TV

Two Tribes
2x20 (13/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
[#36 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

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


Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

When it comes to hitman movies, I’d’ve said there’s Léon and then there’s everything else. Now, I’d happily slot Ghost Dog in that gap.

Read more here.


Machine Gun Preacher (2011)

The film on the whole is too preachy, both about Christianity and the situation in Africa. It doesn’t feel like a professional medium-budget movie made by experienced filmmakers with a name cast, but instead like one of those specialist Christian movies, Preacher(gun)manmashed together with a polemical charity documentary about Africa, and then with some Rambo action sequences grafted on for good measure.

Read more here.


Punisher: War Zone (2008)

The 2004 film of Marvel’s foremost vigilante killer was the Punisher as mainstream Hollywood PG-13 blockbuster, but this follow-up takes a different route. It’s more the grimy, low-budget, direct-to-DVD, B-movie version of the character; all action, gore, and a conscious lack of class. For some that will make the entire endeavour distasteful, but I can’t help but feel it’s a more faithful depiction of the character.

Read more here.


Ten Little Indians (1965)

one of Agatha Christie’s bleakest books, this follows the track of most adaptations and uses the upbeat ending Christie herself wrote for a stage adaptation. Apparently other changes abound, with characters and their actions updated to have a more ’60s vibe. Novel purists may wish to avoid it.

Read more here.



Plus eight archive reviews were reposted on the new blog...


Agatha (1979)

It’s easy to see the attraction of Christie’s disappearance: it’s a real-life mystery about arguably the greatest mystery author ever, with enough unusual events surrounding it to make it extra suspicious and a long enough gap for something significant to have happened. But while the idea is initially exciting, when it comes to retelling it there isn’t a great deal there

Read more here.


Clockwise (1986)

all go wrong it does, in a manner that’s rather reminiscent of Fawlty Towers — not in the sense that Cleese is repeating himself, but rather that you could replace Stimpson with Basil Fawlty and merrily carry on along much the same path; though, I hasten to add that Stimpson is not a clone of Fawlty, but he is prone to ending up in similar accident-and-misunderstanding-based farcical situations.

Read more here.


Exam (2009)

Eight young professional types go into a job exam/interview; the next hour-and-a-half is all mysteries and riddles... The film occurs in real-time (more or less) in a single room. These are two narrative tricks I always enjoy the potential of... Writer-director Stuart Hazeldine's screenplay is inventive enough to keep the story rolling throughout the entire film

Read more here.


Force of Evil (1948)

I found it dull. The romance subplot feels tacked on and implausible, the main gambling plot is often poorly explained. I never felt properly attached to any of the characters — it doesn’t help that the lead is half-villainous, but then that’s worked fine elsewhere — and as the plot rumbles confusingly on I cared less and less, which made it tough to sit through.

Read more here.


Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert [3D] (2008)

Rubbish. In almost every way possible. I could expand on that in numerous ways, but what would be the point?

Read more here. It was part of Channel 4's 3D Week, which I also posted about this week.


Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

every inch a Boy’s Own adventure, packing every facet of that genre of storytelling into its brisk running time. There’s secret bases, ray guns, giant robots, flying aircraft carriers, snow-bound Himalayan treks, creature-infested secret jungle islands, huge underground bases, space rockets, planes that are also submarines, tree bridges over impossibly deep gorges… If it’s part of the genre, it’s probably here, and all finally executed with ’00s-level special effects.

Read more here.


Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

melding several styles into a cohesive whole — mystery, rom-com, existentialism, a bit of fantasy, and those IKEA graphics from Fight Club. Some plot beats may be clichéd, but that’s almost the point; besides, there’s plenty of originality to make up for it.

Read more here.


The World of Tomorrow (1998)

Before Sky Captain, there was this: a six-minute reel, shot, edited and, er, special-effects-ed, by Conran on an amateur basis over four years, demonstrating the production techniques and storyline he had in mind for a feature-length homage / reimagining of ’40s cinema serials.

Read more here.



More next Sunday.

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x10 The Pontiac Bandit Returns
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

The Voice UK
4x12 The Quarter-Final
4x13 The Quarter-Final Result
[Watch the quarter final and the results (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Extended Edition) (2013/2014)
[#35a in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

As per last year, I'm watching the extended version of the previous film immediately before the 'new' one -- it's out on DVD/Blu-ray in the US on Tuesday (already have my copy), and in the UK on April 20th.

Collection Count

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

Two new additions, plus one switch from BD to DVD that I forgot to account for previously. It's also that time of the month: the running time update! Woo!

Number of titles in collection: 1,748 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,207 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 541 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,360 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,889 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 443 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
314 days, 18 hours, and 39 minutes.
(Up 23 hours and 26 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Gotham
1x11 Rogues' Gallery
1x12 What the Little Bird Told Him
C5 bring Gotham back with a double-bill. I did wonder why, 'til it turned out to be a two-parter.
[Watch both episodes (again) on Demand 5.]

