I was originally going to include everything I hadn't seen everything of in the appendix, along with all of the music, books, magazines and newspapers to give a rounded picture of the media I enjoyed in 2004. But to be honest, if I tell you I like watching BBC News, listening to female singer songwriters and film soundtracks, read Empire, Doctor Who Magazine, Retro Gamer and The Guardian and it pretty much covers everything. Enough of the lists.
Epilogue
What I inevitably learnt from the exercise is that I probably watch too many films. As I reviewed the contents of the diary before posting each day it was shocking actually how few days there were when I didn't watch some new film. It honestly hadn't occured to me that my consumption was so high especially when I consider that I haven't seen a tenth of what's out there to be discovered and that my grasp on film history is shakey at best. I watch Aguire: Wrath of God for the first time last night and it felt like an entrance into yet another world for exploring. Both exhilarating and maddening at the same time.
It's hard to put my finger on what drives me on to see more, to increase my film literacy over other pursuits, especially reading. What makes it so difficult for me to read books as much as I'd like but so easy for me to watch a narrative in two or three hours? Is it as I said in the introduction that my attention span has been battened down over time that I can't following anything without pictures. My father wants me to read The Da Vinci Code. I've told him I'm waiting for the film. Depressing or depressing realism?
More important than that, does it matter? The really good books won't disappear because I'm not reading them. Do we all at some point make a choice of the form our escapist fiction of choice is going to take, some go for pages, some for soaps and some like me for film, and are they all equally valid choices for the individual? They're all going to be mixed and matched to a degree but in most cases the percentages are going to be weighted in one direction.
Even if the result of what turned into a project ended up a little bit flat in the reading, it demonstrated a couple of things. That I'm still willing to try new things and educate myself, even if that's just in new film making techniques and styles. That I'm probably addicted because it's the one thing keeping me sane at the moment. That I'm going to wait until at least December before I decide what I'm going to do about 2005. And that things are going to change around here.
Showing posts with label review 2004. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review 2004. Show all posts
Review 2004: What I Watched #6
November
01/11
Bubba-Hotep [film, dvd]
03/11
Identity [film, dvd]
The Mexican [film, dvd]
04/11
Alias: The Enemy Walks in [2.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Trust me [2.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Cipher [2.3/22] [tv, dvd]
05/11
Bad Santa [film, celluloid]
Have I Got News For You [28.4/8] [tv, broadcast]
06/11
Alias: Dead Drop [2.4/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Indicator [2.5/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Salvation [2.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Counteragent [2.7/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Passage Part I [2.8/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Passage Part 2 [2.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Abduction [2.10/22] [tv, dvd]
08/11
Fast Times At Ridgemont High [film, dvd]
09/11
Murder One: Twenty-One [21/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twenty-Two [22/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twenty-Three [23/23] [tv, dvd]
10/11
Alias: A Higher Echelon [2.11/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Getaway [2.12/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Phase One [2.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Double Agent [2.14/22] [tv, dvd]
11/11
Cabin Fever [film, dvd]
12/11
Alias: A Free Agent [2.15/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Firebomb [2.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: A Dark Turn [2.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Truth Takes Time [2.18/22] [tv, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.5/8] [tv, broadcast]
13/11
Alias: Endgame [2.19/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Countdown [2.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Second Double [2.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Telling [2.22/22] [tv, dvd]
Ten [film, broadcast]
14/11
Godzilla [film, dvd]
15/11
Chariots of Fire [film, dvd]
16/11
Doctor Who: The Last [62] [audio play, cd]
17/11
Drive [film, dvd]
19/11
24: Day 3: 1:00 P.M.-2:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 2:00 P.M.-3:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 3:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 4:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
20/11
24: Day 3: 5:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 7:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
21/11
24: Day 3: 9:00 P.M.-10:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 11:00 P.M.-12:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 12:00 A.M.-1:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
22/11
Doctor Who: The Crusade [2.6.1-4/4] [tv, dvd]
23/11
24: Day 3: 1:00 A.M.-2:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 2:00 A.M.-3:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 3:00 A.M.-4:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 4:00 A.M.-5:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 5:00 A.M.-6:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 6:00 A.M.-7:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 7:00 A.M.-8:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24/11
24: Day 3: 8:00 A.M.-9:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
Doctor Who: Underworld [15.5.1-4/4] [tv, vhs]
25/11
24: Day 3: 9:00 A.M.-10:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 10:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 12:00 P.M.-1:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
26/11
Have I Got News For You [28.6/8] [tv, broadcast]
27/11
I Heart Huckabees [film, celluloid]
28/11
The Ultimate Film [1/2] [tv, video]
The Honeymooners [film, dvd]
The Ultimate Film [2/2] [tv, video]
29/11
Sliding Doors [film, dvd]
30/11
In The Soup [film, dvd]
[I didn't Heart Huckabees as much as others seemed to -- it was fitfully funny in the way that some films based on British sitcoms usually are. Some good scenes but it didn't hang together for me. Spent most of the month catching up on the excellent third season of 24 and the even better second season of Alias with the jaw dropping episode Phase One which had me shouting -- "It's dream sequence! It's dream sequence!" only to find it really wasn't.]
December
01/12
Grosse Pointe Blank [film, dvd]
02/12
The Search for One-eye Jimmy [film, dvd]
03/12
The Incredibles [film, celluloid]
Have I Got News For You [28.7/8] [tv, broadcast]
04/12
Last Life In The Universe [film, dvd]
05/12
Brubaker [film, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.8/8] [tv, broadcast]
07/12
Doctor Who: Caerdroia [63] [audio play, cd]
08/12
Rear Window [film, dvd]
09/12
Cul-de-sac [film, dvd]
Cypher [film, dvd]
10/12
Shaun of the Dead [film, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.8/8] [tv, broadcast]
11/12
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Version) [film, dvd]
12/12
The Girl Next Door [film, dvd]
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Version) [film, dvd]
13/12
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(Extended Version) [film, dvd]
14/12
The Station Agent [film, dvd]
18/12
Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure [theatre, dvd]
19/12
The Fog Of War [film, dvd]
20/12
Basil [film, dvd]
21/12
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter And Spring [film, dvd]
22/12
Doctor Who: The Next Life [64] [audio play, cd]
The Last Chancers [1/2] [tv, broadcast]
23/12
Outfoxed [film, dvd]
24/12
The 100 Greatest Christmas Moments
25/12
The Queen's Speech
Dear Father Christmas
The Day After Tomorrow [film, dvd]
The Simpson's Christmas Message
Before They Were Famous VIII
26/12
Japanese Story
The 100 Greatest TV Treats of 2004
27/12
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Extended Version) [film, dvd]
Husbands and Wives [film, dvd]
28/12
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking [tv, video]
30/12
The Ring [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Kinda [19.3.1-4/4] [tv, video]
31/12
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies [tv, dvd]
House of the Flying Daggers [film, celluloid]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara [film, dvd]
[A fairly lean month as Christmas gripped and so did the extended version of Return of the King which isn't just a special edition but a whole other film. Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking was genuinely fun on tv and I can recommend anything else listed here really. Except for House of the Flying Daggers which is full of sound and beauty and fury but in the end signified nothing.]
