Friends
1x13 The One with the Boobies [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Mock the Week
12x07 (5/9/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Vera
3x02 Poster Child
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Saturday, 7 September 2013
DVD Extras
When Worlds Collide
Not the 1951 sci-fi movie, but a 46-minute documentary on the DVD of The Happiness Patrol about Doctor Who's relationship to and depiction of political ideologies down the years. Didn't intend to watch it but got engrossed, because it's a particularly fascinating piece.
Not the 1951 sci-fi movie, but a 46-minute documentary on the DVD of The Happiness Patrol about Doctor Who's relationship to and depiction of political ideologies down the years. Didn't intend to watch it but got engrossed, because it's a particularly fascinating piece.
Articles
Grading Mojo's Summer Forecast
by Ray Subers (from Box Office Mojo)
Before the summer movie season began, BOM made predictions on how all the movies expected to gross over $100 million would fare. As well as being a summary of how good (or not) their predictions were, this also serves as a handy retrospective on how this summer panned out at the box office.
by Ray Subers (from Box Office Mojo)
Before the summer movie season began, BOM made predictions on how all the movies expected to gross over $100 million would fare. As well as being a summary of how good (or not) their predictions were, this also serves as a handy retrospective on how this summer panned out at the box office.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
At one point this week, nearly all of the statistics sat at nice rounded numbers: 1,600 titles; 1,175 DVDs; 425 BDs; 3,995 discs; even 1,705 films and 5,910 episodes of TV. Then more stuff arrived. As I promised, this week is busy.
In the end, every single number goes up; and while they're not all neatly rounded, one really is:
4,000 discs.
Wow. That's a bit... insane. While I mull over the extent of my addiction, here's the stats:
Number of titles in collection: 1,603 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,175 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 428 [up 6]
Number of discs in collection: 4,000 [up 14]
Number of films in collection: 1,710 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,921 [up 42]
Number of short films in collection: 392 [up 1]
And I haven't even mentioned that this week it's time for the monthly running time update, which has also had a helluva boost...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
287 days, 18 hours, and 53 minutes.
(Up 3 days, 17 hours, and 48 minutes from last month.)
That's the biggest increase since December 2011's post-Christmas count. Yes, 2011 -- even the December 2012 post-Christmas one wasn't so large! I probably ought to slow down...
But there's definitely more to come next week. See you then, faithful reader.
At one point this week, nearly all of the statistics sat at nice rounded numbers: 1,600 titles; 1,175 DVDs; 425 BDs; 3,995 discs; even 1,705 films and 5,910 episodes of TV. Then more stuff arrived. As I promised, this week is busy.
In the end, every single number goes up; and while they're not all neatly rounded, one really is:
4,000 discs.
Wow. That's a bit... insane. While I mull over the extent of my addiction, here's the stats:
Number of titles in collection: 1,603 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,175 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 428 [up 6]
Number of discs in collection: 4,000 [up 14]
Number of films in collection: 1,710 [up 7]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,921 [up 42]
Number of short films in collection: 392 [up 1]
And I haven't even mentioned that this week it's time for the monthly running time update, which has also had a helluva boost...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
287 days, 18 hours, and 53 minutes.
(Up 3 days, 17 hours, and 48 minutes from last month.)
That's the biggest increase since December 2011's post-Christmas count. Yes, 2011 -- even the December 2012 post-Christmas one wasn't so large! I probably ought to slow down...
But there's definitely more to come next week. See you then, faithful reader.
Friday, 6 September 2013
TV
Doctor Who
8x01 Terror of the Autons Episode One
#bbbDW50 moves on to the Third Doctor today, with the second of three stories I've never seen. It also has the distinction of being the best-regarded story I've never seen… of those three. It came 51st on DWM's Mighty 200, leaving it overall the 6th highest-rated story we'll be watching during this project.
So far we've had the Daleks and the Ice Warriors, and here we get the Autons and (in his first appearance) the Master. Not every story in this season features a well-known or returning villain, but I've done a fair job of including most of the main ones -- this is a celebration of the series' history on its golden anniversary, after all. Which others will turn up before we're done? Well, that's a surprise.
