The Graham Norton Show
12x08 (14/12/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
QI
10x13 Jobs
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Saturday, 15 December 2012
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Despite my assertion last week, I can't resist a bargain, and getting The Hammer Collection box set for what equates to 89p per film definitely counts as a bargain in my book. But that really is it until after Christmas now.
Probably.
Number of titles in collection: 1,514 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,147 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 367 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,796 [up 21]
Number of films in collection: 1,584 [up 21]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,700 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 373 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Despite my assertion last week, I can't resist a bargain, and getting The Hammer Collection box set for what equates to 89p per film definitely counts as a bargain in my book. But that really is it until after Christmas now.
Probably.
Number of titles in collection: 1,514 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,147 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 367 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 3,796 [up 21]
Number of films in collection: 1,584 [up 21]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,700 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 373 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 14 December 2012
TV
The Graham Norton Show
12x07 (7/12/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Have I Got News For You
44x09 (14/12/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Stephen Fry: Gadget Man
1x04 Fun and Games
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
12x07 (7/12/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Have I Got News For You
44x09 (14/12/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Stephen Fry: Gadget Man
1x04 Fun and Games
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Thursday, 13 December 2012
TV
1001 Things You Should Know
1x20 (7/12/12 edition)
[Watch episodes it (again) on 4oD.]
Have I Got News For You
44x08 (7/12/12 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x11 Episode 11
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
1x20 (7/12/12 edition)
[Watch episodes it (again) on 4oD.]
Have I Got News For You
44x08 (7/12/12 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x11 Episode 11
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
TV
Bring Me Morecambe & Wise
1x03 At Home with Eric and Ern
Castle
2x20 The Late Shaft
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
John Bishop's Big Year
Episode 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Spy
2x08 Codename: Double Oh
1x03 At Home with Eric and Ern
Castle
2x20 The Late Shaft
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
John Bishop's Big Year
Episode 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Spy
2x08 Codename: Double Oh
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
TV
1001 Things You Should Know
1x17 (4/12/12 edition)
1x18 (5/12/12 edition)
[Watch episodes 17 and 18 (again) on 4oD.]
The Mentalist
5x06 Cherry Picked
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
QI
10x11 Jumpers (XL edition)
1x17 (4/12/12 edition)
1x18 (5/12/12 edition)
[Watch episodes 17 and 18 (again) on 4oD.]
The Mentalist
5x06 Cherry Picked
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
QI
10x11 Jumpers (XL edition)
Articles
Creating The IDW Covers: Judge Dredd Year One
by Dave Sim (from A Moment of Cerebus)
Interesting piece on the thought and work that goes into creating a comic's cover.
by Dave Sim (from A Moment of Cerebus)
Interesting piece on the thought and work that goes into creating a comic's cover.
Monday, 10 December 2012
TV
Have I Got News For You
44x07 (30/11/12 edition; extended repeat)
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x10 Episode 10
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Royal Variety Performance 2012
Now, I thought this switched between the Beeb and ITV every year, but it was on ITV last year and again this year, so... Well, it doesn't matter; just baffled me slightly.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Stephen Fry: Gadget Man
1x03 Work Made Easy
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
44x07 (30/11/12 edition; extended repeat)
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
26x10 Episode 10
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Royal Variety Performance 2012
Now, I thought this switched between the Beeb and ITV every year, but it was on ITV last year and again this year, so... Well, it doesn't matter; just baffled me slightly.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Stephen Fry: Gadget Man
1x03 Work Made Easy
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Articles
Skyfall blows past Spider-Man 3 to become Sony's top-grossing film
(from HitFix)
Records are falling before it like flies and its placing in various charts is constantly on the rise. Where will it stop? Nobody knows!
(from HitFix)
Records are falling before it like flies and its placing in various charts is constantly on the rise. Where will it stop? Nobody knows!
Sunday, 9 December 2012
Comics
The Amazing Spider-Man #699 by Dan Slott & Humberto Ramos
Explanations! Great if you've been reading ASM for years, I'm sure, but it's a little thumb-twiddly otherwise -- it's all prelude to whatever's coming next issue.
Extermination #3 & #4 by Simon Spurrier, Jeffrey Edwards & V Ken Marion
This is such fun, especially if you're a fan of Batman and/or Superman, which two of the main characters are delightfully unsubtle riffs on. Which is fine, because you could never do this in a licensed story. It's also generally witty and clever too, even if the art is occasionally scruffy.
Revival #3 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
Continues to slow burn, but still great.
Explanations! Great if you've been reading ASM for years, I'm sure, but it's a little thumb-twiddly otherwise -- it's all prelude to whatever's coming next issue.