01/11
Bubba-Hotep [film, dvd]
03/11
Identity [film, dvd]
The Mexican [film, dvd]
04/11
Alias: The Enemy Walks in [2.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Trust me [2.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Cipher [2.3/22] [tv, dvd]
05/11
Bad Santa [film, celluloid]
Have I Got News For You [28.4/8] [tv, broadcast]
06/11
Alias: Dead Drop [2.4/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Indicator [2.5/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Salvation [2.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Counteragent [2.7/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Passage Part I [2.8/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Passage Part 2 [2.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Abduction [2.10/22] [tv, dvd]
08/11
Fast Times At Ridgemont High [film, dvd]
09/11
Murder One: Twenty-One [21/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twenty-Two [22/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twenty-Three [23/23] [tv, dvd]
10/11
Alias: A Higher Echelon [2.11/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Getaway [2.12/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Phase One [2.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Double Agent [2.14/22] [tv, dvd]
11/11
Cabin Fever [film, dvd]
12/11
Alias: A Free Agent [2.15/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Firebomb [2.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: A Dark Turn [2.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Truth Takes Time [2.18/22] [tv, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.5/8] [tv, broadcast]
13/11
Alias: Endgame [2.19/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Countdown [2.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Second Double [2.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Telling [2.22/22] [tv, dvd]
Ten [film, broadcast]
14/11
Godzilla [film, dvd]
15/11
Chariots of Fire [film, dvd]
16/11
Doctor Who: The Last [62] [audio play, cd]
17/11
Drive [film, dvd]
19/11
24: Day 3: 1:00 P.M.-2:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 2:00 P.M.-3:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 3:00 P.M.-4:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 4:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
20/11
24: Day 3: 5:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 7:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 8:00 P.M.-9:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
21/11
24: Day 3: 9:00 P.M.-10:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 11:00 P.M.-12:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 12:00 A.M.-1:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
22/11
Doctor Who: The Crusade [2.6.1-4/4] [tv, dvd]
23/11
24: Day 3: 1:00 A.M.-2:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 2:00 A.M.-3:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 3:00 A.M.-4:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 4:00 A.M.-5:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 5:00 A.M.-6:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 6:00 A.M.-7:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 7:00 A.M.-8:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24/11
24: Day 3: 8:00 A.M.-9:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
Doctor Who: Underworld [15.5.1-4/4] [tv, vhs]
25/11
24: Day 3: 9:00 A.M.-10:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 10:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
24: Day 3: 12:00 P.M.-1:00 P.M. [tv, dvd]
26/11
Have I Got News For You [28.6/8] [tv, broadcast]
27/11
I Heart Huckabees [film, celluloid]
28/11
The Ultimate Film [1/2] [tv, video]
The Honeymooners [film, dvd]
The Ultimate Film [2/2] [tv, video]
29/11
Sliding Doors [film, dvd]
30/11
In The Soup [film, dvd]
[I didn't Heart Huckabees as much as others seemed to -- it was fitfully funny in the way that some films based on British sitcoms usually are. Some good scenes but it didn't hang together for me. Spent most of the month catching up on the excellent third season of 24 and the even better second season of Alias with the jaw dropping episode Phase One which had me shouting -- "It's dream sequence! It's dream sequence!" only to find it really wasn't.]
December
01/12
Grosse Pointe Blank [film, dvd]
02/12
The Search for One-eye Jimmy [film, dvd]
03/12
The Incredibles [film, celluloid]
Have I Got News For You [28.7/8] [tv, broadcast]
04/12
Last Life In The Universe [film, dvd]
05/12
Brubaker [film, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.8/8] [tv, broadcast]
07/12
Doctor Who: Caerdroia [63] [audio play, cd]
08/12
Rear Window [film, dvd]
09/12
Cul-de-sac [film, dvd]
Cypher [film, dvd]
10/12
Shaun of the Dead [film, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.8/8] [tv, broadcast]
11/12
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Version) [film, dvd]
12/12
The Girl Next Door [film, dvd]
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Version) [film, dvd]
13/12
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(Extended Version) [film, dvd]
14/12
The Station Agent [film, dvd]
18/12
Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure [theatre, dvd]
19/12
The Fog Of War [film, dvd]
20/12
Basil [film, dvd]
21/12
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter And Spring [film, dvd]
22/12
Doctor Who: The Next Life [64] [audio play, cd]
The Last Chancers [1/2] [tv, broadcast]
23/12
Outfoxed [film, dvd]
24/12
The 100 Greatest Christmas Moments
25/12
The Queen's Speech
Dear Father Christmas
The Day After Tomorrow [film, dvd]
The Simpson's Christmas Message
Before They Were Famous VIII
26/12
Japanese Story
The 100 Greatest TV Treats of 2004
27/12
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Extended Version) [film, dvd]
Husbands and Wives [film, dvd]
28/12
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking [tv, video]
30/12
The Ring [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Kinda [19.3.1-4/4] [tv, video]
31/12
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies [tv, dvd]
House of the Flying Daggers [film, celluloid]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara [film, dvd]
[A fairly lean month as Christmas gripped and so did the extended version of Return of the King which isn't just a special edition but a whole other film. Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking was genuinely fun on tv and I can recommend anything else listed here really. Except for House of the Flying Daggers which is full of sound and beauty and fury but in the end signified nothing.]
