Collection Count

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

Just one addition this week. The prediction for next week is "none", so...

Number of titles in collection: 1,653 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,197 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 456 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,133 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,780 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,102 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 406 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Friends
7x21 The One with the Vows [5th or so watch]
aka The One with All the Clips About Monica and Chandler's Relationship.

Room 101
14x01 Episode 1

Veronica Mars
3x14 Mars, Bars
3x15 Papa's Cabin

TV

Friends
7x20 The One with Rachel's Big Kiss [5th or so watch]

Veronica Mars
3x13 Postgame Mortem

Fiction

William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
Acts IV-V
Afterword
Sonnet 1138 [the end]

See yesterday.

There let our heroes rest free from attack,
Till darkness rise and Empire striketh back.

TV

Death in Paradise
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
7x19 The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin [4th or so watch]
aka The One Where Joey Has to Make a Foreskin (Not That Anyone Uses That Word).

Yonderland
1x06 The Idiot King

Fiction

William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
Acts I-III

aka William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope

I've had this for a while, and with two sequels on the way felt it was really time I got round to reading it.

It's not laugh-out-loud hilarious, which you might believe from some reviews, but it is all good fun -- and surprisingly poetic and deep in places, too. It's clearly been crafted with a love and understanding of both the Bard and the Beard, making it suitable for fans of either.

Plus, R2-D2 -- who speaks in beeps and whistles to the characters, but shares intelligent asides with the audience -- is magnificent.

TV

Friends
7x18 The One with Joey's Award [4th or so watch]

Veronica Mars
3x12 There's Got to Be a Morning After Pill

Comics

Coffin Hill #1-3 by Caitlin Kittredge & Inaki Miranda

The latest in my array of comics to read, assess, and make a decision about continuing. (You may think there are a lot. You're right. Nearly done, though.)

This one is a genuinely creepy (to me, anyway) witchcraft/horror book. I'd say it falls somewhere between the stools of the others I've been assessing: it's not a definite must-read like Red Sonja or Pretty Deadly, but nor do I feel close to giving up on it like Satellite Sam or Velvet. However, I may just stick out the first arc (which runs to #6) -- that'll be time for another decision on its future.

(Side note: Sonja, Deadly and Coffin are by female writers (and one a female artist too). Sam and Velvet are all male. Dunno if that says anything; might just be coincidence; but there we go.)

Articles

Deconstructing Doctor Who: a fashion expert analyses Peter Capaldi's new skinhead style
by Anna Fielding (from Radio Times)

You probably heard about the BBC releasing a picture of the new Doctor's costume. And you probably think a fashion expert analysing it sounds like an awful idea. But actually, this article was quite interesting. (And better than Digital Spy's version, where someone from a fashion mag said, "we like it!", and not much else.)

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
5x04 (24/1/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Elementary
2x12 The Diabolical Kind

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
7x03 (18/1/14 edition)

Comics

Pretty Deadly #1-2 by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Emma Rios

I kinda wasn't expecting to like this -- I almost didn't buy it, even -- but something, I forget what, convinced me to go ahead and get it... and I'm glad I did, because I really enjoyed it. It's a five-part arc, but these first two feel like a two-part opener -- as noted on Red Sonja, I like it when longer story lines still work in smaller chunks, considering that's how they're put out (you wanna tell a story that needs all six parts at once, release a bloody book).

I've already got the next issue, but I think I'll hold off on it a little. It's already managed what Satellite Sam and Velvet look not to've, and I don't want to rush through it.

TV

Friends
7x17 The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress [4th or so watch]

Films

Tower Block (2012)
[#6 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Second half, via... alternate means.

Comics

Velvet #1-2 by Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting

A Cold War-set espionage action-thriller with a kick-ass female hero? Thought this looked right up my street. Unfortunately, after two issues I'm not wholly sold. It's by no means bad, I'm just not quite on board with the characters or where the story's going; and there's always that query from mainstream comics: is there actually enough going on each issue to justify the $3 price tag?

Plus, it's an ongoing -- great for developing and paying off things long-term, but who knows how long you'll have to wait for those answers? A wait can be fine, but more of an issue is: I'm looking to cut my pull list, not keep expanding it -- something's gotta give. Question is, do I give it one more issue to sway me, or just ditch it now?

With such thoughts, this (along with practically-gone-already Satellite Sam) is on shaky ground.

this week on 100 Films

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


Tom Conway as the Falcon, Part II
A summary, linking to the following reviews:


The Falcon and the Co-eds (1943)

The twisty plot is engrossing and the humour entertaining, though I felt more could have been made of the potentially atmospheric remote cliff-top setting. It’s the kind of film where I began imagining how it might be remade to even greater effect.

Read more here.


The Falcon Out West (1944)

provides all the Western action it can muster: runaway coaches, shootin’, horseback riding, gentle racism about Native Americans… This is the West of the 1940s, theoretically 50 years or whatever on from The Wild West, but conceptually almost unchanged.

Read more here.


The Falcon in Mexico (1944)

“In our peaceful country, life is very seldom in danger,” states one character halfway through, just one of many instances that might make you think the film was co-funded by the Mexican tourist board. Oh sure, there’s the usual array of thefts and murders that you’d expect from a Falcon adventure, but they’re mostly committed by Americans.

Read more here.


The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)

By this point you should know what you’re in for with a Falcon film: a solid murder mystery plot with some light fun and mischief on the way to its solution. In this one, the plot is actually quite simple to follow for quite a while, making a change from recent Falcons. It’s still an engrossing enough mystery, but clearly told.

Read more here.


Also this week...


Macbeth (1948)

a compromised but interesting adaptation. Welles has chopped and changed the play, cutting scenes, transposing others, assigning speeches to different characters, even creating new ones. This array of modifications scandalised critics at the time, though nowadays it’s much more common, usually to make the works a manageable length. Macbeth is one of the more sensibly-sized plays, however, though I suppose this is the legacy of Welles’ short 23-day schedule.

Read more here.


Plus, new to the new blog...


Air Force One (1997)

Harrison Ford stars as President Indiana Jones — sorry, Jack Ryan — no, James Marshall (that’s it) in this action-thriller from the Die Hard school of moviemaking. Yep, this is “Die Hard on a plane” — except it’s not any old plane, it’s Air Force frickin’ One; and the Bruce Willis character isn’t any old washed-up cop, it’s the frickin’ President of the U.S. frickin’ A. Hells yeah!

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Friends
7x16 The One with the Truth About London ['Super-Sized' version; 5th or so watch]

The Voice UK
3x03 The Blind Auditions 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Tower Block (2012)
[#6 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

First half, before my rental disc went screwy.

Collection Count

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

Anyone familiar with how these numbers work might think the changes below indicate a DVD-to-Blu-ray upgrade, and normally they'd be right, but not so this week: it's one new Blu-ray, and a Zatoichi DVD I forgot to remove when I got the 25-film box set for Christmas. Oops!

Also this week, it's the running time update. I love that part.

Number of titles in collection: 1,652 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,197 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 455 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,131 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,779 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,102 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 406 [no change]

And the monthly running time update tells us...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
296 days, 7 hours, and 58 minutes.
(Up 13 hours and 8 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x02 The Tagger
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Friends
7x15 The One with Joey's New Brain ['Super-Sized' version; 5th or so watch]

The Voice UK
3x02 The Blind Auditions 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Comics

Red Sonja #4-6 by Gail Simone & Walter Geovani

Great stuff; this one's definitely staying on my pull list. With A Voice in the Dark also earning its place, my uncertainty about Satellite Sam makes it look more shaky.