TV

Archer
4x11 The Papal Chase
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]


Doctor Who
The TV Movie [1st third; 5th watch]

Choices are limited when it comes to representing the Eighth Doctor as part of #bbbDW50 -- it's either this again, or a half-arsed 'animation' of Shada (that they didn't include properly on the DVD anyway, so I don't know how we'd have gone about watching it).

So it's back to the TV movie, for something like the fifth time for me and second for my viewing companion. That's not so bad: I do like it, and the last time was five years ago now. Just to mix things up, we're going to watch it as a three parter, stripped across the week as per usual. It's not the easiest thing to divide into traditionally-sized 25 minute chunks -- it might seem roughly the right length, but it depends how well-balanced you want your episodes. See, there's actually great cliffhanger points (and DVD chapter stops!) at exactly 25 and 50 minutes... but that leaves a "Part 3" that's 35 minutes long. Alternatively, using the chapter points, you can get a "1st third" that's 30 minutes (ch.1-8), with a second of 27 minutes (ch.9-14) and third of 29 minutes (ch.15-24) -- pretty equal.

(Splitting it neatly in half for two new-series-length episodes, however, is next to impossible -- there's a huge sequence right in the middle that leaves you with clearly lopsided 'halves', whether you're using chapter points or not. And that's one of the reasons we're watching it in three, not two.)

Anyway, I went for 25/25/35 -- that's the more entertaining way to split it, because it means 'Part 1' ends with the Doctor's whole "Who. Am. Iiiiaiaiaaargh?!" bit, which is quite a natural end-point, rather than a semi-decent one at the next chapter break. The TVM's biggest sin is being too old-fan friendly: if it began in San Francisco, 1999, with all the gang shootings, and a box appearing out of thin air, and a mysterious man, and a surgeon... that could all work. Instead, it begins on Skaro with a huge exposition dump, which is fine if you're a fan -- plenty of nods -- but must've been awful for total newcomers.

That aside, there's a nice vein of sly humour that would sit well in the revived series, and incredibly classy direction from Geoffrey Sax (apparently they've tried to get him on the new series several times, but he's always been in another job). With the (very good) regeneration out of the way, so a new Doctor and Master in place, the best bits are yet to come.


Friends
4x10 The One with the Girl from Poughkeepsie [4th or so watch]

DVD Extras

The Doctor's Strange love, Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the TV Movie

Featurette on the Doctor Who TV Movie Special Edition DVD, in which Who author Simon Guerrier, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures writer Joseph Lidster, and comedian Josie Long discuss why the TV Movie is actually pretty good.

Perhaps most surprising is how many similarities they draw up with the new series. This was filmed while David Tennant was still the Doctor, and I think those things are, if anything, even more pertinent after Matt Smith's incarnation.

Non-Fiction

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale - The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies & Benjamin Cook
Book Two, Chapter 22

TV

Doctor Who
33x06b The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later
This prequel-esque mini-scene was first released yonks ago, but I've finally bothered to watch it thanks to the Series 7 box set. It has more point and amusement than your average DW prequel/short/thing, at least.

Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
1x05 The Fifth Doctor

Friends
4x09 The One Where They're Going to Party! [4th or so watch]

this week on 100 Films

Lots to report this week -- it's been a very busy one on 100 Films in a Year.

Firstly, it's now November, so here's the monthly update for October. It's mainly filled with my next topic...

In honour of Halloween last Thursday, the past seven days have been the Week of the Living Dead for 100 Films. All six reviews are summarised in chronological order at that link.

...but even then that wasn't all this week, oh no. In total there were seven brand-new reviews published in the past seven days. In alphabetical order, they were:


Dawn of the Dead (1978)

The film is rich with analogy and symbolism for them that wants it; what’s kind of depressing is that so many viewers today don’t. I’m a fan of a well-constructed largely-mindless action movie as much as the next Bloke, on the right occasion, but that’s now what Romero was purporting to construct. It’s not “pretentious” to see these themes, because that’s why he made the film.

Read more here.


Day of the Dead (1985)

the darkest and most nihilistic of all Romero’s films, lacking the humour that played such a significant role in Dawn. It’s not as if Night was rolling in laughs, but... there are no villains — characters conflict, but their motives are all understandable. Day has a clear-cut villain: the base’s new commander, Captain Rhodes, a power-mad borderline-caricature of small man syndrome. This is where that B-movie thing comes in: he’s eminently quotable, but he’s also thoroughly unlikeable.

