Videos

Critical Role
2x92 Home Is Where the Heart Is [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x92 Home Is Where the Heart Is [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#138 'Stone to Clay'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

TV

Daredevil: Born Again
1x01 Heaven's Half Hour
1x02 Optics
Almost eight years since Daredevil's unintended final episode ("unintended" because it was cancelled after airing thanks to an MCU/Netflix rights kerfuffle), it's back. Well, technically it's a new show, which I guess makes it a sequel or something, but it's the same characters and cast and whatnot so, y'know, it's kinda Season 4. And I still think it's pretty great. Looking forward to the rest, and delighted a second season is already confirmed.
[Watch it (again) on Disney+.]

Fiction

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Chapters 15–21

As I noted when I started, one of the main reasons I'm reading this is because everyone talks about its amazing twist. Well, I guessed one possible twist as soon as I read the blurb, and here — at the end of Part One (of two) — it comes to pass. Hopefully the one everyone's talking about is still to come.

Comics

Exceptional X-Men
#3 by Eve L. Ewing & Carmen Carnero

Videos

Critical Role
2x91 Stone to Clay
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

A bit later than normal, it was finally time for 100Films.co.uk to look back at February.

It's the same posts as usual: first, the general review of the month...





Then, my numerous "failures"...





More next Sunday? You never know...

Films

Lifeforce (1985)
[#27 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Games

Roadwarden (demo)

Can't remember what first brought this game to my attention, but I've had the demo waiting for a while now — at one point I nearly played it to decide about a purchase of the full game while it was on sale, but I ran out of time before the offer ended... but then it seems to be permanently on sale anyway, so I haven't had a real motivator besides general interest (and I have tonnes of games waiting to be played at that level).

Still, something made me finally boot it up today, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a retro-styled text-driven (with some isometric pixel art) RPG. Lots of world building info and lore, which is engrossing. Really feels like an RPG, not just some kind of fighting game with some basic stats skinned over the top, or something. Anyway, I liked it enough that I've bought the full thing without even completing the demo (because it seems to be fairly extensive for a demo (I played for almost an hour and a half and didn't feel like it was about to stop me progressing any further), and I presumed I'd have to re-play everything I've already done in the full game anyway. It will actually let me load my demo save, but it also has a note about a new improvement patch not working on old saves, so I think I will start from scratch.)

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 3,485 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 987 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,498 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 442 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 8,396 [up 5]
Number of films: 4,420 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 439 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,871 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,225 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Videos

Critical Role
2x90 Bathhouses and Bastions [2nd half]
I love these guys, but jeez, they're bad at politics. Any time they're in front of a ruler or some such, they're so busy trying to make speeches or sound intelligent that they skip over vital information and the arguments they're trying to make ping all over the place. Matt's kindness is almost palpable as he tries to redirect them back to the point, or simply lets the NPCs ignore what they *actually* said in favour of keeping the important parts moving. It's somewhat in character for the Nein, at least, but I'm not convinced it's wholly a character choice.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#137 'Lingering Wounds' & 'Bathhouses and Bastions'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x90 Bathhouses and Bastions [1st half]
Welcome to 2020! I'm sure it's going to be a great year...
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Critical Role Cooldown
Daggerheart Ep 2: The Menagerie Returns!
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
The Menagerie Returns! [2nd half]
Cliffhanger ending! Good thing there's a third one.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
The Menagerie Returns! [1st half]
Watch the Menagerie level up to L4 on YouTube or Beacon (if you like basically just hanging out with the CR cast for 25 minutes), which is where they start this second adventure. (I watched the first almost six months ago — where does time go?!)
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

TV

The 97th Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars — the actual ceremony this time. I thought it was fine — nothing bad happened; nothing really great or surprising. Conan was an adequate host: some jokes landed, some didn't; nothing really bombed, but nothing really shone.
[Watch it (again) on ITVX.]

Friends
6x03 The One with Ross's Denial [5th or so watch]
6x04 The One Where Joey Loses His Insurance [5th or so watch]
6x05 The One with Joey's Porsche [5th or so watch]

Films

The Sinister Man (1961)
[#26 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

TV

The 97th Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars... though not the ceremony itself, because that starts at midnight, but an hour-and-a-half of build-up on UK TV.
[Watch a selection of Oscars-related programmes and films on ITVX.]

