Films

Black Narcissus (1947)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Blindspot 2018 #3

TV

dinnerladies diaries
Part 1 Perfect Ingredients

Nailed It!
1x04 Weird Science

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

Films

The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
[#48 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Jessica Jones
2x12 AKA Pray for My Patsy
2x13 AKA Playland [season finale]

Shetland
4x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x12 9 Days

Jessica Jones
2x10 AKA Pork Chop
2x11 AKA Three Lives and Counting

Shetland
4x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Annihilation (2018)

Despite Paramount’s insistence that the film was too intelligent for non-US audiences (you can take a moment to laugh at that notion if you like), Annihilation is perhaps more accessible than Arrival, at least initially. Whereas Villeneuve’s film played like a character drama, Garland’s has a strong adventure-movie vein, also laced with elements of the horror genre.

Read more here.


Make/Remake: Deaths at a Funeral

In 2007, Frank Oz directed a gaggle of British thesps (plus Peter Dinklage) in a darkly comic farce set during an English funeral. Just three short years later, director Neil LaBute and a gaggle of American comedians (plus Peter Dinklage) remade it in the US. Why did they so speedily re-do an English-language film in English? Goodness only knows. But I watched both versions almost back to back, so here are my thoughts…

Read more here.


Transformers: The Last Knight 3D (2017)

Here we have the fifth Transformers film in 11 years from director Michael Bay. At this point you ought to know what you’re getting — the style hasn’t fundamentally changed since at least the third movie, arguably since the first, so if you dislike those then most probably there’s nothing for you here. I say “probably” because I’ve seen at least one review from someone who despised the fourth film but enjoyed this one, so clearly there’s always room for variability.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x11 Hostage Situation
Just over two years since I accidentally stopped watching Brooklyn, I'm diving back into it (thanks to most of it being available on Netflix). I don't really know why I stopped before, it is funny.

Jessica Jones
2x07 AKA I Want Your Cray Cray
2x08 AKA Ain't We Got Fun
2x09 AKA Shark in the Bathtub, Monster in the Bed

Not Going Out
9x02 Escape Room
A particularly good episode. Good day for comedy, then.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Shetland
4x01 Episode 1
And talking of two years ago, that's when the last series of Shetland aired. This new one finishes on Tuesday, so now's more-or-less the perfect time to start binge-watching it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Two new additions this week, one an upgrade, both with two cuts of their respective films.

Number of titles in collection: 2,088 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 925 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,352 [up 3]
Number of films: 2,330 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,017 [no change]
Number of short films: 605 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Jessica Jones
2x04 AKA God Help the Hobo
2x05 AKA The Octopus
2x06 AKA Facetime

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x07 The Giuoco Piano Affair

Nailed It!
1x02 Fantasyland
1x03 Head Under Water

TV

Jessica Jones
2x01 AKA Start at the Beginning
2x02 AKA Freak Accident
2x03 AKA Sole Survivor
It's getting close to two-and-a-half years since Jessica Jones season one was released. Where does time go? Well, on Netflix making too many Marvel shows, I guess.

Lucifer
1x12 #TeamLucifer
1x13 Take Me Back to Hell [season finale]

Nailed It!
1x01 First Date to Life Mate
Why would you make a reality show about baking and call it Nailed It? Surely that's a show about manicurists...

TV

Lucifer
1x11 St. Lucifer

Not Going Out
9x01 Home Improvements
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Room 101
7x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Transformers: The Last Knight 3D (2017)
[#47 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off
1x01 Episode 1
aka Celebrity Bake Off, now on its third charity.
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Lucifer
1x10 Pops

Films

Death at a Funeral (2010)
[#46 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Films

Annihilation (2018)
[#45 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Films

Death at a Funeral (2007)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Jungle Book 3D (2016)

the visuals are stunning. It’s incredible stuff by the animators, though also by Favreau and DP Bill Pope to make all that hard work look great as a film too — they put special effort into making sure the CGI was properly lit, etc. And I reckon it’s even better in 3D. Presented in a screen-filling 1.78:1 ratio, unconstrained by the black bars of your nowadays-standard 2.35:1, it honestly feels like a window into another world.

Read more here.


Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

It’s a film of its genre and heritage — by which I mean it functions the way Christie-style murder mysteries always do, and it’s staged and shot mostly with a classical dignity — so if you have a dislike for that then this isn’t revisionist in a way that will win you over. But within those ‘constraints’ it’s very well done. The photography, in particular, is magnificent. Shot on 65mm, but without showing off about it in the way some other directors have recently, it has a richness, a grandeur, and an elegance that is most befitting.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Happy Death Day (2017)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

The Jungle Book (2016)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #12

Collection Count

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

Just one more addition, for the third week in a row.

Number of titles in collection: 2,087 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 924 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,349 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,327 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,017 [up 12]
Number of short films: 605 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Films

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Lucifer
1x08 Et Tu, Doctor?
1x09 A Priest Walks Into a Bar

Films

The Jungle Book 3D (2016)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

+ all the special features (bar the audio commentary) included on the UK 2D Blu-ray, which made for a very interesting insight into the film's production. (I specify it was the UK BD because the US 3D release, which came out some three months later, adds a further 15 minutes of featurettes.)

TV

Lucifer
1x06 Favorite Son
1x07 Wingman

Strike
2x02 Career of Evil Part 2 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Bad Boys (1995)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2018 #11

TV

The 90th Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars. It felt like a fairly uneventful ceremony, with no surprise winners, but some very welcome ones (Roger Deakins!)

Lucifer
1x05 Sweet Kicks

Oscars 2018: Red Carpet Live

Room 101
7x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strike
2x01 Career of Evil Part 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Oscars: Greatest Shocks, Frocks and Fairytales

Room 101
7x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

In & Out (1997)
[#39 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
[#38 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

A new month began in the middle of the past week, so it was time for 100 Films in a Year to look back over February...





There were also 5 brand-new reviews published this week...


La La Land (2016)

Yes, I am very, very, exceptionally late to the party here. For example: whenever I watch a film I log it on Letterboxd, then have a scan through the ratings my ‘friends’ have given it, whether that’s just one other person or a few dozen. This had by far the highest number of ‘friends’ who’d already seen it that I’ve ever encountered. And it was on Letterboxd that I first encountered La La Land, in fact, when it started screening at festivals in the latter half of 2016 and everyone was raving about it. It was a must-see long before the Oscar buzz started to build, and obviously that only intensified the film’s reputation. It’s a lot of anticipation to heap upon one movie. Fortunately, La La Land can bear it.

Read more here.


The Love Punch (2013)

if you like any (or all) of Brosnan, Thompson, Imrie, and Spall, as well as the idea of a bit of gently-farcical gadding about in the south of France, then The Love Punch is amiable fluff to while away 90 minutes on a Sunday.

Read more here.


Making of the Living Dead

To mark the UK release of Criterion’s remastered, definitive Blu-ray edition of George A. Romero’s seminal subgenre-starting zombie classic Night of the Living Dead, I finally got round to watching two related feature-length documentaries that, er, aren’t included on that release. Never mind, eh? Anyway, here are my thoughts on One for the Fire: The Legacy of "Night of the Living Dead" and Birth of the Living Dead.

Read the reviews here.


T2 Trainspotting (2017)

At one point during T2, a younger character accuses some of the returning characters of living in the past; that it’s all they talk about. It’s true of the characters, and it’s kinda true of the film itself too: this belated sequel to the era-defining original feels try-hard, like it wants to recapture the verve and inventiveness of its predecessor, but everyone’s now too grown up to do it properly.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Lucifer
1x04 Manly Whatnots

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x06 The Green Opal Affair

Films

Sausage Party (2016)
[#37 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Collection Count

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

Just one new addition this week. It's clearly been quite a quiet month too, as the running time update shows.

Number of titles in collection: 2,086 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 923 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,345 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,327 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,005 [no change]
Number of short films: 605 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
394 days, 20 hours, and 5 minutes.
(Up 8 hours and 28 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

24 Hours in Police Custody
6x01 Sex and Corruption
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Lucifer
1x03 The Would-Be Prince of Darkness

TV

Lucifer
1x01 Pilot
1x02 Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil.

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
6x08 Episode 8 [season finale]

TV

Death in Paradise
7x08 Melodies of Murder [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

I Origins (2014)
[#36 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Absentia
1x09 Child's Play
1x10 Original Sin [season finale]
Well, that wasn't really worth it. The series started out OK, but it got pretty stupid by the end. And Nick Durand may be the most irritatingly dumb FBI agent ever. Apparently there's the possibility of a second season. I hope not, because I don't want to end up considering watching it.

