The Holdovers (2023)
[#96 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
Saturday, 7 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 7th: The Adventure of the Gentle Axe Murderer
December 7th: The Adventure of the Gentle Axe Murderer
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
The Christmastime post changes are in full effect, with some stuff taking longer than expected to arrive, and others... well, not. So, only a small handful of titles this week, with several more still dashing through the post. I think it's going to be a smaller month overall, but still probably with new titles every week. (There probably shouldn't be new stuff every week, eh?)
Number of titles in collection: 3,432 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,438 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 412 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,279 [up 8]
Number of films: 4,317 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 422 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,195 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
The Christmastime post changes are in full effect, with some stuff taking longer than expected to arrive, and others... well, not. So, only a small handful of titles this week, with several more still dashing through the post. I think it's going to be a smaller month overall, but still probably with new titles every week. (There probably shouldn't be new stuff every week, eh?)
Number of titles in collection: 3,432 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,438 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 412 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,279 [up 8]
Number of films: 4,317 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 422 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,195 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 6 December 2024
Films
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
[#95 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #10
[#95 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #10
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 6th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie (Conclusion)
December 6th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie (Conclusion)
Thursday, 5 December 2024
Fiction
NPCs by Drew Hayes
Chapters 15–20
I'm 80% through this now, and I think I have to admit: it isn't very good. The inciting concept is neat, but has barely been a factor for most of the novel — this could be any story of novice adventurers in a high fantasy / RPG world; the fact they used to be NPCs is immaterial. That said, this has begun to change in the last couple of chapters, so maybe the final act can pull something out of the bag.
Similarly, while it's clearly meant to be a parody (not an outright Naked Gun-style piss-take, but certainly looking at RPGs with a raised eyebrow and degree of amused cynicism), I've found it mostly lacking in humour. That's not just a taste issue — I'm not saying I don't think it's funny, I'm saying it's not even trying to be as often as it perhaps should. The prose is largely adequate, but also clunky; unnecessarily verbose, with an abundance of wholly redundant words, phrases, and even whole sentences; relatedly, it's often irritatingly repetitive in minor ways (in a careless fashion, not a stylistic one). It's self-published, and that doesn't surprise me. Indeed, I was surprised when I saw there are two credited editors. And if the quality of the writing didn't give it away, the amateurish typesetting would. It feels like that shouldn't be a criticism, and I guess if you were reading a high-quality work it would be easier to let slide, but it's surprisingly aggravating.
I'll stick with it to the end, because it's not outright terrible and I've come this far so want resolution from the plot — though I hope the fact there are multiple sequels doesn't mean I'm denied that, because I don't intend to read more.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 5th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie
Chapters 15–20
I'm 80% through this now, and I think I have to admit: it isn't very good. The inciting concept is neat, but has barely been a factor for most of the novel — this could be any story of novice adventurers in a high fantasy / RPG world; the fact they used to be NPCs is immaterial. That said, this has begun to change in the last couple of chapters, so maybe the final act can pull something out of the bag.
Similarly, while it's clearly meant to be a parody (not an outright Naked Gun-style piss-take, but certainly looking at RPGs with a raised eyebrow and degree of amused cynicism), I've found it mostly lacking in humour. That's not just a taste issue — I'm not saying I don't think it's funny, I'm saying it's not even trying to be as often as it perhaps should. The prose is largely adequate, but also clunky; unnecessarily verbose, with an abundance of wholly redundant words, phrases, and even whole sentences; relatedly, it's often irritatingly repetitive in minor ways (in a careless fashion, not a stylistic one). It's self-published, and that doesn't surprise me. Indeed, I was surprised when I saw there are two credited editors. And if the quality of the writing didn't give it away, the amateurish typesetting would. It feels like that shouldn't be a criticism, and I guess if you were reading a high-quality work it would be easier to let slide, but it's surprisingly aggravating.
I'll stick with it to the end, because it's not outright terrible and I've come this far so want resolution from the plot — though I hope the fact there are multiple sequels doesn't mean I'm denied that, because I don't intend to read more.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 5th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 3rd: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body
December 4th: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body (Conclusion)
I'm not deliberately leaving these for every other day, because that feels against the point of a calendar, but it's just how my time for reading has panned out so far. Equally, I don't think I want to be puzzling over each of these mysteries for a whole 24 hours. So, going forward, I think I'm going to aim to read each half either side of midnight. Ok, arguably that's practically the same as reading them every other day, but at least it involves some semblance of the original intent.
December 3rd: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body
December 4th: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body (Conclusion)
I'm not deliberately leaving these for every other day, because that feels against the point of a calendar, but it's just how my time for reading has panned out so far. Equally, I don't think I want to be puzzling over each of these mysteries for a whole 24 hours. So, going forward, I think I'm going to aim to read each half either side of midnight. Ok, arguably that's practically the same as reading them every other day, but at least it involves some semblance of the original intent.
Tuesday, 3 December 2024
Films
The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
Finally watched the Blu-ray I bought 13½ years ago, to see if I like it enough to upgrade to the Arrow 4K that’s out next week, which I quite possibly won’t watch for another 13½+ years. But I’m still gonna buy it, because this was awesome.
