Monday, 2 March 2020

this week on 100 Films

A new month began yesterday, which meant it was time to once again look the last one over at 100 Films in a Year...





Also this past week, 1 new review...


Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Now, here’s a film I really need to see again. Not to affirm whether I liked it or not — in fact, I loved it; enough to rank it the #1 film I saw in 2019 — but to fully assess and analyse and process it. This admission is not the best way to begin a review — reviews are meant to be assessment and/or analysis, after all — but, nonetheless, it indicates the kind of effect I felt from the film. What is that effect? In my best-of-year piece I said it was “the kind of film that casts a spell”, by which I’m referring to how it sweeps you in; how it engages you in such a way that you’re just experiencing it
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Sunday, 1 March 2020

Saturday, 29 February 2020

TV

The Twilight Zone
3x33 The Dummy

Films

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
[#29 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

It's a little late this week (only a few hours, not that anyone'd care whatever) because it's time for the monthly running time update, and I've been buying so much stuff recently that there was a lot I hadn't yet added. As for this week itself, there are only three new additions, which normally would be a kinda average number, but for recent times is on the low end. (Never fear, I've got loads on order.)

One other observation this week: I've landed on exactly 6,000 discs. 6,000! Crikey.

Number of titles in collection: 2,301 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,114 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,187 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 45 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,000 [up 5]
Number of films: 2,693 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,769 [no change]
Number of short films: 688 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
439 days, 7 hours, and 9 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 1 hour, and 15 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 28 February 2020

TV

The Twilight Zone
3x09 Deaths-Head Revisited
+ the audio commentary by Twilight Zone expert Marc Scott Zicree and author Neil Gaiman

Films

The Karate Kid (1984)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #8. I'm sure we rented this on video when I was a kid, but I don't remember any of it. No idea if I ever saw the sequels.

Thursday, 27 February 2020

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

TV

The Twilight Zone
1x27 The Big Tall Wish

Films

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
[#26 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #2

+ the special features on the Blu-ray, which amount to a short introduction, a re-release trailer, and two of the featurettes Universal produced for their 100th anniversary, Restoring the Classics and Academy Award Winners

Seasons of War (2015)
A short Doctor Who-related fan film, made to promote a charity anthology book (which is no longer available). You can watch the film on YouTube here. Normally I'd count this kind of thing for 100 Films, but eh, I'm not sure I can be bothered.

Monday, 24 February 2020

Sunday, 23 February 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x09 Ascension of the Cybermen
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
13x09 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Escape Room (2019)
[#24 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

this week on 100 Films

1 new review on 100 Films in a Year this week...


Emma. (2020)
According to IMDb, Jane Austen’s Emma has only been adapted for the big screen twice before — and one of those was Clueless. There have been multiple TV movie and miniseries takes on the novel, though, but as the most recent was over a decade ago I guess someone felt it was about time to trot it out again (after all, every major Dickens and Austen must be adapted for the screen at least once a decade or so, right?)
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Saturday, 22 February 2020

Films

The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983)
[#21a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The short film that precedes (and is usually considered part of)...

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
[#22 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Us (2019)
[#23 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

This week, I discovered I owned a copy of a film that I also owned in a box set -- the exact same disc -- and somehow I'd missed this fact when I bought the box set (over seven years ago, yikes!) and hadn't removed the standalone copy from my collection. So I've done that this week... alongside another busy week with seven new additions.

One of those is the UK limited edition of World on a Wire, for which I already own the Criterion release. Originally created as a two-part miniseries for German TV, the Criterion version features it as a single long movie, running at 24fps. The UK release retains the original two-part structure, across two discs, running at the correct 25fps -- that seemed like a good bet to me, especially as it has more special features. The Criterion release has a long-ish unique extra, however, so I'm keeping it for the time being, making this an addition rather than replacement.