Extermination #3 & #4 by Simon Spurrier, Jeffrey Edwards & V Ken Marion
This is such fun, especially if you're a fan of Batman and/or Superman, which two of the main characters are delightfully unsubtle riffs on. Which is fine, because you could never do this in a licensed story. It's also generally witty and clever too, even if the art is occasionally scruffy.
Revival #3 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
Continues to slow burn, but still great.
this week on 100 Films
The 100 Films Advent Calendar continues apace, with seven new reviews published to 100 Films in a Year this week...
Chatroom (2010)
Read more here.
The Expendables (2010)
Read more here.
The Keep (1983)
Read more here.
The Last Airbender (2010)
Read more here.
M (British version) (1931/1932)
Read more here.
Predators (2010)
Read more here.
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Read more here.
If that wasn't enough, also new to the new blog were...
Predator (1987)
Read more here.
Predator 2 (1990)
Read more here.
Another seven (hopefully!) next Sunday.
Chatroom (2010)
Chatroom is born of trying to find a viable way of depicting the world of online chatrooms on film... presumably presenting the online world in a filmic way was a necessary aside for wanting to set a story in that world. Sadly, the actual tale being told isn’t up to all that much.
Read more here.
The Expendables (2010)
What you do get is a film that revels in its action-movie-ness. I mean, most of the characters have great (read: daft) action movie names: Barney Ross, Lee Christmas, Yin Yang, Toll Road, Hale Caesar, Paine… How is that not a film aware of its own absurdity? How can you not enjoy that, even a little?
Read more here.
The Keep (1983)
it’s really good; a film that is genuinely creepy, with an effective sense of foreboding and mystery… for about half an hour or so. [...] Events become convoluted and borderline nonsensical, and whatever thematic points the film has to make about evil and belief get lost in the mix.
Read more here.
The Last Airbender (2010)
The plot pings back and forth between locations and characters, basing itself in a heavy mythology that isn’t adequately explained. Chunks of it seem to be missing, conveyed through clunky voiceover rather than on-screen action. The first rule of screenwriting is Show Don’t Tell, but Shyamalan does exactly the opposite.
Read more here.
M (British version) (1931/1932)
Let’s establish one thing right away: this is unquestionably an inferior version of Fritz Lang’s masterpiece, M. Never mind that it’s an old, unrestored, thoroughly battered print; it’s the conscious changes that — unavoidably — lessen the film.
Read more here.
Predators (2010)
it’s not an entirely stock plot merely peppered with gunfights. Rodriguez and co have made the effort to push the mythology in new directions; ones which seem to build naturally out of other Predator media, even though those aren’t specifically mentioned.
Read more here.
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
it’s a solid little thriller. A bit plodding at times, but engrossing enough... There’s A Big Twist in the middle that would easily have been one of the best bits about the film, had they not blown it in the trailers. Even still, it’s a bit audacious
Read more here.
If that wasn't enough, also new to the new blog were...
Predator (1987)
Let’s not pretend here: although the series have become intrinsically linked, Predator is Alien’s poorer cousin. Not that it’s a bad film — it’s an entertaining war flick that turns into a sci-fi/action/horror skirmish thingy — but it doesn’t have the same finesse that imbues Alien and its sequel.
Read more here.
Predator 2 (1990)
the action is moved from a jungle to the concrete jungle (see what they did there?) of LA... the vastly different settings and setups mean that, even with the involvement of the same sneaky alien hunter, the films have a vastly different feel too. It’s just a shame Predator 2’s “urban jungle” concept is so poorly executed
Read more here.
Another seven (hopefully!) next Sunday.
Saturday, 8 December 2012
Comics
Dial H #3, #4 & #5 by China Miéville & Mateus Santolouco
Here's a funny one, then. After the fun of the first two issues, Dial H takes a sharp downward turn into confusing babble here. It builds back up to something that makes sense and a clever climax, but it's not really much fun until quite near the end. There's nothing wrong with making your reader work a bit -- not spoon-feeding them everything -- but this goes too far down the road of oblique mysteriousness for the sake of it, giving us multiple characters who all know what they're babbling about while locking the reader out. And then, like I say, it does get a bit better. Now I'm torn between dropping this and keeping going.
Dial H #0 by China Miéville & Riccardo Burchielli
As for the Zero Issue, it tells a completely unrelated story that manages to illuminate the mythology of the dial, with some interesting revelations about how it works. Again, it trades on confusion until quite near the end, but at least in this instance the answers are actually in the same issue.
Extermination #2 by Simon Spurrier & Jeffrey Edwards
See below.
Revival #2 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
It's 6 months since I read Extermination #1, and though a bit foggy I did manage to pick it back up fine.
