a crazy notion: that for my 10th blogging anniversary (still several years away at that point) I could do a year-long series of posts discussing my 100 favourite movies — an idea in keeping with my blog’s theme and also a grand way to celebrate it lasting a whole decade. After several years spent mulling over options, about 18 months of writing, and literally hundreds of hours dedicated to the project, it’s finally at an end.

In this post, I’m going to list the second half of my also-rans and do what I always enjoy doing at the end of everything: share some statistics!

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2016
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Peter Pan Goes Wrong
Best thing on TV this Christmas? Quite possibly.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Suicide Squad: Extended Cut (2016)
[#195a in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Not really that different to the theatrical cut, which I watched in November.

Collection Count

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

It's time for the monthly running time update... and it's also, as you may've noticed, the end of the year! So as well as my usual week-by-week monitoring (or month-by-month for the running time), there are figures for how much my collection has changed over the last 12 months. Exciting times.

Number of titles in collection: 1,921 [up 6 this week; up 96 in 2016]
Of which DVDs: 1,193 [no change this week; down 19 in 2016]
Of which Blu-rays: 728 [up 4 this week; up 115 in 2016]

I think that's the first time one of these tallies has gone down over the course of a year! (The discrepancy between number of titles and DVD/BD additions must be due to a mistake from a previous week.)

Number of discs in collection: 4,951 [up 21 this week; up 286 in 2016]
Number of films: 2,121 [up 5 this week; up 128 in 2016]
Number of TV episodes: 7,579 [up 38 this week; up 516 in 2016]
Number of short films: 508 [no change this week; up 43 in 2016]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
366 days, 10 hours, and 37 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 20 hours, and 50 minutes from last month.)
(Up 25 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes from last year.)

Last year's yearly increase was a little over 29 days, making this the first time the year-on-year increase is less than the year before since I started (though it's not as low as it was the year-before-last, so...)

Anyway, see you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Peter Kay's Comedy Shuffle
1x07 Christmas Comedy Shuffle
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Last Dragonslayer (2016)
[#195 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]
Sky1's big Christmas Day drama, which I'm counting as a film because a) it's feature-length and b) my Tivo says it's a film. It says that about a lot of one-off feature-length TV dramas, but still.

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962)
[#194 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Bob Monkhouse: The Last Stand
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 2 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Revolting Rhymes
Part One (of 2)
Part Two (of 2)
[Watch parts one and two (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
[#193 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2016 #12

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2016/2017 Episode 1 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Witness for the Prosecution
Part 1 (of 2)
Part 2 (of 2)
[Watch parts one and two (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Mr. Nobody (2009)
[#192 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Insert Name Here
2x01 Christmas
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
5x08 Episode 8 [season finale]

Would I Lie To You?
10x10 At Christmas
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Dragon (2011)
aka Wu Xia
[#190 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Our Kind of Traitor (2016)
[#191 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Blankety Blank
Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Grantchester
3x00 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

The Great Christmas Bake Off
Episode 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

+ Goodbye Bake Off

Films

Partners in Crime… (2012)
[#189 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

aka Associés contre le crime… "L'œuf d'Ambroise" (Partners in Crime… "The Ambroise Egg")

TV

Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas
Episode 5 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Doctor Who
36x00 The Return of Doctor Mysterio [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great Christmas Bake Off
Episode 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
[#188 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum
The Ballad of the Carbuncle by Ashley D. Polasek

Oh dear.

Music

Amy Macdonald's Christmas Special
Scottish songstress Amy Macdonald plays a few songs wearing a Star Wars Christmas jumper. Awesome.

this week on 100 Films

Merry Christmas, dear readers! As it falls on a Sunday this year, it remains time for my weekly update on goings on at 100 Films in a Year -- which at least includes a couple of seasonal features among the 4 brand-new reviews that were published this week...


Come Together (2016)

Anderson pitches the tone just right. Rather than making a four-minute festival of sappiness that rots your brain with its generic sugary sentiment, or a music video for a slow breathy cover of a once-famous song, or a long build-up to a cheap punchline, Anderson instead brings his own familiar style to a brief narrative that comes to a surprisingly heartwarming conclusion.

Read more here.


The Present (2014)

The simple story sees a videogame-obsessed boy given a mysterious box by his mother. Distracted long enough to open it, inside he finds a puppy, and… well, the film’s only four minutes long — you’re better off watching it than having me describe the story.

Read more here.


Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

The first live-action non-saga movie to take us to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, this initial entry in what is sure to be a never-ending series of so-called “Anthology” movies really puts the “War” into Star Wars.

