Films

West Side Story (1961)
[2nd watch]
[#22 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Collection Count

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

A relatively quiet one this week, with just two new additions — both recent releases, courtesy of HMV's 2-for-£30 4K offer. But it's enough to see me hit exactly 7,000 discs. Madness!

And expect things to kick off again soon — I've been on a preordering spree this week...

Number of titles in collection: 2,797 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,742 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 158 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 7,000 [up 4]
Number of films: 3,331 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 254 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,266 [no change]
Number of short films: 955 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Dexter: New Blood
1x08 Unfair Game
1x09 The Family Business

Only Murders in the Building
1x07 The Boy from 6B
1x08 Fan Fiction

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x101 Week 17: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Dexter: New Blood
1x07 Skin of Her Teeth

Only Murders in the Building
1x06 To Protect and Serve

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x99 Champions Week 4: Thursday
5x100 Champions Week 4: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Dexter: New Blood
1x06 Too Many Tuna Sandwiches

Only Murders in the Building
1x05 Twist

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x98 Champions Week 4: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Dexter: New Blood
1x04 'H' Is for Hero
1x05 Runaway

Only Murders in the Building
1x04 The Sting

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x96 Champions Week 4: Monday
5x97 Champions Week 4: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The British Academy Film Awards 2022
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Only Murders in the Building
1x03 How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x95 Champions Week 3: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

5 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...


2022 | Weeks 7–8

Featuring...
- Shot in the Dark (1933)
- The Brits Are Coming (2018)
- Ode to Joy (2019)
- The Courier (2020)
- The Misfits (2021)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Dexter: New Blood
1x02 Storm of Fuck
1x03 Smoke Signals

Only Murders in the Building
1x02 Who Is Tim Kono?

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x94 Champions Week 3: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
[#21 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Collection Count

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

This week looked set to boast just one new addition — a new release, and even then one I hadn't necessarily intended to buy (the new West Side Story, which is already on Disney+), but I was tempted by pretty limited edition packaging. But then, to compound it, I went and bought a bunch of stuff on offer and/or that was headed out of print. Story of my life. And so, while not a record-breaking week by any means, it's a not-insignificant one.

Number of titles in collection: 2,795 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,740 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 156 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,996 [up 16]
Number of films: 3,329 [up 9]
Number of additional cuts: 253 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,266 [up 29]
Number of short films: 955 [up 6]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Dexter: New Blood
1x01 Cold Snap
Is this Dexter season 9, or a new sequel/spin-off series? Given how other series have treated legacy specials/revivals, there's no set way of numbering these things. But given it's the only season of the show with a subtitle, and it was made years later and all that, I'm going with "new" numbering (as I think most people did in the end). Anyway, it's good to have Dexter Morgan back. I didn't hate the original ending, but, nonetheless, hope they give him a more fitting send-off this time.

Only Murders in the Building
1x01 True Crime
Heard good things about this — it seemed to build up some strong word-of-mouth when it was coming out and since — so thought I'd give it a go. On the evidence of episode one, it could be a lot of fun.

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x91 Champions Week 3: Monday
5x92 Champions Week 3: Tuesday
5x93 Champions Week 3: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Grantchester
6x04 Episode 4
Still finishing the last series, even though a new one starts tomorrow. But, in my defence, it's only six months since this one aired.
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Leverage
4x04 The Van Gogh Job

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x88 Champions Week 2: Wednesday
5x89 Champions Week 2: Thursday
5x90 Champions Week 2: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Moriarty the Patriot
1x22 The Two Criminals
[Watch it (again) on Funimation.]

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x86 Champions Week 2: Monday
5x87 Champions Week 2: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Peaky Blinders
5x06 Mr. Jones [season finale]
[Watch series 1–5 (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]

TV

Peaky Blinders
5x05 The Shock
[Watch series 1–5 (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]

Articles

The Abandoned An’ Forsaked - How Did Alfred First Meet Batman?
by Brian Cronin (from CBR)

Something (I forget what) piqued my interest as to when Alfred was added to Batman canon. A bit of Googling quickly brought me to this article, which not only includes Alfred’s first appearance (in Batman #16 from 1943), but also details how his backstory has changed down the years — the one we’re most familiar with (that he’s worked for the Waynes since Bruce was a child and always known about Batman) wasn’t actually the case until the mid ‘80s.