Same goes for Doctor Who series 4 on Blu-ray, finally getting the Steelbook to go with my copies of series 1-3 and the David Tennant Specials. It should probably just replace the DVD, really, but I have a sentimental attachment to those big ol' box sets. Also a DVD-to-BD upgrade is Heroes Shed No Tears, but, similar to World on a Wire, the old edition has unique extras, so for now I'm keeping both.

The other four newcomers are all flat-out new, so that's nice.

Number of titles in collection: 2,298 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,114 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,184 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 44 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,995 [up 12]
Number of films: 2,691 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,769 [up 22]
Number of short films: 688 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader -- when I may well pass 6,000 discs!

Friday, 21 February 2020

TV

Would I Lie To You?
13x08 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Thursday, 20 February 2020

Wednesday, 19 February 2020

Tuesday, 18 February 2020

Monday, 17 February 2020

Sunday, 16 February 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x08 The Haunting of Villa Diodati
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

There were 2 new posts on 100 Films in a Year this week, only one of them a review...


Toy Story 4 (2019)
Last weekend, with dull inevitability, Toy Story 4 won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Of course it did — in the last decade, the award has gone to a Disney or Pixar movie eight times out of ten. I’ve not seen any of the four other nominees, but I strongly suspect at least one of them deserved it more, because Toy Story 4 is… fine. Heck, it’s good, even. But when the three films that precede it are all-time classics that formed a perfectly complete trilogy, just being “good” is not enough.
Read more here.


The Random Mid-Monthly Review for Valentine’s Day
Hello, dear readers. It’s been a while since my last post, but I don’t have any reviews banked ready to go, so here’s a random mid-month update... After the back half of last year was sent into relative disarray by house moves and whatnot, 2020 is off to a similarly bumpy beginning...
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Saturday, 15 February 2020

TV

My Dad Wrote a Porno
One-off live special version of the hit podcast, which I've heard things about but never listened to (as you may've noticed from their absence from this blog, I don't really 'do' podcasts). I thought this was pretty funny though, and by all accounts it's inferior to the podcast itself, so maybe I should check that out.

Theatre

Dial M for Murder
at Theatre Royal Bath

Collection Count

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

A whole pile of new additions this week, and only one of them an upgrade (going all the way from DVD to 4K). And I've got loads more on order (I've gone a bit OTT recently), so expect similar increases next week.

Number of titles in collection: 2,292 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,115 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,177 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 44 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 5,983 [up 7]
Number of films: 2,688 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,747 [no change]
Number of short films: 688 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 14 February 2020

TV

Good Omens
Part 6 The Very Last Day of the Rest of Their Lives [series finale]
[Watch the whole series (again) in HD or 4K UHD on Prime Video, or parts 1-5 on iPlayer.]

Films

Tag (2018)
[#16 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Thursday, 13 February 2020

TV

Good Omens
Part 5 The Doomsday Option
[Watch the whole series (again) in HD or 4K UHD on Prime Video, or parts 1-5 on iPlayer.]

Films

Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)
[#15 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Wednesday, 12 February 2020

TV

Good Omens
Part 4 Saturday Morning Funtime
[Watch the whole series (again) in HD or 4K UHD on Prime Video, or parts 1-5 on iPlayer.]

Films

The Nightingale (2018)
[#14 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Monday, 10 February 2020

TV

The 92nd Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars. A good ceremony this year -- and, of course, an historic winner in Parasite. I look forward to getting a chance to see it...

Friday Night Dinner
5x05 The Violin
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Goes Wrong Show
1x06 90 Degrees [season finale]
They must make more, I demand it. (The DVD release is labelled "Series 1", which I'm taking as a good sign.)
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

The Good Place
3x02 The Brainy Bunch
3x03 The Snowplow
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

Lucifer
3x19 Orange is the New Maze
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

The Rookie
1x04 The Switch

Sunday, 9 February 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x07 Can You Hear Me?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

E! Live from the Red Carpet: Oscars 2020

The Rookie
1x03 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Films

Christopher Robin (2018)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #7

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #6. I counted this as a new first-time viewing back in 2008, but I always suspected I'd seen it before. You see, I knew I'd seen some Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films before I embarked on the whole series, but I wasn't certain which; but now, having definitely seen them all, I'm pretty sure this was one (possibly even the only one) I'd seen in my childhood.

this week on 100 Films

Just 1 new review on 100 Films in a Year this week...


