How I Met Your Mother
7x10 Tick, Tick, Tick...
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
TV
Law & Order: UK
6x01 Survivor's Guilt
A tough subject matter, left over from last season's cliffhanger, but beautifully handled. Who knew before L&O that Bradley Walsh would turn out to be such a spectacularly good actor?
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
No Ordinary Family
1x16 No Ordinary Proposal
1x17 No Ordinary Love
"Actually, getting hit by that bullet saved his life."
"The only thing that can beat chemical love... is true love."
Oh No Ordinary Family, you are ridiculous. And surprisingly slow. But even though it's been five months since I last watched it, I still feel the need to finish it.
Perfect Couples
1x10 Perfect Exes
1x11 Perfect Wedding
How to make a middling series like Perfect Couples seem better: watch it immediately after No Ordinary Family. Seriously, it worked. (Hence why there's two of each.)
Pointless
5x40 (9/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
6x01 Survivor's Guilt
A tough subject matter, left over from last season's cliffhanger, but beautifully handled. Who knew before L&O that Bradley Walsh would turn out to be such a spectacularly good actor?
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
No Ordinary Family
1x16 No Ordinary Proposal
1x17 No Ordinary Love
"Actually, getting hit by that bullet saved his life."
"The only thing that can beat chemical love... is true love."
Oh No Ordinary Family, you are ridiculous. And surprisingly slow. But even though it's been five months since I last watched it, I still feel the need to finish it.
Perfect Couples
1x10 Perfect Exes
1x11 Perfect Wedding
How to make a middling series like Perfect Couples seem better: watch it immediately after No Ordinary Family. Seriously, it worked. (Hence why there's two of each.)
Pointless
5x40 (9/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
TV
Have I Got News For You
42x11 2011 (extended repeat) [season finale]
Being a best-of-the-year thingamy.
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
5x01 (7/1/12 edition)
Ah, Who Dares Wins -- rubbish really, but the format's fun for playing along.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Pointless
5x39 (6/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
42x11 2011 (extended repeat) [season finale]
Being a best-of-the-year thingamy.
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
5x01 (7/1/12 edition)
Ah, Who Dares Wins -- rubbish really, but the format's fun for playing along.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Pointless
5x39 (6/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 9 January 2012
TV
Endeavour
I never watched Inspector Morse, but this feature-length prequel was pretty good, and I'm assured it was faithful and fitting to its inspiration too. My guess about the solution was completely, epically wrong.
The Mentalist
4x05 Blood and Sand
The One...
1x01 Lenny Henry
Inspired by the rather good The One Ronnie special from last Christmas (well, the Christmas-before-last now, isn't it), here a selection of other older comedians do a similar thing: a bit of stand-up, a few sketches with Younger Things, and so on. Lenny isn't as good as Ronnie, but some of the sketches were pretty decent nonetheless.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Onion News Network
1x05 The Trial of TR-425
Pointless
5x38 (5/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Rhod Gilbert and the Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst
Didn't intend to watch this, but stumbled across it a few minutes in and left it on. I have a bit of a love/hate opinion on Rhod Gilbert's comedy (more of the former, really, but I don't go out of my way to watch him), and this was rather good.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
I never watched Inspector Morse, but this feature-length prequel was pretty good, and I'm assured it was faithful and fitting to its inspiration too. My guess about the solution was completely, epically wrong.
The Mentalist
4x05 Blood and Sand
The One...
