The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off
2x02 Episode 2
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]
Richard Osman's House of Games
5x125 Week 21: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Friday, 27 May 2022
Games
The Curse of Monkey Island
These last two parts aren't quite as short as I thought. They're hardly full parts, really, having only a couple of scenes each, but they are pushing up that final gameplay total.
These last two parts aren't quite as short as I thought. They're hardly full parts, really, having only a couple of scenes each, but they are pushing up that final gameplay total.
Thursday, 26 May 2022
TV
Leverage
4x08 The Boiler Room Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
5x124 Week 21: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
4x08 The Boiler Room Job
Richard Osman's House of Games
5x124 Week 21: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Games
The Curse of Monkey Island
Almost at the end now, I think (I'm into Part 5, which is the penultimate one, but I think each of the last two are quite short). At just under 6 hours of playtime now, I suspect by the end it won't have taken much (if any longer) to complete than the first two.
Almost at the end now, I think (I'm into Part 5, which is the penultimate one, but I think each of the last two are quite short). At just under 6 hours of playtime now, I suspect by the end it won't have taken much (if any longer) to complete than the first two.
Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Games
The Curse of Monkey Island
Just a bit more today — up to 5 hours playtime now, and it's clear there's plenty of game left to go.
The Room Two
Gonna try not to rush through this one quite so much!
Just a bit more today — up to 5 hours playtime now, and it's clear there's plenty of game left to go.
The Room Two
Gonna try not to rush through this one quite so much!
Monday, 23 May 2022
Games
The Curse of Monkey Island
Past the combat and into Part 4 now, after another hour played. Whole new island, lots to do and explore and puzzle out next time.
The Room
Talking with someone about how much I'd been enjoying replaying Monkey Island, they recommended this iPhone game (it's available on other formats now), which it turns out is a decade old but had passed me by (like most games in the past 10 to 20 years, to be honest). So I downloaded it for the free trial, then bought the full game (only 89p), then finished it. Well, it shows how much I was enjoying it that I burned through it all so fast! Fortunately, there are sequels. They're each a little more expensive, so hopefully they'll last a little longer...
Past the combat and into Part 4 now, after another hour played. Whole new island, lots to do and explore and puzzle out next time.
The Room
Talking with someone about how much I'd been enjoying replaying Monkey Island, they recommended this iPhone game (it's available on other formats now), which it turns out is a decade old but had passed me by (like most games in the past 10 to 20 years, to be honest). So I downloaded it for the free trial, then bought the full game (only 89p), then finished it. Well, it shows how much I was enjoying it that I burned through it all so fast! Fortunately, there are sequels. They're each a little more expensive, so hopefully they'll last a little longer...
Sunday, 22 May 2022
Games
The Curse of Monkey Island
After 3½ hours total played, I'm into the ship combat / insult swordfighting section (aka Part 3).
After 3½ hours total played, I'm into the ship combat / insult swordfighting section (aka Part 3).
Saturday, 21 May 2022
TV
The 1% Club
1x03 Episode 3
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch the series (again) on the ITV Hub.]
Scouting for Toys
1x06 Meccano
[Watch the series (again) on UKTV Play.]
1x03 Episode 3
1x04 Episode 4
[Watch the series (again) on the ITV Hub.]
Scouting for Toys
1x06 Meccano
[Watch the series (again) on UKTV Play.]
Games
The Curse of Monkey Island
On to #3! The forthcoming Return will be a direct sequel to #2, so arguably I should've stopped there; but they've also said it doesn't erase #3–5 from canon, and definitely features characters and/or elements from those later sequels, so my plan is to just go ahead and play them all.
As for how long this one takes to complete (vs. the 6 hours it took me to finish each of the first two this time round), the save games don't have a timer here, so I'm keeping track of it myself. Therefore, I also have no idea which percentage I've (supposedly) completed. I'm into Part Two already, though, after just over an hour playing. That said, it feels like this game has to be longer — there's lots more stuff to look at, each with its own description (rather than the generic "nice" that was trotted out so often in MI2), and tonnes of dialogue options in every conversation; plus, really lengthy cut scenes. Unless the game itself is very short (which I don't remember it being), this has to have a longer playtime. (For what it's worth, a site I found called HowLongToBeat says the first two take 6½–7½ hours, while Curse takes 8–9½, so I may well be correct.)
