this week on 100 Films

One new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)

more amiable than its “oh, you didn’t” title might suggest, but that’s about all. Shakespeare certainly has nothing to worry about.

Read more here.


Additionally, new to the new blog were...


Knowing (2009)

There are attempts at giving the characters depth, but these are more about giving them a reason to care about the plot than making them three dimensional human beings. But I’d suggest if you’re watching a film like Knowing with the intention of focusing on the characters rather than the mystery then you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

Read more here.


Shoot 'Em Up (2007)

packed to bursting with utterly ludicrous — but, consequently, ludicrously cool — action sequences. It’s fast-paced, witty, and endlessly inventive. As the action genre goes, this is pure entertainment.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Merlin
5x02 Arthur's Bane Part Two
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Suburgatory
1x17 Independence Day

Films

Prometheus (2012)
[#83 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Articles

Skyfall Review Round Up! The best Bond film ever?
by Matthew Harkin (from CommanderBond.net)

I guess there was a Skyfall screening on Friday night, because just after midnight Saturday the 'net seemed to be flooded with reviews. The overall impression is very positive, and here's a thorough round-up.

Collection Count

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

Should've been more this week. A helluva lot more, actually. Bit disappointed. Oh well, it'll all turn up next week... probably...

Number of titles in collection: 1,493 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,143 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 350 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,706 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,508 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,679 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 367 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Mock the Week
11x12 (11/10/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Monroe
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
1x03 Episode Three
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Comedy World Cup
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Person of Interest
1x10 Number Crunch
Having started with no discernible arc plot(s), they've not only developed them but are really rattling on with them. I wonder if they have some very grand overarching plan, or are just going to burn out by the end of the first season, or start fast and then string things out forever...
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Tuesday 16th October.]

Red Dwarf
10x02 Fathers and Suns

Articles

This Batcave made of 20,000 LEGO bricks is fit for Bruce Wayne
by Cyriaque Lamar (from io9)

This. Is. Amazing. I want one.

More pics & stuff here and here.

TV

Friday Night Dinner
2x01 Buggy
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Great British Bake Off
3x09 Patisserie
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

RoboCop 2 (1990)
[#82 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Articles

The Entitlement Thing
by Stephen Gallagher (from Hauling Like a Brooligan)

A great piece on the attitude people have towards criticising TV/film/etc now, with specific reference to Doctor Who. If that doesn't quite make sense, here's a choice quote:

And disappointment seems to come very easily to many people, these days, with every new genre piece being released to the sound of sharpening knives. Our culture has become like a birthing pool full of crocodiles. There was a time when the response to new material was to invest in it, meet it halfway, go all the way to find something to love in it. [Now,] the default setting seems to be one of outrage that our specific expectations haven't been met.

TV

Hunted
1x01 Mort
New spy thriller from the makers of Spooks. Flawed, but quite good overall. Hope it can keep it up/improve. (Despite looking as if it's intended as a one-off serial, they've reportedly signed up a new writer in anticipation of a second run, so we'll go with series-ish episode numbering for now.)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
11x11 (4/10/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Suburgatory
1x16 Poetic Injustice

TV

Cuckoo
1x02 Family Meeting
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

QI
10x04 Jack and Jill (XL edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Shoot 'Em Up (2008)
[2nd watch]

I don't do much re-watching of films generally, mainly because I get focused on 100 Films and repeat viewings don't count, but after this was on Channel 5 last night and I posted my old review to the new blog (it was 2008's #66), I felt the urge. And it was as much daft OTT action-comedy fun as I remembered it being, so that was nice.

Articles

Fox Wanted Extended Prometheus Blu-ray, Ridley Scott Said No
by Brendon Connelly (from Bleeding Cool)

That perhaps explains some of the speculation/rumours that the BD was going to contain some form of Director's Cut. I'm looking forward to finally seeing the controversial film now that he Blu-ray's out... just got to wait for mine to turn up in the post...


Masters of Cinema Monthly October 2012 – Fear and Desire, The Blue Angel, Onibaba, City of Women, La Poison and an Interview with Soul Power Director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
by Craig Skinner (from Bleeding Cool)

The January and February releases from Masters of Cinema were announced today via Eureka's twitter feed, and Bleeding Cool's article has the most thorough coverage (press release, covers, initial extras).

