TV

Doctor Who
15x08 The Invisible Enemy Part Four
That was that, then. Not a very well-regarded story (it came 196th in DWM's recent poll) and it doesn't particularly deserve to be either. Some good bits though.

Duck Quacks Don't Echo
2x01 Episode 1

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
3x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

Doctor Who
15x07 The Invisible Enemy Part Three
Considering this was made in the mid-'70s on a BBC kids' TV budget, I thought the special effects/sets inside the Doctor's brain looked pretty good. The nucleus of the swarm -- aka the giant prawn -- was godawful, though.

The Great British Bake Off
5x05 Pies and Tarts
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Tumble
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
15x06 The Invisible Enemy Part Two
There's K9, and the miniaturisation! This isn't a very well-regarded story, and it's not all that, it's true. Has its moments though, most of them courtesy of Leela's humour.

The Musketeers
1x08 The Challenge

Two Tribes
1x11 (1/9/14 edition)
1x12 (2/9/14 edition)
[Watch episodes 11 and 12 (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
15x05 The Invisible Enemy Part One

This week's selection avoids the obvious choice of a Dalek story for something more conceptually linked: this is the story in which the Doctor is shrunk to enter his own body.

So I've read, anyway -- this is one I've not seen before (bonus!), and it doesn't happen in this episode. It's also the first story with K9... who's also not in this episode. Hey-ho.

TV

Two Tribes
1x10 (29/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Wallander [Swedish]
3x04 Saknaden (aka The Loss)

Films

The Shining (1980)
[#80 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2014 #8

this week on 100 Films

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


G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

wants to have its cake and eat it by being both a sequel and a fresh movie for newcomers. Unfortunately it doesn’t work: it feels disjointed from the first film, but there’s too much carried over for it to feel standalone.

Read more here.


Gravity (2013)

This is a survival story, predicated on two things: one, the desperate attempts of our heroine to triumph against increasingly-poor odds; and two, the spectacle of weightlessness and space. Not every movie needs a complex storyline to keep it going; not every film needs to only be about its plot.

Read more here.


Sightseers (2012)

Like The Trip, only with quaint museums instead of restaurants and murder instead of impressions, the third feature from director Ben Wheatley is succinctly described as “a black comedy”.

Read more here.


St. Trinian's: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)

Despite an occasionally slicker appearance, including some CGI-aided pirate-y flashbacks, and bigger sequences, like a commando raid on the school or a large flashmob musical number at Liverpool Street station, the whole doesn’t come together quite as well as the first movie. (Plus, the use of the term “flashmob” instantly dates it.)

Read more here.


And seven archive reviews (and one other piece) were new to the new blog...


The Brothers Bloom (2008)

From the director of the acquired taste that was Brick, The Brothers Bloom looks like it might be a little more mainstream: it’s got a lead cast who are all Oscar nominees and it has a con/heist plot — always popular — and a light tone. But while it’s not as specialised as Brick‘s near-impenetrable dialogue and considered (over-considered?) tone, it’s certainly Quirky.

Read more here.


Confetti (2006)

Largely improvised Britcom, shot in a documentary style, about three couples trying to win a most original wedding competition.

Read more here.


For All Mankind (1989)

It’s not a documentary in the sense that most people perceive the form — i.e. a highly realistic presentation of the facts — but instead something a little more interpretive, aiming to recreate the feeling and experience of travelling to the moon, not the hard facts of who went when and how it was done. As such it is both beautiful and artistic, featuring stunning photography that has been sensitively edited and scored.

Read more here.


Indy 4: Initial Thoughts

I'll post a proper review another time, but these are a quick handful of reactions having finished the film less than an hour ago. They are, as the title notes, spoiler-free.

Read more here.


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Make no mistake, Harrison Ford is still Indiana Jones. The hair may be grey, the face covered in more lines, but the attitude and humour is still there. This is an older Indy, of course... [They] could have used his age as a crutch, leaving him with some comedy running away while the much younger Mutt got stuck in; this isn't the case, and that's great.

Read more here.


In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

The telling is dominated by the words of the actual astronauts, describing their personal experiences and feelings. Rather than following a mission-by-mission chronology it mixes all their stories together, thereby telling the tale of a journey to the Moon and exploring its surface only once. It’s a neat way of editing it because it avoids repetition while also covering a variety of perspectives.

