Films

Amadeus: Director's Cut (1984/2002)
[#142 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #6

If You Meet Sartana... Pray for Your Death (1968)
[#143 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 2: 1990-2013 by Paul Kirkley
Introduction
Previously on Space Helmet for a Cow...
Chapter 8 (pages 7-21)

Picking up where volume one left off (including the chapter numbering), I wondered how Space Helmet was going to continue its "warts and all" behind-the-scenes narrative into New Who, which is still so recent that one suspects the full behind-the-scenes truth has yet to come out (aside from a few titbits, anyway). Well, the introduction addresses this head on: it notes that it's too soon for people involved to have come clean about everything, and expressly mentions the rumours and hearsay that have been reported by the likes of Private Eye, saying it won't cover them unless they've been verified. Which is fair enough, but surely means Vol.2 can't be to New Who what Vol.1 was to the classic era. I guess we'll have to wait another couple of decades for that book.

TV

Luke Cage
2x11 The Creator
2x12 Can't Front On Me

Films

Swingers (1996)
[#141 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 7 (pages 249-267) [the end]

That was a really good read -- a fun, comprehensive history of the delightfully barmy history of Doctor Who's production, accompanied by reviews of every single TV story for good measure. I liked it so much, I've already bought volume two so I can just go straight on.

TV

Luke Cage
2x09 For Pete's Sake
2x10 The Main Ingredient

Films

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
[#140 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 7 (pages 245-248)

TV

Luke Cage
2x08 If It Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right

Films

Sanjuro (1962)
[#139 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

The sequel to Yojimbo, released just nine months later -- and how long ago did I watch Yojimbo for the first time? Nine months! (Genuinely, that's a coincidence.)

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 7 (pages 230-244)

TV

Luke Cage
2x06 The Basement
2x07 On and On

Westworld
2x10 The Passenger [season finale]

Films

Rocky III (1982)
[#138 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 6 (pages 218-229)

TV

Luke Cage
2x04 I Get Physical
2x05 All Souled Out

Films

A Thousand and One Nights (1969)
[#137 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 6 (pages 204-217)

this week on 100 Films

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


The Death of Stalin (2017)

I’m sure some viewers must find the irreverence with which the film treats serious matters to be a turn-off. Personally, I think its perspective is more profound: these are silly men playing silly power games, but the end results are often unthinkable and horrific. You only have to look at the recent news headlines to see similar situations playing out to this day.

Read more here.


Rocky II (1979)

this is as much an underdog fairytale as the first movie was, and so events transpire to finally give Rocky his motivation, culminating in a triumphant revisit to the first film’s famous running-up-the-steps bit. The finale is, naturally, the big boxing rematch, where Stallone really shows off his directing chops: it’s a tense, drag-out duel that easily exceeds the first film’s for visceral impact.

Read more here.


Victoria & Abdul (2017)

I read someone else assess that it’s not as good as its individual parts, and I think that’s fair. Most of the scenes, moments, and performances are strong — there are notably funny bits, dramatic bits, emotional bits; even unexpected complications in how it handles some of the characters — but when it’s all put together, it doesn’t quite coalesce.

Read more here.


Yojimbo (1961)

Alexander Sesonske argues that Kurosawa is actually combining “two typically American genres”. So we have “a classic Western setting, with dust and leaves blowing across the wide, empty street that runs the length of a village, a lone stranger passes as frightened faces peer from behind shutters”, mixed with the morals (or lack thereof) of a gangster movie, with everyone a crook hoping to merely outgun the others. That all comes wrapped in the milieu of a samurai movie, meaning instead of pistol duels or scattershot machine-gun fire we get flashing blades.

Read more here.