1x01 Lenny Henry
Inspired by the rather good The One Ronnie special from last Christmas (well, the Christmas-before-last now, isn't it), here a selection of other older comedians do a similar thing: a bit of stand-up, a few sketches with Younger Things, and so on. Lenny isn't as good as Ronnie, but some of the sketches were pretty decent nonetheless.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Onion News Network
1x05 The Trial of TR-425
Pointless
5x38 (5/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Rhod Gilbert and the Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst
Didn't intend to watch this, but stumbled across it a few minutes in and left it on. I have a bit of a love/hate opinion on Rhod Gilbert's comedy (more of the former, really, but I don't go out of my way to watch him), and this was rather good.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Sunday, 8 January 2012
TV
Sherlock
2x02 The Hounds of Baskerville
Shame about the dodgy CG doggy turning up at the end. That aside, I enjoyed this, a solid modernising of a familiar story with nice nods to the original. The revelation about the morse code was a particularly amusing twist -- hound, dogging, hehehe, etc.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks
Regular readers will know I love a bit of magic, and so what better piece of entertainment than this, Channel 5's three-hour countdown of the best tricks TV has ever offered. And it was brilliant too, though there were quite a few tricks I wish they could've found the time to show in full. And, of course, I wish we were told how they were all done.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
2x02 The Hounds of Baskerville
Shame about the dodgy CG doggy turning up at the end. That aside, I enjoyed this, a solid modernising of a familiar story with nice nods to the original. The revelation about the morse code was a particularly amusing twist -- hound, dogging, hehehe, etc.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks
Regular readers will know I love a bit of magic, and so what better piece of entertainment than this, Channel 5's three-hour countdown of the best tricks TV has ever offered. And it was brilliant too, though there were quite a few tricks I wish they could've found the time to show in full. And, of course, I wish we were told how they were all done.
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Articles
J.J. Abrams Talks Star Trek 2; Says Filming Begins Thursday and 3D Tests on First Star Trek Convinced Him to Post-Convert Sequel
by Christina Radish (from Collider.com)
He also says that the 3D "was something that the studio wanted to do, and I didn’t want to do it." Ah. He goes on:
by Christina Radish (from Collider.com)
He also says that the 3D "was something that the studio wanted to do, and I didn’t want to do it." Ah. He goes on:
And then, when I saw the first movie converted in sections, I thought that it actually looked really cool. So, I was okay with their doing it, as long as I could shoot the movie the way I wanted to, in anamorphic film, and then let them convert it. So, those who want to see it in 3D, which looked pretty cool, can do it, and those that want to see it in 2D can do that tooSo 2D is his preferred format, I'd say. He also talks about the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch and other bits and bobs like that.
this week on 100 Films
No new reviews on 100 Films in a Year this week, but I have posted my two looks back at the previous year:
The Full List, which lists every film I saw in viewing order, plus a stack of fascinating statistics (now with graphs!)
and
In Retrospect, in which I list my five worst and ten best films of the year, as well as fifty I missed.
And that's 2011 done with... apart from the pile of reviews I still have to post. More of them next Sunday.
and
And that's 2011 done with... apart from the pile of reviews I still have to post. More of them next Sunday.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
TV
8 Out of 10 Cats Countdown: The Channel 4 Mash Up
Bits of both shows jumbled together? Ah, a proper mash-up.
[Watch some of it (again) on 4oD.]
Charlie Brooker's 2011 Wipe
Charlie Brooker recaps and satirises the year that was "like an end of season finale for all of mankind".
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Eternal Law
1x01 Episode 1
New supernatural/legal drama from the creators of Life on Mars. Also from the creators of the reviled Bonekickers, which is unfortunately more relevant. Despite the good writers, a good cast and an interesting high concept, this is the victim of weak writing (a slow start, an implausible courtroom), weak acting and too much unnecessary opacity in the way the premise is presented. Shame.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
House
8x08 Perils of Paranoia
This episode, aired in November, was the last one until the end of January. On the one hand, "oh America and your crazy scheduling!" On the other, I haven't watched it until now (partly because it was the last one until January), so what does it matter.
How I Met Your Mother
7x09 Disaster Averted
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Paddy's 2011 Show and Telly
I can't stand Paddy McGuinness, but I love TV and a quiz show about it sounded fun. But it's presented by Paddy McGuinness. Ugh. Appalling, for all kinds of reasons.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player. But I wouldn't if I were you.]
