TV

Friends
10x14 The One With Princess Consuela [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
10x15 The One Where Estelle Dies [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
I've not watched Friends for goodness knows how long, but I just happened to see these two episodes on E4 today. I think it's not so fashionable to like it any more, but boo, I've always liked it, so there. Really ought to watch it all again, actually.

Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Lee Mack's All Star Cast
1x04 (9/7/11 edition)
This is a pretty weak show anyway, and then you add Katie bloody Price... And then you reach the always-dreadful sketch, throw in a Dragon -- none of whom can read any kind of script convincingly, and neither can Price -- and... Oh, why do I subject myself to this? More fool me, I guess.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
10x05 (7/7/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Penn & Teller: Fool Us
1x04 Episode 4
A couple of good bits tonight, but next week's looks better. Look forward to that, then.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Shadow Line
Part 7 (of 7)
I suppose it was inevitable given the amount of pure stuff piled into this series, but this was a disappointing conclusion. An over-complex last-minute Explanation Of Everything; twists and reveals that were mostly twisted or revealed episodes ago; and a nihilistic desire to almost exclusively kill off anyone nice and leave standing the evil and/or irritating. Sure, some of them are Great Characters who we Love To Hate, but they still need their comeuppance in the end.
All in, it was at least an episode too long and should have ended differently. Shame.

Films

Tangled (2010)
[#69 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

TV

Castle
1x04 Hell Hath No Fury
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

No Ordinary Family
1x08 No Ordinary Accident
I watched episode 6 in February, episode 7 in May, and now episode 8 in July. Originally I was hoping to watch this at more or less the pace of the UK airings. I imagine those finished months ago.
I'm intending to be more regular, though: lots of TV's shut up shop for the summer, so now it's catch up time (there are a couple of things like this on my books to get through now). OK, maybe I should just give up -- NOF isn't that good and it's already cancelled (unsurprisingly) -- but once I've started a series (and got a fair few episodes in) I feel like I've got to complete it.

Pointless Celebrities
Episode 4 (of 5)
Episode 5 (of 5)
[Watch episodes four and five (again) on iPlayer.]

The Shadow Line
Part 6 (of 7)
If I didn't know better, halfway through this episode I'd've been thinking it was the last one! But no, an hour of story still to go... hopefully with all the answers... and maybe the questions, too.

The Tudors
4x03 Something for You
Even worse than No Ordinary Family, I haven't watched any of this for five months. Not hard to pick back up on, though it'd be nice if it got a wriggle on -- especially as a UK viewer, we know where it's all going.

Films

Doom (2005)
[2nd watch]
This was #25 in 100 Films 2007 and I didn't give it a very good review. So why did I re-watch it? Not entirely sure, really. It was on TV, I was there, I let it play. I didn't pay attention to all of it, which probably helped. I do stand by my original review too, even if (as it's from the blog's first year) it's rather short.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
9x12 (1/7/11 edition) [season finale]
Only two guests, and the show worked much better because of it -- less crammed. Doubt that means they'll continue with it though.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
Episode 1 (of 5)
Episode 2 (of 5)
Episode 3 (of 5)
Surprisingly fun daytime quiz show Pointless has moved to BBC One, and to mark that it began with a week of 'celebrity'-filled specials (a format tweak first seen last Christmas, I believe). I have no intention of wasting my life with the regular edition, however addictive it may be, but everything's more fun with 'celebrities' though, eh? TV ratings certainly seem to suggest so...
[Watch episodes one, two and three (again) on iPlayer.]

Shark Tank
1x01 Episode 1
The US version of Dragons' Den. And it's rubbish. The 'sharks' are all too annoying, most of the people looking for money just as irritating, no one as nice or intelligent as their UK counterparts. Damn them.

Collection Count

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

This week, TV episodes lands squarely on 5,000! Wow! Nice round number... nice big number too. Quite daunting, actually. Ought to get stuck in to a few more of those...

And, for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, no Blu-rays!

Number of titles in collection: 1,345 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,125 [up 5]
Of which Blu-rays: 220 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,337 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 1,419 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,000 [up 8]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Six series today, five of them including the last of the series / last ever. Coincidencetastic!

