TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2012-13 Episode 6 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Miranda
3x02 What a Surprise
Such fun.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

That Dog Can Dance!
Awww.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

2012: A Funny Old Year
Well that was spectacularly mediocre.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Castle
2x24 A Deadly Game [season finale]
Great episode. Hope C5 don't make it too long before they embark on season three. I mean, I could download it (they're on, what, five now in the US?), but...
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Celebrity Mastermind
2012-13 Episode 5 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Little Crackers
3x01 Baby, Be Blonde
Being Joanna Lumley's.

Restless
Part 2 (of 2)
Great conclusion, even if it was a tad dense and confusing in places. I'd quite like to read the novel now, too.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2012
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Celebrity Mastermind
2012-13 Episode 4 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Graham Norton Show
12x10 New Year's Eve
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Little Crackers
3x12 Le Concert de L'école [season finale]
Being Darren Boyd's.

The Mentalist
5x09 Black Cherry
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

New Year Live 2012
Fireworks! Yay!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Restless
Part 1 (of 2)
Good period spy drama (double period, in fact, as it's set in both the '40s and the '70s), but I've no idea what the title means.
I'm also not sure that "look, it's Michael Gambon!" works as a cliffhanger when his name's in the opening credits.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

The Plank (1967)
[#97 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

And that's 100 Films for 2012 done... at less than 100 films. Oh well.

Articles

Skyfall becomes first $1 billion James Bond movie
by Simon Reynolds (from Digital Spy)

Skyfall has also crossed the £100 million barrier at the UK box office, making it the first movie to achieve that milestone.

Huzzah!

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2012-13 Episode 2 (of 10)
2012-13 Episode 3 (of 10)
[Watch episodes two and three (again) on iPlayer.]

James May's Toy Stories
Flight Club
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Little Crackers
3x04 Nutcracker
3x05 The Autograph
Being, respectively, Caroline Quentin's and Alison Steadman's. (And I must add, it's a complete accident I watched these in 'order' and following on from watching two and three on Friday -- they're listed randomly on Virgin's catch-up and so I've been choosing them randomly.)

QI
10x14 Jingle Bells (XL edition)
If for any reason anyone persists in watching the 30-minute edition, they really do miss out on some quite interesting stuff.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Stiff Upper Lips (1998)
[#96 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

this week on 100 Films

The 100 Films 2012 Advent Calendar came to an end this week and... golly, was Christmas less than a week ago? Feels forever!

Anyway, that means two brand-new reviews were published to finish that off, and they were...


Cowboys & Aliens: Extended Director's Cut (2011)

It’s still an action-adventure summer blockbuster, but with pretensions at times to be a Western drama. I think that’s the fundamental problem with the entire film, and probably why it feels slow... One wonders if these particular writers, versed in the art of the blockbuster, don’t really know what they’re doing.

Read more here.


Skyfall (2012)

I had been intending to write a sort-of commentary on Skyfall, talking through my opinion of the film on a scene-by-scene basis. But then I thought it a bit too distant to write now. And then I sat down and it happened anyway. So here is a 4,400 word (yes, really) natter through the film in broadly chronological order, but taking asides to discuss particular elements in their entirety.

It contains whopping great spoilers about almost everything, just in case you hadn’t guessed.

Read more here.


With the advent calendar over, I've returned to reposting old reviews. Also new to the new blog, then, were...


Alice in Wonderland (3D) (2010)

Burton has created a sort of "Alice 2", crafting a new plot from the novels’ elements... Consequently, this new Alice positions itself freshly in two ways: one, as “Burton’s version”, and two, by following in the footsteps of the specific side of the filmic fantasy genre started by Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings.

Read more here.


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Despite the modern stylings, dark themes and attention-grabbing characters, much of the film unfolds as a procedural whodunnit like, for instance, the Wallanders, complete with piles of red herrings and last-minute twists.

Read more here.


The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)

One solution to the sequel problem is to “make it personal”, and that’s exactly what we get... A journalist and his girlfriend working for Mikael are murdered and Lisbeth is suspected of the crime. It’s somewhere around here that the coincidences begin to pile up. It makes perfect sense as a plot in itself, but in bringing Mikael and Lisbeth back together it doesn’t work.

Read more here.


The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest (2009)

The final third of the film is dominated by a series of immensely satisfying courtroom scenes in which the defence trounce the opposition, not through American-esque grandstanding but through a quiet and thorough application of facts and truth. You can see the satisfaction bubbling under Lisbeth’s almost-static face as the prosecution unknowingly hang themselves

Read more here.


