Doctor Who: Redacted
1x09 Rescue
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Sunday, 19 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 3 Lair of the Leviathan
Felt like there were a lot of cutscenes at some points this chapter. Why not make them interactive conversations instead? Obviously the player's options would be narrow because it's about getting on with the plot, but they could throw in a couple of variations or asides. Plus, at least it would feel like a game rather than spending five minutes just watching, performing one simple task, then spending another five minutes watching.
Those iffy bits aside, the game remains decent fun. Some different types of puzzles I'd not seen before, which was a welcome change, and a nice use of fan-favourite character Murray. Just over 2 hours of time spent playing the chapter so far, which, based on the other two, probably means 30 to 45 minutes to go.
Chapter 3 Lair of the Leviathan
Felt like there were a lot of cutscenes at some points this chapter. Why not make them interactive conversations instead? Obviously the player's options would be narrow because it's about getting on with the plot, but they could throw in a couple of variations or asides. Plus, at least it would feel like a game rather than spending five minutes just watching, performing one simple task, then spending another five minutes watching.
Those iffy bits aside, the game remains decent fun. Some different types of puzzles I'd not seen before, which was a welcome change, and a nice use of fan-favourite character Murray. Just over 2 hours of time spent playing the chapter so far, which, based on the other two, probably means 30 to 45 minutes to go.
this week on 100Films.co.uk
5 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...
Encanto (2021)
High and Low (1963)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
2022 | Weeks 16–17
More next Sunday.
Encanto (2021)
It doesn’t look like your typical Disney Princess movie, but it’s not functionally different to them. The Madrigal family’s powers mean they effectively rule over their small town, albeit in a benevolent way, which makes Mirabel a de facto Princess; and she has the usual Disney Princess hangups about feeling under-appreciated and needing to find her self-worth. But hey, at least she doesn’t also need to find a husband!Read more here.
High and Low (1963)
Akira Kurosawa has a good many classic films to his name, but, according to users of both IMDb and Letterboxd, this is the second best of them all — and, on the latter’s list. the 12th greatest film ever made, to boot... It’s certainly a fine piece of work — although, on first watch, I’d say I’ve seen several better examples of the genre and several better films by Kurosawa. But that isn’t truly a criticism of the film, rather of its high placing on the lists mentionedRead more here.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
The MCU publicity claim that any given film is “not just a superhero movie, it’s a [1970s conspiracy thriller / John Hughes comedy / whatever]” has, rightly, become a bit of a laughing stock. But I think Shang-Chi might be the first time it’s actually true. Yeah, it’s undeniably set in the MCU and, as such, plays by some of those rules... but the bulk of the movie itself is not really a superhero film as we normally think of them. Rather, it’s a martial arts fantasy-actioner.Read more here.
2022 | Weeks 16–17
Featuring two very different coming-of-age movies...Read more here.
- CODA (2021)
- Cruella (2021)
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 18 June 2022
Films
The Ghost Writer (2010)
Normally I go with UK titles for films, and this was originally released here as The Ghost, but nowadays it's on Netflix (where I watched it) as The Ghost Writer, so...
Normally I go with UK titles for films, and this was originally released here as The Ghost, but nowadays it's on Netflix (where I watched it) as The Ghost Writer, so...
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
I would call this week a quieter one, but that's only in the context of recent times. It still boasts six new additions, with ten films, an additional cut, and 24 episodes of TV between them.
Among them, I finally picked up the first Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K set. It contains just four of his films, versus the 16-film BD set I also own them in. No replacement in my collection there, then! Indeed, it'll be some time before I can lose the BD set — if ever. Y'see, this volume is almost two years old, and they've only recently released a second with five more films. That leaves seven to go, two of which are actually with different rights holders, so who knows if they'll all ever see the light of day on 4K? Maybe they will, but I'll certainly be keeping the BD set for the forseeable future.
One BD set I won't be keeping for too much longer is the Peter Cushing Dalek films. The 4K edition of Dr. Who and the Daleks turned up this morning, and when the matching set for Daleks' Invasion Earth turns up (in a month's time) then I'll remove the old BD from these stats.
Number of titles in collection: 2,863 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,808 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 177 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 7,112 [up 19]
Number of films: 3,417 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 265 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,305 [up 24]
Number of short films: 968 [up 6]
See you next week, faithful reader.