Pointless
5x37 (4/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Bits of both shows jumbled together? Ah, a proper mash-up.
[Watch some of it (again) on 4oD.]
Charlie Brooker's 2011 Wipe
Charlie Brooker recaps and satirises the year that was "like an end of season finale for all of mankind".
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Eternal Law
1x01 Episode 1
New supernatural/legal drama from the creators of Life on Mars. Also from the creators of the reviled Bonekickers, which is unfortunately more relevant. Despite the good writers, a good cast and an interesting high concept, this is the victim of weak writing (a slow start, an implausible courtroom), weak acting and too much unnecessary opacity in the way the premise is presented. Shame.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
House
8x08 Perils of Paranoia
This episode, aired in November, was the last one until the end of January. On the one hand, "oh America and your crazy scheduling!" On the other, I haven't watched it until now (partly because it was the last one until January), so what does it matter.
How I Met Your Mother
7x09 Disaster Averted
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Paddy's 2011 Show and Telly
I can't stand Paddy McGuinness, but I love TV and a quiz show about it sounded fun. But it's presented by Paddy McGuinness. Ugh. Appalling, for all kinds of reasons.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player. But I wouldn't if I were you.]
Pointless
5x37 (4/1/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
It really ought to be a quiet time in January, post-Christmas, but it's not going to be completely silent -- look, I've started already!
Number of titles in collection: 1,426 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,148 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 278 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 3,548 [up 11]
Number of films in collection: 1,519 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,388 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
It really ought to be a quiet time in January, post-Christmas, but it's not going to be completely silent -- look, I've started already!
Number of titles in collection: 1,426 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,148 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 278 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 3,548 [up 11]
Number of films in collection: 1,519 [up 5]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,388 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 6 January 2012
TV
Absolutely Fabulous
6x01 Identity [Christmas special]
6x02 Job [New Year special]
You assume these kind of revivals are going to be at best pretty weak and at worst hopelessly embarrassing, but I thought these two episodes were actually rather funny. Not sure the mooted movie is a good idea though.
[Watch Identity and Job (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Many Faces of
Dame Judi Dench
The Mentalist
4x03 Pretty Red Balloon
US TV should be re-starting before too long, so I ought to catch up on the ones I've not seen... not that The Mentalist seemed to stop over Christmas.
Pointless
5x36 (3/1/12 edition)
Returning post-Christmas, Pointless returns to new episodes (last aired in October). Not that it matters much to me -- I hadn't seen the repeats they'd been showing anyway. Though I was dreadfully behind on them, and now have them all saved up for when they switch to repeating episodes I have seen.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
QI
9x13 Intelligence (XL edition)
Being the one I missed that I keep going on about.
6x01 Identity [Christmas special]
6x02 Job [New Year special]
You assume these kind of revivals are going to be at best pretty weak and at worst hopelessly embarrassing, but I thought these two episodes were actually rather funny. Not sure the mooted movie is a good idea though.
[Watch Identity and Job (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Many Faces of
Dame Judi Dench
The Mentalist
4x03 Pretty Red Balloon
US TV should be re-starting before too long, so I ought to catch up on the ones I've not seen... not that The Mentalist seemed to stop over Christmas.
Pointless
5x36 (3/1/12 edition)
Returning post-Christmas, Pointless returns to new episodes (last aired in October). Not that it matters much to me -- I hadn't seen the repeats they'd been showing anyway. Though I was dreadfully behind on them, and now have them all saved up for when they switch to repeating episodes I have seen.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
QI
9x13 Intelligence (XL edition)
Being the one I missed that I keep going on about.