Review Roundup

Quick reviews of:
'71
That's Entertainment!
and Russia's answer to The Avengers, Guardians.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Luke Cage
2x02 Straighten It Out
2x03 Wig Out

Westworld
2x09 Vanishing Point

Films

The Florida Project (2017)
[#136 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 5

Collection Count

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

Three new titles this week include a complete TV series (Steven Soderbergh's The Knick) and a pair of anime movies that complete the Animerama series (A Thousand & One Nights and Cleopatra, with the third, Belladonna of Sadness, previously released).

Number of titles in collection: 2,118 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 961 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 5,407 [up 10]
Number of films: 2,362 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,066 [up 20]
Number of short films: 614 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Luke Cage
2x01 Soul Brother #1

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 4 (pages 162-176)

Films

Not quite sure where the past few days have gone, but now I'm back culturally experiencing stuff.

Zatoichi's Revenge (1965)
[#135 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 4 (pages 143-162)

TV

Classic BRIT Awards 2018
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Lupin the Third: The Secret of Mamo (1978)

One of the major inspirations behind Lupin the 3rd’s creation was James Bond, and so, appropriately enough, this is a globetrotting adventure that takes in Transylvania, Egypt, France, Spain, the Caribbean, and Colombia. Similarly, it also showcases some great action scenes, particularly an extended car chase through Paris and then the mountains. Unlike Bond, there’s a definite cartoonishness to many of the antics, and the third act takes a turn into outright science-fiction that gets a bit crazy.

Read more here.


Almost Oscar-Worthy Review Roundup

Each of these films was nominated for multiple Oscars… but failed to win a single one. Featuring Big, Frost/Nixon, and Lion.

Read more here.


Gangster Review Roundup

Featuring City of God, RocknRolla, and Scarface.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #23

Collection Count

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

This week: absolutely nothing to report.

Number of titles in collection: 2,115 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 958 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,397 [no change]
Number of films: 2,360 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,046 [no change]
Number of short films: 614 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #22

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 4 (pages 117-142)

Films

Gaslight (1944)
[#134 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 4 (pages 105-116)

A chapter longer than those on the First and Second Doctors combined, and almost twice as long as the Third Doctor's — which makes sense, really, given how long Tom Baker was in the role. But that's why I've only read a fraction of it so far.

Articles

David Lynch Refuses To Explain Twin Peaks: The Return: “Ideas Came, And This Is What They Presented”
by Damon Wise (from Deadline)

Pulling Triple-Duty For Twin Peaks Revival, Kyle MacLachlan On The Prospect Of Another Return
by Damon Wise (from Deadline)

I wasn't sure why these interviews were popping up, but I think it's a US awards season thing. Whatever, it's always good to hear more about Twin Peaks.

TV

Westworld
2x08 Kiksuya

Films

Doubt (2008)
[#133 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapter 3

Films

Shrek Forever After (2010)
[#132 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Non-Fiction

Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapters 1-2

Possibly the only book to give a comprehensive narrative history of Doctor Who's production. Each chapter takes a different Doctor's era (so this reading covers all of Hartnell and Troughton, aka the '60s), which is as good a way to break it up as any. It's written in a relatively light and lively manner, taking a gently comic tone rather than a dry and serious one, which makes it very readable. Kirkley also briefly reviews every single story as he reaches it, which is a nice touch.

Films

Rocky II (1979)
[#131 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

One of the greatest TV series of all time reached its end on UK TV this past week, so I brought forward 100 Films in a Year's monthly TV column to review it. That, of course, was The Americans...





As well as that, 8 brand-new film reviews were published this week...


Adventures of Zatoichi (1964)

Everyone else seems to rate Adventures of Zatoichi somewhat poorly... Conversely, I thought it was rather brilliant. It has a nice, clear, well-connected narrative (something I haven’t always found in previous instalments). There’s a great cast of supporting characters, lots of small roles who all make their mark... Tonally the film displays an effective mix of humour, action, drama, and emotion, making for an all-round entertainment.

Read more here.


Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

In some ways it feels like a kids’ movie made for adults. Sure, it’s about cute talking animals, but a lot of the jokes are squarely aimed at knowing grown-ups, as is some of the emotional stuff, such as a scene where the Jack Russell is clearly running off to Heaven, which probably (hopefully, even) goes over younger children’s heads. As that may suggest, it’s also a very dark movie. Most of the darkness is eventually undercut, subverted, or rescued, but not always immediately

Read more here.


The Conversation (1974)

Harry Caul is a professional eavesdropper — people pay him to record what other people are saying in private. When Coppola conceived the film, this was just an interesting world to play around in. By the time it was produced and released, Watergate had recently happened, and the film could not have been more timely. Nonetheless, the end result is not merely an espionage mystery, but also a character study about what kind of man would perform this work.

Read more here.


It (2017)

Plenty of people will line up to tell you It isn’t actually all that scary, which is to watching horror movies as boasting who can eat the hottest curry is to dining. Obviously, everyone’s mileage will vary. I found some of it to be suitably unsettling and disturbing, and the “any time, any place” aspect keeps you alert and on edge. Its downside is that, for the first chunk of the movie, it just seems to be a series of unsettling scenes without much of a plot.

Read more here.


Men in Black 3 (2012)

MIB2 was a kind of typical first sequel: memorable-but-small characters get massively increased roles; things are referenced just for the sake of referencing them; jokes are repeated or amped up. MIB3 is more like the typical belated sequel: it stands somewhat divorced from the first two, with the minor stuff all gone, and some more significant changes necessitated by the passing of time.

Read more here.


Vehicular Review Roundup

Get in Vehicle 19 to go for a Drive with The Driver in this automobile-related review roundup.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Black Panther 3D (2018)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #21. On Blu-ray, with some lovely bits of IMAX-ratio stuff.

Collection Count

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

Two big anime box sets this week, with 15 discs, 78 episodes, and 3 movies between them... but one of those replaced a bunch of individual DVD versions, and there were a couple of other new additions too (four titles total), so the numbers are all jumbly.

Number of titles in collection: 2,115 [down 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 958 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,397 [no change]
Number of films: 2,360 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,046 [up 26]
Number of short films: 614 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
[#130 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Blindspot 2018 #6

Films

A Monster Calls (2016)
[#129 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Westworld
2x07 Les Écorchés

TV

Westworld
2x06 Phase Space

Films

Superman II (1980)
[#128 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

I can't be 100% certain I've not seen this before (I liked the first Superman when I saw it as a kid, so I don't know why I wouldn't've watched the sequel), but I didn't actually remember any of it, so I'm going with a new number.

this week on 100 Films

For the second month in a row, it was a new "best month ever" at 100 Films in a Year. Read all about that here...





Also this week, 6 brand-new reviews...


Deadpool 2 (2018)

I enjoyed it less than I enjoyed the first one the first time I saw it, but I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the first one the second time I saw it. To clarify: when I first watched Deadpool, I loved it... When I rewatched it two years later in preparation for the sequel, I was less bowled over. I think a lot of its initial effectiveness was due to the freshness of its whole schtick, which has naturally gone away on a rewatch... In particular, I was surprised how sparse I found the humour to be. Maybe that prepared me for this one: the gags aren’t literally non-stop — it sometimes pauses to attempt emotion or to convey plot — but when they do come they’re thick and fast

Read more here.


Rocky (1976)

you might assume it’s broadly similar to the films Stallone would mostly go on to star in, but it isn’t, really. It’s the story of a smalltime coulda-been boxer left slumming it, when, through sheer luck, he gets a shot at the big leagues. Yes, it’s an underdog sports film, but it’s staged with a level of realism that such fantasies don’t normally reach for. And it’s certainly nothing like the indestructible super-action-hero of sundry later Stallone vehicles.

Read more here.


Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

It’s a decent space adventure flick, but I was sadly a bit underwhelmed by it. Frankly, I wish I liked it more than I did. Not just because I want to like every movie, but because I feel like this should’ve been a movie I really enjoyed — a fun sci-fi/heist/Western adventure kinda deal — but I didn’t love it. I thought it was mostly kinda fine.

