TV

Derren Brown: Enigma
Brilliant, as ever, though there are bits that, as ever, I wish he'd explain how they were done.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Just Good Friends
1x07 Moving In... And Out Again [season finale]

Horizon
Is Seeing Believing?
Happened to turn this on after Derren Brown. It's supposedly on iPlayer but doesn't seem to be working (perhaps because it's a repeat from October), which is a shame because it's fascinating and I'd recommend it.

Primeval
4x03 Episode 3
Even attempting to begin to enjoy Primeval requires the ability to switch your brain off. This seems to be a skill the writers have in abundance -- the plot holes and implausibilities are so numerous I gave up even noticing them by the end. And I remain unsure why I keep watching this series... probably a misguided, masochistic sense of "I've started so I'll bloody well finish".
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player soon.]

QI
8x15 Hypnosis, Hallucinations & Hysteria (extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Wallander [film series]
Firewall Part 1 (of 2) (aka Brandvägg)
BBC Four jump to the eighth adaptation from the other Swedish Wallander (as you may remember, last time was the sixth), a tale that has also been adapted by the Branagh series -- though, as this is a two-parter, the British version was done in half the running time. I watched that version just over two years ago, so while I remember some details I have no real idea where this is going. Which is rather nice.

Articles

History Channel Pulls The Kennedys; Says Controversial Miniseries 'Not a Fit’ by Matthew Belloni
(from The Hollywood Reporter)
They do bizarre things in Americaland -- like commission and produce a whole expensive eight-hour miniseries, and then decide not to show it.

Torchwood: Miracle Day revealed by Chuck Foster
(from Doctor Who News Page)
Love the plot; hate the new subtitle.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
8x10 New Year's Eve Show
Said so.

Little Crackers
Episode 2 Capturing Santa
Episode 3 My First Nativity
Episode 4 Satan's Hoof
Two of these concern children's inappropriate urination. Awkward coincidence.

Live at the Apollo
6x06 (1/1/11 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
4x01 Drugs
Despite being cancelled, it's back! Hurrah! Not Going Out may be a rather old-school sitcom, but it's still damn funny, and that's what counts.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

As we head deep into 2011 (well, a whole week), here's the tally for how my collection stood at the very end of 2010 (though, to be honest, it still stands this way). Basically, these increases represent a couple of new arrivals between last week's Christmas Day-fuelled update and the end of 2010... which is when last week's update was posted... Look, don't worry about it.

Numbers this week don't necessarily reflect purchases: once again, something's gone wrong somewhere and I've had to rebalance the numbers. This shouldn't happen, but it's because I update this each week based on the previous week's totals and update my DVD/BD master list separately at another time, which means... Look, don't worry about it.

Number of titles in collection: 1,258 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,100 [up 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 157 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 3,136 [up 7]
Number of films in collection: 1,334 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,545 [up 1]

Statistic of the week:

Total running time of collection (approx.):
224 days, 6 hours, and 15 minutes.
(Up 9 days, 7 hours, and 31 minutes from last month.)

That's the biggest running time increase ever, fact fans! Almost 2½-times more of an increase than last Christmas', and almost double the next-largest. Nice.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

How I Met Your Mother
6x03 Unfinished
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Just William [2010]
1x04 William Holds the Stage [season finale]
This has been a very entertaining series, I thought. More please.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Magicians
1x01 Episode 1
It's nice to see some magic back in a prime time schedule. Despite the pointless gimmicky audience vote aspect, this was very entertaining -- some spectacular tricks in there. But it has the same problem I always have with magic: I find knowing how it was done more impressive than the tricks themselves. Magicians always say that ruins the illusion and destroys the fun, but not for me -- the tricks are all well and good, but because we know it's not real the lengths they go to in order to make it look real is what's really impressive. But hey-ho, what can you do.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Rob Brydon Show
1x07 Christmas Special

Zen
1x01 Vendetta
Gorgeously shot, a tad slow in places, with one horribly claustrophobic sequence (so, very well made, but very uncomfortable to sit through). Rather good all round.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

This Is Every Batmobile Ever by Justin Hyde
(from Jalopnik)
It isn't -- indeed, there's at least one pretty obvious one missing -- but it's a good attempt. It's a little bit astounding how many more redesigns there've been in the '90s and '00s than the five whole decades that preceded them.

