TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Jury
Part 1 (of 6) [2nd watch]
I watched this first episode when it first aired way back in 2002, but I don't think I got any further with it. It's actually pretty good, so I don't know why. It's also packed with familiar faces, some who were well known at the time but others who've gone on to be movie stars and the like in the decade since. Anyway, ITV3 are repeating the whole series this week before a new version/second series begins on ITV1 sometime -- what a good opportunity to give it another go.

Pointless
5x35 (14/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

Judge Dredd Megazine #312

I decided that 32 pages of 2000 AD a week just wasn't providing enough Thrill-power for me (how behind I've got put paid to that theory, eh... but shh! I've got this now!), so I started picking up the Megazine too. (Well, I subscribed to both, but shh again!) Not as neat a jumping-on point as Prog 1740's (and 1750's) all-new stories... but, as has been widely noted amongst Squaxx dek Thargo (oh yeah, I'm totally gettin' the lingo at this point), that wasn't that great a starting point either: though 1740's stories were all Part Ones, most built on preceding arcs. So having worked out what was going on for the sake of that, I felt sure I could manage for the Megazine too.

And it works out OK: the Dredd story begins this issue, so that's no problem; another strip is only on part two and easy to pick up; another is on part seven but could be just beginning for all I can tell (I really don't see what it's done for six parts if it's all been this story); and the final tale, on its fourth instalment, has a nice little recap that gets me completely up to speed. And all the articles are, of course, self-contained. Dandy.

Plus, the Megazine comes with a free reprint graphic novel every issue! Never mind what came with this one, the next issue's (and three after that, all of which have been published now) collects a strip I remember from when I used to read 2000 AD some time in my past (10, 15 years ago?) So that's kinda awesome.

Articles

Rooney Mara: Playing with Fire by Jonathan Van Meter
(from Vouge.com)
Profile/interview of Rooney Mara and David Fincher about, of course, the forthcoming Girl with the Dragon Tattoo re-adaptation. Interesting piece it is too.

TV

Have I Got News For You
42x01 (14/10/11 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Home Cooking Made Easy
1x03 Entertaining
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

House
8x02 Transplant
They've clearly decided to build House's new status quo relatively slowly. How many of the cast will be back? It seems only time will tell... or online spoilers if one went hunting, I suppose.

How to Win in the Den
Episode 3 The Idea (of 4)
Every episode in this series seems to have a different on-screen title to the one listed online; and every time a category comes up narrator Richard Bacon seems to say something different to what's written on screen. Why?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Misfits
2x03 Episode 3
The first series of Misfits was good, but crikey, this one knocks it out of the park! If you're still not watching it I heartily recommend you try to catch up before series three starts.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Comics

Action Comics #2 by Grant Morrison, Rags Morales & Brent Anderson

I never imagined I'd find myself reading a Superman book -- I tend to find him a bit too goody-goody and American with a capital A -- but the first issue of Action Comics was so praised I decided to give it a go, and it was so good here I am. And this is great too. By taking Superman back to his early days Morrison has mixed things up, making him a more interesting character, and telling more exciting stories featuring him. Morales' artwork compliments it all perfectly. Much to my surprise, I'm really enjoying this one.

Plus, this issue, a behind-the-scenes look at Morrison & Morales' method on these first two issues (almost worth the price of admission on its own) and a preview of forthcoming original graphic novel Batman: Noel, which gives you no idea about the story but looks absolutely beautiful.

Articles

X Factor suffers ratings stumble
(from BBC News)

ITV1's X Factor has failed to win the primetime head-to-head battle with BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday night for a second week running.

...The overnight figures suggest that audiences waited for the end of Strictly Come Dancing before turning over to watch X Factor.... more than half of viewers had switched off by the... final 15 minutes of the show...

Average ratings for the programme also fell this week... Figures are also down from this time last year

Ha ha.

TV

Downton Abbey
2x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

How to Win in the Den
Episode 2 The Art of Negotiation (of 4)
That being the Dragons' Den (as I mentioned last time), obviously.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
5x34 (13/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Battle Los Angeles (2011)
[#86 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]
You may think it's called Battle: Los Angeles, as that was on all the posters and reviews and DVD covers and stuff, but no, no colon to be seen anywhere in the film itself.

That Touch of Mink (1962)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

this week on 100 Films

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

Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)

My overriding memory of the documentary is of a slew of beautiful-looking films, some well known and others not, but every one jumping onto want-to-see lists thanks to what’s shown here. Which just demonstrates how deserving Cardiff and his work are of a dedicated feature film of this quality.

Sucker Punch: Extended Cut (2011)

had I seen Sucker Punch in cinemas, would I feel the same way I do now? Would those big omissions have obscured the thematic depth I believe is there? To put it another way, how much do the changes really add? ... I do think Sucker Punch has been underrated. It’s not the masterpiece I hoped it might be when I first noticed the themes Snyder was (consciously or not) tapping in to, but do I think it’s a lot better and more interesting than most gave it credit for.

More next Sunday.