How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

I saw a trailer for How to Train Your Dragon a few months before release. I thought it looked to have basic animation and a too daft tone. I wrote it off, expecting the kind of animated movie that would be slagged off as a Pixar-wannabe… My impression from the trailer was massively wrong. How to Train Your Dragon is, as everyone else has likely already impressed upon you, brilliant.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Castle
2x23 Overkill
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

It'll be Alright on the Night
(28/12/12 edition)

Mock the Week
11x13 Christmas Special [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Panto!
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Iron Sky (2012)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]

Not looking good for 100...

Collection Count

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

This is the first post-Christmas update, and it was a relatively light haul this year (lots of books instead). Still, it did include the 31-disc Harry Potter Wizards Collection, and the large and awesome limited edition of Lawrence of Arabia. Both are instant centrepieces to a collection.

Also, the digibook re-release of Peter Jackson's King Kong (not replacing my old DVDs (at least not just yet) because I don't think it's even close to having all the extras); plus E.T. (which I'm moderately certain I've never seen) and the new release of A Trip to the Moon. Post Christmas purchases include Underworld: Awakening (it was only a fiver) and... other stuff that hasn't arrived.

All BDs except Trip to the Moon, and Lawrence replaces my old DVD, which you'll see reflected in these numbers...

Number of titles in collection: 1,521 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,146 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 375 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 3,834 [up 36]
Number of films in collection: 1,600 [up 14]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,700 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 374 [up 1]

And just to make it a bumper bonus of excitement, this week it's the regularly scheduled running time update too! As I'm not expecting anything on Monday, this also serves as an end-of-2012 update. Shiny.

So without further ado...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
276 days, 18 hours, and 57 minutes.
(Up 3 days, 14 hours, and 11 minutes from last month.)

That's a pretty big jump these days.Happy times.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2012-13 Episode 1 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Dragons' Den
10x13 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Little Crackers
3x03 Howler
3x02 Rainy Days & Mondays
Being, respectively, Tommy Tiernan's and Rebecca Front's.

Stephen Fry: Gadget Man
1x06 Christmas Special [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

Downton Abbey
3x09 A Journey to the Highlands [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Live at the Apollo
8x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
at Christmas
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Spy
2x11 Codename: Show Stopper [Christmas special]
2x12 Behind the Scenes
If the technical-season-finale resolved most of the season's on-going plot threads, this resolves the rest -- including some stuff that's formed part of the backbone of the entire series. But it also definitively sets it up for a third run, so hurrah!
Plus, an uncommonly serious-minded making-of for a comedy show, but also good fun with it. Win-win.

TV

Castle
2x22 Food To Die For
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Have I Got News For You
44x10 (21/12/12 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Little Crackers
3x06 The Awkward Age
Sky show these in all sorts of different orders, so I figured I may as well jump in where I please -- it's not like they really form a series. Plus they're all over the place on catch-up (listed individually as, for instance, Dylan Moran's Little Cracker, rather than as a series of Little Crackers), so what's a man to do?
I like the addition of making-of attachments this year, but that might just be me.

Miranda
3x01 It Was Panning
Hurrah for the much-belated return of Miranda! And I thought it was fabulous too, so even better.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Paddy's 2012 Show and Telly
I remembered this as being not too bad last year, but clearly I wiped it from my memory because looking it up now I hated it. And this one was definitely awful. Just... ugh.
[Watch it (again), if you must, on ITV Player.]

The Sarah Millican Television Programme
2x00 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

World's Biggest Pets
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Articles

DIY Tardis looks bigger on inside with augmented reality
by Leo Kelion (from BBC News)

Kinda awesome. I'm sure someone at the BBC is now beavering away to make this a toy people can buy. And if they're not, they should be.

TV

Doctor Who
33x06 The Snowmen [Christmas special]

Well I thought that was a properly Christmassy and properly special Christmas special, with some real magic moments (the "taller on the inside" staircase, for just one). Considering I've found myself moderately underwhelmed by large chunks of the last two series, and didn't care for last year's Christmas special, it was a nice to finally just enjoy some Who.

Also, it was completely standalone, which a good Doctor Who Christmas special really should be, but also was absolutely aware of what had gone on in the first half of this season and considerably set up what's to come in the second half. Nice job, Mr Moffat.

Plus, Ian McKellen was awesome, Richard E Grant wasn't irritating (in fact, he was pretty good too), and as much as I hated Oswin Oswald in Asylum of the Daleks, I liked Clara here. So that was a nice surprise!