Read more here.


Review Roundup

Featuring quick reviews of:
The Girl on the Train
Lions for Lambs
Tea For Two

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Power Rangers (2017)
[#126 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
[#127 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Collection Count

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

A bunch of titles popped through my door right at the end of the week, just in time to make the monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 2,116 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,159 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 957 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 5,397 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,358 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 614 [up 3]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
396 days, 23 hours, and 58 minutes.
(Up 14 hours and 8 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

American Made (2017)
[#124 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

The Post (2017)
[#125 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Music

Mouth Silence
Mouth Sounds
Mouth Moods
by Neil Cicierega

I discovered Neil Cicierega's mashup albums by accident about 48 hours ago, listened to a bunch of individual tracks on YouTube, and then today played through all three albums in full. Now I'm addicted. You can listen to them free here, here, and here.

Articles

Solo Theater Projection Problems Leave Fans In The Dark, Enrage Industry Veterans
by Chris O'Falt (from IndieWire)

In my review of Solo I commented on it looking too dark, and it seems I was far from alone in having this issue. This interesting piece explores how that came to be, and why it's a more widespread problem than just one film.

TV

The Americans
6x10 START [series finale]

Films

Finding Dory 3D (2016)
[#122 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

The Warriors (1979)
[#123 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The Americans
6x09 Jennings, Elizabeth

Films

All the Money in the World (2017)
[#121 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The Americans
6x08 The Summit

Films

Deadpool 2 (2018)
[#120 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
[#119 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The Americans
6x07 Harvest

Archer
5x12 Archer Vice: Filibuster
5x13 Archer Vice: Arrival/Departure [season finale]
Further to my thoughts on episode titles last time, I can kind of see what they were getting at -- there's a three-week time jump, so these aren't exactly Parts 3 and 4 of the exact same story that was being told before. Equally, if the previous two episodes were a two-parter, this pair definitely is as well. I mean, it doesn't really matter -- it's just a title, and not one they even show on screen -- but that's almost why it bothers me more...

Car Share
3x02 The Finale [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Americans
6x06 Rififi

Westworld
2x05 Akane no Mai

Films

It (2017)
[#118 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

9 brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, including...


Coco (2017)

Pixar’s 19th feature is an American-produced animated fantasy movie that co-opts a foreign culture to tell a story about a guitar-playing kid remembering his dead family — wait, doesn’t that sound familiar? Yes, in broad strokes, Coco is Kubo and the Two Strings Pixar-style. But, instead of Japan, this is Mexico, based around the famed Day of the Dead festival — which has also already been the subject of an American animated movie, The Book of Life. But that didn’t get the best notices, and Kubo didn’t get the respect it deserves, and this is Pixar in non-sequel mode, and so Coco has been praised to the high heavens. And it is good. But I didn’t think it was that good.

Read more here.


Fight, Zatoichi, Fight (1964)

It’s a bit ironic that whoever chose the English-language titles for the Zatoichi films decided to emphasise fighting in the name of this eighth instalment, because it’s perhaps the least concerned with Ichi’s sword skills so far. That’s not to say there aren’t a couple of nifty sequences of blade-clashing fun, but they’re not the film’s focus. You might think that’s antithetical to the series’ purpose, and yet Fight, Zatoichi, Fight is widely regarded as one of the series’ finest instalments, perhaps even the best of all.

Read more here.


Muppets from Space (1999)

there’s almost a good thematic thing about belonging, and who your real family is or can be, but it’s only loosely nodded at early on before sort of popping up right at the end, without enough building blocks in between to really make it work as a payoff. But we don’t come to the Muppets for the themes, we come for the gags, and in that respect From Space is… fine. Well, I mean, it’s not really all that funny… or interesting… It just kind of toddles along until an underwhelming ending

Read more here.