How I Met Your Mother
6x19 Legendaddy
I know some have been critical of HIMYM in recent seasons, for not getting anywhere with its arc plot, or for not being as clever or funny as it used to be, but I think this season is really hitting new highs. Good for them.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

James May's Things You Need to Know
1x03 The Weather [final episode]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Luther
2x03 Episode 3
2x04 Episode 4 [season finale]
The second two-parter in Luther's truncated second series. A good idea in this one, well (and violently) executed, even if it did remind me of one of the Thorne stories. Most surprising, though, was the happy ending. How un-Luther-like. Don't know how this run went down or how it rated, but fingers crossed for a third.
[Watch episodes three and four (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Sex Researchers
Episode 3 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

$#*! My Dad Says
1x18 Who's Your Daddy? [series finale]
Bleep My Dad Says (as they insist on calling it) wasn't the greatest sitcom ever -- far from it, if we're going to be honest -- but it was decent-enough brain-off watch-once fare. Plus, the longer it went on the more it grew on me, so in those respects it's a shame it was cancelled.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Spirit of Wimbledon
Part 4 Splendour on the Grass [final episode]
All-in, it was definitely much better than that other one. I may write to the Radio Times. Why? I dunno. Because.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Magazines

2000 AD #1740
I haven't bought 2000 AD in a very, very long time, but word reached me this issue (last week's, as it happens) contained all-new stories and was the perfect jumping on point. Well, that struck me as an opportunity not to be missed, so here I am. Decision time on continuing must be quick though: 2000 AD is still a weekly anthology, meaning the issue after this is not only out now but also already 28.6% through the time it will be on shelves!

TV

Archer
2x10 El Secuestro
Archer seems to be going from strength to strength this season -- though, in fairness, it did in the first two. Indeed, this is currently sitting pretty as the best-rated episode ever at TV.com (see above link).
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Lead Balloon
4x06 End [series finale]
Jack Dee says this is the last episode ever. If so, I can see how that works as an ending. Despite the excruciating moments, I'll rather miss Lead Balloon. I think I joined it sometime in series two though, so I probably ought to go back and catch up on the beginning...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Penn & Teller: Fool Us
1x03 Episode 3
Some absolutely brilliant magic tonight... but Penn & Teller weren't fooled once. Damn they're good.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Shadow Line
Part 5 (of 7)
See yesterday's Luther. Bit of a longer gap on this one, though -- five weeks (to the very day!), to be precise.
[The Shadow Line is out on DVD and Blu-ray as of last Monday.]

Spirit of Wimbledon
Part 3 Grass Rivals
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry
1x03 Episode 3
Some (I believe on the Radio Times letter page) have complained that these re-edits slow the pace too much with the Stephen Fry interludes. But you can never have too much Stephen Fry!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Lee Mack's All Star Cast
1x03 (2/7/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Luther
2x02 Episode 2
Catching up on dramas like this now that six weeks of tennis is over. I believe this series of Luther finishes tonight, so... yeah.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Scott & Bailey
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
Not quite what I was expecting from the final episode, which is often a good thing. It's been mostly enjoyable and pleasantly different to most cop shows -- second run please, ITV.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Spirit of Wimbledon
Part 2 Pastures New
They've not bothered to put this on series link, so if you're interested you need to get on to it quick-sharp:
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
17x02 (3/7/11 edition)
I'm not a Formula 1 fan any more, but even I appreciate how amazing it would be to drive round the Monaco circuit.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Review of 100 Silent Films by Bryony Dixon by Pamela Hutchinson
(from Silent London)
I do enjoy some silent cinema, and this sounds like a great book on the subject.

TV

Castle
1x03 Hedge Fund Homeboys
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Lead Balloon
4x05 Blade
An excellent two-hander, with just Jack Dee and Robbie Coltrane, that seems to be bringing some of the series' themes to a head. Which as this week's is supposedly the last ever seems like a good idea.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Spirit of Wimbledon
Part 1 Grass Roots
Now this is what the big, primetime 125th anniversary documentary should've been like! Instead, we got that disorganised lightweight fluff scheduled prominently while this was buried at 10:30am on weekdays on BBC Two. Shame on you, BBC.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Mock the Week
10x04 (30/6/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
17x01 (26/6/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2011
And today was the gentlemen's final... and not much else, because that's all-important, and it's the last day anyway. Wasn't particularly supporting either, so I guess the best I can say is at least Nadal didn't get any closer to taking any of Federer's records.
[Watch the gentlemen's final, and many other matches, on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, as part of a sort-of-themed 'vengeance week'. They were...

Harry Brown (2009)

Michael Caine killing hoodies. How great does that sound? As a film premise, that’s awesome. If it doesn’t get you excited about seeing this movie, then what kind of film fan are you, eh? A mentally mature one, probably. But hush, don’t spoil our fun — those of us who may occasionally hanker for a morally simple form of voyeuristic vigilante justice want to see Sir Michael shooting yobs

High Plains Drifter (1973)

As the story progresses we get a gradual unveiling of a mystery in the town’s past, hinted at in flashbacks and dreams; who was responsible for it, what the others did about it — or didn’t do. It’s all revealed nicely across the course of the film, leading to a finely staged conclusion in a vision of Hell.