I would call this week a quieter one, but that's only in the context of recent times. It still boasts six new additions, with ten films, an additional cut, and 24 episodes of TV between them.
Among them, I finally picked up the first Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K set. It contains just four of his films, versus the 16-film BD set I also own them in. No replacement in my collection there, then! Indeed, it'll be some time before I can lose the BD set — if ever. Y'see, this volume is almost two years old, and they've only recently released a second with five more films. That leaves seven to go, two of which are actually with different rights holders, so who knows if they'll all ever see the light of day on 4K? Maybe they will, but I'll certainly be keeping the BD set for the forseeable future.
One BD set I won't be keeping for too much longer is the Peter Cushing Dalek films. The 4K edition of Dr. Who and the Daleks turned up this morning, and when the matching set for Daleks' Invasion Earth turns up (in a month's time) then I'll remove the old BD from these stats.
Number of titles in collection: 2,863 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,808 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 177 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 7,112 [up 19]
Number of films: 3,417 [up 10]
Number of additional cuts: 265 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,305 [up 24]
Number of short films: 968 [up 6]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 17 June 2022
Audio Drama / Podcasts
Doctor Who: Redacted
1x08 Ghosts
Did they have to recast several characters from the TV show because the original actorsread the script wouldn't appear, I wonder?
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
1x08 Ghosts
Did they have to recast several characters from the TV show because the original actors
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 2 The Siege of Spinner Cay
So, having said there could be half-an-hour left, it was a little over fifteen minutes, including credits. Well, you never know! That means Chapter 2 took me about two-and-three-quarter hours, the same as Chapter 1, for a total so far of just over 5½ hours gametime.
As for the game itself, one thing I could do without (having now had it in both chapters so far): running around jungles trying to remember which pathway leads where. It's okay as a one-off, but it's not that much fun to repeat; it feels like a cheat to make the game feel bigger (more locations!) or longer (artificially extending it as you randomly try different paths hoping to end up where you're looking for).
Chapter 2 The Siege of Spinner Cay
So, having said there could be half-an-hour left, it was a little over fifteen minutes, including credits. Well, you never know! That means Chapter 2 took me about two-and-three-quarter hours, the same as Chapter 1, for a total so far of just over 5½ hours gametime.
As for the game itself, one thing I could do without (having now had it in both chapters so far): running around jungles trying to remember which pathway leads where. It's okay as a one-off, but it's not that much fun to repeat; it feels like a cheat to make the game feel bigger (more locations!) or longer (artificially extending it as you randomly try different paths hoping to end up where you're looking for).
Thursday, 16 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 2 The Siege of Spinner Cay
Uncharted waters — a Monkey Island game I've never played! I don't know if it's just in my head, because I know how the game was released, but Tales feels like a Monkey Island 'TV series' vs the 'movies' that were the first four games. It's not a scale or graphics thing either, because, if anything, this is the slickest and most cinematic MI has ever looked. I guess it's partly the way the story is paced (there's clearly an overarching narrative, but also it seems as if each episode is a self-contained chunk), and also textural things, like episode 1 ending with "to be continued" and episode 2 beginning with a kind of recap, plus opening credits playing over the early scenes — much more like TV than a movie. None of which really matters, it's just a feeling.
And, for the sake of keeping track, I've played this chapter for two-and-a-half hours so far. I think I'm near the end of it now, but there are surprisingly long cutscenes and whatnot sometimes — that "near the end" might translate to another half-hour yet, hence why I stopped for the evening.
Chapter 2 The Siege of Spinner Cay
Uncharted waters — a Monkey Island game I've never played! I don't know if it's just in my head, because I know how the game was released, but Tales feels like a Monkey Island 'TV series' vs the 'movies' that were the first four games. It's not a scale or graphics thing either, because, if anything, this is the slickest and most cinematic MI has ever looked. I guess it's partly the way the story is paced (there's clearly an overarching narrative, but also it seems as if each episode is a self-contained chunk), and also textural things, like episode 1 ending with "to be continued" and episode 2 beginning with a kind of recap, plus opening credits playing over the early scenes — much more like TV than a movie. None of which really matters, it's just a feeling.
And, for the sake of keeping track, I've played this chapter for two-and-a-half hours so far. I think I'm near the end of it now, but there are surprisingly long cutscenes and whatnot sometimes — that "near the end" might translate to another half-hour yet, hence why I stopped for the evening.
Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 1 Launch of the Screaming Narwhal [2nd play]
Oops — I kinda accidentally finished Chapter 1 already. I say "accidentally" because I had in mind that it took me about four hours the first time, being as thorough as I could be with dialogue trees and exploration and what have you, and I was aiming to be similarly thorough this time. So as I passed about two-and-a-half hours of playtime, I thought I must still be a ways from the end... but nope, somehow this time I did it in under three hours (about two-and-three-quarters, to be a little more precise).
Not sure how I managed that. Maybe I wasn't as thorough as I thought (I hope not!); maybe last time I spent longer stuck on puzzles (I didn't remember any of them this time to solve them quicker, but last time I hadn't played an adventure game for years, whereas this time I've come off the back of completing Monkey Islands 1-4 in the space of just 7 weeks).
Whatever the reason, it's done now — and so, next time, I enter uncharted waters: a Monkey Island game I've never played before! Exciting times.
Chapter 1 Launch of the Screaming Narwhal [2nd play]
Oops — I kinda accidentally finished Chapter 1 already. I say "accidentally" because I had in mind that it took me about four hours the first time, being as thorough as I could be with dialogue trees and exploration and what have you, and I was aiming to be similarly thorough this time. So as I passed about two-and-a-half hours of playtime, I thought I must still be a ways from the end... but nope, somehow this time I did it in under three hours (about two-and-three-quarters, to be a little more precise).
Not sure how I managed that. Maybe I wasn't as thorough as I thought (I hope not!); maybe last time I spent longer stuck on puzzles (I didn't remember any of them this time to solve them quicker, but last time I hadn't played an adventure game for years, whereas this time I've come off the back of completing Monkey Islands 1-4 in the space of just 7 weeks).
Whatever the reason, it's done now — and so, next time, I enter uncharted waters: a Monkey Island game I've never played before! Exciting times.
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 1 Launch of the Screaming Narwhal [2nd play]
Up to about an hour-and-a-quarter of playtime now. (I’m going to have to keep track of that here, because the game doesn’t do it; and it auto-saves, so no save-game names to write it in; and I’m curious how long it takes me to complete this, to compare it to the other games.)
Chapter 1 Launch of the Screaming Narwhal [2nd play]
Up to about an hour-and-a-quarter of playtime now. (I’m going to have to keep track of that here, because the game doesn’t do it; and it auto-saves, so no save-game names to write it in; and I’m curious how long it takes me to complete this, to compare it to the other games.)
Monday, 13 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 1 Launch of the Screaming Narwhal [2nd play]
Alright, here we go: Monkey Island 5. Released monthly at the end of 2009, I finally played this first chapter in August 2010... and then never got round to the rest. 12 years later, I'm gonna finish it this time! Though today I only played for about 20 minutes; enough to get through the opening cutscenes and tutorial. The latter was particularly necessary, as the control method is different again to any previous Monkey game. It feels more intuitive than Escape's, though. Weirdly, I don't remember it at all... but then, I only used it for 4 hours on one afternoon/evening 12 years ago, so maybe it's not "weird" at all.
Also noticeably better than Escape were the graphics. It's still not the slickest 3D game ever made — it's not designed to be, and wouldn't have been 13 years ago either — but it still looks pretty nice today, whereas Escape looks horrendously dated. It's also remarkable how cinematic it feels. Even interactive dialogue trees feel like they launches into a mini-cutscene with every option selected, using a variety of camera angles and whatnot, rather than the static "gameplay" perspective of... well, every other adventure game I've ever played. It's rather nice.
Chapter 1 Launch of the Screaming Narwhal [2nd play]
Alright, here we go: Monkey Island 5. Released monthly at the end of 2009, I finally played this first chapter in August 2010... and then never got round to the rest. 12 years later, I'm gonna finish it this time! Though today I only played for about 20 minutes; enough to get through the opening cutscenes and tutorial. The latter was particularly necessary, as the control method is different again to any previous Monkey game. It feels more intuitive than Escape's, though. Weirdly, I don't remember it at all... but then, I only used it for 4 hours on one afternoon/evening 12 years ago, so maybe it's not "weird" at all.
