TV

Mad Men
3x07 Seven Twenty-Three

Articles

Christopher Nolan takes flight with Superman: 'We have a fantastic story' by Geoff Boucher
(from Hero Complex at the Los Angeles Times)

Digital Spy managed to milk three news stories from this one interview, so I thought I'd just link to the whole thing. It'll be more accurate anyway. In it, Nolan reveals a few tidbits about his ideas for Superman, plus the vaguest first details on the plan for the next Batman film.

How many tidbits? About three I guess.

TV

Five Days
2x05 Day 102 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Choke (2008)
[#27 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Magazines

Radio Times 13-19 March 2010

The Radio Times' film guide continues its slide into ludicrous irrelevancy this issue -- as if awarding the widely-exalted The Dark Knight a meagre three stars wasn't bad enough, they've given the exact same score to the widely-derided Lesbian Vampire Killers. Seriously.

They even seem to have realised it's all gone awry: the film section used to boast full reviews of every film on terrestrial TV, plus many digital ones too; for the past few months, it's been much shorter and abandoned such a thorough review output. As we can see, they're right to have lost faith in it.

Articles

Thurman film takes £88 at UK box office by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
"Its total takings for Sunday were £9, meaning only one person paid to see the movie on that day."
Oh dear.

TV

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards
aka the Oscars, of course. I bought Sky Movies for a month specially for this, donchaknow (ancillary benefits and all that: lots of movies for the next month).
Agree with most of the winners, without actually having seen most of the films. Shame for us Brits though.

Five Days
2x04 Day 37
One month on and, let's be honest, it may as well be not so long at all. Not as huge as the leap forwards for the final part though...
One thing that's quite interesting about this series, incidentally, is how grounded in the real world it is: these are real dates, not just days that are only significant within the context of the story (episode 2 revealed in background detail that Day 1 was July 30th; this episode is September 4th and specifically set during Ramadan; the final one is Remembrance Day); there's a royal visit, which is the kind of thing that does just happen sometimes -- it's not even a major part of the story, but it's just there.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
7x14 Greeks (extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

The 82nd annual Academy Awards by Brian Lowry
(from Variety)
Variety's speedy review of the 2010 Oscars telecast. Largely spot-on though.

Hurt Locker explodes on to the scene to help change Hollywood for ever by Kate Muir
(from Times Online)
The Times, meanwhile, focus less on the ceremony itself and more on the awards presented. Which is the point, really.

Oscars 2010: the winners in numbers
(from guardian.co.uk)
A handy, simple pictorial guide. See how obviously Hurt Locker beat everything else.

TV

Five Days
2x03 Day 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Oscars 2010: Red Carpet Live
And so Sky's coverage begins. And, in fact, is ongoing as this is posted, because the actual ceremony doesn't start until 1am over here. So there's an hour of red carpet to go, and the ceremony itself will be part of tomorrow's updates.
(Yep, this is word-for-word what I posted at this point last year.)

Articles

If you think Ashcroft is a scandal, what about the attacks on the BBC? by David Mitchell
(from comment is free at guardian.co.uk)
I could scarcely agree more with the points Mitchell makes here. The BBC is one of the greatest organisations of its kind in the world -- far, far superior to the Murdoch empire -- and yet too many members of the public seem happy to sell it down the river just because they don't want to pay £142 a year for it. If they're successful in getting rid of it -- and I pray they're not -- then they'll soon miss it when it's gone. And those of you that think you won't... well, you will, you're just not bright enough to realise it yet.

Razzies 2010 Full Results - Sandra Bullock accepts Razzie on eve of Oscars?
(from movies.ie)
I'm not really sure why there's a question mark in the title, considering she did accept said award. What'll be interesting to see is if she can win a Razzie and an Oscar in the same year -- she probably will, and it'll be a first too.

The morals of (illegally) downloading movies... that are on TV

Here's a question of morality to ponder:

I've just taken out a subscription to Sky Movies in order to watch the Oscars. I'll have to have said subscription for at least 30 days, during which time they'll screen dozens -- maybe hundreds -- of films I'm interested in seeing. If I recorded them to catch later, I'm sure most or all of you would agree that's OK -- what else are video recorders and PVRs and Sky+/V+ boxes for, after all.

Here's where the moral question comes in: I don't have a PVR and my V+ box only has so much free space, so does this make it morally acceptable to download (for free, i.e. illegally) any film that's on Sky Movies while I have my subscription?

Now, as I noted, of course it's illegal -- but, for the sake of argument, that's beside the point. If I had a (big enough) PVR I could record as much as I'd like -- indeed, if I went out and bought one now, I could even actually do that -- so why shouldn't I just get them the other way? Other than depriving a PVR manufacturer of some cash, Sky Movies and the film studios won't be missing out on any money if I download rather than watch on TV.

