Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) (2003/2004)
[3rd or so watch]

Consensus marks this as the best of the trilogy. For me, Fellowship still edges it, but this is nonetheless a great finale.

Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) (2002/2003)
[3rd or so watch]

I've warmed to The Two Towers down the years... or rather I had, because this time I found it a bit of a slog again. It's the only one of the three where I'd entertain an argument that the Extended Edition makes it worse.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x22 The Chopper

Gotham
1x20 Under the Knife

Mock the Week
14x02 (18/06/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Lilo & Stitch (2002)
[#98 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

First things first, this week 100 Films in a Year was nominated for a Liebster Award. More on that here:




Relatedly, I dragged this interview from 2011 out of the archive:




In regular business, three brand-new reviews were published this week...


The Rocketeer (1991)

the first act drags and unbalances the film, which picks up considerably (though gradually) after the Rocketeer himself finally turns up. It would feel a much better film, and perhaps be better regarded, if it didn’t dilly-dally for so long before getting to the meat of the plot and action. It doesn’t help that it has ambition ahead of its era when it comes to special effects.

Read more here.


The Voices (2014)

The Voices isn’t your usual kind of film — obviously. In the special features, everyone’s very keen to talk about how it exists outside of genre, and they’re right. From some of the premise (his pets talk!) and marketing, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was just a comedy. It is a comedy, but a very black one. A very, very black one. A total-absence-of-light black one.

Read more here.


X-Men: Days of Future Past - The Rogue Cut (2014/2015)

So is this cut better? Well, no. Is it worse? Well, not really. It’s just different. On the one hand, here we have some extra fleshing out of Raven and Hank’s characters, more action for future-Magneto and Iceman, and a more decent role for Rogue... On the other hand, it makes for a slightly less streamlined film

Read more here.


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


Manhattan (1979)

for me, the best bit of the entire film is the opening three-and-a-half minutes, in which the beautiful images, Allen’s narration and Gershwin’s music combine in a tribute to what must be the most genuinely loved of all cities.

Read more here.


The Right Stuff (1983)

it’s nice to actually get some coverage of these earlier, vital missions, though such an in-depth knowledge of what was to follow has its problems for The Right Stuff’s narrative, just as knowing the facts always does for a historical movie. Equally, it gives the emotional resonance a helping hand

Read more here.


Verity (2010)

The short’s tagline — “men, bitches and Daleks” — sums up its thematic concerns: Verity Lambert argues with the man who hired her, faces animosity from other female members of staff, and saves the day by forcing the Daleks into [Doctor Who] despite Sydney Newman’s forbiddance.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Films

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) (2001/2002)
[3rd or so watch]

Has it really been five years since I last watched Lord of the Rings?! Bloody hell! And it was only the theatricals then, so I haven't seen these extended ones for... God only knows. At least seven or eight years, I'd wager. That's insane. Must start watching them more often again.


The Thing (1982)
[#97 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2015 #5

Collection Count

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

Multiple new acquisitions this week, though as several of them were upgrades from DVDs it threw the maths into a bit of a tizzy. Basically, I replaced my individual DVDs of the first three Mission: Impossible films, totalling five discs, with a single four-disc Blu-ray box set.

Such kinks have been largely eradicated from the final result by a last-minute new DVD arrivals.

Number of titles in collection: 1,779 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,207 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 572 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 4,411 [up 5]
Number of films in collection: 1,924 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,508 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 448 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Coldplay + Game of Thrones: The Musical for Red Nose Day
Sketch for Red Nose Day USA that I finally got round to watching. It had its moments.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
8x05 (20/6/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Ripper Street
3x02 The Beating of Her Wings
I'd heard tell this was the best series yet, and based on these first two episodes I can well believe it. Looking forward to how it develops from here, though how it will I can't quite imagine.
[Watch it now on Amazon Instant Video, or on BBC One (edited) soon.]

Vicious
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Episodes
4x06 Episode 6

Gotham
1x19 Beasts of Prey

The Last Leg
7x01 (26/6/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Two Tribes
2x28 (13/7/15 edition)
Two Tribes returned to BBC Two for two episodes, then after two days was replaced by golf for two weeks. (I don't know if the golf really lasts two weeks, but for all I know it will.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

X-Men: Days of Future Past - The Rogue Cut (2014/2015)
[#96a in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

The theatrical cut of Days of Future Past was 2014 #113 when I watched it last November. This new cut, released on DVD and Blu-ray this week, adds 17 minutes. Does it make a huge difference? Not really.

