August 32nd on Earth (1998)
[#99 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Denis Villeneuve's debut feature.
Tuesday, 5 May 2020
Theatre
Frankenstein
This is the one directed by Danny Boyle and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, in which they alternated the roles of Frankenstein and the Creature for each performance. Both versions are available on YouTube at the moment. Consensus seems to be that the one with Miller as the Creature is better, so that's what I watched.
[Watch Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature and/or Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature (again) on YouTube.]
This is the one directed by Danny Boyle and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, in which they alternated the roles of Frankenstein and the Creature for each performance. Both versions are available on YouTube at the moment. Consensus seems to be that the one with Miller as the Creature is better, so that's what I watched.
[Watch Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature and/or Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature (again) on YouTube.]
Monday, 4 May 2020
TV
The Twilight Zone
3x29 Four O'Clock
5x18 Black Leather Jackets
More of the series' worst episodes, which I'll be reviewing in 100 Films' next TV column.
3x29 Four O'Clock
5x18 Black Leather Jackets
More of the series' worst episodes, which I'll be reviewing in 100 Films' next TV column.
Films
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
[#98 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The Green Hornet 3D (2011)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #19. First time in 3D, which was pretty good overall, especially bearing in mind this was a relatively early post-conversion.
[#98 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The Green Hornet 3D (2011)
[2nd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #19. First time in 3D, which was pretty good overall, especially bearing in mind this was a relatively early post-conversion.
Sunday, 3 May 2020
Films
Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
[#97 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
DC Showcase: Jonah Hex (2010)
[#96a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
[#97 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
DC Showcase: Jonah Hex (2010)
[#96a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
this week on 100 Films
It's once again time to look back over the past month at 100 Films in a Year -- and it's a record-smasher...
In other news, 2 reviews were published this week...
The Lunchbox (2013)
Zatoichi at Large (1972)
More next Sunday.
In other news, 2 reviews were published this week...
The Lunchbox (2013)
This week the world heard the sad news that the actor Irrfan Khan had passed away aged just 53. An award-winning film star in India, Khan also had a noteworthy presence as a supporting actor in Western films... I’d seen those films and noted Khan’s presence — he’s the kind of actor who turns up and elevates the film almost just by being there, bringing a depth and interest to even the smallest roles. But I’d never seen any of the many films in which he played the lead, so it seemed appropriate to turn to one of the most internationally acclaimed of his films in tribute.Read more here.
Zatoichi at Large (1972)
The 23rd film in the Zatoichi series is also the worst according to Letterboxd users, who rate it below even the ’00s spinoff, Ichi. But as with all things in this crazy, mixed-up world of ours, there are those who disagree: The Digital Bits give it a B+, which puts it in the series’ top half (to be precise, it makes it =7th, but with seven other films). You can add me to that (very short) list. It’s not an exceptional Zatoichi film by any means, but it is a middle-of-the-range entry, and a long way from the worst the series has to offer.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 2 May 2020
TV
The Twilight Zone
4x15 The Incredible World of Horace Ford
+ the audio commentary by TZ expert Marc Scott Zicree (who here talks a mile a minute, seeming to just pour out everything he knows and thinks) and TV writer/producer Jeff Vlaming. They’re much more fond of the episode than I was; but rather than illuminating for me what’s good about it, I felt like they were trying to make up justifications for why bits that aren’t good are good.
4x15 The Incredible World of Horace Ford
+ the audio commentary by TZ expert Marc Scott Zicree (who here talks a mile a minute, seeming to just pour out everything he knows and thinks) and TV writer/producer Jeff Vlaming. They’re much more fond of the episode than I was; but rather than illuminating for me what’s good about it, I felt like they were trying to make up justifications for why bits that aren’t good are good.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
This week's additions include another classic season of Doctor Who on Blu-ray, which replaces some of my DVDs but not all (due to missing special features, titles in box sets, etc). At some point this series of re-releases is going to start including that missing stuff, and it'll swing from "upgrading fewer DVDs than it should" to "upgrading more DVDs than it should". That'll be nice. I also got the complete Samurai Jack on Blu-ray, so together they marked a big increase on the TV episode count.
Also this week: 3-for-£30 4K UHD titles, so the Ultra HD tally jumps up a bit. Two were upgrades: one from DVD (American Gangster), one from Blu-ray (Gladiator), but I'm keeping the original Blu-ray for the time being because it's in a digibook. I really ought to read that book and see if it's worth keeping...
Number of titles in collection: 2,360 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,105 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,255 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 51 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 6,117 [up 20]
Number of films: 2,764 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 8,887 [up 80]
Number of short films: 720 [up 1]
Those UHD titles also highlighted a dilemma I struggle with regularly, because both contain theatrical and extended cuts of the movie. Does that count as one film each or two? Some would say one, because the different cuts are alternatives, not different films. On the other hand, on a list of "films I have to watch" I would list both cuts, because they're different, so that count should include them, right? Often these days I side a bit more with the former, but in the past I've done the latter, and now my film count is a mess of contradicting points of view. It's finally gotten to me enough that I'm going to add a "cuts" column next to the "films" one, kind of like how Blu-ray.com will list a release as having "1 movie, 2 cuts". It'll take a lot of work (I'll have to go through all 2,360 titles and figure them out), but it might be worth it in the long run.
Of course, that still doesn't settle how I should count it for the running time -- all cuts or just one? Eesh. Oh, and what about TV shows with multiple variants of some episodes? Arrgh...
See you next week, faithful reader.
