Flat Two (1962)
[#69 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
Saturday, 23 August 2025
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
All new release additions this week, three that came out this week and one (an upgrade) that is out on Monday.
I've been trying to avoid sales recently, partly to save a bit of cash but also just to stop my collection growing so crazily (at least until I can sort out better storage). Of course, I'm liable to cave at any moment if there's a really good deal or something.
Number of titles in collection: 3,597 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,611 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 455 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,642 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,564 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 455 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,172 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,266 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
All new release additions this week, three that came out this week and one (an upgrade) that is out on Monday.
I've been trying to avoid sales recently, partly to save a bit of cash but also just to stop my collection growing so crazily (at least until I can sort out better storage). Of course, I'm liable to cave at any moment if there's a really good deal or something.
Number of titles in collection: 3,597 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,611 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 455 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,642 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,564 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 455 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,172 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,266 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 22 August 2025
TV
Friends
9x11 The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work [6th or so watch]
9x12 The One with Phoebe's Rats [6th or so watch]
Only Murders in the Building
4x01 Once Upon a Time in the West
4x02 Gates of Heaven
When I finished season three on 20th August last year, I wrote that I'd "probably watch [season four] in about a year's time". Well, here it is!
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x36 Week 8: Monday
8x37 Week 8: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
9x11 The One Where Rachel Goes Back to Work [6th or so watch]
9x12 The One with Phoebe's Rats [6th or so watch]
Only Murders in the Building
4x01 Once Upon a Time in the West
4x02 Gates of Heaven
When I finished season three on 20th August last year, I wrote that I'd "probably watch [season four] in about a year's time". Well, here it is!
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x36 Week 8: Monday
8x37 Week 8: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 21 August 2025
Monday, 18 August 2025
Sunday, 17 August 2025
Saturday, 16 August 2025
TV
Age of Umbra
1x06 The Unforgiving City [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
But before that...
Critical Role Cooldown
Age of Umbra Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
1x06 The Unforgiving City [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
But before that...
Critical Role Cooldown
Age of Umbra Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Fiction
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
7 The Adventure of the Three Gables
And here is the other single-star Holmes story, and the one that also comes bottom of the poll-of-polls I've referenced in the past. They're both late-era tales, collected in the final volume of short stories — that volume seems to be regarded as the weakest overall, although the Pocket Essentials guide still gives half its stories 4+ stars.
But this is entirely deserving of its low standing. It's not entirely without merit — there's the odd good line — but it's also pretty racist (not in a cruel way, but horrendously casually); and even if you're someone who can accept that as being "of its time", much of the writing is weak or outright poor (I can't quite tell if Holmes is behaving out of character, or if Doyle's conception of Holmes's behaviour just changed a lot down the decades).
The villain's convoluted plot is also thoroughly daft considering the goal they were trying to achieve. That said, it's the kind of dumb decision people make in real-life that comes across as dumb in fiction because we're not making ill-informed decisions in the heat of the moment. But really, as Holmes seems to think highly of the mastermind's intellect, you'd expect them to have come up with a sensible course of action.
As for my goals, that's the two very worst canon stories out of the way. I'll have to think about where to go next — possibly to divisive stories: there are a couple that came at the bottom of the poll-of-polls but Pocket Essentials gives four stars; and, vice versa, one they give two stars is =13th in the poll, and was also in Conan Doyle's personal top ten. Intriguing.
7 The Adventure of the Three Gables
And here is the other single-star Holmes story, and the one that also comes bottom of the poll-of-polls I've referenced in the past. They're both late-era tales, collected in the final volume of short stories — that volume seems to be regarded as the weakest overall, although the Pocket Essentials guide still gives half its stories 4+ stars.
But this is entirely deserving of its low standing. It's not entirely without merit — there's the odd good line — but it's also pretty racist (not in a cruel way, but horrendously casually); and even if you're someone who can accept that as being "of its time", much of the writing is weak or outright poor (I can't quite tell if Holmes is behaving out of character, or if Doyle's conception of Holmes's behaviour just changed a lot down the decades).
The villain's convoluted plot is also thoroughly daft considering the goal they were trying to achieve. That said, it's the kind of dumb decision people make in real-life that comes across as dumb in fiction because we're not making ill-informed decisions in the heat of the moment. But really, as Holmes seems to think highly of the mastermind's intellect, you'd expect them to have come up with a sensible course of action.
As for my goals, that's the two very worst canon stories out of the way. I'll have to think about where to go next — possibly to divisive stories: there are a couple that came at the bottom of the poll-of-polls but Pocket Essentials gives four stars; and, vice versa, one they give two stars is =13th in the poll, and was also in Conan Doyle's personal top ten. Intriguing.
Games
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Sat down to play this thinking I was resuming outside a dungeon, would complete that, maybe play for half-an-hour or so (that's how long they mostly take, people say), and then I'd do other stuff. Well, I was wrong about the resumption point, which led to decision-making and exploring, which meant it was almost an hour before I was at the entrance to a dungeon. After almost two-and-a-half hours, I finally decided I should do something else. This is getting to be a pattern.
I am not knowledgeable or experienced enough to know if this is a "great game", but I'm certainly enjoying the heck out of it.
Sat down to play this thinking I was resuming outside a dungeon, would complete that, maybe play for half-an-hour or so (that's how long they mostly take, people say), and then I'd do other stuff. Well, I was wrong about the resumption point, which led to decision-making and exploring, which meant it was almost an hour before I was at the entrance to a dungeon. After almost two-and-a-half hours, I finally decided I should do something else. This is getting to be a pattern.
I am not knowledgeable or experienced enough to know if this is a "great game", but I'm certainly enjoying the heck out of it.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Just one new addition this week, which turned up today ahead of its release on Monday. There's a bunch of other stuff coming out around about now that I'm interested in, but I haven't got round to ordering it yet — I've been spending too much time (and money) on computer games. More on why that is... soon.*
Number of titles in collection: 3,594 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,608 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 452 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,635 [up 2]
Number of films: 4,558 [up 1]
Number of additional cuts: 454 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,172 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,266 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
* Not that I think anyone (a) reads this, or (b) cares, but hey, maybe future-me will stumble across these in five, ten, twenty, or more years and get a kick out of re-reading it.
Just one new addition this week, which turned up today ahead of its release on Monday. There's a bunch of other stuff coming out around about now that I'm interested in, but I haven't got round to ordering it yet — I've been spending too much time (and money) on computer games. More on why that is... soon.*
Number of titles in collection: 3,594 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,608 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 452 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,635 [up 2]
Number of films: 4,558 [up 1]
Number of additional cuts: 454 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,172 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,266 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
* Not that I think anyone (a) reads this, or (b) cares, but hey, maybe future-me will stumble across these in five, ten, twenty, or more years and get a kick out of re-reading it.
Friday, 15 August 2025
TV
Age of Umbra
1x05 Ages of Pain [2nd half 2nd hour]
The fact that it's taken me all week to get through this one episode is ridiculous. Bloody day job actually taking up my working hours... And even now, I finished the episode so late that its Cooldown will be listed tomorrow.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
1x05 Ages of Pain [2nd half 2nd hour]
The fact that it's taken me all week to get through this one episode is ridiculous. Bloody day job actually taking up my working hours... And even now, I finished the episode so late that its Cooldown will be listed tomorrow.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Thursday, 14 August 2025
Games
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Intended to pop into Hinterberg for maybe half-an-hour — do a dungeon, some social stuff, keep my hand in as it's been a few days... Ended up playing for two hours.