Review 2004: What I Watched #5
September
01/09
Master & Commander: Dark Side of the Moon [film, dvd]
03/09
Donnie Darko: The Directors Cut [film, celluloid]
Dodgeball [film, celluloid]
04/09
Measure for Measure: Live From The Globe [theatre, broadcast]
06/09
Trilogy: One: Cavale
07/09
Days of Heaven [film, dvd]
NY-LON: Something about Chemicals [1.1/7] [tv, video]
NY-LON: Something about Baggage [1.2/7] [tv, video]
NY-LON: Something about Commitment [1.3/7] [tv, video]
08/09
Trilogy: Two: Un Couple Epatant [film, dvd]
09/09
Trilogy: Three: Apres La Vie [film, dvd]
10/09
Shaun of the Dead [film, dvd]
14/09
The Motorcycle Diaries [film, celluloid]
16/09
People Like Us: The Police Officer [1.3/6] [tv, video]
People Like Us: The Solicitor [1.4/6] [tv, video]
17/09
Sweet Smell of Success [film, dvd]
Irreversible [film, dvd]
NY-LON: Something about Honesty [1.4/7] [tv, video]
18/09
The Princess And The Warrior [film, dvd]
20/09
Building Empires: The Story of Star Wars [film documentary, dvd]
21/09
Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope [film, dvd]
22/09
Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back [film, dvd]
23/09
Star Wars: Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi [film, dvd]
24/09
Can't Hardly Wait [film, dvd]
25/09
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [film, dvd]
26/09
Belle Epoque [film, dvd]
27/09
NY-LON: Something about Family [1.5/7] [tv, video]
29/09
Le Petit Soldat [film, dvd]
30/09
Boudo Saved From Drowning [film, dvd]
[The latest version of Star Wars. As home entertainment passes from video to dvd there were always going to be certain landmark releases. It certainly lived up to the hype and even if the extras package suggested yet another release even further down the line (deleted scenes - where are you?) it was worth the wait. Trilogy was really interesting (even if it felt like a more intensive version of the Kieslowski's Three Colours films but if I'm being honest I don't remember watching Le Petit Soldat -- no, no hang on. Now I do. At the cinema, I caught Donnie Darko for the first time in it's director's cut (interesting) and loved The Motorcycle Diaries. On TV NY-LON began its six week attempt to infuriate me. What was it about that programme that I loved and hated in equal measures?]
October
01/10
Doctor Who: Faith Stealer [61] [audio play, cd]
02/10
American Pie: The Wedding [film, dvd]
03/10
NY-LON: Something about Friends [1.6/7] [tv, video]
04/10
Clerks: The First Cut [film, dvd]
The Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks [film documentary, dvd]
05/10
The Governess [film, dvd]
The Stone Tape [tv, dvd]
06/10
Super Size Me [film, celluloid]
Collateral [film, celluloid]
NY-LON: Something about Love [1.7/7] [tv, video]
08/10
Five Obstructions [film, dvd]
09/10
Seabiscuit [film, dvd]
Clerks [film, dvd]
10/10
Heartbreakers [film, dvd]
11/10
Holidays in the Danger Zone: America Was Here [1/2] [tv, video]
12/10
Holidays in the Danger Zone: America Was Here [2/2] [tv, video]
Freaky Friday [film, dvd]
13/10
Sunrise [film, dvd]
14/10
Goodbye Lenin [film, dvd]
15/10
Himalaya with Michael Palin [1/6] [tv, video]
Bride and Prejudice [film, celluloid]
16/10
Have I Got News For You [28.1/8] [tv, broadcast]
The Claim [film, dvd]
17/10
In This World [film, dvd]
Stepmom [film, dvd]
18/10
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [film, dvd]
20/10
Dangerous Minds [film, dvd]
21/10
Farscape: Premiere [1.1/22] [tv, dvd]
22/10
Murder One: One [1/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Two [2/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Three [3/23] [tv, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.2/8] [tv, broadcast]
Murder One: Four [4/23] [tv, dvd]
23/10
Murder One: Five [5/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Six [6/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Seven [7/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Eight [8/23] [tv, dvd]
Tanner 88: The Dark Horse [1/11] [tv, broadcast]
24/10
City of God [film, dvd]
25/10
Alien Vs Predator [film, celluloid]
26/10
Murder One: Nine [9/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Ten [10/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Eleven [11/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twelve [12/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Thirteen [13/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Fourteen [14/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Fifteen [15/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Sixteen [16/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Seventeen [17/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Eighteen [18/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Nineteen [19/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twenty [20/23] [tv, dvd]
Tanner 88: Child's Play [6/11] [tv, broadcast]
Tanner 88: The Great Escape [7/11] [tv, broadcast]
27/10
Tanner 88: The Girlfriend Factor [8/11] [tv, broadcast]
Tanner 88: Something Borrowed, Something New [9/11] [tv, broadcast]
28/10
City Slickers [film, dvd]
Tanner 88: The Boiler Room [10/11] [tv, broadcast]
Tanner 88: The Reality Check [11/11] [tv, broadcast]
29/10
Amelie [film, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.3/8] [tv, broadcast]
30/10
Jewel - Live At Humphrey's By The Bay [music, dvd]
The Polyphonic Spree [music, live concert]
31/10
Tanner on Tanner [tv, vhs]
Un Coeur En Hiver [film, dvd]
[The 26th of the month is a perfect example of what can happen if you have free day and a dvd boxset (via screenselect) of a compelling series. Then I got to the end and realised I would have to wait for another disc to be sent. Filmwise I think the month is a perfect example of how sometimes you need to see the dreck to really enjoy the fried gold. Sat through Heartbreakers wanting to get one plane to ask Jason Lee what the hell he was thinking and through Bride and Prejudice want to run away as fast as I could. But in the same month I saw gems like Amelie, The Claim, Un Coeur En Hiver and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (yeah for dvd). Also at the cinema there is Super Size Me and Collateral (or Die Hard in a Taxi) as a double bill. Spritually similar?]
01/09
Master & Commander: Dark Side of the Moon [film, dvd]
03/09
Donnie Darko: The Directors Cut [film, celluloid]
Dodgeball [film, celluloid]
04/09
Measure for Measure: Live From The Globe [theatre, broadcast]
06/09
Trilogy: One: Cavale
07/09
Days of Heaven [film, dvd]
NY-LON: Something about Chemicals [1.1/7] [tv, video]
NY-LON: Something about Baggage [1.2/7] [tv, video]
NY-LON: Something about Commitment [1.3/7] [tv, video]
08/09
Trilogy: Two: Un Couple Epatant [film, dvd]
09/09
Trilogy: Three: Apres La Vie [film, dvd]
10/09
Shaun of the Dead [film, dvd]
14/09
The Motorcycle Diaries [film, celluloid]
16/09
People Like Us: The Police Officer [1.3/6] [tv, video]
People Like Us: The Solicitor [1.4/6] [tv, video]
17/09
Sweet Smell of Success [film, dvd]
Irreversible [film, dvd]
NY-LON: Something about Honesty [1.4/7] [tv, video]
18/09
The Princess And The Warrior [film, dvd]
20/09
Building Empires: The Story of Star Wars [film documentary, dvd]
21/09
Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope [film, dvd]
22/09
Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back [film, dvd]
23/09
Star Wars: Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi [film, dvd]
24/09
Can't Hardly Wait [film, dvd]
25/09
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [film, dvd]
26/09
Belle Epoque [film, dvd]
27/09
NY-LON: Something about Family [1.5/7] [tv, video]
29/09
Le Petit Soldat [film, dvd]
30/09
Boudo Saved From Drowning [film, dvd]
[The latest version of Star Wars. As home entertainment passes from video to dvd there were always going to be certain landmark releases. It certainly lived up to the hype and even if the extras package suggested yet another release even further down the line (deleted scenes - where are you?) it was worth the wait. Trilogy was really interesting (even if it felt like a more intensive version of the Kieslowski's Three Colours films but if I'm being honest I don't remember watching Le Petit Soldat -- no, no hang on. Now I do. At the cinema, I caught Donnie Darko for the first time in it's director's cut (interesting) and loved The Motorcycle Diaries. On TV NY-LON began its six week attempt to infuriate me. What was it about that programme that I loved and hated in equal measures?]
