TV

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
3x08 (1/5/10 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Over the Rainbow
Show 7: Results
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Russell Howard's Good News
2x06 (29/4/10 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch only the shorter version (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [Swedish]
2x02 Skulden (aka The Guilt)

this week on 100 Films

2 new reviews again on 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone. (2007/2009)

You Are (Not) Alone works satisfyingly as a film. Arguably it has a slightly unusual narrative structure or slightly unsophisticated animation, but it works much better than you’d expect from six TV episodes stuck together.

The Illusionist (2006)

The story itself — you remember those? It’s the bit between the attention-grabbing opening and preposterous-twist finale — is mediocre. It’s a something-and-nothing account of a Poor Boy who loves a Rich Girl he can’t have and… oh, I can’t even be bothered to explain it.

More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
31x05 Flesh and Stone
Well, that was excellent. It seems knee-jerk to say so soon after it's aired, but I can well see that shooting to the top of Best Story Ever lists. It deserves to, anyway. Though I reckon that final bedroom scene is going to get complaints...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Confidential
5x05 Blinded by the Light
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
2x11 Rose-Colored Glasses
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Over the Rainbow
Show 7
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

You Have Been Watching
2x03 (29/4/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Articles

Don't be persuaded to vote tactically by Laura Newton
(from this is exeter.co.uk)

For too long Labour and the Conservatives have relied on persuading voters to vote tactically in Exeter as if voting for the lesser of two evils, in some kind of mythical 'two horse race'. I am delighted that people are really waking up to this age-old political manipulation and actually voting for the party they instinctively support the most (no matter who that may be).

TV

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x13 (23/4/10 edition)

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Graham Norton Show
7x03 (26/4/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

McKidd: 'Rome movie is almost there' by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
Always appreciate an update on the Rome movie. Though it's apparently set in Germany, so one wonders if calling it Rome is strictly accurate...

Report: 'More TVs in US than people' by Oli Simpson
(from Digital Spy)
Headline says it all. The actual stat: "the median number of TV sets in the typical US household is 2.93 but the number of people is just 2.5."

Why I Hate 3-D (And You Should Too) by Roger Ebert
(from Newsweek)
As eloquent and persuasive as ever, Ebert argues why the new trend for 3D in films is pointless and actually counter-productive -- or, rather, counter-artistic. Is it only a matter of time before the world/industry agrees with him? I hope so. 3D's a fun gimmick, but no more, despite what some movie-moneymen and bandwagon-jumpers would love us to believe.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

Minimal changes this week, as one two-disc DVD is replaced by its two-disc Blu-ray. Thrilling.

Number of titles in collection: 1,170 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,090 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 80 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 2,838 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,227 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 3,916 [no change]

Statistic of the week:

Number of titles produced in the '90s:
188
(16.1% of the total)

Right back at the start of this series, stat of the week covered titles produced in the '00s, the most-represented decade in my collection. Next biggest is the '90s -- as you can see, there's quite a discrepancy! (And the '00s have only increased in the past 6 months.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Ashes to Ashes
3x04 Episode 4
Crikey, halfway through already! This is all going to be over before I know it...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
3x07 (24/4/10 edition)
This is even more nearly-all-over. Less excitingly so though.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Ashes creator: 'The ending is terrific' by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)

Fox 'fend off Avatar Blu-ray complaints' by Oli Simpson
(from Digital Spy)

the DRM software, originally introduced to discourage piracy, has in fact had the opposite effect.

"Much lols," as the cool internet kids say these days (I think).

Wes Craven: 'Scream 4 to mock Saw' by Aaron Broverman
(from Digital Spy)
Previously the return of Scream sounded like another attempt to cash-in by relaunching a once-popular franchise for no good reason. But now it sounds like they actually have a purpose: the original trilogy did a top-notch job of spoofing the horror movies of the day (and properly spoofing them too, not just recreating them with a 'joke' crowbarred into every scene a la Scary Movie & co), and now they want to do the same thing with modern horror movies. It sounds so obvious now, but does involve some degree of thinking outside the box -- after all, didn't we all expect a Scream revival would just be more of the same 80s/90s-spoofing?
The full interview can be found over here.

TV

FlashForward
1x13 Blowback
Go beardy dad bloke!
As for the rest of the series... It's good we're getting answers; it's still not good though, is it.

The Mentalist
2x10 Throwing Fire
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Articles

BBC Trust apologises for Frankie Boyle 'angry Jew' joke
(from guardian.co.uk)
In summary, if you call an Israeli a Jew it's "inappropriate and offensive".

Our Clegg-backing letter is one for the grandchildren by Richard Reeves
(from Comment is free at guardian.co.uk)
Not normally one for brandishing too much politics across the blog, but this (and the letter it links to at the end) still make for an interesting read.

