TV

Elementary
1x01 Pilot
The US answer to Sherlock is, unsurprisingly, not as good. It's not a very good version of Sherlock Holmes fullstop, to be honest, as Sherlockology detailed the other day. As a US cop show it's not too bad, so there's that at least, and Jonny Lee Miller's performance is quite good. Lucy Liu seems to have all the expression Botox can buy though.

Friday Night Dinner
2x03 The Loft
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Great British Bake Off
3x11 Masterclass 1
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
44x02 (19/10/12 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Red Dwarf
10x04 Entangled

Films

Skyfall (2012)
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Read my initial thoughts on the latest James Bond movie here.

TV

Hebburn
1x01 Welcome to Hebburn, Pet
This seems to fall into some weird space between very funny and dully predictable. Perhaps it will level out over time. I also thought it felt a bit like a BBC Three Gavin & Stacey, which, considering which show started on which channel, is a bit ironic.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Hunted
1x03 Hourglass
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
1x07 Episode Seven [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Grand Designs
12x05 The Derelict Water Tower
I think I read somewhere that this was the 100th house Grand Designs has covered (in the Radio Times, in fact), which is pretty incredible really. But they didn't mention that in the programme itself, so I thought maybe it was another episode. Either way, this was a particularly stunning build/renovation, so if it was the 100th it was a very worthy one.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Rolf's Animal Clinic
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

3 Men and a Little Lady (1990)
[2nd watch]

Goldfinger (1964)
[5th or so watch]
I'll be reviewing this as #85a in 100 Films 2012, alongside the other '60s Bond films, at a later date. I've covered it on here before, back in November 2008.

TV

Comedy World Cup
1x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


Person of Interest
1x13 Root Cause

Apparently Channel 5 stopped showing this a few episodes back, for no good reason (to reduce the gap between season one and already-started-in-the-US season two I read somewhere, but why take a break mid-season as opposed to end of season?! Bloody stupid). I accidentally switched to downloading it a little while back though, so on I plough.

As for the episode itself... having started with no on-going plot threads, here they bring an apparently-one-off guest star back and kick off a new mystery -- how many do they need now?! Which ones are season-long, which series-long, which just an episode or three? Or are they playing the Downton game of never giving the audience a clue just how long a thread will take to unfurl? Though uncommon, that does have its advantages.

Articles

Sherlockology reviews Elementary
by Sherlockology (from Site)

"Scathing" would be an understatement for this review by the Holmes fansite. I haven't watched the show yet myself (I'd've told you if I had, wouldn't I?), but these seem very well-reasoned and plausible arguments. I can certainly believe it's just any-old US crime drama with Holmesian names tacked on, because that's just what it's always looked like.

Anyway, I'll still start it soon and see what I think for myself.


Skyfall - 10 things you probably didn't know about the new James Bond movie
by David Brown (from Radio Times)

Some interesting snippets of trivia about the latest Bond adventure. Exactly half of them are about just the pre-titles sequence, mind.

TV

Cuckoo
1x04 Ken on E
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Starlings
1x05 Episode Five

Articles

The Best James Bond Novels: Ranking the Fleming Originals
by Jeff O'Neal (from Book Riot)

Quite a good overview of Fleming's 12 Bond novels (skipping the two short story collections or any of the 30 continuation novels & film novelisations), but written from a faintly annoying America perspective. If that sounds jingoistic, skip to #9 ("Bond is so attuned to European sensibilities... seeing [him] in Japan and dealing with a radically different worldview is refreshing, as he is as clueless about the custom of the country as we are in the rest of the novels") or #5 ("Strengths: Felix Leiter, Bond’s friend and opposite number in the CIA, makes the most of his biggest part in any of the novels").

I've not actually read all the novels myself so can't comment fully, but coincidentally I've read the top three and that's not the order I'd put them in.


Top 10 James Bond Opening Credit Sequences
by Rodney Twelftree (from Top 10 Films)

It's complete coincidence that these two Bond top lists have come up on the same evening. Much like the last one, I don't disagree (much, if at all) with the selection, but I would tweak the order.

TV

Dragons' Den
10x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

QI
10x06 Joints (XL edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Knight and Day (2010)

advertised as spy-action-movie spoofery, it should come as no surprise that that’s the kind of film it is... Plenty of reviews and online commenters have expressed disappointment with the film, perhaps expecting something else — sometimes it pays to listen to the advertising, eh?

Read more here.


War Horse (2011)

It might be best to define the film as an epic. It’s a relatively intimate one, focusing in on a handful of characters at a time rather than cutting back and forth between various groups, but the way it does move along several sets of characters, across varied locations, and through a lengthy stretch of time, all command a feeling of a grand story.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...


The Golden Compass (2007)

[it] received quite the critical drubbing on its cinematic release, and wasn’t a huge success at the US box office either, which has cast doubt on the prospects of the following two instalments ever being produced. Which is a shame, because this is actually a fine family fantasy film.

Read more here.


Heaven Knows, Mr. Alison (1957)

The title may sound like a ’40s rom-com or a ’70s TV sitcom, but it's nothing of the sort. It’s set in the south Pacific in 1944, at the height of World War II, and begins with titular US Marine Allison (Robert Mitchum) washing up on an island that’s occupied only by a novice nun, Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr). With no hope of rescue they must plot their own escape.

