TV

Merlin
4x11 The Hunter's Heart
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
4x07 (22/3/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 27

Who are the nastiest bad guys?

There are many different definitions of nasty in this context, I think. They could be cruel, they could be ugly, they could be just plain evil. But there's one, at least, that has all bases covered...

Xenomorphs

Have you seen an Alien film? Then this shouldn't really need explaining. These terrifying-looking creatures are experts at stalking you in darkened corridors, or just flat-out attacking you, or sticking something to your face that implants itself inside you so that a new one of them is born by bursting out of your chest...

And if you do, somehow, manage to damage them, they have acid for blood.

"Nasty" doesn't cover it.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
10x06 (2/12/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
4x06 (21/3/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

The Dark Knight Rises prologue: Tom Hardy's Bane blasted as unintelligible by Ann Lee
(from Metro)
The opening six or seven minutes of Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film were screened for critics and filmmakers last night. Trust a Mail-owned paper to be depressing: most (perhaps all) of those critics have soundly praised the footage, noting the tricky dialogue as the one minor downside that may be fixed (the film's still six months away). For a more thorough preview, try /Film, which also has details on how much of the finished film will be in IMAX. Sounds incredible, though I'm not sure I'll be able to see it in that format. Still, there's time to plan yet...

Doctor Who named most-downloaded US iTunes show over Modern Family by Hugh Armitage
(from Digital Spy)

"This is incredibly exciting news," said Doctor Who lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat. "It's an honour to be on the same list as all those shows, let alone at the very top. And for a British show to have achieved this in the US is absolutely remarkable."

Matt Smith rues cancellation of Doctor Who Confidential by Paul Jones
(from Radio Times)

“It’s a pity as I think it’s a show which can reinvent itself year on year and it’s one of the biggest shows on BBC3," said Smith. “I guess people come in and have new ideas and want to have their own fresh take on it"

A polite way of saying "some people change things for the sake of it to make their own mark", I think.

Collection Count

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

Not much to report this week, except for that the numbers are still going up, despite it being nearly Christmas. Expect some next week too; the week after, I'm not sure; and the week after that will be the big (hopefully!) Christmas one.

I will say, though, that I was sent two packages from the same US retailer a couple of weeks ago. They shipped just 3½ hours apart. The one sent second arrived last Tuesday; there's still no sign of the one sent first. Weird.

Number of titles in collection: 1,408 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,142 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 266 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,504 [up 6]
Number of films in collection: 1,498 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,335 [up 6]

See you next week, faithful reader.

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 26

Best battle scene

I kinda feel this ought to be a big ol' space battle, like that one in Serenity or something, but I can't think of many that immediately jump out at me, so I guess this becomes "best battle/fight/action scene", and I offer up this one:

Lightsaber duel
from Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace

I love a good movie sword fight, but unsurprisingly these are few and far between in sci-fi movies. Except for Star Wars.

For all the prequels' flaws -- and they are many -- the one thing they have over the original trilogy are the lightsaber duels. Whereas the first three films largely feature actors bumping some sticks together a bit, the prequels feature fully choreographed fights that are properly exciting to watch.

The best of these is at the climax of Episode I, when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan take on Darth Maul (there's a bunch of Fantasy names if ever you saw them) and his infamous double-ended lightsaber. It is, as I said, fully choreographed and properly exciting, and just about everything you dreamed a lightsaber battle should be ever since you were a kid.

Some may argue there are better duels later in the prequel trilogy. Maybe, but this is the first one that showed what a lightsaber duel really could be, and this is the one that sticks in the memory.

And it's nice there's something to like about the prequels, eh?


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

TV

Life's Too Short
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Live at the Apollo
7x04 Episode 4
Love Milton Jones.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
4x04 Ring Around the Rosie
"Hey, how ya doin'? You're under arrest of the attempted murder of... everybody." Love Cho.
(Accidentally skipped episode three. That will, of course, be rectified.)
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Perfect Couples
1x09 Perfect Lies
E4 started really mucking about with showing this and the order they showed it in (or so it seemed to me), so I've resorted to downloading it. Not that I should really care, what with it being all cancelled and, let's be honest, not being that great in the first place.

Pointless
4x05 (18/3/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

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

Articles

10 Common Words You Had No Idea Were Onomatopoeias by Andy Kneis
(from Cracked.com)
I had no idea! Most interesting.

Review: Sherlock - A Scandal in Belgravia by David Brown
(from Radio Times)
It was the press screening of the new Sherlock last night, hence plenty of coverage and press releases today. This is the Radio Times review (obviously), but there's also the BBC press pack, including interviews with Moffat, Gatiss, Cumberbatch and Freeman; some nice publicity shots at Blogtor Who; and the PI, confirming it's on New Years Day at 8:10pm. Very exciting.

Click to enlarge.

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 25

Funniest sci-fi (intentional or otherwise)

It feels like it should be hard to think of an SF comedy, but actually there are quite a few -- Red Dwarf, Hitchhikers' (on radio, in print, on TV and in film!), Back to the Future, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Galaxy Quest -- and those are just some of the good ones.

Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death

Penned by now-showrunner Steven Moffat for Comic Relief back in 1999, this is easily the most affectionate Who spoof ever. Not only is it a very funny take on the show, it's very funny fullstop; and not only is it very funny, but it actually creates a great deal of nostalgia for the real thing -- some of the ending is only a short step away from the kind of sentimentality we've seen in the revived series.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this was in some way instrumental in bringing the show back to TV properly. Considering it was made for zero money (as it was for charity), I think it shows that a Who series was viable in '99 -- sure it might look dated now, but it looks pretty much as good as any other late-'90s SF.

Other series and films may show more longevity and consistency -- this one only lasts for about 20 minutes after all -- but it's the one I'm most likely to re-watch again. And again.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

TV

Argumental
4x05 Episode 5

Frozen Planet
Part 6 The Last Frontier
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Pointless
4x04 (17/3/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Thor 2 Director Patty Jenkins Exits by Borys Kit
(from The Hollywood Reporter)

as late as Monday afternoon Jenkins was actively working on the movie. The filmmaker participated in an interview and photo shoot ... on Dec. 2, during which she discussed her involvement in the project and praised Marvel.

Weird.

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 24

Who's the no.1 captain?

There are plenty of Captains in military-esque SF like Star Trek or... well, other stuff... but the best one comes from a freer universe.

Capt. Mal Reynolds

Some say Mal is essentially Han Solo, but pish, he's better. He's funnier, for one thing. I bet he's braver. He's certainly got more morals. He tries to keep the latter two hidden, but they're definitely there. He always does the right thing... for himself and his crew anyway.

Besides, is Solo actually a Captain? No. No he's not.

If you don't know for yourself why Mal is awesome, you clearly haven't seen Firefly and/or Serenity. And if you haven't seen Firefly and/or Serenity, what kind of sci-fi fan are you?! Not one, I say.

So there.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

TV

Dave's One Night Stand
3x03 Reginald D Hunter
An American, an Aussie and a German walk into a Scottish theatre...
The Radio Times slagged off Hunter's stand-up (I was going to link to that, but they seem to have removed the review from their website), but I thought it was very good, and Henning Wehn was much better here than when he turned up on QI the other week.

Death in Paradise
1x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Happy Endings
1x04 Mein Coming Out
Completely random late night viewing. It was fine.

How I Met Your Mother
7x05 Field Trip
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Music

Imaginaerum by Nightwish
The new Nightwish album, released here yesterday, which also forms the soundtrack to a forthcoming film. Apparently it's met with "universal critical acclaim", and I can see where they're coming from: this is everything you'd expect and want from a new Nightwish record, and probably a little more too.

Articles

CATS 1, KIDS 0 by Helen Killer (from regretsy)
and
Why @PayPal is wrong regarding @Regretsy, according to their own policies. by greengeekgirl (from geek girl)
PayPal have demanded a group who raised money to provide Christmas toys for poor & disadvantaged children return all of that money. PayPal will still keep all of the transaction fees, though. And because the person in charge argued about it, they've frozen her personal account through which she does regular business.
And all of this is against PayPal's own policies.
(PayPal have since apologised -- well, sort of -- and are "working" to resolve the situation.)

Jeremy Clarkson, The One Show and the most complained about BBC shows by William Gallagher
(from Radio Times)
As complaints about Clarkson's One Show comments reach a silly level, RT finds out how it compares to other recent BBC controversies.

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 23

It's party-time!
Which sci-fi character are you going to dress-up as?

No one. Does that count? I guess not.

Donnie Darko

Because I'm really lazy and really, really don't care.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

TV

Charley Boorman's Extreme Frontiers
Episode 1 (of 4)
After going to the far-flung corners of Africa and the Far East in Long Way Round, Long Way Down, By Any Means and By Any Means: Sydney to Tokyo, Charley Boorman now takes on the formidable challenge of… a jolly around Canada. OK, he does extreme-sports-y things there, but… it's Canada. Looks like a lovely place, mind.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x09 Episode 9
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless
4x03 (16/3/11 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Diner (1982)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2011]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Extended Trailer
The semi-mythical 8½-minute trailer for David Fincher's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel has now been released. (Above link should be for the UK; US is here). It's worth checking out, because 8½ minutes is a long time and you get a great idea of the film from it. Looks like it could well be something special.

Articles

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: 8-Minute Trailer Streaming, 6 Tracks of Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’ Score Available for FREE by Germain Lussier
(from /Film)
I've mentioned the trailer in today's Films post, but this is worth noting for the free sampler. After the massive success (both artistically and critically) of Reznor & Ross' score for The Social Network, this is a definite pre-order for me.

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 22

Coolest alien race

So what does "coolest" mean, eh? There are loads of possibilities for a category like this. I don't think it means "alien race most like Samuel L. Jackson", for instance.

Cybermen

I love the Cybermen. They're better than the Daleks. They prefigure the Borg.

When done right they can be properly scary, because they take us humans and strip away all that makes us human. They have no emotion -- they can't be reasoned with or bargained with or persuaded. And they stomp about and shoot stuff and blow stuff up and all that too.

And, in the right designs, they can look rather cool.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.