This is also the first story for Jo Grant, who of course popped up in The Sarah Jane Adventures a few years ago. Again, my choices partly keep in mind my co-viewer, often showing them the origins or earlier versions of things they'll be familiar with from the new series (and, obviously, its spin-offs).
It's a great introduction for all these new characters too, with both Jo and the Master making their mark from the off. It's a funny one to jump into from the black and white era -- when Who went colour it didn't do it by halves: this is full-on vibrant and psychedelic, from the Doctor's outfits right on down.
It's a pretty cracking tale too, as you'd expect from writer Robert Holmes, although the direction (by producer Barry Letts) is spoof-level awful. One shot in particular sees Jo's face obscured by a prop, at which point the camera slowly and 'subtly' tries to correct the angle so we can see her... except she really is badly hidden, so it keeps trying again... and again... That's on top of numerous instances of poorly-chosen close-ups (showing an actor who isn't talking, then cutting away as soon as the one you're watching begins to speak) and an over-reliance on blue screen (aka CSO), which I guess was New and Exciting at the time (there are more 'virtual sets' here than we have nowadays!)
Ah well, it's all good fun.
Friends
1x12 The One with the Dozen Lasagnas [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
The Newsroom
2x02 The Genoa Tip
I guess I'm not alone in not so much watching the story as playing "guess how it'll all go wrong!" That's what happens when you open your series with a flashforward showing that it's all going to go wrong...
8x01 Terror of the Autons Episode One
#bbbDW50 moves on to the Third Doctor today, with the second of three stories I've never seen. It also has the distinction of being the best-regarded story I've never seen… of those three. It came 51st on DWM's Mighty 200, leaving it overall the 6th highest-rated story we'll be watching during this project.
So far we've had the Daleks and the Ice Warriors, and here we get the Autons and (in his first appearance) the Master. Not every story in this season features a well-known or returning villain, but I've done a fair job of including most of the main ones -- this is a celebration of the series' history on its golden anniversary, after all. Which others will turn up before we're done? Well, that's a surprise.
This is also the first story for Jo Grant, who of course popped up in The Sarah Jane Adventures a few years ago. Again, my choices partly keep in mind my co-viewer, often showing them the origins or earlier versions of things they'll be familiar with from the new series (and, obviously, its spin-offs).
It's a great introduction for all these new characters too, with both Jo and the Master making their mark from the off. It's a funny one to jump into from the black and white era -- when Who went colour it didn't do it by halves: this is full-on vibrant and psychedelic, from the Doctor's outfits right on down.
It's a pretty cracking tale too, as you'd expect from writer Robert Holmes, although the direction (by producer Barry Letts) is spoof-level awful. One shot in particular sees Jo's face obscured by a prop, at which point the camera slowly and 'subtly' tries to correct the angle so we can see her... except she really is badly hidden, so it keeps trying again... and again... That's on top of numerous instances of poorly-chosen close-ups (showing an actor who isn't talking, then cutting away as soon as the one you're watching begins to speak) and an over-reliance on blue screen (aka CSO), which I guess was New and Exciting at the time (there are more 'virtual sets' here than we have nowadays!)
Ah well, it's all good fun.
Friends
1x12 The One with the Dozen Lasagnas [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
The Newsroom
2x02 The Genoa Tip
I guess I'm not alone in not so much watching the story as playing "guess how it'll all go wrong!" That's what happens when you open your series with a flashforward showing that it's all going to go wrong...
Thursday, 5 September 2013
TV
Friends
1x10 The One with the Monkey [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
1x11 The One with Mrs Bing [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Pointless Celebrities
4x05 (31/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
1x10 The One with the Monkey [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
1x11 The One with Mrs Bing [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Pointless Celebrities
4x05 (31/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Films
The Tempest (2010)
[#73 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
Read my review here from Friday morning. The UK TV premiere is on BBC Two at 11:05pm on Friday night.
[#73 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]
Read my review here from Friday morning. The UK TV premiere is on BBC Two at 11:05pm on Friday night.
