TV

Spies of Warsaw
Part 1 (of 2)
I don't mind a (shall we say) thoughtfully paced spy thriller -- indeed, I loved Tinker Tailor (both versions) and, more recently, Restless -- but this one pushed it a bit, especially near the start. It's three hours across its two episodes, and one feels like two-and-a-half might've been a better length… but then how do you split that for TV? Just two might've been rushed. Though I suppose one can only know once you see the second half.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Yes, Prime Minister
2x08 The Tangled Web [series finale]
Finishing the old one just in time for the new reboot, which started this evening on Gold.

Films

Dredd (2012)
[#6 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

John Bishop's Only Joking
1x01 Episode 1

Miranda
3x04 Je Regret Nothing
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Person of Interest
1x21 Many Happy Returns

Romanzo Criminale
2x04 Episode 4
2x05 Episode 5
Halfway...

TV

Romanzo Criminale
2x02 Episode 2
2x03 Episode 3

Stella
2x01 Episode 1
Is it really a year to the day since I started the first series? Time flies.

Films

Underdog (2007)
[#5 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

this week on 100 Films

My attempt to wrap up 2012 has begun, with two new reviews published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


Dirty Laundry (2012)

Considering it breaks both Marvel/Disney’s character copyright and WB’s music copyright, and thanks to starring Proper Actors & That it’s been relatively high-profile, it’s a miracle it’s still on YouTube after all this time. It’s a fairly effective depiction of a fan-favourite character, though, so long may it remain.

Read more here.


Rules of Engagement (2000)

most of the time it feels less like the film is aiming for ambiguity and more like it doesn’t know how to guide us well enough in what to feel. Important points aren’t appropriately established, others aren’t appropriately dealt with, and Mark Isham’s score toddles on regardless while important moments slip by.

Read more here.


Plus, new to the new blog...


Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

a great Christmastime film, requisitely magical and heart-warming. The court case finale (or "second half", more or less) is particularly enjoyable, not least The Bit With The Post Bags. I do like a good court room victory.

Read more here.


Stay (2005)

writer David Benioff sold the screenplay for $1.5 million, and it would be nice to agree with that buyer — there’s a good cast, a good director, some good ideas — but ultimately it’s 85 minutes that seem retrospectively pointless when the final ten do so little with them

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Arrow
1x05 Damaged

British Legends of Stage and Screen
1x08 Sir Ian McKellen [season finale]
I watched the one of these with Christopher Lee back in September (was it really so long ago?!), and they're very good profiles/autobiographical interviews. Apparently they're doing more, so that's nice.

Splash!
1x02 Heat 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Yes, Prime Minister
2x07 The National Education Service

Films

Django (1966)
[#4 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

With Tarantino's Django Unchained hitting UK cinemas next week, it seemed a good time to finally watch the '60s original, which I've had in my collection for a good 18 months or so. There's a UK BD of it out in just over a week, which I hope (for the sake of everyone who buys it) has a better transfer than this. If it does, I may even upgrade.

Articles

This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For
by Paul Shawcross (from We the People)

The witty yet educational official response from the White House to a petition requesting they "secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016."

Collection Count

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

I should've had three new things this week. Not a one has turned up. That's mainly down to Hut Group companies, as ever.

So:

Number of titles in collection: 1,522 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,146 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 376 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,836 [no change]
Number of films in collection: 1,601 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,700 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 374 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Elementary
1x07 One Way to Get Off


The Graham Norton Show
12x11 (4/1/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


Live at the Apollo
8x03 Episode 3


Romanzo Criminale
2x01 Episode 1

I watched most of Romanzo Criminale's first series over a single week back in June. It shows how good it was that I'm shocked to find I watched it all so quickly -- it's a sprawling crime epic that in my memory goes on much longer than just one week. There's something in that about significance vs. actuality when it comes to memory.

Anyway, Sky Arts embarked on a repeat run of the second season last Saturday, and considering I've had the whole lot sat on my V+ box since it first aired months ago -- plus that it's seven months since I finished the first series -- it seemed like I really ought to get round to it.

Articles

Orwell, covered up
by Mark Sinclair (from Creative Review)

Penguin are re-releasing six George Orwell novels with new covers. The most interesting is Nineteen Eighty-Four, and this is a quick article about its creation (and the other five for good measure).

The new editions are out now -- here's the new 1984 on Amazon, for instance.

TV

Person of Interest
1x20 Matsya Nyaya

Room 101: Extra Storage
13x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Death in Paradise
2x01 Episode 1
Hurrah for the return of DiP, and in an even-better post-Christmas slot -- just when people need cheering up, rather than when they're all prepared for and happy about the winter months. Not that I ever feel the urge for sun & sand, but some do, so hopefully this second run of the light, fun detective drama will be even more successful.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine #456

I've never stopped buying DWM, but I haven't read a significant amount of an issue for months, perhaps even years (due to a particularly festive season, the preceding bagged Christmas issue remains unopened). Somewhere between a New Year's Resolution and It's The 50th Anniversary Goddammit, however, I have dived into this one and read it almost cover to cover.

