TV

Downton Abbey
1x04 Episode Four
Maggie Smith is beyond excellent.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Film 2010 with Claudia Winkleman
Episode 1 (13/10/10 edition)
So Film... is back, with its new host and its new team (or family, or multiplex, or whatever name they settle on). Personally, I rather liked it. Claudia Winkleman did a bang up job, devoid of her usual irritating presenting style, and having two critics (OK OK, one critic and one presenter/fan, but still) chatting rather than a straight review-to-camera was like the highly successful US At the Movies (aka Siskel & Ebert / Ebert & Roeper). Indeed, in many ways this format is superior to having just a sole critic.
As for the team... neat idea, though that Antonia immediately rubbed me up the wrong way. Don't think I'll get on with her opinions. The "8 year old blogger", on the other hand, seems a complete idiot. His Top 5 list was pathetic, his "I only like films that are about two years old, and that's OK" attitude was idiotic, and even the hosts were taking the mick out of him. He should be dispensed with forthwith.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

QI
8x05 H Animals (extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
[#106 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
[#107 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Articles

McIntyre's Roadshow pips Piers chatshow by Paul Millar
(from Digital Spy)
Piers Morgan's ratings down! X Factor's ratings down! Strictly beat X Factor during the time they were head to head!
If it weren't for the fact that, at its peak last night, 49% of the viewing public were watching X Factor, I'd be a little proud.

Why I'm calling time on Screen Burn by Charlie Brooker
(from guardian.co.uk)
The always-grumpy, always-funny Charlie Brooker is stopping his Screen Burn column after 11 years. This seemed to cause a minor storm across twitter... evidently from people who missed the sentence where Brooker clearly says, "I'll be back later in the year with a new column, right here in these pages."

this week on 100 Films

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

The Damned United (2009)

I have no love for football. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m not even entirely sure why I wound up watching this, to be honest. But I’m glad I did, because, even though it’s technically about football, The Damned United is a little bit brilliant. For one thing, it’s not actually about football, not really.

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

widely regarded as not just in the film series’ upper half, but as one of the best episodes the entire franchise has produced... It gets off to a flying start. The first 20 or 30 minutes in particular move at a rate of knots, churning through plot in a way no blockbuster would seem to dare these days. [There's none of] Trek’s renowned “sit around and consider what to do” talkiness.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Rather than the broadly action-adventure style of other big contemporary sci-fi movies, this concerns a minor dispute over a survey mission to a single planet. Yawn, right? Actually, this is when Insurrection is at its best... the political wrangling kept me engaged. But then it begins an attempt to be all Exciting, at which point it begins to get dull, degenerating into a stock runaround and shoot-out

Film4 are showing the two Star Trek films tonight, at 6:40pm and 9pm respectively. They're preceded by the first Next Generation film, Star Trek: Generations, at 4:20pm, and followed by the crew's final film, Star Trek: Nemesis, at 11:05pm.

More next Sunday.

TV

Have I Got News For You
40x01 (14/10/10 edition; extended repeat)
As always, hooray for the return of HIGNFY! It should be on more often. And Benedict Cumberbatch made for a (surprisingly, I must say) excellent host.
Though, as a regular twitterer, and someone still in the 16-24 age demographic, I must express my dubiousness about them flashing up their hashtag unexplained at the start of the show. Weird.
[Watch the regular edition (again) on iPlayer. The extended repeat may or may not be available here later.]

Merlin
3x05 The Crystal Cave
3x06 The Changeling
A strong, darkly-themed episode followed by a lighter, sillier one. Such is Merlin's balance.
[Watch The Crystal Cave and The Changeling (again) on iPlayer.]

The Sarah Jane Adventures
4x01 The Nightmare Man Part One
4x02 The Nightmare Man Part Two
A strong return for the excellent children's Doctor Who spin-off, which I'm sure is far better than most kids' TV. Not surprised that Luke's been (semi-)written out of the series here though -- the actor has previously commented that he didn't really consider acting his career, and by now he must be reaching A-level/Uni age himself. Also a convenient way of getting rid of K9, who's only allowed to appear in so many episodes a year. But will they have a Luke-replacement, I wonder? Time will tell...
[Watch parts one and two, or a compilation of both, on iPlayer.]

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats
10x07 Scary Special
Someone should've told Channel 4 it wasn't Halloween for another three weeks...
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Gadget Show
14x10 Episode 10
Just the bit on 3DTV. It was... basic...
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Mentalist
3x01 Red Sky at Night
Hooray for Five finally showing this not too far behind the US (only three weeks; their previous best was two months). Shame the producers wasted this pair of titles on something that was distinctly not a two-parter though.
[Watch it (again) on Demand Five.]