To summarise what that typically unwieldy title already covers (more or less), the Blu-rays are, in January, The Blue Angel (including the simultaneously-shot English-language version) and Kubrick's Fear and Desire (both of which are must-buys for me), and in February, La Poison, Fellini's City of Women, and a Blu-ray upgrade for Onibaba (which are less thrilling for my personally).

For another concise personal take on the titles, see Hope Lies' piece.

TV

Busy day in front of the telly...

Downton Abbey
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Lorraine's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food
1x04 Baking It

Merlin
5x01 Arthur's Bane Part One
I think the popularity of Merlin has caught some people by surprise. It started off OK, a lesser Doctor Who-slot drama, but as the series has grown so its audience seems to have been established -- this season five premiere gained around 6 million viewers according to the overnights, leaving it just behind Strictly and X Factor. It's in the same ballpark as Who these days, rather than a couple of million behind it. I wouldn't argue it's that good, but it is still fun with an increased edge as it's grown older. And as the producers always said they had a five year plan, perhaps getting somewhere fast too.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Peep Show
4x03 Gym
4x04 Handyman
Remember when I watched the first ever episode of Peep Show and didn't like it so never watched it again (despite what I said)? Yeah. But this was on Dave when I wasn't feeling so well and I just let it happen. And it was quite good, actually.

Person of Interest
1x09 Get Carter
Much like Suburgatory, having to download to catch up got me in the habit and now I've overtaken C5. Oh well.
[Watch it on Demand 5 from Tuesday 9th October.]

Suburgatory
1x15 Fire with Fire

this week on 100 Films

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

But before that, October has just begun, so here's the September update.

And with that out of the way, those reviews...


The Negotiator (1998)

As premises go, “hostage negotiator turns hostage taker” is a doozy. You can immediately imagine all the drama to be had from pitting The Best Negotiator In The World against The Second Best Negotiator In The World — he’ll know all the techniques! He’ll… well, mainly the techniques one. But also his colleagues will be working against him — will they be on his side? Or against him? It practically writes itself.

Read more here.


Unknown (2011)

In the film’s special features, producer Leonard Goldberg talks about how, having made thrillers his whole life, when he starts reading or watching them he can usually figure it all out early on, but the novel on which Unknown is based managed to surprise him. Thinking if it could surprise him it might surprise others too, he snapped up the rights, and I must say I think he was right.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...

Melinda and Melinda (2004)

One might argue that this is a remake of Sliding Doors, but only in a superficial and unsustainable way. Here, two stories are told, both taking the same premise — a Manhattan dinner party is interrupted — but one is told as a tragedy and one is told as a comedy. The only common factor is Radha Mitchell’s Melinda, who takes on a very different role in each tale.

Read more here.


Taken (2008)

remember Man On Fire? The Tony Scott/Denzel Washington one. Well, replace Washington with Neeson and Dakota Fanning’s character with “his daughter” and you’ve more or less got it. Taken is practically a remake, only in Europe, with a happier ending, and an hour shorter. It’s also not as good, but that’s a different matter.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week. I'm a bit under the weather at the moment, hence the overnight delay in this post. I doubt anyone noticed.

And there's not much at all to notice this week, either. I would've had Prometheus and the Indiana Jones BDs in the past, but all websites seem to be rubbish at getting pre-orders out early these days; plus for those I went with sites who have always been bad at it, so what do you expect.

In other news, it's the running time update. Big new Bond box set could make a large impact... except it replaces all the equivalent films on DVD. Still, that makes it 4.167% longer anyway...

Number of titles in collection: 1,492 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,143 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 349 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,703 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,507 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,679 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 367 [up 2]

And the running time update goes as follows...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
269 days and 40 minutes.
(Down 6 hours and 32 minutes from last month.)

...oh. I must confess, I'm not entirely sure how it's gone down. But that's what it says, so...

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Comedy World Cup
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Dragons' Den
10x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Monroe
2x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
1x05 Episode Five
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Dr. No (1962)
[4th or so watch]

50 years ago yesterday, Dr. No hit cinemas and a phenomenon was born. What more appropriate to watch on James Bond Day (well, just after it) than this?

I'm also hoping it'll be the start of a complete re-watch of all the Bond films, now on Blu-ray. I've tried twice before (once covered in part on this very blog) but not yet made it all the way through in a reasonable period of time. Third time lucky…

And therefore, all going to plan, I'll be reviewing this as #81a in 100 Films 2012, alongside the other '60s Bond films, at a later date. This is also one of the ones I covered on here before, back in June 2008.