TV

Misfits
1x03 Episode Three
When it's not trying to be Skins, Misfits is really good. When it is trying to be Skins, Misfits is about as good as... well, Skins.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Top Gear
14x02 Episode 2
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

The Art of Gaming by Mark Langshaw
(from Digital Spy)
A gamer once again tries to claim gaming is an art form on a par with novels, poetry, films, and so on.
Once again, they ignore what I think is one of the key factors: accessibility. Never mind the notion of having to learn controls and all that (while the others only require basic life skills, like sight, hearing, the ability to read) -- none of the other forms halt your progress if you haven't fully understood/completed the preceding section, unlike games.
This 'barrier to completion' is a major count against them in my view -- a film you can just keep watching, a novel keep reading, a painting stare at for as long as you like, but a game's over the moment you're incapable of completing a level/mission/etc. That inability to easily experience the work entire is a major obstacle to the medium's wider acceptance as Art, in my view.

Comedy writers 'no longer taking risks' by Marc Settle
(from BBC News)

"Jokes aren't true - they're lies, they're exaggerations, they're distortion, they're imbalance, they're having a go, they're bullying, they're insulting," says The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci. "Of course the intention is to cause offence." [He] is one of a number of leading figures who fear the rules of comedy writing in Britain are changing.

Despite the insistence of BBC bigwigs later in the article that things are OK, it's clear they're not. And it's all the fault of busybody moaners, like Daily Mail readers or idiots from Sky like James Murdoch.

new review at 100 Films

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

it’s like an uncomfortable amalgamation of Saturday morning cartoon and more adult-orientated action-comedy. On the one hand you’ve got a top-secret organisation with a semi-plausible acronym for a name (NEST) that sees soldiers and good giant robots travelling the world fighting bad giant robots... On the other, you’ve got whole sequences about drug use, almost brutal fight scenes, and lad’s mag-level slow-mo shots of girls running, changing and having their short dresses hiked up... In other words: if you’re an average 13-year-old boy, this is the Best. Movie. Ever.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is out on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK from tomorrow.

There are currently 18 feature films and one short in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Gavin & Stacey
3x01 Episode 1
Simply, brilliant. Gavin & Stacey blows away almost every other comedy currently in production, and a fair few dramas too. Witness, for example, the pair of gags relating to the cheese and pineapple sticks. Most dramas dream about that level of subtlety.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

House
6x08 Teamwork

How I Met Your Mother
3x06 I'm Not That Guy

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x03 Episode 3
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
7x01 Gardens
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [Swedish]
1x03 Bröderna (aka The Brothers)
Grim, but quite possibly the best episode so far.

Fiction

Dr. Horrible #1 (preview)
6-page preview of issue one of the Dr. Horrible comic, available to read for free online. It's a nice little origin story fully contained within these preview pages.

Articles

The "I'm Not That Sad" Quote Of The Week by Dave Golder
(from SFX)

You can almost hear actress Tamzin Outhwaite hissing “I'm not THAT sad” between her teeth as she joins an esteemed list of actors in abject self-denial about appearing in sci-fi. Here she is on Teletext, talking about her role in Paradox: "Initially I thought it was a sci-fi project. Then I read the script and realised it wasn't. It's about police officers trying to work out whether there is a worm hole between two time zones."... Sorry, love, but by using the phrase, “a worm hole between two time zones” you've just defeated your whole argument.

Sky trials 3D broadcasts at the O2 by Andrew Laughlin
(from Digital Spy)
Long-ish article with more details on Sky's ever-developing plans for 3D TV, if you're interested.

new review at 100 Films

Watchmen: Director's Cut (2009)

I wouldn’t be inclined to say it’s vastly different to the previously seen version. There are some obvious new scenes and extensions, especially if you’re familiar with the original novel, but ultimately I didn’t find the additional 24 minutes created a vastly different experience. Most of the flaws still remain... By the same token, none of the great bits are ruined, while some are enhanced.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

Watchmen: Director's Cut is out on Blu-ray in the UK from Monday.

There are currently 20 feature films and one short in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

Argumental
2x12 (17/11/09 edition)
Last episode... except for two clips show specials.