I'm slightly worried about two things. One, that I'm not going to finish it before it stops being free on Luna, and then, what, I'll have to buy it and start over, probably? And two, that all the easiness settings I've got turned on here are going to ruin it for me when I try to play another similar game that doesn't let me coast through on, effectively, "story mode". Or maybe all games have these kinds of scaling these days? I'll probably find out at some point. But it works for me, because I'm much more interested in the exploration and character interactions and puzzle solving than the combat. I still like bashing a few buttons from time to time, but I'm glad it can't kill me and ruin my progress left, right and centre.
Intended to pop into Hinterberg for maybe half-an-hour — do a dungeon, some social stuff, keep my hand in as it's been a few days... Ended up playing for two hours.
I'm slightly worried about two things. One, that I'm not going to finish it before it stops being free on Luna, and then, what, I'll have to buy it and start over, probably? And two, that all the easiness settings I've got turned on here are going to ruin it for me when I try to play another similar game that doesn't let me coast through on, effectively, "story mode". Or maybe all games have these kinds of scaling these days? I'll probably find out at some point. But it works for me, because I'm much more interested in the exploration and character interactions and puzzle solving than the combat. I still like bashing a few buttons from time to time, but I'm glad it can't kill me and ruin my progress left, right and centre.
Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Games
Gray Matter
I should be picking this back up properly, but I only played about five minutes today. That's because I've found a new way to run non-Mac games on my Mac, and I used this to test it out. It's definitely superior: I'm pretty sure the game looked better (a lot of it is pre-rendered backgrounds, but the characters are 3D models, and they immediately looked less jagged now), but most importantly the sound played properly (it had a constant repetitive glitch on my previous version) and it worked immediately (I had to faff around for hours before). Hurrah for Heroic Games Launcher. I also think it's going to give me access to games I had no way to get at before (namely, stuff I've got free from Prime Gaming but squirreled away in the Amazon Games app), so that's super... though it's not as if I don't have a big enough backlog as it is.
I should be picking this back up properly, but I only played about five minutes today. That's because I've found a new way to run non-Mac games on my Mac, and I used this to test it out. It's definitely superior: I'm pretty sure the game looked better (a lot of it is pre-rendered backgrounds, but the characters are 3D models, and they immediately looked less jagged now), but most importantly the sound played properly (it had a constant repetitive glitch on my previous version) and it worked immediately (I had to faff around for hours before). Hurrah for Heroic Games Launcher. I also think it's going to give me access to games I had no way to get at before (namely, stuff I've got free from Prime Gaming but squirreled away in the Amazon Games app), so that's super... though it's not as if I don't have a big enough backlog as it is.
Monday, 11 August 2025
TV
Age of Umbra
1x05 Ages of Pain [1st half]
Back to Age of Umbies for a bit. Heck, I'm not going to finish C2 before C4 anyway, so I may as well try to finish this miniseries at least.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
1x05 Ages of Pain [1st half]
Back to Age of Umbies for a bit. Heck, I'm not going to finish C2 before C4 anyway, so I may as well try to finish this miniseries at least.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Sunday, 10 August 2025
Fiction
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
1 The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
I've been reading the Sherlock Holmes short stories in order of publication recently — that was because I'd read a good chunk of each of the first two collected volumes (Adventures and Memoirs) but not finished either, and getting those polished off meant I could count them towards my GoodReads challenge tally. I could just keep going and do the same with the remaining three volumes, but I've barely started any of those so it's less about "finishing them off" as it is simply reading them.
So, instead, I've decided to go back to my previous methodology for a bit: using a ranking to see which stories are great/good/poor and choosing accordingly. My main guide is The Pocket Essential Sherlock Holmes, from which I have unread stories at evey rating level (i.e. 1–5 out of 5); but whereas in the past I used this to read the best of the best, now I'm going to focus on the lower-rated ones, the idea being that I'll eventually end my first-time reads with better-regarded stories.
Mazarin Stone is one of only two 1-star stories, according to Pocket Essentials. It ranks low on fan polls, too. And it is pretty bad: much of it is a pathetic circular argument between Holmes and the villain; as well as being argumentatively repetitive, the quality of the dialogue isn't very good; there's not really any mystery to be solved; a central conceit is recycled from an older story; and the twist denouement is insultingly implausible. It's based on a stage play, and apparently on stage the lights went out to facilitate the switcheroo, but in this adaptation, Holmes just... pulls it off without anyone noticing. It doesn't hold up.
Well, at least that's that out of the way. My plan is working. Next up: a story that seems to be pretty roundly regarded as the worst of the worst...
Bit of a footnote: the Wikipedia page for Case-Book lists this as story 3 in the book, because it cites the order they were presented in the first British collected edition. My copy uses the order the stories were original published in magazines, as does Pocket Essentials, so I've decided to number based on that.
1 The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
I've been reading the Sherlock Holmes short stories in order of publication recently — that was because I'd read a good chunk of each of the first two collected volumes (Adventures and Memoirs) but not finished either, and getting those polished off meant I could count them towards my GoodReads challenge tally. I could just keep going and do the same with the remaining three volumes, but I've barely started any of those so it's less about "finishing them off" as it is simply reading them.
So, instead, I've decided to go back to my previous methodology for a bit: using a ranking to see which stories are great/good/poor and choosing accordingly. My main guide is The Pocket Essential Sherlock Holmes, from which I have unread stories at evey rating level (i.e. 1–5 out of 5); but whereas in the past I used this to read the best of the best, now I'm going to focus on the lower-rated ones, the idea being that I'll eventually end my first-time reads with better-regarded stories.
Mazarin Stone is one of only two 1-star stories, according to Pocket Essentials. It ranks low on fan polls, too. And it is pretty bad: much of it is a pathetic circular argument between Holmes and the villain; as well as being argumentatively repetitive, the quality of the dialogue isn't very good; there's not really any mystery to be solved; a central conceit is recycled from an older story; and the twist denouement is insultingly implausible. It's based on a stage play, and apparently on stage the lights went out to facilitate the switcheroo, but in this adaptation, Holmes just... pulls it off without anyone noticing. It doesn't hold up.
Well, at least that's that out of the way. My plan is working. Next up: a story that seems to be pretty roundly regarded as the worst of the worst...
Bit of a footnote: the Wikipedia page for Case-Book lists this as story 3 in the book, because it cites the order they were presented in the first British collected edition. My copy uses the order the stories were original published in magazines, as does Pocket Essentials, so I've decided to number based on that.
Games
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Another hour or so today. Did another dungeon, but I kinda enjoy the town stuff more. Maybe this speaks to the kind of games I'd like to play in the future (though having the puzzle-y action-y dungeon stuff does also make for variety, so...)
Another hour or so today. Did another dungeon, but I kinda enjoy the town stuff more. Maybe this speaks to the kind of games I'd like to play in the future (though having the puzzle-y action-y dungeon stuff does also make for variety, so...)
Saturday, 9 August 2025
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Seven new titles this week, including the delayed Arrow 4K UHD release of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which replaces both the previous 4K release I'd imported from the States, and — by completing the "Dollars" trilogy in 4K — also supplants my old box set. As always with such things, it does some slightly funny things to the numbers, albeit masked by the six other brand-new acquisitions.