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
TV
Doctor Who
6x28 The Seeds of Death Episode Six
The Second Doctor phase of #bbbDW50 comes to an end with the action-packed finale to the Ice Warrior's second story. The Seeds of Death suffers the same way as so many Who six-parters, from a sometimes slow and sometimes repetitive middle section, but there are great bits liberally scattered throughout and plenty of superb direction. Not one of the show's best perhaps, but a solid yarn.
Friends
1x09 The One Where Underdog Gets Away [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
A Thanksgiving Friends...
The Last Leg
3x05 (28/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Suburgatory
2x07 Krampus
...and a Christmas Suburgatory. It's all a bit prematurely festive.
That said, this is one of Suburgatory's best episodes, so that's nice.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
6x28 The Seeds of Death Episode Six
The Second Doctor phase of #bbbDW50 comes to an end with the action-packed finale to the Ice Warrior's second story. The Seeds of Death suffers the same way as so many Who six-parters, from a sometimes slow and sometimes repetitive middle section, but there are great bits liberally scattered throughout and plenty of superb direction. Not one of the show's best perhaps, but a solid yarn.
Friends
1x09 The One Where Underdog Gets Away [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
A Thanksgiving Friends...
The Last Leg
3x05 (28/8/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Suburgatory
2x07 Krampus
...and a Christmas Suburgatory. It's all a bit prematurely festive.
That said, this is one of Suburgatory's best episodes, so that's nice.
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Articles
There's No Excuse For Misogyny In Space
by Helen O'Hara (from Empire States... at Empire)
I've read a few reviews of Riddick and every single one mentions its misogyny, so it must be a pretty clear trait. Here, O'Hara expounds on it at well-argued length. Sounds like a fascinatingly dreadful film to me.
by Helen O'Hara (from Empire States... at Empire)
I've read a few reviews of Riddick and every single one mentions its misogyny, so it must be a pretty clear trait. Here, O'Hara expounds on it at well-argued length. Sounds like a fascinatingly dreadful film to me.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
TV
Friends
1x08 The One Where Nana Dies Twice [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Starlings
2x08 Episode Eight [season finale]
Weird this being over -- we took so long to watch the first series, both blurred into one that's gone on for over a year. Kinda hope there's a third run, too.
A Touch of Cloth II
2x01 Undercover Cloth Part One
I swear the first one wasn't quite so lewd. Still very funny though.
1x08 The One Where Nana Dies Twice [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Starlings
2x08 Episode Eight [season finale]
Weird this being over -- we took so long to watch the first series, both blurred into one that's gone on for over a year. Kinda hope there's a third run, too.
A Touch of Cloth II
2x01 Undercover Cloth Part One
I swear the first one wasn't quite so lewd. Still very funny though.
Articles
Game of Thrones beats Doctor Who at 2013 Hugo Awards
by Morgan Jeffery (from Digital Spy)
Who has won its Hugo category in six out of the past eight years, so it's always notable when it's beaten (last time was Dr. Horrible triumphing over Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and Turn Left).
This year it's well deserved: Blackwater is an incredible piece of television -- or anything fullstop -- while this year's selection of Who eps (Asylum of the Daleks, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen) aren't even the best the show has to offer, never mind all of TV. Nonetheless, they still finished 3rd, 2nd and 4th, respectively.
by Morgan Jeffery (from Digital Spy)
Who has won its Hugo category in six out of the past eight years, so it's always notable when it's beaten (last time was Dr. Horrible triumphing over Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead and Turn Left).
This year it's well deserved: Blackwater is an incredible piece of television -- or anything fullstop -- while this year's selection of Who eps (Asylum of the Daleks, The Angels Take Manhattan, The Snowmen) aren't even the best the show has to offer, never mind all of TV. Nonetheless, they still finished 3rd, 2nd and 4th, respectively.
Monday, 2 September 2013
TV
Doctor Who
6x27 The Seeds of Death Episode Five
Almost every time I see some of Doctor Who shot on film I lament that it couldn't all have been filmed that way. The stuff outside the weather station in this episode looks fantastic, which is in part because it's a great set, but also that higher-quality-ness of film. Ah well.
The Great British Bake Off
4x02 Bread
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Newsroom
2x01 First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers
Funny old show, this. Despite the criticisms and reports of extensive reshoots, it's much the same as ever.
