TV

Ashes to Ashes
3x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Election 2010
Watched quite a lot of the BBC's election coverage in the end -- from after the C4 thing til around 6am, and then on-and-off from 10am til it finally ended at almost 4pm today. Much of it can now be found on iPlayer, with more coming soon, should you wish to re-live it for any reason.

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
18x14 (30/4/10 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Channel 4's Alternative Election Night
Brilliant -- funny and informed. Only flaw was it stopped just after 1am. Next time, all night please, C4.

FlashForward
1x16 Let No Man Put Asunder
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Articles

DVD sales slump in wake of Zavvi and Woolworths collapse by Richard Wray
(from guardian.co.uk)
Though, based on the article, that's not really the reason for the slump -- it's general recession-mindedness.

TV

FlashForward
1x15 Queen Sacrifice
FlashForward is definitely improving. It's fixed one of it's biggest flaws: previously, every episode just meandered on a bit with the series arc. Now, it offers up a self-contained story per episode that feeds into the overall story, as well as continuing it. This is what other arc-centric shows like 24 and Lost have always done, even when their on going plot has been the focus for most viewers, so it's good to see FF finally realise this.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Graham Norton Show
7x04 (3/5/10 edition)

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

Films

First Blood, aka Rambo: First Blood (1982)
[#44 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

BBC receives complaints over sexy Who by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
Said so.

CLiNT Magazine – Mark Millar’s New Monthly Anthology Includes Kick Ass Sequel by Rich Johnston
(from Bleeding Cool)
Somehow missed this yesterday, but it sounds like excellent news. Just need to read the original Kick-Ass before it comes out...
Download the full press releases from here and follow @CLiNTmag for updates.

TV

FlashForward
1x14 Better Angels
FlashForward in almost-a-good-episode shocker! (Maybe the "almost" is a tad unfair. But the Benfords do grate rather.)
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

Articles

Not even Bruckheimer movies can escape budget cuts by Claudia Eller & Dawn C. Chmielewski
(from the Los Angeles Times)
In short, "The next Pirates of the Caribbean will have a tighter filming schedule, cheaper locations and fewer visual effects shots." At first I thought this was probably a good thing -- the excess of the last one certainly needed reigning in -- but some of what's being cut (as described in the article) is a shame. I always like a good fair on a frozen Thames.

Terry Pratchett vs Who by Terry Pratchett
(from SFX)
I'll just cull my thoughts on this from what I posted on twitter:

Terry Pratchett's criticisms of Doctor Who are mixed bag: technically right, but that's why he's sort-of wrong. But I agree it's not sci-fi.

Thing is, most stories are woefully predictable these days because we can all see the narrative seeding going on. This is why the RTD era used near-deus ex machina elements quite often. It kept it surprising, for one thing. But, notably, Moffat's era thus far hasn't. What it has done, actually, is 'the right thing': produce unforeseen solutions from elements already placed. Perfect example: Flesh and Stone, using gravity + the crack to destroy the Angels and seal the crack.

As for the sci-fi thing... Who is (and, really, always has been) fantasy. So is Star Wars. Because they use technology they look like science-fiction, but the stories, ideas, concepts are fantastical, not grounded like (say) Star Trek.

He also says the Doctor is resembling God, "there is nothing he doesn't know and nothing he can't do". This is also true: the Doctor never really investigates places of late, he just shows them to his companions. So his having to read a book on the Angels marks a step in right direction. He needs to know lots, but not everything.

And the screwdriver needs to be bit less capable.

Yes, the screwdriver. Not the bloody Sonic. God, I hate new fans sometimes.

Why Metropolis will be this year's real summer blockbuster by Danny Leigh
(from Film Blog at guardian.co.uk)
As I expressed yesterday, the new Metropolis does indeed look stunning and I can't wait. This article is a tad naively optimistic, however, about its chances with a modern audience. Still, bless 'im for the optimism.

TV

House
6x19 Open and Shut

Films

Burn After Reading (2008)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Inkheart (2008)
[#43 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Websites

metropolis1927.com

Being the website for the forthcoming UK theatrical & DVD/Blu-ray release of the newly restored & 'complete' Metropolis (other websites exist for US and international releases). Over here it's being managed by Eureka/Masters of Cinema, which is of course marvellous.

The website was a placeholder until recently, but now has lots of information on the film, restoration, theatrical release and the first details of the DVD/BD -- and it sounds brilliant. And it has a gorgeous cover.

I don't know if I'll be able to make it to a cinema screening (but we'll see), but I definitely can't wait to get my hands on the Blu-ray.

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.