Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
[#38 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
Not bad, but possibly my least favourite of the six films leading up to The Avengers.
Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (2011)
[#38a in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
A fun little thing, more standalone than the other one.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
this week on 100 Films
Once again, no new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week.
But I did add my review/defence of Sucker Punch to my new blog, as it's on Sky Movies Premiere this week. Have a (re-)read of that here.
More next Sunday. Hopefully.
But I did add my review/defence of Sucker Punch to my new blog, as it's on Sky Movies Premiere this week. Have a (re-)read of that here.
More next Sunday. Hopefully.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
TV
Mad Men
5x04 Mystery Date
Mad Men at its best, this, for all kinds of reasons.
Pointless
4x14 (31/3/11 edition)
Scott & Bailey
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
The Voice UK
1x04 The Blind Auditions 4
That's the auditions over, and with it the show's main gimmick. But don't worry, they've got another one lined up for next weekend's double bill.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Would I Lie To You?
6x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
5x04 Mystery Date
Mad Men at its best, this, for all kinds of reasons.
Pointless
4x14 (31/3/11 edition)
Scott & Bailey
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
The Voice UK
1x04 The Blind Auditions 4
That's the auditions over, and with it the show's main gimmick. But don't worry, they've got another one lined up for next weekend's double bill.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Would I Lie To You?
6x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Films
Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (2011)
[#37a in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
A short film on the Thor Blu-ray, contributing towards the interlinking of Marvel films.
Thor (2011)
[#37 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
With The Avengers -- sorry, Marvel Avengers Assemble -- out soon, it's about time I got round to the last two movies that lead up to it. So here's the first.
[#37a in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
A short film on the Thor Blu-ray, contributing towards the interlinking of Marvel films.
Thor (2011)
[#37 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
With The Avengers -- sorry, Marvel Avengers Assemble -- out soon, it's about time I got round to the last two movies that lead up to it. So here's the first.
Friday, 13 April 2012
TV
Archer
3x05 El Contador
Though they seem to have got the episode order back on track (after the mess-up a couple of weeks back), they still haven't fixed their Demand 5 URLs. But they do from next week. So that's nice then.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
The Graham Norton Show
10x19 (9/3/12 edition)
New series of this started tonight. Still finishing the last one.
Horrible Histories
4x01 Episode 1
New series! On five times a week! (Imagine me here muttering something about kids having no attention span these days.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Mentalist
4x19 Pink Champagne on Ice
I'm not sure the title of this episode even refers to anything in it.
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 27th April. Probably.]
Once Upon a Time
1x02 The Thing You Love Most
This is... surprisingly cheap. The CGI looks about 10 years old. Maleficent seems to be based on Dolly Parton. The whole feel of its fantasy-world scenes is like a cheap-American-pulp-fantasy version of quality European fairty tales. I could go on, but I'll save something for future episodes.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Onion News Network
2x07 Sex in America
Pointless
4x13 (30/3/11 edition)
3x05 El Contador
Though they seem to have got the episode order back on track (after the mess-up a couple of weeks back), they still haven't fixed their Demand 5 URLs. But they do from next week. So that's nice then.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
The Graham Norton Show
10x19 (9/3/12 edition)
New series of this started tonight. Still finishing the last one.
Horrible Histories
4x01 Episode 1
New series! On five times a week! (Imagine me here muttering something about kids having no attention span these days.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Mentalist
4x19 Pink Champagne on Ice
I'm not sure the title of this episode even refers to anything in it.
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 27th April. Probably.]
Once Upon a Time
1x02 The Thing You Love Most
This is... surprisingly cheap. The CGI looks about 10 years old. Maleficent seems to be based on Dolly Parton. The whole feel of its fantasy-world scenes is like a cheap-American-pulp-fantasy version of quality European fairty tales. I could go on, but I'll save something for future episodes.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Onion News Network
2x07 Sex in America
Pointless
4x13 (30/3/11 edition)
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
This week, I've finally added the first two volumes of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones to my DVD collection (I've wanted them since they were first released nearly four years ago), thanks to Amazon.co.uk's Deals of the Week. They're still available there at under £15 each. The third and final volume isn't included, presumably because it's currently out of stock, but it can also be ordered for under £15 (which I have done too, naturally).
