Films

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
[#121 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

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


The Secret of Kells (2009)

Based on the true story of the creation of the Book of Kells, albeit with a fantastical spin involving forest spirits, the film’s most striking element is its animation style: clean and modern, but inspired by the famed illustrations in the original illuminated manuscript. The result is endlessly beautiful.

Read more here.


Union Station (1950)

this isn’t some noir-era single-location-thriller, but a kidnap procedural with a significant role for trains and their locales. The best sequence isn’t even in the station: cops tail a suspect, get noticed, and the ensuing chase reaches a memorably grisly end.

Read more here.


Plus three were new to the new blog...


Diner (1982)

There are no big turning points or revelations or developments for any of these characters. One is in trouble thanks to deep gambling debts, but there’s the equivalent of a magic wand that wipes them all out; another is permanently drunk with serious family issues, but neither of those go anywhere

Read more here.


The Star Wars Series

Featuring reviews of all six episodes so far: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

Read more here.


White Christmas (1954)

surprisingly un-Christmassy. Yes, it’s set at the right time of year, and the plot concerns itself with do-gooding and charity and other such vaguely seasonal themes; but, crucially, there’s a distinct absence of snow (until the very end) and little else actually inspires much Christmas feeling.

Read more here.


Starting tomorrow, it's the annual 100 Films Advent Calendar -- hooray! So, all being well, there should be a tonne of reviews to report on next Sunday.

TV

Have I Got News For You
48x07 (21/11/2014 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
6x26 Dance
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

Said there'd be something this week. It's also the monthly running time update, which is always fun.

Number of titles in collection: 1,708 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,204 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 504 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,268 [up 17]
Number of films in collection: 1,844 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,298 [up 44]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

Plus...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
307 days, 9 hours, and 47 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 2 hours and 22 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Forever
1x08 The Ecstasy of Agony

Films

Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary (2010)
Not strictly a film, but as a filmed concert on DVD, where else does it belong?

The Thin Man (1934)
[#120 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Elementary
3x03 Just a Regular Irregular

Tomorrow's Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction
Part 1 Space
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Arrow
3x04 The Magician
Not sure "actor you won't recognise in non-iconic costume" counts as a big reveal. The character's a big deal, but as the aforementioned reveal is not of who he is (even if you know, as many/most/all will, no one even says his name or something when he turns round), the fact he's a big deal doesn't count toward it being a big reveal.
Rest of it was alright, at least.

Miranda
1x04 Holiday [4th watch]
Classic.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Puppy Love
1x02 Episode 2
Giving up on this. The characters are all unlikeable (all of them), most of them are incredibly irritating, and it's just not funny enough. There are cute dogs, but that's not enough to save it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Rear Window (1954)
[#119 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2014 #10

TV

The Missing
Part 4 Gone Fishing
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
13x12 (21/11/14 edition)
The regular highlights-and-outtakes episode, for some reason divorced from the rest of the series and broadcast on a random November night.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
[#118 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

The Newsroom
3x01 Boston

Pointless Celebrities
6x25 (22/11/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Elementary
3x02 The Five Orange Pipz

The Flash
1x04 Going Rogue
Still often cheesy and daft, but easily the best episode yet -- but then, that's what Felicity Smoak does for you.

Live at the Apollo
10x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Star Trek: The Next Generation
3x17 Sins of the Father
5x25 The Inner Light
Anyone with a bizarrely exceptional memory may recall that, back in February, I made a start on the TNG sampler Blu-ray. Well, these are the other two episodes from that disc. Both are regarded as amongst the very best TNG (indeed, the entirety of Trek) ever produced, and rightly so -- they're magnificent. In fact, the second is so good you feel someone should have bought the rights and re-made it as a non-Trek film. More fool the guy who took that idea to the TNG production office rather than just getting it made as a movie...

this week on 100 Films

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


Flirting with Disaster (1996)

adoptee Ben Stiller goes on a kerazee road trip to find his birth parents, accompanied by dissatisfied wife Patricia Arquette and kooky adoption agency psychologist Téa Leoni... Cue an almost-PG-13 sex comedy told among sketch-like encounters with quirky people who turn out to not be Stiller’s folks.