Read more here.


Diary of the Dead (2007)

a greater focus on action and gore than ever before. The first three films limit the majority of their violence to a final-act brawl... but here we’re given a smattering throughout, with no all-or-nothing finale. That’s not a bad thing, but it makes it feel more pervasive — even more so than Land, which was an action-adventure movie through and through.

Read more here.


Land of the Dead (2005)

clearly bursting with Romero’s usual socio-political analogies and commentary. There’s the rich/poor divide and the abundance of entertainment; there’s certainly some post-9/11 thoughts, and perhaps post-Katrina too; perhaps the zombies represent foreign nationals, either breaking in or kicking off a revolution; and there are freedom fighters within too, who are incarcerated and apparently tortured without trial...

Read more here.


Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies, World War Z… zombies seem to be everywhere at the minute (generally in things beginning with ‘W’, for some reason), and generating big business. But this particular subgenre began 45 years ago, in a simple black & white independent movie, made for less than 1% of Brad Pitt’s salary for World War Z.

Read more here.


Survival of the Dead (2009)

There are, unquestionably, better zombie movies written and directed by George A. Romero, but I think here he’s produced one of his most watchable; one that can be as entertaining as the others, is still at times as innovative, and does even support a deeper reading, if you’re prepared to look for it. The film not only shows us that the dead can survive, but that so should Romero’s reputation.

Read more here.


Toy Story of Terror! (2013)

a mash-up of horror-trope-spoofery and usual kids’ tale Toy Story antics, pretty much divided half-and-half around the midpoint. Which is no bad thing when it’s all so much fun. The horror movie stuff early on is a suitable tribute to the genre, packed with atmosphere. Of course it’s kid-friendly and so not really scary, but there are plenty of nice references and a solid mystery

Read more here.


And on top of all that, one review was new to the new blog...


2012 (2009)

The end of the world occurs courtesy of messy CGI. I’ve seen better graphics in current-generation computer games than some of the sequences here. And there’s too much of it. Letting Emmerich’s imagination — and budget — run rampant means there’s an assault of imagery that’s just too much for one film.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Atlantis
1x06 The Song of the Sirens
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Friends
4x08 The One with Chandler in a Box [4th or so watch]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,630 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,194 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 436 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 4,050 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,736 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,022 [up 15]
Number of short films in collection: 405 [no change]

Plus this week it's time for a running time update, so...

Total running time of collection (approx.):
291 days, 8 hours, and 11 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 10 hours, and 5 minutes from last month.)

That jump is made up from 17 films, 55 episodes of TV, and 13 shorts.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
3x05 Anatomy of a Murder
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Doctor Who
25x07 The Happiness Patrol Part Three [2nd watch]
The end of #bbbDW50's time in the classic era proper (the TV Movie gets counted as "classic Who", because obviously it's not part of modern BBC Wales-made nuWho, but it's not really classic Who, is it? It's in-between-y. But anyway.) It's a great one to end on, in my opinion, undervalued by fans thanks to some of the admittedly-somewhat-silly bits. Yet even for that, I kinda like the Kandy Man too.

Friends
4x07 The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line [4th or so watch]

The Graham Norton Show
14x03 (25/10/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Was It Something I Said
1x03 Episode 3 (extended repeat)
[Watch only the shorter version on 4oD.]

Films

Survival of the Dead (2009)
[#98 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Week of the Living Dead #6 -- the final film. Hurrah, I did it!

Now I just have to get a review up in time...

Articles

Spooks movie The Greater Good to shoot in 2014, plot details revealed
by Simon Reynolds (from Digital Spy)

Intriguing. It'd be nice if they brought back more of the series' cast beyond Harry, but then I imagine they probably want it to be standalone rather than a great big reunion just for fans.

TV

Arrow
2x02 Identity

Friends
4x06 The One with the Dirty Girl [4th or so watch]
Episodes of Friends often have three plots, to cover all of the characters. Usually you can rank them, as I expect they did in writing, in order of importance -- probably called the A plot, B plot, and C plot. And this episode is, weirdly, but most definitely, named after the C plot.