October
01/10
Doctor Who: Faith Stealer [61] [audio play, cd]
02/10
American Pie: The Wedding [film, dvd]
03/10
NY-LON: Something about Friends [1.6/7] [tv, video]
04/10
Clerks: The First Cut [film, dvd]
The Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks [film documentary, dvd]
05/10
The Governess [film, dvd]
The Stone Tape [tv, dvd]
06/10
Super Size Me [film, celluloid]
Collateral [film, celluloid]
NY-LON: Something about Love [1.7/7] [tv, video]
08/10
Five Obstructions [film, dvd]
09/10
Seabiscuit [film, dvd]
Clerks [film, dvd]
10/10
Heartbreakers [film, dvd]
11/10
Holidays in the Danger Zone: America Was Here [1/2] [tv, video]
12/10
Holidays in the Danger Zone: America Was Here [2/2] [tv, video]
Freaky Friday [film, dvd]
13/10
Sunrise [film, dvd]
14/10
Goodbye Lenin [film, dvd]
15/10
Himalaya with Michael Palin [1/6] [tv, video]
Bride and Prejudice [film, celluloid]
16/10
Have I Got News For You [28.1/8] [tv, broadcast]
The Claim [film, dvd]
17/10
In This World [film, dvd]
Stepmom [film, dvd]
18/10
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [film, dvd]
20/10
Dangerous Minds [film, dvd]
21/10
Farscape: Premiere [1.1/22] [tv, dvd]
22/10
Murder One: One [1/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Two [2/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Three [3/23] [tv, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.2/8] [tv, broadcast]
Murder One: Four [4/23] [tv, dvd]
23/10
Murder One: Five [5/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Six [6/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Seven [7/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Eight [8/23] [tv, dvd]
Tanner 88: The Dark Horse [1/11] [tv, broadcast]
24/10
City of God [film, dvd]
25/10
Alien Vs Predator [film, celluloid]
26/10
Murder One: Nine [9/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Ten [10/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Eleven [11/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twelve [12/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Thirteen [13/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Fourteen [14/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Fifteen [15/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Sixteen [16/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Seventeen [17/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Eighteen [18/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Nineteen [19/23] [tv, dvd]
Murder One: Twenty [20/23] [tv, dvd]
Tanner 88: Child's Play [6/11] [tv, broadcast]
Tanner 88: The Great Escape [7/11] [tv, broadcast]
27/10
Tanner 88: The Girlfriend Factor [8/11] [tv, broadcast]
Tanner 88: Something Borrowed, Something New [9/11] [tv, broadcast]
28/10
City Slickers [film, dvd]
Tanner 88: The Boiler Room [10/11] [tv, broadcast]
Tanner 88: The Reality Check [11/11] [tv, broadcast]
29/10
Amelie [film, dvd]
Have I Got News For You [28.3/8] [tv, broadcast]
30/10
Jewel - Live At Humphrey's By The Bay [music, dvd]
The Polyphonic Spree [music, live concert]
31/10
Tanner on Tanner [tv, vhs]
Un Coeur En Hiver [film, dvd]
[The 26th of the month is a perfect example of what can happen if you have free day and a dvd boxset (via screenselect) of a compelling series. Then I got to the end and realised I would have to wait for another disc to be sent. Filmwise I think the month is a perfect example of how sometimes you need to see the dreck to really enjoy the fried gold. Sat through Heartbreakers wanting to get one plane to ask Jason Lee what the hell he was thinking and through Bride and Prejudice want to run away as fast as I could. But in the same month I saw gems like Amelie, The Claim, Un Coeur En Hiver and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (yeah for dvd). Also at the cinema there is Super Size Me and Collateral (or Die Hard in a Taxi) as a double bill. Spritually similar?]
Review 2004: What I Watched #4
July
01/07
View From The Top [film, dvd]
The Mod Squad [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
02/07
Casablanca [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
03/07
Kundun [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: K-9 & Company [tv, video]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
Lost In Translation [film, dvd]
04/07
Doctor Who: Embrace The Darkness [31] [audio play, cd]
05/07
Art In The Sixties [1/3] [tv, dvd]
No. 17 Is Anonymous [film, video]
06/07
The Professionals [film, dvd]
07/07
Rosemary's Baby [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive [18.1.1-4] [tv, dvd]
08/07
Mississippi Mermaid [film, dvd]
09/07
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
10/07
Avril Lavigne: My World [concert, dvd]
Mitch Benn And The Distractions [concert, boat]
11/07
Firefly: Serenity Part One [1/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Serenity Part Two [2/15] [tv, dvd]
12/07
The Adventures of Robin Hood [film, dvd]
13/07
Firefly: The Train Job [3/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Bushwacked [4/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Shindig [5/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Safe [6/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Our Mrs. Reynolds [7/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Jaynestown [8/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Out of Gas [9/15] [tv, dvd]
14/07
Firefly: Ariel [10/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: War Stories [11/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Trash [12/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: The Message [13/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Heart of Gold [14/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Objects In Space [15/15] [tv, dvd]
15/07
Sum of All Fears [film, dvd]
16/07
The Man Who Loved Women [film, dvd]
Spiderman 2 [film, celluloid]
17/07
Henry IV [play, theatre]
18/07
Inventing The Abbots [film, dvd]
19/07
Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars [13.3.1-4] [tv, dvd]
20/07
The Story of the Weeping Camel [film, celluloid]
Partie De Campagne [film, dvd]
21/07
Cookie's Fortune [film, dvd]
22/07
Curse of the Jade Scorpion [film, dvd]
23/07
Before Sunset [film, celluloid]
24/07
La Peau Douce [film, dvd]
25/07
Doctor Who: Time Of The Daleks [32] [audio drama, cd]
Antz [film, dvd]
26/07
Doctor Who: Earthshock [19.6] [tv, dvd]
27/07
The Graduate [film, dvd]
28/07
Charade [film, dvd]
29/07
Intolerance [film, dvd]
31/07
The Story of Adele H [film, dvd]
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari [film, dvd]
[I was ill for a week or so in here which is why I watched the perfect chicken soup for the soul, Firefly again over two days. I didn't appear to watch any new television other than the odd episode of Big Brother V (which is probably right actually -- other than some news programmes which as will be explained in the appendix). It was during this month I really started to hit the Francois Truffaut filmograophy on dvd -- I ploughed through them and only really La Peau Douce stuck. Things like The Man Who Loved Women sounds good but only really succeeds in demonstrating how most men are animals. Lost In Translation is on dvd already I see. But this was really the month of Before Sunset which as you know I travelled to a whole other city to see. I hope when that appears on shiny disc it doesn't disappoint the idea I have of it being a great film. Sometimes second passes can be unkind.]
