TV

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
1x02 The Second Doctor

Friends
3x20 The One with the Dollhouse [4th or so watch]

Suburgatory
2x12 Body Talk
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Was It Something I Said
1x01 Episode 1 (extended repeat)
[Watch the shorter version (again) on 4oD.]
(or be like me and Torrent the longer one...)

Films

Shanghai Knights (2003)
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

this week on 100 Films

Four new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week.

First up, a film that has its UK free-TV premiere on Channel 5 at 4:20pm this afternoon...


Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

Cloudy subverts first impressions by actually being really good. And I mean that as in “good for adults”, not just “good for kids”... The main selling point is that it’s very funny. Of course there’s the slapstick cartoon humour, which is well done, but there’s also a lot of great one-liners, random asides, and the like.

Read more here.


The Extraordinary Voyage (2011)

Documentary about the life and work of Georges Méliès, with particular attention to A Trip to the Moon, which then moves on to discuss how the hand-coloured print was rediscovered and the various attempts at restoring it.

Read more here.


The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

If you’ve seen a Zucker-Abrams-Zucker film you’ll know what you’re in for (and if you haven’t, is a sequel really the best place to start?), but the pleasing aspect is that this is as good as any. Well, not as good as any, but it’s a fine example of their style.

Read more here.


A Trip to the Moon (1902)

Of all the defining images of cinema — certainly of the silent era — the face on the Moon with a rocket in its eye must be one of the most recognised, though you have to wonder how many have actually seen Méliès’ full vision.

Read more here.


Just one review new to the new blog this week, though...


The House on 92nd Street (1945)

Here’s an unusual one from the pantheon of film noir. These days we’d probably call it a docu-drama, though thankfully there are no talking heads, but there is a factual voiceover narration. The story, we’re told, comes from the FBI’s files and is based on a real case — the original title was Now It Can Be Told and it’s “loosely based on the case of Duquesne Spy Ring headed by Frederick Joubert Duquesne and the work of real life double agent William G. Sebold.”

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Atlantis
1x04 Twist of Fate
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
3x18 The One with the Hypnosis Tape [4th or so watch]
3x19 The One with the Tiny T-Shirt [4th or so watch]

Films

Shanghai Noon (2000)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Collection Count

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

This week, the number of TV episodes in my collection shoots past 6,000. Oh dear Lordy. I wonder how many of those I've actually watched?

That same release is responsible for the short film, while the 'Final Cut' of The Wicker Man is responsible for a DVD-to-BD upgrade -- meaning changes across the board this week.

Number of titles in collection: 1,626 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 1,192 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 434 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 4,042 [up 9]
Number of films in collection: 1,727 [up 8]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,007 [up 13]
Number of short films in collection: 405 [up 1]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Doctor Who
21x24 The Twin Dilemma Part Four [season finale]

Well that's that over! The important thing here is, now I can say I've seen it.

Starting next Monday, #bbbDW50 moves on to... more Sixth Doctor. I bet you can guess which by now. It's also the phase of the project that's all neat: every story/era lasts a week. Until the modern one, which doesn't quite split as a week for RTD and a week for Moffat. But it almost does. Almost.


Friends
3x17 The One Without the Ski Trip [4th or so watch]


The Graham Norton Show
14x01 (11/10/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]


The Sarah Millican Slightly Longer Television Programme
3x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Non-Fiction

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook
Book One, Chapters 11-12

That's the end of Book One -- from here on, it's all the new material.

Glad I re-read, though: it was both interesting all over again, and surely a good primer for the conversations, topics, dare I say "storylines" that will continue into the second half.

TV

Friends
3x14 The One with Phoebe's Ex-Partner [4th or so watch]
3x15 The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break [4th or so watch]
3x16 The One with the Morning After [4th or so watch]

Mock the Week
12x12 Highlights Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Lady of Deceit (1947)
[#88 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

More commonly known as Born to Kill, but this is the UK title and what it was called on BBC Two, so I go with that. It's also a better title, if you ask me -- Born to Kill is thoroughly generic noir, while Lady of Deceit better suggests the film's themes.

It's based on a novel called Deadlier Than the Male, which is also what it was known as in Australia. Why they didn't just stick with that everywhere, goodness only knows.

TV

Doctor Who
21x23 The Twin Dilemma Part Three
It finally feels like the story is getting underway... with just one part left. Hey-ho.

Friends
3x12 The One with All the Jealousy [4th or so watch]
3x13 The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends [4th or so watch]

The Two Ronnies Spectacle
1x03 Songs & Serials [final episode]

Non-Fiction

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook
Book One, Chapters 5-10

This is bloody addictive once you get going -- I was reading on-and-off for close to four hours to get through all that (some 160 pages), but the time just evaporated. And I still had to stop myself from just plunging on.