Room 101
7x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Villainess (2017)
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Absentia
1x07 A & B
1x08 Brave Boy

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x05 The Deadly Games Affair

Films

Mindhorn (2016)
[#34 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Films

My Cousin Rachel (2017)
[#33 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Shrek (2001)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #10. Goodness knows when I last watched Shrek, but I'd wager it's been the best part of 15 years. Some of it holds up, some of it really feels "of its time", not least the song choices. Speaking of which, I also watched the Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party short, which definitely didn't feel as entertaining as it did all those years ago.

this week on 100 Films

Slightly later than intended (not that anyone notices but me), this week saw the latest TV review column posted at 100 Films in a Year...





There were also 4 brand-new film reviews...


Big Game (2014)

I’ve read some complaints that, given the daft premise, Big Game is not a comedy. I don’t know what movie they were watching, but I thought it was pretty fun. It’s not an out-and-out parody, but surely no one involved thought they were making a serious action flick? Or maybe I’m wrong, I dunno — but whether it was me or them, one of us has misread the intended tone.

Read more here.


The Duellists (1977)

Ultimately, honour and the futility of fighting are what The Duellists is most about, if it’s about anything — if you like, you can enjoy it as merely a series of well-staged combats between two men, each stubborn in their own different way.

Read more here.


Mute (2018)

I don’t think Mute is anything like as unremittingly terrible as some reviews would have you believe, but it is a tonally strange film. I’m not sure it works as a whole, but bits really do. I wouldn’t dismiss the idea of it becoming a cult classic, and maybe in a couple of years we’ll all be reevaluating it.

Read more here.


Warcraft: The Beginning (2016)

It plays like a $160 million fan film. It doesn’t bother with world-building, just throwing the viewer in at the deep end. That can work, but it needs to be carefully managed. Warcraft just ploughs ahead, going deeper and deeper. It’s been made for people who know this world, its places, its people, its concepts, its rules.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Big Fish (2003)
[#32 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Blindspot 2018 #2

Mission: Impossible (1996)
[4th watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #9
+ all the featurettes on the Blu-ray

Collection Count

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

A sole new addition this week. It should have been an upgrade to an old Blu-ray, but I've decided to hang on to that edition too, at least for the time being.

Number of titles in collection: 2,085 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 922 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,343 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,326 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,005 [no change]
Number of short films: 605 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Birth of the Living Dead (2013)
[#30 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Mute (2018)
[#31 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Absentia
1x06 Nobody's Innocent

The Good Place
2x11 The Burrito
2x12 Somewhere Else [season finale]

Films

One for the Fire: The Legacy of "Night of the Living Dead" (2008)
[#29 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Absentia
1x05 Dig

The Good Place
2x10 Rhonda, Diana, Jake, and Trent

Films

Being John Malkovich (1999)
[#28 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Absentia
1x04 Me You Him Me

The Good Place
2x09 Best Self

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x04 The Shark Affair

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
6x07 Episode 7

Films

Persepolis (2007)
[#27 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Absentia
1x03 The Emily Show

The Good Place
2x08 Leap to Faith

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x03 The Quadripartite Affair

Films

The Duellists (1977)
[#26 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Absentia
1x02 Reset

The British Academy Film Awards 2018
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
2x07 Derek

Films

The Dark Tower (2017)
[#25 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

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


Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther is once again undoubtedly a superhero movie in more than just the literal sense that it’s adapted from a comic book about a superhero, but this particular mix of varied influences — some familiar (it’s not the first movie to imitate Bond), others less so (African culture in an action-adventure blockbuster) — does make it feel genuinely different to the norm.

Read more here.


Fast & Furious 8 (2017)

You may remember that, once upon a time, these films were about street racers who occasionally carried out on-the-road heists, all the better to keep the focus on the cars. Those days are long gone, despite an opening sequence here that tries to pretend that’s still part of the game. No, nowadays we’re in the “international spy actioner” genre, and our former street racers have somehow become highly capable agents… whose primary tools/weapons are still vehicles. It’s utterly ridiculous… but, thank goodness, everyone involved seems to know that.

Read more here.