August
01/08
Doctor Who: Neverland [38] [audio play, cd]
Doctor Who: Zagreus [50] [audio play, cd]
Nathalie . . . [film, celluloid]
03/08
The Icicle Thief [film, video]
04/08
Doctor Who: The Visitation [19.4] [tv, dvd]
05/08
In Cold Blood [film, dvd]
The French Connection [film, dvd]
06/08
The Big Brother V Finale [tv, broadcast]
07/08
Fahrenheit 451 [film, dvd]
08/08
I, Robot [film, celluloid]
10/08
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors [10.1] [tv, dvd]
11/08
Midnight Cowboy [film, dvd]
The Anniversary Party [film, dvd]
12/08
The Wild Child [film, dvd]
13/08
The Olympics 2004: Opening Ceremony [sport, tv]
14/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 1 [muli-media, sport]
Hush [film, dvd]
15/08
Dr T and the Women [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 2 [muli-media, sport]
16/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 3 [muli-media, sport]
17/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 4 [muli-media, sport]
18/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 5 [muli-media, sport]
19/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 6 [muli-media, sport]
20/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 7 [muli-media, sport]
21/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 8 [muli-media, sport]
22/08
The Last Metro [film, dvd]
One Night At McCools [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 9 [muli-media, sport]
23/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 10 [muli-media, sport]
24/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 11 [muli-media, sport]
25/08
Sylvia [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 12 [muli-media, sport]
26/08
Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Red, White And Blues [tv, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 13 [muli-media, sport]
27/08
Phone Booth [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 14 [muli-media, sport]
28/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 15 [muli-media, sport]
29/08
Rebecca [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 16 [muli-media, sport]
[The Olympics. I've talked before about how it tends to take over my time and here is the proof. For two weeks I watched more television than I'd seen all year, trying to fit the rental dvds between the cracks. Finally two Traffaut films I could fall in love with, Fahrenheit 451 and . The Last Metro. Quite illuminating seeing Gérard Depardieu's performances in that and Nathalie ... -- he's busy because he's consistent. Who thought Joel Schumacher was still capable of something like Phone Booth? And really I Robot is a much better film than you'd expect.]
01/07
View From The Top [film, dvd]
The Mod Squad [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
02/07
Casablanca [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
03/07
Kundun [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: K-9 & Company [tv, video]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
Lost In Translation [film, dvd]
04/07
Doctor Who: Embrace The Darkness [31] [audio play, cd]
05/07
Art In The Sixties [1/3] [tv, dvd]
No. 17 Is Anonymous [film, video]
06/07
The Professionals [film, dvd]
07/07
Rosemary's Baby [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive [18.1.1-4] [tv, dvd]
08/07
Mississippi Mermaid [film, dvd]
09/07
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
10/07
Avril Lavigne: My World [concert, dvd]
Mitch Benn And The Distractions [concert, boat]
11/07
Firefly: Serenity Part One [1/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Serenity Part Two [2/15] [tv, dvd]
12/07
The Adventures of Robin Hood [film, dvd]
13/07
Firefly: The Train Job [3/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Bushwacked [4/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Shindig [5/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Safe [6/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Our Mrs. Reynolds [7/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Jaynestown [8/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Out of Gas [9/15] [tv, dvd]
14/07
Firefly: Ariel [10/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: War Stories [11/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Trash [12/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: The Message [13/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Heart of Gold [14/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Objects In Space [15/15] [tv, dvd]
15/07
Sum of All Fears [film, dvd]
16/07
The Man Who Loved Women [film, dvd]
Spiderman 2 [film, celluloid]
17/07
Henry IV [play, theatre]
18/07
Inventing The Abbots [film, dvd]
19/07
Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars [13.3.1-4] [tv, dvd]
20/07
The Story of the Weeping Camel [film, celluloid]
Partie De Campagne [film, dvd]
21/07
Cookie's Fortune [film, dvd]
22/07
Curse of the Jade Scorpion [film, dvd]
23/07
Before Sunset [film, celluloid]
24/07
La Peau Douce [film, dvd]
25/07
Doctor Who: Time Of The Daleks [32] [audio drama, cd]
Antz [film, dvd]
26/07
Doctor Who: Earthshock [19.6] [tv, dvd]
27/07
The Graduate [film, dvd]
28/07
Charade [film, dvd]
29/07
Intolerance [film, dvd]
31/07
The Story of Adele H [film, dvd]
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari [film, dvd]
[I was ill for a week or so in here which is why I watched the perfect chicken soup for the soul, Firefly again over two days. I didn't appear to watch any new television other than the odd episode of Big Brother V (which is probably right actually -- other than some news programmes which as will be explained in the appendix). It was during this month I really started to hit the Francois Truffaut filmograophy on dvd -- I ploughed through them and only really La Peau Douce stuck. Things like The Man Who Loved Women sounds good but only really succeeds in demonstrating how most men are animals. Lost In Translation is on dvd already I see. But this was really the month of Before Sunset which as you know I travelled to a whole other city to see. I hope when that appears on shiny disc it doesn't disappoint the idea I have of it being a great film. Sometimes second passes can be unkind.]
