Music

Lungs by Florence + the Machine
Well, here's one I should've gotten round to years ago. But I didn't. It was good.

TV

10 O'Clock Live
2x03 (22/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Mad Bad Ad Show
1x02 Episode 2
So after Episode 1 was episode-2, Episode 2 is episode-6. What?
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless
6x13 (29/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
[#23 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

TV

Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
1x04 Episode 4
With a daily quiz show, plus its new Saturday night version, and this panel show, plus the odd guest appearance elsewhere, there does seem to be a lot of Mr Armstrong -- Xander to friends -- around at the moment. Which is surprisingly unirritating.

The Mentalist
4x14 At First Blush
Well, that that was going there is no surprise. But I shall say no more for the sake of any readers watching it on Channel 5.
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 23rd March. Probably.]

Pointless
6x12 (28/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The 84th Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars, obviously. As usual (I've done it for a couple of years now), I got Sky Movies to watch this... and lots of on-demand movies for a month. Yay!
Anyway, the ceremony itself... was fine. Billy Crystal started weakly but got better; almost every award went where everyone thought it would; and Sky's coverage was a bit of a shambles. I presume there are very few people who know what they're talking about who'll agree to come on.

Castle
2x01 Deep in Death
It's only been six months since Channel 5 finished airing the first season of Castle, but it's such good fun it feels like a lot longer. Maybe one day we'll even catch up with the US (currently deep in season four).
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

My Life in Books
2x01 Pamela Stephenson and Alexander Armstrong
At the end of the first series I commented that some more would be nice, and lo and behold here it is! Didn't really expect that, but it's most welcome.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
6x11 (27/2/12 edition)
That's right, today's. You don't get much more caught up than that, eh.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Oscar 2012: Red Carpet Live
As per usual the actual awards begin at 1:30am over here, so here's a lot of pre-show speculation from Sky Movies' chosen presenting team. They always call it "red carpet", but there's not much of it on the Sky Premiere coverage. Thankfully, because all of that stuff's a bit dull.

Pointless Celebrities
2x01 (25/2/12 edition)
Was Penny Smith drunk?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Sum of All Fears (2002)
[#22 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Comics

Uncanny X-Men #7 by Kieron Gillen & Greg Land

Wolverine and the X-Men #6 by Jason Aaron & Nick Bradshaw
I don't really like it when X-Men goes too far with the space-y stuff -- the Earth-based sci-fi, the level pitched in all the movies, is more my kind of pace for the franchise -- but this is still a fun book overall.

Currently thinking I won't bother with the super-huge (and therefore expensive) Avengers vs X-Men event Marvel have this summer, and probably ditch the likely-central Uncanny in the process, but hopefully WatX will remain fun enough to stick with.

this week on 100 Films

2 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Ip Man (2008)

I’ve decided to try something a little different. I’ve read several different reviews of the film, found by various means, and have compiled a selection of quotes from them below... the "fight choreography is clever and exciting, with sequences that have Ip felling a sword-wielding rival with a feather-duster, or holding off two men with a 10-foot pole."

Read more on my new blog or my classic blog.

Winnie the Pooh (2011)

The American Academy have overlooked Winnie the Pooh in their nominations this weekend, I imagine writing it off as “just for little kids”. And that’s a shame, because I don’t think it is. I certainly loved it more than Rango and it’s definitely better than Kung Fu Panda 2, to pick on the two nominees I’ve seen. I struggle to believe I’ll find Puss in Boots more endearing.

Read more on my new blog or my classic blog.

Next week sees the fifth birthday of 100 Films, so expect a series of posts marking that august occasion. And probably no actual reviews.

TV

House
8x11 Nobody's Fault
Well that was a bloody good episode. House has definitely still got it.

The Jonathan Ross Show
2x03 (21/1/12 edition)

The Mentalist
4x13 Red is the New Black
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 16th March. Probably.]