TV

Would I Lie To You?
15x02 Episode 2
15x03 Episode 3
[Watch these episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The King's Man (2021)

this week on 100Films.co.uk

I don't know about you, but this has been a long week — so long that I forgot a new month started during it. Yep, that's right! So. no new X new films review at 100Films.co.uk this week, but there was the monthly review of February...





And, to go with it, the February failures...





More next Sunday.

TV

Mystery Science Theater 3000
13x01 Santo in the Treasure of Dracula
The new season of MST3K began with a Kickstarter-backers-exclusive premiere last night — 1am UK time, hence me logging it today. After a few technical issues delayed the start, the episode itself was a delight: a perfect movie to be laughed at while still being kinda daftly enjoyable, which, for me, is the MST3K sweetspot (truly awful movies sometimes feel like a slog that the riffers didn't have enough to work with). If they keep up this standard, it should be a good season.

The Wheel
2x13 Episode 13
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Having delayed the monthly running time update from last week, I didn't buy (or sell) a single title this week, so it remains exactly as it would have last time. Isn't that... fundamentally immaterial to anything but this column. Anyway...

Number of titles in collection: 2,788 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,733 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 154 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,980 [no change]
Number of films: 3,320 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 252 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [no change]
Number of short films: 949 [no change]

As I said, no changes. Except...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
501 days, 10 hours, and 4 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 17 hours, and 18 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee (2020)

This is the 10,000th post published to My Cultural Experience! Sorry it's not something more... significant.

Fiction

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
Chapter 14

Fiction

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 12–13

TV

University Challenge
2021/22 Episode 31
2021/22 Episode 32
[Watch the 2021/22 series (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Los Olvidados (1950)
[#20 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
Blindspot 2022 #2

Tintin and the Temple of the Sun (1969)
[#19 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
aka The Adventures of Tintin: The Prisoners of the Sun

Fiction

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 8–11

this week on 100Films.co.uk

6 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...


Knives Out (2019)

clearly built like an Agatha Christie story, though perhaps with a touch more satire and humour. That’s not to say it’s an outright comedy, but this is a heightened world we’re in; it’s the real world, but filtered through the lens of a genre. And rather than follow the familiar formula of a Poirot- or Marple-type case, the film is like one of Christie’s other novels; one of the ones where the broad shape is the same, but there’s some twist or variant in how it’s told.

Read more here.


Archive 5, Vol.5

Featuring...
- La Belle Époque (2019)
- The Awful Truth (1937)
- Coming to America (1988)
- Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018)
- The Social Dilemma (2020)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Just a couple of new releases to keep things ticking over, this week. It's also time for a running time update, but I'm nowhere near having that ready, so I've bumped it to next week. Hopefully I won't just find myself next Saturday morning staring at still having to add a month's worth of new acquisitions to the total...

Number of titles in collection: 2,788 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,733 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 154 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,980 [up 4]
Number of films: 3,320 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 252 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [no change]
Number of short films: 949 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

The Misfits (2021)
[#18 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

TV

Peaky Blinders
5x03 Strategy
5x04 The Loop
[Watch series 1–5 (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]

TV

Moriarty the Patriot
1x21 The Sign of Mary
[Watch it (again) on Funimation.]

Peaky Blinders
5x02 Black Cats
[Watch series 1–5 (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]

Fiction

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 6–7

TV

Peaky Blinders
5x01 Black Tuesday
With the sixth and final series imminent, it's long overdue that I catch up on series 5 (I mean, it did air 2½ years ago...)
[Watch series 1–5 (again) on iPlayer or Netflix.]

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x85 Champions Week 1: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

A Room with a View (1985)
[2nd watch]
[#17 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

11 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...


2022 | Weeks 4–6

Featuring...
- Voyage of Time: An IMAX Documentary (2016)
- L'avventura (1960)
- She's Gotta Have It (1986)
- Don't Look Up (2021)
- Jackass: The Movie (2002)
- Jackass Number Two (2006)

Read more here.


Archive 5, Vol.4

Featuring...
- Going My Way (1944)
- The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
- Zero Charisma (2013)
- Borat (2006)
- The Thin Red Line (1998)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x83 Champions Week 1: Wednesday
5x84 Champions Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Courier (2020)

Ode to Joy (2019)

Collection Count

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

This week, two new releases (one from this week, The Story of Film: A New Generation, and one from next, The King's Man) and two on offer. One of the latter two should really count as an upgrade from DVD (The Shawshank Redemption), but the DVD set I've got is rather nice, so I'm hanging on to it, at least for the time being.

