TV

Arrow
3x22 This is Your Sword
He's good! He's bad! He's winning! He's losing! He is! He isn't! Deja vu!

Car Share
1x01 Episode 1 [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
7x12 Brown Shag Carpet
[Watch episodes 12 and 13 (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

Forty Guns (1957)
[#61 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Elementary
3x20 A Stitch in Time

The Flash
1x20 The Trap

Game of Thrones
5x05 Kill the Boy

This is the 6,000th post on here. Crikey.

TV

Forever
1x19 Punk is Dead

Person of Interest
3x07 The Perfect Mark
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Pointless Celebrities
7x03 Outdoors
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
1x19 Legends of the Dark Mite!
3x01 Joker: The Vile and the Villainous!
Two more recommended episodes. Only slightly further down the list I compiled, but already feeling noticeably less good -- not bad, just 'average'. Aside from the show's very best turns, I wonder if my initial view was right after all...

The British Academy Television Awards 2015
[Watch it (again) soon on iPlayer.]

Films

Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope (1977/2011)
[goodness-knows-what-th watch]

This was #81a way back in 100 Films 2007, which was the last time I watched it. First time I've watched it in HD on Blu-ray though, which is what makes this the 2011 edition, thanks to even further tweaks after those already made for the 1997 and 2004 releases(!)

this week on 100 Films

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


Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014)

Anime take on Marvel properties... A clichéd, heavy-handed screenplay and stilted line delivery tell a rote story through talky exposition scenes and uninspired action sequences

Read more here.


Killing Them Softly (2012)

Dominik uses news audio about the financial crisis to comment on the plot, an inclusion somewhere between neat dramatic irony and heavy-handed affectation. He gets better mileage from the mundane mechanics and economics of organised crime, but it's small consolation among flabby storytelling

Read more here.


Plus three archive reviews were reposted on the new blog...


Cathy Come Home (1966)

a powerful piece of work... As an important and timely history lesson, a challenge to prejudices that some of us may hold, and a reminder of how close most of us are to such a fate — especially right now — it remains essential viewing

Read more here.


Doctor Faustus (1967)

stylistically reminiscent of a Gothic Hammer Horror, which is either wholly inappropriate or an ingenious genre mash-up... There are repulsively horrific corpses, a harem of naked ladies, an array of special effects, plus a medieval-styled gothic atmosphere to all the sets and costumes, though the scene where Faustus mucks about with the Pope feels more Carry On.

Read more here.


Telling Lies (2001)

A simple idea, very well executed: as we listen to a series of phone conversations, the speakers' dialogue appears on screen... except instead of transcribing their exact words, it reveals their true thoughts.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Have I Got News For You
49x04 (1/5/2015 edition; extended repeat)
Not the post-election episode that aired yesterday -- there's an extended version of that on Monday, as per usual -- just last week's episode.
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Outnumbered
5x00 The Sick Party [Christmas special; 2nd watch]

Person of Interest
3x06 Mors Praematura
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

The Eagle (2011)
[#60 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,764 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,209 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 555 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,381 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,905 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,482 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 448 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x17 Boyle-Linetti Wedding
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Critical
1x11 Episode 11

TV

Mad Men
7x11 Time & Life

Films

Fitzcarraldo (1982)
[1st hour]

Couldn't keep my eyes open for any more. Not yet sure if I'll return to it, start it again, or just give up on it for Another Day (hence why there's no 100 Films number yet).

TV

Arrow
3x21 Al Sah-Him
He's good! He's bad! He's dead! He's not! He is! He isn't! This season has gone round in circles far too many times. At least we're nearly at the end. I hope next year is better plotted-out, though.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
2x17 The Mask of Matches Malone!
2x23 The Knights of Tomorrow!
The next two episodes flagged as the best by my survey. I enjoyed the first (an episode so risqué it wasn't actually aired in the US), and while the second wasn't bad I didn't love it as much as some seem to (note the very high score on at TV.com).

Forever
1x18 Dead Men Tell Long Tales

Films

Telling Lies (2001)
[2nd watch]

Brilliant short animation, #127a in 100 Films 2007, which you can nowadays watch online (for free) here.

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
9x01 (3/5/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Elementary
3x19 One Watson, One Holmes

The Flash
1x19 Who is Harrison Wells?

Game of Thrones
5x04 Sons of the Harpy

Outnumbered
4x07 The Broken Santa [Christmas special; 2nd watch]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x16 The Wednesday Incident
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Critical
1x10 Episode 10

Have I Got News For You
49x03 (24/4/2015 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Vera
5x04 Shadows in the Sky [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

this week on 100 Films

You may have noticed it's a new month, but I'm currently away and so the 100 Films in a Year April update will have to keep until next week.


Nonetheless, two brand-new reviews were still published this week...


The Sugarland Express (1974)

Largely overlooked these days, I guess because it doesn’t obviously fit with Spielberg’s renowned sci-fi, adventure, and worthy-historical pictures, The Sugarland Express merits more attention. Tonally, and in terms of the level of directorial skill it exhibits, it fits right amongst the pack of his better-remembered works.

Read more here.


Valkyrie (2008)

There's no point beating about the bush: they don't succeed [in killing Hitler]. We all know that. The film's marvel, really, is in making us believe they might... Singer has crafted a proper thriller here, replete with scenes of edge-of-your-seat tension. Many a filmmaker can't manage that with a fictional storyline, never mind one where we know exactly how it turns out.

Read more here.


Additionally, I added five archive reviews to the new blog...


Ghost Town (2008)

It's a gently amusing affair, with little that's especially memorable but is absolutely fine while it goes about its business. Many scenes may raise a smile or a giggle, but little more than that.

Read more here.


The Great Dictator (1940)

one of Chaplin's most widely-known films thanks to setting its sights on the Nazi regime and Adolf Hitler in particular... the real-world targets make his work satirical as well. I'm sure this made for great propaganda when it was released just a year into the war, but Chaplin's skill and accuracy mean it works beyond that: like all good impersonations or spoofs it doesn't make its objects silly for no reason, but instead takes what's inherently laughable about them and exploits it.

Read more here.


Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

adaptation of Patrick Süskind's popular novel, often considered unfilmable because of its focus on the sense of smell. Tykwer covers for that with strong cinematography, with sumptuously rich visuals and a judicious use of close-ups to evoke beauty or disgust as appropriate

Read more here.


Superhero Movie (2008)

Superhero Movie is mainly a spoof of Spider-Man... a film that [at the time of making was] six years old. Unfortunately, this means that most of the best jokes have already been done in numerous other sketch-length spoofs... Superhero Movie takes all this sketchery to the next level, however, crafting its story simply by reworking the first Spider-Man film almost scene by scene, inserting jokes (and, more often, 'jokes') where it can -- which is about once per scene.

Read more here.


Wilde (1997)

Stephen Fry is perfectly cast as Wilde and Jude Law is suitably horrid as the spoilt, stroppy and thoroughly dislikeable Bosie, whose selfishness brings about Wilde's downfall. Also worthy of note is the ever-excellent Michael Sheen in a smaller but vital role

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

This week: nowt.

Number of titles in collection: 1,762 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 554 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 4,378 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,903 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,482 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 448 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.