Also noticeably better than Escape were the graphics. It's still not the slickest 3D game ever made — it's not designed to be, and wouldn't have been 13 years ago either — but it still looks pretty nice today, whereas Escape looks horrendously dated. It's also remarkable how cinematic it feels. Even interactive dialogue trees feel like they launches into a mini-cutscene with every option selected, using a variety of camera angles and whatnot, rather than the static "gameplay" perspective of... well, every other adventure game I've ever played. It's rather nice.
Sunday, 12 June 2022
this week on 100Films.co.uk
Just 1 new post on 100Films.co.uk this week...
The 100 Films Guide to Top Gun
More next Sunday.
The 100 Films Guide to Top Gun
Does it hold up? Well, that depends what you want from a movie. It certainly comes with a more-than-healthy does of ’80s cheese and rampant-but-unacknowledged homoeroticism. For some, that makes it either unwatchable or two hours of laughing at the film. But if you’re onboard with its particular style, it’s still good funRead more here.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 11 June 2022
Films
Top Gun 3D (1986)
[3rd or so watch]
[#36 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
I remember loving this as a kid — though, as is so often the case with movies from my childhood, I don't actually know how many times I saw it. We weren't great rewatchers in my household, so I don't imagine I've seen it more than two, maybe three, times, max. Whatever the number, this is the first time I've seen it for about 25–30 years. I've been meaning to get round to revisiting it for years too: I've owned it since DVD, then bought the 3D Blu-ray five years ago too. Obviously, the sequel has finally provoked my rewatch. I think it holds up as good fun, so long as you're on board with its cheesy '80s-ness.
[3rd or so watch]
[#36 in The All-New 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2022]
I remember loving this as a kid — though, as is so often the case with movies from my childhood, I don't actually know how many times I saw it. We weren't great rewatchers in my household, so I don't imagine I've seen it more than two, maybe three, times, max. Whatever the number, this is the first time I've seen it for about 25–30 years. I've been meaning to get round to revisiting it for years too: I've owned it since DVD, then bought the 3D Blu-ray five years ago too. Obviously, the sequel has finally provoked my rewatch. I think it holds up as good fun, so long as you're on board with its cheesy '80s-ness.
Audio Drama / Podcasts
Doctor Who: Redacted
1x06 Recruits
1x07 Requiem
I do wonder how much the main character in this is an author stand-in, because she's frequently annoying and selfish, but the drama seems to think she's always in the right, and is doing that thing of making her "special", with abilities and insights and whatnot that no one else has. Anyway, Recruits might be the best instalment so far, but that's not saying a whole deal. Only three more to go. I hope the explanation of what's going on, whenever it finally comes, is worth it.
[Listen to Recruits and Requiem (again) on BBC Sounds.]
1x06 Recruits
1x07 Requiem
I do wonder how much the main character in this is an author stand-in, because she's frequently annoying and selfish, but the drama seems to think she's always in the right, and is doing that thing of making her "special", with abilities and insights and whatnot that no one else has. Anyway, Recruits might be the best instalment so far, but that's not saying a whole deal. Only three more to go. I hope the explanation of what's going on, whenever it finally comes, is worth it.
[Listen to Recruits and Requiem (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Games
Escape from Monkey Island
And I'm done. Just over 10½ hours in the end, which is longer than expected. I blame the controls. I did also try to be exhaustive with the dialogue trees — that's part of the point after all, right? And I got stuck for a bit on a part that's notoriously buggy, but I managed to make it work eventually.
So, four down, just one to go... or five, depending how you count it...
And I'm done. Just over 10½ hours in the end, which is longer than expected. I blame the controls. I did also try to be exhaustive with the dialogue trees — that's part of the point after all, right? And I got stuck for a bit on a part that's notoriously buggy, but I managed to make it work eventually.
So, four down, just one to go... or five, depending how you count it...
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Seven new titles this week, and pretty straightforward too — only one's an upgrade, and only one has anything more than "1 film" to add to the below stats (it's an additional cut).
Number of titles in collection: 2,857 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,802 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 174 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 7,092 [up 7]
Number of films: 3,407 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 264 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,281 [no change]
Number of short films: 962 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Seven new titles this week, and pretty straightforward too — only one's an upgrade, and only one has anything more than "1 film" to add to the below stats (it's an additional cut).
Number of titles in collection: 2,857 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,055 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,802 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 174 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 7,092 [up 7]
Number of films: 3,407 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 264 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,281 [no change]
Number of short films: 962 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
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