Articles

Disney confesses to messing up UK Avengers Blu-ray and DVD release
(from Home Cinema Choice)

This must've been reported a little while ago (the article is undated), but I've only just seen it. Essentially, Disney admit they messed up the UK DVD/BD release of The Avengers -- and they lied about it. Shocking behaviour.

this week on 100 Films

Two new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


The Other Guys (2010)

It doesn’t trade on the idea of the Amazing Cops vs the Regular Guys enough, and that’s where the humour lies for me... Wouldn’t it have been more fun if everyone actually hated The Big Damn Heroes who make it hard for the regular guys to do their job? If a pair of normal detectives were assigned The Big Case and had to prove themselves worthy?

Read more here.


Outland (1981)

Two years on from Alien, director Peter Hyams has adopted the same grungey, real-world, lived-in aesthetic for the mining outpost setting. It’s a style that doesn’t date, which means that it doesn’t feel 30 years old. The plot is even more timeless: lone hero stands up to bad guys that no one else is brave enough to confront. It works as well in space as it does anywhere else.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...

Copycat (1995)

The Radio Times compare this favourably to David Fincher’s excellent Se7en, because both are high-concept serial killer thrillers released in 1995 but only one has been widely remembered. The Radio Times consider this unfair, suggesting Copycat deserves a similar level of recognition. Unfortunately, they’re wrong.

Read more here.


Late Spring (1949)

Late Spring’s consistently cheery, bouncy music is a surprise [though] it would seem to reflect Noriko’s ceaseless smiling, laughing and happy demeanor; which all serves to increase the emphasis on her anger and sullenness when the prospect of marriage and leaving her father seriously raises its head.

Read more here.


The Night Listener (2006)

What sounds like an intriguing concept is actually based on a true story... and is executed with good performances, a well-paced screenplay and direction that renders the film tense or mystifying when it needs to be. Sadly it seems to go nowhere, the mystery fizzling out and the characters gaining little from the experience.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
33x05 The Angels Take Manhattan [mid-season finale]

Most of this episode was pretty great, in my estimation. New York looked wonderful, there were new and clever elements added to the mythology of the Angels (not least finally using the TARDIS to go back and retrieve someone dumped in the past, a waiting-to-be-used-as-a-major-plot-point part of their mythology if ever I saw one), some marvellously atmospheric and scary sequences, indeed great noir-ish direction throughout. Stuff like the book and the chapter headings were also clever.

Sadly, the ending -- the farewell to the Ponds -- didn't hold mustard for me. In a plot prone to holes as it was (and I'm sure there are even more if we stop to think about it), getting rid of the Doctor's beloved Ponds in a way that meant he could never see them again was surely #1 priority on the list of Things That Need To Make Absolute Sense. But no, it doesn't.

The Doctor can't travel back to New York in 1938 because of all the time paradoxes -- fair enough. Why not get them a few years later? Can the Doctor never ever go to New York ever again? Closes off that as a potential future location, but OK, it could be allowed. So why can't the Ponds leave New York? That's never established. Can the Doctor never visit anywhere else on planet Earth between 1938 and 2012? I doubt that. Can he not send them a letter? No one says why not. So why can't he send them a note to pop up the road, far enough away from all those TARDIS-bouncing paradoxes, and he'll go pick them up? If there's a reason why that can't be done, I missed it.

So for all the people crying about the Ponds' departure on twitter... I'm not one, because it doesn't hold up. And that's a shame, because "sent to the past by Angels to a place where the Doctor can't get them, but that's OK because they're happy together" is a nifty idea for an exit.

And still, everything up to that point was pretty good.

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]



QI
10x02 Jam, Jelly and Juice (XL edition)

Collection Count

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

Big changes are afoot this week, thanks to three new releases. There's The Raid and Masters of Cinema's Cleopatra making tweaks, but the big wave is caused by the Bond 50 box set. Not only does it contain all 22 official Bond films to date on Blu-ray, it also replaces 21 of my 22 individual editions (depends on the state of special features, and if I can bear to part with its lovely box, whether I sell the Casino Royale Deluxe Edition).

So while the total number of films barely moves, it's a big old shift for total titles, DVDs and discs (all 21 of those upgrades go from two DVDs to a single BD). Exciting times.