This issue has a not-all-new-but-tweaked look for the 50th anniversary, appropriately tying into the not-all-new-but-tweaked stuff that permeated the Christmas special (titles, music, logo, TARDIS, Doctor, etc etc). Revving up for the anniversary, the issue includes a fairly thorough summary of the tonnes of merchandise I'll be spending a small fortune on this year (though it neglects to mention the recently-announced Puffin short stories (more here), which I therefore presume were being kept A Big Secret). Lots of it is rather exciting, even if I still dispute some of the choices for the anniversary collection of 11 tie-in novels. Big Finish are doing a helluva lot of stuff, while BBC Books seem to have missed a trick by not doing some kind of big behind-the-scenes book. On the one hand, they may just not have announced it yet (the article ends with a "and there's more to come" note); on the other, they've done a couple down the years so maybe there's no point; though, adjunct to that, the last I remember was for (I think) the 40th, so maybe an update of that to include the Ninth to Eleventh Doctors is the least we're due.

There's also the first part of a new comic strip, Hunters of the Burning Stone by regular DWM comic strippers Scott Gray and Martin Geraghty. This is set up elsewhere in the issue as being part season finale, part anniversary celebration (though at six parts it will be finished by the middle of the year, nowhere near the anniversary itself). I always feel like I should be reading DWM's strip, especially as it's only around 10 pages once per month, but again I haven't for years. This instalment doesn't do much to convince me otherwise to be honest, full as it is of dense because-we-can sci-fi-ness. Great final page though.

Articles

Baftas: Lincoln leads but Spielberg snubbed
(from BBC News)

And a fair few well-deserved nods for Skyfall too. Whether it wins anything or not is another matter, but fingers crossed. The full nominations can be read on BAFTA's site, here.


Jersey retailer Play.com closes direct retail business
(from BBC News)

Bit of a surprise, this -- Play always seem to be doing so well. But it was also kind of inevitable, with the tax loophole closing, something Play was always based around.

Lots of misreporting around the web on this though: Play aren't being forced to shut down, they're choosing to, meaning you don't need to worry about outstanding orders or refunds; indeed, they'll be selling stuff until the end of March; and then after that, they'll still be there, as an ebay/Amazon Marketplace-style site for people to sell stuff through. Be interesting to see how long that lasts, with at least two so-obvious alternatives available.


Relatedly:

French mourn Virgin's 'funeral march'
by Robert Plummer (from BBC News)

Interestingly different reaction to record store closures from our friends across the Channel. Perhaps they'll be more inclined to do something to stop the tax-dodging multinationals because of it.

TV

Bond's Greatest Moments
Sky's countdown of the 22 greatest moments in the official James Bond films (one per film), as voted for by readers of their website. A surprising list in places, which went some way to make up for the often incredibly irritating talking heads they'd chosen.
[If you have Sky, you can watch it (again) on Sky Go.]

Face the Clock
1x01 (7/1/13 edition)
This sounded like a good idea for a game show -- contestants must answer questions against the clock to amass prize money, but if they're the one doing the answering when the clock runs out they lose it all; twist is, neither they nor surprisingly-camp question-master Rory Bremner can see the clock -- but it makes one fatal misjudgement: the length of time varies, at random, from round to round. So not only do the contestants have no idea how long is left on the clock, they don't have a clue how long the clock was in the first place. That removes any element of skill or prediction and just makes it blind luck whether they're still in command at the end, which makes it considerably less fun.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Live at the Apollo
8x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
Or "The Middle-Aged Men Episode". Can't quite tell if that was deliberate booking or unfortunate thematic repetition...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Miranda
3x03 The Dinner Party
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Person of Interest
1x19 Flesh and Blood
Resuming all these things post-Christmas-telly (see also: Elementary yesterday).

TV

Animal Antics
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Britain's Brightest
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
1x06 Flight Risk

Films

A Trip to the Moon (1902)
[#2a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
aka Le Voyage dans la lune, Georges Méliès' seminal sci-fi short, in the 2011 restoration of a rare hand-coloured print. And to accompany it:

The Extraordinary Voyage (2011)
[#3 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
Shown alongside the restored short (and included on Park Circus' UK DVD released last November), this just-over-60-minute documentary describes Méliès' life and work (with specific focus on A Trip to the Moon), before moving on to the cover the various attempts at restoring his most famous work.

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2012-13 Episode 10 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]