Number of titles in collection: 3,593 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,607 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 451 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,633 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,557 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 454 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,172 [up 12]
Number of short films: 1,266 [up 7]
And all of that was just in time for the monthly running time update...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
605 days, 3 hours, and 20 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 22 hours, and 3 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Seven new titles this week, including the delayed Arrow 4K UHD release of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which replaces both the previous 4K release I'd imported from the States, and — by completing the "Dollars" trilogy in 4K — also supplants my old box set. As always with such things, it does some slightly funny things to the numbers, albeit masked by the six other brand-new acquisitions.
Number of titles in collection: 3,593 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,607 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 451 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,633 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,557 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 454 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,172 [up 12]
Number of short films: 1,266 [up 7]
And all of that was just in time for the monthly running time update...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
605 days, 3 hours, and 20 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 22 hours, and 3 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 8 August 2025
TV
Critical Role
2x111 New Homes and Old Friends [3rd hour]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#147 Discussing Up to 'New Homes and Old Friends' (with Liam & Ashley)
#148 Discussing up to 'New Homes and Old Friends' (with Marisha & Taliesin)
"We're all kinda used to talking to each other on Zoom so much that this is, sorta, just like one of those things, except that, um, this one lives on the internet forever." Well, it would have done… Except, of course, it still does, just in different, less official places, so I guess he was still correct. (Similarly, when Liam jokes about a restraining order... oof! I swear half the reason they took these down is not just because BWF's present, but because of all the jokes they make about how bad he is.)
Anyway: two episodes — whaaaat? Yeah, at this point Talks was supposed to be fortnightly (i.e. one after every other episode of CR), but, for reasons I haven't been able to unearth, between episodes 111 and 112 there were two episodes of Talks (I guess CR had to take an unexpected longer break? Maybe they mention it at the start of 112, because they didn't at the end of 111). Plus, from this point they seem to have abandoned the idea that episodes of the chat show are about an hour long. So, whereas pre-Covid there would've been c. one hour of Talks between episodes 111 and 112, in our reality there were three-and-a-quarter hours. And I watched it all today. Fun times.
[Watch #147 and #148 (again) on Internet Archive.]
2x111 New Homes and Old Friends [3rd hour]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#147 Discussing Up to 'New Homes and Old Friends' (with Liam & Ashley)
#148 Discussing up to 'New Homes and Old Friends' (with Marisha & Taliesin)
"We're all kinda used to talking to each other on Zoom so much that this is, sorta, just like one of those things, except that, um, this one lives on the internet forever." Well, it would have done… Except, of course, it still does, just in different, less official places, so I guess he was still correct. (Similarly, when Liam jokes about a restraining order... oof! I swear half the reason they took these down is not just because BWF's present, but because of all the jokes they make about how bad he is.)
Anyway: two episodes — whaaaat? Yeah, at this point Talks was supposed to be fortnightly (i.e. one after every other episode of CR), but, for reasons I haven't been able to unearth, between episodes 111 and 112 there were two episodes of Talks (I guess CR had to take an unexpected longer break? Maybe they mention it at the start of 112, because they didn't at the end of 111). Plus, from this point they seem to have abandoned the idea that episodes of the chat show are about an hour long. So, whereas pre-Covid there would've been c. one hour of Talks between episodes 111 and 112, in our reality there were three-and-a-quarter hours. And I watched it all today. Fun times.
[Watch #147 and #148 (again) on Internet Archive.]
Thursday, 7 August 2025
TV
Critical Role
2x111 New Homes and Old Friends [2nd hour]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x111 New Homes and Old Friends [2nd hour]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Games
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Got new batteries, played for two-and-a-half hours — yeah, I guess I'm enjoying it.
I say "guess" because in all that time I only actually played one dungeon, and the rest of the time indulged in exploring the overworld and town of Hinterberg. That's definitely part of the game too, but I guess it's also my point-and-click-adventure nature coming out: I mostly want to look around the locales and talk to people, not just solve button-pushing puzzles and fight monsters (although there are still semi-random fights outside of the dungeons, some of which would have proved fatal if I didn't have those difficulty-lowering options on — all games should have that for people like me!) I guess I'll go back into the actual dungeons at some point, still.
Got new batteries, played for two-and-a-half hours — yeah, I guess I'm enjoying it.
I say "guess" because in all that time I only actually played one dungeon, and the rest of the time indulged in exploring the overworld and town of Hinterberg. That's definitely part of the game too, but I guess it's also my point-and-click-adventure nature coming out: I mostly want to look around the locales and talk to people, not just solve button-pushing puzzles and fight monsters (although there are still semi-random fights outside of the dungeons, some of which would have proved fatal if I didn't have those difficulty-lowering options on — all games should have that for people like me!) I guess I'll go back into the actual dungeons at some point, still.
Wednesday, 6 August 2025
TV
Critical Role
2x111 New Homes and Old Friends [1st half]
“Well, that’s the easiest hour I’ve ever had to Dungeon Master.”
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x111 New Homes and Old Friends [1st half]
“Well, that’s the easiest hour I’ve ever had to Dungeon Master.”
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Games
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Because what I really needed was to start playing another game. Also: so many games I’ve bought and ought to get round to, but I keep going for free ones! Well, I say “free”: it’s free to Amazon Prime members (which I do pay for) via Luna, where it’s time-limited (until the start of next month), so we’ll see if I like it enough to stick at it and complete it by then.
I will say: I played for a little over an hour, and only stopped because my Luna controller ran out of batteries (and the spares I put in were actually flat), so that’s got to be a good sign. Especially as I’m not the greatest at this kind of game, in part because I’ve never really played a lot of them (and certainly not recently), but I gave this a go because I liked the art style and the setting/story piqued my interest.
Fortunately for me, it has a “story mode” which makes fights easier and means you can’t actually die (other than by running off a cliff or something, at which point it reloads where you left off), both of which are big plus points for me. I guess some people object to easy modes and the like because it’s not as challenging, but I don’t actually play games to be challenged — I find them entertaining in other ways — so nowadays I’m happy to plump for an easy setting. (Unless it’s a point-and-click adventure where a higher difficulty adds puzzles or something. That’s different.)
Because what I really needed was to start playing another game. Also: so many games I’ve bought and ought to get round to, but I keep going for free ones! Well, I say “free”: it’s free to Amazon Prime members (which I do pay for) via Luna, where it’s time-limited (until the start of next month), so we’ll see if I like it enough to stick at it and complete it by then.
I will say: I played for a little over an hour, and only stopped because my Luna controller ran out of batteries (and the spares I put in were actually flat), so that’s got to be a good sign. Especially as I’m not the greatest at this kind of game, in part because I’ve never really played a lot of them (and certainly not recently), but I gave this a go because I liked the art style and the setting/story piqued my interest.
