The 95th Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars. It was a good one this year, I thought: kept to the point, with an almost-unwavering focus on the awards and nominees; just an opening monologue and a couple of stand-up-ish interludes from host Jimmy Kimmel, rather than extraneous sketches no one wants, which I think is the perfect balance (the "no host" ceremonies often feel like they lack something). Plus, an abundance of good and memorable speeches; and even the dull "just a list of thanks" ones were mostly brief and focused, rather than the never-ending sprawl of pulled-from-thin-air names they can degenerate into.
Leverage
5x02 The Blue Line Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
6x35 Week 7: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 13 March 2023
Sunday, 12 March 2023
TV
The Oscars 2023: Who Will Win?
No pre-show or red carpet coverage of the Oscars this year (I think there is some of the latter on Sky Showcase, but I don't get that channel). Instead, here's a preview/predictions show that Sky released a week or so ago, which I've watched as a stand-in. This is usually the kind of stuff they do in the hour before the main show begins anyway, so seemed fitting.
Unforgotten
5x03 Episode 3
5x04 Episode 4
5x05 Episode 5
5x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch the whole series (again) on ITVX.]
No pre-show or red carpet coverage of the Oscars this year (I think there is some of the latter on Sky Showcase, but I don't get that channel). Instead, here's a preview/predictions show that Sky released a week or so ago, which I've watched as a stand-in. This is usually the kind of stuff they do in the hour before the main show begins anyway, so seemed fitting.
Unforgotten
5x03 Episode 3
5x04 Episode 4
5x05 Episode 5
5x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch the whole series (again) on ITVX.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Nothing huge to report this week, just a couple of new titles — the never-ceasing drip, drip, drip of new acquistions that has slowly made my collection the ridiculous size it is.
Number of titles in collection: 3,038 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,035 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,003 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 239 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,490 [up 3]
Number of films: 3,713 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 306 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,559 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,043 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Nothing huge to report this week, just a couple of new titles — the never-ceasing drip, drip, drip of new acquistions that has slowly made my collection the ridiculous size it is.
Number of titles in collection: 3,038 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,035 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,003 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 239 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,490 [up 3]
Number of films: 3,713 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 306 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,559 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,043 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Saturday, 11 March 2023
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
6x34 Week 7: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Unforgotten
5x01 Episode 1
5x02 Episode 2
[Watch the whole series (again) on ITVX.]
6x34 Week 7: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Unforgotten
5x01 Episode 1
5x02 Episode 2
[Watch the whole series (again) on ITVX.]
Friday, 10 March 2023
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
6x32 Week 7: Tuesday
6x33 Week 7: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
6x32 Week 7: Tuesday
6x33 Week 7: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 9 March 2023
TV
Leverage
5x01 The (Very) Big Bird Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
6x31 Week 7: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
5x01 The (Very) Big Bird Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
6x31 Week 7: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Wednesday, 8 March 2023
TV
Doctor Who
2x21 The Centre
aka The Web Planet Part Six, the finale. This serial might commonly be criticised for its over-ambitious low-rent staging, but I think the production achieved an admirable amount with so little. That it’s all in aid of such a dull story is what makes that effort feel like a waste.
Our Flag Means Death
1x10 Wherever You Go, There You Are [season finale]
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]
2x21 The Centre
aka The Web Planet Part Six, the finale. This serial might commonly be criticised for its over-ambitious low-rent staging, but I think the production achieved an admirable amount with so little. That it’s all in aid of such a dull story is what makes that effort feel like a waste.
Our Flag Means Death
1x10 Wherever You Go, There You Are [season finale]
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]
Tuesday, 7 March 2023
TV
Doctor Who
2x20 Invasion
aka The Web Planet Part Five.
Our Flag Means Death
1x09 Act of Grace
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]
Would I Lie To You?
16x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
2x20 Invasion
aka The Web Planet Part Five.
Our Flag Means Death
1x09 Act of Grace
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]
Would I Lie To You?