Number of titles in collection: 1,491 [down 18]
Of which DVDs: 1,142 [down 21]
Of which Blu-rays: 349 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,702 [down 16]
Number of films in collection: 1,507 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,679 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 365 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Arrested Development
1x04 Key Decisions
1x05 Charity Drive
It's always hard when you watch something regarded by so many as The Greatest Ever to determine whether you're meant to absolutely love it from the get-go or if it gets good later. The equally geek-beloved Community, for instance, apparently takes something like 19 episodes to get good. Arrested Development, I don't know -- it's certainly highly amusing, but not Best Thing Ever great.

Comedy World Cup
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Suburgatory
1x13 Sex in the Suburbs
Unnoticed downloading troubles meant I accidentally skipped 12. Just as they developed some proper ongoing storylines too! Ah well, no huge disturbance.

Wallander [film series]
Sidetracked Part 2 (of 2) (aka Villospår)
See yesterday.

TV

Pointless
6x43 (11/5/12 edition)


Wallander [film series]
Sidetracked Part 1 (of 2) (aka Villospår)

For those not in the know, this is what we (well, I) call "the other Swedish Wallander", despite it being the original screen iteration of the character. Having finished the 26 films staring Krister Henriksson in the role, BBC Four aired some of these Rolf Lassgård-starring adaptations from December 2010 to January 2011.

They promised more later that year, but clearly someone got distracted (probably by The Killing and co) and it took them until July 2012 to air some more. They're also thoroughly out of sequence: having started with the sixth they moved on to the eighth, back to the seventh, then the ninth (and final) one, and here we have the fourth (to be followed by the fifth).

This one was made in 2001 but looks cheaper and older, so goodness knows what the first three (made between 1994 and 1996) look like -- maybe that's why they've not shown them. Anyway, it's all suitably grim and European… and for some reason has its credits in German. Goodness knows.

Films

Unauthorized: The Harvey Weinstein Project (2011)
[#81 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Articles

JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy: Review round-up
by Mayer Nissim (from Digital Spy)

After the single review yesterday, here's... well, it says, doesn't it.

TV

British Legends of Stage and Screen
1x03 Sir Christopher Lee
Interesting and informative documentary about the life and work of Sir Christopher Lee, based around a new interview with him.
[Watch it (again), for a fee, on Sky Go.]

The Graham Norton Show
11x05 (11/5/12 edition)

The Great British Bake Off
3x07 Sweet Dough
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

JK Rowling review: The Casual Vacancy breaks Harry Potter's spell
by Allison Pearson (from The Telegraph)

It's a three-star review, but by golly it's persuaded me I want to read the book! Can't wait to see the reactions from inattentive parents who merrily let their little kiddy Potter fans read it, and from Americans. Just Americans -- their moral reaction will be essentially of the level of kids, I expect.

TV

Mock the Week
11x09 (20/9/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Person of Interest
1x06 The Fix
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

The Rob Brydon Show
3x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Vexed
2x05 Episode 5

TV

Arrested Development
1x01 Pilot
1x02 Top Banana
1x03 Bringing Up Buster
Everyone seems to go on about this being The Greatest Sitcom Of All Time Ever™, so as it's on Netflix, of which I am currently enjoying a free one-month trial, I decided to give it a go. And it is indeed very good. Hard to say how good, because of course it comes massively hyped and I'm only a few episodes in, but it is most definitely good. I particularly like the "next time" trails that are nothing or the sort. Very neat.

Once Upon a Time
1x18 The Stable Boy
And straight back down to its regular laughable level. Ah well. Only four left...

Suburgatory
1x11 Out in the Burbs
Having had to switch to downloads to keep up, I'm now pulling ahead of E4. Hey-ho.

Who Do You Think You Are?
9x05 Hugh Dennis
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Review: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 Won't Disappoint Bat-Fans
by Alex Zalben (from MTV Geek!)

I've had this for about a week or so now and haven't got round to it yet. Which is a shame, cos it's out tomorrow (Tuesday) in the US and I could've tied in a review. But hey-ho, this piece is interesting, and may inform my eventual comments.