The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

this one seems to miss the mark. There’s some occasional funny stuff, the odd good skit, but mostly Take Manhattan just kinda plods along. Personally I thought Caper was a bit of a poor sequel, but this is less good again. It straight up lacks some of the things that make the Muppets so memorable — there isn’t a single fourth wall break, for instance.

Read more here.


The Pixar Story (2007)

Made to celebrate the first 20 years of Pixar, Leslie Iwerks’ documentary charts not only the genesis, founding, and rise to industry-changing prominence of the beloved computer animation company, but also the birth of computer animation itself.

Read more here.


Shrek the Third (2007)

Thematically, Shrek’s disinterest in being royalty was covered in the last film, though at least this time it’s bolstered with a fatherhood angle. The choice of villain, however, straight up takes the last film’s secondary antagonist and recycles him as a primary antagonist — if there’s a more literal example of sequels representing diminishing returns, I can’t think of it.

Read more here.


Trekkies (1997)

Trekkies begins with the proclamation that “Trekkies are the only fans listed by name in the Oxford English Dictionary.” That’s not true anymore (“Whovian”, at least, is in there), and that speaks to an interesting truth about this entire documentary. When it was released 21 years ago, Trekkies was exposing a niche thing to wider awareness, and these fans were seen as weirdos, fundamentally. Watching it today, though, you see that it’s mostly just cons and cosplay — stuff that’s been virtually mainstream for a few years at this point.

Read more here.


Trekkies 2 (2004)

Such is the strangeness of Time that, just 24 hours after I watched Trekkies, I jumped forward seven years to catch up with some of that film’s featured fans in this lesser-seen follow-up. It’s not just repeat visits to old friends, though — if you thought America had a monopoly on crazies, well, Trekkies 2’s got news for you!

Read more here.


Vintage Tomorrows (2015)

Heard the term “steampunk” but don’t really know what it is? Or have an idea, but you’d like a fuller picture of the whole subculture? Then this is the film for you, my friend, because Vintage Tomorrows is basically Steampunk 101.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Americans
6x05 The Great Patriotic War

Archer
5x10 Archer Vice: Palace Intrigue Part I
5x11 Archer Vice: Palace Intrigue Part II
TV series do funny things sometimes. Like, I've no idea why this is labelled as a two-parter when it ends mid-plot to continue next time, which isn't called "Part 3". I mean, what makes this a two-parter if it isn't an entire story?

Films

Allied (2016)
[#116 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Colossal (2016)
[#117 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Articles

The Two Crucial Filmmaking Elements Causing All Your Movie Feuds
by Film Crit Hulk (from Observer)

A long but insightful read about movies and our reactions to them -- what causes those reactions, why they're right and wrong, and so on. Some big, interesting ideas.

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 2,112 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,159 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 953 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,393 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,354 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 611 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Americans
6x04 Mr. and Mrs. Teacup

Archer
5x06 Archer Vice: Baby Shower
Finally, the displaced episode I mentioned. While it is fairly standalone, as I suspected, it has enough arc stuff that it doesn't really belong where it is. So, that's not good, Netflix.

Films

The Wild Bunch (1969)
[#115 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Blindspot 2018 #5

The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage (1996)
[#115a in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Basically a DVD extra-style making-of, but it was made in the era before DVDs and so was released as a short film (and was nominated for an Oscar!)

TV

The Americans
6x03 Urban Transport Planning

Archer
5x09 Archer Vice: On the Carpet

TV

The Americans
6x02 Tchaikovsky

Films

Christine (2016)
[#114 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Dick Tracy (1990)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #20

TV

The Americans
6x01 Dead Hand
The final season! Hopefully I've timed this just right to watch an episode a day until the finale...

Archer
5x08 Archer Vice: The Rules of Extraction
So, having discovered I'd "missed an episode" only after I watched the last one, I had a little look-see before watching this one, and discovered that the episode listed as #6 everywhere online is actually #9 on Netflix. Based on the production codes (as listed on Wikipedia), Netflix has the episodes in production order, while everyone else goes with the original US broadcast order. I guess the ep that was moved is a standalone one that's flexible in terms of running order. Anyway, I'll stick with the Netflix order now and see if I'm correct when I get there.