Week 6 Schedule Update by Marcus
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Alternate headline: "Over the Rainbow stage scheduling coup while Moffat stranded in America".
I'm sure it's significantly less exciting than that, but, still.

preview of Doctor Who games has put me off

Preview: Doctor Who: The Adventure Games by Matthew Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)

I was really looking forward to these games -- Doctor Who has always seemed well-suited to a point-and-click-style adventure game and I'd always hoped they'd make one. And that's what this looked like -- it's got "Adventure Game" in the title, after all, and screenshots have shown 3D person controls and adventure-game-like on-screen options like "examine".

But appearances can be deceptive, as this preview reveals. Instead of a Who-ish game driven by story, conversation and inventory-based puzzles, we're getting stealth sections that sound thoroughly old-fashioned and mini-games every time the Doctor needs to unlock a door. And, from the sounds of the preview, that's all the game really has to offer. Oh.

If that was the kind of game they'd pitched, well, c'est la vie -- but it promised so much more! And it sounds like the developers lack the creativity to have even thought of the superior option. This quote demonstrates their complete lack of understanding:

The Doctor himself solves all the problems of the universe, saves humanity, with the power of negotiation and clever quips, which within themselves don't make for great gameplay... He hasn't got a blaster, it'll be brilliant if he had a lightsaber, it'll be great if he had twin guns, but he hasn't and we can't…

Basically, if it's not a shoot-em-up, it's not a game. What idiots.

Why couldn't this have been licensed to Telltale? Well, probably because they're American 'n' all that -- but they've proven it works as a business model (not that these Who games need a business model -- they're free), and I'd assumed their style had basically been copied for these games. But it seems not.

I'll still play them, of course, cos I'm a Who fan and they're canon and they're free. But before I was really looking forward to them, and now I'll just go through the motions because I have to. Which is a bit depressing.

TV

Have I Got News For You
39x04 (22/4/10 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Russell Howard's Good News
2x05 (22/4/10 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch only the shorter version (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Dog injures nose by Karen Bate
(from Salisbury Journal)
Apparently this is what passes for news in Salisbury. The story's been a (very) minor twitter sensation, which the site gamely commented on in a follow-up article.

The Greatest Flashbacks by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
The 15 best SF/F TV series flashback episodes. So, yeah, does what it says on the tin.

Paramount revives Ring franchise by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Well that's just... dated. I mean, surely the plot will go something like this:

Teen 1: Dude, what's this freaky-looking video?
Teen 2: Video? WTF? We don't have a video player, just chuck it.
Teen 1: 'k.
The End.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
7x02 (19/4/10 edition)

House
6x18 Knight Fall

Articles

Scott reveals Alien prequel storyline
and
Scott confirms two Alien prequels
by Simon Reynolds (from Digital Spy)
In many respects, the storyline's no surprise, but it'll certainly annoy some fans who were hoping to keep that mystery (and please others who want it solved). The notion of two prequels, though... hm. Sounds like blatant moneymaking to me. And the way Scott talks about shooting in 3D very much sounds like it was forced on him and he'd rather it hadn't been.

TV

FlashForward
1x11 Revelation Zero Part 1
1x12 Revelation Zero Part 2
Finally catching up with this -- yes, I am sticking with it for now, even though it's A Bit Rubbish. That said, the long hiatus for the show to have a re-think seems to have done some good. It's not much better, but it is better.

Over the Rainbow
Show 6: Results
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone. (2007/2009)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

The first of four movies re-telling (with some changes) the anime TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which I love. This is also the third iteration of the first movie: after 1.0, 1.01 tweaked the animation in some 266 shots, and now 1.11 adds a further three minutes of footage. I hope they don't faff about so much with the next three... though such hopes are looking doubtful.

Also, watched most of the Blu-ray's extras. Bit slight, to be honest, but better than nothing. The booklet (which I think may only be in the HMV-exclusive editions) is more informative about the processes behind making the film.

Read my review of Evangelion 1.11 here.

Articles

Doctor Who fans angered by trailer for Over the Rainbow
(from BBC News)
Apparently it ruined a particularly dramatic moment. I wouldn't know, of course, cos I was watching BBC HD. Not that I'm gloating of course.

this week on 100 Films

2 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week -- a slight improvement over the last few -- and they were...

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Panda features some beautiful animation — not a phrase you usually associate with CG ‘toons, but Panda frequently achieves it: petals swirl in the breeze, panoramic scenery shots look gorgeous, and the character animation is subtly detailed

Wallander: The Revenge (2009)

rather than a thoughtful investigation into an ‘everyday’ murder, Wallander blazes back onto our screens with the explosive destruction of a power station, a bloody execution — no less than 17 shots fired — and the army rolling into town to handle the fall-out from an extended power cut.

More next Sunday.