TV

Downton Abbey
3x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Dragons' Den
10x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Person of Interest
1x05 Judgment
There was a lot of debate about the spelling of "judgement" recently, surrounding the posters for Dredd, which used "judgment" despite being a British thing. According to Wikipedia, both are acceptable in the UK, while only the E-less form is used in the US... but clearly we think of the with-an-E version as being British (in fairness, it's more common, and matches other spelling rules better). All this is relevant here because, while Channel 5's site uses the E-less form (see below), US site TV.com's listing for the episode is with-an-E (see above). So that's weird then.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Suburgatory
1x10 Driving Miss Dalia
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

RoboCop (1987)
[#80 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

this week on 100 Films

Two new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Supervillain Showdown!

Despicable Me vs. Megamind

2010 saw the release of two apparently-similar animated films, both dealing with the superhero genre from the perspective of the supervillain. As it turns out only one really does that, but still, it seems a reasonable point of comparison.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...

Hot Fuzz (2007)

I wasn’t hyped enough about this film to pay £10 to see it a week before release, and instead paid just £3.75 to see it in a big screen with just myself and a friend. ... It’s five-and-a-half years on, so of course prices will have gone up, but nonetheless I have two observations:

1) The cost of a regular (peak time) adult ticket is now £9.
2) The cost of the equivalent ticket to the one I bought is £5.40. That’s a 44% increase.

Read more here.


James Bond @ 100 Films

With the Bond 50 Blu-ray box set out on Monday, I thought now was as good a time as any to bring 100 Films’ previous Bond reviews over to the new blog.

Featuring reviews of For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, Casino Royale (2006), and Quantum of Solace.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Comedy World Cup
1x01 Episode 1
Daft title, fun format: teams of comedians answer questions about comedy. I especially liked it because I did really well, particularly on the film round. If only I was a stand-up...
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


Doctor Who
33x04 The Power of Three

How appropriate that this episode coincided with the release of the iPhone 5! Couldn't have planned it better if they tried.

That coincidence aside, I thought it was a very good episode. It looks the sore thumb amongst a raft of big blockbuster episodes (Daleks! Dinosaurs! Western! Angels! New York!), but if they're big bold exciting concepts and imagery than this was the episode of blockbusting emotions, with the Ponds and the Doctor giving serious thought to their relationships. The cubes were a neat idea with a spectacularly average resolution, but that barely mattered alongside the real point of the episode: the Doctor clashing with the Ponds' regular life.

Plus, genuine chills when they revealed the identity of Kate Stewart's father. Fabulous.

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


QI
10x01 Jargon (XL edition)
Ah, the return of QI. Hilarious, yes, but another year of trying to ensure you've seen all the episodes amongst the BBC's random scheduling and surprisingly frequent ditching of the XL version. And considering they pump out a massive 16 (or more) episodes per series now, I have absolutely no idea if I've seen them all or not.

Films

Ip Man 2 (2010)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Crikey, is it really well over a year since I watched the first one?! Time flies.

Collection Count

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

This week, as well as new acquisitions, I finished my previously-half-hearted new shorts total -- hence why it's gone up by nearly 350 (plus one for Item 47). Which also proves it was worth doing. I thought I had a couple of collections and one or two here and there on various feature film releases, which I suppose might've reached 100-ish, so I was quite blown away by the final tally.

In the process the total number of films also somehow fell by 16 (and rose again with new purchases) and TV episodes went up by 19 (and, again, new purchases). Quite how that happened I have no idea, but it must've been warranted.

Number of titles in collection: 1,509 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 346 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 3,718 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,504 [down 14]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,679 [up 21]
Number of short films in collection: 365 ['up' 346]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gates
1x05 Episode 5 [season finale]
Enjoyed that overall. Be nice if they brought it back.


The Newsroom
1x10 The Greater Fool [season finale]

Well, that was a mixed bag. Just like the rest of the series, so it's only fitting.

The flashforwards/present-day-stuff meant there was absolutely no tension in any of the flashbacks, despite it being written and directed as if there was meant to be, while the Jim-Maggie-Don triangle teases us with the hope of resolution but, nope, it's going to soldier on regardless. At least Will's death threats didn't sink to the level of having him shot in some cliched attempt at a cliffhanger. Thank heavens for small mercies.

And yet despite all that, some of the dialogue is fast and funny and clever, and the meeting scene with Leona and Reese was kinda satisfying (even if Leona hadn't been in it enough to build up quite enough of a genuine threat), and all the stuff with how evil the Tea Party should be force fed to all Americans.

So, y'know, highs and lows.