TV

Gavin & Stacey
2x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]

Law & Order: UK
8x05 Customs

Films

In Your Eyes (2014)
[#42 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

You can rent this Joss Whedon-penned film on Vimeo (and any of its associated apps) for $5 (~£3). And if you do, you might get a little something in the post, too. I'd recommend it (not just for the potential for awesome free stuff.)

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine #474

After Empire's huge movie poll yesterday, today it's DWM's turn. To mark the 50th anniversary, they asked fans to rate every Doctor Who story ever (right up to Matt Smith's Christmas regeneration), and this issue is dedicated to the results (which therefore replace the previously-defintive poll held in 2009 when the series reached 200 stories).

Lots of new entries (41 full-length stories have been produced since then), lots of changes, lots of things to agree and disagree with. But I won't spoil any of that here, go buy it for yourself (which you can on iTunes as well as in print, if you're so inclined).

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x19 Tactical Village
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Gavin & Stacey
2x04 Episode 4 [2nd watch]

The Mentalist
6x20 Il Tavolo Bianco

Magazines

Empire #301

Featuring the 301 Greatest Movies of All Time, the magazine's first reader-voted poll since the renowned 500 Greatest Movies of All Time back in 2008.

As with any list of this ilk, it's chock-full of stuff to completely disagree with, including a ludicrous number of recent films (13 from last year; even two from this year). But I'm sure someone, somewhere, will think it's bang-on. Law of averages and all that...

TV

Gavin & Stacey
2x03 Episode 3 [2nd watch]

The Guess List
1x06 Episode 6 [season fins;e]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Person of Interest
2x18 All In
Oh great, HR are back. I'd completely forgotten about them, and it was blissful. Props to the show for having multiple unconnected back stories and on-going threads (like real life), and for ending them at different times and in different ways (also like real life), but this HR business is one I was glad to see the back of the first time round. Here's hoping it gets gone quickly -- and thoroughly this time.

Comics

The Bunker #1 by Joshua Hale Fialkov & Joe Infurnari

Collecting the entire (unfinished) run of the digital comic in a double-sized issue, which continues in regularly-scaled chunks (which, therefore, are half as good value, price-wise) from #2. Intriguing enough to have me on board for now, but I can't help but feel it has the potential to get irritating and go nowhere fast.


Pretty Deadly #3 by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Emma Rios

So much for "hold off on it a little" -- again, it's now four months later. Really good stuff, though.


Wolverine #1-4 by Paul Cornell & Ryan Stegman

This isn't the Wolverine #1 I read in April, nor the Wolverine #1 I read in February (should've saved this for June, eh), nor any of the Wolverine #1s published between these two. No, this is the latest Wolverine #1, from a few months ago, when writer Paul Cornell re-re-launched the title having re-launched it just 11 months previously. Got that?

Thus far, not the greatest Wolverine story ever told, but maybe it's going somewhere good... maybe...

TV

Gavin & Stacey
2x02 Episode 2 [2nd watch]


Wallander [Swedish]
3x01 Den orolige mannen (aka The Troubled Man)
[#41 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

The final series of Wallander is finally making its way to British TV, four years since the last. Hurrah! Plus, as this first feature-length episode was released in cinemas in Sweden, it counts towards 100 Films (just as three episodes from season one and one from season two did as well).

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

TV

Game of Thrones
4x06 The Laws of Gods and Men
4x07 Mockingbird

I've been trying to pace my viewing of GoT season 4 -- as you may remember, I started late, spurred on by spoilers and the attempt to avoid them; but I didn't want to catch up too fast -- how annoying would it be to watch three or four or five episodes in quick succession and then have to wait a full week between each further one?! And that worked...

...until now, because The Laws of Gods and Men -- and in particular its ending -- were so damn good that I couldn't resist ploughing straight on into last week's episode. While that didn't exactly tackle the things one might've expected it to, it had more than enough quality in its own right. GoT is always a great show, but it seems to be particularly on point this season.

So now I am at last fully caught up, and with exceptional timing: while all other TV-pace GoT fans are in the middle of a fortnight with no new episode, I'll only have a regular week-long break until the next. Huzzah!



Have I Got News For You
47x06 (9/5/2014 edition; extended repeat) [2nd watch]
I really noticed the extensions, which was nice.


