Wednesday, 4 April 2018

Tuesday, 3 April 2018

Sunday, 1 April 2018

TV

dinnerladies diaries
Part 3 Final Toast

Line of Duty
4x02 Episode 2

Not Going Out
9x04 Pets
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A Series of Unfortunate Events
2x03 The Ersatz Elevator Part One
2x04 The Ersatz Elevator Part Two

this week on 100 Films

It's the first of a new month, which means today 100 Films in a Year looks back at the last one...





Also this week, there were 6 brand-new reviews...


Bad Boys (1995)
The debut feature from director Michael Bay, Bad Boys displays a lot of the things he would become known for: fast-cut action scenes; a sense of style over substance; a little light lasciviousness… Even from his first film, some of his flourishes look over the top.
Read more here.


Bad Boys II (2003)
Probably the Michael Bay-iest Michael Bay movie that Michael Bay ever Michael Bay-d— er, made. If the first Bad Boys suggested where Bay’s style would go, Bad Boys II is him in full flow.
Read more here.


Beetlejuice (1988)
Ironically, I’d like the whole film a lot more if the title character wasn’t in it. Okay, I know not everyone’s going to feel this way — I imagine some people love him — but, for me, he’s by far the worst thing about the film. He starts off with just a couple of small appearances that are only a little irritating, but when he enters the story properly… ugh.
Read more here.


Cars 3 (2017)
Easily the best film in the Cars trilogy... Although I wouldn’t say sports movies are my bag, I think Cars 3 probably benefits from taking a more clean approach to that genre, ditching all the spy hijinks distractions of the last one. That purity of genre keeps it straightforward and focused.
Read more here.


The Silent Child (2017)
There’s a clear social-conscience motivation behind the creation of this film, highlighted by a downbeat ending that’s well calibrated to anger you into wanting change. It’s depressing that this isn’t set 50 years ago, but is the situation today. It seems hard to believe any parents would be so horrid and low-key abusive as Libby’s, but then I bet they voted Tory, so, y’know. Even then, the cold hard stats presented at the end are sobering. The cumulative effect is powerful and worthwhile.
Read more here.


The Villainess (2017)
This isn’t one of those films that’s trailed like an action movie but, actually, only has a couple of stunts and is mostly something else. No, this really, really pays off just as a two-hour adrenaline kick; but it’s also, simultaneously, something more complicated. Put both sides together and I think there’s a good chance this will, deservedly, become regarded as a genre classic
Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Saturday, 31 March 2018

TV

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
3x15 The 9-8

Episodes
5x01 Episode 1
Almost three years since the previous season, and seven months since it was on in the US, we finally get the final episodes of Episodes.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Line of Duty
4x01 Episode 1

A Series of Unfortunate Events
2x01 The Austere Academy Part One
2x02 The Austere Academy Part Two

Collection Count

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

No new additions this week (though there's a bunch of stuff on the go-slow in the post for next time), but it's the time of the month for a running time update, so at least there's that.

Number of titles in collection: 2,090 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 1,163 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 927 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,356 [no change]
Number of films: 2,332 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 8,017 [no change]
Number of short films: 605 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
395 days, 8 hours, and 4 minutes.
(Up 11 hours and 59 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Friday, 30 March 2018

TV

Lucifer
2x09 Homewrecker

Room 101
7x08 Episode 8
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Rocky (1976)
[#57 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...? 2018 #3

The Silent Child (2017)
[#57a in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
This year's Best Live Action Short Oscar winner, which you can watch on iPlayer for the next month.

Monday, 26 March 2018

Sunday, 25 March 2018

TV

Lucifer
2x04 Lady Parts

Films

Bad Boys II (2003)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #13

Benji (2018)
[#53 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]

this week on 100 Films

Time again for my monthly TV column this week at 100 Films in a Year...





Other than that, there was just 1 brand-new review this week...


Long Way North (2015)
Regular readers may recall I ranked it among the top movies I saw last year, when I cited the “understated beauty in its deceptively simple visual style”. Indeed, the animation initially seems so plain that it feels like watching a draft animatic, but that conceals its ability to reveal subtleties when needed. In the end, the distinctive look is part of the film’s considerable charm.
Read more here.


More next Sunday.