Collection Count

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

This week, it's the running time update. This should've been published last week, but I was away from home without the info with me; and there were no new additions last week, so there was nothing else to report anyway.

Number of titles in collection: 2,227 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 1,132 [up 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,095 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 26 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 5,759 [up 1]
Number of films: 2,551 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 8,427 [no change]
Number of short films: 667 [no change]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
421 days, 14 hours, and 52 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 3 hours, and 54 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

TV

Grantchester
4x04 Episode 4

Films

Devil's Cargo (1948)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Hairspray (1988)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

Hairspray (2007)
[4th watch]
Rewatchathon 2019 #20

TV

Grantchester
4x03 Episode 3
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Who Dares Wins
11x08 (30/6/18 edition)

Films

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

The Saint (2017)
[#92 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Line of Duty
5x05 Episode 5
5x06 Episode 6 [season finale]
[Watch both episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Music

Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra: Live at the Royal Albert Hall
I've owned this on Blu-ray since 2011, unwatched... and finally watched it on Amazon Prime, because that's what I had accessible at the time. Big eyeroll at myself. Anyway, it was fantastic, so I'll watch it again on Blu-ray someday.

this week on 100 Films

Just one new post this week at 100 Films in a Year, and it wasn't even about films. It's another premature TV review, primarily to cover the series finale of Game of Thrones, but with a few other things too...





More next Sunday.

TV

Grantchester
4x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on the ITV Hub.]

Line of Duty
5x03 Episode 3
5x04 Episode 4
[Watch both episodes (again) on iPlayer.]

Who Dares Wins
11x07 (26/5/18 edition)

TV

Line of Duty
5x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Who Dares Wins
12x01 (4/5/19 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Line of Duty
5x01 Episode 1
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Thronecast
8x06 The End is Coming
8x07 The Iron Throne [series finale]

The Twilight Zone
1x30 A Stop at Willoughby
3x26 Little Girl Lost

Articles

Bullock’s Last Stand: Timothy Olyphant on Deadwood: The Movie and David Milch
by Alan Sepinwall (from Rolling Stone)
If you're a fan of Deadwood, this is a must-read. Candid, honest, insightful, affectionate.

TV

The Twilight Zone
3x03 The Shelter

Films

The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

TV

Game of Thrones
8x06 The Iron Throne [series finale]

TV

Eurovision Song Contest: Tel Aviv 2019
Watched this 24 hours late, because I forgot to set it to record and iPlayer wasn't letting me "watch from start". Didn't think it was a great year, sadly -- the song quality wasn't as good as normal (yeah, I know, it's Eurovision, but even still). Some of the interval stuff was good, at least.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Cosmopolis (2012)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2019]

this week on 100 Films

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


BlacKkKlansman (2018)

“A black man infiltrates the KKK.” Sounds like the setup for a joke, doesn’t it? Or possibly some outrageous blaxploitation movie. But it’s something that actually happened... Although the premise sounds comical, the fact it’s a true story concerning an organisation as inhumane and pernicious as the KKK made me worried the film would be serious, grim, and heavy-going. In actuality, it’s lively, funny, and fast-paced.

Read more here.


Bumblebee (2018)

The “a girl and her robot” angle is what the film was sold on, combined with the ’80s setting to suggest a throwback to movies of that era. I quite like it as a concept — it’s certainly a change of pace from the increasingly overblown city-destroying world-saving antics of the earlier films — but it’s the execution that disappointed me. It takes too long to get it up and running, spinning its wheels on Charlie getting Bumblebee started, on comedic interludes with her family, on establishing a wannabe-love-interest... There’s altogether too much time spent on the military and Decepticons hunting ‘Bee, too, especially considering it amounts to little that’s meaningful.

Read more here.


The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

perhaps making the plot 50% a straightforward quest-against-time narrative and 50% impenetrable philosophy lectures wasn’t the best idea, but the action sequences are still absolutely stunning. And, actually, if you bother to engage with the film on its own level, there’s some interesting stuff here.

Read more here.


The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

I used to think Revolutions was better than Reloaded, mainly because at least it brought everything to an end and didn’t have that confusing stuff with the Architect. But reflecting on the sequels now, I have to agree with the consensus that this isn’t as good — there’s nothing that matches the highway sequence for entertainment value, and, actually, the lack of overt philosophising is almost to its detriment.

Read more here.


Upgrade (2018)

On one level, it's a straightforward sci-fi action-thriller, following the hero's investigation as it leads him to some shady figures who have near-future tech of their own, and then they fight. While that may seem simplistic, it’s full of neat little touches, particular in the action’s choreography — it almost begs a rewatch just to see everything that’s going on in the frantic fight scenes.

Read more here.


More next Sunday.

TV

Ghosts
1x04 Free Pass
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]