Fortunately for me, it has a “story mode” which makes fights easier and means you can’t actually die (other than by running off a cliff or something, at which point it reloads where you left off), both of which are big plus points for me. I guess some people object to easy modes and the like because it’s not as challenging, but I don’t actually play games to be challenged — I find them entertaining in other ways — so nowadays I’m happy to plump for an easy setting. (Unless it’s a point-and-click adventure where a higher difficulty adds puzzles or something. That’s different.)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
TV
Critical Role
2x110 Dinner with the Devil [2nd half]
“I wish for you, in the future, to find someone who will mourn you when you are gone.” Gotta be one of the coldest putdowns in the history of... everything.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x110 Dinner with the Devil [2nd half]
“I wish for you, in the future, to find someone who will mourn you when you are gone.” Gotta be one of the coldest putdowns in the history of... everything.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Monday, 4 August 2025
TV
Critical Role
2x110 Dinner with the Devil [1st half]
Following the announcement at the weekend, there's just 59 days until the start of Campaign IV. Once upon a time, me completing C2 by the start of October wouldn't have seemed impossible; but I've been a bit sluggish the last couple of months, including allowing time for Age of Umbra (and I've still got half of that to go) — at this point, I'd have to watch something like 2½ hours every single day to get through what I need to in time for the beginning of C4... and then I'd probably be left bereft because I'd bump right down to one episode a week! So, there may well be some intermingling come October.
(Not that literally anyone cares about this but me. But then, I don't believe anyone but me looks at this site, so it's ok.)
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Friends
9x09 The One with Rachel's Phone Number [6th or so watch]
2x110 Dinner with the Devil [1st half]
Following the announcement at the weekend, there's just 59 days until the start of Campaign IV. Once upon a time, me completing C2 by the start of October wouldn't have seemed impossible; but I've been a bit sluggish the last couple of months, including allowing time for Age of Umbra (and I've still got half of that to go) — at this point, I'd have to watch something like 2½ hours every single day to get through what I need to in time for the beginning of C4... and then I'd probably be left bereft because I'd bump right down to one episode a week! So, there may well be some intermingling come October.
(Not that literally anyone cares about this but me. But then, I don't believe anyone but me looks at this site, so it's ok.)
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Friends
9x09 The One with Rachel's Phone Number [6th or so watch]
Sunday, 3 August 2025
this week on 100Films.co.uk
Another month is over. What, already?! Yes, already! It feels like only the other day I was sharing the June reviews on 100Films.co.uk — in fact, I thought it was just last month that they'd been split across two weeks, but that was May's! — and now we have the July ones.
As usual, they begin with the overview of the whole month...
...and continue/conclude with a selection of my "failures"...
More next... Sunday? Probably not. Next month? For sure.
As usual, they begin with the overview of the whole month...
...and continue/conclude with a selection of my "failures"...
More next... Sunday? Probably not. Next month? For sure.
Saturday, 2 August 2025
TV
Friends
9x05 The One with Phoebe's Birthday Dinner [6th or so watch]
9x06 The One with the Male Nanny [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x08 Shadow and Flame [season finale]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x33 Week 7: Wednesday
8x34 Week 7: Thursday
8x35 Week 7: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
9x05 The One with Phoebe's Birthday Dinner [6th or so watch]
9x06 The One with the Male Nanny [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x08 Shadow and Flame [season finale]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x33 Week 7: Wednesday
8x34 Week 7: Thursday
8x35 Week 7: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Four brand-new titles this week — yes, I managed to avoid any sale purchases!
...apart from the stuff I've purchased in sales that should turn up next week, that is. Ah well.
Three of the four are 4K (yay!), and two are upgrades — one directly, so it replaces my older BD, but the other is Hearts of Darkness, the Apocalypse Now making-of that's included in the Apocalypse Now release. A new standalone 4K edition seemed indulgent for that reason but, in addition to the feature being restored in 4K, it comes with a copy of Eleanor Coppola's behind-the-scenes book Notes, and on disc there's a fairly large selection of special features, including (I believe) Eleanor's complete documentary filmography. Neat. On the bright side, it does replace an old DVD copy I was also hanging on to for special features, so that's a bonus.
Number of titles in collection: 3,588 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 986 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,602 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 451 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,626 [up 6]
Number of films: 4,553 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 451 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,160 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,259 [up 9]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Four brand-new titles this week — yes, I managed to avoid any sale purchases!
...apart from the stuff I've purchased in sales that should turn up next week, that is. Ah well.
Three of the four are 4K (yay!), and two are upgrades — one directly, so it replaces my older BD, but the other is Hearts of Darkness, the Apocalypse Now making-of that's included in the Apocalypse Now release. A new standalone 4K edition seemed indulgent for that reason but, in addition to the feature being restored in 4K, it comes with a copy of Eleanor Coppola's behind-the-scenes book Notes, and on disc there's a fairly large selection of special features, including (I believe) Eleanor's complete documentary filmography. Neat. On the bright side, it does replace an old DVD copy I was also hanging on to for special features, so that's a bonus.
Number of titles in collection: 3,588 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 986 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,602 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 451 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,626 [up 6]
Number of films: 4,553 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 451 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,160 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,259 [up 9]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 1 August 2025
TV
Friends
9x03 The One with the Pediatrician [6th or so watch]
9x04 The One with the Sharks [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x31 Week 7: Monday
8x32 Week 7: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
9x03 The One with the Pediatrician [6th or so watch]
9x04 The One with the Sharks [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x31 Week 7: Monday
8x32 Week 7: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Games
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game
Continuing our post-'campaign' game. It works pretty well; it's certainly welcome that the game remains playable without having to totally reset it and just play through 'story mode' again.
Continuing our post-'campaign' game. It works pretty well; it's certainly welcome that the game remains playable without having to totally reset it and just play through 'story mode' again.
Thursday, 31 July 2025
Games
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game
Chapter 18 Group 2
That completes the 'adventure'/'campaign' portion of the game, but it also provides rules to continue playing (basically by creating your own 'chapter' via a random selection of different card types), so we also started a game following those principles.
Chapter 18 Group 2
That completes the 'adventure'/'campaign' portion of the game, but it also provides rules to continue playing (basically by creating your own 'chapter' via a random selection of different card types), so we also started a game following those principles.
Wednesday, 30 July 2025
TV
Friends
9x01 The One Where No One Proposes [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x06 Where Is He?
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x30 Week 6: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
9x01 The One Where No One Proposes [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x06 Where Is He?
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x30 Week 6: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x23 The One Where Rachel Has a Baby Part 1 [6th or so watch]
8x24 The One Where Rachel Has a Baby Part 2 [season finale; 6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x05 Halls of Stone
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x29 Week 6: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x23 The One Where Rachel Has a Baby Part 1 [6th or so watch]
8x24 The One Where Rachel Has a Baby Part 2 [season finale; 6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x05 Halls of Stone
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x29 Week 6: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 28 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x21 The One with the Cooking Class [6th or so watch]
8x22 The One Where Rachel Is Late [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x04 Eldest
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x28 Week 6: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x21 The One with the Cooking Class [6th or so watch]
8x22 The One Where Rachel Is Late [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x04 Eldest
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x28 Week 6: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Sunday, 27 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x19 The One with Joey's Interview [6th or so watch]
8x20 The One with the Baby Shower [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x03 The Eagle and the Sceptre
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x26 Week 6: Monday
8x27 Week 6: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x19 The One with Joey's Interview [6th or so watch]
8x20 The One with the Baby Shower [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x03 The Eagle and the Sceptre
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x26 Week 6: Monday
8x27 Week 6: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Games
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game
Chapter 16
It took literally hours attempting it over and over, but we finally beat Chapter 16!
Chapter 16
It took literally hours attempting it over and over, but we finally beat Chapter 16!
Saturday, 26 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x17 The One with the Tea Leaves [6th or so watch]
8x18 The One in Massapequa [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x25 Week 5: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x17 The One with the Tea Leaves [6th or so watch]
8x18 The One in Massapequa [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x25 Week 5: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Games
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game
Chapters 15–16
Chapter 16 multiple times over, because it's hard and we couldn't win it. Try again another day.