1917 (2019)
I love a bit of real-time, so that was right up my street. I have similar feelings about single takes (fake or not), so I loved that aspect too. Plus I’ve got a long-standing interest in World War One, which I don’t feel is represented well enough on film (at least, not as well as its sequel), so getting a big-budget high-profile movie about it is something else I welcome. And I love the work of cinematographer Roger Deakins, who is absolutely on fine form here (when isn’t he?) The long and the short of it is, 1917 was always a movie almost tailored to things that interest me.
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Saturday, 8 February 2020

TV

The Good Place
3x01 Everything Is Bonzer!
[Watch the whole series (again) on Netflix.]

The Great British Bake Off
1x06 Tea Party [season finale]
[Watch series 1 (again) on Netflix.]

Lucifer
3x18 The Last Heartbreak
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

The Rookie
1x02 Crash Course

Collection Count

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

My overzealous purchasing spree continues this week, with seven new acquisitions. Most of those were in sales (four Jackie Chan Blu-rays and two films in 3D that aren't well regarded but I enjoyed in 2D), plus a Blu-ray to Blu-ray upgrade for Doctor Who: The Specials, aka Series 4b. This Steelbook version includes improved transfers for the episodes, plus HD versions of two animated specials I previously owned on DVD (though I'm hanging onto one of those for the special features). That would play merrily with my numbers, but thanks to the sheer volume of stuff, nearly everything goes up -- except DVDs, dropping for the fourth week in a row.

Number of titles in collection: 2,288 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,116 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,172 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 41 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,976 [up 5]
Number of films: 2,684 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 8,747 [up 3]
Number of short films: 688 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 7 February 2020

TV

Death in Paradise
9x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
38x06 Praxeus [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night Dinner
5x04 Lord Luck
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Goes Wrong Show
1x05 Harper's Locket
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

The Rookie
1x01 Pilot

Thursday, 6 February 2020

TV

The Great British Bake Off
1x05 Pastry
[Watch series 1 (again) on Netflix.]

Lucifer
3x16 Infernal Guinea Pig
3x17 Let Pinhead Sing!
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Wednesday, 5 February 2020

TV

Death in Paradise
9x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
38x05 Fugitive of the Judoon [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night Dinner
5x03 The Surprise
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Great British Bake Off
1x04 Puddings
[Watch series 1 (again) on Netflix.]

Would I Lie To You?
13x07 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

TV

Good Omens
Part 3 Hard Times
[Watch the whole series (again) in HD or 4K UHD on Prime Video, or parts 1-3 on iPlayer.]

Films

Booksmart (2019)
[#13 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Monday, 3 February 2020

TV

Good Omens
Part 2 The Book
[Watch the whole series (again) in HD or 4K UHD on Prime Video, or parts 1-3 on iPlayer.]

Sunday, 2 February 2020

TV

The British Academy Film Awards 2020
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
38x06 Praxeus
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Good Omens
Part 1 In the Beginning
Finally making a start on this -- it's only taken me 8 months. That's not because of disinterest -- actually, quite the opposite. I loved the book when I read it as a kid, and have therefore been waiting (in a very passive sense) for a screen adaptation for the best part of 25 years. So this wasn't something I could "bung on", or watch an episode casually now and then -- I needed to approach it with due reverence. But things have been up and down and hectic for me this last year, so I didn't feel I could commit to it properly... until now.
[Watch the whole series (again) in HD or 4K UHD on Prime Video, or parts 1-3 on iPlayer.]

