The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x05 (20/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Veronica Mars
1x10 An Echolls Family Christmas
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Films
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
[#42a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]
Unlike Philosopher's Stone or Chamber of Secrets, there's no extended/altered cut here that would technically merit a review for 100 Films... but if I don't, Azkaban and next week's Goblet of Fire would be the only Potter films to go unreviewed. I figure I may as well bung a few sentences together at least.
[#42a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]
Unlike Philosopher's Stone or Chamber of Secrets, there's no extended/altered cut here that would technically merit a review for 100 Films... but if I don't, Azkaban and next week's Goblet of Fire would be the only Potter films to go unreviewed. I figure I may as well bung a few sentences together at least.
this week on 100 Films
This week, I mainly encouraged 100 Films readers to back Alex Cox's Bill the Galactic Hero Kickstarter. It's passed its goal and will be funded now, but if you want to be involved you can still do so here until 1am on Sunday night/Monday morning (UK time).
That aside, one new review was published this week...
Stiff Upper Lips (1998)
And new to the new blog...
Airplane! (1980)
More next Sunday.
That aside, one new review was published this week...
Stiff Upper Lips (1998)
Spoof of British ‘Heritage’ films and TV series, particularly the work of Merchant Ivory... Specific targets include Brideshead Revisited and A Room with a View, with individual sequences riffing off the likes of Chariots of Fire and Orlando.Read more here.
And new to the new blog...
Airplane! (1980)
This model of comedy — the silly spoof, as it were — is still in use today in the depressingly endless series of …Movie movies. But where they’re just crude, Airplane! is witty; where they’re just random, Airplane! is irreverent; and where they’re just derivative, Airplane! was original.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 20 April 2013
TV
Arrow
1x19 Unfinished Business
Doctor Who
33x10 Hide
That's more like it!
I say that, but I've enjoyed most of this series of Doctor Who. Not so the reaction online, though, which seems to largely coincide with my above sentiment. Either way, this is the best episode of the current run so far; possibly the best episode of the series fullstop for some time. Considering writer Neil Cross was responsible for one of the most disappointing episodes in yonks (last fortnight's Rings of Akhaten), that's some turnaround in ability. He actually wrote this episode first, and it was on the strength of this that he was commissioned to write another, and it's easy to see why.
It's billed as A Scary One, and it properly is. No blood or guts or gore, but I'm not convinced this is only a PG (as recently passed by the BBFC). That monster was freaky! And even worse were those photos of the ghost... Shuddertastic. Scares aside, there was a solid story, dispensing with the all-too-repetitive "save the entire world!" palaver we've been getting too much of, really. Instead we had a mystery, which was investigated, and which produced a moderately original solution. Plus all the Clara vs TARDIS stuff was finally made more explicit, amongst an array of other character bits that were never too heavy-handed.
A triumph, then. Hurrah! And next week's looks awesome too...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Voice UK
2x04 The Blind Auditions 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
1x19 Unfinished Business
Doctor Who33x10 Hide
That's more like it!
I say that, but I've enjoyed most of this series of Doctor Who. Not so the reaction online, though, which seems to largely coincide with my above sentiment. Either way, this is the best episode of the current run so far; possibly the best episode of the series fullstop for some time. Considering writer Neil Cross was responsible for one of the most disappointing episodes in yonks (last fortnight's Rings of Akhaten), that's some turnaround in ability. He actually wrote this episode first, and it was on the strength of this that he was commissioned to write another, and it's easy to see why.
It's billed as A Scary One, and it properly is. No blood or guts or gore, but I'm not convinced this is only a PG (as recently passed by the BBFC). That monster was freaky! And even worse were those photos of the ghost... Shuddertastic. Scares aside, there was a solid story, dispensing with the all-too-repetitive "save the entire world!" palaver we've been getting too much of, really. Instead we had a mystery, which was investigated, and which produced a moderately original solution. Plus all the Clara vs TARDIS stuff was finally made more explicit, amongst an array of other character bits that were never too heavy-handed.
A triumph, then. Hurrah! And next week's looks awesome too...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Voice UK
2x04 The Blind Auditions 4
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
DVD Extras
Teddy Bear Scuffle
A short making-of featurette on Ted that shows how they achieved one of the film's most memorable sequences (if you've seen it, you can guess which). Definitely worth a watch to see the amount of time and effort and skill that had to go in to creating such a short scene.
A short making-of featurette on Ted that shows how they achieved one of the film's most memorable sequences (if you've seen it, you can guess which). Definitely worth a watch to see the amount of time and effort and skill that had to go in to creating such a short scene.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
One new addition this week, and a couple of tweaks to bring numbers I thought were right in line with my big DVD database. No idea how they got out of sync, which always worries me.