The other Big New Things were, of course: the TARDIS interior, which I like stylistically but seems a bit small after the grandiose last one; the new theme music, which sounded like the build-up of the old one (with added bass), but lacking the big dramatic proper-theme pay-off; and a new title sequence, which I thought was fantastic. 1.5 out of 3 on those counts, then, but maybe the rest just takes some getting used to.

All in all, I think it was a certifiable success.

(I rather like the poster, a full-size version of which should be viewable here.)

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


Friday Night Dinner
2x07 Christmas [special]
aka Mark Heap Christmas Special 2 of 3.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


The Mentalist
5x08 Red Sails in the Sunset
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]


Rolf's Animal Clinic
1x07 Rolf's Animal Christmas [special]
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]


Room on the Broom
[#94a in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
Wasn't familiar with this one, from the writer, illustrator and filmmakers behind the two Gruffalos, but I loved it! Wonderful family entertainment.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Has 3D film-making had its day?
by Vincent Dowd (from BBC News)

"Not exactly, but maybe a bit," is kind of the conclusion of this balanced article -- a rare thing when it comes to 3D, which tends to come with a love-it or hate-it bias. Worth a read for the interested.

TV

Bring Me Morecambe & Wise
1x05 Christmas [final episode]

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

Have I Got News For You
44x09 (14/12/12 edition; extended repeat)

Merlin
5x13 The Diamond of the Day Part Two [series finale]
Well that surprised me -- I wasn't expecting anything nearly as definitive. They only announced it was the final finale recently, as if a sixth series was a genuine possibility. Perhaps they shot two endings? Who knows.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x13 Christmas Special [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Outnumbered
5x00 The Sick Party [Christmas special]
aka Mark Heap Christmas Special 1 of 3.
Took a while to get going, but it turned out OK. I think the kids are quite definitively too old for it now though -- Ben and Karen really seem to have shot up and matured in the last year. It would still be nice if they properly wrapped it up somehow, but I think it's time for that now.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Snowman
I haven't watched this since I was very little, but it is still rather magical.

TV

Doctor Who
33x05b Vastra Investigates
After the one we got during Children in Need, here's another brief prequel to Tuesday's Doctor Who Christmas special. Intriguing...
[Watch it (again) on the official Doctor Who site.]

The Graham Norton Show
12x09 (21/12/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Loving Miss Hatto
It must be Christmas -- I actually watched something when it was actually on! See also below.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Mr Stink
Quite marvellous this was -- perfect Christmastime family entertainment. Slightly wish I had a 3D TV to have seen its full effect; not because it needed the extra dimension, but just because... well, it's a gimmick, isn't it -- but sometimes a fun one. I don't think you can watch it online in 3D though. Heck, you can't even watch it in HD!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Spy
2x10 Codename: Last Scupper [season finale]
I say "season finale" -- there's a double-length Christmas special on Boxing Day that I should imagine picks up where this left off. But it was billed as the season finale nonetheless, and did rather wrap some things up at least.

this week on 100 Films

Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, Life got in the way of the 100 Films Advent Calendar this week. Nonetheless, five new reviews were published, and they were...


Conan the Barbarian (2011)

I just didn’t really care at any point. The plot kind of pings about through some disconnected set pieces, few of them particularly inspiring with the exception of one featuring ninja-types who are formed out of sand.

Read more here.


The Court Jester (1956)

I’d never heard of The Court Jester before it popped up on on-demand while I had Sky Movies for the Oscars, but apparently it’s “a television matinee favorite”. Maybe just in America (note the spelling in the quote); maybe it just passed me by. Either way, it’s an entertainment worth catching if you can. Get it?

Read more here.


The Return of the Musketeers (1989)

16 years after they first swashed their buckles for director Richard Lester, Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay and Richard Chamberlain return as the titular swordsmen in an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ Twenty Years After. As feats of sequalisation go, there’s something inherently pleasing about reassembling a cast and crew the best part of two decades later to adapt a tale set at a similar distance.

Read more here.


RoboCop (1987)

Hailed by those who love it as some kind of satirical masterpiece, RoboCop does manage to raise itself above other mindless ’80s action fare, at least to some degree. Equally, should you choose to watch it brain-off then I doubt you’ll be too troubled by its criticisms of corporate greed or the privatisation of public services

Read more here.


RoboCop 2 (1990)

The consensus opinion seems to be that the RoboCop films exist on a steep downward trajectory of quality, starting with the pretty-good first film and ending with the nadir-of-humanity third. In this equation the second lands, naturally, somewhere in the middle — not that good, but not so bad. Personally, I enjoyed it more than the first.

Read more here.


More next Sunday, including the final pair of reviews from the advent calendar!