Films

Live by Night (2016)
[#113 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Lupin the Third: The Secret of Mamo (1978)
[#112 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
+ the only extra on the UK DVD, a gallery of concept art.

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 22-24 [the end]
Well, I enjoyed that. Forever and a Day is out in 10 days -- maybe I'll get round to that a bit sooner than I did this!

Films

Game Night (2018)
[#111 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 20-21
Remember the gag from Austin Powers about the home lives of henchmen? In Chapter 20, Horowitz does a serious version of that... and makes it work!

this week on 100 Films

Time for another jam-packed TV review on 100 Films in a Year...





Plus, 3 brand-new reviews this week...


Atomic Blonde (2017)

It’s based on The Coldest City, a graphic novel [that] I got the impression was a Le Carré-style thriller, so I was very surprised to eventually learn it was the basis for this film, the trailers for which promised a hyper-stylised actioner from the director of combat-focused John Wick. Watching the film, however, it’s easier to see how I might not’ve been wrong about the novel after all — take out the elaborate fight scenes and shoot it more like Tinker Tailor Solider Spy than The Guest, and this could indeed be a Le Carré-esque Cold War thriller.

Read more here.


Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)

anyone expecting a straight-up adaptation may be disappointed, but taken as a film in its own right, for the most part it works. Having all the different familiar characters pop up makes it feel like a proper Batman tale, rather than a Ripper story that happens to have a costumed vigilante in it. Most prominent is Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, although she isn’t really the latter here — Batman gets fully suited up, but the most Miss Kyle gets is a whip. The relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selina is one of the film’s best aspects, in fact, with the Elseworld setting seeming to allow a different focus than the usual antagonism that pairing has in screen adaptations

Read more here.


Superman (1978)

Every member of the cast is excellent, though none more so than Christopher Reeve in the dual role of Clark Kent / Superman — he makes them feel like two different people, each equally believable. Richard Donner’s direction is first-rate, keeping our interest through a long storyline that could be slow but in fact never drags. There’s a pure heart here, a childlike sense of wonder and excitement that shines off the screen. Superman’s “boy scout” image could be a barrier in our modern, cynical world, coming across as twee and old-fashioned, but instead the film somehow makes it triumphant and magical.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Archer
5x07 Archer Vice: Smugglers' Blues
I appear to have accidentally skipped an episode. Oops. Must remember to go back to it (this one ends on a cliffhanger, so probably won't plug the gap straight away).

Westworld
2x04 The Riddle of the Sphinx

Films

The Pixar Story (2007)
[#110 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Collection Count

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

After a busy fortnight (twelve new additions across the previous two weeks), the past seven days have been quieter... but still see three titles added to my collection (it was going to be quieter still, but one that isn't out until next week turned up early).

Those additions push the number of Blu-rays I own past 950. With seven-and-a-half months of the year left, based on my purchase rate so far this year (9.1 BDs per month) and last year (15.1 BDs per month), there's a very real chance I'll reach 1,000 Blu-rays before 2018 is over -- heck, probably several months before the end of the year. But, you never know -- I'm not aiming for it, just if it happens, it happens.

Number of titles in collection: 2,111 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,159 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 952 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 5,391 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,353 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 611 [up 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Adventures of Zatoichi (1964)
[#108 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Coco 3D (2017)
[#109 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Films

Inferno 3D (1953)
[#107 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
+ the UK Blu-ray's extras, which are just a couple of trailers and a religion-focused interview with star Rhonda Fleming. The US disc gets a commentary and a 15-minute making-of, damn'em.

Mission: Impossible III (2006)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #19. Apparently I'm watching this once every six years (could've sworn last time was my third watch, not second, but apparently not).

