TV

Doctor Who
37x04 Arachnids in the UK
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Inside No. 9
5x00 Dead Line [live Halloween special]
Never watched Inside No. 9 before, but always meant to catch up. As this episode was going out live, though, it seemed a good idea to watch it when it was on... and, for all the tomfoolery and playing with form, I think it was. Nonetheless, you can still:
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
16x12 Week 6 Results (aka Halloween)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Batman Ninja (2018)

“This is madness,” exclaims Batman at one point relatively early on in this anime interpretation of the DC superhero. He could be speaking on behalf of us viewers... although, at that point, he — and we — don’t even know the half of it…

Read more here.


Hitchcock (2012)

I’ve no idea how true it is, but the setup — the acclaimed Master of Suspense who’s so established that people are judging him over the hill, determined to do a striking new project no one else believes in to prove he’s still got it — is a good’un. It’s especially effective precisely because it’s about Hitchcock and Psycho: it’s the film that defines him for many people now; so, yes, we know the ending, but that lends dramatic irony — how do we get from that starting point to the acclaimed classic we all know?

Read more here.


Phantom Thread (2017)

if there’s one thing writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s film is not, it’s histrionic. It’s plot may be that of a Gothic melodrama, and if it were a novel perhaps we’d class it as one, but Anderson hasn’t taken on the skin of a Tim Burton or Guillermo del Toro here — in the quiet but forceful and precise way it plays out, Phantom Thread is as stringently produced as one of Reynolds’ gowns.

Read more here.


The Purge (2013)

When this first came out, I ignored it because its premise was inherently daft. Then they made some sequels, which I ignored because the premise was still inherently daft. Then two things happened: one, some people who I think are worth listening to said some decent things about it; and two, Trump came to power, and suddenly that daft premise doesn’t feel so far outside the confines of what’s possible.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Daredevil
3x12 One Last Shot
3x13 A New Napkin [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Strictly Come Dancing
16x11 Week 6 (aka Halloween)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Jennifer's Body (2009)
[#222 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Collection Count

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

It's a busy one this week: four sale acquisitions, one new release, and three (three!) titles that are actually out next week. Whew! That doubles the size of my 4K Blu-ray collection, too.

Number of titles in collection: 2,163 [up 8]
Of which DVDs: 1,153 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,010 [up 8]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 4 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 5,541 [up 14]
Number of films: 2,416 [up 12]
Number of TV episodes: 8,294 [no change]
Number of short films: 636 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Daredevil
3x10 Karen
3x11 Reunion
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Phantom Thread (2017)
[#221 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Daredevil
3x08 Upstairs/Downstairs
3x09 Revelations
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Would I Lie To You?
12x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Lives of Others (2006)
[#220 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #10

TV

Derren Brown: Sacrifice
This is Derren Brown's third Netflix special... except the first two were just a Channel 4 special slightly re-edited, and a filmed stage show that I think had already aired on C4 (though I missed it then, so, er, I should watch that too). This is his first genuinely-original Netflix Original, though, and it's... not bad. Not his best special (it feels like a recombination of previous techniques to an ending that's only new in its specifics), but not a bad one either.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Upstart Crow
3x06 Go On and I Will Follow [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Daredevil
3x07 Aftermath
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
[#218 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Unsane (2018)
[#219 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

TV

Daredevil
3x05 The Perfect Game
3x06 The Devil You Know
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

Rocky Balboa (2006)
[#217 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
+ the audio commentary by writer/director/star Sylvester Stallone

TV

Daredevil
3x04 Blindsided
Including an impressive 11½-minute single-take fight scene, the creation of which is discussed in this article.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Doctor Who
37x03 Rosa
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Producers (1967)
[#216 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

It was already time for another TV roundup at 100 Films in a Year this week...





Plus, there were 6 brand-new film reviews...


Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)

enough cool costumes and bursts of ultra-violence to cut together a trailer that looks like a kinda-typical anime action-fest, but that’s really hiding a thoughtful, complicated (oh so complicated) drama about an unlikely romance and military conspiracies. If that sounds like a bizarre mix… well, it is. This is a film that likes to pull tricks on its audience, and one of the tricks it plays is to constantly wrongfoot you about what kind of movie it’s meant to be.

Read more here.


Mary and Max (2009)

It has an empathy for people who are disadvantaged and troubled, and for the importance of finding some measure of happiness in life, however small or awkward, that is quite touching. The heavily stylised designs, desaturated colour scheme, and stop-motion animation method suit the material well — there’s a lot of bleakness here, as both Mary and Max are battered by life, which juxtaposes effectively with the “kids’ picture book” visual aesthetic.

Read more here.


The Night Comes for Us (2018)

The whole storyline is quite perfunctory and rather something-and-nothing (and, considering that, gets a bit too much screen time), but it’s a sideshow because the real star is, of course, the action choreography. That’s as relentless and barmy as you’d expect given the pedigree of the cast and crew

Read more here.


Rocky V (1990)

I don’t quite see why Rocky V gets so reviled. It’s certainly not the best movie in the series — indeed, it’s probably the lowest point, lacking the realism of the early films, the entertaining ridiculousness of its immediate predecessors, and the feel-good zero-to-hero arc seen in all of those — but it’s a passable-enough drama in its own right.

Read more here.


Sartana’s Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin (1970)

The third official Sartana movie is to this series what On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is to the Bond films: its one-shot leading man isn’t as good as the regular fella, but the film around him is a cut above.

Read more here.


Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966)

the action is the lesser element here, with some of it feeling almost perfunctory alongside the interesting ideas presented by the plot. It engages on multiple fronts. Firstly, there’s the young boy Taichi and Ichi’s potential influence on him. [...] Connected to this is the blind priest, a wise man who seems to see into Ichi’s very soul, and advises him on his interactions with the boy and, well, his lifestyle in general. [...] While both of these characters and their associated views of Ichi’s methods provide food for thought, perhaps my favourite part of the film is the subplot about a prostitute, Ocho, a kindhearted woman who’s revealed to have a tragic backstory

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Daredevil
3x03 No Good Deed
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

Films

The Night Comes for Us (2018)
[#215 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

Podcasts

The Empire Film Podcast
Mission: Impossible – Fallout Spoiler Special Part 3 ft. Christopher McQuarrie

Following on from parts one and two, another three hours of McQuarrie's priceless insights into the moviemaking process. Can't believe it's taken me this long to get round to finishing it, because it's so good.