Russell Howard's Good News
1x05 (19/11/09 edition, extended repeat)
The stand-up in this episode was so rubbish, I've deliberately tried (and succeeded) to forget his name. Which is a shame, because now I can't avoid him in future.
[You can (still) only see the shorter version on iPlayer.]

Films

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
[#80 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
On Blu-ray, which isn't out 'til Monday. I (still) always love it when this happens.

Articles

Corduroy Skirts are a Sin by Julie Z
(from fbomb)
A wonderful protest (it's infinitely more important, and clever, than that title suggests). It would take too long to summarise, so, just go read it.

Collection Count

For those keeping count (ho ho), this is now the sixth week of Collection Count, which tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics.

The big acquisition this week is the latest Star Trek on Blu-ray, accompanied by bargain purchases of Ian McKellen's King Lear, Zodiac: Director's Cut and Dark City: Director's Cut to boost my BD numbers. But as I owned the last two of those on DVD -- Dark City twice, in fact -- their DVDs have now been discounted from the list (soon to be found on eBay), which does funny things to the DVD numbers. By which I mean that, though I've bought three new DVDs this week, the ultimate result is "down 2"!

Oh, it's a complicated malarkey, this DVD listing business.

Number of titles in collection: 1,087 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,045 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 42 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 2,669 [up 9]
Number of films in collection: 1,133 [up 8]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 3,716 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Titles with audio commentary/ies or PIP tracks:
666
(61.3% of the collection)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall
Star-studded gig in aid of Children in Need. With a line-up full of Today's Hot Pop Acts it's inevitably a mixed bag, dependent on your tastes, but it's all for a good cause so you can't complain too much.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
3x05 How I Met Everyone Else
Ah, the semi-inevitable 'how we all met' episode, a staple of any long-running sitcom. Luckily, this ep is worthy of that grand tradition.

The Sarah Jane Adventures
3x11 The Gift Part One
3x12 The Gift Part Two [season finale]
Guest starring (the voices of) big-name actors Miriam Margolyes and Simon Callow! Just goes to show how well SJA does for itself.
It's a relatively low-key season finale, despite the guest stars and a world-threatening plot -- there's very few locations, lots of standing around nattering, and a ton of CGI, which is presumably where the story's budget went. Not the best SJA story then, and feeling more like a low-budget mid-season effort than a grand ending, but entertaining enough.
Fingers crossed for a fourth series...
[Watch part one and part two (again) on iPlayer.]

Bernard Cribbins is marvellous

Bernard Cribbins talks Who return by Neil Wilkes & Chris Allen
(from Digital Spy)

I've said it before, I usually prefer transcriptions to video interviews -- they're quicker and easier to skim -- but Bernard Cribbins is so fantastic that it's a joy to spend 5 minutes and 10 seconds listening to him speak.

Go on, watch it. He's lovely.

(And in answer to Wilkes' question under the video: it's just you. And anyone else who clearly wasn't paying proper attention. Or, alternatively, too much attention, as the comments show.)

TV

The Force
Episode 2 (of 3)
The second episode of this excellent documentary series takes a look at the UK's first dedicated rape unit outside London, an "experiment" given six months to prove itself as a concept that should be rolled out nationwide. As stated near the start, rape is second only to murder in seriousness in the opinion of the British public, but is one of the hardest crimes to prove and consequently has one of the lowest conviction rates. Ultimately, the unit is shut down -- though it's given a last minute reprieve, once most of its staff have already been reassigned. Effectively, it's deemed as not cost effective despite impressive statistics, though just about allowed to continue... for the time being.
All in, it makes for an engrossing documentary on the way rape is and could be investigated, and commentary on the (perhaps hypocritical) difference between the opinion of rape in general, i.e. second only to murder, and the opinion on specific cases, i.e. unsolvable -- something the work of this unit categorically disproves. To date, no other force has established a similar unit, while last year 15,000 rapes were reported in the UK, leading to just 955 convictions.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

It's Only a Theory
1x08 Episode 8
Marcus Chown, again! And yet they still pretend they don't know him. Come on guys, treat your viewers with some intelligence!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x08 (18/11/09 edition)
Yes, last week's.
Martin Freeman does a good job in the guest host chair, though I couldn't see him doing it regularly (should they return to that route). One of the great things about the Buzzcocks guest hosts, incidentally, is that most of them seem to be having a whale of a time; unlike on HIGNFY, where they mostly seem nervous as hell.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Magazines

Radio Times 30 November - 6 December 2009

Christmas must be getting close -- here, RT have their (first of several, I'm sure) preview of what's to come over the Christmas holiday, while the next issue is out on Saturday (rather than the usual Tuesday), a schedule change that only happens in the run up to making way for the double-length Christmas issue.

