The Graham Norton Show
13x10 (7/6/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Hoff's Best Film ...Ever!
1x02 The Hoff's Best Horror Film ...Ever!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Pointless Celebrities
3x08 (22/12/12 edition)
Friday, 14 June 2013
Articles
How Hit Movies Become Flops
by Matt Singer (from Criticwire)
As the new Superman movie hits cinemas, a look back at how the last one was and is regarded. The general gist:
What a Doctor Who-ha!
(from Private Eye)
Private Eye on the recent problems that have dogged Who. Nothing significantly new, though it does sum it up neatly. Especially this bit:
by Matt Singer (from Criticwire)
As the new Superman movie hits cinemas, a look back at how the last one was and is regarded. The general gist:
Weird fact: Superman Returns got good reviews when it was released, and made more money than Batman Begins. Now it's considered a flop.
What a Doctor Who-ha!
(from Private Eye)
Private Eye on the recent problems that have dogged Who. Nothing significantly new, though it does sum it up neatly. Especially this bit:
between January 2012 and June 2014, when under Doctor Who’s previously-accustomed schedule 41 episodes would have been broadcast, the BBC will actually put out a grand total of 16. That period includes the show’s 50th anniversary year, during which Moffat had announced: “I promise you, we’re going to take over television, trust me.”
Thursday, 13 June 2013
TV
Dexter
7x01 Are You...?
The final season of Dexter is imminent in the US (it starts on the 30th), so it's a good time to crack on with the penultimate one, which I believe finished airing in the UK a few weeks ago. There's a lot of weight on this episode, having to deal with the immediate fallout from last season's game-changing cliffhanger, as well as set-up the pieces and plots for this season's arc story. As such it's a bit establishing-y, but at least it comes to a conclusion even more unavoidable than last episode's.
How I Met Your Mother
8x20 The Time Travelers
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Up the Women
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
7x01 Are You...?
The final season of Dexter is imminent in the US (it starts on the 30th), so it's a good time to crack on with the penultimate one, which I believe finished airing in the UK a few weeks ago. There's a lot of weight on this episode, having to deal with the immediate fallout from last season's game-changing cliffhanger, as well as set-up the pieces and plots for this season's arc story. As such it's a bit establishing-y, but at least it comes to a conclusion even more unavoidable than last episode's.
How I Met Your Mother
8x20 The Time Travelers
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Up the Women
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Articles
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas predict film industry 'implosion'
by Ben Child (from the Guardian)
by Ben Child (from the Guardian)
"There's going to be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen megabudget movies are going to go crashing into the ground, and that's going to change the paradigm."
"I think eventually the Lincolns will go away and they're going to be on television," Lucas added. "As mine almost was," Spielberg interjected. "This close – ask HBO – this close."
"The pathway to get into theatres is really getting smaller and smaller," said Star Wars creator Lucas, pointing out that his own passion project, the war drama Red Tails, barely scraped into cinemas last year. "We're talking Lincoln and Red Tails – we barely got them into theatres," he said. "You're talking about Steven Spielberg and George Lucas can't get their movie into a theatre!"
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
TV
The Job Lot
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].
Poirot
13x01 Elephants Can Remember
And so the last-ever series of Poirot begins, funnily enough with an adaptation of the last novel written. Apparently the novel isn't that well regarded, but I thought it made for a good episode.
There are four more to go, but this being ITV they're not on weekly, so I hope they plan to screen the final one around the TV series' 25th anniversary, at the start of January 2014.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].
Poirot
13x01 Elephants Can Remember
And so the last-ever series of Poirot begins, funnily enough with an adaptation of the last novel written. Apparently the novel isn't that well regarded, but I thought it made for a good episode.
There are four more to go, but this being ITV they're not on weekly, so I hope they plan to screen the final one around the TV series' 25th anniversary, at the start of January 2014.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
TV
Mad Men
6x10 A Tale of Two Cities
Vicious
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
The series on the whole has been of variable quality, but I really liked this final episode. Weird how it paid off all the running jokes, though, as if they assumed it wouldn't be coming back -- there's a Christmas special, if nothing else.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
6x10 A Tale of Two Cities
Vicious
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
The series on the whole has been of variable quality, but I really liked this final episode. Weird how it paid off all the running jokes, though, as if they assumed it wouldn't be coming back -- there's a Christmas special, if nothing else.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Monday, 10 June 2013
TV
The Good Life
4x03 Our Speaker Today
Guest starring Robert Lindsay as a pervy young offender! Weird.
4x03 Our Speaker Today
Guest starring Robert Lindsay as a pervy young offender! Weird.
Podcasts
Nerd Poker: Dungeons and Dragons with Brian Posehn & Friends
Episode 7 Follow the Whispers
Five episodes in eight days, then nothing for a month, then nothing for six weeks? Such is my way.
Episode 7 Follow the Whispers
Five episodes in eight days, then nothing for a month, then nothing for six weeks? Such is my way.
Sunday, 9 June 2013
TV
Have I Got News For You
45x09 (31/5/2013 edition; extended repeat) [season finale]
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]
Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Ripper Street
1x04 The Good of This City
45x09 (31/5/2013 edition; extended repeat) [season finale]
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]
Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Ripper Street
1x04 The Good of This City
Films
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
[#56 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
This lost out on a number of awards (especially at the Oscars) thanks at least in part to that year's pair of awards darlings, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Personally, I thought it was considerably better than either of those.