Zatoichi on the Road (1963)

“Easily one of the best entries in the series”? Nope. The “action starts red hot and keeps getting hotter”? Don’t be silly... As for the plot… Overdeveloped? Yes. Convoluted? Undoubtedly. And needlessly so

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Absentia
1x01 Comeback

Death in Paradise
7x07 Dark Memories
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

For the first time in... only a month, actually... there's nothing at all to report.

Number of titles in collection: 2,084 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 921 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,341 [no change]
Number of films: 2,325 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,005 [no change]
Number of short films: 605 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Good Place
2x06 Janet and Michael

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x02 The Iowa-Scuba Affair
Directed by Richard Donner, of Superman and Lethal Weapon fame!

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

Room 101
7x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold (1964)
[#24 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The Good Place
2x05 The Trolley Problem

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x01 The Vulcan Affair
Haven't watched any of this since I was a kid (and, consequently, I've no idea whatsoever which episodes I've seen -- I don't remember any specifics), but here I go with a full-on watch. One episode done, 104 to go...

The X Files
11x01 My Struggle III
Oh dear, that was... confusing. It didn't help that it's nearly two years since the last episode, which this played heavily on. OK, there was a "previously on", but I didn't think that helped enough. And even if it hadn't been confusing, I don't think it was a very good episode anyway. It was just... odd. I mean, what was with all that random voiceover from Mulder? Nonetheless, sometime I really need to watch all of The X Files from the start -- maybe this would make more sense then.
[Watch it (again) on My5.]

TV

The Persuaders!
1x23 A Death in the Family [2nd watch]

I first watched this episode back in October 2010, and it's what persuaded (joke not intended) me to buy the complete series DVD set... which I then didn't start watching until May 2017... and now we're in February 2018 and I've finally almost finished it.

Films

Black Panther (2018)
[#23 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

WarGames (1983)
[#22 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The Brokenwood Mysteries
3x01 The Black Widower

Films

Fast & Furious 8 (2017)
[#21 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Castle
8x22 Crossfire [series finale]

Death in Paradise
7x06 Meditated in Murder
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Hitchcock (2012)
[#20 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

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


Blade Runner 2049 3D (2017)

cinematographer Roger Deakins is, I believe, no fan of 3D. Indeed, he’s publicly expressed that his preferred version of Blade Runner 2049 is the 2D one... Nonetheless, he also personally supervised the film’s conversion to 3D. I guess that’s some kind of dedication. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise, then, that this is not a film designed to show off in 3D — but that’s not to say it’s bad. Rather, what it most often offers is a subtle, believable delineation of space.

Read more here.


The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

“Logic doesn’t apply to any of this.” So says Tam, played by Zhang Ziyi, about halfway through this third movie in the Cloverfield sort-of-series. She’s talking about the crazy circumstances they’ve found themselves mixed up in, but she may as well be talking about the movie itself.

Read more here.


Eddie the Eagle (2016)

The unlikely hero of the 1988 Winter Olympics — ski jumper Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards — gets the Cool Runnings treatment in this comedy-drama. I make the Cool Runnings connection because, firstly, they’re both about unlikely competitors in the Winter Olympics (from the same year, in fact — what was in the water in ’88?!); and, secondly, because in their transition to the big screen they were both heavily fictionalised.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Casino (1995)
[#19 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #2

The Love Punch (2013)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #8

Collection Count

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

After an exceptionally busy time last week, it's back to the regular drip of my ever-increasing collection.

Number of titles in collection: 2,084 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 921 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 5,341 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,325 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,005 [no change]
Number of short films: 605 [up 3]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

The Mask (1994)
[2nd or so watch]

Rewatchathon 2018 #7

TV

The Good Place
2x04 Existential Crisis

Strike
1x05 The Silkworm Part 2 [season finale]

TV

The Good Place
2x03 Team Cockroach

Strike
1x04 The Silkworm Part 1

Films

Beetlejuice (1988)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2018 #6

TV

Castle
8x21 Hell to Pay

The Good Place
2x02 Dance Dance Resolution

Death in Paradise
7x05 Murder on the Day of the Dead
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
[#18 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Castle
8x20 Much Ado About Murder

The Good Place
2x01 Everything is Great!