Of course, the Big Day itself is just one month from today...

TV

How I Met Your Mother
3x04 Little Boys

Mastermind
for Children in Need [2009 special]
In which Mark Watson scored the highest (celebrity?) score ever... only to have it beaten within a few minutes by Lucy Porter. Poor Mark.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Misfits
1x02 Episode Two
Continues to be surprisingly good, applying a welcome sci-fi twist to any of the Skins-like drama it feels the need (or the budget constraints) to include.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Russell Howard's Good News
1x04 (12/11/09 edition, extended repeat)
[You can only see the shorter version on iPlayer.]

new reviews at 100 Films

Three reviews of the films in Channel 4's 3D Week, went up at 100 Films the other day. They were:

Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)

The best thing about the extra dimension is that it provides some genuinely impressive visuals throughout, and not in the gimmicky, thrust-stuff-into-the-audience way — naturally there are some of those shots, but… there are also shots that demonstrate why 3D could be genuinely valuable, to visuals if not necessarily to storytelling.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

They have a whale of a time shoving stuff out into the audience for almost no reason — just like the stereotype of 3D films, of course. That’s part of the fun of trashy 3D movies so I’m not criticising it, but what sadly doesn’t work is the ColorCode 3D system chosen by C4.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008)

The only real exception is the 3D — being a very recent production, that was flawless.

Read the full review at 100 Films.

There are currently 19 feature films and one short in the review pipeline at 100 Films. As ever, updates here as and when they're posted.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
6x07 (16/11/09 edition)
Yes, last week's.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Greatest Ever 3D Moments
The centrepiece of Channel 4's 3D Week purports to countdown the top 10 3D moments of all time. In reality, it uses the list format to recount the history of 3D, albeit in jumbled-up fashion thanks to this countdown structure. And it seems as if the top moments were dictated as much by what clips could be found and/or licenced as what is genuinely good 3D. And they were of course discussed by not-very-funny wannabe-famous specialist-knowledge-lacking young comedians, though thankfully the odd expert did show their face. Not a total waste, then, but it was a good idea that couldn't quite be pulled off. Like a lot of 3D week, as it turned out. Or 3D in general.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Friday the 13th Part III in 3D (1982)
[#77 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Once again courtesy of Channel 4's 3D week. Lots of fun 3D silliness in this, which is good because the rest of it is by-the-numbers slasher flick tosh.

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert in 3D (2008)
[#78 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Ugh. The only thing worse than Hannah/Miley is the Jonas Brothers, who unfortunately turn up for a song or two.

Wanted (2008)
[2nd watch]
This was #46 in 100 Films 2008, where I gave it a fairly harsh write-up in reference to the trailer containing all the best bits. 16 months on, I find myself able to enjoy it in its own right. Distanced from said ubiquitous trailer, all the cool bits that gave away are fresher again, making it easier to appreciate the other great things about the film, such as it's wonderful sense of humour. If I wasn't about 20 reviews behind I'd consider re-evaluating it.

Watchmen: Director's Cut (2009)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
Ahead of the UK Blu-ray release in 8 days (I'll try to have a review up before then), and while the Ultimate Cut is winging its way to me across the Atlantic, it's more than time I got round to watching Zack Snyder's definitive version of this year's most-talked-about superhero movie. The theatrical cut, incidentally, was #9.

DVD Extras

Alternate Opening on Wanted (Blu-ray)
This is a rather impressive sequence, which would've added to the mythic quality the film refers to but doesn't really embrace. It also clearly involved a lot of time, effort and, to be blunt, money, which makes it almost amazing it was cut. But it would've been information overload at the start of the film, particularly as it's relatively unrelated to what follows, and so cutting it out seems a wise decision. By itself it's great though, so hurrah for the age of DVD/Blu-ray that allows us to see it.