Number of titles in collection: 2,786 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,731 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 154 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 6,976 [up 7]
Number of films: 3,316 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 252 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [no change]
Number of short films: 949 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x81 Champions Week 1: Monday
5x82 Champions Week 1: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Brits Are Coming (2018)

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x78 Week 16: Wednesday
5x79 Week 16: Thursday
5x80 Week 16: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Shot in the Dark (1933)
[#16 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Fiction

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
Chapter 5

TV

Would I Lie To You?
15x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Jackass Number Two (2006)
[#15 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Fiction

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 1–4

Finally reading the last James Bond novel (it's only been four years since it came out!) before the new one is released this summer. (This is exactly what I did last time.)

this week on 100Films.co.uk

2 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...


Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

I don’t know if Afterlife’s detractors will come round to it with time. Frankly, I don’t really care — if they didn’t enjoy it, that’s their business. At worst, it’s their loss, because this is an appropriately fun and affectionate addition to the franchise.

Read more here.


Mass (2021)

The fact Mass been relegated to the status of a “Sky Original” in the UK might mislead you (not all their “original” acquisitions are bad, but the first few were dregs that distributors clearly didn’t want to send to cinemas and neither Netflix nor Amazon had any interest in, and they’ve not done much to turn that reputation around). This, however, is a blisteringly emotional gut-punch that definitely merits your time.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Wheel
2x11 Episode 11
2x12 Episode 12
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

No new releases this week — which, if I were truly, properly trying to cut back on my new acquisitions, would mean there'd be nothing to report here. Of course, I'm a sucker for sales, offers, and general recommendations, and that's how I've still wound up with four additions this week (one an upgrade from regular BD to 4K).

Number of titles in collection: 2,782 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,727 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 151 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,969 [up 5]
Number of films: 3,312 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 252 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [no change]
Number of short films: 949 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Jackass: The Movie (2002)

Films

The Hobbit (1977)
[#14 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Films

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

this week on 100Films.co.uk

A new month began this week, and that now kicks off two types of post at 100Films.co.uk. First, my trusty monthly review...





And now, something that used to be a part of that review, but is now its own dedicated series: my failures. Yay!





As well as that, there were 6 new reviews published this week...


Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise (2007)

The singer Meat Loaf was very protective of his creative process, and apparently this documentary was the first time he’d allowed cameras behind the scenes to document it. Certainly, he’s frequently uncomfortable with or begrudging of their presence, although he seems to get used to them over time, allowing us some rare insights.

Read more here.


Archive 5, Vol.3

Featuring...
- Guinevere (1994)
- The Kid (1921/1972)
- Defending Your Life (1991)
- The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
- Sherlock Jr. (1924)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

Don't Look Up (2021)
The first film I've watched this year that doesn't qualify towards my All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge. I feel like that should be a negative, but it's almost exciting. Like, this was part of the point of the new challenge — that not everything counts — and this is the first time that's swung into action.

Collection Count

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

Look, I'm not trying to keep having weeks that push close to all-time-record status, it just keeps happening! I really need to rein myself in... But, yes, another 13 new titles this week, one an upgrade, makes a total increase of 12 two weeks in a row.

Speaking of last week, I mentioned then that if all the 4Ks in the post had actually arrived, it would've been a record-breaker. Well, the remainder turned up this week (of course). It's no record-breaker, but it does see my 4K total stop just one shy of 150 titles — I thought it was going to be 150, but then I remembered one was an upgrade. How many (or, rather, few) of those 149 have I actually watched? I dread to think...

Number of titles in collection: 2,779 [up 12]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,724 [up 12]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 149 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 6,964 [up 31]
Number of films: 3,309 [up 26]
Number of additional cuts: 252 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [no change]
Number of short films: 949 [up 12]

In case you missed it, those 12 titles brought a total of 26 films and 4 alternate cuts. Crikey. I really ought to watch more of my Blu-rays...

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

She's Gotta Have It (1986)
[#13 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2022 #2

Films

L'avventura (1960)
[#12 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
Blindspot 2022 #1

Voyage of Time: An IMAX Documentary (2016)
[#11 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

12 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week — mainly short(er) ones in roundup-type posts, but they're still reviews.


