Collection Count

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

This week, my Blu-rays have almost made it to 300. I've a few more on order -- most of which should have arrived, but TheHut Group companies aren't as efficient as Amazon or HMV, or even Play.com -- so next week might see it tip over. If the aforementioned retailers get their act together.

Also this week, the first running time update of the new year! How many days/hours/minutes of entertainment have I bought since Christmas?

Number of titles in collection: 1,443 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,148 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 295 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 3,586 [up 7]
Number of films in collection: 1,535 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,411 [up 2]

And as I said, it's time for a running time update...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
258 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 7 hours, and 51 minutes from last month.)

That's the result of 29 new titles, by-the-by. All that since Christmas?! I'm mad.

Still, see you next week for even more, faithful reader.

Articles

Oscar Index: The Beginning of the End
by S.T. Vanairsdale (from Movieline)
Movieline's weekly Oscar roundup has its first post-nominations-announcement look at how things are going and expected to go. It's full of graphs charting candidates' chances, and most interesting are the acting and directing categories -- look at all the previously-high lines that plummet out when they surprisingly don't get a nomination! Also, look how much War Horse has dropped in the Best Picture stakes!

Rufus Hound interview: 'Censorship will cause death of civilisation'
by Alex Fletcher (from Digital Spy)
Starts off about his recent Windows ad campaign, but then he goes on to make some good points about the ludicrous sense of entitlement among internet forum commenters.

Articles

Bad Rep – The War Against 35mm
by David Jenkins (from Little White Lies)
Or, why the future is grim for obscure old films.

Articles

Masters Of Cinema Monthly February 2012 – Announcements, Le Silence De La Mer, Punishment Park, The Future Of DVD And An Interview With Monte Hellman
by Craig Skinner (from Bleeding Cool)

Mainly including this for the full coverage of MoC's April/May/June titles, which were announced on twitter today. Here, BC have cover art and initial extras lists for all of them. Lots of very exciting stuff there... indeed, I think all of it is of interest to me, much of it as soon as it's released.

They also announced that they've acquired the rights to silent classic, and 20th greatest and 206th most popular film of all time, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc). That's due out sometime in 2013 though. Long time to go, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.

TV

The One...
1x03 Griff Rhys Jones

Comics

In my quest to get caught up, I'm generally starting with series where I'm three or more issues behind.

Batgirl #3 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
I last read Batgirl nearly 14 weeks ago. A lot of people seem to be loving this book but I wasn't sold (only enough to commit myself to at least finish the current story arc), and this issue does little to change my mind. Nice cliffhanger-resolving action with a twist at the start, but followed with too much business with Nightwing told in an overlong fashion. I thought this would be the end to said arc, but it's an aside. Next time... maybe...

Batgirl #4 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
..."yes", here it is. Much better, this one. Mirror's a great idea for a villain and he's well dealt with in their final battle. And despite saying I'd be leaving the book here, Simone pulls out a cliffhanger too intriguing to leave hanging. Guess Batgirl has me for at least a little longer... and so...

Batgirl #5 by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf & Vicente Cifuentes
...I would've just listed these together if I hadn't written comments on each one when I wasn't expecting to read them all. As for this one, I find the stuff with Barbara's mum -- sorry, mom -- a bit unconvincing. After, what, a decade away, through Barbara's teens and young adulthood, she just turns up on her doorstep and they just pop out for a coffee? Don't buy it. Meanwhile, there's another intriguing superhero-y plot kicking off.
So my conclusion about Simone's writing, after five issues: don't buy her character/drama stuff, but the superheroics are pretty good.

Batman #3, #4 & #5 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
This is easily the best comic covered in this post... or quite a lot of other posts, to be honest. It feels like reading a classic in the making. CBR gave #5 the full five stars last week; personally I enjoyed the build up to it more -- lots of tension and revelations and action -- but it's all excellent.

Justice League #3 & #4 by Geoff Johns & Jim Lee
The more you read, the more you can see why comic fans complain about decompressed storytelling in modern books -- even reading two issues back to back, it doesn't feel like things have moved on a great deal. That doesn't mean there's not good stuff in here, but it can take its time actually moving the plot forward, and when there's only about 20-22 pages an issue, for the prices they charge, that can feel a bit frustrating.

Uncanny X-Men #4 by Kieron Gillen & Brandon Peterson
Why would you relaunch a series only to keep telling stories reliant on events from the past? Other than as a cynical sales tactic, of course.

Wolverine and the X-Men #4 by Jason Aaron & Nick Bradshaw
Some intriguing stories being set up, once you decipher them from the mass of references to other books and past storylines. And American comics creators wonder why their sales are dropping! Old fans get fed up with the number of books they're expected to buy at increasingly high prices, new fans find it all too dense and self-referential to get on board with... plus the number of books they might need to buy at increasingly high prices. But it explained enough for me to follow in the end, and the first three issues were strong enough that I'll stick with it for now. Not so sure about Uncanny's long-term future in my reading...

Articles

Russell T Davies creates new children’s BBC drama
by Jack Seale (from Radio Times)
Co-created with Sarah Jane Adventures' head writer Phil Ford, it's called Aliens vs Wizards. Sounds cool.

Films

Ironclad (2011)
[#8 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
Eight is the number I need to see in January to stay on perfect target, so that's a solid opening to the year. With nine days to spare, there's still time for it to turn in to a great one. We'll see.

Comics

And that catching up continues apace...