6x27 The Seeds of Death Episode Five
Almost every time I see some of Doctor Who shot on film I lament that it couldn't all have been filmed that way. The stuff outside the weather station in this episode looks fantastic, which is in part because it's a great set, but also that higher-quality-ness of film. Ah well.
The Great British Bake Off
4x02 Bread
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Newsroom
2x01 First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers
Funny old show, this. Despite the criticisms and reports of extensive reshoots, it's much the same as ever.
Sunday, 1 September 2013
TV
Friends
1x07 The One with the Blackout [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Probably the most easily-recalled episode since the pilot, but personally I don't think it's the funniest episode thus far (despite it's rating compared to the others on TV.com, linked above), more a memorable setup. Still, at this point in its run, "lesser Friends" is a purely relative term.
Vera
3x01 Castles in the Air
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
1x07 The One with the Blackout [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Probably the most easily-recalled episode since the pilot, but personally I don't think it's the funniest episode thus far (despite it's rating compared to the others on TV.com, linked above), more a memorable setup. Still, at this point in its run, "lesser Friends" is a purely relative term.
Vera
3x01 Castles in the Air
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Saturday, 31 August 2013
TV
Friends
1x06 The One with the Butt [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Veronica Mars
2x21 Happy Go Lucky
2x22 Not Pictured [season finale]
An awful lot of plot threads to wrap up this season, especially as they resurrected a lot of those from season one too, so they did a pretty fair and thorough job across these two episodes. All set up for a fresh-start season three? We'll see...
1x06 The One with the Butt [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Veronica Mars
2x21 Happy Go Lucky
2x22 Not Pictured [season finale]
An awful lot of plot threads to wrap up this season, especially as they resurrected a lot of those from season one too, so they did a pretty fair and thorough job across these two episodes. All set up for a fresh-start season three? We'll see...
DVD Extras
Special Features on Veronica Mars: Season Two
A couple of brief featurettes, a ton of deleted scenes from across the season, and a surprisingly amusing gag reel, which is a nice change.
A couple of brief featurettes, a ton of deleted scenes from across the season, and a surprisingly amusing gag reel, which is a nice change.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Just two new titles this week, though between them they've created rises in every statistic here. With Bank Holiday and pay-day sales in the past week, there could have been a lot more here... but that's all going to turn up next week, just in time for the monthly running time update.
It would been even more if WOW HD didn't let you order stuff cheap then almost immediately turn around and say it's not in stock so your order's cancelled. Wankers.
Number of titles in collection: 1,596 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,174 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 422 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,986 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,703 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,879 [up 6]
Number of short films in collection: 391 [up 7]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Just two new titles this week, though between them they've created rises in every statistic here. With Bank Holiday and pay-day sales in the past week, there could have been a lot more here... but that's all going to turn up next week, just in time for the monthly running time update.
It would been even more if WOW HD didn't let you order stuff cheap then almost immediately turn around and say it's not in stock so your order's cancelled. Wankers.
Number of titles in collection: 1,596 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,174 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 422 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 3,986 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,703 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 5,879 [up 6]
Number of short films in collection: 391 [up 7]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 30 August 2013
TV
Doctor Who
6x26 The Seeds of Death Episode Four
Fallen a little off course due to an unexpected trip away... but only one episode behind, so hardly a problem. Aside from some silly running around (six-parters, eh?) I like this story.
Friends
1x05 The One with the East German Laundry Detergent [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Veronica Mars
2x20 Look Who's Stalking
Trip also meant a longer-than-usual break from Veronica. Only two episodes left this season and it doesn't feel like there's so few to go. I guess the final stages in the season-long mysteries will be really rattled through, then.
6x26 The Seeds of Death Episode Four
Fallen a little off course due to an unexpected trip away... but only one episode behind, so hardly a problem. Aside from some silly running around (six-parters, eh?) I like this story.
Friends
1x05 The One with the East German Laundry Detergent [goodness-knows-what-th watch]
Veronica Mars
2x20 Look Who's Stalking
Trip also meant a longer-than-usual break from Veronica. Only two episodes left this season and it doesn't feel like there's so few to go. I guess the final stages in the season-long mysteries will be really rattled through, then.
Thursday, 29 August 2013
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