Taskmaster
2x05 There's Strength in Arches [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]
Sunday, 26 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 4 The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood
Another 50 minutes or so played, not that I can get an accurate time on this chapter now. It was, once again, a little too reliant on a couple of lengthy cut scenes in the middle to advance the plot. I read somewhere that, because this game was released as a series of downloadable chapters, each one had file size limits and so some decisions were made to keep sizes down. I wonder if the cut scenes were one of them — perhaps, without such limits, they would have been able to make those sections playable. It's not the end of the world, just unfortunate.
Chapter 4 The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood
Another 50 minutes or so played, not that I can get an accurate time on this chapter now. It was, once again, a little too reliant on a couple of lengthy cut scenes in the middle to advance the plot. I read somewhere that, because this game was released as a series of downloadable chapters, each one had file size limits and so some decisions were made to keep sizes down. I wonder if the cut scenes were one of them — perhaps, without such limits, they would have been able to make those sections playable. It's not the end of the world, just unfortunate.
this week on 100Films.co.uk
4 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...
Frances Ha (2012)
2022 | Weeks 18–20
More next Sunday.
Frances Ha (2012)
Being a ditzy twentysomething in New York, hanging out with friends and going to parties, having a job as a dancer and earning just enough to get by, and nothing quite going to plan but it all kinda being ok anyway — all in black & white? I see why some people love this film. It’s a kind of obvious fantasy life for certain Artsy people. Of course, there’s not much drama in that (not that that would stop some filmmakers), and so Frances’s messy life begins to get messier. It may stop being a fantasy, but it’s certainly relatable to any of us who’ve failed at the things we’d dreamed of doing.Read more here.
2022 | Weeks 18–20
Featuring...Read more here.
- The Monolith Monsters (1957)
- Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
- Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 25 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 4 The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood
Onward! Forgot to set a timer going or note when I started, so not sure how long I played for today. Somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour, roughly. Again, this is shaping up to a fun episode with some different kinds of gameplay. I'm appreciating the variety.
Chapter 4 The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood
Onward! Forgot to set a timer going or note when I started, so not sure how long I played for today. Somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour, roughly. Again, this is shaping up to a fun episode with some different kinds of gameplay. I'm appreciating the variety.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A new season of classic Doctor Who joins the collection this week, the first this year (at one point it looked like they were going to be releasing four of these sets per year; then it quickly slipped to three; now, it seems like getting to two will be a stretch. The pandemic's not an excuse anymore!) Anyway, as that upgrades several old DVDs, it means this month's counts nearly dropped (gasp!)
...but, of course, I can't help ordering other stuff — four more new releases, in fact; two of them multi-film box sets; plus a trio of titles on offer, too — so it's actually a rare month where every category changes, most going up. Hurrah! Poor old DVD, though; the only one that continues to sink. It's surely just a matter of time before it dips back below 1,000 titles, a number it had surpassed before I even started this series almost 13 years ago.
Number of titles in collection: 2,867 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,051 [down 4]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,816 [up 8]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 178 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 7,138 [up 26]
Number of films: 3,432 [up 15]
Number of additional cuts: 268 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 9,310 [up 5]
Number of short films: 993 [up 25]
And if that wasn't enough, this week it's time for a monthly running time update, too.
Total running time of collection (approx.):
511 days, 20 hours, and 53 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 17 hours, and 15 minutes from last month.)
Well now, that's a pretty big jump! Most months the increase is less than two days, and that's the biggest single month since my post-Christmas January 2nd count (which factored in multiple box sets, as the end of the year is always rife with them).
See you next week, faithful reader — when, as things stand, I'll have nothing to add! We'll see how that pans out...
A new season of classic Doctor Who joins the collection this week, the first this year (at one point it looked like they were going to be releasing four of these sets per year; then it quickly slipped to three; now, it seems like getting to two will be a stretch. The pandemic's not an excuse anymore!) Anyway, as that upgrades several old DVDs, it means this month's counts nearly dropped (gasp!)
...but, of course, I can't help ordering other stuff — four more new releases, in fact; two of them multi-film box sets; plus a trio of titles on offer, too — so it's actually a rare month where every category changes, most going up. Hurrah! Poor old DVD, though; the only one that continues to sink. It's surely just a matter of time before it dips back below 1,000 titles, a number it had surpassed before I even started this series almost 13 years ago.
Number of titles in collection: 2,867 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 1,051 [down 4]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,816 [up 8]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 178 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 7,138 [up 26]
Number of films: 3,432 [up 15]
Number of additional cuts: 268 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 9,310 [up 5]
Number of short films: 993 [up 25]
And if that wasn't enough, this week it's time for a monthly running time update, too.
Total running time of collection (approx.):
511 days, 20 hours, and 53 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 17 hours, and 15 minutes from last month.)
Well now, that's a pretty big jump! Most months the increase is less than two days, and that's the biggest single month since my post-Christmas January 2nd count (which factored in multiple box sets, as the end of the year is always rife with them).
See you next week, faithful reader — when, as things stand, I'll have nothing to add! We'll see how that pans out...
Friday, 24 June 2022
TV
Doctor Who
3x31 The Hall of Dolls
aka The Celestial Toymaker Part 2. Not as good as the first — it feels like it's killing time, with the game Dodo and Steven have to play being not that interesting or challenging.