Friends
6x01 The One After Vegas [5th or so watch]
6x02 The One Where Ross Hugs Rachel [5th or so watch]

Towards Zero
Part 1 (of 3)
Part 2 (of 3)
Part 3 (of 3)
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Hooray for Hollywood (1982)
[#25 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Never Back Losers (1961)
[#23 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962)
[#24 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Videos

No actual videos watched today, but I wanted to mark the occasion nonetheless, because today is the first anniversary* of my getting into Critical Role. In that time, I've watched 356 hours of Campaign 2, 105 hours of Talks Machina, multiple Daggerheart-based one-shots and related levelling-up videos, and untold hours of clips and other bits & pieces on YouTube that I don't log on here because, c'mon, that would be insane (even more insane than the entire exercise of this blog is in the first place).

As I mentioned last time I actually watched an episode, I've still got a long way to go until I'm caught up (over 200 more hours of C2 itself, never mind Talks, one-shots, and miniseries that I want to watch) — but with Campaign 4 on the horizon, it may not be too long before I just jump ahead to 'live' so I don't feel so out of touch.

* Something I regret about that inaugural post: "I’ll spare you my usual long-winded explanation of how I first heard of it and what made me decide to start now." It seemed smart at the time, but I've long since forgotten what exactly drove me to start watching it (and how much I'd heard of it before), and I wish I could remember. Thwarted myself there.

Collection Count

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

Fun times with maths this week: six new titles arrived, including a DVD-to-4K upgrade, a BD-to-4K upgrade, and a classic Doctor Who season set that upgrades a Blu-ray and a DVD, but is questionable about two other DVDs. Here's how that panned out...

Number of titles in collection: 3,482 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 987 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,495 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 441 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 8,391 [up 9]
Number of films: 4,417 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 439 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,871 [up 13]
Number of short films: 1,224 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Friends
5x22 The One with Joey's Big Break [5th or so watch]
5x23 The One in Vegas Part 1 [5th or so watch]
5x24 The One in Vegas Part 2 [season finale; 5th or so watch]

Films

Marty (1955)
[#22 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

TV

Friends
5x20 The One with the Ride-Along [5th or so watch]
5x21 The One with the Ball [5th or so watch]

Videos

Daggerheart First Look: Worldbuilding with Critical Role - Live from PAX Unplugged
Funny to call this a "first look" when it came after the massive open beta and multiple CR Daggerheart streams, but there you go — it's kind of an introduction, though kind of assume viewers already have some knowledge of the basics of the system. Anyway, it's quite a fun mini-adventure (the panel lasts about 90 minutes, including some intro to the game and character building).
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x89 Lingering Wounds [2nd half]
The final episode of 2019 — which is noteworthy because it more-or-less coincides with the end of my first year of watching Critical Role! I started out 6 years & 2 months behind, and have now caught up to 5 years & 2 months behind. Catching up one year in one year sounds like nothing, but it means I've actually caught up on two years (because if I'd only watched one year in one year, I'd still be the same amount behind). If I carry on at that rate, I'll be caught up fully in... 2030. Yeesh. Or I could just jump on to Campaign 4 when it starts (or as soon as I finish C2, whatever). I can always start on Campaign 1 and/or 3 when brand-new content isn't coming out often enough to satiate me.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x89 Lingering Wounds [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x88 Unwanted Reunions
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#136 'Unwanted Reunions'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Films

Freaks (1932)
[#20 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
Blindspot 2025 #2

Grand Theft Hamlet (2024)
[#21 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Videos

Critical Role
2x87 Punishment and Politics [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#135 'Punishment and Politics'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Films

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
[#19 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #2

Videos

Critical Role
2x87 Punishment and Politics [1st half]
This is the first time Matt has a "how do I want to do this?" Not actually the first time he's sort of said it to himself (that was 28 episodes ago; clip here), but back then the others sort of just treated it as comical that an NPC had dealt the killing blow, whereas this time they make a big deal of Matt achieving it and saying the catchphrase to himself (clip here).
[Watch the whole episode (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Collection Count

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

Seven additions this week (including two upgrades from BD to 4K, one of which doesn't replace my existing copy). Last week I said there should be seven, as a remainder from the 12 I mentioned the week before (after five of them arrived last time) — and, clearly, there are... but there shouldn't be! I'd confused myself with my own maths: an additional title turned up last week, and two due this week were delayed, so that would make 13 total with two still outstanding; but then something else turned up this week, and it's back up to seven, with two outstanding, for that 12 to now be a 14.

Not that it really matters or anyone cares.