16x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 6 March 2023
Sunday, 5 March 2023
TV
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
Netflix's first-ever foray into live broadcasting is this Chris Rock stand-up special, the promo for which relied heavily (as far as I saw) on the fact he was going to talk about The Slap for the first time — the broadcast cannily timed to be just one week before this year's Oscars. Perfect (for viewing figures).
Well, I don't know how good the figures were; the comedy was alright. I'm often not a fan of American stand-up, and Rock is one of its key figures, but I laughed at a few bits and was tickled at others. By far the best material was related to The Slap, though — a couple of references dropped here and there, and then a full-on assault in the final 10 minutes. It's what we came for, and we got what we wanted.
Netflix also teed things up and played it out with half-hour The Show Before the Show and The Show After the Show livestreams. Apparently these won't be available on the recorded version of the special, which is largely fine (the question of archiving media aside) because they didn't offer too much of value.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]
Mystery Science Theater 3000
13x08 The Batwoman
I was "a little behind" on MST3K season 13 for a while, but it's now been over six months since I last watched an episode — a combination of trying to devote time to finishing my 100 Films Challenge at the end of 2022, and then just getting out of the habit. So, hopefully I'll now begin to watch them more regularly and finish off the five remaining episodes. I thought this was quite a good one — a clearly-ridiculous underlying film, scattered with decent riffs.
Netflix's first-ever foray into live broadcasting is this Chris Rock stand-up special, the promo for which relied heavily (as far as I saw) on the fact he was going to talk about The Slap for the first time — the broadcast cannily timed to be just one week before this year's Oscars. Perfect (for viewing figures).
Well, I don't know how good the figures were; the comedy was alright. I'm often not a fan of American stand-up, and Rock is one of its key figures, but I laughed at a few bits and was tickled at others. By far the best material was related to The Slap, though — a couple of references dropped here and there, and then a full-on assault in the final 10 minutes. It's what we came for, and we got what we wanted.
Netflix also teed things up and played it out with half-hour The Show Before the Show and The Show After the Show livestreams. Apparently these won't be available on the recorded version of the special, which is largely fine (the question of archiving media aside) because they didn't offer too much of value.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]
Mystery Science Theater 3000
13x08 The Batwoman
I was "a little behind" on MST3K season 13 for a while, but it's now been over six months since I last watched an episode — a combination of trying to devote time to finishing my 100 Films Challenge at the end of 2022, and then just getting out of the habit. So, hopefully I'll now begin to watch them more regularly and finish off the five remaining episodes. I thought this was quite a good one — a clearly-ridiculous underlying film, scattered with decent riffs.
this week on 100Films.co.uk
A new month means two things at 100Films.co.uk — first, an overview of the month just passed...
Second, a look at all the films I failed to watch during the last month...
No new film reviews, but hopefully there'll be more next Sunday.
Second, a look at all the films I failed to watch during the last month...
No new film reviews, but hopefully there'll be more next Sunday.
Saturday, 4 March 2023
TV
Doctor Who
2x18 Escape to Danger
aka The Web Planet Part Three, aka The One Where a Zarbi Bumps Into the Camera — a bit of drama, at last.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Tom & Crow’s Unsupervised Year-End Review Revue
The final livestream of the season is a clip-filled whistlestop recap of the first year of the Gizmoplex. As well as trailers for all 13 episodes of season 13, plus a selection of highlight clips, it also covered other goings-on — things like game nights, classic episode remasters, and aftershow interviews. At 40 minutes it was a pretty quick and fairly concise recap, but that's a good thing really — seeing as it was primarily a selection of trailers for and clips from things most viewers will have already seen, making it much longer could’ve been excruciating.
[Watch it (for free) on the Gizmoplex.]
The Wheel
3x09 Episode 9
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
2x18 Escape to Danger
aka The Web Planet Part Three, aka The One Where a Zarbi Bumps Into the Camera — a bit of drama, at last.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Tom & Crow’s Unsupervised Year-End Review Revue
The final livestream of the season is a clip-filled whistlestop recap of the first year of the Gizmoplex. As well as trailers for all 13 episodes of season 13, plus a selection of highlight clips, it also covered other goings-on — things like game nights, classic episode remasters, and aftershow interviews. At 40 minutes it was a pretty quick and fairly concise recap, but that's a good thing really — seeing as it was primarily a selection of trailers for and clips from things most viewers will have already seen, making it much longer could’ve been excruciating.