Taskmaster
2x04 Welcome to Rico Face
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]
3x31 The Hall of Dolls
aka The Celestial Toymaker Part 2. Not as good as the first — it feels like it's killing time, with the game Dodo and Steven have to play being not that interesting or challenging.
Taskmaster
2x04 Welcome to Rico Face
[Watch it (again) on All 4.]
Thursday, 23 June 2022
TV
Doctor Who
3x30 The Celestial Toyroom
aka The Celestial Toymaker Part 1. With all the rumours about the Toymaker’s forthcoming return, I thought it was about time I watched his debut (and, so far, only televisual) appearance. Of course, I can’t properly watch it because it’s 75% missing, so the Loose Cannon recon will have to suffice.
3x30 The Celestial Toyroom
aka The Celestial Toymaker Part 1. With all the rumours about the Toymaker’s forthcoming return, I thought it was about time I watched his debut (and, so far, only televisual) appearance. Of course, I can’t properly watch it because it’s 75% missing, so the Loose Cannon recon will have to suffice.
DVD Extras
Michael Grade in Conversation
The other interview I was referring to yesterday. It’s thorough enough that you feel there’s nothing left to be said, but it also doesn’t feel like there’s anything significantly new here. Interviewer Matthew Sweet does his best to draw out the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but it becomes clear that Grade didn’t care enough about Doctor Who to remember all the nitty-gritty details. So that’s that, then.
The other interview I was referring to yesterday. It’s thorough enough that you feel there’s nothing left to be said, but it also doesn’t feel like there’s anything significantly new here. Interviewer Matthew Sweet does his best to draw out the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but it becomes clear that Grade didn’t care enough about Doctor Who to remember all the nitty-gritty details. So that’s that, then.
Wednesday, 22 June 2022
DVD Extras
Colin Baker in Conversation
I've been picking up every one of the Doctor Who: The Collection Blu-ray releases as they come out, but I've not actually watched very much content on them. Indeed, I think the John Nathan-Turner doc may be literally the only thing I've watched from any of the 11 sets released so far. Shame on me — I really must do a lot to change that.
Well, here's one thing, at least. Though, like the JNT doc, I'm only watching it so quickly because I've seen it praised repeatedly on social media. In fact, there are three "In Conversation" features on the season 22 set, and I've seen two of them praised repeatedly; but as they're each essentially feature-length, I've only watched one for now. The other soon.
I've been picking up every one of the Doctor Who: The Collection Blu-ray releases as they come out, but I've not actually watched very much content on them. Indeed, I think the John Nathan-Turner doc may be literally the only thing I've watched from any of the 11 sets released so far. Shame on me — I really must do a lot to change that.
Well, here's one thing, at least. Though, like the JNT doc, I'm only watching it so quickly because I've seen it praised repeatedly on social media. In fact, there are three "In Conversation" features on the season 22 set, and I've seen two of them praised repeatedly; but as they're each essentially feature-length, I've only watched one for now. The other soon.
Films
Lupin the Third: Is Lupin Still Burning? (2018)
A one-off special to mark 50 years of Lupin III. I'm counting it as a short film; others would say it's an episode of TV. It's what anime fans call an OVA — Original Video Animation — which means it went straight to DVD, basically. I say that makes it a short, even though it was released alongside a TV series. (Does it really matter, though?)
As a short, I'll review it on 100 Films eventually. For now, I posted some thoughts on Letterboxd.
A one-off special to mark 50 years of Lupin III. I'm counting it as a short film; others would say it's an episode of TV. It's what anime fans call an OVA — Original Video Animation — which means it went straight to DVD, basically. I say that makes it a short, even though it was released alongside a TV series. (Does it really matter, though?)
As a short, I'll review it on 100 Films eventually. For now, I posted some thoughts on Letterboxd.
Tuesday, 21 June 2022
Audio Drama / Podcasts
Doctor Who: Redacted
1x10 Salvation [season finale]
Overall, I enjoyed that about as much as I've enjoyed the Chibnall era as a whole. Yeah. I've seen people on Twitter hoping for a second series; I hope it gets left behind in the current era, where it clearly belongs.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
1x10 Salvation [season finale]
Overall, I enjoyed that about as much as I've enjoyed the Chibnall era as a whole. Yeah. I've seen people on Twitter hoping for a second series; I hope it gets left behind in the current era, where it clearly belongs.
[Listen to it (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Monday, 20 June 2022
Games
Tales of Monkey Island
Chapter 3 Lair of the Leviathan
Turned out to be about 45 minutes left, for a total time of 2 hours 55 minutes — slightly longer than the first two chapters took me, but not insanely so. Again, some entertainingly different-feeling sorts of puzzles here, which makes up for those slightly unwieldy cutscenes. Still got two-fifths of the game to go and already I feel like I'll be disappointed when it's over...
Chapter 3 Lair of the Leviathan
Turned out to be about 45 minutes left, for a total time of 2 hours 55 minutes — slightly longer than the first two chapters took me, but not insanely so. Again, some entertainingly different-feeling sorts of puzzles here, which makes up for those slightly unwieldy cutscenes. Still got two-fifths of the game to go and already I feel like I'll be disappointed when it's over...
Sunday, 19 June 2022
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