TV

Episodes
5x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
2x16 God Johnson

Who Dares Wins
11x05 (28/4/18 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Anon (2018)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 3-5

this week on 100 Films

April was a bumper month on 100 Films in a Year, necessitating a big monthly summary post...





There were also 6 brand-new reviews published in the past seven days, including...


3 Long Films That I Didn’t Enjoy Directed by Martin Scorsese

Reviews of Silence (2016), Casino (1995), and New York, New York (1977).

Read them here.


Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

It’s a very different setup to the original movie, which is refreshing — it could’ve just been a rehash with modern effects (while the Robin Williams movie still has a lot going for it, the mid-’90s CGI is definitely not one of them). That said, it’s not as innovative or inventive as the first movie. The way that brought the board game’s environment to life in the real world was a unique concept, whereas this sequel merely offers an Indiana Jones-esque jungle adventure, albeit with self-aware characters.

Read more here.


ManHunt (2017)

With its unoriginal innocent-man-on-the-run story and disengaging production quirks, it’s tempting to give up before the half-hour mark. However, director John Woo does begin to sneak in some of his trademark flair... If you can make it through the first half, the second begins to revel in its own silliness. It stops mattering that everyone has to deliver dialogue in at least two languages but none of them can actually act in more than one. It stops mattering that the plot barely makes sense — in fact, it actually improves the crazier it gets.

Read more here.


My Cousin Rachel (2017)

Is she a scheming murderess intent on using her wiles to acquire the family’s estate, or did Philip’s imagination get the better of him? That mystery is really the heart of My Cousin Rachel, which unfurls as a classy, lightly Gothic melodrama. It’s a puzzle that’s not so much investigated as gradually hinted at, leaving the audience to make up their own mind.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Episodes
5x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night Dinner
5x01 The Other Jackie
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Lucifer
2x15 Deceptive Little Parasite

Not Going Out
9x06 Lollipop Man
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

ManHunt (2017)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Fiction

Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Prologue
Chapters 1-2

With Anthony Horowitz's new Bond novel, Forever and a Day, out in a couple of weeks, I thought I ought to finally get round to reading the last one -- it's only been out for three years, after all.

Collection Count

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

All those discs I mentioned last week turned up, and then some more too, so we've got a nice chunky update here -- plus that delayed running time update as well. Exciting times!

Number of titles in collection: 2,105 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 942 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 5,383 [up 9]
Number of films: 2,346 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [up 2]
Number of short films: 608 [up 1]

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

Total running time of collection (approx.):
396 days, 9 hours, and 50 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 1 hour, and 46 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Episodes
5x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Lucifer
2x14 Candy Morningstar

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1x08 The Double Affair

Westworld
2x02 Reunion

Films

Laura (1944)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x18 Cheddar
3x19 Terry Kitties

The City and the City
Part 4 Breach [finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Phantasm (1979)
[#92 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The City and the City
Part 3 Orciny
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Who Dares Wins
11x04 (14/4/18 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

The City and the City
Part 2 Ul Qoma
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
9x05 Pants on Fire
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Wild Strawberries (1957)
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Blindspot 2018 #4

TV

The City and the City
Part 1 Besźel
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Episodes
5x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle 3D (2017)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Lucifer
2x12 Love Handles
2x13 A Good Day to Die

Who Dares Wins
11x03 (7/4/18 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

Just 2 new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, but one was a big'un...


Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

like a massive comic book crossover rendered in live-action. You might think “of course it is”, but it’s not that long ago that this wouldn’t even have been possible (the CGI required is phenomenal), and even less time since it would’ve been considered profitable (remember when all superhero movies had to be “grounded”?) As much as it’s a familiar epic sci-fi action blockbuster, it’s also a new kind of thing to the big screen. There are pros and cons to turning that kind of narrative into a movie, but Infinity War is heavy on the former and relatively light on the latter. When it comes down to it, it’s just marvellous entertainment.

Read more here.


Geostorm (2017)

Some people, even including some filmmakers, seem to think critics and “pretentious” filmgoers slag off movies like Geostorm based solely on the genre or concept or some other fundamental characteristic. And, yeah, there must be some people who won’t give certain genres a fair shot; but that’s not widely the case, as the praise attracted by better blockbusters proves time and again. No, films like this get slagged off when they’re shittily made. Geostorm is shittily made.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.