Vera
4x02 Protected
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Comics

Coffin Hill
#4-6 by Caitlin Kittredge & Inaki Miranda
#7 by Caitlin Kittredge & Stephen Sadowksi

I think serialised comics should make like serialised TV shows, and come with "previously on" sections as standard. Picking this back up after four months, I really struggled to remember what was going on, and I still don't think I have it fully. OK, that's partly my fault for leaving it so long (I didn't realise it had been so long -- God, time flies), but it also means that the series didn't grip or engage me fully, so I won't bother continuing with it.

this week on 100 Films

One new review was published to 100 Films in a Year again this week...


The Wolverine: Extended Cut (2013)

refreshingly different to other superhero movies. That’s largely thanks to its Japanese setting and supporting cast... Those might sound like superficial differences, but the change of faces, scenery and culture seems to have infused the film’s attitude. Couple that with a plot that is more of a thriller than one of the usual three Superhero Movie storylines, and the end result is a moderately unique movie.

Read more here.


Plus one more new to the new blog...


A Cock and Bull Story (2005)

I forget which British paper described this as “the best film ever, ever, ever”. It may’ve been The Guardian. They’re not right, of course, but it has its moments

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Gavin & Stacey
2x01 Episode 1 [2nd watch]

How I Met Your Mother
9x16 How Your Mother Met Me
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Person of Interest
2x17 Proteus
As various series reach the end of their seasons, it's time to resume some others and, soon, start some new ones. Which is good, because there's a big pile of stuff I've had saved up for months.

Films

Punisher: War Zone (2008)
[#40 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Comics

The New 52: Futures End #0 by Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen, Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Zircher, Aaron Lopresti & Jesus Merino

Yes, that's right: DC's contribution to FCBD 2014 has four credited writers and five credited pencillers! (If you only counted eight above, you're right: Dan Jurgens has a credit for both.) And for all that, it's not a story that's piqued my interest to read the full series, which started earlier this month.

Collection Count

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

This week, a couple of new BDs push my film total over the 1,800 mark. Based on the two years that I've done "since last year" increase tallies (2013 and 2011), I'll probably cross the 2,000 mark in July 2015. Unless I finally start reducing my collection, of course...

Number of titles in collection: 1,675 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,202 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 473 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,168 [up 2]
Number of films in collection: 1,801 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,126 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 409 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Arrow
2x23 Unthinkable [season finale]
They seemed to pile everything on extra thick for the finale -- not only the epic action, but also the cheese. S'all good fun though.

Elementary
2x24 The Grand Experiment [season finale]
Pretty sure there's no experiment in this, grand or otherwise.

Episodes
3x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Gavin & Stacey
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale; 2nd watch]

Films

Doctor Who: Celebrating 50 Years of Fandom

A Kickstarted Who documentary, due for release to mark the 50th anniversary but which finally turned up in the past month or so. It's a somewhat unfocused affair, with a random grab-bag of interviewees sharing their Who-related stories.

When it does hone in on a topic, like the appeal of conventions, or the effect of the revived series, or the gender of fans, it often raises interesting ideas but then fails to explore them further. There are several almost-throwaway remarks from interviewees which have the most potential for genuine interest here, but there never followed up on. It's a shame the filmmakers didn't put that extra effort into their film's construction.

There's a good documentary to be made exploring the details of fandom -- the story of it, the whys of it, the ways in which it's changed, the good and the bad of it -- but, sadly, this only skims the surface.

If you still fancy seeing the documentary, you can buy it on DVD, Blu-ray or HD download here, or stream it for £2.49 from here.

Comics

Rocket Raccoon: Free Comic Book Day by Joe Caramagna, Adam Archer & Ty Templeton

Marvel are very obviously pitching Rocket to be the break-out star of their late summer blockbuster, Guardians of the Galaxy: there's already tonnes of merchandise announced featuring him, there's a new on-going comic coming up, and he was the star of their FCBD offering this year.

In two short 10-page tales (one a reprint), Caramagna demonstrates that it's perfectly possible to tell a decent, self-contained story -- and if he can do it in ten, why the hell can't most comic book writers do it in 20?! OK, so these are simple, fun, all-ages quickies, not the grown-up in-depth tales most comic book fans expect nowadays, but I think the point stands -- it can be done.

Articles

Edgar Wright Departs Ant-Man
by James White (from Empire)

Well here's something no one saw coming! Wright's been working on an Ant-Man movie since before the MCU began (with Iron Man in 2008), and had recently cast it and got deep into pre-production. Bet there must be a juicy behind-the-scenes story there...

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1x18 The Apartment
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Gavin & Stacey
1x04 Episode 4 [2nd watch]
1x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]