Flight of the Navigator (1986)

may have been entertaining for preteens in the ’80s and ’90s, but surely anyone older could only love it because of nostalgia from watching it at that age; and it’s probably a bit slow-paced for today’s youth.

Read more here.


2022 | Weeks 1–3

Featuring...
- Carry On Spying (1964)
- Penny Serenade (1941)
- The Navigator (1924)
- In the Line of Fire (1993)
- Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper (2004)
- Free Guy (2021)

Read more here.


Archive 5, Vol.2

Featuring...
- Royal Wedding (1951)
- A Study in Scarlet (1933)
- Chicken Run (2000)
- The Last of Sheila (1973)
- Road to Zanzibar (1941)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

After nothing last week, this one certainly set about making up for it: a big 13 new additions, including a DVD... but also a DVD-to-BD uprade, so that change gets wiped out below. Oh well.

Also five new 4K titles, which is the most in one go for six months. The most ever in a single week was six back in February 2019, fairly soon after I'd first started buying them (in October 2018). This week could've set a new record, if a few orders weren't so tardy in the post. Oh well.

Number of titles in collection: 2,767 [up 12]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,712 [up 12]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 147 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 6,933 [up 19]
Number of films: 3,283 [up 15]
Number of additional cuts: 248 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [no change]
Number of short films: 936 [up 2]

It's also time once again for the monthly running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
498 days, 16 hours, and 46 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 11 hours, and 26 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise (2007)
[#10 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Films

Mass (2021)
[#9 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Music

Braver Than We Are
by Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf's final album, on which all the songs were written by Jim Steinman. That led the album's producer to comment that "I believe this is actually Bat [Out of Hell] 3... I might get myself in trouble, but I'm gonna say that. Jim's involvement in this record is so intense. The songs, the way they run together and the narrative of the record, nothing has been this cohesive since Bat 1." I'm gonna give a big "hmm" to that, because while it's a nice idea in theory, I didn't feel the album was all that cohesive, nor that it was as "Bat Out of Hell-y" as the real Bat 3. Maybe I'll change my mind with time, I dunno, but it's not like the record came out (over five years ago now — I missed it at the time) with a big "the real Bat 3!" fanfare, is it?

Films

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)
[#7 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Free Guy (2021)
[#8 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

6 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...


American Animals (2018)

if a crime was committed, how come they’re interviewing the criminals? That latter thought contributes to a genuine tension and suspense throughout the film. How far will this plot go? Do they even actually attempt it? One of the guys keeps saying, “I expected there to be something to stop us”, and you think maybe something will stop them… but the fact this film exists, and there’s all the chat about how the boys let their parents down and whatever, shows something happened. (No spoilers!)

Read more here.


Archive 5, Vol.1

Featuring...
- Never Too Young to Die (1986)
- Bachelor Knight (1947)
- Little Women (2019)
- Aniara (2018)
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Well now, this is something of a surprise. I've got plenty on order, including preorders out on Monday; and stuff in the post, even... but none of it's actually turned up. So, for the first time since WHEN, it's a week with no changes whatsoever! I think those will remain a rarity for the foreseeable...

Number of titles in collection: 2,755 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,700 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 142 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,913 [no change]
Number of films: 3,268 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 247 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [no change]
Number of short films: 934 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

In the Line of Fire (1993)
[#6 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Music

Bat Out of Hell
Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell
Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
by Meat Loaf

RIP Meat Loaf.

Films

Flight of the Navigator (1986)
[#5 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2022 #1

Films

The Navigator (1924)
[#4 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x77 Week 16: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Penny Serenade (1941)
[#3 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

With my review of 2021 all wrapped up last week, I could properly begin the future of 100Films.co.uk this week. And it started with a pair of lists detailing 24 films I must watch in 2022...


Blindspot 2022

For those still unfamiliar with it, Blindspot’s premise is simple: choose 12 films you should have seen but haven’t, then watch one a month throughout the year. (Those 12 also contribute to my All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge.) Below, I’ve listed my selection for this year, and afterwards I’ll talk a bit about how I chose them.

Read more here.


What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen These Films from 1986?

After a couple of years ‘off’, “What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?” is back... with a slightly refined focus. Whereas before it featured great or significant movies I should’ve seen from across film history, now I’m giving it a specific theme each year. For the inaugural year of its new version, I’ve picked my birth year: the 12 films from 1986 that I’m most surprised I haven’t seen.

Read more here.


As well as that, I actually posted a new review!