Big aside...
I've not included re-play counts on these (like I do for film or TV rewatches) because the first two were Special Editions and it was the first time I'd played those remakes. But also, I'm really not sure how many times I've played any of these. The first two, at least twice each before these recent plays; Curse, I really can't remember if I only ever played it once or if I went back sometime. Looking ahead, I also can't remember if I only played Escape once or more (I feel like I did replay it at some point). I only become certain with the fifth game, Tales of Monkey Island, which was released in chapters, and I clearly remember only playing Chapter One. Plus, it's archived on this blog if I had forgotten.
On to #3! The forthcoming Return will be a direct sequel to #2, so arguably I should've stopped there; but they've also said it doesn't erase #3–5 from canon, and definitely features characters and/or elements from those later sequels, so my plan is to just go ahead and play them all.
As for how long this one takes to complete (vs. the 6 hours it took me to finish each of the first two this time round), the save games don't have a timer here, so I'm keeping track of it myself. Therefore, I also have no idea which percentage I've (supposedly) completed. I'm into Part Two already, though, after just over an hour playing. That said, it feels like this game has to be longer — there's lots more stuff to look at, each with its own description (rather than the generic "nice" that was trotted out so often in MI2), and tonnes of dialogue options in every conversation; plus, really lengthy cut scenes. Unless the game itself is very short (which I don't remember it being), this has to have a longer playtime. (For what it's worth, a site I found called HowLongToBeat says the first two take 6½–7½ hours, while Curse takes 8–9½, so I may well be correct.)
Big aside...
I've not included re-play counts on these (like I do for film or TV rewatches) because the first two were Special Editions and it was the first time I'd played those remakes. But also, I'm really not sure how many times I've played any of these. The first two, at least twice each before these recent plays; Curse, I really can't remember if I only ever played it once or if I went back sometime. Looking ahead, I also can't remember if I only played Escape once or more (I feel like I did replay it at some point). I only become certain with the fifth game, Tales of Monkey Island, which was released in chapters, and I clearly remember only playing Chapter One. Plus, it's archived on this blog if I had forgotten.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
As if the 9 new titles I purchased last week, I mentioned that I had a bunch more in the post — and so, they've turned up for this week. It's not quite as many, but it makes for a big fortnight overall.
Number of titles in collection: 2,837 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,057 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,780 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 169 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,056 [up 6]
Number of films: 3,382 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 261 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,268 [no change]
Number of short films: 960 [up 2]
Now, I've got even more titles in the post... but many are coming from faraway places like Australia and the USA, so it's hard to know exactly when they'll arrive. If they all turn up in the next week (which they might, but also might not), they'll be just in time for the monthly running time update. It could be a big'un!
See you then, faithful reader.
As if the 9 new titles I purchased last week, I mentioned that I had a bunch more in the post — and so, they've turned up for this week. It's not quite as many, but it makes for a big fortnight overall.
Number of titles in collection: 2,837 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,057 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,780 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 169 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,056 [up 6]
Number of films: 3,382 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 261 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,268 [no change]
Number of short films: 960 [up 2]
Now, I've got even more titles in the post... but many are coming from faraway places like Australia and the USA, so it's hard to know exactly when they'll arrive. If they all turn up in the next week (which they might, but also might not), they'll be just in time for the monthly running time update. It could be a big'un!
See you then, faithful reader.
Friday, 20 May 2022
Thursday, 19 May 2022
Wednesday, 18 May 2022
TV
For All Mankind
1x05 Into the Abyss
Crikey: it’s over a year since I last watched an episode of this! And apparently I only watched four — I thought I’d got a bit further through than that. Thing is, I didn’t intend to stop watching, it just… happened. It’s, weirdly, a show I think is great while it’s on, but don’t feel much drive to watch in between episodes; and when there’s always so much else to watch, that can end up with it falling by the wayside. Anyway, here I am making a concerted effort to finally get on with it. I thought this was another great episode, by the way.