[Watch it (for free) on the Gizmoplex.]
The Wheel
3x09 Episode 9
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A week later than expected, but it finally happened: I passed 2,000 Blu-rays! I remember when I first started buying the format, I thought it would never surpass my DVD collection — my intention was to buy selectively; to keep buying on DVD stuff that didn't 'merit' HD. Ah, naïve times. The market, and my taste, has changed quite a bit since then — although we still see some relatively-major studio titles get DVD-only releases, while the boutique labels are putting out Blu-rays (or even 4Ks) of incredibly niche stuff. Funny old world.
That said, I did buy a DVD this week; but it was of a BBC serial from the 1970s, so fair enough. (Classic Doctor Who looks remarkably good on Blu-ray, free from DVD compression and lovingly upscaled, but you can't expect that for every old recorded-in-SD programme.) So, my DVD collection briefly grows again, but I wouldn't be surprised if my next "landmark" is that finally sinking below 1,000 titles. It's shrunk by an average of 25 titles a year over the last five years (although 2022's decrease was notably lower than 2021's, which was notably lower than 2020's), so maybe sometime in 2024 or 2025...
Number of titles in collection: 3,036 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,035 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,001 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 239 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,487 [up 3]
Number of films: 3,711 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 305 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,559 [up 8]
Number of short films: 1,042 [up 1]
This week's additions also include the Criterion box set of the Infernal Affairs trilogy. The films are restored with new special features, so I'm sure it was worth buying, but in terms of the stats counted here, it's such a one-for-one upgrade on the old trilogy Blu-ray set that it doesn't register anywhere. If they'd put it out on 4K... but, alas, no.
See you next week, faithful reader.
A week later than expected, but it finally happened: I passed 2,000 Blu-rays! I remember when I first started buying the format, I thought it would never surpass my DVD collection — my intention was to buy selectively; to keep buying on DVD stuff that didn't 'merit' HD. Ah, naïve times. The market, and my taste, has changed quite a bit since then — although we still see some relatively-major studio titles get DVD-only releases, while the boutique labels are putting out Blu-rays (or even 4Ks) of incredibly niche stuff. Funny old world.
That said, I did buy a DVD this week; but it was of a BBC serial from the 1970s, so fair enough. (Classic Doctor Who looks remarkably good on Blu-ray, free from DVD compression and lovingly upscaled, but you can't expect that for every old recorded-in-SD programme.) So, my DVD collection briefly grows again, but I wouldn't be surprised if my next "landmark" is that finally sinking below 1,000 titles. It's shrunk by an average of 25 titles a year over the last five years (although 2022's decrease was notably lower than 2021's, which was notably lower than 2020's), so maybe sometime in 2024 or 2025...
Number of titles in collection: 3,036 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,035 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,001 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 239 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,487 [up 3]
Number of films: 3,711 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 305 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,559 [up 8]
Number of short films: 1,042 [up 1]
This week's additions also include the Criterion box set of the Infernal Affairs trilogy. The films are restored with new special features, so I'm sure it was worth buying, but in terms of the stats counted here, it's such a one-for-one upgrade on the old trilogy Blu-ray set that it doesn't register anywhere. If they'd put it out on 4K... but, alas, no.
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 3 March 2023
TV
Doctor Who
2x17 The Zarbi
aka The Web Planet Part Two. Whereas the first episode felt like it was deliberately set at a leisurely pace, this one just feels like it’s playing for time. It’s not the production ambition that’s the problem here — it’s easy to forgive ’60s Who its shonky effects; they’re par for the course — it’s the lack of an interesting story.
2x17 The Zarbi
aka The Web Planet Part Two. Whereas the first episode felt like it was deliberately set at a leisurely pace, this one just feels like it’s playing for time. It’s not the production ambition that’s the problem here — it’s easy to forgive ’60s Who its shonky effects; they’re par for the course — it’s the lack of an interesting story.
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