TV

Just Good Friends
1x06 Happy Birthday, Penny

Just William [2010]
1x03 The School Report
The first thing I've watched via iPlayer on my shiny new Wii. Hurrah!
(I realise the acquisition of a Wii is exactly the sort of thing this blog is designed to cover, but as I only set it up last night it hasn't become pertinent before now. And I doubt anyone anywhere is interested in the intricate details of my sensor bar setup debate.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Les Mis at 25: Matt Lucas Dreams the Dream
Rather good, I thought -- a well-judged mix between the story of Les Mis's inception and reception, and following Matt Lucas as he prepares to appear in the 25th anniversary concert.

Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Articles

Grimsby driver defends warning others of speed gun
(from BBC News)

"When a file is provided to the CPS from the police, it is our duty to decide... whether a prosecution is in the public interest."

It's a shame they so consistently prove they're no good at their duty.

HMV to close 60 stores as sales and shares slump
(from BBC News)
No surprises here -- HMV have managed to build themselves a thorough reputation as shockingly overpriced, so it was only a matter of time before sales took a massive dip and they had to begin closing stores. Perhaps they'll ultimately go the way of Zavvi and its ilk and become online-only. I won't mind, their website is rather good.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2010
Now in its sixth year, Channel 4's annual quiz is as much fun as ever. Usually I don't do very well, trailing behind whichever team (or, often, teams) lead on the programme itself. This year, however, I managed 33⅔ (out of 36), clearly beating all contestants on screen. Go me.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Due South
2x07 Juliet is Bleeding [2nd watch]
A surprisingly dramatic episode. Due South, I thought you were supposed to be light and fluffy?
This was the last episode the BBC showed before Christmas. Presumably it's returning at some point, though the BBC Two daytime schedule seems to be filled with darts this week, snooker next, and bowls the week after. Bloody sport.

Films

Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus
Chapter Four in which it stops raining for ever, and something slinky comes out of the river
Or, the chapter in which we meet the new character, created by Benedictus -- Lottie the otter. First impressions are she's not very likeable. But then Rabbit and Owl aren't necessarily very likeable on first impression, so we'll see.

Music

Eliza Doolittle by Eliza Doolittle

Articles

Cinemas gear up for another bumper year by Neil Smith
(from BBC News)
A cheap and cheerful (read: brief and lightweight) overview of the biggest films due in the next 12 months.

Tarantino reveals his top 20 films of 2010
(from The Independent)
Interesting list, characterised for many by the lack of Inception. I'll be publishing the top ten films I watched this year in the next week or two; I'm sure that'll be just as newsworthy.

TV

Agatha Christie's Marple
5x04 The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side [season finale]
ITV's glut of Marple comes to an end with perhaps her best-known case (and it feels a rarity to see them adapt a story she's actually meant to be in). A rather good one it was too, with a grand twist; a better adaptation than the other version I've seen, though I did miss that one's excellent opening scene.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Due South
2x06 The Mask [2nd watch]