Articles
Outnumbered to return for fifth series?
by Morgan Jeffery (from Digital Spy)
Fingers crossed for this one. Though I agree the kids are getting a bit too old and they should probably wrap it up soon, I think they should wrap it up soon rather than just stop it, and doing a fifth series this year -- rather than in 2013 as mooted -- seems to the best way to do that.
by Morgan Jeffery (from Digital Spy)
Fingers crossed for this one. Though I agree the kids are getting a bit too old and they should probably wrap it up soon, I think they should wrap it up soon rather than just stop it, and doing a fifth series this year -- rather than in 2013 as mooted -- seems to the best way to do that.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
TV
Earthflight
Part 1 North America (of 6)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Black Mirror
1x02 15 Million Merits
That was a bit bleak and depressing... much like the reality TV & app cultures it was satirising, then. That's what all the best sci-fi does: comment on the here & now. Usually such things are more subtle, but where does subtlety get you these days? And I'm sure plenty of people are too dim to get that this is a comment on where things are at now rather than where they might theoretically end up.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Lee Mack: Going Out
Apparently this was all-new, but as it went on I began to feel like I'd seen some of it before. Maybe just déjà vu, I dunno. (Last time I watched some Lee Mack stand-up, I had seen it before. Coincidencetastic.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x13 Episode 13 [season finale]
Just a best bits show, except for a couple of quite amusing outtakes near the end.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Part 1 North America (of 6)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Black Mirror
1x02 15 Million Merits
That was a bit bleak and depressing... much like the reality TV & app cultures it was satirising, then. That's what all the best sci-fi does: comment on the here & now. Usually such things are more subtle, but where does subtlety get you these days? And I'm sure plenty of people are too dim to get that this is a comment on where things are at now rather than where they might theoretically end up.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Lee Mack: Going Out
Apparently this was all-new, but as it went on I began to feel like I'd seen some of it before. Maybe just déjà vu, I dunno. (Last time I watched some Lee Mack stand-up, I had seen it before. Coincidencetastic.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
25x13 Episode 13 [season finale]
Just a best bits show, except for a couple of quite amusing outtakes near the end.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
TV
Comic Relief 2011: What a Cracker
A poorly-edited (every sketch was truncated! great stuff was missing!) set of highlights from last year's Comic Relief. Oh well.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Great Expectations
Part 3 (of 3)
I enjoyed that greatly. Makes me want to watch the David Lean film again to see if the bits I didn't remember were in it or not.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Misfits
2x07 Christmas Special [season finale]
3x00 Vegas Baby!
I didn't watch last year's special sooner because it wasn't near enough Christmas when I finished series two proper. Now I'm struggling to justify to myself that it's still Christmas season enough to get away with it. Oops. On the bright side, it is quite separate from the series proper -- set three months later, even -- so in that respect it's been a good gap. Great episode too.
Then there's the amusing, and surprisingly long, series three prequel, explaining the departure of a major character (I'm sure if you care you know who, even if you're as behind as me). As well as 4oD, the prequel's available on iTunes for free -- and in HD too! -- here.
[Watch the Christmas special and Vegas Baby! (again) on 4oD.]
A poorly-edited (every sketch was truncated! great stuff was missing!) set of highlights from last year's Comic Relief. Oh well.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Great Expectations
Part 3 (of 3)
I enjoyed that greatly. Makes me want to watch the David Lean film again to see if the bits I didn't remember were in it or not.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Misfits
2x07 Christmas Special [season finale]
3x00 Vegas Baby!
I didn't watch last year's special sooner because it wasn't near enough Christmas when I finished series two proper. Now I'm struggling to justify to myself that it's still Christmas season enough to get away with it. Oops. On the bright side, it is quite separate from the series proper -- set three months later, even -- so in that respect it's been a good gap. Great episode too.
Then there's the amusing, and surprisingly long, series three prequel, explaining the departure of a major character (I'm sure if you care you know who, even if you're as behind as me). As well as 4oD, the prequel's available on iTunes for free -- and in HD too! -- here.
[Watch the Christmas special and Vegas Baby! (again) on 4oD.]