Jonah Hex (2010)

It’s difficult to know where to begin trying to praise Hex because, as I’ve implied, there isn’t much to praise. Unless you’re a 12-year-old boy, that is. Horses with Gatling guns! Giant cannons firing explosive balls! Corpses coming to life! Megan Fox’s corset-boosted cleavage! The undemanding pre-/early-teen is well catered for here. Possibly the undemanding child-minded adult too.

Law Abiding Citizen: Director's Cut (2009)

the setup makes it more interesting than your regular revenge movie... we’re presented with a situation where there are no clear-cut heroes and villains. Butler wants the killers of his family to suffer — normally, this vigilante is the hero. But... he’s a terrorist, normally the villain. Similar goes for Foxx — he’s the attorney, the good guy, he locks up criminals… but he’s part of a corrupt system that let a guilty man go free.

Also this week, the monthly update covering June, the halfway point of the year. Are we there already?! Crikey.

More next Sunday.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
6x18 A Change of Heart
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Scott & Bailey
1x05 Episode 5
Not the kind of stuff you expect from the penultimate episode. Which is probably why it's there -- more surprising. That said, I'd guessed the 'twist' right from the start.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Wimbledon 2011
Ladies' final day... though more interesting (certainly more fun) was the senior doubles between Mansour Bahrami & Andrew Castle and Pat Cash & Mark Woodforde. They relegate that kind of thing to red button and don't put it on iPlayer though, sadly.
[Watch the ladies' final (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Locket (1946)
[#68 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
Most of it, anyway, until BBC iPlayer Desktop started being a bastard with its eagerness to delete things. I'll finish it off as soon as I can... get hold of it again...

Fiction

Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver
Friday: Down to Gehenna, Chapters 53-72 [the end]

Deaver's plotting is quite good -- full of twists and reveals -- even if he has a tendency to describe events then in the next chapter reveal he'd left out a small detail that completely changes the situation. A neat trick, but one rather overused here. Plus his dialogue is too on the nose, especially the swathes of exposition.

And though his twists and reveals are clever, they're rather packed in and rushed through at the end. Perhaps they should've been spaced out and used more, rather than dispatched in a handful of chapters. Or even pared back entirely. By rushing through them it makes for too much of a change of pace, feels wasteful of decent ideas, and undermines the (apparent) villain. It'd probably work in another novel, but it doesn't fit Bond. Indeed, the whole novel becomes less Bondian as it goes on.

Also, this makes for two new Bonds in a row that have finished with slightly drawn-out after-the-apparent-climax conclusions. Odd.

The subplot about the death of Bond's parents is quite well-handled, though. It reveals enough that it's wrapped up within the novel, but also leaves enough threads hanging if it's decided to continue the Bond novels as direct sequels to this one. Neat.

Collection Count

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

A few late arrivals (quite a few, actually) have led me to bump this to Saturday again. I ought to just move it permanently, it's not as if anyone's going to object. This week's lot include a DVD-to-BD upgrade, except it's not an upgrade as I'm keeping both (the BD includes none of the extras sadly, but was part of a very attractively priced box set), and a pile of stuff from Masters of Cinema's recent bargain-packed sale.

Also, a nicely round set of numbers in this first block. Lovely.

Number of titles in collection: 1,340 [up 14]
Of which DVDs: 1,120 [up 8]
Of which Blu-rays: 220 [up 6]

Number of discs in collection: 3,329 [up 17]
Number of films in collection: 1,413 [up 15]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,992 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
9x11 (24/6/11 edition)
One of the best sets of red chair people ever, but Kim Cattrall's constant obliviousness to the fact that Lee Mack wasn't being serious was painful to watch.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wimbledon 2011
Gentlemen's semifinals day, which this year meant matches between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga & Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal & Andy Murray. First match didn't go my way (boo!), less sure how I feel about the second.
[Watch Tsonga v Djokovic and Nadal v Murray on iPlayer.]

Articles

Peter Jackson: Doctor Who Fanboy by MacKenzie Wilson
(from The Whoniversity at BBC America)
Meant to mention this the other day; forgot. S'cool.

Rockets from Russia: great Eastern Bloc science-fiction films by Alex Cox
(from guardian.co.uk)
Many of these sound interesting, so it's a shame it's an article about a cinema season in London rather than a DVD release (or anything else more widely accessible).