Each set contains seven or eight feature-length episodes, with so many special features (all about the real historical events, nothing about the making of the series itself) that some individual episodes are effectively two-disc sets, one for the film and another for its extras. That's some impressive work (and why these cost so much when they were first released).
Number of titles in collection: 1,461 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,151 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 310 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,637 [up 21]
Number of films in collection: 1,548 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,464 [up 15]
See you next week, faithful reader.
This week, I've finally added the first two volumes of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones to my DVD collection (I've wanted them since they were first released nearly four years ago), thanks to Amazon.co.uk's Deals of the Week. They're still available there at under £15 each. The third and final volume isn't included, presumably because it's currently out of stock, but it can also be ordered for under £15 (which I have done too, naturally).
Each set contains seven or eight feature-length episodes, with so many special features (all about the real historical events, nothing about the making of the series itself) that some individual episodes are effectively two-disc sets, one for the film and another for its extras. That's some impressive work (and why these cost so much when they were first released).
Number of titles in collection: 1,461 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,151 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 310 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,637 [up 21]
Number of films in collection: 1,548 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,464 [up 15]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Thursday, 12 April 2012
TV
Castle
2x07 Famous Last Words
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
House
8x16 Gut Check
Just a Minute [2012]
1x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
This has been brilliant. I hope they do more for the telly.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Sarah Millican Television Programme
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
2x07 Famous Last Words
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
House
8x16 Gut Check
Just a Minute [2012]
1x10 Episode 10 [season finale]
This has been brilliant. I hope they do more for the telly.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Sarah Millican Television Programme
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Articles
William Boyd to Write the Next James Bond Novel!
by John Cox (from The Book Bond)
Completely out of the blue, IFP have announced a new James Bond novel! It'll be published in autumn 2013 and be written by William Boyd, and it'll take Bond back to the '60s. So much for the modern-day reboot. Will it follow or ignore Devil May Care? Only time will tell.
by John Cox (from The Book Bond)
Completely out of the blue, IFP have announced a new James Bond novel! It'll be published in autumn 2013 and be written by William Boyd, and it'll take Bond back to the '60s. So much for the modern-day reboot. Will it follow or ignore Devil May Care? Only time will tell.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
TV
Fry and Laurie Reunited
I've had this recorded since whenever it first aired (sometime in 2010!), so it was nice to finally watch it. It was good, too, though a bit repetitiously structured -- too much "previously"/"coming up" stuff around the ad breaks. It had a 90-minute slot, but I dread to think how short it would be if you removed the ads and cut out all the needless fluff.
The Matt Lucas Awards
1x01 Episode 1
Not as much fun as I hoped it'd be. But there's promise. Big improvement would be making it a bit tighter -- trim just five minutes (to make it a regular 30 instead of 35) and it would probably feel less leaden.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Pointless
4x12 (29/3/11 edition)
I've had this recorded since whenever it first aired (sometime in 2010!), so it was nice to finally watch it. It was good, too, though a bit repetitiously structured -- too much "previously"/"coming up" stuff around the ad breaks. It had a 90-minute slot, but I dread to think how short it would be if you removed the ads and cut out all the needless fluff.
The Matt Lucas Awards
1x01 Episode 1
Not as much fun as I hoped it'd be. But there's promise. Big improvement would be making it a bit tighter -- trim just five minutes (to make it a regular 30 instead of 35) and it would probably feel less leaden.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Pointless
4x12 (29/3/11 edition)
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
TV
Game of Thrones
1x09 Baelor
1x10 Fire and Blood [season finale]
Bloody good, this is. Don't even know where to begin with comments on it, especially in case anyone reading this hasn't bothered to watch it. But you really should. One thing that's nice is that it doesn't feel at all final. Yes, some things come to a head, but just as many in the penultimate episode as in the final one, and loads of stuff is left hanging. This isn't a series of consecutive discrete stories, it's one long story that has to be broken up due to sheer length. Great stuff.
And so it continues in season two, which has of course already begun. But I'll try to leave a bit of a break before I begin watching that. But golly I want to know what happens next.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Mad Men
5x03 Tea Leaves
Mark Lawson Talks To
Mark Gatiss
Well, that was brilliant. If you missed it, sorry it's no longer on iPlayer to point you towards.