I'm not looking for a full-proof answer, nor saying anyone who comments is going to change my mind, but I think this is more of a morally grey area than straight-out illegal downloading (even if you do that and have ways of justifying it to yourself, there's no skirting the fact that it's illegal and morally dubious/unjustifiable).

I look forward to your thoughts... if anyone has any...

this week on 100 Films

6 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

His Girl Friday (1940)

If you ever meet anyone who claims all old black & white films are slow, simple and boring, show them this. And if you ever meet anyone who hasn’t seen this, show them it; and if you haven’t seen it, watch it

Juno (2007)

There’s underage sex, swearing, numerous displays of teen independence, divorce, love of rock music and horror films… All that’s missing from a Middle American Mom’s worst nightmare is drugs (there’s no violence either, but we know them there yankees love a bit of that).

The Man Who Sued God (2001)

putting the church in a position where their only sensible defence is to prove God doesn’t exist is always going to make for a good story.

Michael Clayton (2007)

The obvious point of comparison is Damages, the excellent TV series that also concerns such high-profile big-business lawsuits, but... Damages sustains it for over 9 hours, replete with cliffhangers and plot twists so far beyond what Clayton’s surprisingly straightforward story has to offer that Gilroy isn’t even dreaming of being that good.

No Country For Old Men (2007)

it’s really about Fate, randomness, chance. Some clearly think this brilliant; I remain unconvinced. It lacks satisfaction. Maybe that’s real life — no, that is real life: random and lacking closure and satisfaction. But this isn’t real life, it’s a movie

There Will Be Blood (2007)

I can’t help but wonder if I missed something crucial along the way because, even after two and a half hours, I had no real idea what the film was about.

More next Sunday.

TV

Let's Dance for Sport Relief
Episode 3 (of 4)
Based on this final lot of finalist, Rufus Hound should have no trouble winning next week's final. Hopefully.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
3x01 (6/3/10 edition)
It seems like forever since this was last on -- indeed, it's been a little over 16 months since the last run ended -- so long I'd sort of forgotten it and assumed it was never to return. And one wonders if this series was actually taped some time ago, considering so many of the subjects set their cut-off date in mid-2009.
Anyway, it's good fun -- I don't normally like the trashy Lottery game shows, but this one is oddly addictive; and I don't normally like Nick Knowles, but... no, still don't like him, but I can live with it here. This time round it works better for me: I've got V+ now, so I can pause the "you could also have had" screens and have a proper look at them. They've missed a trick by not putting them on the website.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
2x03 Red Badge
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Total Wipeout
2x06 (6/3/10 edition)
I don't normally watch this either, and yet somehow I was suckered in... But is this really only series two?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The September Issue (2009)
[#26 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

British director in Oscars hot seat by Peter Bowes
(from BBC News)
But will any of us normal punters notice the difference? Wouldn't bet on it...

How to confuse a Facebook user by Bobbie Johnson
(from Technology Blog at guardian.co.uk)
This is quite an astounding story. Who knew so many people were so web-illiterate?!

It's official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs by Kate Kelland
(from Reuters via Yahoo! News)
That's that settled then.

Meet Matt Smith: Star of the new Doctor Who by Simon Hattenstone
(from guardian.co.uk)
This starts out reading like one of those interviews that has an awful lot about how the subject looked, what they were wearing and what they chose to eat at the cafe where they were interviewed, with all of three quotes scattered through, but turns out long enough to contain more and actually be quite interesting. Don't read it if you want lots of hints about what's in the next series, but do if you're interested in the man behind the new Doctor.

TV

Archer
1x03 Diversity Hire
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Bubble
1x03 (5/3/10 edition)
I know, I actually watched something when it was on! Shocking.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Five Days
2x02 Day 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x07 (26/2/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Only Connect
3x09 Archers Admirers v Exeter Alumni
Never watched this before, only went for it as the sole programme under entertainment/comedy on TV iPlayer that I'd not seen (plus, Exeter alumni). It's certainly Clever, and I managed a couple of points, so... that's nice.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Enchanting and mordant, but does it need an action climax? by Roger Ebert
(from rogerebert.com)
Ebert passes verdict on Tim Burton's new Alice in Wonderland. Though he focuses on the third act, this is my favourite part of his review:

Burton is above all a brilliant visual artist, and his film is a pleasure to regard; I look forward to admiring it in 2-D, where it will look brighter and more colorful. No artist who can create these images is enhancing them in any way by adding the annoying third dimension.

Mark Millar to helm Scottish superhero film by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
The article, surprisingly, has more details. They make it sound as good as that headline, er, sounds.