Read more here.


The Green Hornet (2011)

it’s pretty comical, sometimes in that man-child frat-boy way, sometimes with a leftfield quirkiness. The combination makes it unique in the world of superhero movies, but hasn’t gone down well with critics or many viewers. Well, screw them — The Green Hornet is brilliant.

Read more here.


The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

as Katniss finally rises into the arena, the aspect ratio subtly shifts from filmic 2.40:1 to IMAX-derived 1.78:1. It’s remarkable how much impact this has even on a TV screen; nothing like what it must have in a proper IMAX theatre, but striking nonetheless — it really feels like things have just gotten bigger

Read more here.


Local Hero (1983)

Gentle comedy in which Peter Riegert’s middle-management American oil exec has to persuade the residents of a Scottish village to sell up, unaware that they’re only too keen — for the right price. One of Quentin Tarantino’s Coolest Movies of All Time (seriously).

Read more here.


Mad City (1997)

a surprisingly nuanced performance from Travolta. Sam's the manHe plays against type as Sam, the nervous, naïve, childlike, and easily-manipulated hostage taker. It’s Travolta’s performance that makes Sam someone you care about, even if you don’t exactly root for him, so that the outcome is something you’re fully invested in.

Read more here.


Plus six were new to the new blog...


The Cable Guy (1996)

It's a comedy, though at times it seems to wish you’d forget that so it could be a psychological stalker thriller. Perhaps that’s what it had wanted to be... until someone realised the idea was too silly to be taken completely seriously.

Read more here.


Daylight (1996)

a fireball rips through the tunnel. It seems to destroy most cars and kill most people, except for about a dozen survivors. How are they not killed by the fireball? Well, it seems to be by the good fortune of Because We Need Some Characters. Should you ever get stuck in an exploding tunnel, pray you find yourself in a disaster movie and had been doing something mundane yet passably interesting earlier on

Read more here.


Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

the whole film rests on Al Pacino's shoulders, and he’s more than capable of bearing the weight. Some roles allow an actor to subtly be good throughout the film; others allow a few grandstanding set-pieces where they can Act; but Dog Day Afternoon gives Pacino both.

Read more here.


Hidden (Caché) (2005)

Empire’s 15th best film of 2006 is very European. “How so”, you may ask? Well, firstly, it is French; but it certainly feels it: it takes a very good concept/plot for a thriller and then stretches it out a little thin, with a notably slow pace, and a concentration on the dramatic impact on characters rather than plot movements.

Read more here.


Jonah Hex (2010)

Jonah Hex is not a good film. Let's just establish that, before I start being nice about it.

Read more here.


Lumet: Film Maker (1975)

This ten-minute documentary short is made up of behind-the-scenes footage of some of the filming of Dog Day Afternoon, with the occasional on-set interview with some (to be honest, minor) crew members, snippets of audio interview with Lumet himself, and a voiceover narration.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Atlantis
2x01 A New Dawn Part One
2x02 A New Dawn Part Two
As the new season begins, Jason and friends seem to have been transformed from a gaggle of peasants who sometimes get into scrapes into a kind of Atlantean special-ops unit. The rest of this opener is all very epic and season-finale-y, which was Merlin's MO by the end too so I guess we shouldn't be surprised. Wonder where it's going from there over the next 11 weeks, though.
[Watch A New Dawn Parts One & Two (again) on iPlayer.]

Monty Python: The Meaning of Live
Feature-length documentary about the creation of Monty Python's farewell live shows, as well as the history of their live performances.

Collection Count

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

This week, absolutely no changes! Next week: some changes, guaranteed.

Number of titles in collection: 1,705 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 502 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,251 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,842 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,254 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gotham
1x06 Spirit of the Goat
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Not Going Out
7x05 Pointless
In which Lee and Daisy appear on Pointless. Brilliant.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Green Hornet (2011)
[#117 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Forever
1x07 New York Kids

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
28x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
3x11 Episode 11 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Arrow
3x03 Corto Maltese