TV

Not Going Out
6x06 Play
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Playhouse Presents
1x09 The Man
That was definitely among the better ones. But then, quality writer, quality cast, what do you expect?
Also, that concludes my experiences with series one of Playhouse. It was a mixed bag, which I suppose you should expect from an anthology series, though on the whole it felt like it erred towards the less-good. I've still got most of series two so far recorded, though.

Ripper Street
1x02 In My Protection
Blimey, was this really on in January?! I knew I'd left it a while, but didn't think it was that long.

Scott & Bailey
3x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

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

Would I Lie To You?
7x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Mad Men
6x06 For Immediate Release
Ooh, intriguing developments! I have a feeling it's going to go very badly in the long (or possibly short) run, though...

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Playhouse Presents
1x07 The Snipist
Taking half-an-hour to tell a story that wouldn't adequately fill a four-page Future Shock? Ugh. And I was quite looking forward to this one too.

Veronica Mars
1x19 Hot Dogs

Comics

Judge Dredd: The Dark Judges
Judge Death by John Wagner & Brian Bolland

I just got a hand-me-down Kindle, one of the black and white ones, but recent enough to read comics. So colour ones look daft, but black and white ones look rather nifty. So I got this book, cheap-like. This story -- the first ever to feature one of Dredd's most memorable nemeses -- first appeared in 2000 AD Progs 149-151 back in 1980.

TV

Vicious
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Les Misérables (2012)
[#50 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

On Dangerous Ground (1952)
[#49 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Case Histories
2x01 Started Early, Took My Dog
Considering the first series was on in 2011, I assumed they weren't bothering with more. But no, here it is! And despite now being in single 90-minute episodes instead of 120-minute two-parters, it somehow feels slow. But quite good. Though why can't someone turn the lights on for some/any/all of the interior scenes?
Though, aww, look at the cute doggie!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

The Mentalist
5x22 Red John's Rules [season finale]
So that's Arrow, Elementary and The Mentalist all down for the summer. Maybe it's time to resume Dexter...
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Collection Count

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

This one's late for the same reasons as yesterday's 100 Films update. Not too many things to add, but a few -- and a running time update to calculate too. But first, the regular stats:

Number of titles in collection: 1,564 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,162 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 402 [up 3]

Number of discs in collection: 3,907 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,680 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,761 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 380 [no change]

And the new running time is...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
281 days, 12 hours, and 7 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 10 hours, and 33 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Elementary
1x23 The Woman
1x24 Heroine [season finale]
A two-part finale, shown as a single long episode in the US but being split up over here (I think the first half is on this Tuesday). It was a little slow in places, but some fine twists that I wasn't expecting.

The Good Life
4x01 Away From It All

Have I Got News For You
45x06 (10/5/2013 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
[#48a in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
[3rd watch]

This was previously #70 in 100 Films 2011.

And now, it's almost the end of my Harry Potter re-watch! All being well, this time next week it'll be the grand finale. It's flown by.

this week on 100 Films

A busy week has delayed my regular weekend round-ups, but here's one now...

So, just one new review was published to 100 Films in a Year this week...


The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

I have much more I could have said about The Dark Knight Rises, but damn I’m fed up with still having films from 2012 on my to-do list! A fuller piece may well accompany a re-watch in the future.

Read more here.


But there were quite a few new to the new blog...


The Damned United (2009)

I have no idea if Sheen’s Clough is anything like the real man — though, based on form, I imagine he’s spot on — but it’s an outstanding performance regardless. Effortlessly charming on first encounter, [but] the cocksure and awkward-to-work-with man beneath the charismatic veneer is gradually revealed.

Read more here.


Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

a different kind of war film. While it seems to have been promoted as the story of the battle for Iwo Jima, it’s more about the experience of three men, both on the island and upon their return to America

Read more here.


Funny Face (1957)

Funny Face has Audrey Hepburn falling in love with someone old enough to be her dad. Fortunately, there’s enough other entertaining stuff going on to keep us distracted from that fact.

Read more here.


Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Companion to Flags of Our Fathers, and widely considered the better of the two, showing the same battle from the Japanese perspective.