Chapters 15–16
Chapter 16 multiple times over, because it's hard and we couldn't win it. Try again another day.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Just two new additions this week. Not 100% sure if this slow-down is due to fewer releases of interest or HMV cutting their 20% discount so I'm being more circumspect. Maybe it's a bit of both. Still, I have at least one or two titles preordered for next week... and the week after... and the week after that... and the week after that... So, yeah, there's no danger of my collection's growth stopping entirely.
Number of titles in collection: 3,586 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 987 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,599 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 488 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,620 [up 2]
Number of films: 4,550 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 451 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,160 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,250 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Just two new additions this week. Not 100% sure if this slow-down is due to fewer releases of interest or HMV cutting their 20% discount so I'm being more circumspect. Maybe it's a bit of both. Still, I have at least one or two titles preordered for next week... and the week after... and the week after that... and the week after that... So, yeah, there's no danger of my collection's growth stopping entirely.
Number of titles in collection: 3,586 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 987 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,599 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 488 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,620 [up 2]
Number of films: 4,550 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 451 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,160 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,250 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 25 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x16 The One Where Joey Tells Rachel [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x02 Where the Stars are Strange
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x21 Week 5: Monday
8x22 Week 5: Tuesday
8x23 Week 5: Wednesday
8x24 Week 5: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x16 The One Where Joey Tells Rachel [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x02 Where the Stars are Strange
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x21 Week 5: Monday
8x22 Week 5: Tuesday
8x23 Week 5: Wednesday
8x24 Week 5: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 24 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x14 The One with the Secret Closet [6th or so watch]
8x15 The One with the Birthing Video [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x01 Elven Kings Under the Sky
11 months late (has it really been so long?!), finally getting round to this.
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x20 Week 4: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x14 The One with the Secret Closet [6th or so watch]
8x15 The One with the Birthing Video [6th or so watch]
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
2x01 Elven Kings Under the Sky
11 months late (has it really been so long?!), finally getting round to this.
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x20 Week 4: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x12 The One Where Joey Dates Rachel [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x19 Week 4: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x12 The One Where Joey Dates Rachel [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x19 Week 4: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 21 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x10 The One with Monica's Boots [6th or so watch]
8x11 The One with Ross's Step Forward [6th or so watch]
Leverage: Redemption
1x08 The Mastermind Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x17 Week 4: Tuesday
8x18 Week 4: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x10 The One with Monica's Boots [6th or so watch]
8x11 The One with Ross's Step Forward [6th or so watch]
Leverage: Redemption
1x08 The Mastermind Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x17 Week 4: Tuesday
8x18 Week 4: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Sunday, 20 July 2025
TV
Friends
8x07 The One with the Stain [6th or so watch]
8x08 The One with the Stripper [6th or so watch]
8x09 The One with the Rumor [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x16 Week 4: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
8x07 The One with the Stain [6th or so watch]
8x08 The One with the Stripper [6th or so watch]
8x09 The One with the Rumor [6th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
8x16 Week 4: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Saturday, 19 July 2025
Films
The Wolf Man (1941)
[#63 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #7
[#63 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #7
Fiction
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
11 The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
"The end" of Memoirs, for me right now. There is one more story, The Final Problem, but I've already read it — not that it doesn't merit revisiting, but as I'm currently on a mission to finally have read all the Holmes stories at least once, and I've still got 27 short stories and a novel to go, my time is better spent elsewhere at present.
11 The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
"The end" of Memoirs, for me right now. There is one more story, The Final Problem, but I've already read it — not that it doesn't merit revisiting, but as I'm currently on a mission to finally have read all the Holmes stories at least once, and I've still got 27 short stories and a novel to go, my time is better spent elsewhere at present.
Comics
Absolute Batman
#7 Absolute Zero Part 1 by Scott Snyder & Marcos MartÃn
#8 Absolute Zero Part 2 by Scott Snyder & Marcos MartÃn
I made a bit of an (ultimately abortive) effort to catch up on 2000 AD last month, but I've also fallen (further) behind on my US comics reading (let's not mention all the books I've been buying for ages and not even started). I'd like to say reading this two-parter is the beginning of a turnaround, but I know I've got a summer ahead where my time is not wholly my own, so I imagine it will instead be a one-off before I next attempt to get back into the swing of things in September. But hey, you never know!
#7 Absolute Zero Part 1 by Scott Snyder & Marcos MartÃn
#8 Absolute Zero Part 2 by Scott Snyder & Marcos MartÃn
I made a bit of an (ultimately abortive) effort to catch up on 2000 AD last month, but I've also fallen (further) behind on my US comics reading (let's not mention all the books I've been buying for ages and not even started). I'd like to say reading this two-parter is the beginning of a turnaround, but I know I've got a summer ahead where my time is not wholly my own, so I imagine it will instead be a one-off before I next attempt to get back into the swing of things in September. But hey, you never know!
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A bit of a quieter week, although my shelves would hardly think so because, while every addition is a single-film release, two of them are still big ol' collector's edition box sets (Hammer's Quatermass 2 and the new edition of Akira Kurosawa's Ran).
Plus, a rare increase for DVD: I've long thought about getting the Master and Commander 2-disc set for all the special features that are missing from the Blu-ray (hours of documentaries), and with the 4K just announced — but still missing all those extras — I finally got round to it. A second-hand copy for £1.99 doesn't feel too high a price, I must say.
Number of titles in collection: 3,584 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 987 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,597 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 488 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,618 [up 9]
Number of films: 4,548 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 451 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,160 [up 6]
Number of short films: 1,250 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
A bit of a quieter week, although my shelves would hardly think so because, while every addition is a single-film release, two of them are still big ol' collector's edition box sets (Hammer's Quatermass 2 and the new edition of Akira Kurosawa's Ran).
Plus, a rare increase for DVD: I've long thought about getting the Master and Commander 2-disc set for all the special features that are missing from the Blu-ray (hours of documentaries), and with the 4K just announced — but still missing all those extras — I finally got round to it. A second-hand copy for £1.99 doesn't feel too high a price, I must say.
Number of titles in collection: 3,584 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 987 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,597 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 488 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,618 [up 9]
Number of films: 4,548 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 451 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,160 [up 6]
Number of short films: 1,250 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 18 July 2025
TV
Talks Machina
#146 Episodes 99 through 109
Hey, Talks is back! (Not in our present time, obviously, but at the point I've reached in my C2 watch. Anyway...) The first three episodes of its return are tasked with covering everything missed during its hiatus, which is a lot — the peace talks that ended the war (arguably the most major overarching storyline of the campaign), plus the entire Rumblecusp/Traveler Con arc. No wonder there's nearly 5 hours' worth of episodes tasked with covering that entire period (almost an hour-and-a-half here, then over three hours across the next two episodes, which both aired between episodes 111 and 112).
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
#146 Episodes 99 through 109
Hey, Talks is back! (Not in our present time, obviously, but at the point I've reached in my C2 watch. Anyway...) The first three episodes of its return are tasked with covering everything missed during its hiatus, which is a lot — the peace talks that ended the war (arguably the most major overarching storyline of the campaign), plus the entire Rumblecusp/Traveler Con arc. No wonder there's nearly 5 hours' worth of episodes tasked with covering that entire period (almost an hour-and-a-half here, then over three hours across the next two episodes, which both aired between episodes 111 and 112).
