TV

The Great British Bake Off
4x01 Cake
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Law & Order: UK
7x06 Dependent [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Veronica Mars
2x17 Plan B

Films

The Imposter (2012)
[#68 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
Read my review here.

TV

Archer
4x04 Midnight Ron
For some reason, 5USA haven't scheduled any episodes beyond this. First they dump it in the middle of the night, then they just stop after only showing five episodes? What gives, C5?!
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]


Doctor Who
6x23 The Seeds of Death Episode One

My Doctor Who 'season' (Twitter hashtag: #bbbDW50) progresses to the Second Doctor.

As I mentioned at the start, each of these stories has been chosen for a reason. My original choice for the 2nd Doctor was The Ice Warriors, because I've not seen it for years and when I last did I really enjoyed it; plus, with the Martians finally being re-introduced in the last series of nuWho, I thought it'd be nice for my co-viewer to see how they began. As originally scheduled, the DVD of said serial would've been out two days before we started viewing it (i.e. a week from today), but then I inserted the TV Movie into my plans and that got messed up. So I subbed this in -- still Ice Warriors, still well-regarded (or so I thought -- it actually only came 111th in DWM's Mighty 200), and with the added bonus of being a story I've never seen before. There'll only be three of those in this entire project.

This episode is a strong start to the serial. Hardly any of the TARDIS crew, really, but that's more than made up for by the exciting developments at T-Mat control centres on both Earth and the Moon. There's nifty-enough ways of working in big info-dumps to explain what the T-Mat is and establish the world for the workings of the plot, as well as quickly-sketched characters and conflicts. All sorts of promise there. It's underscored by Michael Ferguson's excellent direction, which even manages to keep the presence of the Ice Warriors secret (well, more-or-less) until the episode's final shot. Really looking forward to the rest of this one now.

Also of interest is that this was made at a time when space exploration was at its height -- we hadn't even landed on the Moon when this was broadcast. Yet it depicts a future where Earth has abandoned rocket travel into space and has no interest in travelling further than the Moon, and only that far because it is used to relay T-Mat signals around the planet. It's quite depressing and, the T-Mat stuff aside, all too similar to where we have ended up.


Friends
1x01 The Pilot [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Two years and one month ago, I commented that I ought to re-watch all of Friends. Well, here I go! I have no clue how many times I've seen any of the episodes -- especially the first series, which I saw multiple times back when it was the only one my sister had on video -- so expect lots of those long, vague "goodness-knows-what-th" bits.


The Last Leg
3x03 (14/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

Cowboy Bebop
1x06 Sympathy for the Devil

The Good Life
4x09 When I'm 65 [series finale]
The Good Life goes out on a high, with a Royal Command Performance in front of the Queen that also happens to be one of its best episodes.

Veronica Mars
2x16 The Rapes of Graff
aka "The One With the People From Arrested Development".

TV

Archer
4x03 Legs
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]


Doctor Who
1x11 The Rescue
And so The Daleks comes to an end, with the titular adversary defeated forever. Yep, won't be seeing them again!

All in, the premiere appearance of the Doctor's greatest foe is an adventuresome romp, but with some nice sci-fi ideas and themes laced throughout -- exactly the kind of thing Doctor Who would become best at, really. I wouldn't say it's the best story of either the First Doctor nor the Daleks, but it's a good introduction.

Next time: the Second Doctor and co face the Ice Warriors.


Top of the Lake
Part 6 No Goodbyes Thanks [final episode]
Grim and bleak as you'd expect, and equally elliptical in its answers -- sure, most of the big mysteries were covered, but not always in full, and some things were definitely open to interpretation. Which is a good thing, I suppose.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


Veronica Mars
2x15 The Quick and the Wed

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
4x04 (16/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Iconoclasts
6x03 16/8/13 edition

Miranda
1x01 Date [2nd watch]
As with episode 2 in May, I haven't actually watched this since it first aired over 3½ years ago. But I have now re-watched nearly all of the first series in the last three months, so that's nice.

Starlings
2x05 Episode Five

Veronica Mars
2x14 Versatile Toppings

Films

Iron Man 2 (2010)
[2nd watch]

Forget The Dark Knight Rises' 13 months, here's one I haven't watched for 27! But it is also one I enjoyed first time, enjoyed again now, and think some people are overly harsh on -- the Avengers stuff barely features, never mind dominates!

The third one's out on DVD/Blu-ray in three weeks (the UK details were announced today, apparently). Definitely looking forward to it.

this week on 100 Films

Two new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...


Haywire (2011)

Like ponderous arthouse fare, but also action-thrillers? Disappointed that these two passions must always be sated independently? Well recent retiree (we’ll see how long that lasts) Steven Soderbergh has come to your rescue.

Read more here.


Underworld Awakening (2012)

By taking such a bold move with the plot, the story pushes the series’ mythology in new and relatively interesting ways. It’s becoming a bit dense and fan-only (unless you let it wash over you and just enjoy the punching), but at least they’re not regurgitating the same old stuff.

Read more here.


And new to the new blog...


(500) Days of Summer (2009)

An opening voiceover warns the viewer that “this is not a love story”. Of course, it is, just one without the traditional ending. Don’t worry, no spoilers here, but I will say that romantics would do well to heed this warning anyway... viewers who are prepared for a story that rings true may well be pleasantly surprised.

Read more here.


Born Free (1966)

the true story of Joy and George Adamson, a Senior Game Warden in 1950s Kenya, who adopted three lion cubs after mistakenly killing their mother. Though they give two away to a zoo, Joy can’t bear to part with one, Elsa, and so they raise her

Read more here.