Star Trek: Picard
1x02 Maps and Legends
[Watch it (again) on Prime Video.]

this week on 100 Films

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





There were 2 new film reviews published too...


Ad Astra (2019)
Ad Astra is certainly a journey into darkness — of space; of mind. Whether it gets to the heart of it, I’m not convinced. But it’s still a trip worth taking.
Read more here.


Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
Like any good blockbuster, Laputa has it all: thrills, humour, emotion, wonder… It’s the complete package. Plus, that level of broad familiarity (it wouldn’t take too many steps to imagine this remade as a Hollywood blockbuster, although they’d inevitably mess it up somehow) probably makes it the perfect starting point for any newbies to anime or Ghibli.
Read more here.


And my latest TV column 'n' all...





More next Sunday.

Saturday, 1 February 2020

Collection Count

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

A mix of new releases and sale pick-ups means another healthy boost to my collection this week -- well, apart from for DVDs, which drop for the third week in a row.

It's also time for the monthly running time update, which gives an idea just how much stuff I've already bought in 2020.

Number of titles in collection: 2,283 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,117 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,166 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 41 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,971 [up 9]
Number of films: 2,678 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 8,744 [no change]
Number of short films: 688 [up 5]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
437 days, 5 hours, and 54 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 22 hours, and 51 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 31 January 2020

Thursday, 30 January 2020

TV

The Twilight Zone
3x10 The Midnight Sun
3x16 Nothing in the Dark

Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series
Part 8 (of 18) [2nd watch]
In UHD as part of the From Z to A box set (the only episode included in UHD, aside from the original pilot) -- hence why I'm only watching one episode from the middle of the series.

Wednesday, 29 January 2020

TV

The Twilight Zone
5x17 Number 12 Looks Just Like You

Films

Twin Peaks (1990)
[5th watch]
aka Twin Peaks: Pilot (Original Version)

Rewatchathon 2020 #5

Yeah, this is really an episode of TV... but it's presented in a standalone manner on the From Z to A Blu-ray set (by being the only original series episode included in UHD), so I thought I'd count it.

I also rewatched the 19-minute alternate ending. It has some good bits (all of which Lynch nabbed to recycle in the series proper), but it's not as good an ending as... well, the season-and-a-half of TV that followed the original.

Tuesday, 28 January 2020

TV

Star Trek: The Next Generation
6x26 Descent [season finale]
7x01 Descent, Part II
More episodes I'm watching as background for Picard. Unlike the last one, however, I don’t think these can be amongst the best of TNG. The first part has some interesting stuff with Data struggling to understand if he’s started to experience emotions, but the second half is an underwhelming bit of something-and-nothing, only really noteworthy for the relish with which Brent Spiner plays Data’s evil twin brother. (I do intend to watch all of TNG in full someday, not just random episodes now and then like I've been doing for the past few years.)

Films

(1963)
[#11 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Blindspot 2020 #1

aka Federico Fellini's 8 1/2

Monday, 27 January 2020

TV

The Twilight Zone
1x34 The After Hours
5x25 The Masks
It's been a few months (alright, six), but I'm finally getting back on to watching more classic Twilight Zone.

Films

Ad Astra (2019)
[#10 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Sunday, 26 January 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x05 Fugitive of the Judoon
Well, that was certainly a lot of unexpected stuff! I feel like Chibnall's playing at being Moffat now (with wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey mysteries that threaten to rewrite the show's long-standing continuity), but we'll see. At least it's interesting.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Star Trek: The Next Generation
5x23 I Borg
Widely regarded as one of the very best TNG episodes (it is, indeed, excellent), and likely to be of importance to the events of Picard (hence why I'm watching it now).