TV

The Jonathan Ross Show
1x06 (8/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Merlin
4x03 The Wicked Day
Well, that answers that long-standing query... though I won't say which cos, y'know, spoilers.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
5x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Batman: Year One (2011)
[#85 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

DC Showcase: Catwoman (2011)
[#85a in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

Comics

2000 AD #1751
This Prog's ECBT 2000AD reviews:

Judge Dredd Day of Chaos: The Fourth Faction Part Two

Ampney Crucis Investigates... The English Assassin Part Two

Indigo Prime Everything and More Part Two

Angel Zero Part 01

Low Life The Deal Part 2

Daredevil #4 by Mark Waid & Marcos Martín
After a bit of a dip last issue, things are back on form this week. It kicks off a new story, with a great plot -- set mainly in Matt Murdock's attorney life, as it happens -- and some fantastic action sequences in his Daredevil one. Artist Marcos Martin delivers some absolutely stunning panels too, as well as a generally high standard of storytelling. I believe the book is switching back and forth between him and Paolo Rivera (who drew the first three issues) and they seem to have very complimentary styles.
For even more glowing praise, see CBR's 4½-star review.

TV

Pointless
5x33 (12/10/11 edition)
Round on Stanley Kubrick films -- I managed to name all but one, including the only one that was pointless. Hurrah me!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
9x05 Invertebrates (XL edition)
As per usual, loads of great stuff only in the XL version. If you like QI and don't watch it, more fool you.
[Watch QI XL (again) on iPlayer.]

Spooks
10x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Blast Off! – Quatermass by James Oliver
and
Hamlet / King Lear by Michael Brooke
(from MovieMail)
The latest MovieMail catalogue/magazine dropped through my door today (view online here, download here). It's filled as ever with loads of interesting bits and pieces, but these two especially caught my eye and are available on the website in full (and in that PDF catalogue, of course).

Film Franchises, then and now by James Oliver
(from MovieMail)
...and there's also this, from a previous MovieMail catalogue. Another interesting bit (of course, otherwise why would I be sharing it).

Sky urged to waive BBC transmission fees by Andrew Laughlin
(from Digital Spy)
I was going to quote from this, but the whole article is quite interesting. Long and the short of it: the BBC should pull all their services from Sky (thereby saving £50m over five years and so being able to pay for radio stations and BBC Four), and watch Sky struggle without them. It's not going to kill Sky to not have them as any viewers could still pick up BBC over their aerial... of course, they might decide to switch to Virgin instead, which would be even more fun if it led to Sky losing money.
Even better, the article notes that ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 get a bad deal from Sky too -- imagine if all the terrestrial channels pulled out! Oh, we can but dream...

Collection Count

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

Normally this would be the next running time update, but I'll be including that next week instead -- for Collection Count's second anniversary! Wow!

This week, then, a CD bonus DVD; a 15th anniversary BD of a film I've never seen and, by being reminded it's 15, really feel I should have; and a US BD that's not even out in the US until Tuesday! MovieTyme are my new favourite website for that one.

Number of titles in collection: 1,391 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,141 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 250 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 3,443 [up 5]
Number of films in collection: 1,472 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,168 [up 2]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The A to Z of Crime
Episode 6 UVWXYZ (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Billy Connolly's Route 66
Episode 4 (of 4)
Really enjoyed this series. If you didn't see it, I recommend you find a way to catch it (it's all still on ITV Player, but only just), especially if you have any interest in America.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Mock the Week
10x11 (6/10/11 edition)
This week's and next week's Radio Times seem insistent on labelling episode 12, the final episode, as episode 11 of 11. What?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Perfect Couples
1x05 Perfect Jealousy
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless
5x32 (11/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Music

Evanescence by Evanescence
I'd been unsure about bothering to get this, but then the reviews seemed decent. Suffice to say, despite five years since their last album and eight since their debut, not to mention numerous line-up changes, Evanescence still sound like Evanescence. Which has its pros and cons.

TV

The Great British Bake Off
2x09 Masterclass Part 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
5x31 (10/10/11 edition)
When asked to name languages the 2011 census was available in, more people said Polish than English. The Daily Mail would have a field day with that...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Comics

It's new comics day! Except the perils of mail-ordering leaves me with these two just-arrived issues from last week's new comics, plus there's a variety of others I'm still bloody waiting for.

But hey, I'll get today's new lot on Saturday... if I'm lucky. It might be next Tuesday. Or next Wednesday. Or, based on this week, next Thursday. I ought to seek out a proper bricks-and-mortar shop...

Animal Man #1 by Jeff Lemire & Travel Foreman
[2nd read]
My physical copy finally turned up, so this is a more-attentive-to-the-art print re-read. My first-reading thoughts are here.

Detective Comics #2 by Tony S. Daniel
This book seems to be receiving quite a mixed response, from the little I've read of general reaction, but I'm enjoying it. Some have complained that the Joker doesn't feature this issue, despite the first one's cliffhanger, but I think there's a bigger game at play here and it'll be interesting when he re-emerges.

TV

Ask Rhod Gilbert
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

House
8x01 Twenty Vicodin
It's always great to have House back, and always fun seeing him in a new situation (this time, prison)... though the episode ends without ending. What happens next, gorramit?! Desperately looking forward to the next one now... which I believe was on last night in the US, so... well...

Mark Lawson Talks To
Rob Brydon
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Misfits
2x01 Episode 1
2x02 Episode 2
Time flies -- I've been meaning to get round to this ever since it was on. Not sure exactly when that was, but the last time I watched an episode was last decade. Anyway, series three's on its way soon, so it seemed time to get a wriggle on. And it's just as good as it always was, so that's good, and now with added Mystery too.
[Watch episodes one and two (again) on 4oD.]

Pointless
5x30 (7/10/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]