Read more here.


Wizardhood (2016)

So how exactly do you go about making such a huge reduction? Is it just a really, really long “previously on”-style montage? No, thank goodness, it isn’t. What editor Tim Stiefler has produced is less an abridgement and more a complete retelling of the Potter story. His cut doesn’t even attempt to tell whole swathes of the story, instead ditching them entirely. Stiefler has clearly tried to make a film out of this material, not just a long précis of the story.

Read more here.


Also, my 100 Favourites series continued with 1 more posts...


Young Adam (2003)

Part murder mystery, part beat character study, part erotic drama, Young Adam is an enigmatic, moody, conflicted film — in a good way. It presents a grimily realistic view of life and sex, around which writhes a murder mystery that, as it turns out, doesn’t contain a murder and, relatively quickly, isn’t much of a mystery.

Read more here.


And that's #100! It's not over, though, because I'll be posting some kind of wrap-up.


As always, more next Sunday.

TV

Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas
Episode 4 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Junior Bake Off
4x13 The Semi-Final
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
15x13 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady's Favourite Fairy Tales
[Watch it (again) on ITV Hub.]

Collection Count

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

Well, I say "every week" -- circumstances mean it's been a whole month since my last update. And it being a whole month would normally mean it's time for a running time update, but as tomorrow's Christmas and next week will be the last day of the year, I'm going to push it back 'til then and do my usual year-long counts, too.

But you'd think Christmas had already been with the amount of stuff I've had to add this week -- though that's not as obvious in the final figures because the many additions are offset by having sold a few titles just before I went away. That led to drops across the board, most of which are recovered by the 11 new titles I actually added this week. I wager Christmas is going to look underpowered compared to that...

Number of titles in collection: 1,915 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,193 [down 4]
Of which Blu-rays: 724 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 4,930 [up 15]
Number of films in collection: 2,116 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,541 [up 58]
Number of short films in collection: 508 [up 8]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas
Episode 3 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Junior Bake Off
4x12 Second Quarter-Final
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Live at the Apollo
12x07 Christmas Special
To call this a mixed bag would be doing it a kindness.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
5x07 Episode 7

Fiction

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
7 The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

Thought I ought to read the one canonical Christmas adventure before getting stuck into the pastiches.

TV

Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas
Episode 2 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Castle
7x23 Hollander's Woods [season finale]
Someone clearly thought they might get cancelled... and so carved this episode from a block of cheese, apparently.

Junior Bake Off
4x11 First Quarter-Final
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part V: Christmas Adventures edited by David Marcum

For them that don't know, this is an on-going collection of traditional Sherlock Holmes stories in support of Undershaw, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's former home that has recently been restored to serve as a school. Originally it was a three-volume set, which I supported on Kickstarter back in 2015, but that proved so popular they're continuing it at a rate of two volumes per year. I never actually got round to reading the first three so skipped the fourth, but I was tempted back in by this fifth due to its seasonal nature -- which is also why I'm endeavouring to read it now. Thus far, I have read... the introductions. Well, it's a start (literally).

TV

Alan Carr's 12 Stars of Christmas
Episode 1 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
5x06 Episode 6

TV

Class
1x08 The Lost [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Junior Bake Off
4x10 Heat Ten
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Castle
7x22 Dead From New York

The Grand Tour
1x03 Opera, Arts and Donuts
[Watch it (again) on Amazon Prime Video.]

this fortnight on 100 Films

I forgot to schedule a 100 Films in a Year update for last week (while I was away) so instead here's a look back at the last fortnight.

First up, the 1 brand-new review published in that time...


Midnight Special (2016)

The story’s style has made a comparison to Spielberg the go-to, not only for reviewers but for the writer-director himself, who’s labelled the film an homage to E.T. and Close Encounters. You can see that influence, certainly, but it lacks the effortless charm that Spielberg brings to his movies. If this is Spielberg, it’s by way of more indie arthouse fare.

Read more here.


The meat of my posting this month comes from my 100 Favourites series, which this fortnight continued with 4 more posts...


V for Vendetta (2005)

Although dressed up as part of an entertaining action movie, the story’s real topic is the rights and wrongs of government, and our attitudes and responsibilities towards it as citizens. That message feels as relevant as ever after the events of this year. Perhaps it always will — like George Orwell’s 1984, an enduring warning against things going too far.

Read more here.


Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

while the technical achievement remains impressive today (bearing in mind the limitations of the time) it’s all in service of the characters and the story. Even as you marvel at the visuals, you’re engrossed by the mystery and kept amused by the gags, including clever and witty references to cartoons and film noir.

