Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Chapters 6-10
Sunday, 13 May 2018
this week on 100 Films
5 brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...
Anon (2018)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Drew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013)
The Hangover Parts II & III
More next Sunday.
Anon (2018)
Many a lazy review has described Anon as “like a Black Mirror episode”, which is not wholly inaccurate but is getting to be a stale descriptor — Charlie Brooker didn’t invent high-concept dystopian sci-fi about the dangers of future technology, so why wheel out the comparison every time anyone else dares venture into the same ballpark nowadays? Nonetheless, that is the ballpark Anon is playing in, but mixing speculative sci-fi with an equal dose of hardboiled noir to keep things spicy.Read more here.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
The poster child for German Expressionist cinema, as well as featuring “cinema’s first true mad doctor” and “cinema’s first unreliable narrator” (at least according to David Cairns on the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray — I haven’t verified those statements for myself), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari certainly has a lot to unpack for a film that’s barely an hour-and-a-quarter long. Or does it? Because one has to wonder if there’s an element of style over substance here.Read more here.
Drew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013)
If you don’t know the name Drew Struzan, there’s a fair chance you know his work: he’s the poster artist behind the likes of the Back to the Future trilogy, almost everything Indiana Jones related, many iconic Star Wars posters (including the primary art for the prequel trilogy), and so many more. Even when not painted by Drew himself, his style has been a major influence on blockbuster posters across the board, even in today’s era of Photoshopped collages. Nonetheless, you may wonder if the topic can really support a feature-length documentary. How much is there to say? Turns out, plenty.Read more here.
The Hangover Parts II & III
The Hangover was a surprisingly big hit back in 2009 (was it really so long ago?), so naturally it spawned a sequel. That went down less well, mired in criticisms of just being a rehash of the original. I don’t know what people expected, really — The Hangover was sold on its high-concept setup, so naturally they repeat that for the sequel.Read more here.
[...]
Clearly the people in charge of the Hangover series took on board criticism that Part II just rehashed Part I’s plot, because Part III takes the same characters and spins them off onto a wholly different narrative. There isn’t even a hangover involved. Unfortunately, that didn’t work either: based on ratings found across the web, it’s the least popular of the trilogy.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 12 May 2018
TV
Eurovision Song Contest: Lisbon 2018
Well, that was eventful. The UK entry deserved better, but what do we expect?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Graham Norton Show
23x06 (11/5/18 edition)
With Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin plugging Deadpool 2.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Well, that was eventful. The UK entry deserved better, but what do we expect?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The Graham Norton Show
23x06 (11/5/18 edition)
With Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin plugging Deadpool 2.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Articles
32 Sassiest Graham Norton Comments During Eurovision 2018
by Scott Bryan (from BuzzFeed)
As ever, the best bit of Eurovision was Graham.
by Scott Bryan (from BuzzFeed)
As ever, the best bit of Eurovision was Graham.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Another big tile of titles in the post this week -- seven Blu-rays added to my collection, to be precise. One new release, one new release that turned up nearly a fortnight early, and a selection from HMV's 5-for-£30 offer. Three of those were upgrades from DVDs I already had, which leaves my collection looking like this...
Number of titles in collection: 2,109 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,160 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 949 [up 7]
Number of discs in collection: 5,387 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,350 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 609 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Another big tile of titles in the post this week -- seven Blu-rays added to my collection, to be precise. One new release, one new release that turned up nearly a fortnight early, and a selection from HMV's 5-for-£30 offer. Three of those were upgrades from DVDs I already had, which leaves my collection looking like this...
Number of titles in collection: 2,109 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,160 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 949 [up 7]
Number of discs in collection: 5,387 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,350 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 609 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 11 May 2018
Films
Shrek the Third (2007)
[#101 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Stalker (1979)
[#100 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #5
[#101 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Stalker (1979)
[#100 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #5
Thursday, 10 May 2018
Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Tuesday, 8 May 2018
TV
Episodes
5x07 The Final Episode [series finale]
[Watch it on iPlayer from Friday 11th May.]
Lucifer
2x18 The Good, the Bad, and the Crispy [season finale]
Who Dares Wins
11x06 (5/5/18 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
5x07 The Final Episode [series finale]
[Watch it on iPlayer from Friday 11th May.]
Lucifer
2x18 The Good, the Bad, and the Crispy [season finale]
Who Dares Wins
11x06 (5/5/18 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 7 May 2018
TV
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x20 Paranoia
Episodes
5x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Lucifer
2x17 Sympathy for the Goddess
Not Going Out
9x07 Bust Up [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
3x20 Paranoia
Episodes
5x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Lucifer
2x17 Sympathy for the Goddess
Not Going Out
9x07 Bust Up [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Articles
Afrofuturism: Why black science fiction 'can't be ignored'
by Gena-mour Barrett (from BBC News)
Good primer on this mainstream-hitting subgenre and why it's particularly relevant right now.
by Gena-mour Barrett (from BBC News)
Good primer on this mainstream-hitting subgenre and why it's particularly relevant right now.
Sunday, 6 May 2018
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.]
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.]
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
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
ManHunt (2017)
My Cousin Rachel (2017)
More next Sunday.
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.
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