Flash Gordon (1980)

When I noticed how much I was enjoying it — about five minutes in — I began keeping my eyes open for flaws, any niggling thing that detracted from the experience Hodges created. I couldn’t find a single thing. Not one.

Read more here.


Living Free (1972)

a tale of obsession... The Adamsons devote months of their time, give up a promising career, spend all their savings, drive themselves into debt, and are nearly killed several times, all in a frequently-extreme effort to save three delinquent lion cubs who would be put down were it not for their sentimental attachment.

Read more here.


Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)

He’s put down the hound of the Baskervilles; silenced the voice of terror; uncovered the secret weapon; had, um, some other adventures; and, uh, been to Washington… but now, Sherlock Holmes faces death! Not a man in a black robe with a scythe, just, y’know, the threat. Of dying. Except there’s no threat, really. I suppose Sherlock Holmes Does Some Investigating With No Real Threat To Himself doesn’t sound quite as dramatic.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Once Upon a Time
2x06 Tallahassee
Oh my, that was hilarious! I don't think I've seen special effects that poor since the '90s. And the facial expression of Jorge Garcia (the giant) whenever he had to run anywhere -- "grrargh, frowny run!" This show remains my definition of "so bad it's good".

Top of the Lake
Part 5 The Dark Creator
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
2x13 Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough

Films

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
[2nd watch]

TDKR was #58 100 Films in a Year 2012, but I haven't watched it since that opening weekend 13 months ago. My (spoiler-free) initial thoughts from that day are here, while my later (shorter) 'review' is here.

Coming back to it now, I really enjoyed it again. I think its minor flaws are far outweighed by its major successes, and so many of the criticisms that are levelled at it by 'picky' viewers are actually explained either in the film or with the tiniest bit of independent thought. Also, the IMAX sequences look stunning on Blu-ray, especially around the climax.

Collection Count

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

This week, Veronica Mars adds a swathe of TV episodes, and an upgrade to The Green Death Special Edition adds one disc and two episodes (thanks to it including a Sarah Jane Adventures two-parter).

Number of titles in collection: 1,591 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,173 [up 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 418 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 3,979 [up 19]
Number of films in collection: 1,699 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,873 [up 66]
Number of short films in collection: 383 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
4x03 (9/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


Doctor Who
1x10 The Ordeal

In their review for The Television Companion (now available on the official BBC episode guide at the link above), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker assert the following:

One of the potential problems with [The Daleks] is its length. Nation had a job to sustain the action over the full seven episodes... The master-stroke was to ensure that the only way of approaching the city for a final covert attack was to do so via a lake of mutations, a pipeline going up a sheer cliff-face and a dangerous cave system, helping to ensure that the story remains watchable and interesting throughout.

These sequences are not merely padding, though; rather, they pay homage to the Jules Verne school of science-fiction storytelling... in which an arduous trek through a series of strange and hazardous environments is typically not just an interlude in the story but is the story.

Despite the story being seven episodes long, this "arduous trek" that is "not just an interlude in the story but is the story" lasts... an episode and a half. Hm. Nice concept, but there's plenty of padding-padding in The Daleks to make it a full seven episodes, not just the journey for the final attack.


Suburgatory
2x05 The Wishbone
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]


Veronica Mars
2x12 Rashard and Wallace Go to White Castle

TV

The Graham Norton Show
13x13 (28/6/13 edition)

Top of the Lake
Part 4 A Rainbow Above Us
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Cowboy Bebop
1x05 Ballad of Fallen Angels

Doctor Who
1x09 The Expedition

Top of the Lake
Part 3 The Edge of the Universe
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
2x11 Donut Run

TV

The Last Leg
3x02 (7/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Law & Order: UK
7x05 Mortal
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Doctor Who
1x08 The Ambush

Top of the Lake
Part 2 Searchers Search
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
2x10 One Angry Veronica
My DVDs finally arrived, meaning higher picture quality, end credits, and no more "previously on"s. Good thing I don't watch them too far apart!

Films

Sharknado (2013)
[#66 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Side by Side (2012)
[#67 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

TV

Family Tree
1x04 Country Life
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Veronica Mars
2x09 My Mother, the Fiend
Plus the episode's alternate ending, which is certainly very different!

Films

The Falcon and the Co-eds (1943)
[#65 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

It's been nearly a year since I last watched a film in the Falcon series, which I'd been getting through regularly, so it's about time that was resumed.

this week on 100 Films

This week's big news at 100 Films in a Year is that I finally got round to adding lovely header images to the various pages over there, including a particularly striking new logo on the main page. Read (and see) all about them here.


Meanwhile, business as usual, as two new reviews were published this week...


Akira (1988)

I came to Akira slightly later, and I confess I didn’t much care for it... I haven’t revisited the film for something like a decade, but always felt I should. I bought Manga’s Blu-ray release a few years ago, but it was the mention of this year being the film’s 25th anniversary that led me to finally pop it in.

Read more here.


The Pearl of Death (1944)

Holmes first rescues the priceless Borgia Pearl, but then quite spectacularly loses it. The notion of Holmes being doubted, of having to prove himself to reassert his reputation, is a good one — one recently borrowed by avowed Rathbone fans Moffat & Gatiss for their modern-day Sherlock, in fact.

Read more here.


And finally, new to the new blog...


Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

the send-up of inherently paedophilic beauty pageants at the climax [is] so hilarious it almost single-handedly pushed my mark up to a five.

Read more here.


Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)

The name’s Holmes, Sherlock Holmes, as Universal’s loose adaptations of Britain’s Greatest Detective deliver a low-key proto-Bond, 22 years before Goldfinger applied the same tricks to Britain’s Greatest Spy.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.