Pointless
6x10 (24/2/12 edition)
That literature round was bleak and depressing. How can only 29 out of 100 people know JK Rowling was an author who sold over 2 million books in the '00s?! And Dan Brown at 14?! And so many famous names as pointless?! How is our nation so thick?!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Top Gear
18x04 (19/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Legion (2010)
[#21 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

TV

The Graham Norton Show
10x15 (10/2/12 edition)
Graham's show can suffer when he has on an older person (or foreigner) who doesn't really get it, but fortunately Dame Judi Dench is exceptionally excellent in every way and was marvellous.

Roger & Val Have Just Got In
2x03 Surprise!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Room 101: Extra Storage
12x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Stella
1x07 Episode 7

Pointless
6x09 (23/2/12 edition)
I got loads of pointlesses in that final (on films nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar). Fun fun fun!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

RIP Gregg Jevin: Imaginary Death Of Imaginary Comic Trends On Twitter
by Andrea Mann (from The Huffington Post UK)
And not just for a bit -- for hours and hours (most/all of the day), with what felt like everyone joining in. Despite sounding kind of dark and morbid, it was actually quite fun. More, including some of the best tweets, at the link.

Collection Count

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

A slightly larger boost than of late this week, thanks to some sales and some long-delayed titles (I've been waiting for one of these for over a month). The number of discs was a nice round 3,600 until this morning too.

Anyway, all that's just in time for the regular monthly running time update. Which is nice.

Number of titles in collection: 1,455 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,150 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 305 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 3,603 [up 8]
Number of films in collection: 1,544 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,439 [up 22]

As I mentioned, it's that time of the month again: the running time update. Yay! So...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
259 days, 17 hours, and 39 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 7 hours, and 22 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff
1x01 Episode 1
As much as I enjoyed the Christmas special, it felt a bit long. This, however, was a much more enjoyable burst of Dickens spoofery. Half an hour is clearly its ideal length, as it is for most comedy. Particularly liked The Apprentice joke, but then I like most jokes against The Apprentice.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Let's Dance for Sport Relief 2012
Episode 1 (of 5)
Who thought this'd make it to four series, eh? I was surprised when there was a second. It's good fun, but not the sort of stuff that lasts, especially as it's felt like they were struggling for good guests ever since the first run.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
6x08 (22/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Burke & Hare (2010)
[#20 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Articles

David Tennant, Tom Jones, Emma Thompson for new Sky Arts shows
by Tom Eames (from Digital Spy)

The above will "star in a new collection of drama productions titled Playhouse Presents for the channel", which sounds quite exciting.

It also mentions that Michael Parkinson will be returning to TV to host a new chat show, Masterclass, more details of which are here.

TV

10 O'Clock Live
2x02 (15/2/12 edition)
For all its variability, sometimes the 10 O'Clock Live team manage a whole episode that clicks, and I thought this was one.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
5x06 (18/2/12 edition)
A round about movies starring Marvel characters made since 1970 seemed like fun... and it was... until they unveiled the full list. Apparently this is Fantastic Four 2 (with this being Fantastic Four 1, presumably), and this is The Punisher 2 (with this being Punisher 1, presumably). Can we look forward to future rounds that cover King Kong, King Kong 2 and King Kong 3? How about Psycho, Psycho II and Psycho 2?
I could go on.
You wouldn't get such stupidity on Pointless.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
6x07 (21/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Watson & Oliver
1x01 Episode 1
They really slagged this off in the Radio Times, and while it certainly wasn't perfect -- most sketches went on too long, some didn't even seem to have a joke -- it was quite good overall.
[Watch it (again) In HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

BBCA Enjoys Viral Spread Of NYC Outdoor Ads
by Kent Gibbons (from Multichannel News)

BBC America is getting social media mileage out of a new outdoor advertising campaign it's launched in the New York City area.

Lots more detail at the link, including many examples (better quality here). This one's my favourite:

TV

Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask
1x03 Episode 3

House
8x10 Runaways

Pointless
6x06 (20/2/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]