Number of titles in collection: 3,480 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 989 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,491 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 436 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 8,382 [up 10]
Number of films: 4,414 [up 9]
Number of additional cuts: 439 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,858 [up 2]
Number of short films: 1,224 [up 4]

Combined with the 18 titles that arrived before the 12/13/14 fiasco, it's been a fairly hefty month — and it's time to look at that in totality, courtesy of the monthly running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
587 days, 14 hours, and 47 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 20 hours, and 36 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Videos

Talks Machina
#134 'The Cathedral'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x86 The Cathedral [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x86 The Cathedral [1st half]
For what it's worth, with this episode I've switched to watching on Beacon. They've cut the ad break out there, as well as the fan art galleries, so the episodes are shorter than their usually-listed running time (which is based on YouTube), whereas on Twitch they were longer (because that also includes the pre-stream, which was cut from the YouTube version). All of which is immaterial to most people, but somewhat interesting to stat-nerd types like me.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Articles

‘A New Age Begins’ for Critical Role. Let’s hope it’s one for actual play and TTRPGs, too
by Em Friedman (from Polygon)

An interesting analysis of the Critical Role Campaign 3 finale, and what it might signify not only for the future of CR, but for the actual-play genre as a whole.

Videos

Talks Machina
#133 'The Threads Converge'
The three-year anniversary of Talks is about the 200th episode of Critical Role, and no one noticed? Tsk.
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

TV

The BAFTA Film Awards 2025
Well, they listened to me and brought David Tennant back. Good thing too, because he was very good again.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Chapters 7–14

Videos

Critical Role
2x85 The Threads Converge
The 200th episode of Critical Role! Not that they mention it, I just read it on the wiki. It's my... 85th, obviously. Apart from one-shots. So... yeah, whatever.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Films

Snake Eyes (1998)
[2nd watch]
[#18 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

When I first watched this (link above) it was an "old film", because it was from the '90s and I watched it in 2010. Well, the time between my first and second viewings is longer than that gap between original release and my first viewing, and I've been meaning to rewatch it for most of that time, so... I don't really know what that says, other than that I'm getting old and time is slipping by.

Anyway, I got to watch it in 4K, and it's good.

Fiction

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Prologue
Chapters 1–6

Not my normal kind of thing, but I recently learnt this author is a friend of a work colleague; and apparently this (her debut novel) has an incredible twist, and I do love a great twist.

Collection Count

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

When I mentioned last week that I had 12 titles on the way, you kind of envision them arriving all at once. But I did say it was over "the next couple of weeks", and so here we have the first volley of five.

Number of titles in collection: 3,474 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 989 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,485 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 434 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 8,372 [up 6]
Number of films: 4,405 [up 5]
Number of additional cuts: 439 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,220 [no change]

The remaining seven might turn up next week, but some are preorders for the week after, so we'll see. Whenever they arrive, I guess they're mostly (possibly all) destined to end up on my never-ending pile of "future watches", because I certainly don't watch as many films each week as I buy.

Not gonna stop, though. See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Róise & Frank (2022)
[#17 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x84 Titles and Tattoos [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#132 'Titles and Tattoos'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x84 Titles and Tattoos [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Theatre

The Merchant of Venice 1936
at Theatre Royal Bath

Videos

Talks Machina
#131 'Dark Bargains'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x83 Dark Bargains [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

TV

Friends
5x17 The One with Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss [5th or so watch]
5x18 The One Where Rachel Smokes [5th or so watch]
5x19 The One Where Ross Can't Flirt [6th or so watch]

Films

Long Story Short (2021)
[#16 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Silver Blaze (1937)
[#15 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
aka Murder at the Baskervilles in the US, to cash in on the success of the Rathbone Hound. The original UK title is more accurate.

TV

Friends
5x14 The One Where Everybody Finds Out [5th or so watch]
5x15 The One with the Girl Who Hits Joey [5th or so watch]
5x16 The One with the Cop [5th or so watch]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
32x09 Episode 9

Strike
5x03 The Ink Black Heart Part 3
5x04 The Ink Black Heart Part 4 [season finale]
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Vendetta for the Saint (1969)
[#14 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Collection Count

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

After last week's deluge, the pendulum swings to just one little title this week. However, I've already got 12 titles on order that will arrive across the next couple of weeks, so it's looking like a substantial month overall.

Number of titles in collection: 3,469 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 989 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,480 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 433 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 8,366 [up 1]
Number of films: 4,400 [up 1]
Number of additional cuts: 437 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,220 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
32x08 Never Mind the Buzzcocks Does the 00s

Richard Osman's House of Games
8x57 Week 12: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

The Rookie
6x05 The Vow

Strike
5x01 The Ink Black Heart Part 1
5x02 The Ink Black Heart Part 2
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
32x07 Episode 7

Richard Osman's House of Games
8x56 Week 12: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Macbeth (2025)
[#13 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

The filmed stage production starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo. Counting it as a film because, well, I saw it in a cinema, so...