Number of titles in collection: 1,551 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,160 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 391 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,882 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,668 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,754 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [up 3]
Plus this week it's time for a running time update, so...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
280 days, 1 hour, and 34 minutes.
(Up 21 hours and 21 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
One new addition this week, and a couple of tweaks to bring numbers I thought were right in line with my big DVD database. No idea how they got out of sync, which always worries me.
Number of titles in collection: 1,551 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,160 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 391 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,882 [up 1]
Number of films in collection: 1,668 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,754 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [up 3]
Plus this week it's time for a running time update, so...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
280 days, 1 hour, and 34 minutes.
(Up 21 hours and 21 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 19 April 2013
TV
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
3x01 (12/4/13 edition)
Clearly this went down well the first time, because this is now the third time they've done it. I guess I missed -- or, just as likely, purposefully avoided -- the second time. This was fun though.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The Graham Norton Show
13x02 (12/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Pointless Celebrities
3x05 Strictly Come Dancing Special
Veronica Mars
1x09 Drinking the Kool-Aid
3x01 (12/4/13 edition)
Clearly this went down well the first time, because this is now the third time they've done it. I guess I missed -- or, just as likely, purposefully avoided -- the second time. This was fun though.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The Graham Norton Show
13x02 (12/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Pointless Celebrities
3x05 Strictly Come Dancing Special
Veronica Mars
1x09 Drinking the Kool-Aid
Thursday, 18 April 2013
TV
Have I Got News For You
45x02 (12/4/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]
How I Met Your Mother
8x12 The Final Page Part 2
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The Matt Lucas Awards
2x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Scott & Bailey
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Veronica Mars
1x08 Like a Virgin
45x02 (12/4/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]
How I Met Your Mother
8x12 The Final Page Part 2
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The Matt Lucas Awards
2x06 Episode 6
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Scott & Bailey
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Veronica Mars
1x08 Like a Virgin
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
TV
Anna & Katy
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The Great British Sewing Bee
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
The Great British Sewing Bee
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
TV
Broadchurch
Part 7 (of 8)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Mad Men
6x03 The Collaborators
That felt more like it. (This episode is on Sky Atlantic tomorrow.)
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x04 (13/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Part 7 (of 8)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Mad Men
6x03 The Collaborators
That felt more like it. (This episode is on Sky Atlantic tomorrow.)
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x04 (13/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
DVD Extras
The Evolution of The Dinosaur Project
24-minute making-of on the Dinosaur Project BD. In some respects, it makes the film seem more impressive... which is kinda the wrong way round.
It also looks like they made a rod for their own backs by making it "found footage", which is somewhat ironic as that seems to be many people's top complaint about it. If only they just hadn't bothered...
24-minute making-of on the Dinosaur Project BD. In some respects, it makes the film seem more impressive... which is kinda the wrong way round.
It also looks like they made a rod for their own backs by making it "found footage", which is somewhat ironic as that seems to be many people's top complaint about it. If only they just hadn't bothered...
Monday, 15 April 2013
TV
Arrow
1x18 Salvation
The Good Life
3x01 The Early Birds
The Mentalist
5x17 Red, White and Blue
Can't believe it's taken them 'til season five to use that title!
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Plebs
1x04 The Herpes Cat
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Scott & Bailey
3x02 Episode 2
A very sloppy flashback episode -- hard to tell what was set in the past and what in the 'present' (which is already removed in some way thanks to that opening to episode one that ended with "eight months earlier"), and no tension because we know where it all ends up. If this had been linear and the first episode it would've been fine, but why have last week's isolated case only to jump back into the ongoing stories here? Daft.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
1x18 Salvation
The Good Life
3x01 The Early Birds
The Mentalist
5x17 Red, White and Blue
Can't believe it's taken them 'til season five to use that title!
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]
Plebs
1x04 The Herpes Cat
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Scott & Bailey
3x02 Episode 2
A very sloppy flashback episode -- hard to tell what was set in the past and what in the 'present' (which is already removed in some way thanks to that opening to episode one that ended with "eight months earlier"), and no tension because we know where it all ends up. If this had been linear and the first episode it would've been fine, but why have last week's isolated case only to jump back into the ongoing stories here? Daft.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Articles
Solo revealed as title of William Boyd James Bond book
by Simon Reynolds (from Digital Spy)
Not the most exciting title ever, but obviously I'm still looking forward to this.
You can read the full press release at The Book Bond.
by Simon Reynolds (from Digital Spy)
Not the most exciting title ever, but obviously I'm still looking forward to this.
You can read the full press release at The Book Bond.
Sunday, 14 April 2013
TV
Not Going Out
6x02 Skiing
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Veronica Mars
1x07 The Girl Next Door
6x02 Skiing
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Veronica Mars
1x07 The Girl Next Door
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