TV

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

Doctor Who
6x13 The Invasion Episode Three

Gareth Malone's All Star Choir
Part 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly)
Episode 1 (of 5)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
28x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

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

Doctor Who
6x12 The Invasion Episode Two

Gotham
1x04 Arkham
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Films

Flirting with Disaster (1996)
[#112 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
6x11 The Invasion Episode One
This is possibly the most blatant connection to Saturday's episode that I've done in this run of tie-in viewings, so if you don't know I'll leave you to look it up.
Also of note is that this is the first animated reconstruction of a missing episode that the DVD range ever did. I bought it on release back in 2006, to help support the notion of animating missing episodes, but this is the first time I've got round to watching it. Typical me. The animation is a little Flash-y, true, but a heckuva lot better than the mess that was The Reign of Terror.


Gilmore Girls
2x16 There's the Rub [2nd watch]


The Missing
Part 1 Eden
This was excellent. British drama often focuses on character at the expense of plot, so I was kind of expecting an hour of people moping around being miserable, but instead there was a good chunk of story, and plenty of mysteries set in motion -- which is good, because it's got to fuel another seven hours yet. If it can keep it up, it could be a future TV classic.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Woman in Green (1945)
[#111 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Arrow
3x01 The Calm

Grantchester
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
[#109 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Show Boat (1951)
[#110 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

First up this week on 100 Films in a Year, it's a new month, meaning it's time to summarise the old one.

October's update (linked below) includes not only a list of what I watched last month, but also sections on reaching #100, reaching 900 reviews, a ponder on the best fairytale-inspired films, and more!




Before that, five brand-new reviews were published this week:


Inseparable (2011)

I’m a great advocate of tonally-mismatched films. When others are moaning that there’s too much darkness mixed in with their light fluffy film, I’m the one saying, “um, guys, have you ever lived in, y’know, real life?” Which probably explains why most of the internet reacts with anything between ambivalence and hatred towards Inseparable, whereas I really enjoyed it.

Read more here.


Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King (2014)

Set sometime after the end of Iron Man 3, we catch up with ‘villain’ Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley) to see how his prison life is going. As you might imagine from the chosen lead character, it’s primarily a comedy.

Read more here.


Spanking the Monkey (1994)

Spottily entertaining, history has rendered Spanking the Monkey merely an early curio from a now-famous director.

Read more here.


The Sweeney (2012)

Despite a mediocre pedigree and TV-scale budget, this re-imagining of the iconic ’70s cop show is a solid thriller.

Read more here.


Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)

Riffing on the “evil hillbillies” horror sub-genre, a pair of simple country folk on a fishin’ holiday encounter a gang of college kids who, through a series of unfortunate coincidences, mistake them for murderous psychos — and decide to fight back.

Read more here.


Finally, six reviews were new to the new blog...


Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

You can’t help but wonder if there’s a more faithful remake to be done, but how would that sit with those who idolise Hepburn’s take on Holly Golightly? Not well, I suspect. But faithfulness aside, in the hands of director Blake Edwards any grittiness disappears in a wave of pastel-coloured humour and frivolity.

Read more here.


Brief Encounter (1945)

a very British affair — all awkwardly repressed emotions, discussion of the weather, fear of society’s opinions, stolen passionate kisses, guilt, indecision, true love and endless cups of tea.

Read more here.


Grindhouse (2007)

a double-bill of exploitation movies, more-or-less with a horror bent, with grainy, dirty, decrepit prints that are missing shots, scenes, and even whole reels, and complete with trailers for similar films and ads for local restaurants.

Read more here.


Piglet's Big Movie (2003)

Mildly amusing at times and with a positive (if predictable) message about friendship and self-worth, this would undoubtedly entertain young children — which, to be fair, is its intended audience.

Read more here.


Traffic in Souls (1913)

Silent movie about white slavery in America. You don’t expect that from a 1913 film, eh? Of course, the issue is handled in a suitable way for the period: why the women are kidnapped is never alluded to (in reality it was for prostitution) and all the Bad Men are brought to justice.

Read more here.


Witchfinder General (1968)

what’s truly horrific is how real it is. I have no idea if the torture and execution methods are historically accurate, but the opening hanging is nasty due to the woman’s distress, the later burning tortuous because we know that, at some point in history, for whatever reason, this kind of death penalty was dolled out… If it’s horrific or scary it’s down to the threat of violence, or the cynical sadism with which people are tortured, rather than gory special effects

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Doctor Who
34x11 Dark Water
I thought that was excellent, and I always love seeing the Cybermen. If it has somewhere interesting to go in Part 2, could be a really great story all round. We'll see. I imagine some hated it though, especially the big reveal, so any shot at "all-time classic" is probably blown from the get-go... barring later reassessment by those less crazed than some of Who's current 'fans'.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
7x03 Donor
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
6x22 Mixed Bag 2
There's an episode title that deserves to be used!
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Last Action Hero (1993)
[#108 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

Collection Count

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

I was expecting four titles this week; two have arrived. Could be worse -- makes a change from none. Should be three more next week now, then.

Number of titles in collection: 1,701 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,203 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 498 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,238 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,834 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,254 [up 12]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

Also, running time update:

Total running time of collection (approx.):
305 days, 7 hours, and 25 minutes.
(Up 14 hours and 22 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Doctor Who Extra
1x10 In the Forest of the Night
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Forever
1x05 The Pugilist Break

Gotham
1x03 The Balloonman
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Whose Line is it Anyway?
2x08 (5/1/90 edition) [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

TV

Doctor Who
14x16 The Face of Evil Part Four
I've greatly enjoyed this serial. It's not the best regarded (a lowly 130th on DWM's latest poll), but I'm not sure why.

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
3x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Scott & Bailey
4x08 Episode 8 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Films

Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)
[#107 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Doctor Who
14x15 The Face of Evil Part Three

The Flash
1x01 City of Heroes
A bit cheesy and predictable in places, but then Arrow took time to bed in too. Has enough promise to stick with it.

Have I Got News For You
48x04 (24/10/2014 edition; extended repeat)
[Watch the extended version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Furious 6 (2013)
[#106 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

aka Fast & Furious 6

TV

Doctor Who
14x14 The Face of Evil Part Two

Not Going Out
7x02 Christening
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Scott & Bailey
4x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

TV

The 10th Kingdom
Part 9 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Part 10 (of 10) [2nd watch]

As previously alluded, this will be 100 Films 2014 #104a.


Doctor Who
14x13 The Face of Evil Part One

This is set in a forest/jungle... and that's about the best connection to Saturday's episode that I could muster. Maybe something like The Seeds of Doom or Terror of the Vervoids would've been appropriate, but the former's a six-parter and the latter's at the heart of Trial of a Time Lord, so they're no-gos. Besides, I've never seen this one, so that's a bonus.

(Plus, if you think Steven Moffat was the first person to split a season of Who in two so the layperson might think it was a new run, you'd be wrong: when The Face of Evil began in January 1977 it was billed as a "new series" in the Radio Times thanks to a five week break from the end of the preceding serial. Considering Sarah Jane left during the last lot of episodes, and this introduces her replacement companion, perhaps that was a sound idea.)


Wallander [Swedish]
3x06 Sorgfågeln (aka The Sad Bird) [series finale]

The end! A good, if sad, finale.

TV

The 10th Kingdom
Part 7 (of 10) [2nd watch]
Part 8 (of 10) [2nd watch]

Would I Lie To You?
8x07 Episode 7
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Ten Little Indians (1965)
[#105 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]