August
01/08
Doctor Who: Neverland [38] [audio play, cd]
Doctor Who: Zagreus [50] [audio play, cd]
Nathalie . . . [film, celluloid]
03/08
The Icicle Thief [film, video]
04/08
Doctor Who: The Visitation [19.4] [tv, dvd]
05/08
In Cold Blood [film, dvd]
The French Connection [film, dvd]
06/08
The Big Brother V Finale [tv, broadcast]
07/08
Fahrenheit 451 [film, dvd]
08/08
I, Robot [film, celluloid]
10/08
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors [10.1] [tv, dvd]
11/08
Midnight Cowboy [film, dvd]
The Anniversary Party [film, dvd]
12/08
The Wild Child [film, dvd]
13/08
The Olympics 2004: Opening Ceremony [sport, tv]
14/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 1 [muli-media, sport]
Hush [film, dvd]
15/08
Dr T and the Women [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 2 [muli-media, sport]
16/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 3 [muli-media, sport]
17/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 4 [muli-media, sport]
18/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 5 [muli-media, sport]
19/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 6 [muli-media, sport]
20/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 7 [muli-media, sport]
21/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 8 [muli-media, sport]
22/08
The Last Metro [film, dvd]
One Night At McCools [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 9 [muli-media, sport]
23/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 10 [muli-media, sport]
24/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 11 [muli-media, sport]
25/08
Sylvia [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 12 [muli-media, sport]
26/08
Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Red, White And Blues [tv, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 13 [muli-media, sport]
27/08
Phone Booth [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 14 [muli-media, sport]
28/08
The Olympics 2004: Day 15 [muli-media, sport]
29/08
Rebecca [film, dvd]
The Olympics 2004: Day 16 [muli-media, sport]
[The Olympics. I've talked before about how it tends to take over my time and here is the proof. For two weeks I watched more television than I'd seen all year, trying to fit the rental dvds between the cracks. Finally two Traffaut films I could fall in love with, Fahrenheit 451 and . The Last Metro. Quite illuminating seeing Gérard Depardieu's performances in that and Nathalie ... -- he's busy because he's consistent. Who thought Joel Schumacher was still capable of something like Phone Booth? And really I Robot is a much better film than you'd expect.]
Review 2004: What I Watched #3
May
01/05
Friends: The One Where Joey Speaks French [10.13/18] [tv, broadcast]
Alias: Doppleganger [1.5/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Reckoning [1.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Color Blind [1.7/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Time Will Tell [1.8/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Mea Culpa [1.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Spirit [1.10/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Confession [1.11/22] [tv, dvd]
The Little Shop of Horrors [musical, stage]
02/05
Dawson's Creek: Love Bites [6.18/24] [tv, video]
Alias: The Box (Part 1) [1.12/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Box (Part 2) [1.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Coup [1.14/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Page 47 [1.15/22] [tv, dvd]
Gallifrey: The Inquiry [1.3/4] [audio drama, cd]
03/05
Doctor Who: The TV Movie [tv, dvd]
Downtime [video drama, video]
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball [film, dvd]
Shakespeare In Love [film, dvd]
04/05
The Stringer [film, video]
Oliver Twist [film, broadcast]
05/05
Independence Day [film, video]
Making the Video: Shakira Obsession (Tango) [documentary, dvd]
The Making of Zagreus [audio documentary, cd]
06/05
Alias: The Prophecy [1.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Q&A [1.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Masquerade [1.18/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Snowman [1.19/22] [tv, dvd]
e.r.: The Student [10.17/22] [tv, video]
07/05
Alias: The Solution [1.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Rendezvous [1.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Almost 30 Years [1.22/22] [tv, dvd]
08/05
Everyone Says I Love You [film, dvd]
Friends: The One With Princess Consuela [10.14/18] [tv, broadcast]
09/05
Dawson's Creek: Love Lines [6.19/24] [tv, video]
Have I Got News For You [27.4/8] [tv, broadcast]
People Like Us: The Managing Director [1.1/6] [tv, video]
People Like Us: The Estate Agent [1.2/6] [tv, video]
10/05
Possession [tv, video]
Angel: Tomorrow [3.22/22] [tv, video]
11/05
Angel: Deep Down [4.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Ground State [4.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: The House Always Wins [4.3/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Slouching Towards Bethlehem [4.4/22] [tv, dvd]
12/05
The Conversation [film, dvd]
13/05
e.r.: Where There's Smoke [10.18/22] [tv, video]
14/05
Doctor Who: Shada [audio play, cd]
Norah Jones: Live In New Orleans [music, dvd]
The First Time It Hits [short film, dvd]
Hard Labour [short film, dvd]
Job Street [short film, dvd]
Stripes [short film, dvd]
Lou-Lou Lives Here [short film, dvd]
Unreal City [short film, dvd]
Leila [short film, dvd]
Ice Cream Dream [short film, dvd]
Friends: The One Where Estelle Dies [10.15/18] [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [27.5/8] [tv, broadcast]
15/05
The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 [music(?), broadcast]
Eurovision ... a little bit more [tv, broadcast]
16/05
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not [film, dvd]
17/05
Dawson's Creek: Catch-22 [6.20/24] [tv, video]
Broadcast News [film, dvd]
18/05
Van Helsing [film, celluloid]
La Jetee [short film, dvd]
19/05
Full Frontal [film, dvd]
20/05
e.r.: Just A Touch [10.19/22] [tv, video]
Magnum Force [film, dvd]
21/05
Friends: The One With Rachel's Going Away Party [10.16/18] [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [27.6/8] [tv, broadcast]
22/05
Interiors [film, dvd]
The Big Question: The Worldwide Web [radio documentary, broadcast]
Two Weeks Notice [film, dvd]
Shadows and Fog [film, dvd]
23/05
Doctor Who: Strangers in Space [1.7.1/6] [tv, video]
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But were afraid to ask [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: The Unwilling Warriors [1.7.2/6] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road [6.21/24] [tv, video]
Sleeper [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Hidden Danger [1.7.3/6] [tv, video]
24/05
Doctor Who: A Race Against Death [1.7.4/6] [tv, video]
One Fine Day [film, dvd]]
25/05
Doctor Who: Kidnap [1.7.5/6] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: A Desperate Venture [1.7.6/6] [tv, video]
The Others [film, video]
Doctor Who: The Watcher [2.9.1/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The Meddling Monk [2.9.2/4] [tv, video]
26/05
Doctor Who: A Battle of Wits [2.9.3/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Checkmate [2.9.4/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: A Holiday for the Doctor [3.8.1/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Don't Shoot the Pianist [3.8.2/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Johnny Ringo [3.8.3/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The O K Corral [3.8.4/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Storm Warning [16] [audio drama, cd]
27/05
Star Trek: The Original Series: Arena [1.19/29] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Supersymmetry [4.5/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Spin the Bottle [4.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Apocalypse, Nowish [4.7/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Habeas Corpses [4.8/22] [tv, dvd]
Star Trek: The Original Series: City On The Edge Of Forever [1.28/29] [tv, dvd]
The Peacemaker [film, video]
28/05
e.r.: Abby Normal[10.20/22] [tv, video]
e.r.: Midnight [10.21/22] [tv, video]
Catch-22 [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Sword of Orion [17] [audio drama, cd]
Friends: The Last One, Part 1 [10.17/18] [tv, broadcast]
Friends: The Last One, Part 2 [10.18/18] [tv, broadcast]
Big Brother 5: Opening Programme [tv, broadcast]
29/05
Angel: Long Day's Journey [4.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Awakening [4.10/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Soulless [4.11/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Calvary [4.12/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Salvage [4.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Release [4.14/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Orpheus [4.15/22] [tv, dvd]
30/05
Have I Got News For You [27.7/8] [tv, broadcast]
Dawson's Creek: Joey Potter and the Capeside Redemption [6.22/24] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Stones of Venice [18] [audio drama, cd]
31/05
Love And Death [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Minuet In Hell [19] [audio drama, cd]
Love & Sex [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Living Legend [audio drama, cd]
By Dawn's Early Light [film, video]
Fallen Angels: Red Wind [tv, dvd]
[Alias, Angel and Doctor Who. It hadn't occured to me how obsessive I can be at times. The first two were courtesy of screenselect, but there really isn't any excuse for this much of the timelord. Shocking, especially when you consider all the good television that was no doubt being broadcast at the time (not that I'd know that for certain because I wasn't watching obviously). The only film I saw at the cinema for that whole entire month was Van Helsing which proves that my mind was on other things. Of the movies I saw on the small screen, I was one of the few people to like Neil LeBute's Possession and was strangely drawn to The Conversation and Catch 22 both studies of the introverted male. Funny.]
