Westworld
2x08 Kiksuya
Tuesday, 12 June 2018
Monday, 11 June 2018
Non-Fiction
Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who - Volume 1: 1963-1989 by Paul Kirkley
Chapters 1-2
Possibly the only book to give a comprehensive narrative history of Doctor Who's production. Each chapter takes a different Doctor's era (so this reading covers all of Hartnell and Troughton, aka the '60s), which is as good a way to break it up as any. It's written in a relatively light and lively manner, taking a gently comic tone rather than a dry and serious one, which makes it very readable. Kirkley also briefly reviews every single story as he reaches it, which is a nice touch.
Chapters 1-2
Possibly the only book to give a comprehensive narrative history of Doctor Who's production. Each chapter takes a different Doctor's era (so this reading covers all of Hartnell and Troughton, aka the '60s), which is as good a way to break it up as any. It's written in a relatively light and lively manner, taking a gently comic tone rather than a dry and serious one, which makes it very readable. Kirkley also briefly reviews every single story as he reaches it, which is a nice touch.
Sunday, 10 June 2018
this week on 100 Films
One of the greatest TV series of all time reached its end on UK TV this past week, so I brought forward 100 Films in a Year's monthly TV column to review it. That, of course, was The Americans...
As well as that, 8 brand-new film reviews were published this week...
Adventures of Zatoichi (1964)
Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
The Conversation (1974)
It (2017)
Men in Black 3 (2012)
Vehicular Review Roundup
More next Sunday.
As well as that, 8 brand-new film reviews were published this week...
Adventures of Zatoichi (1964)
Everyone else seems to rate Adventures of Zatoichi somewhat poorly... Conversely, I thought it was rather brilliant. It has a nice, clear, well-connected narrative (something I haven’t always found in previous instalments). There’s a great cast of supporting characters, lots of small roles who all make their mark... Tonally the film displays an effective mix of humour, action, drama, and emotion, making for an all-round entertainment.Read more here.
Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
In some ways it feels like a kids’ movie made for adults. Sure, it’s about cute talking animals, but a lot of the jokes are squarely aimed at knowing grown-ups, as is some of the emotional stuff, such as a scene where the Jack Russell is clearly running off to Heaven, which probably (hopefully, even) goes over younger children’s heads. As that may suggest, it’s also a very dark movie. Most of the darkness is eventually undercut, subverted, or rescued, but not always immediatelyRead more here.
The Conversation (1974)
Harry Caul is a professional eavesdropper — people pay him to record what other people are saying in private. When Coppola conceived the film, this was just an interesting world to play around in. By the time it was produced and released, Watergate had recently happened, and the film could not have been more timely. Nonetheless, the end result is not merely an espionage mystery, but also a character study about what kind of man would perform this work.Read more here.
It (2017)
Plenty of people will line up to tell you It isn’t actually all that scary, which is to watching horror movies as boasting who can eat the hottest curry is to dining. Obviously, everyone’s mileage will vary. I found some of it to be suitably unsettling and disturbing, and the “any time, any place” aspect keeps you alert and on edge. Its downside is that, for the first chunk of the movie, it just seems to be a series of unsettling scenes without much of a plot.Read more here.
Men in Black 3 (2012)
MIB2 was a kind of typical first sequel: memorable-but-small characters get massively increased roles; things are referenced just for the sake of referencing them; jokes are repeated or amped up. MIB3 is more like the typical belated sequel: it stands somewhat divorced from the first two, with the minor stuff all gone, and some more significant changes necessitated by the passing of time.Read more here.
Vehicular Review Roundup
Get in Vehicle 19 to go for a Drive with The Driver in this automobile-related review roundup.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 9 June 2018
Films
Black Panther 3D (2018)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #21. On Blu-ray, with some lovely bits of IMAX-ratio stuff.
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #21. On Blu-ray, with some lovely bits of IMAX-ratio stuff.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Two big anime box sets this week, with 15 discs, 78 episodes, and 3 movies between them... but one of those replaced a bunch of individual DVD versions, and there were a couple of other new additions too (four titles total), so the numbers are all jumbly.
Number of titles in collection: 2,115 [down 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 958 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 5,397 [no change]
Number of films: 2,360 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,046 [up 26]
Number of short films: 614 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Two big anime box sets this week, with 15 discs, 78 episodes, and 3 movies between them... but one of those replaced a bunch of individual DVD versions, and there were a couple of other new additions too (four titles total), so the numbers are all jumbly.