Films

Diary of the Dead (2007)
[#97 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Week of the Living Dead #5.

TV

Doctor Who
25x06 The Happiness Patrol Part Two [2nd watch]
The one with the bit where the Doctor talks some men out of shooting him, amongst other fun and frolics. I like The Happiness Patrol.

Friends
4x05 The One with Joey's New Girlfriend [4th or so watch]

Person of Interest
2x01 The Contingency
While the US are enjoying season three, Channel 5 have finally started on season two. Ah, it's like the good bad ol' days...
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

The Wrong Mans
1x05 Wanted Mans
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Films

Land of the Dead: Director's Cut (2005)
[#96 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Week of the Living Dead #4.

TV

Elementary
2x01 Step Nine
Sherlock Holmes in London? What an original idea! Good plot, though.

Friends
4x04 The One with the Ballroom Dancing [4th or so watch]

The Great British Bake Off
4x11 The Final
Despite it getting higher viewing figures than The X Factor, I've managed to go a whole week without having the Bake Off final spoiled. (It would've been simpler to watch it sooner, of course... but then, I didn't take any special measures (I just kind of forgot about it), and it still wasn't ruined, so...)
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Suburgatory
2x13 Blowtox and Burlap
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Films

Day of the Dead (1985)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Week of the Living Dead #3.

DVD Extras

For Every Dawn There is a Day Or Why George Romero Would Never Direct a Rambo Movie
by Calum Waddell

Booklet included with the UK Day of the Dead Blu-ray, which again is one long essay by Waddell. Although he valiantly defends the film, and again expands upon what it Means, there were a lot of little niggles (in his conclusion he uses the word "anecdote" instead of "antidote"!) that make it feel kind of amateurish -- or, worse, fannish.

Comics

Day of the Dead: Desertion by Stefan Hutchinson, Barry Keating & Jeff Zornow

A full-length (well, one-shot length) comic included with Arrow Video's Blu-ray of Day of the Dead. Unfortunately, it's pretty terrible. There are some neat ideas in there, which someone of Romero's ability could have explored, but here it's just rendered with ultra-violence and extreme language purely for shock factor. Plus, dialogue that no one in the world would ever actually say -- it's over-written to the point of absurdity.

TV

Arrow
2x01 City of Heroes
Ah Arrow -- it can be ever so cheesy and silly, but occasionally it's really good, and overall it's fun. Unlike the godawful Once Upon a Time, which I've finally decided to just give up on.


Doctor Who
25x05 The Happiness Patrol Part One [2nd watch]

With less than a month to go 'til the 50th anniversary special, #bbbDW50 reaches the end of the classic era proper with this Seventh Doctor story.

It's the one that exploded across the news a few years ago for being a satire on Margaret Thatcher, which was a bit baffling for Doctor Who fans: we'd always known that; why was it news? (Indeed, the autobiography which was the source for the news story had been out for a few years itself.) It's a controversial story all round, in fact: this is also the one with the Kandy Man, who is both divisive (you just know there are some fans who are going to give themselves an aneurism over a villain made from sweets) and possibly copyright-infringing (the Bertie Bassett people complained and the BBC had to promise never to bring him back).

Then there's all the stuff with indoor sets that are meant to be be outdoor streets, and the garish costumes, and painting the TARDIS pink... In DWM's Mighty 200 it came a lowly 170th, putting it in the bottom half of Sylvester McCoy stories (albeit at the top of said half).

Personally, I've always liked it. It's got a barminess undercut with a serious side that works. The guest star is Sheila Hancock, who is always magnificent. And there's that bit where the Doctor talks his way out of getting shot which is simply marvellous.

Some people dismiss the McCoy years out of hand, without even considering they might have some merit. Yes, the show had been getting steadily worse for years (while '60s and '70s stories can hold up well today, several '80s ones really, really do not), but it picked back up again towards the end. It's a shame that by then so few people cared; and even those who were watching assumed it was still all bad, and can't get over that to this day.


Friends
4x03 The One with the 'Cuffs [4th or so watch]


Have I Got News For You
46x03 (18/10/2013 edition; extended repeat)

Films

Dawn of the Dead (1978)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2013]

Week of the Living Dead #2.