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
Films
Stargate (1994)
[2nd watch]
[#62 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
Pretty sure I've only seen this once before, because I'm also sure I haven't seen it since the mid-'90s — and I've been meaning to rewatch it for 20+ years! With no urgency, clearly.
This time I watched the longer version (whether it's a director's cut or just an extended cut, sources vary), which I'm sure I've never seen before, but the differences are minor enough (though, I hasten to add, not worthless) that I wouldn't have noticed the difference after all this time, so I don't think it merits counting as a 'new film' for 100 Films purposes.
[2nd watch]
[#62 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
Pretty sure I've only seen this once before, because I'm also sure I haven't seen it since the mid-'90s — and I've been meaning to rewatch it for 20+ years! With no urgency, clearly.
This time I watched the longer version (whether it's a director's cut or just an extended cut, sources vary), which I'm sure I've never seen before, but the differences are minor enough (though, I hasten to add, not worthless) that I wouldn't have noticed the difference after all this time, so I don't think it merits counting as a 'new film' for 100 Films purposes.
Thursday, 17 July 2025
TV
Critical Role
2x109 Frigid Propositions [remainder]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x109 Frigid Propositions [remainder]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Fiction
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
10 The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
This felt very familiar for a story I don't think I've read before — not in an "I might have seen an adaptation way", but in a "maybe I have actually read this one" way. No matter, it's a good one, and now I know I've read it for future reference.
10 The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
This felt very familiar for a story I don't think I've read before — not in an "I might have seen an adaptation way", but in a "maybe I have actually read this one" way. No matter, it's a good one, and now I know I've read it for future reference.
Wednesday, 16 July 2025
TV
Critical Role
2x109 Frigid Propositions [1st hour]
Wanted to keep my hand in with C2, as I said, but it did feel a bit weird returning to it while halfway through Age of Umbra. Does call into question my plan to watch C4 while continuing to catch up on C1 or C3, but we'll see.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x109 Frigid Propositions [1st hour]
Wanted to keep my hand in with C2, as I said, but it did feel a bit weird returning to it while halfway through Age of Umbra. Does call into question my plan to watch C4 while continuing to catch up on C1 or C3, but we'll see.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Fiction
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
7 The Adventure of the Reigate Squire
aka The Adventure of the Reigate Squires. Both titles fit, so it's understandable but still kinda ridiculous that the discrepancy exists and persists.
7 The Adventure of the Reigate Squire
aka The Adventure of the Reigate Squires. Both titles fit, so it's understandable but still kinda ridiculous that the discrepancy exists and persists.
Games
Gray Matter
Another hour-and-a-quarter gets me to the end of Chapter 2. Good thing it's quite an engaging story, with some solid puzzles (not exceptional, but I've endured worse), because otherwise some of the 'gameplay' is rather railroaded. The conversation trees, for example — they barely merit the term. One in this chapter gives you literally one option, repeatedly, without even the alternative to abandon the conversation. At that point, which isn't it just playing as a cutscene?
Another hour-and-a-quarter gets me to the end of Chapter 2. Good thing it's quite an engaging story, with some solid puzzles (not exceptional, but I've endured worse), because otherwise some of the 'gameplay' is rather railroaded. The conversation trees, for example — they barely merit the term. One in this chapter gives you literally one option, repeatedly, without even the alternative to abandon the conversation. At that point, which isn't it just playing as a cutscene?
Monday, 14 July 2025
TV
Age of Umbra
1x04 The Rampart and Beyond [2nd half]
Halfway through this miniseries now, and it's been almost a whole month since I watched any of Campaign 2, so I probably ought to check back in on that next.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Critical Role Cooldown
Age of Umbra Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Level Up! | Age of Umbra
After the cooldown, the cast's Age of Umbra characters increase from Level 1 to Level... 2, obvs.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
1x04 The Rampart and Beyond [2nd half]
Halfway through this miniseries now, and it's been almost a whole month since I watched any of Campaign 2, so I probably ought to check back in on that next.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Critical Role Cooldown
Age of Umbra Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Level Up! | Age of Umbra
After the cooldown, the cast's Age of Umbra characters increase from Level 1 to Level... 2, obvs.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Sunday, 13 July 2025
Fiction
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
5 The Adventure of the Gloria Scott
This seems to be regarded as a sort of "lower middle"-quality Holmes tale, based on rankings I've compiled, which is interesting because it probably speaks to what people want from these stories. As a detective tale, it's a bit rubbish — there's a mystery, but Holmes only solves a minor part of it before he's literally handed a letter with the explanation (even if he hadn't solved anything, that letter would have come into his possession). But as a story in its own right, it's got some nice atmosphere and some exciting piracy-esque elements. And so I think we see how it ends up in the middle, because I imagine some must dislike it for being a poor detective story, while others simply enjoy it for what it is.
5 The Adventure of the Gloria Scott
This seems to be regarded as a sort of "lower middle"-quality Holmes tale, based on rankings I've compiled, which is interesting because it probably speaks to what people want from these stories. As a detective tale, it's a bit rubbish — there's a mystery, but Holmes only solves a minor part of it before he's literally handed a letter with the explanation (even if he hadn't solved anything, that letter would have come into his possession). But as a story in its own right, it's got some nice atmosphere and some exciting piracy-esque elements. And so I think we see how it ends up in the middle, because I imagine some must dislike it for being a poor detective story, while others simply enjoy it for what it is.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A few new additions again this week (next week looks to be a quiet one, with only one new title expected), but it's also time for the monthly running time update...
Number of titles in collection: 3,581 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,595 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 485 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,609 [up 6]
Number of films: 4,545 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 449 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,154 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,250 [no change]
Total running time of collection (approx.):
604 days, 5 hours, and 17 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 11 hours, and 56 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
A few new additions again this week (next week looks to be a quiet one, with only one new title expected), but it's also time for the monthly running time update...
Number of titles in collection: 3,581 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,595 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 485 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,609 [up 6]
Number of films: 4,545 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 449 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,154 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,250 [no change]
Total running time of collection (approx.):
604 days, 5 hours, and 17 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 11 hours, and 56 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Saturday, 12 July 2025
TV
Age of Umbra
1x04 The Rampart and Beyond [remainder of 1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Live Aid at 40: The Concert
Didn't watch anything like all of this, but had a significant chunk of it on in the later evening.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
1x04 The Rampart and Beyond [remainder of 1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Live Aid at 40: The Concert
Didn't watch anything like all of this, but had a significant chunk of it on in the later evening.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Friday, 11 July 2025
Thursday, 10 July 2025
TV
Cobra Kai
3x09 Feel the Night
3x10 December 19 [season finale]
Having spent most of the season on a post mortem for the previous finale, this finale seems to primarily set up what the next season will be about! Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, because it's actually a very satisfying episode in its own right thanks to an impressively-staged centrepiece brawl between the students, followed by a long-awaited punchup involving the adults. That might sound a little slap-happy, but this is a show all about karate: of course the fights are a highlight.
Nonetheless, a negative reading of this season would be that it treads water, dealing with the aftermath of season two before setting up the next leg in season four. A kinder reading would be that it's a necessary bridge, moving characters and situations from where they were to where they want them to be for the next leg. I think a bit of both might be true.
On the bright side, at least season four exists — this is where YouTube cancelled the show, before Netflix came in and saved it. It scarcely bears thinking about that this could have been where it ended!