this week on 100 Films

1 new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
I don’t know how thoroughly the film adapts the novel's 768 pages, but it feels like it’s trying to cram in as much as possible. It rattles by at a whipcrack pace, which is both one of its greatest assets, because it moves like the clappers, and its biggest drawbacks, because it winds up feeling a bit too long... This is a minor complaint, though, because while those 119 minutes may be a few more than seems strictly necessary, what’s within them is frequently riotously funny.
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Saturday, 25 January 2020

TV

QI
17x12 Quagmire
17x13 Quills
[Watch Quagmire and Quills (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Bait (2019)
[#9 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Collection Count

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

Two new releases this week, one an acclaimed British film from last year (Bait), the other not actually out until Monday (the latest Doctor Who Collection Blu-ray, which upgrades three DVDs (but leaves one behind, for now)).

Similarly, a Blu-ray upgrade for the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series. It's been available for years in other countries (the US, Germany, Italy, etc), but BD-adverse ITV simply won't release it here, so I've finally given in and imported it (for a very nice price).

And the net result of all that is "no change" to the title total!

Number of titles in collection: 2,279 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,119 [down 4]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,160 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 40 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,962 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,672 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,744 [up 3]
Number of short films: 681 [up 5]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 24 January 2020

TV

The Ready Room
2x01 "Remembrance" Recap
After-show for Picard, only available in the US -- except, of course, where there's a will there's a way... Whether it's worth finding that way depends on your tolerance for these kinds of things. The bit about the making of the theme music was interesting, though.
[Watch it on YouTube.]

Star Trek: Picard
1x01 Remembrance
[Watch it (again) on Prime Video.]

Thursday, 23 January 2020

Wednesday, 22 January 2020

Films

What Did Jack Do? (2017)
[#8a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Oh, David Lynch...

Tuesday, 21 January 2020

TV

Friday Night Dinner
5x02 The Tin of Meat
Coming up to two years since I last watched this, but here we are. Hurrah for the wonders of on-demand viewing.
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Monday, 20 January 2020

TV

Death in Paradise
9x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

His Dark Materials
1x07 The Fight to the Death
1x08 Betrayal [season finale]
[Watch series 1 (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x25 Boo Normal [bonus episode]
Skipping ahead a little here, but it's recommended. At the end of season 3 they made two episodes for inclusion in season 4; when the show was cancelled (before being picked back up by Netflix), they released those two as "bonus episodes". According to co-showrunner Joe Henderson, this one fits best between episodes 15 and 16, so that's where I've watched it.
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Sunday, 19 January 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x04 Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
1x03 Bread
[Watch series 1 (again) on Netflix.]

His Dark Materials
1x05 The Lost Boy
1x06 The Daemon-Cages
[Watch series 1 (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #3

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #2

this week on 100 Films

Just one new post on 100 Films in a Year this week: my 12 picks for 2020's Blindspot challenge...





More next Sunday.

Saturday, 18 January 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x03 Orphan 55 [2nd watch]
I didn't think much of this the first time, but its flaws only become more obvious on a rewatch.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Goes Wrong Show
1x04 The Lodge
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
1x02 Biscuits
[Watch series 1 (again) on Netflix.]

His Dark Materials
1x03 The Spies [2nd watch]
1x04 Armour
[Watch series 1 (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x15 High School Poppycock
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Collection Count

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

From one extreme to the other: after the absolute quite of last week, there's something new for every category this week -- although for DVD it's just a further reduction. (It's not an unrelenting downward slide nowadays, but the last year my DVD tally actually increased was 2015, and then it was only by 7 across the entire year.)

This week's big addition is the Twin Peaks: From Z to A box set (out in the UK on Monday). Theoretically it should upgrade the previous Blu-ray box sets... but then they should've upgraded the previous DVDs and I hung on to them, so for the time being I'm keeping the lot. In some cases that's never likely to change (the season one DVD has audio commentaries that David Lynch won't allow to be included on future releases, so I'll hang on to those), but in others I really ought to just give in and sell (the only thing stopping me in most cases is the nice packaging, which is daft really). So, really From Z to A should've barely changed the numbers at all, but instead it adds piles of stuff. Most notably, though: it includes the original pilot and season three's Part 8 in UHD, so counts to that tally.