TV

Ripper Street
3x01 Whitechapel Terminus
The Amazon-saved series returns to BBC One later this month... so I'm finally getting round to watching it on Amazon. Well, I watched the first two series months after they aired, so it's only right. It's at least as good as ever, which is nice, and by jumping ahead four years it's almost like a mini-reboot. Leaves you feeling a bit dazed if you can't quite remember how the last series ended, but on the bright side it does (eventually) recap anything you need to know.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x21 Det. Dave Majors

Gotham
1x18 Everyone Has a Cobblepot
Has it really been nearly three months?! Time to finish this one off...

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x20 AC/DC

Mock the Week
14x01 (11/06/15 edition)
Got some catching up to do...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
8x04 (13/6/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Voices (2014)
[#96 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

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


Changing Lanes (2002)

I don’t know if Changing Lanes was aiming to be a state-of-the-nation thriller or just a character drama, but either way, the storyline is a mite too implausible, and the ending — where everyone suddenly realises The Right Thing To Do — is rather pat

Read more here.


Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Disney’s 47th Animated Classic comes from their weak ’00s period, after the end of the so-called Renaissance and before what’s apparently been dubbed the neo-Renaissance (presumably no one could think of a synonym). This hails from the tail end of that lamentable era, though, so there are signs of recovery: Meet the Robinsons isn’t bad, just mediocre.

Read more here.


Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics (2013)

Christopher Lee narrates as a bunch of talking heads (writers, actors, psychologists) discuss the titular. The topics are quite universal — the psychological underpinnings apply not just to DC, not even just to comics, but to all fiction.

Read more here.


Song of the Sea (2014)

This depth of emotion and, if you like, thematic consideration probably marks Song of the Sea out over The Secret of Kells in some respects. Certainly, there seems to be a broad understanding that this is the better film... a more mature, complex work. I’ll be the dissenting voice, because while I did like Song of the Sea, I didn’t think it was as strong an overall experience as Kells.

Read more here.


What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)

It's hard to miss the Outnumbered parallels early on... There's a suspicion that Hamilton and Jenkin are returning to their half-improvised TV show's early glory days, when the natural kids said funny things and the adults had to react. If anything, however, the more Kids Say the Funniest Things: The Sitcom tendencies of early Outnumbered are toned down for this movie, which (like later seasons of the series) is very story-driven much of the time.

Read more here.


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


Bolt (2008)

Also noteworthy are the action sequences. Far from being perfunctory attempts at liveliness, these are properly exciting, making full use of 3D CGI to create exciting and dynamic sequences. I'm not just talking about the couple we get from the TV-series-within-the-film either, but also the 'real world' ones as Bolt, Mittens and Rhino jump onto trains, out of moving vans, escape from a pound, etc.

Read more here.


Commentary! The Musical (2008)

on the Dr. Horrible DVD can be found this — an alternate audio track, on which the cast and crew discuss the making of the feature… except it’s all scripted and the majority is sung. Not your traditional audio commentary then. [It] falls somewhere between DVD extra, TV episode and short film. Whatever it should be classed as, it’s utter genius.

Read more here.


Hello, Dolly! (1969)

Comedians Walter Matthau and Michael Crawford (yes, Frank Spencer!) star alongside Barbra Streisand in this comedy musical directed by Gene Kelly (yes, the star of many a musical himself!) which flopped at the box office but did well at the Oscars, and has gained in popularity since.

Read more here.


Odd Man Out (1974)

What the structure really facilitates is the depiction of a cross-section of Northern Irish life, and particularly their reaction to “the organisation” — it doesn’t take a genius to guess what that means. As the opening scroll said, this is indeed concerned “only with the conflict in the hearts of the people when they become unexpectedly involved”, but by leaving out detail of the politically contentious background to the unrest, it perhaps robs the characters’ indecision of any basis.

Read more here.


Tangled (2010)

It’s funny, which is its biggest asset, and exciting at times — as usual, the highly moveable camera of CG animation adds fluidity, speed and excitement to the action sequences, making them one of the high points.

Read more here.


Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

Dana Andrews is an effective lead, believable as Dixon the thuggish cop. We support him, but only just — he doesn’t quite have the instant likeability of Bogie’s Marlowe, for example, but he’s enough on the side of right that we can get behind him.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
9x09 (10/7/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Collection Count

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

Only two acquisitions this week, though a few more are winging their way to me for next time. Nonetheless, it's that time of the month: the running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 1,779 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,210 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 569 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,406 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,918 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,508 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 448 [no change]

Plus this week it's time for a running time update, so...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
317 days, 22 hours, and 50 minutes.
(Up 12 hours and 59 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? (2015)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Films

Song of the Sea (2014)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]