3x09 Feel the Night
3x10 December 19 [season finale]
Having spent most of the season on a post mortem for the previous finale, this finale seems to primarily set up what the next season will be about! Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, because it's actually a very satisfying episode in its own right thanks to an impressively-staged centrepiece brawl between the students, followed by a long-awaited punchup involving the adults. That might sound a little slap-happy, but this is a show all about karate: of course the fights are a highlight.
Nonetheless, a negative reading of this season would be that it treads water, dealing with the aftermath of season two before setting up the next leg in season four. A kinder reading would be that it's a necessary bridge, moving characters and situations from where they were to where they want them to be for the next leg. I think a bit of both might be true.
On the bright side, at least season four exists — this is where YouTube cancelled the show, before Netflix came in and saved it. It scarcely bears thinking about that this could have been where it ended!
Non-Fiction
Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman
Introduction
Chapter 1
Subtitled "A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears", this book examines 11 significant events or trends in the history of the Oscars, exploring how those have shaped and changed the insitution, and through that Hollywood movies in general. So, for example, this first chapter is all about how and why the Academy and their associated awards were founded — a sequence of events with their own dramas and controversies to rival any that would follow. Despite beginning at the beginning with a fairly narrative chapter, this is billed as something more analytical, and with a wider overview, than just "a history of the Oscars". Based on all the positive reviews, I expect it to be very interesting.
Introduction
Chapter 1
Subtitled "A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears", this book examines 11 significant events or trends in the history of the Oscars, exploring how those have shaped and changed the insitution, and through that Hollywood movies in general. So, for example, this first chapter is all about how and why the Academy and their associated awards were founded — a sequence of events with their own dramas and controversies to rival any that would follow. Despite beginning at the beginning with a fairly narrative chapter, this is billed as something more analytical, and with a wider overview, than just "a history of the Oscars". Based on all the positive reviews, I expect it to be very interesting.
Wednesday, 9 July 2025
Games
Gray Matter
The problem with 'save game' time is if you, I dunno, say, miss some optional goals so reload a previous save to complete them, then perhaps skip over a lengthy cutscene that you watched before said reload but didn't need to see again. (Yeah, that isn't just a random hypothetical example.) Anyway, the clock says I played for just over an hour today, but the repetition makes it more like an hour and a quarter. I minor difference, at least.
The problem with 'save game' time is if you, I dunno, say, miss some optional goals so reload a previous save to complete them, then perhaps skip over a lengthy cutscene that you watched before said reload but didn't need to see again. (Yeah, that isn't just a random hypothetical example.) Anyway, the clock says I played for just over an hour today, but the repetition makes it more like an hour and a quarter. I minor difference, at least.
Tuesday, 8 July 2025
TV
Cobra Kai
3x07 Obstáculos
3x08 The Good, the Bad, and the Badass
This is still a good show, but man, they've spent nearly the entire season on the fallout from the season 2 finale. It was a major event that definitely deserved some focus and 'dealing with', and some of the repercussions are right to be longer-lasting, but to dwell on it for the whole season? In fairness, that's not all this season has done, thank goodness, but it has been quite dominant. I feel like there must have been a better balance to have been struck between giving it due significance and making it feel like the story was progressing.
Critical Role Cooldown
Age of Umbra Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
3x07 Obstáculos
3x08 The Good, the Bad, and the Badass
This is still a good show, but man, they've spent nearly the entire season on the fallout from the season 2 finale. It was a major event that definitely deserved some focus and 'dealing with', and some of the repercussions are right to be longer-lasting, but to dwell on it for the whole season? In fairness, that's not all this season has done, thank goodness, but it has been quite dominant. I feel like there must have been a better balance to have been struck between giving it due significance and making it feel like the story was progressing.
Critical Role Cooldown
Age of Umbra Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on Beacon.]
Games
Smurfs Kart
Got a medal on every track in Time Trial at Hyperspeed, my first time trying that faster version — and, in fact, my overall medal tally is better than at the slower Fun speed. So that’s an achievement… of a sort.
Got a medal on every track in Time Trial at Hyperspeed, my first time trying that faster version — and, in fact, my overall medal tally is better than at the slower Fun speed. So that’s an achievement… of a sort.
Monday, 7 July 2025
Games
Gray Matter
The save games on this tell you exactly how long you've been playing for, which is great for someone like me — it means I can tell you not that "I played for about an hour", but that "I played for 57 minutes". Vital information.
The save games on this tell you exactly how long you've been playing for, which is great for someone like me — it means I can tell you not that "I played for about an hour", but that "I played for 57 minutes". Vital information.
Sunday, 6 July 2025
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures
1.1 Vampire Weekend
Jodie Whittaker's Doctor comes to Big Finish — I'd say "finally", but this has to be quickest turnaround from TV to BF ever. No surprise: Jodie was talking about doing them before her time on TV had even finished. Anyway, here begins 12 new adventures released over the next couple of years (the final one is scheduled for May 2027). Can Big Finish do for the 13th Doctor what they've done for the 6th and, arguably, 8th and turn an underwhelming TV era into a fan favourite? Time will tell. This first instalment... isn't that.
But it's not bad, either. It feels very much like it's laying the groundwork. This is a light-weight romp-ish season opener; a reminder of all the different tones Who does, all at once (not a bad thing), with a breakneck pace and a focus on just being a bit of fun. In that sense, it's more successful than many of her TV episodes were.
Jodie and Mandip slip back into their roles as if they'd never been away, and there are some nice scenes between the Doctor and Yaz. That goes some way to make up for the supporting cast being a mite too large — there's not enough time for this many characters, so they're all quite vaguely sketched. It doesn't help that several sound quite similar, meaning it can get a bit confusing in fast-paced scenes with everyone present.
Still, a solid start to the 13th Doctor's adventures on audio. Hopefully future episodes will deliver on the promise of what Big Finish can do to positively transform an era's reputation.
1.1 Vampire Weekend
Jodie Whittaker's Doctor comes to Big Finish — I'd say "finally", but this has to be quickest turnaround from TV to BF ever. No surprise: Jodie was talking about doing them before her time on TV had even finished. Anyway, here begins 12 new adventures released over the next couple of years (the final one is scheduled for May 2027). Can Big Finish do for the 13th Doctor what they've done for the 6th and, arguably, 8th and turn an underwhelming TV era into a fan favourite? Time will tell. This first instalment... isn't that.
But it's not bad, either. It feels very much like it's laying the groundwork. This is a light-weight romp-ish season opener; a reminder of all the different tones Who does, all at once (not a bad thing), with a breakneck pace and a focus on just being a bit of fun. In that sense, it's more successful than many of her TV episodes were.
Jodie and Mandip slip back into their roles as if they'd never been away, and there are some nice scenes between the Doctor and Yaz. That goes some way to make up for the supporting cast being a mite too large — there's not enough time for this many characters, so they're all quite vaguely sketched. It doesn't help that several sound quite similar, meaning it can get a bit confusing in fast-paced scenes with everyone present.
Still, a solid start to the 13th Doctor's adventures on audio. Hopefully future episodes will deliver on the promise of what Big Finish can do to positively transform an era's reputation.
Fiction
Doctor Who: The New Adventures
Timewyrm: Revelation by Paul Cornell
Chapters 12–13
Epilogue [the end]
This seems to be regarded as among the best of the Timewyrm quartet — okay, we're only talking about four books, so there's not much room for manoeuvre in ordering them, but the rankings I've seen consistently place it first or second, and I've seen it ranked in the top ten of all New Adventures novels..
