TV

Arrow
5x11 Second Chances

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

Not Going Out
8x03 Car
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Death in Paradise
6x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
5x09 It Serves You Right to Suffer

Room 101
6x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Don't Breathe (2016)
[#21 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Elementary
5x08 How the Sausage is Made

The Flash
3x11 Dead or Alive

Films

In a Valley of Violence (2016)
[#20 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

The British Academy Film Awards 2017
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Insert Name Here
2x06 Steve [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Mad Max: Fury Road - Black & Chrome Edition (2015/2016)
[#19a in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Fury Road was #142 in 100 Films 2015, which I watched in October 2015. This is the black & white re-grade of the film.

this week on 100 Films

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


It Follows (2014)

It’s always fun when you come across a divisive movie — “which camp are you in?” It Follows is one of those. Some say it’s an instant horror classic, others that it’s slow, boring, unscary, and can’t even follow its own rules. I’m not qualified enough as a horror viewer to claim the former, but nor do I hold with the latter.

Read more here.


The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Humphrey Bogart is private dick and consummate bullshitter Sam Spade in this (re-)adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s novel, considered the first major film noir.

Read more here.


Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

I kind of didn’t want to like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl because I didn’t want to fall into the obvious trap of “this movie totally gets me because I love Criterion editions too!” But I thought it worked in spite of those pandering affectations. Or maybe I just couldn’t resist them on a subconscious level? In some respects it doesn’t matter how it achieved it: the film wanted to make me feel a certain way, and I did feel that way — success.

Read more here.


Tale of Tales (2015)

If you can stomach the contents, there’s a quality cast, and the locations, production design, and cinematography are simply gorgeous.

Read more here.


Also this week, I was given the Mystery Blogger Award. You can read more about that here:

More next Sunday.

TV

Let It Shine
1x06 Episode 6
1x07 Episode 6 Results
[Watch Episode 6 and the results (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Six shiny new additions this week, all of them Blu-rays, but two of them DVD upgrades.

Number of titles in collection: 1,935 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,191 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 744 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 4,980 [up 5]
Number of films: 2,139 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes: 7,622 [no change]
Number of short films: 508 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Elementary
5x07 Bang Bang Shoot Chute

Who Dares Wins
9x06 (28/1/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
5x10 Who Are You?

Death in Paradise
6x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Flash
3x10 Borrowing Problems From the Future

Pointless
16x36 1,000th Episode
Turns out the last time I watched regular Pointless was 3½ years ago -- for the 500th episode.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Hell or High Water (2016)
[#19 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Elementary
5x06 Ill Tidings

The Missing
2x08 The Mountain [season finale]

Articles

Exclusive insights into The Missing series 2: What was cut, and one huge twist that almost didn't happen
by Morgan Jeffery (from Digital Spy)
As I finished the series tonight, I was able to read this piece I'd had saved for nearly two months. Very interesting.

TV

The Missing
2x07 1991

Films

Elstree 1976 (2015)
[#18 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

The Missing
2x06 Saint John

Films

It Follows (2014)
[#17 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

+ the Blu-ray's very meagre special features, and, in a spectacularly rare occurrence, the audio commentary. Sadly, it wasn't a good one.

this week on 100 Films

A new month started this week, so it was time to look back at the old one over on 100 Films in a Year...





Plus, there were 3 brand-new reviews...


London Has Fallen (2016)

It does just about pass muster as a brains-off actioner, in the truest sense of the term: you’ll need to switch your brain off to endure the rampant xenophobia and American flag-waving. God, I bet Trump loves this movie.

Read more here.


Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

Miss Peregrine seems to have received a rather muted response, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It might be best to qualify that by reiterating that it’s playing with a lot of things I enjoy — “X-Men by way of Tim Burton” sounds fantastic to me, and that’s not a bad definition of this movie.

Read more here.


The Tale of Zatoichi Continues (1962)

The consensus seems to be that The Tale of Zatoichi Continues is a faster-paced and more action-packed movie than its predecessor, which is obviously to some viewers’ taste... However, I thought it lacked the artistry of the first film. It’s very focused on plot rather than digging into character, which is especially problematic when it comes to a subplot about a rogue who turns out to be Ichi’s brother.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Let It Shine
1x05 Episode 5
[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: 1,931 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,193 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 738 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,975 [up 3]
Number of films: 2,134 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 7,622 [no change]
Number of short films: 508 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Missing
2x05 Das Vergessen

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
9x05 (21/1/17 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
[#16 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

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

TV

The Missing
2x04 Statice

Not Going Out
8x02 Babysitting
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Elementary
5x05 To Catch a Predator Predator

Insert Name Here
2x05 Charlie
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Another Earth (2011)
[#15 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Death in Paradise
6x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Missing
2x03 A Prison Without Walls

Films

London Has Fallen (2016)
[#14 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Films

Sing Street (2016)
[#13 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Under the Shadow (2016)
[#12 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Insert Name Here
2x04 Ben
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Missing
2x02 The Turtle and the Stick

this week on 100 Films

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


Bridesmaids (2011)

Despite a rough start, there are some very, very funny parts later on; but, unexpectedly, it also works pretty well in more character-focused sections. You’re not going to mistake this for an emotional drama, but there’s more investment in the characters than you might anticipate given the cast and crew’s pedigree.

Read more here.


Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

The affable characters are quite delightful to get to know even as they’re getting to know each other, and there are some magical sequences. Plus it’s all beautifully designed and animated, as you’d expect from Studio Ghibli

Read more here.


iBoy (2017)

Where it comes unstuck is the tone. How many superhero films are going to feature gang rape? Well, somewhat appropriately, I guess the Netflix ones might. But the disjunct between iBoy’s daft premise and the grim world of inner city gangs (there are more acts of shocking violence) is a difficult one to negotiate.

Read more here.


Into the Wild (2007)

The true story of Christopher McCandless, who abandoned regular life after college to go hitchhiking and become one with nature or something, then accidentally killed himself by being a pretentious wanker.

Read more here.


The Pianist (2002)

It may not poke at your emotions quite so readily as, say, Schindler’s List, but that’s because Polanski and screenwriter Ronald Harwood dodge histrionics or an operatic envisioning of events. Instead this feels like a grounded relation of the facts, with everyday heroism (and cruelty) the order of the day — but, of course, there’s nothing “everyday” about it.

Read more here.


Wuthering Heights (2011)

Andrea Arnold’s earthy, plausible take on Emily Brontë’s beloved novel won’t be to all tastes — particularly anyone after an epic romance feel — but its sparse dialogue, Malickian attention to nature, and oppressive mood make for a benumbing work of cinematic art.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Let It Shine
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

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.