As of Monday morning, you can read my full review here.
[#56 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
This lost out on a number of awards (especially at the Oscars) thanks at least in part to that year's pair of awards darlings, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Personally, I thought it was considerably better than either of those.
As of Monday morning, you can read my full review here.
Articles
Neil Gaiman: 'Iain Banks was one of us, whatever that meant'
by Neil Gaiman (from the Guardian)
A beautiful tribute to the author, who died today.
by Neil Gaiman (from the Guardian)
A beautiful tribute to the author, who died today.
this week on 100 Films
One new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
But there were also three new to the new blog...
300 (2006)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Night Watch (2004)
More next Sunday.
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
About 52 minutes in I paused it and went to the kitchen. Not for any particular reason; I just needed a break. There, I saw a slug crawling into my dog’s water bowl, drinking the water or something, I don’t know. I’d never seen that before. I ended up watching that slug slowly edge around the bowl for 15 minutes or more rather than go back to the film. It’s that engrossing.Read more here.
But there were also three new to the new blog...
300 (2006)
Everyone's favourite movie about men with glistening muscles slicing evil EasternersRead more here.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
This final instalment in the action-thriller trilogy was Empire magazine’s film of 2007, following wide praise on release that dubbed it the best action movie in a long time. Unfortunately, I fear it may’ve become a victim of its own hype.Read more here.
Night Watch (2004)
Urban action fantasy from Russia; the first part of a trilogy... It makes for a pretty entertaining tale, with a neat ending that both concludes this film’s plot and leaves everything wide open for what’s to come.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 8 June 2013
TV
The Voice UK
2x12 The Quarter-Finals
2x13 The Quarter-Finals Results
[Watch the Quarter-Finals and the Results (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
2x12 The Quarter-Finals
2x13 The Quarter-Finals Results
[Watch the Quarter-Finals and the Results (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Fiction
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
Chapters 7-10
The film clearly follows the novel's broad strokes, but still less than a quarter of the way through and it feels completely different. It makes it hard to judge, because I prefer the film, but that doesn't make the book bad.
Chapters 7-10
The film clearly follows the novel's broad strokes, but still less than a quarter of the way through and it feels completely different. It makes it hard to judge, because I prefer the film, but that doesn't make the book bad.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
All new releases this week: a Doctor Who, a Western, and a documentary (actually out next Monday -- can't remember the last time I actually got a pre-order before release day).
Number of titles in collection: 1,568 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,164 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 404 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,912 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,680 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,771 [up 6]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
All new releases this week: a Doctor Who, a Western, and a documentary (actually out next Monday -- can't remember the last time I actually got a pre-order before release day).
Number of titles in collection: 1,568 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,164 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 404 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,912 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,680 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,771 [up 6]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 7 June 2013
TV
The Graham Norton Show
13x09 (31/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
How I Met Your Mother
8x19 The Fortress
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
13x09 (31/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
How I Met Your Mother
8x19 The Fortress
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Fiction
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
Chapters 1-6
Here's a funny one. The film is so modern, even though it's now 11 years old, but this original is from 1980 -- it feels more like reading a classic James Bond novel than watching the tech-age thriller they made the film into. It kind of takes some getting used to. Plus, it's over 550 pages long, so even at this early point, with the story barely under way, it already has wild divergences from the big screen adaptation.
Chapters 1-6
Here's a funny one. The film is so modern, even though it's now 11 years old, but this original is from 1980 -- it feels more like reading a classic James Bond novel than watching the tech-age thriller they made the film into. It kind of takes some getting used to. Plus, it's over 550 pages long, so even at this early point, with the story barely under way, it already has wild divergences from the big screen adaptation.
Thursday, 6 June 2013
TV
The Hoff's Best Film ...Ever!
1x01 The Hoff's Best Action Film ...Ever!
Cool clips and talking heads -- nice easy viewing... even if some of the talking heads are intensely irritating 'comedians' (no one famous, so I've no names to regurgitate).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Once Upon a Time
2x04 The Crocodile
I love it when Once Upon a Time decides to do an origin episode. It's always glaringly obvious who the unfamiliar new character will turn out to be, but it still takes 45 minutes and a final scene of comically on-the-nose dialogue to reveal that, yes indeed, the pirate captain who called Rumplestiltskin a crocodile before his hand was cut off is Captain Hook.
Pointless
9x26a 500th Show
A special episode to mark the 500th edition of the popular quiz show, featuring the best-scoring teams who didn't win the jackpot. The questions seemed harder than normal too, I thought.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
1x01 The Hoff's Best Action Film ...Ever!
Cool clips and talking heads -- nice easy viewing... even if some of the talking heads are intensely irritating 'comedians' (no one famous, so I've no names to regurgitate).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Once Upon a Time
2x04 The Crocodile
I love it when Once Upon a Time decides to do an origin episode. It's always glaringly obvious who the unfamiliar new character will turn out to be, but it still takes 45 minutes and a final scene of comically on-the-nose dialogue to reveal that, yes indeed, the pirate captain who called Rumplestiltskin a crocodile before his hand was cut off is Captain Hook.
Pointless
9x26a 500th Show
A special episode to mark the 500th edition of the popular quiz show, featuring the best-scoring teams who didn't win the jackpot. The questions seemed harder than normal too, I thought.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
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