How I Met Your Mother
6x02 Cleaning House
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Upstairs Downstairs [2010]
Part Three The Cuckoo [final episode]
Ultimately, I rather enjoyed that. It's nice to have a drama series that wraps everything up with a proper happy ending these days, too -- the lack of cliffhanger was refreshing. More please!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Due South
2x05 The Promise [2nd watch]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
24x11 Episode 11
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Primeval
4x02 Episode 2
This episode starts ridiculously (seriously, if you found a lizard that big in your house, would you flush it down the toilet? I wouldn't) and doesn't improve. Business as usual then.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Swingin' Christmas
Something a bit different for Christmas, even if only a handful of songs were specifically Christmassy, and (one might argue) most of the others weren't well enough known. Still, a nice idea and an entertaining hour-and-a-half. The website includes a full list of songs performed, including details of what's in the medleys.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [film series]
The Man Who Smiled (aka Mannen som log)
The other Swedish Wallander: between 1994 and 2007, Rolf Lassgård starred in nine TV movies adapting Henning Mankell's novels -- i.e. the stories also being used for the Branagh series (the other Swedish Wallander adapted a Linda Wallander novel followed by original stories).
This, the first BBC Four have brought to the UK, is the sixth film, from 2003, which was adapted by the British series as the second episode of series two. This version is rather different to the British -- the ending is completely changed, for one thing -- and, having already seen two actors portray the role, Lassgård takes some getting used to. He's not bad, though he feels more like your standard TV detective than the more unusual stylings Branagh and Henriksson brought. Plus, although he was the first actor to play the part, he's perhaps come too late to the party for British viewers.

Articles

24 exclusive: Fox nixes movie script by Lynette Rice
(from Inside Movies at EW.com)
Sounds like the movie is still definitely go, just not with this screenplay.

this week on 100 Films

0 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, but there was the December update -- which is different from previous years' end-of-year summaries, in case you wondered. This year's equivalent will be along shortly.

More reviews next Sunday.

TV

2010 Unwrapped with Miranda Hart
This was rather good last year and doesn't disappoint this either.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

2010 Unwrapped extra
Some deleted sketches, sporadically available by the BBC Red Button service. While last year several of these merited inclusion in the main programme, this year they're more variable. A pair of Springwatch-based clips are quite good -- and can be watched here and here -- but an extended sketch about Lost Land of the Tiger is entirely laugh-free. If you'd like to subject yourself to it anyway, its in three parts here.

Just William [2010]
1x02 Parrots for Ethel
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
9x13 Christmas Compilation 2010 [special]
The usual MtW Christmas mix of best bits, outtakes and Christmas-themed new bits.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Primeval
4x01 Episode 1
Remember Primeval? It got cancelled (quite justly, to be honest) after the last series, then renewed as a complex co-production (the next series will premiere on Watch later this year before airing on ITV around this time in 2012).
So has this cancellation and longer production window (the last series was two years ago) improved the show? In short, no. If anything, it's worse. The writing's as bad as ever, but the new lead cast members are as cheap and tacky as they looked in photographs. Oh dear. Still, at least the CGI dinos are now even prettier in HD.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Upstairs Downstairs [2010]
Part Two The Ladybird
More Downton-esque plots emerge -- oh dear. Despite that, Upstairs Downstairs is still enough of its own entity to work and coexist with ITV's rival.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Excalibur (1981)
[2nd watch]
John Boorman's full-blooded, gritty, violent, sex-fuelled, beautifully shot, epic retelling of the Arthurian legends.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
...sort of. So sort of, in fact, that I'm not counting it in 100 Films despite never having seen it before. It was on in the room while I was doing other things, for most of the length of the film, and while I didn't watch it properly I saw enough to tell it's absolute rubbish.

Collection Count

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

I suggested last time that this update would be a couple of days late. I'm sorry to have worried you throughout all your Christmassy celebrations by delaying it by well over a week. It's mainly laziness.

Naturally, thanks to Christmas, a new clutch of titles have entered my collection. And because there's not likely to be many new additions to cover in the immediate future, this update only covers my Christmas acquisitions -- next week's entry will include the handful of pre-orders I received between Christmas and New Year and so, despite this entry being the one on New Year's Day, it's next week's that will show the state of my collection at the end of 2010.

OK?

So, here's what that Christmas clutch looks like... in numbers, anyway:

Number of titles in collection: 1,254 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,097 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 155 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 3,129 [up 35]
Number of films in collection: 1,331 [up 11]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 4,544 [up 72]

Statistic of the week should be the latest running time update, but as next week is all end-of-2010-y, I'll save it for then.

See you next week then, faithful reader.

1111111

It's eleven minutes past one A.M. on the 1st of January 2011 --

-- or, to put it another way,

1:11 1/1/11!

Wow, eh?