June
01/06
Gallifrey: A Blind Eye [1.4/4] [audio drama, cd]
Another Woman [film, dvd]
02/06
e.r.: Drive [10.22/22] [tv, video]
Nightwatch [film, dvd]
03/06
Hulk [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
04/06
Have I Got News For You [27.8/8] [tv, broadcast]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
05/06
A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies [tv, dvd]
1967 News Bulletin [tv, broadcast]
06/06
Blue Crush [film, dvd]
08/06
Dawson's Creek: All Good Things ... [6.23/24] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: ... Must Come To An End [6.24/24] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Invaders from Mars [28] [audio drama, cd]
September [film, dvd]
09/06
Angel: Players [4.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Inside Out [4.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Shiny, Happy People [4.18/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: The Magic Bullet [4.19/22] [tv, dvd]
10/06
Max [film, dvd]
12/06
The Work of Director Spike Jonze [music, dvd]
Following [film, dvd]
Heaven and Earth [concert, music]
13/06
Defence of the Realm [film, dvd]
14/06
Doctor Who: Chimes At Midnight [29] [audio drama, cd]
Kind Hearts and Coronets [film, video]
15/06
Punch Drunk Love [film, dvd]
16/06
Doctor Who: The Green Death [10.5.1-6] [tv, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
12/06
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
Angel: Sacrifice [4.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Peace Out [4.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Home [4.22/22] [tv, dvd]
12/06
Daemos Rising [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
19/06
Confidence [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
20/06
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
21/06
Jersey Girl [film, celluloid]
Euro 2004: England V Croatia [4-2] [sport, radio broadcast]
Doctor Who: Seasons of Fear [30]
22/06
The Importance of Being Ernest [film, broadcast]
An Evening With Kevin Smith [lecture, dvd]
Unfaithful [film, broadcast]
All New TV's Naughtiest Blunders 19 [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [23.1/8] [tv, broadcast]
23/06
Malena [film, dvd]
Game Over: Kasperov and the Machine [film, dvd]
Klute [film, video]
Antonia's Line [film, broadcast]
24/06
Clerks [film, video]
11/09/01 - September 11 [film, dvd]
Shakira Unplugged [music concert, dvd]
Euro 2004: England V Portugal [2-2, (7-6)] [sport, radio broadcast]
25/06
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
26/06
Party 2000 [film, dvd]
8 Women [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Web of Fear [5.5.1] [tv, broadcast]
Time Shift: Fantasy Sixties [tv, broadcast]
27/06
Adam Adamant Lives!: The League Of Uncharitable Ladies [1.13/16] [tv, video]
Tori Amos Live 1997 [concert, video]
The Kneale Tapes [tv, video]
Here's A Piano I Prepared Earlier: Experimental Music In The 1960s [tv, video]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
28/06
Wimbledon 2004: Tim Henman v Philippoussis
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
29/06
Shanghai Knights [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
30/06
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
[That's better. I still think Kevin Smith's Jersey Girl is underated, but that the dvd is worth buying for the audio commentaries alome says something I suppose. There was a week's holiday in there which is why some days are really busy -- you can always tell when I had time off during the diary because the amount of things watched grows. I can pretty much recommend anything else on the list filmwise, although Unfaithful ends ludicrously and 11/09/01 - September 11 suffers some rough patches. The summer of sport began and as you can see I watched some football -- well a match. I also suffered Tim Henman v Philippoussis at Wimbledon 2004. I hadn't really thought I'd seen so much of Big Brother 5. I think it was about now I stopped watching.]