1x05 Into the Abyss
Crikey: it’s over a year since I last watched an episode of this! And apparently I only watched four — I thought I’d got a bit further through than that. Thing is, I didn’t intend to stop watching, it just… happened. It’s, weirdly, a show I think is great while it’s on, but don’t feel much drive to watch in between episodes; and when there’s always so much else to watch, that can end up with it falling by the wayside. Anyway, here I am making a concerted effort to finally get on with it. I thought this was another great episode, by the way.
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Video
Doctor Who: The Fan Show
- Steven Moffat On Writing, Weeping Angels, and More
- Steven Moffat On Matt Smith's Era, Writing The 50th Anniversary & MORE!
- The Steven Moffat Interview: Part 3
When Steven Moffat stepped down as showrunner of Doctor Who, he did a three-part over-an-hour-long interview with The Fan Show YouTube series, covering his entire time on the show. I'd meant to watch it at the time but kind of forgot. Something brought it to mind the other day, and so I've finally watched it. It's interesting and with some insightful observations, although you may have heard them repeated or retold elsewhere in the intervening years. And, in fact, he worked on the show for so long that even an hour-or-so doesn't feel like long enough to cover everything worth covering. But they do their best.
[Watch them (again) at the above YouTube links.]
- Steven Moffat On Writing, Weeping Angels, and More
- Steven Moffat On Matt Smith's Era, Writing The 50th Anniversary & MORE!
- The Steven Moffat Interview: Part 3
When Steven Moffat stepped down as showrunner of Doctor Who, he did a three-part over-an-hour-long interview with The Fan Show YouTube series, covering his entire time on the show. I'd meant to watch it at the time but kind of forgot. Something brought it to mind the other day, and so I've finally watched it. It's interesting and with some insightful observations, although you may have heard them repeated or retold elsewhere in the intervening years. And, in fact, he worked on the show for so long that even an hour-or-so doesn't feel like long enough to cover everything worth covering. But they do their best.
[Watch them (again) at the above YouTube links.]
Sunday, 15 May 2022
Video
RetroAhoy
The Secret of Monkey Island
Stumbled across this on Letterboxd, so thought I might end up logging it as a film, but eh, not really. It's very slickly produced, though, even if it does stray from its ostensible title: the part about The Secret of Monkey Island is actually only 10 or 15 minutes of the 74-minute video, proceeded by a potted history of the birth of the adventure game genre, and followed by a look at the sequels, other LucasArts adventure games, and what's happened to the genre since. All very interesting, mind, and I've ended up with about half-a-dozen titles to look up.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
The Secret of Monkey Island
Stumbled across this on Letterboxd, so thought I might end up logging it as a film, but eh, not really. It's very slickly produced, though, even if it does stray from its ostensible title: the part about The Secret of Monkey Island is actually only 10 or 15 minutes of the 74-minute video, proceeded by a potted history of the birth of the adventure game genre, and followed by a look at the sequels, other LucasArts adventure games, and what's happened to the genre since. All very interesting, mind, and I've ended up with about half-a-dozen titles to look up.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
this week on 100Films.co.uk
7 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...
Fast & Furious 9 (2021)
West Side Story (2021)
2022 | Weeks 12–13
More next Sunday.
Fast & Furious 9 (2021)
before long they're racing around (literally) after one Macguffin or another, plus all the requisite shooting stuff and blowing stuff up and performing physics-defying CGI-aided stunts that have become The Fast Saga’s hallmarks. If that makes it sound a bit tired — just “more of the same” — well, remember, we’ve reached film #9.Read more here.
West Side Story (2021)
I remember when I first heard about this remake, I couldn’t quite understand what they were going to add by redoing it. The original is a widely-acclaimed classic — why remake it? I should’ve remembered one of the golden rules of cinema: always trust Spielberg.Read more here.
2022 | Weeks 12–13
Featuring...Read more here.
- Muriel's Wedding (1994)
- Cobra (1986)
- Django & Django (2021)
- A Man Escaped (1956)
- Death on the Nile (2022)
More next Sunday.
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