Read more here.


Paths of Glory (1957)

the film remains bleakly realistic: the depressing Old Boys’ Club-style hierarchy of the military (still all too much in effect, as series like Generation Kill reveal); the unjust unrecorded trial (an excellent courtroom sequence that can stand up to any other); through to the inescapable finale.

Read more here.


Starter for Ten (2006)

You'd assume the plot would focus on the characters' aim to win University Challenge, coupled with a woefully predictable romantic subplot; sadly, it turns out the woefully predictable romance is the main plot and the quiz only turns up now and then to lend some structure.

Read more here.


Tomorrow, it's the monthly update for August. That, and more, next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
34x02 Into the Dalek
Consensus seems to be that this was better than last week. While I didn't dislike last week, I'd agree with that. Not a classic maybe, but a very solid Dalek adventure.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Next week on Doctor Who (in my world), the 4th Doctor is shrunk and goes inside himself to battle The Invisible Enemy...

Doctor Who Extra
1x02 Into the Dalek
This was an improvement, too. More decent episode-focused detail, and the voiceover seemed to have calmed down too -- possibly as a result of all the criticism online? It's just a shame it doesn't have Confidential-style 'witty'/'clever' episode titles. I kinda miss those.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gilmore Girls
2x13 A-Tisket, A-Tasket [2nd watch]

Tumble
1x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Collection Count

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

Last-minute changes abound, as one imported Blu-ray turned up three days later than it should have, and then another turned up three days early!

Number of titles in collection: 1,692 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 489 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,219 [up 14]
Number of films in collection: 1,827 [no change]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,214 [up 37]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [up 3]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Last Leg
5x04 (22/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Two Tribes
1x08 (27/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
12x04 Robot Part Four [2nd watch]
The fact this episode is entirely made up of climax is a reminder of how sometimes (often?) classic Who was constructed as a movie split into parts. As for Robot itself, I think the first half is very good and there are excellent ideas and concepts throughout, but some of the execution (both in the writing and realisation on screen) is a let down in the latter two instalments.

Next time on Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi goes Into the Dalek...

The Musketeers
1x07 A Rebellious Woman

Two Tribes
1x09 (28/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Wrath of the Titans (2012)
[#78 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
12x03 Robot Part Three [2nd watch]
This isn't the best-regarded of Who stories, but I'd been really liking it... until this episode, when things all got a little silly. UNIT were the most ineffective military ever at stopping the villains escape: "they've gone round the corner into a van! We'll just stand here and shoot at the back of the van!"; "The truck's driving at us! We could shoot the driver, but instead let's just jump out of the way!" Ah well.

The Great British Bake Off
5x04 Desserts
Controversy in the Bake Off tent! A virtual riot on Twitter! Will our little baking show ever be the same again?!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Safe (2012)
[#77 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
12x02 Robot Part Two [2nd watch]

The Musketeers
1x06 The Exiles

Two Tribes
1x07 (26/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Kings of Summer (2013)
[#76 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
12x01 Robot Part One [2nd watch]

After the success of our 50th anniversary viewing, it's time for some more tie-in classic Who. This time, it'll be a series of four-parters, watched Monday through Thursday between Capaldi episodes, and the aim is for each to have some connection to the episode just gone by.

In this case, Moffat has referenced the Pertwee/Baker regeneration and the style of the ensuing story as being influences on Deep Breath, so it seemed an apt choice. (Stylistically, Talons of Weng-Chiang would have been closer; but a) that's a six-parter, and b) not all the ties will be so obvious.)


Ripper Street
2x08 Our Betrayal Part Two [season finale]

The would've-been-"series-finale" were it not for Amazon. S'a good show, I look forward to the next run... when it eventually arrives on the BBC. Or earlier, perhaps...


Two Tribes
1x06 (25/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
5 The Five Orange Pips

One of Doyle's favourite Holmes adventures, and one of those awarded five stars by The Pocket Essential Sherlock Holmes; also the inspiration (loosely) for The House of Fear, which I was finally writing my review for today, hence reading the story.

TV

Gilmore Girls
2x12 Richard in Stars Hollow [2nd watch]

Ripper Street
2x07 Our Betrayal Part One

Two Tribes
1x05 (22/8/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]