I Care a Lot (2020)

it’s hard to discuss what’s so fundamentally wrong with I Care a Lot without digging into what occurs past some of its twists — it starts as one thing (which works), quickly becomes something else (which also works), but after about the halfway mark, it ends up diving off the deep end into a mess of implausibility.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

I was going to try to calm down my purchasing this year, dear reader, but January doesn't seem to be off to a good start in that regard. Even the numbers are hiding things, because that one new Ultra HD title is an upgrade from a regular Blu-ray (the film of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), so there were really four additions this week. And there's more already on order, of course.

Number of titles in collection: 2,755 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,700 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 142 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 6,913 [up 6]
Number of films: 3,268 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 247 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,237 [up 11]
Number of short films: 934 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off
2x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Leverage
4x03 The 15 Minutes Job

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x76 Week 16: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Gosford Park (2001)
[3rd watch]
[#2 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

I feel certain I've seen this twice, but I would've guessed the second time was no more than eight or nine years ago, max; but it's not covered by this blog, ergo it must be more than that; or, possibly, I've actually only seen it once, and just spent so long thinking "I must rewatch that" that I ended up believing I had rewatched it. Who knows. Anyway, it's really good.

TV

Leverage
4x02 The 10 Li'l Grifters Job

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x74 Week 15: Thursday
5x75 Week 15: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Stewart Francis: Pun Gent

TV

Cracker
1x01 The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 1 [2nd watch]
1x02 The Mad Woman in the Attic Part 2 [2nd watch]
I first started watching Cracker back in 2009 (my original thoughts on this two-parter are here and here), and got most of the way through series 2 before some reason the viewing dropped off (midway through a three-parter, oddly). Long have I meant to resume it, or start it again (what with it having been 13 years), so here I go. On the DVDs every multi-episode story is presented as a movie, without obvious breaking points, so that might be how I'm watching this time. More importantly: it's really good.

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x71 Week 15: Monday
5x72 Week 15: Tuesday
5x73 Week 15: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Leverage
4x01 The Long Way Down Job

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x68 Week 14: Wednesday
5x69 Week 14: Thursday
5x70 Week 14: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Grantchester
6x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x66 Week 14: Monday
5x67 Week 14: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x63 Week 12: Wednesday
5x64 Week 13: Thursday
5x65 Week 13: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Shetland
6x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x60 Week 12: Friday
5x61 Week 13: Monday
5x62 Week 13: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Shetland
6x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

A new era began this week on 100 Films. For starters, it's been rebranded as 100Films.co.uk. Learn more below...


A new era begins...

Welcome to my new-look blog! Don’t worry, you’re going to find a lot of it familiar — I haven’t changed the underlying template, and all the old posts are still there... Primarily, it’s a new name and a new logo, which is showcased on the front page in dozens of randomly-changing header images... More substantively, along with the revised aesthetics comes an adjusted focus.

Read more here.


The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge

Just like its title, this new version is similar but different. My original challenge was wholly straightforward: watch 100 films I’d never seen before every year... But this brand-new version of the challenge… well, it’s going to require some explaining... You see, rather than just watching any old 100 films, now there are a selection of categories, and films will need to fulfil criteria to qualify. Whereas the old challenge merely motivated me to watch more films, this new version is designed to encourage me to watch certain kinds of films.

Read more here.


But the old era still requires some wrapping up — my "review of 2021" posts started last week, and continued this week with...


2021 Statistics

one of my personal highlights of the entire year: the statistics. Regular readers will know what this is all about, but if you’re new to these parts and enjoy things like percentages and graphs… oh boy, you’re in for a treat!

Read more here.


The Worst of 2021

‘Worst of’ lists have become widely unpopular in the film-viewing community in recent years... but film watching inevitably involves taking the rough with the smooth... Also, I’ve done this list for 14 of 100 Films in a Year’s 15 years, so now would be an odd time to stop

Read more here.