Well, I've found it a bit of a slog. I mean, it's taken me almost two months to get through it, compared to under two weeks for each of the previous parts (that's partly real-life events disrupting my reading rhythm, but also partly me finding it tough going). It's got some great ideas, actually, but they take a while to show up. Part of what makes them great is that they're reveals and reveals require setup, but obviously it didn't do that pre-work engagingly enough for me. Ah well, it's done now.
Not sure where I'll go next with the New Adventures — I own a bunch, but not the followup Cat's Cradle trilogy (because it's not meant to be very good); although I do have the entire 61-book run as ebooks, so I could continue there… or maybe I should stick to ones I actually own and paid money for, and just progress in order of release. Either way, I've spent the better part of two years just getting through these first four, so I either need to pick up the pace or accept I'm going to spend the rest of my life reading the NAs.
Timewyrm: Revelation by Paul Cornell
Chapters 12–13
Epilogue [the end]
This seems to be regarded as among the best of the Timewyrm quartet — okay, we're only talking about four books, so there's not much room for manoeuvre in ordering them, but the rankings I've seen consistently place it first or second, and I've seen it ranked in the top ten of all New Adventures novels..
Well, I've found it a bit of a slog. I mean, it's taken me almost two months to get through it, compared to under two weeks for each of the previous parts (that's partly real-life events disrupting my reading rhythm, but also partly me finding it tough going). It's got some great ideas, actually, but they take a while to show up. Part of what makes them great is that they're reveals and reveals require setup, but obviously it didn't do that pre-work engagingly enough for me. Ah well, it's done now.
Not sure where I'll go next with the New Adventures — I own a bunch, but not the followup Cat's Cradle trilogy (because it's not meant to be very good); although I do have the entire 61-book run as ebooks, so I could continue there… or maybe I should stick to ones I actually own and paid money for, and just progress in order of release. Either way, I've spent the better part of two years just getting through these first four, so I either need to pick up the pace or accept I'm going to spend the rest of my life reading the NAs.
Games
Gray Matter
I've got literally dozens of point-and-click adventure games I've bought over the last few years waiting to be played (not to mention a selection of various other types of game I've either bought on sale or got free through Prime, not least a few high-acclaimed and very long RPGs), and yet I wound up playing this, which I just saw recommended and, more or less on a whim, thought "let's play that!"
And then I spent way too much of my day trying to get it to work properly on my Mac (it's only available for PC — the basic port worked easily enough, but there was no audio, and that took ages to fix, and even now it doesn't work properly; but I can hear it, even if it's constantly glitchy, and that's better than nothing). So, I got there in the end, and therefore played... for 10 minutes.
Well, I've started it now, at least.
I've got literally dozens of point-and-click adventure games I've bought over the last few years waiting to be played (not to mention a selection of various other types of game I've either bought on sale or got free through Prime, not least a few high-acclaimed and very long RPGs), and yet I wound up playing this, which I just saw recommended and, more or less on a whim, thought "let's play that!"
And then I spent way too much of my day trying to get it to work properly on my Mac (it's only available for PC — the basic port worked easily enough, but there was no audio, and that took ages to fix, and even now it doesn't work properly; but I can hear it, even if it's constantly glitchy, and that's better than nothing). So, I got there in the end, and therefore played... for 10 minutes.
Well, I've started it now, at least.
this week on 100Films.co.uk
It feels like just the other day I was writing about May on 100Films.co.uk, but a whole 'nother month has flown by and it's time to look back at June.
First up, the overall review...
...accompanied by my list of "failures"...
More next Sunday? More likely it'll be August before I know it.
First up, the overall review...
...accompanied by my list of "failures"...
More next Sunday? More likely it'll be August before I know it.
Saturday, 5 July 2025
TV
The 1% Club
3x09 Episode 9
[Watch all episodes (again) on ITVX.]
Have I Got News for You
69x10 (6/6/2025 edition; extended repeat) [season finale]
[Watch the extended episode (again) on iPlayer.]
3x09 Episode 9
[Watch all episodes (again) on ITVX.]
Have I Got News for You
69x10 (6/6/2025 edition; extended repeat) [season finale]
[Watch the extended episode (again) on iPlayer.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
I thought this week was going to be dominated by Radiance, mostly sale pickups, but I guess those are coming on Monday now. Instead, there's a new Radiance box set, a title I missed in the sale so nabbed elsewhere (still with a discount, at least, but a few quid more than in the sale); plus a selection of Deaf Crocodile titles I ordered a while back but had to wait for them all to be released (it's a US label, gotta order multiple to make the p&p worthwhile).
Number of titles in collection: 3,575 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,589 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 483 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,603 [up 10]
Number of films: 4,539 [up 8]
Number of additional cuts: 449 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,154 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,250 [up 2]
See you next week, faithful reader.
I thought this week was going to be dominated by Radiance, mostly sale pickups, but I guess those are coming on Monday now. Instead, there's a new Radiance box set, a title I missed in the sale so nabbed elsewhere (still with a discount, at least, but a few quid more than in the sale); plus a selection of Deaf Crocodile titles I ordered a while back but had to wait for them all to be released (it's a US label, gotta order multiple to make the p&p worthwhile).
Number of titles in collection: 3,575 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,589 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 483 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,603 [up 10]
Number of films: 4,539 [up 8]
Number of additional cuts: 449 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,154 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,250 [up 2]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 4 July 2025
Thursday, 3 July 2025
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Games
Smurfs Kart
It's growing on me a little, but I really wish you could remap the controls. I'm also beginning to see why "steering assist" is on by default — I turned it off, but perhaps that was unwise.
It's growing on me a little, but I really wish you could remap the controls. I'm also beginning to see why "steering assist" is on by default — I turned it off, but perhaps that was unwise.
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Games
Garfield Kart: Furious Racing
Got in a few more races and achievements before it did actually leave the free-with-Prime tier on Luna. And then I tried to find a replacement...
Smurfs Kart
Very similar on the surface, but a few changes to controls and difficulty made it much less satisfying. I did a few races, but I'm not sure I'll be going back.
Trackmania
A different kind of racing game — still a bit wacky, definitely not a sim (there's also a monster truck game on Luna that sounded altogether too serious), but not a kart racer either. I didn't care for the way it's not always clear where you should drive, and if you go wrong it will just let you wander around, which is irritatingly pointless. Also not really built for the levels of input lag you get on cloud gaming.
Oh well. At least it doesn't cost me anything to try these. Imagine if I got a Switch 2 right now and hated Mario Kart...
Got in a few more races and achievements before it did actually leave the free-with-Prime tier on Luna. And then I tried to find a replacement...
Smurfs Kart
Very similar on the surface, but a few changes to controls and difficulty made it much less satisfying. I did a few races, but I'm not sure I'll be going back.
Trackmania
A different kind of racing game — still a bit wacky, definitely not a sim (there's also a monster truck game on Luna that sounded altogether too serious), but not a kart racer either. I didn't care for the way it's not always clear where you should drive, and if you go wrong it will just let you wander around, which is irritatingly pointless. Also not really built for the levels of input lag you get on cloud gaming.
Oh well. At least it doesn't cost me anything to try these. Imagine if I got a Switch 2 right now and hated Mario Kart...
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