1x09 Baelor
1x10 Fire and Blood [season finale]
Bloody good, this is. Don't even know where to begin with comments on it, especially in case anyone reading this hasn't bothered to watch it. But you really should. One thing that's nice is that it doesn't feel at all final. Yes, some things come to a head, but just as many in the penultimate episode as in the final one, and loads of stuff is left hanging. This isn't a series of consecutive discrete stories, it's one long story that has to be broken up due to sheer length. Great stuff.
And so it continues in season two, which has of course already begun. But I'll try to leave a bit of a break before I begin watching that. But golly I want to know what happens next.
Just a Minute [2012]
1x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Mad Men
5x03 Tea Leaves
Mark Lawson Talks To
Mark Gatiss
Well, that was brilliant. If you missed it, sorry it's no longer on iPlayer to point you towards.
DVD Extras
Game of Thrones
From the Book to the Screen
Creating the Show Open
Features from the GoT season one Blu-ray. Interesting, but shame they have a tendency to repeat each other. Not so much among these ones, but I had a quick look at the half-hour "making of" and many of the interview snippets from these appear there too. Not much depth either (they last barely five minutes each), but elsewhere on the set are seven audio commentaries and an hour-long Anatomy of an Episode, so hopefully there's more meat to those.
That said, the title sequence featurette is an exception. Though brief, it gives you a good idea how they came up with that awesome opening.
From the Book to the Screen
Creating the Show Open
Features from the GoT season one Blu-ray. Interesting, but shame they have a tendency to repeat each other. Not so much among these ones, but I had a quick look at the half-hour "making of" and many of the interview snippets from these appear there too. Not much depth either (they last barely five minutes each), but elsewhere on the set are seven audio commentaries and an hour-long Anatomy of an Episode, so hopefully there's more meat to those.
That said, the title sequence featurette is an exception. Though brief, it gives you a good idea how they came up with that awesome opening.
Articles
‘Ridiculously Photogenic Guy’ image goes viral
by Eric Pfeiffer (from The Sideshow at Yahoo! News)
Missed this story last week when it happened, but it is quite amusing -- especially the various examples here.
by Eric Pfeiffer (from The Sideshow at Yahoo! News)
Missed this story last week when it happened, but it is quite amusing -- especially the various examples here.
Monday, 9 April 2012
TV
The Mentalist
4x18 Ruddy Cheeks
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 20th April. Probably.]
Pointless
4x11 (28/3/11 edition)
Scott & Bailey
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Twenty Twelve
2x02 Boycott Part 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
4x18 Ruddy Cheeks
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Friday 20th April. Probably.]
Pointless
4x11 (28/3/11 edition)
Scott & Bailey
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Twenty Twelve
2x02 Boycott Part 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Comics
Batgirl #6 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
It's been ages since I last read Batgirl -- nearly 11 weeks, in fact, and back then it was 14 weeks since the time before. I seem to keep forgotting about it, which I suppose goes to show how much I care. And/or how good it is, depending on your point of view. But it was in the middle of a story last I left, and so I shall finish that at least. And it's quite a good one, to be fair -- I don't like the details of Simone's writing (some of the dialogue really grates for me), but the overall tale was worth reading.
It's been ages since I last read Batgirl -- nearly 11 weeks, in fact, and back then it was 14 weeks since the time before. I seem to keep forgotting about it, which I suppose goes to show how much I care. And/or how good it is, depending on your point of view. But it was in the middle of a story last I left, and so I shall finish that at least. And it's quite a good one, to be fair -- I don't like the details of Simone's writing (some of the dialogue really grates for me), but the overall tale was worth reading.
Articles
Homophobes Slam EA With Thousands of Letters Over Same-Sex Romance
by Kate Cox (from Kotaku)
Good on EA for standing up to these bigots.
You can sign a message expressing support for EA at AllOut.org, urging them to "keep fighting the Dark Side" in the style of Yoda.
by Kate Cox (from Kotaku)
One recent, particularly irrational anti-gay "family values" campaign has kicked off a wave of thousands of letters to EA disapproving of the addition of same-sex romance options to [massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars:] The Old Republic... The letters chide EA for being "pressured" into adding LGBT-friendly content and claim that the availability of options for players somehow forces homosexuality onto impressionable young children...