Films

Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
[#17 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Castle
8x19 Dead Again

Celebrity Mastermind
2017/2018 Episode 10 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Insert Name Here
3x08 Jack [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Blade Runner 2049 3D (2017)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2018 #5

this week on 100 Films

We're in to the second month of 2018 already, which meant it was time to look back on January over at 100 Films in a Year this week...





There were also 5 brand-new reviews published this week...


Comedy Review Roundup

Quick reviews of The Heat, In the Loop, and This is the End.

Read more here.


Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)

Two of Japan’s most successful cultural exports meet for the first time here as the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, gets the anime treatment. Originally conceived as a TV series, the box office success of Shin Godzilla prompted studio Toho to restructure the project as a trilogy of movies and release them theatrically (in Japan, anyway — the rest of the world gets them via Netflix). Part 2 is due later in 2018 and Part 3 in early 2019.

Read more here.


King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

we’re in familiar Guy Ritchie territory: lads up to criminal hijinks with a London accent, only now in medieval costumes. [And] if you approach Legend of the Sword less as a King Arthur film and more as a Guy Ritchie-flavoured fantasy movie, there are bits of it I think are really, really good. Some of it’s great, even

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Room 101
7x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strike
1x02 The Cuckoo's Calling Part 2
1x03 The Cuckoo's Calling Part 3

Collection Count

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

A whopping nine new titles were added to my collection this week, a mix of new releases and sale purchases. They were also a mix of brand new additions, DVD-to-BD upgrades, and BD-to-BD upgrades too, meaning there's a scattering of different changes to the numbers below.

And all of that just in time for the monthly running time update, too!

Number of titles in collection: 2,082 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 919 [up 8]

Number of discs in collection: 5,337 [up 10]
Number of films: 2,323 [up 8]
Number of TV episodes: 8,005 [no change]
Number of short films: 602 [up 3]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
394 days, 11 hours, and 37 minutes.
(Up 17 hours and 57 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2017/2018 Episode 9 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Insert Name Here
3x07 Jane
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strike
1x01 The Cuckoo's Calling Part 1

Films

Accomplice (1946)
[#16 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Articles

Highsnobsiety: A Beginner’s Guide to the Yakuza
by Mark Edwards (from Team Yellow)

Stumbled across this while looking for something else, and learnt a lot of stuff I never knew.

TV

Castle
8x18 Backstabber

Insert Name Here
3x06 John
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Die Hard 2 (1990)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2018 #4

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2017/2018 Episode 8 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
8x04 Darkwater [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 3D (2017)
[#15 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Castle
8x17 Death Wish

Death in Paradise
7x04 The Healer
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Scarface (1983)
[#14 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #1

TV

Castle
8x16 Heartbreaker

Vera
8x03 Home
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Films

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)
[#13 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)

Naturally it’s a tale not so much of derring-do as of humorous shenanigans, though in truth it’s not the studio’s most hysterical offering, ticking along with a level of gentle amusement rather than outright hilarity... Plus it’s all carried off with the ineffable charm of Aardman’s hand-crafted puppetry

Read more here.


Public Access (1993)

What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this pretty little town? Who is this stranger and what are his motives? How will the community react to the previously-secret complaints and possible revelations? Unfortunately, Public Access does very little to explore any of those possibilities.

Read more here.


Saludos Amigos (1942)

The sixth film in Disney’s official animated canon was the first in a run of cheap “package films” that span the gap from 1942’s Bambi to 1950’s Cinderella. Frankly, if Disney hadn’t decided to make it part of their animated canon whenever that list was first settled upon, I very much doubt it would be remembered today.

Read more here.


The Straight Story (1999)

Such a simple, straightforward, grounded narrative seems so very un-Lynch-like at first, but its tale of quirky Americana, peopled by a ragtag selection of endearing oddballs, isn’t so far outside his wheelhouse.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Murder on the Blackpool Express

Would I Lie To You?
11x10 The Unseen Bits [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Boss Baby 3D (2017)
[#12 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Collection Count

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

One new DVD-to-BD upgrade this week, which otherwise makes no changes whatsoever. Ho hum.

Number of titles in collection: 2,076 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,165 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 911 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,327 [no change]
Number of films: 2,315 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,005 [no change]
Number of short films: 599 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2017/2018 Episode 7 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vera
8x02 Black Ice
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

The Great British Bake Off
The Great Festive Bake Off [2018 special]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Would I Lie To You?
11x09 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]