Films

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
[#106 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 16-19

Films

Deadpool (2016)
[2nd watch]
Sequel tomorrow! (Well, I haven't booked, so maybe that should be "hopefully". Not because I don't think I'll get a seat, just because I've got to get off my arse and out the door.)

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 13-15

Films

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)
[#105 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
+ the audio commentary, which was quite interesting, and the making-of featurette, which wasn't so great, to be honest.

Superman (Expanded Edition) (1978/2000)
[3rd or so watch]
RIP Margot Kidder

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 11-12

Films

Jigsaw (2017)
[#104 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Terminator 2: Judgement Day 3D (1991)
[#103 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
I've seen the 16-minutes-longer Special Edition of T2 several times before (three, according to my guesstimated records), but I'm pretty sure I've never seen the original theatrical cut, and I've definitely never seen it in 3D, so it gets a new number.

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 6-10

this week on 100 Films

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


Anon (2018)

Many a lazy review has described Anon as “like a Black Mirror episode”, which is not wholly inaccurate but is getting to be a stale descriptor — Charlie Brooker didn’t invent high-concept dystopian sci-fi about the dangers of future technology, so why wheel out the comparison every time anyone else dares venture into the same ballpark nowadays? Nonetheless, that is the ballpark Anon is playing in, but mixing speculative sci-fi with an equal dose of hardboiled noir to keep things spicy.

Read more here.


The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

The poster child for German Expressionist cinema, as well as featuring “cinema’s first true mad doctor” and “cinema’s first unreliable narrator” (at least according to David Cairns on the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray — I haven’t verified those statements for myself), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari certainly has a lot to unpack for a film that’s barely an hour-and-a-quarter long. Or does it? Because one has to wonder if there’s an element of style over substance here.

Read more here.


Drew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013)

If you don’t know the name Drew Struzan, there’s a fair chance you know his work: he’s the poster artist behind the likes of the Back to the Future trilogy, almost everything Indiana Jones related, many iconic Star Wars posters (including the primary art for the prequel trilogy), and so many more. Even when not painted by Drew himself, his style has been a major influence on blockbuster posters across the board, even in today’s era of Photoshopped collages. Nonetheless, you may wonder if the topic can really support a feature-length documentary. How much is there to say? Turns out, plenty.

Read more here.


The Hangover Parts II & III

The Hangover was a surprisingly big hit back in 2009 (was it really so long ago?), so naturally it spawned a sequel. That went down less well, mired in criticisms of just being a rehash of the original. I don’t know what people expected, really — The Hangover was sold on its high-concept setup, so naturally they repeat that for the sequel.
[...]
Clearly the people in charge of the Hangover series took on board criticism that Part II just rehashed Part I’s plot, because Part III takes the same characters and spins them off onto a wholly different narrative. There isn’t even a hangover involved. Unfortunately, that didn’t work either: based on ratings found across the web, it’s the least popular of the trilogy.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Eurovision Song Contest: Lisbon 2018
Well, that was eventful. The UK entry deserved better, but what do we expect?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Graham Norton Show
23x06 (11/5/18 edition)
With Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin plugging Deadpool 2.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Hangover Part III (2013)
[#102 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Articles

32 Sassiest Graham Norton Comments During Eurovision 2018
by Scott Bryan (from BuzzFeed)

As ever, the best bit of Eurovision was Graham.

Collection Count

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

Another big tile of titles in the post this week -- seven Blu-rays added to my collection, to be precise. One new release, one new release that turned up nearly a fortnight early, and a selection from HMV's 5-for-£30 offer. Three of those were upgrades from DVDs I already had, which leaves my collection looking like this...

Number of titles in collection: 2,109 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,160 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 949 [up 7]

Number of discs in collection: 5,387 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,350 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 609 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Shrek the Third (2007)
[#101 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Stalker (1979)
[#100 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #5

TV

Westworld
2x03 Virtù e Fortuna