EA VP of Corporate Communications Jeff Brown accurately called out the letter-writing campaign, saying... "This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment... EA has not been pressured by any groups to include LGBT characters in our games. However, we have met with LBGT groups and sponsored industry forums to discuss content and harassment of players in online forums. In short, we do put options for same-sex relationships in our games; we don't tolerate hate speech on our forums.
Good on EA for standing up to these bigots.
You can sign a message expressing support for EA at AllOut.org, urging them to "keep fighting the Dark Side" in the style of Yoda.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
TV
Just a Minute [2012]
1x08 Episode 8
A particularly anarchic edition, for some reason.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Once Upon a Time
1x01 Pilot
The big new US fantasy series (that may be a rip-off of Fables (I haven't read that so can't say with certainty, but the concept is certainly similar)) finally reaches our shores. It's quite good. The fantasy/fairytale world is a bit too stock American-vision-of-European-folklore, rendered with all the usual made-for-US-TV cheap CGI and whatnot, but it could be worse. As a whole episode, there's an awful lot of setup and exposition here. There's promise though, so we'll see.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Room 101: Extra Storage
12x03 Episode 3
Being the extended episode they skipped before, including a whole extra round.
1x08 Episode 8
A particularly anarchic edition, for some reason.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Once Upon a Time
1x01 Pilot
The big new US fantasy series (that may be a rip-off of Fables (I haven't read that so can't say with certainty, but the concept is certainly similar)) finally reaches our shores. It's quite good. The fantasy/fairytale world is a bit too stock American-vision-of-European-folklore, rendered with all the usual made-for-US-TV cheap CGI and whatnot, but it could be worse. As a whole episode, there's an awful lot of setup and exposition here. There's promise though, so we'll see.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Room 101: Extra Storage
12x03 Episode 3
Being the extended episode they skipped before, including a whole extra round.
Films
Repo Chick (2009)
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
I was going to follow this with The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, which was on 15 minutes later on Film4, but then BBC Two allowed the golf to overrun by 20 minutes and my plans were scuppered. Damn you sport!
And if I'd known it would turn up on iPlayer... Grr.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
I was going to follow this with The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, which was on 15 minutes later on Film4, but then BBC Two allowed the golf to overrun by 20 minutes and my plans were scuppered. Damn you sport!
And if I'd known it would turn up on iPlayer... Grr.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Comics
Aquaman #7 by Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis
If there weren't such lengthy fights there'd be more room for story. Maybe that's part of the aim. Quite good fights, mind, especially the later ones, but maybe losing a page from each to make room for two or three extra pages of plot would be nice.
Justice League #7 by Geoff Johns & Gene Ha
After the six-part "origins of the Justice League" opening story, we now jump forward five years to the present day of the DCU to find out the current status quo. Which is largely what this is about -- establishing things. At least it has the courtesy to call itself a prologue.
Plus, the introduction of back-up strip Shazam!, written by Johns and drawn by Gary Frank, which is even more setup-y than the main story. It does make the whole issue feel rather half-hearted. I'm sure lots of work must go into it, as ever, but telling two stories that are less stories and more setup for stories is kinda disappointing.
If there weren't such lengthy fights there'd be more room for story. Maybe that's part of the aim. Quite good fights, mind, especially the later ones, but maybe losing a page from each to make room for two or three extra pages of plot would be nice.
Justice League #7 by Geoff Johns & Gene Ha
After the six-part "origins of the Justice League" opening story, we now jump forward five years to the present day of the DCU to find out the current status quo. Which is largely what this is about -- establishing things. At least it has the courtesy to call itself a prologue.
Plus, the introduction of back-up strip Shazam!, written by Johns and drawn by Gary Frank, which is even more setup-y than the main story. It does make the whole issue feel rather half-hearted. I'm sure lots of work must go into it, as ever, but telling two stories that are less stories and more setup for stories is kinda disappointing.
this week on 100 Films
1 new review was posted to 100 Films in a Year this week. It's Easter, so here's a film about Jesus...
Nativity! (2009)
More next Sunday.
Nativity! (2009)
it’s kind of a daft plot, really. It’s played relatively straight and realist, but it goes off that beaten track at times. Which I suppose is fine — why not, after all? No one promised grim social realism — it’s a Christmas family film, with some moral messages and a sort of romance and sweet kids and a cute dog. And regular readers know how much I love a cute dog.Read more on my new blog or my classic blog.
More next Sunday.
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