Read more here.


The King of Comedy (1983)

Underrated black comedy from the prolific partnership of director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro. De Niro gives an excellent performance as an obsessive wannabe comedian, stalking the host of a popular talk show in his desperation for a guest spot. The depth of his delusion is both hilariously funny and deeply unsettling

Read more here.


Pale Rider (1985)

The mysterious stranger isn’t a gunslinger, or a do-gooder, or the new sheriff, or anything else. He is, on the one hand, a preacher — “surely a man of God is opposed to violence?”, etc. — and on the other, is he even human? Either way, it’s a bit different.

Read more here.


Snakes on a Plane (2006)

It certainly captured the imagination of online geekdom, who knew everything they wanted just from those four words and famously launched a viral marketing campaign for a film they’d not seen. Ultimately, it’s for that reason it will be remembered, because without the evocative title and the reaction it provoked this would be forgotten quicker than Samuel L. Jackson can utter his Oedipal expletive-laden catchphrase.

Read more here.


That Touch of Mink (1962)

It’s also briskly paced and constantly amusing, including some real laugh-out-loud moments. In particular, a punchline delivered by two ladies from a centre for unwed mothers was one of my favourite comedy lines for a good while. (Built as it is on a series of events, it doesn’t bear repeating in print.)

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
12x01 (19/10/12 edition)
I will finish watching the last series at some point, but it seemed to make sense to try to get back into the habit by watching the new ones.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Merlin
5x03 The Death Song of Uther Pendragon
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
9x10 (30/9/10 edition) [2nd watch]
Ah, late night Dave. See also: Not Going Out.

Not Going Out
2x06 Dating [2nd watch]
Ah, late night Dave. See also: Mock the Week.

Suburgatory
1x19 Entering Eden

Collection Count

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

After last week's shortfall, this week sees most of the damned things arrive. Indeed, all four of them should've turned up for last week, and none of the other stuff that might've come this week has. Why have etailers got so slow?!

Amongst the stuff that has arrived is Masters of Cinema's Die Nibelungen, a long-awaited release (the restoration has taken half a decade or so) that's officially out on Monday (I intended to watch it in advance, but not got round to it yet).

Also, the Indiana Jones Complete Adventures set, in its limited edition form. That means I really should ditch my old DVDs... but, though all of its extras have been brought over, the 2003 set (of the original trilogy) is a rather pretty one; and as to the fourth film, the vast majority of its bonus content has been ditched for this release. Disappointing. I think I'll hang on to the lot for now.

Number of titles in collection: 1,497 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,145 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 352 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 3,716 [up 10]
Number of films in collection: 1,515 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,686 [up 7]
Number of short films in collection: 367 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Monroe
2x03 Episode 3
Apparently New Tricks is absolutely trashing this in the ratings, which is a shame because this is quite good while the BBC old timers cop show is actually quite rubbish. Hopefully ITV bear the regular dominance of said competition in mind when it comes to considering whether to recommission Monroe.
[For some reason currently unavailable on ITV Player.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x04 Episode 4
How can a show filled with such huge irritants (Nick Grimshaw, Conor Maynard, Nancy Dell'Olio) be so funny?!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

QI
10x05 J-Places (XL edition)
Every once in a while, you wonder if they couldn't've come up with a better episode title...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spy
2x01 Codename: Growing Rogue
So glad this is back, it's genius. And for 11 episodes too! Super.

Adam Hills signs a deal with Channel 4
(from The British Comedy Guide)

Who'd've thought a series about the Paralympics would be recommissioned? But The Last Leg went down so well you can see why they'd want to bring it back, and so they are -- hurrah! I imagine it won't be so wholly focussed on sport... probably...

TV

Comedy World Cup
1x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Hunted
1x02 LB
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
1x06 Episode Six
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Red Dwarf
10x03 Lemons

Films

War Horse (2011)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Comics

Saga Chapter One by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

I've been hearing tonnes of praise for Saga for months now, but half ignored it for no particular reason. Inspired to look into it (again, for no particular reason), the description of it as a mature (as in "for grown-ups", not as in "hehehe porn") mixture of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones actually sounded right up my street. Then I discovered you can get this first issue for free on digital comics monopoly Comixology, so I did. Worth noting that it's double the length of a normal comic (more than double what you get in some these days), so it really is an exceptionally good free preview.

As for what it's actually like... Well, it certainly throws you in at the deep end of a complex world with lots of catching up to do. Thank goodness it is double length, because by the end of a typical first issue it's barely got anywhere. There's some intriguing stuff, but there's also a lot of good ol' modern decompressed storytelling, and I don't find the art detailed enough to support that personally. So, intrigued, but also unconvinced.

Additionally, I discovered the paperback collection of issues one to six is available in a "specially priced volume" -- presumably to get you started, then make you pay regular prices for future volumes. Not convinced it's worth spending money to continue though. I shall consider.

TV

Friday Night Dinner
2x02 Mr Morris
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
1x04 Episode Four
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Person of Interest
1x12 Legacy

TV

Cuckoo
1x03 Ken on E
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Great British Bake Off
3x10 The Final
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Have I Got News For You
44x01 (12/10/12 edition; extended repeat)
It's only four months since the last series ended?! It feels like forever when it's away.
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]