TV

Mopping up some Christmas specials I missed...

The Imitation Game
1x07 Episode 7 [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Would I Lie To You?
12x07 At Christmas
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Les Misérables
Part 2 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

this week on 100 Films

With the new year only just underway, the past week at 100 Films in a Year has been almost entirely concerned with looking back at 2018.

First, the monthly progress report for December...





Then, three posts looking back over the whole year...


My Top 5 Most-Read New Posts in 2018

Last year, my top five most-viewed new posts were dominated by TV reviews, with no film getting a look in... This year, one film did crack the top five... Nonetheless, as this is supposedly a film blog, I’m still presenting the two separate top fives: first, which five sets of TV reviews attracted the most hits; then, which five film reviews were most visited.

Read more here.


2018: The Full List

2018 was the biggest year of 100 Films ever in terms of films viewed, and by some margin: my previous highest total was 2015’s 200, but this year I made it all the way to 261. Throw in my Rewatchathon and I watched 311 feature-length films this year. This post is, as the title should suggest, a list of those.

Read more here.


2018 Statistics

For today’s portion of my review of 2018, it’s one of my personal highlights every year: the statistics! For any newcomers among you, this is where I take the 261 films I watched for the first time in 2018 and analyse them in all kinds of different ways, and compare them to previous years too. It’s exciting, I promise. (Well, it is to me.)

Read more here.


My best and worst of the year will (hopefully) follow soon. Meanwhile, in more regular business, there was my review of Christmas TV...





...and 1 new film review, too:


Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)

Primarily, I think Ab Fab: The Movie is targeted at fans of the series, and isn’t really designed to stand on its own feet as an independent movie. I’ve only seen some of the TV show, and I think that was essential to understanding who all the characters were, how they were connected, and why they behaved in certain ways. Even then, I felt like there was stuff flying over my head because I haven’t seen all of the original episodes and/or because it’s been some years since I did watch any.

Read more here.


And that's the lot! More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

Three new Blu-rays to kick off 2019, but one upgrades a pair of DVD sets, so the numbers go something like this...

Number of titles in collection: 2,179 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,143 [down 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,036 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 9 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,628 [up 6]
Number of films: 2,487 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,378 [up 50]
Number of short films: 651 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of Everything 2019
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

A Series of Unfortunate Events
3x05 The Penultimate Peril Part One
3x06 The Penultimate Peril Part Two
3x07 The End [series finale]
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 The Grand Final [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Island of Dreams
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

A Series of Unfortunate Events
3x03 The Grim Grotto Part One
3x04 The Grim Grotto Part Two
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 Semi-Final 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

A Series of Unfortunate Events
3x01 The Slippery Slope Part One
3x02 The Slippery Slope Part Two
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

The Twinstitute
1x01 Get Thin Fast
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 Semi-Final 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who
37x11 Resolution [New Year's Day special]
The first Doctor Who episode of 2019! ...and the last, with the next series announced for 2020. At least it was a really good one.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Madness Rocks Big Ben Live
Part 2 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
17x13 Christmas Special
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mrs Brown's Boys
Mammy's Motel [New Year's Day special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

New Year's Eve Fireworks
2018/2019
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 St Catherine's, Oxford v Peterhouse, Cambridge
Christmas 2018 Edinburgh University v LSE
[Watch these episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Gogglesprogs
Christmas Special 2018
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

Madness Rocks Big Ben Live
Part 1 (of 2)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Les Misérables
Part 1 (of 6)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 Sheffield University v Manchester University
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The ABC Murders
Part 1 (of 3)
Part 2 (of 3)
Part 3 (of 3)
[Watch the whole series (again) on iPlayer.]

Travel Man
8x00 96 Hours in Jordan [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

this week on 100 Films

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


Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

The latest addition to Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror universe is the kind of work that pushes at the boundaries of form and medium — and therefore is the kind of work that challenges how I count things at 100 Films. Is it a film? An episode of TV? A video game? Or is it genuinely something new? Well, it’s not really a video game — it’s not interactive enough to qualify as that. So is it a TV episode, then? It carries the Black Mirror branding, and that is a TV series. Plus it’s not a theatrical release… but then, neither are most Netflix films. It's promoted by Netflix as an “interactive film”. So, taking them at their word, I’ve decided that means it counts as a film.

Read more here.


Christine (2016)

The true, tragic story of newswoman Christine Chubbuck is told in this affecting drama. For those that don’t know, it’s the ending that is why her story is famous: Christine was the first person to commit suicide live on television. The film attempts to help us understand Christine’s life and mental state, and what led her to that moment.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

Collection Count

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

This week, it's time for the delayed running time update (as mentioned here), as well as all the whole-year stats increases. Of course, there are actually a couple of days left in 2018, and some titles that should have arrived but haven't could still turn up on Monday... but, eh, they'll just have to count towards 2019.

Number of titles in collection: 2,178 [up 3 this week; up 103 in 2018]
Of which DVDs: 1,145 [no change this week; down 21 in 2018]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,033 [up 3 this week; up 124 in 2018]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 9 [no change this week; up 9 in 2018]

Number of discs in collection: 5,622 [up 34; up 297 in 2018]
Number of films: 2,486 [up 42; up 172 in 2018]
Number of TV episodes: 8,328 [up 16; up 323 in 2018]
Number of short films: 651 [up 2; up 52 in 2018]

I don't think I've bought any short film collections this year, and yet the odd one or two here and there do mount up.

Total running time of collection (approx.):
414 days, 23 hours, and 23 minutes.
(Up 5 days, 2 hours, and 9 minutes from last month.)
(Up 21 days, 5 hours, and 43 minutes from last year.)

That's my smallest year-on-year running time increase since 2014! It's good, really, because I shouldn't buy so much stuff... but I'm gonna keep doing it!

And so, as ever, see you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Black Mirror
5x00 Bandersnatch
The interactive Black Mirror "movie", as many sites/articles are calling it. Netflix call it an "event", which feels more accurate; though they also go with "interactive film", which, y'know, is also accurate. I thought about it a lot, because it's also 'just' an episode of Black Mirror. That's how I'm listing it for now, though I have a suspicion I'll change that imminently.
But whatever you call it, I thought it was superb throughout. There's a great article on how it was made from Wired, and another interesting (and slightly less techy) piece about its creation from The Hollywood Reporter.
[Watch it (again) on Netflix.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 Exeter University v Birmingham University
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Upstart Crow
3x03 If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed? [2nd watch]
3x04 Sigh No More [2nd watch]
[Watch If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed? and Sigh No More (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #50

Articles

The BBC's crazy scheduling may have killed off the Film Show, but movie criticism is more alive than ever
by Robbie Collin (from The Telegraph)

A good article on the ignominious demise of the BBC's Film programme.

TV

Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema
1x06 Christmas [special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

A Christmas Carol (2018)
[#260 in 100 Films in a Year 2018]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2018
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 Pembroke College, Cambridge v King's College, London
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
[2nd or so watch]
Rewatchathon 2018 #49. I rewatched the first film last Christmas, and intended to get round to this sequel too. Well, it's only taken me 371 days…

TV

The Dead Room
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mrs Brown's Boys
Exotic Mammy [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

University Challenge
Christmas 2018 Westminster University v University of East Anglia
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Upstart Crow
3x07 A Crow Christmas Carol [Christmas special]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]