Videos

Critical Role
2x83 Dark Bargains [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#130 'The Beat of the Permaheart'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x82 The Beat of the Permaheart [2nd half]

In game: We better not stay here too long, we might miss TravelerCon!

External knowledge from watching years later: There are 25 episodes before TravelerCon. In the players' real lives, it won't be for another 10 months.

Makes their worrying about it kind of comical, really.

[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

TV

X-Men
3x18 Orphan's End
3x19 The Juggernaut Returns
Right, after a four-and-a-half-month break, it's more than overdue that I have another crack at this. (It's not that I don't enjoy it anymore or something, it's just I'm terrible at sticking at anything 'long' without concerted effort.)

(Also: I seem to have stopped putting "2nd watch" on these by accident; but as I was never sure how many of them I actually saw on their original broadcast, I've decided to just leave those and carry on without it.)

Videos

Critical Role
2x82 The Beat of the Permaheart [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Comics

Exceptional X-Men
#2 by Eve L. Ewing & Carmen Carnero

The Uncanny X-Men
#6 The Change in Ourselves by Gail Simone & Javier Garrón
Caught up for the crossover, hence why I've restarted Exceptional too.

Non-Fiction

You Don't Have to Have a Dream by Tim Minchin
You've Always Wanted to Be an Actor [the end]

Videos

Critical Role
2x81 From Door to Door
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#129 'From Door to Door'
They keep telling me to watch Undeadwood, which is no longer available on YouTube but I have acquired another way because I was already interested... so I guess I will watch it, probably soon. Only question is: how much do I interrupt my regular CR viewing for it?
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

this week on 100Films.co.uk

2025 has started like most months at 100Films.co.uk: with no new film reviews posted. Oh dear.

But, this week, there was something else: the first two regular monthly posts of the year. Hurrah! It began, as ever, with the review of last month...





...and continued, as ever, with my list of last month's failures...





More, perhaps, next Sunday.

Films

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
[#12 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Skipping over 7 films, 12 TV seasons, and 2 TV specials to get to an MCU entry that interests me more than any of them, mainly because it's also a legacy 'FoX-Men' film.

Collection Count

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

17 new titles made their way into my collection this month, with 29 films across them — a pretty hefty week by anyone's standards. "Ludicrously hefty", some might say. Not a record-breaker, though — that still stands at 21; although, as there are often upgrades, the largest title increase (to date) is +17. Even though this week didn't set any records, it's clearly a big'un.

Among those 17 were two DVD-to-4K upgrades and a few BD-to-4K upgrades, with the latter including a real rarity: a formerly-single title now split in two. It's not something that never happens, but upgrades are more likely to condense into fewer sets than expand into more. That said, with the way the market is nowadays, things that were bundled into box sets in the DVD era seem more likely to be spread across multiple releases to claw back money invested. Indeed, just this week Arrow announced they'll be releasing the Man with No Name trilogy (aka the Dollars trilogy) in three lavish editions across three months later this year, rather than a single set like they received in the DVD and early Blu-ray eras. This strikes me as a trend that's only likely to become more common in the futureemen.

Number of titles in collection: 3,468 [up 13]
Of which DVDs: 989 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,479 [up 15]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 432 [up 7]

Number of discs in collection: 8,364 [up 35]
Number of films: 4,399 [up 24]
Number of additional cuts: 436 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,220 [up 11]

So, every category changed except TV. One of my acquisitions this week was Masters of Cinema's release of Cloak and Dagger, which includes as a special feature the complete radio series — that's 22 half-hour episodes! If that had been a TV series, it surely would've been a release of its own — and would have counted, as I almost feel it should when it's so significant. I actually have quite a lot of audio drama on DVD and Blu-ray thanks to special features — innumerable radio adaptations of Hollywood classics, plus various inclusions on classic Doctor Who sets. In fact, there are so many, maybe I should count them; but going back over almost 3,500 titles (most of which won't actually have any) is a daunting prospect. But now that I've thought of it...
See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Oliver & Company (1988)
[2nd or so watch]
[#11 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

I haven't seen this since I was a little kid — probably over 30 years ago — so I've no idea if I only watched it once or multiple times. (Thoughts on the film itself on Letterboxd.)