Read more here.


Righteous Kill (2008)

It’s dull. Properly dull — not slow, not measured, not leisurely — just dull. Director Jon Avnet tries to spice things up occasionally with some swishy camerawork or editing [but] it doesn’t work; if anything, it makes it worse.

Read more here.


The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network sounds like it should be awful — Facebook: The Movie? What?! — but it’s actually brilliant.

Read more here.


Thumbsucker (2005)

It's so good that all I can remember about it is that I've seen it.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
33x14 The Name of the Doctor [season finale]

Well, that was a nice 45-minute teaser for the anniversary special!

In all seriousness though, there were some neat things in this episode, including bits that finally made it feel like part of the celebratory 50th anniversary year; but as a satisfying self-contained episode in its own right, no -- it was too embedded in resolving hanging issues from the past (not all of them that interesting; or, alternatively, not that interestingly resolved) and setting up where the series is going next.

Shame, actually, because there was room (and need?) for a calmer, more reflective, and ending-y finale, rather than another cliffhanger.

[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]



Eurovision Song Contest: Malmö 2013
[Watch it (again) soon on iPlayer.]

Articles

Why do Doctor Who fans hate Doctor Who?
by Penelope Irving (from The Black Hole Blog at Spaceforce)

I think it’s a product of the show’s longevity, its uniquely remoldable format and its status as a cultural icon. Other fandoms have deep divisions, but they are usually over specific issues. I’m not sure the phenomenon of fans who are active and committed, and who also seem to loathe the current show, exists in other fandoms.

TV

Arrow
1x23 Sacrifice [season finale]
Crikey, that was certainly Big! And it's nice to once again have a series that gets on with its stories, rather than making everything multi-year mystery that never seems to end. Some proper twists and surprises too.
(For UK-pace viewers, this is on Sky1 on Monday.)

The Graham Norton Show
13x06 (10/5/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

How I Met Your Mother
8x16 Bad Crazy
Aww, what a lovely cameo by convicted rapist and ear-biter Mike Tyson.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Django Unchained (2012)
[#48 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Ben Earl: Trick Artist
1x03 Science
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher
The Murder in Angel Lane
ITV's 2011 adaptation of the titular true-crime "non-fiction novel" went down so well that they commissioned this completely fiction follow-up, clearly designed to launch a series. It's quite good, but at the end strayed too far from real-life plausibility into pure Detective Drama territory. And it feels a bit weird to take a real person, tell a very true story about them, and then begin making stuff up under the same title.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Arrow
1x22 Darkness on the Edge of Town

The Job Lot
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x08 (11/5/13 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
1x18 Weapons of Class Destruction

Watson and Oliver
2x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer].

Music

Random Access Memories by Daft Punk

It feels like this has been trending on Twitter for ages (I think it's just "all week" -- but still, that's a long time in Twitter terms), I guess because it's streaming for free and, for some reason, out of the blue, everyone loves Daft Punk these days. The actual tweets suggested quite a mixed reception, so I caved and listened to it too, and I quite liked it.

Personal favourite track is #5, Instant Crush (starts at 22:49 on the stream), and I like the Apollo 17 quote on Contact. Plus Get Lucky really does get in your head, doesn't it.

TV

Elementary
1x22 Risk Management
That would've been a much bigger surprise if they hadn't announced the casting...

Plebs
1x05 Bananae
1x06 Saturnalia [season finale]
[Watch Bananae and Saturnalia (again) on ITV Player.]

Vicious
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player].

Would I Lie To You?
7x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Mad Men
6x05 The Flood

The Mentalist
5x21 Red and Itchy
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Not Going Out
6x05 Rachel
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
2x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

DVD Extras

Creating the World of Harry Potter
Part 7 Story

An eight-part documentary series found on the Harry Potter Ultimate Editions and in the Wizard's Collection, covering the entire making of the series in themed parts. Whereas most 'episodes' are made up of old & new interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and the like, this is just a 45-minute conversation between author J.K. Rowling and the screenwriter of 7 of the 8 movies, Steve Kloves. Very informative and enlightening it is too.