Passing Judgment on the SciFi Cred of Inglourious Basterds by John Scalzi
(from Notes From the Monolith on Sci-Fi Scanner at AMC Blogs)
It's an interesting point of discussion -- considering what happens at the end, is Inglourious Basterds science-fiction? I tend to agree with Scalzi's assessment of the situation. (If it's not obvious, this contains sort-of-spoilers for IB.)

Rome feature film moving forward by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Hadn't heard anything about this for years so feared it had stalled, so it's good to know there's still activity -- I liked the series, even if I still haven't seen all of it. Interestingly, though, last I heard it was going to be about Jesus -- correct me if I'm wrong, but he didn't go to Germany...

My letter to DWM

As promised yesterday, here's the complete text of my letter to DWM. Bits they cut are in red for the sake of comparison (I assumed they'd ignore everything before that first colon but they, er, didn't...)

Dearest DWM,

The shiny new Complete Specials Blu-ray set dropped through my letterbox the other morning, prompting me to compose the following missive:

Five years of revived Doctor Who, five excellent complete series DVD sets from 2entertain.

Sorry, did I say five? I meant four, because the Complete Specials set is something of a disappointment. Full-length Confidentials - great! Video diary - fantastic! Deleted scenes - superb! Audio commentaries on every episode - marv--* Oh, wait.

After managing a thorough 55 tracks over the first four series - and some with video too - the ball has been severely dropped by only including commentaries for The End of Time in this set. There's no good excuse, especially when there are those podcast ones available for every episode, which have indeed been included in the past in lieu of a new track.

But hey, those are online, right? We can have them any time! Just gotta work out how to sync it up with the DVD - pressing play at the same time might work... no, one always takes too long to actually start...

So it'll take some effort, but at least we can conveniently download them to iPods or burn them to CDs. What do you mean they're streaming only? Guess I'll have to watch it on my PC then...

Except I've gone and bought the Blu-ray set - can't play that on my computer! I suppose I could unplug my desktop, take all the bits downstairs, set it up again, then watch the stream and the Blu-ray at the same time...

Until halfway through it pauses to buffer, that is. Why aren't these just on the discs again?**

Poor show, 2|entertain.

* Here's a bit they added, turning my truncated "marvellous" into the full word.
** They re-wrote this bit ever so slightly, to make it sound better. Cheers, DWM.

(Just in case anyone misconstrues me posting this as bitterness cos they cut my oh-so-wonderful letter -- I don't mind, it's what magazines do, and I expected them to cut most of it... though, they didn't necessarily cut what I'd expected, which is interesting (ish). But what are blogs for if not posting your full and frank thoughts? So here they are.)

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week. Only a slight increase again this week -- in fact, it's numerically very similar to last week. Thrilling.

Number of titles in collection: 1,150 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,079 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 71 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,805 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,215 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 3,874 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Number of titles watched:
406
(35.3% of the total)

This means titles where I've completely watched the main feature(s) on my copy -- so if I saw a film at the cinema but haven't yet watched the DVD, it doesn't count as watched. Special features don't count either; and if it's, say, a three-film set, I have to have watched all three for it to be counted (watching two means nothing).

Obviously, therefore, something like The X Files (with its 202 45-minute episodes) has more of an uphill struggle than, say, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (just one 45-minute episode). Arguably this makes the above statistic meaningless, as a tally of how many individual films and TV eps I'd watched would be a more accurate representation of how much (or, rather, how little) of my DVD/BD collection I've actually seen.

Anyway, see you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Argumental
3x05 (2/3/10 edition)

Five Days
2x01 Day 1
Following a direct sequel featuring two of the first series' ensemble cast promoted to leading roles (Hunter, which was on in January 2009), this new series of the original takes the Criminal Justice route: same format, completely new story with new characters. Whereas Criminal Justice needed this to work, Five Days' concept isn't so beholden to needing new characters, new setting, etc -- if it's about five key days in a criminal investigation, there's no reason the police officers involved couldn't be the same. It's a bit like scrapping Jack Bauer, CTU and all the rest after one season of 24 because it's unrealistic they'd ever have to deal with another terrorist threat in a 24-hour period.
Anyway, it's an intriguing -- if occasionally slow-going -- start. Hopefully there won't be too much of the dull "it's not your jurisdiction" crap with the lead character though -- the couple of moments in this episode were already dragging, and the Next Time trailer suggested it plays an even bigger role in Part Two. Oh dear.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Tinga Tinga Tales
1x12 Why Warthog is So Ugly
1x13 Why Jackal Howls at the Moon
1x14 Why Frog Croaks
[Watch episodes 12, 13 and 14 (again) on iPlayer.]