As you can see, it's one of three UHD additions this week. I haven't had anything to report there in over two months, and now three at once! The others were Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Don't Look Now (which is the upgrade responsible for dropping a DVD). Finally, anime movie Time of Eve adds some short films to round out every category.

And all of that looks like this:

Number of titles in collection: 2,279 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,123 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,156 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 40 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 5,958 [up 26]
Number of films: 2,670 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 8,741 [up 48]
Number of short films: 676 [up 2]

Not counted: soundtrack CDs. There are two this month (in Don't Look Now and Time of Eve). Back when I first started tallying my DVD collection, I decided CDs "didn't count" -- because they were CDs and this was a list of DVDs (duh). But now I've got so many releases with soundtrack CDs bundled in, I wish I had kept a record. Maybe I should go back and count them in somehow? Maybe their own count; or I could just straight-up add them to my disc count -- it might not skyrocket exactly (it's already at nearly 6,000 and I doubt there's more than a few dozen CDs, max), but it would give it a notable bump (as I said, possibly a few dozen).

Or maybe I just can't be bothered.

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 17 January 2020

TV

The Great British Bake Off
1x01 Cakes
I joined Bake Off with series 2 (so slightly ahead of the mass popularity, then) and always meant to go back and catch up on this first series somehow -- once upon a time that meant "hoping to see it repeated on some odd satellite channel", but nowadays it's just all on Netflix. It's a funny experience watching it now: so much of it is like the Bake Off we all came to know and love, but there are little bits here and there that aren't quite right. They obviously tweaked (and perfected) the formula for series 2.
[Watch series 1 (again) on Netflix.]

His Dark Materials
1x01 Lyra's Jordan [2nd watch]
1x02 The Idea of North [2nd watch]
[Watch series 1 (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x14 My Brother's Keeper
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Not Going Out
10x08 Halloween [special]

Thursday, 16 January 2020

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2019/2020 Episode 2 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Death in Paradise
9x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
38x02 Spyfall Part Two [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x13 Til Death Do Us Part
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Wednesday, 15 January 2020

TV

The Goes Wrong Show
1x03 A Trial to Watch
Friendly reminder that this series is absolutely magnificent.
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x12 All About Her
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Not Going Out
10x07 Builder [season finale]

Films

Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
[#8 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Tuesday, 14 January 2020

Monday, 13 January 2020

Sunday, 12 January 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x03 Orphan 55
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

My review of last year finally came to an end this week over at 100 Films in a Year, with the following posts...


2019 Statistics
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas — that’s well and truly over now, isn’t it? No, I mean this — the day I publish my annual statistics post! As the guy who does the introductions to films at Odeon might say, “ooh, yeah, the statistics. I love the statistics.”
Read more here.


The Best & Worst of 2019
Where others may do a top ten, or twenty, or fifty, nowadays I do a top 10%. This year I watched 151 films, so my ‘top ten’ has 15 films... As well as my favourite films I saw during 2019, this final review-of-the-year post also includes my least favourite films, as well as a list of 2019’s most noteworthy releases that I missed.
Read more here.


Finally for now, a look back at some Christmas TV...





More next Sunday.

Saturday, 11 January 2020

Films

Dial M for Murder 3D (1954)
[#5 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

+ the Featurette and theatrical trailer on the Blu-ray. The former was informative, the latter was a trailer.

Collection Count

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

After all the busy-ness around Christmas, there's nothing to report this week. I'm sure things will pick up soon.

Number of titles in collection: 2,276 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,124 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,152 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,932 [no change]
Number of films: 2,667 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,693 [no change]
Number of short films: 676 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Wednesday, 8 January 2020

TV

Dracula
Part 3 The Dark Compass [finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer in the UK or Netflix elsewhere.]