The Rob Brydon Show
1x04 (8/10/10 edition)
I'm not deliberating only watching even-numbered episodes, it's just worked out that way because... oh, you don't care why. But it's good series, you should watch it.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Grindhouse (2007)
[#105 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

Collection Count

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

A couple of new titles this week. Not much worthy of particular note, then. Other than landing on precisely 3,000 discs, which is both a milestone and a lovely round number. Not that it'll stop me from buying more.

Number of titles in collection: 1,224 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,102 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 122 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 3,000 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,293 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,220 [down 1]

Statistic of the week:

Number of weeks Collection Count has been running:
51

Yep, I know what you're thinking -- "51? But that's just one short of a year!" And you're right, it is. And next week, something of a celebration of the first anniversary.

See you then, faithful reader.

TV

Argumental
3x09 (12/10/10 edition)

How I Met Your Mother
5x21 Twin Beds
Tonight's episode! What is the world coming to?!
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Law & Order: UK
3x05 Survivor
Last week's episode. That's more like it.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Witchfinder General (1968)
[#104 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]

TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mad Men
4x05 The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
Excellent episode. Particularly Betty's session with the child psychologist, ably demonstrating how Betty operates on the level of a child without her even realising.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

The Audio Commentariat by David Kalat
(from All Day Entertainment)
If you've ever wondered what level of work goes into an academic audio commentary on a classic film release, this is the article for you. It may surprise you it's more than just sitting down and having a natter.

The big picture: Lightning strike
(from BBC News)
Oo-ooh.

Click to enlarge.

Sky submits late YouView complaint by Andrew Laughlin
(from Digital Spy)

While we welcome justifiable scrutiny, the timing of this submission is clearly designed to extend the regulatory process in pursuit of commercial self-interest rather than the public interest.

Sky more interested in money-grabbing than consumers? No, surely not...

TV

Dave's One Night Stand
1x01 Ben Elton
Could sense Ben Elton's unease at being back on stage -- or, possibly, just his dated style -- though Jason Byrne was rather good.

How I Met Your Mother
5x20 Home Wreckers
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Whites
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow
2x04 Dublin
Normally heard of the headline act... not so this week. Also, was a bit too localised to get a lot of his gags. Ho hum.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Spooks
9x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Good German (2006)
[#103 in 100 Films in a Year 2010]
2006? Really? Didn't think this was so old. (I know it's only four years, but still, I didn't think it was that old.)

Articles

Freeman confirms rejecting Hobbit role by Mayer Nissim
(from Digital Spy)
Dear journalists (especially at Digital Spy, of course), this is why you don't end articles with comments like "Freeman is expected to be done filming Animals before taking on the role of Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit movies" until the rumours you've heard (incidentally, in this case, rumours which said he'd turned it down) have been properly officially confirmed. Now your journalistic ability just looks like bobbins. Which it is, but you can always improve.

TV

Argumental
3x08 (5/10/10 edition)

Downton Abbey
1x03 Episode Three
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

QI
8x04 Humans (extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

It's Official: Doctor Who To Film in the U.S. For The First Time!
(from Anglophenia at BBC America)
As a (very) geeky fan, I'm not particularly interested that they're (properly) filming in the US for the first time ever, or that the story's set in '60s America, or that River Song is back (again)... No, what interests me is that it's a two-part season opener! They've not done that before!
Also, if you're going all the way to a properly-alien-looking environment (i.e. one that isn't a Welsh quarry, which they've wound up using several times now), surely it'd make sense to use it as the basis for an alien planet? Just sayin'...

this week on 100 Films

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

Daylight (1996)

a fireball rips through the tunnel. It seems to destroy most cars and kill most people, except for about a dozen survivors. How are they not killed by the fireball? Well, it seems to be by the good fortune of Because We Need Some Characters. Should you ever get stuck in an exploding tunnel, pray you find yourself in a disaster movie and had been doing something mundane yet passably interesting earlier on, and you might get to survive.

Road to Rio (1947)

If you’ve seen one Road to film then you’ve a fair idea what to expect from any other: lots of comedy, a few songs, a bit of romance, as well as some general hijinks. The differences, in all of these aspects, lie in the specifics

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)

Faces Death leaves behind the proto-Bond WW2 spying of the last three films (”it can almost be viewed as the starting point of a completely new Holmes series” asserts one review I’ve read) to involve Holmes in a genuine detective mystery. The story is packed with proper deduction, which is excellent, and to top it off Watson isn’t as bumbling as he could be

More next Sunday.

TV

House
7x01 Now What?
See here also.