TV

Castle
8x15 Fidelis Ad Mortem

The Good Place
1x13 Michael's Gambit [season finale]

TV

Detectorists
3x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Flash
4x06 When Harry Met Harry...

Insert Name Here
3x04 Paul
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Would I Lie To You?
11x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Your Name. (2016)
[#168 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

The Good Place
1x12 Mindy St. Claire

Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
6x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

TV

Arrow
6x05 Deathstroke Returns

Detectorists
3x04 Episode 4
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

For a Few Dollars More (1965)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2017 #47

This was included in my 100 Favourites series, which you can read about here.

this week on 100 Films

There were 7 brand-new reviews on 100 Films in a Year this week, with 4 of them bundled into a...


Comedy Review Roundup

Let’s have a laugh (or, perhaps, not) with… Police Academy, Black Dynamite, Four Lions, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Read more here.


Life (2017)

Playing like a cross between Gravity (a near-future thriller where space technology is almost identical to our present capabilities) and Alien (a violent alien lifeform attacks the crew of a space vessel), Life clearly aspires to be little more than a straight-up sci-fi/horror thrill ride, and on that score it’s a pretty effective piece of entertainment.

Read more here.


Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014)

As is a common fate among so many trilogy-closers, I thought Rurouni Kenshin 3 was sadly the series’ weak link. That said, it’s not a bad action movie — if you’re only in it for the swordplay then it satisfies with bells on; it’s the storyline around that is disappointing.

Read more here.


Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Film Twitter has been getting itself in a bit of a tizzy over the past couple of days about David Lynch’s return to TV [after] respected British film magazine Sight & Sound went and named Twin Peaks: The Return as the second best film of 2017... Personally, I’m not really sure where I come down on the issue. I mean, it’s definitely a TV series, isn’t it? But it’s also virtually an 18-hour movie, isn’t it? Can it be both? Why can’t it be both?

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

As promised last week, there's a whole load of stuff here -- eight additions, to be exact, with just one being a DVD-to-BD upgrade. That all makes its presence felt in the monthly running time update, too.

Number of titles in collection: 2,061 [up 7]
Of which DVDs: 1,167 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 894 [up 8]

Number of discs in collection: 5,290 [up 18]
Number of films: 2,297 [up 9]
Number of TV episodes: 7,998 [up 18]
Number of short films: 595 [up 1]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
392 days, 5 hours, and 22 minutes.
(Up 2 days, 9 hours, and 24 minutes from last month.)

That's the biggest running time increase since there were silly numbers in July.

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Castle
8x14 G.D.S.

The Flash
4x05 Girls Night Out
This is by far the lowest-rated episode of The Flash on IMDb, not just this season but ever. I didn't think it was very good, but it's not that much worse than the show's usual standard.

The Good Place
1x11 What's My Motivation

Films

Men in Black 3 (2012)
[#167 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

TV

Arrow
6x04 Reversal

Castle
8x13 And Justice for All

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

The Good Place
1x10 Chidi's Choice

Would I Lie To You?
11x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Terminator (1984)
[2nd watch]

Rewatchathon 2017 #46

TV

The Flash
4x04 Elongated Journey Into Night

Insert Name Here
3x03 Anne
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Atomic Blonde (2017)
[#166 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Films

Her (2013)
[#165 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2017 #10

And that completes WDYMYHS for 2017.

TV

The Graham Norton Show
22x09 (1/12/17 edition)
I only really watch this nowadays when I'm at my parents' and they bung it on.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Michael McIntyre's Big Show
3x01 (18/11/17 edition)
Same as above for this (as well as a few other random shows that I didn't really pay attention to).
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
[#164 in 100 Films in a Year 2017]

Despite the mixed-to-poor reviews, I rather enjoyed this. It's also now made over $210 million worldwide, nearly quadruple its budget, so I guess we'll be getting the rumoured sequel.

this week on 100 Films

I'm sure you can't have failed to notice that it's now December (nearly Christmas!), which means it was time to look back at November on 100 Films in a Year...





There were also 4 brand-new reviews published in the last week...


Rurouni Kenshin (2012)

As promised, the action sequences are excitingly staged, full of quick choreography and slick stunts. Couple their impressiveness with the large cast and varied period locations, and it gives the whole thing a glossy, big-budget feel.

Read more here.


Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (2014)

one of those sequels that benefits from the its predecessor establishing the world of the story and the characters that inhabit it, meaning it can launch off on its own grander scale. Partly we see this in a material sense: it looks even more expensive than the first one... but it’s also in the scope of the story and the way it stretches the characters, both old and new.

Read more here.


Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

It’s probably a bit too barmy — a bit too European, even — for mainstream US tastes, but there’s a lot to like here for those who are so inclined. The main selling point is the imagery. Simply put, it’s incredible. There’s so much going on, all the time. There’s background detail galore. It whizzes through worlds that could be the entire setting for some other story. There are dozens, probably hundreds, of alien species thrown around. It’s so casually inventive, as if it’s got imagination to spare. And it’s mostly vibrantly colourful too

Read more here.


Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963)

the best part of the film is the final 20 minutes, a tour de force of emotion and action that sees Ichi surrounded and, enraged into action, taking down an army that stands between him and vengeance. Said vengeance comes in the form of a one-on-one sword duel, of course. Obviously we know our hero will triumph, but it’s still a tense scene, especially as it seems to be a rare occasion when Ichi’s been out-fought. This third act elevates the whole movie

Read more here.


The third and final (so far) Rurouni Kenshin will be reviewed tomorrow, and therefore feature in next Sunday's roundup.

Collection Count

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

Just one new-release addition this week. A whole load of stuff is out on Monday, but that's all still in the post.

Number of titles in collection: 2,054 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,168 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 886 [up 1]

Number of discs in collection: 5,272 [up 2]
Number of films: 2,288 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 7,980 [no change]
Number of short films: 594 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Armchair Detectives
1x01 Watercolour Crime
I like the general concept behind this show (three contestants attempt to solve a TV-drama-style murder mystery), but being a daytime quiz show the 'drama' bits leave something to be desired. I might give it a few more episodes to see.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Bounty Hunters
1x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
I was wondering how there could be a second season of this. Turns out "by not exactly wrapping everything up" was the answer. Cheats.

The Good Place
1x09 ...Someone Like Me as a Member