In Search of Dracula with Mark Gatiss
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Little Women (2019)
[#4 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Tuesday, 7 January 2020

TV

Dracula
Part 2 Blood Vessel
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer in the UK or Netflix elsewhere.]

Films

Zatoichi at Large (1972)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2020 #1. I first watched this last August, but didn't get round to reviewing it. Looking at it and my notes again the other day, I realised I didn't remember it in the slightest -- makes it a bit difficult to review, that. So here I am again.

Monday, 6 January 2020

TV

Dracula
Part 1 The Rules of the Beast
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer in the UK or Netflix elsewhere.]

Sunday, 5 January 2020

TV

Doctor Who
38x02 Spyfall Part Two
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x11 City of Angels?
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Not Going Out
10x06 Whodunnit?

Vienna Blood
1x03 The Lost Child [season finale]
[Watch the it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

Over at 100 Films in a Year, I'm part way through my review of last year. It all started with the usual look back at the last month...





...and has continued with these...


2019: The Full List
Here we are once again, dear readers: another year over, another long list of films. The final tally of new feature films I saw in 2019 is 151.
Read more here.


My Most-Read Posts of 2019
2019 may’ve given us the highest grossing film of all time, but TV reviews once again dominate my most-viewed posts of the year... But this is still theoretically a film blog, so — as usual — I’ve compiled my five most-read TV posts and then my five most-read film reviews.
Read more here.


I would like to have had the entire review of the year up by now, but I've been busy this weekend. More of it next Sunday.

Saturday, 4 January 2020

TV

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

The Goes Wrong Show
1x02 The Pilot (Not the Pilot)
[Watch it (again and again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
3x10 The Sin Bin
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Collection Count

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

Well, I say that -- it's been two weeks this time. It wasn't meant to be! As I mentioned last time, I always intended for this update to be a little late, to serve as my usual end-of-year totaliser. But then there was a lot to compile for it (I'd been getting tardy), so it gradually slipped even later than intended, eventually ending up a whole week late. Oops. But nothing's been added to my collection in the last few days, so it's still a wholly honest post-Christmas / end-of-2019 set of figures. Lovely.

And with that said, on with the numbers...

Number of titles in collection: 2,276 [up 4 this week; up 98 in 2019]
Of which DVDs: 1,124 [no change this week; down 21 in 2019]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,152 [up 4 this week; up 119 in 2019]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 37 [no change this week; up 28 in 2019]

Number of discs in collection: 5,932 [up 17 this week; up 310 in 2019]
Number of films: 2,667 [up 23 this week; up 181 in 2019]
Number of TV episodes: 8,693 [up 12 this week; up 365 in 2019]
Number of short films: 676 [no change this week; up 25 in 2019]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
434 days, 7 hours, and 3 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 21 hours, and 8 minutes from last month.)
(Up 19 days, 7 hours, and 40 minutes from last year.)

That's my smallest year-on-year running time increase since 2014 -- which was also the case last year, but this year it's even lower again. And, as I said then, it's good really, because I shouldn't buy so much stuff... but I'm gonna keep doing it!

And therefore, as ever, I'll see you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 3 January 2020

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2019/2020 Episode 4 (of 10)
Watching out of order because someone said this contained "one of the TV moments of 2020" already. They were exaggerating.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
10x05 Memory

Films

Rocketman (2019)
[#3 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Thursday, 2 January 2020

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2019
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Lucifer
3x09 The Sinnerman
[Watch season 3 (again) on Prime Video.]

Films

Evil Under the Sun (1982)
[#2 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]

Articles

Gavin and Stacey Christmas special is most-watched TV comedy for 17 years
(from BBC News)

That headline buries the real story: that the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special was the only scripted programme among the top ten most-watched programmes of the entire decade. Mad. (The other nine included eight sporting events and one X Factor final.)