Two Tribes
2x19 (12/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x09 The Road Trip
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Comic Relief 2015
Part 2 (of 2)
The rest.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
2x11 The Lips and Arseholes of Alan Davies [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on Dave OD.]

Comic Relief 2015
Part 1 (of 2)
The first three hours (despite what the listed running time says).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
1x14 Fallout

TV

In and Out of the Kitchen
1x01 The Diet
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Poldark
1x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Two Tribes
2x18 (11/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
[#35 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

TV

Arrow
3x13 Canaries
or, "The One Where Everyone Tells Everyone Else Everything".

Critical
1x03 Episode 3

Forever
1x12 The Wolves of Deep Brooklyn

Two Tribes
2x17 (10/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Mentalist
7x05 The Silver Briefcase
[Watch it (again) on Demand 5.]

Only Connect
Comic Relief Special: Waterbabies v Tillers
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x11 The Knockouts 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Violet & Daisy (2011)
[#34 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

this week on 100 Films

Just three brand-new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, again. They were...


The Hound of the Baskervilles (1981)

Sherlock Holmes has appeared in more films than any other fictional character... “Who’s the best?” debates usually settle around Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett and, these days, Benedict Cumberbatch, however the “Sherlockian’s Sherlock” is, believe it or not, a Russian: Vasily Livanov, who starred in five popular (in their homeland) Russian miniseries/TV movies between 1979 and 1986 that some regard as definitive adaptations. The most famous Holmes adventure of them all was the subject of the third series, a two-part feature-length adaptation.

Read more here.


Last Passenger (2013)

If you’ve ever found a late-night train commute dull, this single-location thriller may make you rethink any complaints. Half-a-dozen people travelling from London to Tunbridge Wells find their train speeding out of control. It’s up to them to discover what’s happening and how to stop it.

Read more here.


Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014)

manages the tricky feat of feeling both too rushed and too long. There’s no time for mystery or surprise as it hurtles through the plot — not that there’s too much of that, either. Half of it recycles Buzz’s arc from Toy Story 1... the other half is a villain with what I think is an original idea, but isn’t given enough time to be developed.

Read more here.


A more solid six archive reviews were reposted, however...


The Band Wagon (1953)

There are several great numbers: Astaire dancing his way around an amusement arcade; That's Entertainment, written for the film and easily demonstrating why it quickly became a standard; and a big closing dance routine... that I actually liked! It's a hard-boiled crime thriller told through the medium of dance

Read more here.


Best in Show (2000)

The script, acting and direction always err just this side of believability, meaning if you came to this cold (and managed to not recognise any actors) you might be fooled into believing it was genuine. That doesn’t mean it’s short on laughs however — quite the opposite

Read more here.


Eastern Promises (2007)

Viggo Mortensen’s Oscar-nominated performance is the focus... Apparently thoroughly immersed in the role, he gives a distinguished performance throughout and is central to what are by far the film’s most memorable moments: a nude steam baths fight, which has become justifiably infamous, and a game-changing twist

Read more here.


Jane Eyre (1944)

Despite a suitably dramatic entrance, Orson Welles’ stilted and occasionally overplayed performance, as well as a lack of chemistry with the equally weak Joan Fontaine, does nothing to liven up what is already a rather uninspired production.

Read more here.


Rock n Roll Nerd (2008)

aspiring filmmaker Rhian Skirving decided to film [her neighbour] Tim Minchin’s last ditch attempt at making it. They expected to film, at best, a small-scale suburban documentary about a wannabe failing to become a somebody, but what they wound up with was something rather different. Minchin was a hit at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, from where he was whisked off to the famous Fringe, where he had “the most successful first season of any performer in the history of Edinburgh…” Not what either of them had expected

Read more here.


Unthinkable (2010)

wholly reliant on the script and performances to draw us into its story, and its debate. The debate in question is torture, and whether it’s excusable, and under what circumstances, and how far it’s OK to go. Though it’s grafted on to a story, it’s pretty clear that screenwriters Oren Moverman and Peter Woodward are as much, if not more, concerned with the issues at play... In my opinion, it works; at least, works well enough.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

The Great Comic Relief Bake Off
2x05 An Extra Slice
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x10 The Knockouts 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
[#33 in 100 Films in a Year 2015]

Collection Count

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

Number of titles in collection: 1,747 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 1,208 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 539 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 4,357 [up 3]
Number of films in collection: 1,888 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes in collection: 6,474 [no change]
Number of short films in collection: 443 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Two Tribes
2x16 (9/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Voice UK
4x09 The Battles 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2x08 USPIS
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]

Elementary
3x11 The Illustrious Client
3x12 The One That Got Away

Two Tribes
2x15 (6/3/15 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]