Read more here.


X-Men (2000)

Its significance to the current movie landscape is hard to underestimate: it took the superhero subgenre... and made it respectable blockbuster fodder, which leads directly to where we are today. And the reason it sparked all that is because it’s a quality entertainment in its own right, mixing superpowered action with weighty themes and top-drawer performances from a cast who are almost all better than this, elevating the material rather than besmirching themselves with it.

Read more here.


X2 (2003)

one trend in the modern superhero era... sequels that are better than their predecessor, upending the accepted order of things. And as with so many things in the current superhero epoch, it started with the X-Men. Personally I’ve always slightly preferred the first movie, but X2 does polish up the action sequences, engages with the series’ thematic subtexts in an effective manner, and adds significantly to the ongoing mystery of Wolverine’s past.

Read more here.


More next Sunday. For real this time.

Films

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
[#187 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

this week on 100 Films

Not many reviews this week on 100 Films in a Year, but it's a busy one nonetheless. First, as it's now December, a look back at — you guessed it — November:




Then, because I'm away for most of December, an earlier-than-usual TV review:




Now it's on to the reviews, of which there were — once again — 2:


Jason Bourne (2016)

Action sequences ensue, shot with all the ShakyCam you’d expect from Greengrass... I think it’s considerably less bamboozling than when it made its debut in Supremacy 12 years ago — it’s been so copied that we’re more used to seeing it. I think Greengrass has a better handle on the purpose of the style than many of his imitators, however. I’d also argue that the cinematography in Jason Bourne is a smidgen more stable, with shots held a few frames longer, so that it’s even less seasickness-inducing than before. In fact, some shots — even in the quick-cut action montages — are downright pretty.

Read more here.


The Transporter Refuelled (2015)

the action is pretty good, with some impressive car stunts and some neatly choreographed punch-ups. That’s all I expect or want from a movie like this, really, and even though it may not be an exceptional example of the form, the fisticuffs entertained me. I’ve certainly seen far worse. It helps that the over-reliance on CGI seen in the second two Statham instalments has been tempered... all the flips and crashes look to have been done for real.

Read more here.


And finally, my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more entries:


The Transporter (2002)

The Transporter is neither big nor clever. In terms of the former, it’s a relatively small-scale, low-key action movie, not some Hollywood extravaganza; and in terms of the latter, it’s a relatively small-scale, low-key action movie, so of course it’s not been pumped full of brains. Instead it’s pumped full of adrenaline

Read more here.


Unbreakable (2000)

Some people view Unbreakable as the start of M. Night Shyamalan’s inexorable quality slide after the debut peak of The Sixth Sense (not that it was his debut). Those people are wrong. Partly because that degeneration doesn’t really start until the final act of The Village; partly because Unbreakable is Shyamalan’s best film. We’ve now had countless big-screen takes on superhero mythology, but none are quite like this.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Wizardhood (2016)
[#186 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

All eight Harry Potter films, edited into a single 78-minute film.

Holiday

As you read this, I am leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again... except I do know: it's Saturday 17th.

Until then, updates may be sporadic and/or delayed. Not that anyone's likely to care, but I thought I'd point it out just in case.

Films

Come Together (2016)
[#185a in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

The Wes Anderson-directed Christmas short-cum-advert for H&M. Watch it on YouTube here.

TV

Arrow
5x05 Human Target

Castle
7x21 In Plane Sight

TV

Castle
7x20 Sleeper

The Flash
3x05 Monster

Junior Bake Off
4x09 Heat Nine
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Live at the Apollo
12x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Castle
7x19 Habeas Corpse

Junior Bake Off
4x08 Heat Eight
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
5x04 Penance

Crisis in Six Scenes
Episode 1 (of 6)
Episode 2 (of 6)
Episode 3 (of 6)
Episode 4 (of 6)
Episode 5 (of 6)
Episode 6 (of 6)
Woody Allen's TV series is basically a long Woody Allen film chopped up into six segments.
[Watch it all (again) on Amazon Prime Video.]

this week on 100 Films

Just 2 brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year again this week, and they were...


The Good Dinosaur (2015)

While it may take a while to warm up, The Good Dinosaur is ultimately a very affecting entry in Pixar’s canon. It’s by no means a perfect movie, but I do think it’s an underrated one. And, in all honesty, I enjoyed it more than Inside Out.

Read more here.