This week's additions include another classic season of Doctor Who on Blu-ray, which replaces some of my DVDs but not all (due to missing special features, titles in box sets, etc). At some point this series of re-releases is going to start including that missing stuff, and it'll swing from "upgrading fewer DVDs than it should" to "upgrading more DVDs than it should". That'll be nice. I also got the complete Samurai Jack on Blu-ray, so together they marked a big increase on the TV episode count.
Also this week: 3-for-£30 4K UHD titles, so the Ultra HD tally jumps up a bit. Two were upgrades: one from DVD (American Gangster), one from Blu-ray (Gladiator), but I'm keeping the original Blu-ray for the time being because it's in a digibook. I really ought to read that book and see if it's worth keeping...
Number of titles in collection: 2,360 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,105 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,255 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 51 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 6,117 [up 20]
Number of films: 2,764 [up 6]
Number of TV episodes: 8,887 [up 80]
Number of short films: 720 [up 1]
Those UHD titles also highlighted a dilemma I struggle with regularly, because both contain theatrical and extended cuts of the movie. Does that count as one film each or two? Some would say one, because the different cuts are alternatives, not different films. On the other hand, on a list of "films I have to watch" I would list both cuts, because they're different, so that count should include them, right? Often these days I side a bit more with the former, but in the past I've done the latter, and now my film count is a mess of contradicting points of view. It's finally gotten to me enough that I'm going to add a "cuts" column next to the "films" one, kind of like how Blu-ray.com will list a release as having "1 movie, 2 cuts". It'll take a lot of work (I'll have to go through all 2,360 titles and figure them out), but it might be worth it in the long run.
Of course, that still doesn't settle how I should count it for the running time -- all cuts or just one? Eesh. Oh, and what about TV shows with multiple variants of some episodes? Arrgh...
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 1 May 2020
Thursday, 30 April 2020
Films
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
[#96 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #18
Zatoichi in Desperation (1972)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
[#96 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
[3rd watch]
Rewatchathon 2020 #18
Zatoichi in Desperation (1972)
[#95 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Wednesday, 29 April 2020
Films
Ice Age: Continental Drift 3D (2012)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The Lunchbox (2013)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The Lunchbox (2013)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Music
Human. :II: Nature. by Nightwish
I'll always buy a new Nightwish album, though while I was waiting for this one to turn up (it took 10 days longer than it should've thanks to current events) I looked back at their last one and realised I'd only listened to it once in the five years since it came out (not logged on here, for some reason). I listened to it again and, frankly, could see why (though there are some tracks I like).
This new one is a double album, with CD1 containing nine tracks and CD2 a 31-minute track split into eight sections -- so very Nightwish (it's been 20 years since they released a studio album without at least one song over 10 minutes, and the last one included a 24-minute piece). Anyway, it made for amiable enough background music, but not much jumped out at me. I'll have to listen to it again -- I'll try not to wait five years this time.
I'll always buy a new Nightwish album, though while I was waiting for this one to turn up (it took 10 days longer than it should've thanks to current events) I looked back at their last one and realised I'd only listened to it once in the five years since it came out (not logged on here, for some reason). I listened to it again and, frankly, could see why (though there are some tracks I like).
This new one is a double album, with CD1 containing nine tracks and CD2 a 31-minute track split into eight sections -- so very Nightwish (it's been 20 years since they released a studio album without at least one song over 10 minutes, and the last one included a 24-minute piece). Anyway, it made for amiable enough background music, but not much jumped out at me. I'll have to listen to it again -- I'll try not to wait five years this time.
Monday, 27 April 2020
Films
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Ready or Not (2019)
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Ready or Not (2019)
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
Sunday, 26 April 2020
Films
The Escape (2016)
[#89a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The Wedding Guest (2018)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
[#89a in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
The Wedding Guest (2018)
[#89 in 100 Films in a Year 2020]
this week on 100 Films
6 new reviews were published to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...
The Elephant Man (1980)
Extraction (2020)
Men in Black: International (2019)
Review Roundup: Superman Sequels
More next Sunday.
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Elephant Man is sometimes placed alongside Dune and The Straight Story as anomalies in Lynch’s filmography, which is more often characterised for its horror-inducing oddness and sometimes-incomprehensible plotting. Of course, upon proper examination, all three of these movies exhibit Lynchian touches, perhaps none more so than The Elephant Man. It’s there in the avant-garde opening; the dream sequence; the sound design, for which he’s co-credited; the focus on industrial machinery. The film can certainly be read as a Victorian melodrama, but in execution it’s far from a Merchant Ivory movie.Read more here.
Extraction (2020)
the action sequences are great, more than making up for the lightweight plot mechanics. Letting stunt coordinators move into full-on directing has been the saviour of the action movie genre in recent years, working wonders for the John Wick series in particular... Hargrave is the latest to suggest he might have a bright career ahead of him on the basis of his ability to stage electrifyingly choreographed combat scenes.Read more here.
Men in Black: International (2019)
It’s not that the movie is bad per se, it’s just mediocre; bland; uninspired. It’s devoid of wit or charm — which, considering the cast, is kind of remarkable. I mean, it’s not just Hemsworth and Thompson — two appealing, capable leads. There’s also Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson, and Rebecca Ferguson pops up (I didn’t even know she was in it ’til she did), and there’s Rafe Spall (limited by having to be a blatant red herring), and the voice of Kumail Nanjiani. Whoever’s your favourite out of that talented cast, they’re wasted.Read more here.
Review Roundup: Superman Sequels
You'll believe a franchise can die!Read more here.
Featuring:
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 25 April 2020
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