It's 4 months since I read Revival #1, and though I largely followed it I felt I really ought to re-read the first one to fully appreciate just what was going on.
I don't know what that says about each respective series, but they're both great. Extermination is bold, dark, but funny and entertaining, while Revival is more serious, grown-up and mysterious. And if the latter continues on its current path -- and retains its current levels of praise -- it's a dead cert for a Walking Dead-style cable TV series at some point, because that's exactly what it feels like. And I look forward to that.
Here's a funny one, then. After the fun of the first two issues, Dial H takes a sharp downward turn into confusing babble here. It builds back up to something that makes sense and a clever climax, but it's not really much fun until quite near the end. There's nothing wrong with making your reader work a bit -- not spoon-feeding them everything -- but this goes too far down the road of oblique mysteriousness for the sake of it, giving us multiple characters who all know what they're babbling about while locking the reader out. And then, like I say, it does get a bit better. Now I'm torn between dropping this and keeping going.
Dial H #0 by China Miéville & Riccardo Burchielli
As for the Zero Issue, it tells a completely unrelated story that manages to illuminate the mythology of the dial, with some interesting revelations about how it works. Again, it trades on confusion until quite near the end, but at least in this instance the answers are actually in the same issue.
Extermination #2 by Simon Spurrier & Jeffrey Edwards
See below.
Revival #2 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
It's 6 months since I read Extermination #1, and though a bit foggy I did manage to pick it back up fine.
It's 4 months since I read Revival #1, and though I largely followed it I felt I really ought to re-read the first one to fully appreciate just what was going on.
I don't know what that says about each respective series, but they're both great. Extermination is bold, dark, but funny and entertaining, while Revival is more serious, grown-up and mysterious. And if the latter continues on its current path -- and retains its current levels of praise -- it's a dead cert for a Walking Dead-style cable TV series at some point, because that's exactly what it feels like. And I look forward to that.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
It's nearly Christmas -- things are meant to be winding down! But no, here's a pile of new stuff, about half of it late arrivals from Black Friday sales and the other new releases; things so much desired that I couldn't wait another two weeks in the hope of getting them on Christmas Day.
Number of titles in collection: 1,513 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,146 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 367 [up 5]
Number of discs in collection: 3,775 [up 10]
Number of films in collection: 1,563 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,700 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 373 [up 2]
This is the last of it though (random good bargains that I can't resist notwithstanding), so I can say with absolute certainty that there won't be anything to report for the next two weeks! And the first post-Christmas one is a running time update, so that'll always be a bumper bonus of fun and excitement, oh yes it will.
See you next week nonetheless, faithful reader.
It's nearly Christmas -- things are meant to be winding down! But no, here's a pile of new stuff, about half of it late arrivals from Black Friday sales and the other new releases; things so much desired that I couldn't wait another two weeks in the hope of getting them on Christmas Day.
Number of titles in collection: 1,513 [up 5]
Of which DVDs: 1,146 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 367 [up 5]
Number of discs in collection: 3,775 [up 10]
Number of films in collection: 1,563 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,700 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 373 [up 2]
This is the last of it though (random good bargains that I can't resist notwithstanding), so I can say with absolute certainty that there won't be anything to report for the next two weeks! And the first post-Christmas one is a running time update, so that'll always be a bumper bonus of fun and excitement, oh yes it will.
See you next week nonetheless, faithful reader.
Friday, 7 December 2012
TV
Dragons' Den
10x11 Episode 11
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Graham Norton Show
12x06 (30/11/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
10x11 Episode 11
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Graham Norton Show
12x06 (30/11/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Articles
FAN ART: Comics And Marvel Movie Images Integrated
by DCMarvelFreshman (from ComicBookMovie.com)
Neat idea, well done. One of the best ones as an example:
by DCMarvelFreshman (from ComicBookMovie.com)
A very talented Graphic Artist has visually analyzed just how “thin is the line that separate Modern from classic and Pixels from ink,” by integrating Marvel films with comics. Check out his digital art!
Neat idea, well done. One of the best ones as an example:
Thursday, 6 December 2012
TV
1001 Things You Should Know
1x15 (30/11/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Dave's One Night Stand
4x04 Milton Jones
1x15 (30/11/12 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Dave's One Night Stand
4x04 Milton Jones
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
TV
Goodnight Britain
Episode 1 (of 2)
Episode 2 (of 2)
[Watch episodes one and two (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Great British Bake Off
3x14 Masterclass 3 [season finale]
Episode 1 (of 2)
Episode 2 (of 2)
[Watch episodes one and two (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Great British Bake Off
3x14 Masterclass 3 [season finale]
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