The Sting (1973)

Although often billed as a caper, sometimes even as a comedy, it actually has more of an edge. I mean, it’s not The Godfather, but it’s not Ocean’s Eleven either. The star power and chemistry of Redford and Newman are what give the movie a buoyancy to overcome the storyline’s inherent darkness, though I wouldn’t say that reaches far enough to regard the film as a romp

Read more here.


At least my 100 Favourites series continued with 2 more posts...


Toy Story (1995)

Pixar didn’t strike gold with Toy Story just because computer animation was New. It’s the likeable characters, how they develop and learn, the amusing situations they’re put in, plus some heartwarming messages about friendship. There’s more emotion and character development in these wooden-and-plastic toys generated with pixels in a computer than many a film can achieve with real human beings

Read more here.


Toy Story 2 (1999)

a sequel that is slicker, funnier, more exciting, and more emotional than its forebear. Even if it’s happening more often now, good sequels are still hard to do — trust Pixar to have got there ahead of the pack.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Class
1x07 The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Grand Tour
1x02 Operation Desert Stumble
[Watch it (again) on Amazon Prime Video.]

Films

Jason Bourne (2016)
[#185 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 whole bunch of titles this week leads to some relatively big boosts. It's that time of year -- lots of big releases in the run-up to Christmas. Speaking of which, this will be the last update until deep in December, because I'm going away. The next update may even be post-Christmas, so there'll surely be plenty to mention.

Coincidentally, it's also time for a running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 1,913 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,197 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 718 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 4,915 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 2,113 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 7,483 [up 6]
Number of short films in collection: 500 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
363 days, 13 hours, and 47 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 2 hours, and 36 minutes from last month.)

See you next month, faithful reader.

TV

Junior Bake Off
4x07 Heat Seven
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Moonstone
Part 4 (of 5)
Part 5 (of 5)
[Watch parts four and five (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Napoleon (1927)
[#184 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Acts III and IV, including the famous triptych finale.

TV

The Flash
3x04 The New Rogues

Junior Bake Off
4x06 Heat Six
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Moonstone
Part 3 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Red Dwarf
11x06 Can of Worms [season finale]
Probably the weakest episode of the season, and they save it for last. Shame.

Films

Napoleon (1927)
[#184 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Act II. Two more to go.

TV

The Moonstone
Part 2 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Napoleon (1927)
[#184 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

Act I only -- this 5½-hour silent epic is going to take another two or three sittings to get through.

TV

Arrow
5x03 A Matter of Trust

Junior Bake Off
4x05 Heat Five
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Star Trek Beyond (2016)
[#183 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

The Flash
3x03 Magenta

Junior Bake Off
4x04 Heat Four
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Moonstone
Part 1 (of 5)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
[#182 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

TV

Castle
7x18 At Close Range

Junior Bake Off
4x03 Heat Three
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Deer Hunter (1978)
[#181 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2016 #11

this week on 100 Films

Once again, it's time for 100 Films in a Year to look back at the past month on TV...




Also this week, I published just 2 brand-new reviews...


Enemy (2013)

There’s no denying that Enemy is atmospheric, but the actual story was a bit too elliptical for my taste. It was all going fairly swimmingly until it suddenly stopped just before it appeared to be going to offer answers. That naturally suggests you need to go back and reconsider / deconstruct what you’ve already seen, but it nonetheless makes it feel a bit frustrating, at least initially, and makes reading theories online a virtual necessity

Read more here.


A Knight's Tale (2001)

Renowned for its anachronistic use of rock music, there’s actually not much of that, but there’s plenty of comedy and adventure — too much: it’s a little long... An able cast keep it ticking: Heath Ledger hefts the derring-do and romance, with comic support from Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk, and Paul Bettany; but love interest Shannyn Sossamon is clearly miscast.

Read more here.


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


Three Kings (1999)

Writer-director David O. Russell may have become increasingly acclaimed this decade with Oscar-nominated movies like The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle, but for me this is still his best work. It mixes laugh-out-loud comedy with serious points about war and an ultimately emotional storyline, created with a filmmaking verve that is frequently exciting and inventive

Read more here.


Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

Memorable Scene: Remote control car, James Bond style. Bond lies in the backseat of his BMW, driving it around a multi-storey car park with his mobile phone, deploying its weapons against a gang of attackers. It was a fun concept back in ’97, but I imagine you could do it yourself with an app now. Apart from the weapons. And the legal implications. So maybe not.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Castle
7x17 Hong Kong Hustle

Class
1x06 Detained
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
[#180 in 100 Films in a Year 2016]