The one bit that grates, though, is the absence of script pages. There were tonnes and tonnes -- whole drafts of whole episodes, in fact -- included in the original hardback version. Here, Davies and Cook discuss them, but (for space reasons) we're no longer privy to reading the actual scripts. And because they're mentioning the existence of the pages ("Here are some more I've written", etc) and their content ("Oh my, that turns up", etc) it really draws attention to their absence. Shame.

TV

Friends
3x11 The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister [4th or so watch]

Suburgatory
2x11 Yakult Leader
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Wrong Mans
1x03 Dead Mans
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
[#87 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Non-Fiction

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook
Book One, Chapters 3-4

TV

Castle
3x03 Under the Gun
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Cowboy Bebop
1x07 Heavy Metal Queen
1x08 Waltz for Venus
And to think, I was once worried I would finish the first half of the series long before the second box set was out -- and that was before the release date was put back to today. Still, good a time as any to resume.

Doctor Who
21x22 The Twin Dilemma Part Two
The accepted wisdom that it was a mistake to make the Doctor so unlikeable in his first outing remains true, but, nonetheless, Colin Baker's performance is the best thing here by a mile.

Friends
3x10 The One Where Rachel Quits [4th or so watch]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
27x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
1x01 The First Doctor
BBC America's 11-part Doctor Who retrospective, which has been running all year over there at a rate of one a month, finally makes it to the UK courtesy of Watch, who are airing the whole thing across six weekends. It's a bit of a beginner's guide, but that also means it serves as a pleasant-enough overview for those of us more familiar with the show's history. Plus you get to hear the thoughts of insiders like David Tennant and Steven Moffat.

Downton Abbey
4x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Friends
3x09 The One with the Football [4th or so watch]

DVD Extras

Doctor Who: The Golden Age

Short featurette on the Tenth Planet DVD (officially out tomorrow) that sets out to expose the fallacy that there was once a "golden age" of the programme. And it's quite right too. Of course different people have different favourite eras, for whatever reason, but you can't really single out a point when it was unquestionably better than at any other point.

this week on 100 Films

Firstly, allow me to point you towards the 100 Films in a Year summary of what's on TV today. They all happen to be on Channel 5, oddly.


Now then, down to regular business. Three brand-new reviews were published this week, and they were...


The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

“Old fogies go to India” is the setup of this frothy comedy-drama... But when said fogies are played by Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie and Penelope Wilton, it will surprise no one to learn there’s something here for us all.

Read more here.


The Debt (2011)

a team of Mossad agents are hailed as heroes following a high-value mission, only to face serious repercussions decades later. A cast led by Oscar winner Helen Mirren and nominees Jessica Chastain and Tom Wilkinson help affirm this as serious-minded Cold War drama

Read more here.


Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece (1961)

the first of two live-action Tintin movies made by the French in the ’60s. It seems quite a low-budget affair, but that might just be applying modern tastes to an era of more simple means. For all the flat direction and pound-store costumes, there’s still a globetrotting plot involving sunken ships, numerous chases, helicopters, and that kind of thing.

Read more here.


And there were loads new to the new blog (four today alone), as follows...


Angels & Demons (2009)

It still concerns itself with Hanks’ Langdon dashing about trying to solve insanely cryptic clues in a limited timeframe, surrounded by irritating policeman, suspicious friendly characters, and a girl who is almost pointless. However, it’s a lot less talky

Read more here.


Angels & Demons: Extended Version (2009)

the extended cut is basically the same as the theatrical version. If you enjoyed that then you might want to seek this out for your next viewing, just because why not? If you weren’t impressed before, however, there’s no special incentive to try again.

Read more here.


Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff (2010)

It’s a biography of Cardiff’s work, moving chronologically through his major contributions to cinema. The insights are numerous thanks to the number of films covered and a lot of footage from an interview with Cardiff himself.

Read more here.


Glory (1989)

it would be easy to slide into Issue of the Week melodrama in handling such a tale, but Zwick manages it without undue sentiment — there’s an appropriate realisation of the importance of events, perhaps even occasional reverence, but time is taken to show doubts and prejudices.

Read more here.


Hercules (1997)

the tale is told with surprising faithfulness. There’s still a healthy dose of anachronistic content to liven up the humour though. In fact, the sequences with Hercules’ adoring fans and merchandising empire ring even more true in this Twilight-obsessed world than they did 13 years ago.

Read more here.


Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

The first half hour is great fun, but then it gets weird, adds in hefty doses of over-complex plotting, and drags along fairly slowly until it finds an exciting climax a little late on.

Read more here.


Vantage Point (2008)

I don’t imagine you’ve missed the endless comparisons [to Rashomon] But, in fact, it’s nothing like it... There are no lies and no real misdirection; none of the characters interpret what they see, we’re just shown it from where they were standing.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Atlantis
1x03 A Boy of No Consequence
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
3x07 The One with the Race Car Bed [4th or so watch]
3x08 The One with the Giant Poking Device [4th or so watch]