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
TV
Great Expectations
Part 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Little Crackers
2x01 My First Brassiere
QI
9x15 Ice (XL edition) [Christmas special]
Keeping track of QI has becoming a nightmare over Christmas, where they've shown a mix of old and new episodes in both regular and XL editions. Plus they've apparently put some brand-new stuff in those VG episodes, aside from all the best bits and best-bits-of-episodes-not-yet-shown; and then there's that episode I missed, which it turns out I have recorded.
Is it all just some kind of test for those people who want to see every episode in its fullest form, I wonder?
[Watch QI XL (again) on iPlayer.]
Part 2 (of 3)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Little Crackers
2x01 My First Brassiere
QI
9x15 Ice (XL edition) [Christmas special]
Keeping track of QI has becoming a nightmare over Christmas, where they've shown a mix of old and new episodes in both regular and XL editions. Plus they've apparently put some brand-new stuff in those VG episodes, aside from all the best bits and best-bits-of-episodes-not-yet-shown; and then there's that episode I missed, which it turns out I have recorded.
Is it all just some kind of test for those people who want to see every episode in its fullest form, I wonder?
[Watch QI XL (again) on iPlayer.]
Monday, 2 January 2012
TV
Top Gear
18x00 India Special
This year's Christmas special sees the boys "set off on an epic road trip across India", which doesn't sound quite as iconically Christmas as last year's baby Jesus-themed thing.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
18x00 India Special
This year's Christmas special sees the boys "set off on an epic road trip across India", which doesn't sound quite as iconically Christmas as last year's baby Jesus-themed thing.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Films
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
[2nd watch]
This was #70 in 100 Films 2011, and why I watched it again today will become obvious imminently...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
[#2 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
That's a little over four-and-a-half hours of Potter today. Epic.
Also, last night...
Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
[#1 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
[2nd watch]
This was #70 in 100 Films 2011, and why I watched it again today will become obvious imminently...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
[#2 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
That's a little over four-and-a-half hours of Potter today. Epic.
Also, last night...
Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
[#1 in 100 Films in a Year 2012]
Sunday, 1 January 2012
TV
Great Expectations
Part 1 (of 3)
Love a bit of Gothic, and this is marvellously so.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
How I Met Your Mother
7x08 The Slutty Pumpkin Returns
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Little Crackers
2x11 I Was a Teenage Santa!
Sherlock
2x01 A Scandal in Belgravia
God that was good. I'd like to say which bits I liked, but they make Sherlock such a densely packed hour-and-a-half that it's difficult to know where to begin. Or end. Absolutely brilliant.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Part 1 (of 3)
Love a bit of Gothic, and this is marvellously so.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
How I Met Your Mother
7x08 The Slutty Pumpkin Returns
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Little Crackers
2x11 I Was a Teenage Santa!
Sherlock
2x01 A Scandal in Belgravia
God that was good. I'd like to say which bits I liked, but they make Sherlock such a densely packed hour-and-a-half that it's difficult to know where to begin. Or end. Absolutely brilliant.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
this week on 100 Films
Happy New Year!
Anyway...
Just 1 new review was posted to 100 Films in a Year this week... but there was also the December update, being the first in my annual triumvirate looking back at the year (the next two looking back at the year, rather than just the month-and-by-association-of-it-being-the-last-month,-the-year).
Anyway, that review...
Gambit (1966)
More next Sunday.
Anyway...
Just 1 new review was posted to 100 Films in a Year this week... but there was also the December update, being the first in my annual triumvirate looking back at the year (the next two looking back at the year, rather than just the month-and-by-association-of-it-being-the-last-month,-the-year).
Anyway, that review...
Gambit (1966)
Gambit is distinctly underrated. The huge advantage of this is that you’re not very likely to have had all the twists spoiled, which is wonderful news! Indeed, because the biggest twist is near the start, it’s pretty hard to review without giving it away. But I’ll do my best. Honestly though, avoid other reviews, just in case.
More next Sunday.
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