Daredevil #7 by Mark Waid & Paolo Rivera
Christmassy one-and-done in which Daredevil has to save a bunch of blind kids after their school bus crashes in snowy mountains, killing the driver… except they end up rescuing him. How heartwarming. Didn't much care for it myself.

Uncanny X-Men #2 by Kieron Gillen, Rodney Buchemi, Jorge Molina & Carlos Pacheco
A bit twiddly-thumbs-y middle-part-y. Some beautifully drawn pages -- no idea which of the three pencilers, four inkers and four colourists are responsible for those ones, but they do look good -- but the story almost treads water for most of the issue.

Uncanny X-Men #3 by Kieron Gillen, Rodney Buchemi, Paco Diaz & Carlos Pacheco
That was better -- a conclusion to the current threat, but leaving other things open for the future. And relatively subtly laying things in for this summer's big X-Men event.

Wolverine and the X-Men
#2 by Jason Aaron & Chris Bachalo
#3 by Jason Aaron, Chris Bachalo, Duncan Rouleau & Matteo Scalera
This book, however, is just bags of cartoony fun -- and utterly fantastic because of it. Enjoying it immensely.

X-Men: Regenesis by Kieron Gillen & Billy Tan
A one-shot prequel/bridging book for all the newly-relaunched X-Men series. Having read the first issues of the two main books, I thought it might be worth a look. It's a neat way of telling a story that could just be a list of people saying "I choose A" or "I choose B", but a great deal of it doesn't make sense to a newbie reader -- need a little list of backstory explanations to go alongside it.

this week on 100 Films

This week I forgot I'd snuck The Spider Woman in on Sunday, so not as many reviews as I'd intended. That said, there were still 2 new reviews posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Hotel for Dogs (2009)

Judged as simply a movie, on its story and its characters and all that regular palaver, I can see why Hotel for Dogs attracts so many poor scores. But as a kids' film I think it works well enough, and as a delivery system for cute dogs I loved it. I don’t think I’ve ever “aww”ed so much in a single film. Yep, I’ve gone all soft.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)

this entry jumps back in time several hundred years for an origin of sorts, fleshing out flashbacks and backstory from the first two films. Unfortunately, we learnt pretty much all we needed to know in those flashbacks, and so in terms of both story and world-building Rise of the Lycans has little to add to the Underworld franchise.

More next Sunday.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
7x11 The Rebound Girl
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Magicians
2x02 Episode 2

Pointless
5x45 (16/1/12 edition)
Including the most-pointlesses-scored round in Pointless history! Oo-ooh.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (2010)
[#7 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Comics

Daredevil #6 by Mark Waid & Marcos Martín
Massively behind on masses of comics. Catching up time.

Articles

'There is a clue everybody's missed': Sherlock writer Steven Moffat interviewed
by Stuart Jeffries (from the Guardian)

Moffat has lots of interesting things to say about Sherlock (and some other stuff too) in this surprisingly lengthy interview. He also mentions that series 3 might be on later this year! We can but hope.

Another choice comment is on people's attitude to TV viewing:

"I get irritated when people say on Twitter: 'It's too complicated. I'm not following it.' Well, you could try putting your phone down and watching it."

Very, very true.


And in other Sherlock news, the latest twist in the tale of that US series...

Legal thriller looms as Sherlock takes his caseload to New York
by Adam Sherwin (from the Independent)

Sue Vertue, Sherlock Executive Producer at Hartswood Films, said: "We understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It's interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show. At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn't resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying... We are very proud of our show and like any proud parent, will protect the interest and wellbeing of our offspring."

More at the article, naturally. The most relevant bit:

Margaret Tofalides, a copyright specialist at law firm Manches, said: "The concept of a new Sherlock Holmes is unprotectable. But if the unusual elements of the BBC series – the modern settings, characters, clothes, plots and distinctive visual style – were closely reproduced in the CBS version, that could form the basis of a potential copyright claim."

TV

The Graham Norton Show
10x11 (13/1/12 edition)
Well, that wasn't as uncomfortable as it could have been.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Law & Order: UK
6x02 Immune
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Mentalist
4x07 Blinking Red Light
Skipped an episode again, but this time deliberately because my copy of ep6 wouldn't play. Don't worry, I've already acquired another. Anyway, this was a particularly great episode I thought, with a really nice twist in the tail right at the end. Good work Mentalist team.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
5x02 (14/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Stella
1x02 Episode 2

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,438 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,148 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 290 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 3,579 [up 10]
Number of films in collection: 1,531 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,409 [up 21]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great Sport Relief Bake Off
Episode 3 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
5x44 (13/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Rush Hour 3 (2007)
[#6 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

TV

Eternal Law
1x02 Episode 2
That was a little better than the first one. Maybe. Maybe I've just got (massively) lowered expectations.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Great Sport Relief Bake Off
Episode 3 (of 4)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The One...
1x02 Jasper Carrott
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Magdalen Oxford gets rejection letter from student
(from BBC News)

A student has sent a rejection letter to the University of Oxford following her interview for a place there. Elly Nowell parodied the institution's own rejection letters, stating Magdalen College "did not quite meet the standard" of other universities.

Hehe.

US broadcaster CBS orders Sherlock Holmes TV pilot
by Tom Cole (from Radio Times)

the pilot will see Holmes living in contemporary New York and, like the BBC’s Sherlock, will adapt Conan Doyle’s plotlines to fit the modern world.

"That British show Sherlock seems to have gone down well, shall we try to arrange a remake?" "The characters are out of copyright -- let's do a rip off!" "RIP OFF!"