Videos

Critical Role
2x80 The Folding Halls [2nd half]
Happy Fun Ball, Part 2. It's neither as happy nor as fun without Twiggy, but it does make a change from all the Very Serious story threads the Nein have been pursuing for quite some time.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#128 'The Folding Halls'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x80 The Folding Halls [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#127 'Through the Trees'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Plus...

State of the Role: Campaign 3 Finale and What’s Next for 2025!
The latest update on Critical Role's status revealed (to no surprise to anyone who's been following things) that Campaign 3 ends next week. But then there's going to be a miniseries and such shenanigans, so the campaign wrap-up won't air until mid March — and who knows when Campaign 4 will start after that? (I presume they're saving that announcement for later, because various other things are tied up in it (which system will they play?!) and, well, this is quite enough news to be going on with.) So, maybe I'll have time to finish Campaign 2 before C4 after all... maybe...?

Videos

Critical Role
2x79 Through the Trees [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x79 Through the Trees [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x78 Between the Lines [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#126 'Between the Lines'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Films

Fist of Fury (1972)
[#10 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #1

Non-Fiction

You Don't Have to Have a Dream by Tim Minchin
The Trick

Comics

The Uncanny X-Men
#5 Red Wave, Conclusion: Thunder in Our Hearts by Gail Simone & David Marquez

X-Men
#7 The Iron Night by Jed MacKay & Netho Diaz

Videos

Critical Role
2x78 Between the Lines [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

TV

Michael McIntyre's Big Show
8x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Empire of Light (2022)
[#9 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Comics

The Uncanny X-Men
#4 Red Wave, Part Four: The Eye of a Hurricane by Gail Simone & David Marquez

X-Men
#6 Bark by Jed MacKay & Netho Diaz

Videos

Critical Role
2x77 A Tangled Web [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#125 'Refjorged', 'Dalen's Closet' & 'A Tangled Web'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

Collection Count

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

Nothing to add this week, because preorders are still on their way. Next week should be busier... and, actually, I've got another bulk US order on the way too, so it might be a pretty big'un.

In the meantime, this week it's time for the latest monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 3,455 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 991 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,464 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 425 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 8,329 [no change]
Number of films: 4,375 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 430 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,209 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
584 days, 18 hours, and 11 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 2 hours, and 1 minute from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

Ice Age: Collision Course 3D (2016)
[#8 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Videos

Critical Role
2x77 A Tangled Web [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x76 Refjorged [2nd half]
"This is peak Dungeons & Dragons right here."
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapter 12 [the end]

Non-Fiction

You Don't Have to Have a Dream by Tim Minchin
Prologue
Nine Life Lessons

Videos

Critical Role
2x76 Refjorged [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Videos

Critical Role
2x75 Rime and Reason [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Talks Machina
#124 'Rime and Reason'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

TV

Blackadder II
2x04 Money [2nd watch]
2x05 Beer [2nd watch]
2x06 Chains [season finale; 2nd watch]
From one extreme (i.e. a nine-month pause) to the other (watching half the series in one sitting), I guess.

Videos

Critical Role
2x75 Rime and Reason [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]

Films

Milano Calibro 9 (1972)
[#7 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
+ featurette Italia Violenta, in which Matthew Holness (yes, the Garth Marenghi guy) talks about his love of the poliziotteschi and this film in particular

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapters 10–11

Comics

X-Men
#5 Psychic Rescue in Progress by Jed MacKay & Ryan Stegman

Videos

Talks Machina
#123 'Manifold Morals'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]

TV

The Wheel
5x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger (2025)
[#6 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]

Comics

The Uncanny X-Men
#3 Red Wave, Part Three: The Inside Man by Gail Simone & David Marquez

X-Men
#4 Upstarts by Jed MacKay & Netho Diaz

I've failed spectacularly at my goal of keeping up with my X-reading, so I've totally lost track of which issue is 'next' in publication order across the various books. But I do know that X-Men and Uncanny X-Men have a four-issue crossover coming up ("coming up" for me — it's finished publication), and that I have four issues of each book to go before said crossover, so if I just alternate issues between those two it will work out fine.

(I've still only read one issue of Exceptional X-Men, which has published up to #5, so I need to get a wriggle on with that separately.)

And attentive-eyed regular readers (not that I think I have any of those) will notice I've decided to change the way I list comics titles/issues. I liked acknowledging that individual issues have titles (as I do with TV episodes, for example), and it better reflects that the creative team might only be in effect for that one issue (something that definitely needs amending, based on the slightly awkward way I've listed the authors of collected volumes in the past).

Fiction

The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Chapters 8–9

Videos

Critical Role
2x74 Manifold Morals [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]