TV

Castle
4x04 Kick the Ballistics

Mapp & Lucia
1x03 Episode 3 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Room 101
15x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Crab with the Golden Claws (1947)
[#1 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

aka Le Crabe aux Pinces d'Or -- the very first Tintin film, a stop-motion animation that was only screened twice, and is now only available on DVD in France (or on the internet, of course...)

TV

Arrow
3x09 The Climb

Celebrity Mastermind
2014/2015 Episode 8 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Elementary
3x08 End of Watch

Mrs Brown's Boys
Mammy's Gamble [New Year's special]
Not sure why I watched this...
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
7x04 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Celebrity Mastermind
2014/2015 Episode 7 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mapp & Lucia
1x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Darcy Oake: Edge of Reality
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

The Last Leg
6x00 The Last Leg of the Year [2014]
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Outnumbered
1x02 The Special Bowl [3rd watch]

this week on 100 Films

You may have noticed that 2015 has begun, and so for 100 Films in a Year that means it's time to look back at 2014 through a variety of posts.

First, WordPress provide their annual summary of site statistics. Find out how many shows I could sell out at the Sydney Opera House.

Then, there's my December summary:



And now the big one: The Full List of my 2014 viewing, complete with a bunch of fun statistics and graphs. That's fun, right?


As well as all that, a total of two new reviews were published this week:


The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

The screenplay’s balance between peril and comedy is spotlessly enhanced by Spielberg's peerless direction. In a world stuffed to the gills with lesser blockbusters that palely imitate the groundwork Spielberg and co laid in the ’70s and ’80s, work like this should remind people why he’s still the master of the form.

Read more here.


The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)

Though Zatoichi is best (or quickest) defined as a series of samurai films, those taking that to mean copious swordplay will leave with their expectations unmet after this first movie. Tale is more of a dramatic piece, exploring the dilemmas faced by Zatoichi and Hirate — honour and what is right vs. money and misplaced promises

Read more here.


And finally, two further reviews were new to the new blog...


Becoming Jane (2007)

The big advantage to this being a somewhat Hollywoodised version of the story is the slew of English acting talent on display. Julie Walters, Maggie Smith and Ian Richardson are all present, in roles of varying sizes, plus the younger Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House) and Laurence Fox (son of Edward); not to mention James McAvoy, busy appearing in everything under the sun at the time.

Read more here.


Young Guns (1988)

Considering this is ‘the Brat Pack Western’, one might well expect a modernised, sanitised West; something rated PG-13. Instead the film seems to have begun life as a serious attempt at a Billy the Kid biography, right down to bloody violence that earns it an 18. This intention seems to survive — bar a music-video-styled opening, a couple of lines of dialogue, and the wailing ’80s guitar score — but how successful it was is another matter.

Read more here.


More next Sunday -- including my Top 10 of 2014!

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2014/2015 Episode 6 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mapp & Lucia
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
13x14 New Year's Eve Special [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Collection Count

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

I didn't think I'd be buying much for a little bit... and then I saw sale stuff. There'll be even more (lots more) next week.

Number of titles in collection: 1,721 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,205 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 516 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,307 [up 4]
Number of films in collection: 1,853 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,464 [up 12]
Number of short films in collection: 438 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2014
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Outnumbered
1x01 The School Run [3rd watch]
Looks like I last watched this in 2008! We got the complete DVD set for Christmas, though, so expect a complete re-run over the coming weeks/months.

TV

It'll Be Alright on the Night
(28/12/14 edition)
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Miranda
4x02 The Final Curtain [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Atlantis
2x04 The Marriage of True Minds
2x05 The Day of the Dead
Finally catching up, and these two episodes were as good as I'd heard.
[Watch The Marriage of True Minds and The Day of the Dead (again) on iPlayer.]

Castle
4x03 Head Case

On Angel Wings
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Requiem for a Dream (2000)
[#136 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2014 #12

And that's WDYMYHS completed for 2014! Hurrah!

TV

Elementary
3x07 The Adventure of the Nutmeg Concoction

The Flash
1x09 The Man in the Yellow Suit

Not Going Out
7x11 The Outtakes [special]
Some places listed the title of this bloopers special as Not Going Outtakes, which I rather liked.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Knights of Badassdom (2013)
[#135 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

TV

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death

Live at the Apollo
10x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Pointless Celebrities
6x30 Comedians
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Tale of Zatoichi (1962)
[2nd watch]

This was #92 in 100 Films 2013 -- I re-watched it before posting my review today.

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2014/2015 Episode 5 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

James May's Toy Stories
Action Man at the Speed of Sound
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Wrong Mans
2x02 Action Mans/Wise Mans [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)
[#134 in 100 Films in a Year 2014]

this week on 100 Films

Christmas is over for another year -- well, apart from all the remaining special TV entertainment, and no doubt a big pile of leftovers to eat (am I right?)

Still, technically it's over -- and that means the 100 Films in a Year 2014 Advent Calendar came to a close too. Here are its final reviews, plus one other, making five this week:


Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

the problem with Marvel’s massive shared universe (where the events of one film impact not only on future films but tie-in TV series, etc) is that, watching Cap 2 just seven months after its release, the film already feels like very old news... it now feels like watching a press conference after you’ve read a summary of the key points: there’s probably something to be gained from experiencing the whole thing, but it’s also like a slow-paced unveiling of surprises you already know.

Read more here.


Frozen (2013)

You don’t need me to tell you that Frozen is a phenomenon [but] you don’t actually have to go very far on the internet to find people baffled by its success. Plenty of people think the music is bland, the characters underdeveloped, the moral and emotional arcs not fully thought-through, the visual style a rip-off from Tangled, and more. While they do have some points, they’re also being a tad harsh.

Read more here.


Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

leaves you with an instant feeling of having seen a top-quality blockbuster, thanks to its likeable heroes, abundant humour, frequent irreverence, uncommonly colourful visual style, retro-cool soundtrack, and so forth. Unfortunately, once you dig underneath that there’s a little too much that’s rote ‘modern blockbuster’

Read more here.


John Carter (2012)

I was expecting, or perhaps hoping, to like it; to find a misunderstood old-style adventure full of entertainment value. It may be an old-style adventure, but that’s beside the point, because whatever it is, I just felt it wasn’t particularly well made: poorly constructed, weakly performed, lazily (and wrongly) assumptive of the audience’s familiarity with the material.

Read more here.


Seven Samurai (1954)

Despite its epic running time, Seven Samurai isn’t really an epic film — this isn’t the story of a war, or even a battle, but of a skirmish to defend one village. How does it merit such length, then? By going into immense detail, by having plenty of characters to fuel its narrative, and by using the time to familiarise us with these people, so that when the final fight comes, we care what happens.

Read more here.


More next Sunday -- when my year-end wrap-up posts will have started, because it'll be 2015!

TV

Celebrity Mastermind
2014/2015 Episode 4 (of 10)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
13x13 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]