Finally watched the Blu-ray I bought 13½ years ago, to see if I like it enough to upgrade to the Arrow 4K that’s out next week, which I quite possibly won’t watch for another 13½+ years. But I’m still gonna buy it, because this was awesome.
Monday, 2 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
How to Read This Book
December 1st: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel
December 2nd: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel (Conclusion)
I'm trying to not have too many books on the go at once, honest, but this is a timely one. Aside from what's obvious from the title (i.e. that it's set around Christmas), it's also designed to be read as an 'advent calendar': each of the stories is split in two, with a mystery posed one day and a conclusion offered on the next. Neat.
How to Read This Book
December 1st: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel
December 2nd: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel (Conclusion)
I'm trying to not have too many books on the go at once, honest, but this is a timely one. Aside from what's obvious from the title (i.e. that it's set around Christmas), it's also designed to be read as an 'advent calendar': each of the stories is split in two, with a mystery posed one day and a conclusion offered on the next. Neat.
Articles
Critical Role Cast Teases Its Future and a Potential ‘Passing of the Torch’
by Dana Reboe (from Rolling Stone)
It feels like there's a CR profile in a major magazine every other week at the moment. I guess it's all because their tenth anniversary is rapdily approaching, and they've been doing (and continue to do) so much stuff. Still, they're almost always worth a read (if you're a fan, anyway) because there's always a few more titbits about what's to come.
by Dana Reboe (from Rolling Stone)
It feels like there's a CR profile in a major magazine every other week at the moment. I guess it's all because their tenth anniversary is rapdily approaching, and they've been doing (and continue to do) so much stuff. Still, they're almost always worth a read (if you're a fan, anyway) because there's always a few more titbits about what's to come.
Sunday, 1 December 2024
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x79 Redemption Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
7x79 Redemption Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Saturday, 30 November 2024
TV
Friends
4x12 The One with the Embryos [5th or so watch]
4x13 The One with Rachel's Crush [5th or so watch]
4x14 The One with Joey's Dirty Day [5th or so watch]
4x15 The One with All the Rugby [5th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x78 Redemption Week 1: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
4x12 The One with the Embryos [5th or so watch]
4x13 The One with Rachel's Crush [5th or so watch]
4x14 The One with Joey's Dirty Day [5th or so watch]
4x15 The One with All the Rugby [5th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x78 Redemption Week 1: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Only a few titles this week — well, six is still a strong number for just one week, really, but by my stsnsdards... Either way, several of those are box sets, so the number of discs and films still jump up considerably. One is also technically an upgrade from DVD, so I ought to ditch the old disc, but it includes a commentary track not on the new edition. I'll probably never actually listen to it... but I might...
Number of titles in collection: 3,429 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,435 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 409 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,271 [up 18]
Number of films: 4,314 [up 19]
Number of additional cuts: 420 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [up 6]
Number of short films: 1,195 [up 10]
Also this week, the final regular monthly running time update of the year.
Total running time of collection (approx.):
581 days, 14 hours, and 57 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes from last month.)
I say "final running time update of the year", but next month will have a monthly running time update too, of course, it's just that it will also contain the increases for the whole of 2024. It's felt like a big year, with a constant stream of additions, but has it been notably bigger than usual? We'll see in a month's time...
Before that, there's a couple of 'regular' weeks to go. See you then, faithful reader.
Only a few titles this week — well, six is still a strong number for just one week, really, but by my stsnsdards... Either way, several of those are box sets, so the number of discs and films still jump up considerably. One is also technically an upgrade from DVD, so I ought to ditch the old disc, but it includes a commentary track not on the new edition. I'll probably never actually listen to it... but I might...
Number of titles in collection: 3,429 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,435 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 409 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,271 [up 18]
Number of films: 4,314 [up 19]
Number of additional cuts: 420 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [up 6]
Number of short films: 1,195 [up 10]
Also this week, the final regular monthly running time update of the year.
Total running time of collection (approx.):
581 days, 14 hours, and 57 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes from last month.)
I say "final running time update of the year", but next month will have a monthly running time update too, of course, it's just that it will also contain the increases for the whole of 2024. It's felt like a big year, with a constant stream of additions, but has it been notably bigger than usual? We'll see in a month's time...
Before that, there's a couple of 'regular' weeks to go. See you then, faithful reader.
Friday, 29 November 2024
Thursday, 28 November 2024
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x76 Redemption Week 1: Monday
7x77 Redemption Week 1: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
7x76 Redemption Week 1: Monday
7x77 Redemption Week 1: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Videos
Talks Machina
#116 'Beyond the Eyes of Angels'
For some reason, episodes 116 and 117 don't seem to be available via the Internet Archive as normal, which is a shame. Fortunately, I found torrents for piles of Brian W Foster-related content here, so I've used that to fill the gaps.
#116 'Beyond the Eyes of Angels'
For some reason, episodes 116 and 117 don't seem to be available via the Internet Archive as normal, which is a shame. Fortunately, I found torrents for piles of Brian W Foster-related content here, so I've used that to fill the gaps.
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