The Best of 2021

Finally, for the last time (not really the last time): what I consider to be the best (or, more accurately, my favourite) films I saw for the first time in 2021 (that bit’s correct)... it’s 10% of whatever my final total is. This year that total was 207, so it rounds to 21. (If you think that’s too many for a list like this, feel free to scroll down and start wherever you like.)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x59 Week 12: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Shetland
6x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Carry On Spying (1964)
[#1 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 2,752 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,697 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 141 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 6,907 [up 2]
Number of films: 3,266 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 247 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,226 [no change]
Number of short films: 934 [up 4]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x57 Week 12: Tuesday
5x58 Week 12: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Shetland
6x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
8x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x56 Week 12: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

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

TV

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x53 Week 11: Wednesday
5x54 Week 11: Thursday
5x55 Week 11: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Great British Bake Off
12x10 The Final [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x52 Week 11: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Shetland
6x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
8x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x50 Week 10: Friday
5x51 Week 11: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Agatha Raisin
4x01 Kissing Christmas Goodbye [Christmas special]

The Great British Bake Off
12x09 Pâtisserie Week
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x48 Week 10: Wednesday
5x49 Week 10: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

It's the last Collection Count of the year! No, not of 2022 — I know it's already January 2nd, but I didn't get anything new this year (yet), so this is really the last count for 2021. (Also, it was meant to be posted yesterday, but sorting out all the numbers took time.)

The big addition this week is Severin's box set of folk horror, All the Haunts Be Ours, which across 12 discs (plus 3 CDs) contains a whopping 22 films and 14 shorts (not to mention all the other special features). There's also Fim Detective's The Sherlock Holmes Vault, containing four films from the 1930s plus a bunch of shorts. Together, they represent some significant increases for the final update of the year.

Also this week, as well as the usual stats, it's time for a monthly running time update. Plus, as I said, it's the annual wrapup, so we can also see how things have increased since 2020's final count.

Number of titles in collection: 2,750 [up 3 this week; up 240 in 2021]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change this week; down 26 in 2021]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,695 [up 3 this week; up 266 in 2021]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 141 [up 1 this week; up 48 in 2021]

Ending the year on a nice rounded number of 2,750 titles? I like it. But that increase... Last year's title increase was 234, which I described as "mad" because the previous high was 154 — and now there's a new high! Oh dear. Moving on...

Number of discs in collection: 6,905 [up 18 this week; up 459 in 2021]
Number of films: 3,264 [up 27 this week; up 363 in 2021]
Number of additional cuts: 247 [up 1 this week; up 44 in 2021]
Number of TV episodes: 9,226 [up 1 this week; up 244 in 2021]
Number of short films: 930 [up 21 this week; up 119 in 2021]

459 discs in one year?! Bloody hell! But last year it was over 500, so... As for 244 episodes of TV, that's a new low, down from last year's then-new low of 289. I think it's partly me buying less TV, but also less TV making it to disc nowadays (whither a Blu-ray box set of The Americans, hmm?), not to mention a lot of the 'best' TV having shorter seasons.

Total running time of collection (approx.):
497 days, 5 hours, and 20 minutes.
(Up 6 days, 13 hours, and 12 minutes from last month.)
(Up 30 days, 14 hours, and 48 minutes from last year.)

That's a massive increase for just one month (all those many-film box sets, I guess), but last year's annual increase was larger (over 32 days). Still, the average is around 23 days, so 2021 was no shirk. Last year I said "I do hope I manage to calm it down again next year" and, well, I guess I did... but not much, eh? Maybe next year...

And that begins next week, when I'll definitely have more stuff to add. There's no stopping me! See you then, faithful reader.

this week on 100 Films

No reviews on 100 Films in a Year this week, but my look back at 2021 is underway...


2021: The Full List

As revealed in my December review, 2021 finished on a tally of 207 new films — my third highest ever. They’re all listed below, in alphabetical order

Read more here.


My Most-Read Posts of 2021

2021 was a relatively quiet year for me, review-wise — I made just 55 posts, vs. over 120 in each of 2019 and 2020, and over 200 in 2018 and 2017. Nonetheless, that’s still enough from which to draw a Top 5, right?

Read more here.


There was also the December monthly review, which obviously has a year-end-y aspect to it...





And tomorrow on 100 Films, a new era begins...

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2021
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

The Big New Years & Years Eve Party
Part 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who
39x07 Eve of the Daleks [New Year's Day special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Happy New Year Live!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Richard Osman's House of Games
5x46 Week 10: Monday
5x47 Week 10: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Big New Years & Years Eve Party
Part 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ghosts
3x07 He Came! [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

23 Walks (2020)
[#207 in 100 Films in a Year 2021]

A Study in Scarlet (1933)
[#206 in 100 Films in a Year 2021]

That's it for another year of 100 Films. The last year? Well, we'll see...