TV

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
8x01 (9/1/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Castle
4x06 Demons

Room 101
15x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
[#4 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

We're well into the new year now, but back on Monday at 100 Films in a Year I finally wrapped up last year with my Top 10, Bottom 5, and 50 I missed from 2014 (amongst other delights).


Then, to kick off 2015 properly, the selections for my "What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" challenge were announced. Read all about it here.


Additionally, a new review was also published:


Modern Times (1936)

Charlie Chaplin satirises technology and modernisation in arguably the last film of the silent era. It actually has a synchronised soundtrack, primarily for music and effects, but also dialogue — though “we hear spoken voices only when they come from mechanical devices, a symbol of the film’s theme of technology and dehumanization.”

Read more here.


And finally, two archive reviews were brought to the new blog...


C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004)

Mockumentary about the history of America had the South won the civil war. While an intriguing idea, in practice it’s disappointing. Apparently such a victory would have led to everything the nation did since being in order to maintain slavery.

Read more here.


The Locket (1946)

a passable melodrama. We're presented with plenty of evidence that Nancy is definitely a tricksy operator, but then is the man telling the tale an unreliable narrator? I don't know if the filmmakers were even aware of such a concept. Maybe that's unkind; maybe they just didn't want him to be one; but the ending we do get is very pat, and I'm not sure it quite makes sense.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Voice UK
4x01 The Blind Auditions 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
8x09 Episode 8
(Those numbers aren't incorrect -- this happened.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
[#3 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Fiction

The Adventures of Tintin: The Crab with the Golden Claws by Hergé
[second half]

Collection Count

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

As predicted, loads more stuff this week...

Number of titles in collection: 1,728 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,207 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 521 [up 5]

Number of discs in collection: 4,318 [up 11]
Number of films in collection: 1,862 [up 9]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,464 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 441 [up 3]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Outnumbered
1x04 The Quiet Night In [3rd watch]

Fiction

The Adventures of Tintin: The Crab with the Golden Claws by Hergé
[first half]

That film adaptation I watched the other day is almost frame-for-frame faithful, while it's clear to see what Spielberg's film got from here -- it may not have retained the title or second half, but what it did use was pretty darned faithful.

TV

Castle
4x05 Eye of the Beholder

Outnumbered
1x03 The City Farm [3rd watch]

Films

Parker (2013)
[#2 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

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.