Number of titles in collection: 2,115 [down 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,157 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 958 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 5,397 [no change]
Number of films: 2,360 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 8,046 [up 26]
Number of short films: 614 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 8 June 2018
Wednesday, 6 June 2018
Tuesday, 5 June 2018
Monday, 4 June 2018
Sunday, 3 June 2018
Films
Superman II (1980)
[#128 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
I can't be 100% certain I've not seen this before (I liked the first Superman when I saw it as a kid, so I don't know why I wouldn't've watched the sequel), but I didn't actually remember any of it, so I'm going with a new number.
[#128 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
I can't be 100% certain I've not seen this before (I liked the first Superman when I saw it as a kid, so I don't know why I wouldn't've watched the sequel), but I didn't actually remember any of it, so I'm going with a new number.
this week on 100 Films
For the second month in a row, it was a new "best month ever" at 100 Films in a Year. Read all about that here...
Also this week, 6 brand-new reviews...
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Rocky (1976)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Review Roundup
More next Sunday.
Also this week, 6 brand-new reviews...
Deadpool 2 (2018)
I enjoyed it less than I enjoyed the first one the first time I saw it, but I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the first one the second time I saw it. To clarify: when I first watched Deadpool, I loved it... When I rewatched it two years later in preparation for the sequel, I was less bowled over. I think a lot of its initial effectiveness was due to the freshness of its whole schtick, which has naturally gone away on a rewatch... In particular, I was surprised how sparse I found the humour to be. Maybe that prepared me for this one: the gags aren’t literally non-stop — it sometimes pauses to attempt emotion or to convey plot — but when they do come they’re thick and fastRead more here.
Rocky (1976)
you might assume it’s broadly similar to the films Stallone would mostly go on to star in, but it isn’t, really. It’s the story of a smalltime coulda-been boxer left slumming it, when, through sheer luck, he gets a shot at the big leagues. Yes, it’s an underdog sports film, but it’s staged with a level of realism that such fantasies don’t normally reach for. And it’s certainly nothing like the indestructible super-action-hero of sundry later Stallone vehicles.Read more here.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
It’s a decent space adventure flick, but I was sadly a bit underwhelmed by it. Frankly, I wish I liked it more than I did. Not just because I want to like every movie, but because I feel like this should’ve been a movie I really enjoyed — a fun sci-fi/heist/Western adventure kinda deal — but I didn’t love it. I thought it was mostly kinda fine.Read more here.
Review Roundup
Featuring quick reviews of:Read more here.
The Girl on the Train
Lions for Lambs
Tea For Two
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 2 June 2018
Films
Power Rangers (2017)
[#126 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
[#127 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
[#126 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
[#127 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A bunch of titles popped through my door right at the end of the week, just in time to make the monthly running time update.
Number of titles in collection: 2,116 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,159 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 957 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 5,397 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,358 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 614 [up 3]
Total running time of collection (approx.):
396 days, 23 hours, and 58 minutes.
(Up 14 hours and 8 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
A bunch of titles popped through my door right at the end of the week, just in time to make the monthly running time update.
Number of titles in collection: 2,116 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,159 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 957 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 5,397 [up 4]
Number of films: 2,358 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 8,020 [no change]
Number of short films: 614 [up 3]
Total running time of collection (approx.):
396 days, 23 hours, and 58 minutes.
(Up 14 hours and 8 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 1 June 2018
Films
American Made (2017)
[#124 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
The Post (2017)
[#125 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
[#124 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
The Post (2017)
[#125 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
Music
Mouth Silence
Mouth Sounds
Mouth Moods
by Neil Cicierega
I discovered Neil Cicierega's mashup albums by accident about 48 hours ago, listened to a bunch of individual tracks on YouTube, and then today played through all three albums in full. Now I'm addicted. You can listen to them free here, here, and here.
Mouth Sounds
Mouth Moods
by Neil Cicierega
I discovered Neil Cicierega's mashup albums by accident about 48 hours ago, listened to a bunch of individual tracks on YouTube, and then today played through all three albums in full. Now I'm addicted. You can listen to them free here, here, and here.
Articles
Solo Theater Projection Problems Leave Fans In The Dark, Enrage Industry Veterans
by Chris O'Falt (from IndieWire)
In my review of Solo I commented on it looking too dark, and it seems I was far from alone in having this issue. This interesting piece explores how that came to be, and why it's a more widespread problem than just one film.
by Chris O'Falt (from IndieWire)
In my review of Solo I commented on it looking too dark, and it seems I was far from alone in having this issue. This interesting piece explores how that came to be, and why it's a more widespread problem than just one film.
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