01/05
Friends: The One Where Joey Speaks French [10.13/18] [tv, broadcast]
Alias: Doppleganger [1.5/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Reckoning [1.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Color Blind [1.7/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Time Will Tell [1.8/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Mea Culpa [1.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Spirit [1.10/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Confession [1.11/22] [tv, dvd]
The Little Shop of Horrors [musical, stage]
02/05
Dawson's Creek: Love Bites [6.18/24] [tv, video]
Alias: The Box (Part 1) [1.12/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Box (Part 2) [1.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: The Coup [1.14/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Page 47 [1.15/22] [tv, dvd]
Gallifrey: The Inquiry [1.3/4] [audio drama, cd]
03/05
Doctor Who: The TV Movie [tv, dvd]
Downtime [video drama, video]
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball [film, dvd]
Shakespeare In Love [film, dvd]
04/05
The Stringer [film, video]
Oliver Twist [film, broadcast]
05/05
Independence Day [film, video]
Making the Video: Shakira Obsession (Tango) [documentary, dvd]
The Making of Zagreus [audio documentary, cd]
06/05
Alias: The Prophecy [1.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Q&A [1.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Masquerade [1.18/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Snowman [1.19/22] [tv, dvd]
e.r.: The Student [10.17/22] [tv, video]
07/05
Alias: The Solution [1.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Rendezvous [1.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Almost 30 Years [1.22/22] [tv, dvd]
08/05
Everyone Says I Love You [film, dvd]
Friends: The One With Princess Consuela [10.14/18] [tv, broadcast]
09/05
Dawson's Creek: Love Lines [6.19/24] [tv, video]
Have I Got News For You [27.4/8] [tv, broadcast]
People Like Us: The Managing Director [1.1/6] [tv, video]
People Like Us: The Estate Agent [1.2/6] [tv, video]
10/05
Possession [tv, video]
Angel: Tomorrow [3.22/22] [tv, video]
11/05
Angel: Deep Down [4.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Ground State [4.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: The House Always Wins [4.3/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Slouching Towards Bethlehem [4.4/22] [tv, dvd]
12/05
The Conversation [film, dvd]
13/05
e.r.: Where There's Smoke [10.18/22] [tv, video]
14/05
Doctor Who: Shada [audio play, cd]
Norah Jones: Live In New Orleans [music, dvd]
The First Time It Hits [short film, dvd]
Hard Labour [short film, dvd]
Job Street [short film, dvd]
Stripes [short film, dvd]
Lou-Lou Lives Here [short film, dvd]
Unreal City [short film, dvd]
Leila [short film, dvd]
Ice Cream Dream [short film, dvd]
Friends: The One Where Estelle Dies [10.15/18] [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [27.5/8] [tv, broadcast]
15/05
The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 [music(?), broadcast]
Eurovision ... a little bit more [tv, broadcast]
16/05
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not [film, dvd]
17/05
Dawson's Creek: Catch-22 [6.20/24] [tv, video]
Broadcast News [film, dvd]
18/05
Van Helsing [film, celluloid]
La Jetee [short film, dvd]
19/05
Full Frontal [film, dvd]
20/05
e.r.: Just A Touch [10.19/22] [tv, video]
Magnum Force [film, dvd]
21/05
Friends: The One With Rachel's Going Away Party [10.16/18] [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [27.6/8] [tv, broadcast]
22/05
Interiors [film, dvd]
The Big Question: The Worldwide Web [radio documentary, broadcast]
Two Weeks Notice [film, dvd]
Shadows and Fog [film, dvd]
23/05
Doctor Who: Strangers in Space [1.7.1/6] [tv, video]
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But were afraid to ask [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: The Unwilling Warriors [1.7.2/6] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road [6.21/24] [tv, video]
Sleeper [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Hidden Danger [1.7.3/6] [tv, video]
24/05
Doctor Who: A Race Against Death [1.7.4/6] [tv, video]
One Fine Day [film, dvd]]
25/05
Doctor Who: Kidnap [1.7.5/6] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: A Desperate Venture [1.7.6/6] [tv, video]
The Others [film, video]
Doctor Who: The Watcher [2.9.1/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The Meddling Monk [2.9.2/4] [tv, video]
26/05
Doctor Who: A Battle of Wits [2.9.3/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Checkmate [2.9.4/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: A Holiday for the Doctor [3.8.1/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Don't Shoot the Pianist [3.8.2/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Johnny Ringo [3.8.3/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The O K Corral [3.8.4/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Storm Warning [16] [audio drama, cd]
27/05
Star Trek: The Original Series: Arena [1.19/29] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Supersymmetry [4.5/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Spin the Bottle [4.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Apocalypse, Nowish [4.7/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Habeas Corpses [4.8/22] [tv, dvd]
Star Trek: The Original Series: City On The Edge Of Forever [1.28/29] [tv, dvd]
The Peacemaker [film, video]
28/05
e.r.: Abby Normal[10.20/22] [tv, video]
e.r.: Midnight [10.21/22] [tv, video]
Catch-22 [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Sword of Orion [17] [audio drama, cd]
Friends: The Last One, Part 1 [10.17/18] [tv, broadcast]
Friends: The Last One, Part 2 [10.18/18] [tv, broadcast]
Big Brother 5: Opening Programme [tv, broadcast]
29/05
Angel: Long Day's Journey [4.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Awakening [4.10/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Soulless [4.11/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Calvary [4.12/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Salvage [4.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Release [4.14/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Orpheus [4.15/22] [tv, dvd]
30/05
Have I Got News For You [27.7/8] [tv, broadcast]
Dawson's Creek: Joey Potter and the Capeside Redemption [6.22/24] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Stones of Venice [18] [audio drama, cd]
31/05
Love And Death [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Minuet In Hell [19] [audio drama, cd]
Love & Sex [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Living Legend [audio drama, cd]
By Dawn's Early Light [film, video]
Fallen Angels: Red Wind [tv, dvd]
[Alias, Angel and Doctor Who. It hadn't occured to me how obsessive I can be at times. The first two were courtesy of screenselect, but there really isn't any excuse for this much of the timelord. Shocking, especially when you consider all the good television that was no doubt being broadcast at the time (not that I'd know that for certain because I wasn't watching obviously). The only film I saw at the cinema for that whole entire month was Van Helsing which proves that my mind was on other things. Of the movies I saw on the small screen, I was one of the few people to like Neil LeBute's Possession and was strangely drawn to The Conversation and Catch 22 both studies of the introverted male. Funny.]
June
01/06
Gallifrey: A Blind Eye [1.4/4] [audio drama, cd]
Another Woman [film, dvd]
02/06
e.r.: Drive [10.22/22] [tv, video]
Nightwatch [film, dvd]
03/06
Hulk [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
04/06
Have I Got News For You [27.8/8] [tv, broadcast]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
05/06
A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies [tv, dvd]
1967 News Bulletin [tv, broadcast]
06/06
Blue Crush [film, dvd]
08/06
Dawson's Creek: All Good Things ... [6.23/24] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: ... Must Come To An End [6.24/24] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: Invaders from Mars [28] [audio drama, cd]
September [film, dvd]
09/06
Angel: Players [4.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Inside Out [4.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Shiny, Happy People [4.18/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: The Magic Bullet [4.19/22] [tv, dvd]
10/06
Max [film, dvd]
12/06
The Work of Director Spike Jonze [music, dvd]
Following [film, dvd]
Heaven and Earth [concert, music]
13/06
Defence of the Realm [film, dvd]
14/06
Doctor Who: Chimes At Midnight [29] [audio drama, cd]
Kind Hearts and Coronets [film, video]
15/06
Punch Drunk Love [film, dvd]
16/06
Doctor Who: The Green Death [10.5.1-6] [tv, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
12/06
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
Angel: Sacrifice [4.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Peace Out [4.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Angel: Home [4.22/22] [tv, dvd]
12/06
Daemos Rising [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
19/06
Confidence [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
20/06
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
21/06
Jersey Girl [film, celluloid]
Euro 2004: England V Croatia [4-2] [sport, radio broadcast]
Doctor Who: Seasons of Fear [30]
22/06
The Importance of Being Ernest [film, broadcast]
An Evening With Kevin Smith [lecture, dvd]
Unfaithful [film, broadcast]
All New TV's Naughtiest Blunders 19 [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [23.1/8] [tv, broadcast]
23/06
Malena [film, dvd]
Game Over: Kasperov and the Machine [film, dvd]
Klute [film, video]
Antonia's Line [film, broadcast]
24/06
Clerks [film, video]
11/09/01 - September 11 [film, dvd]
Shakira Unplugged [music concert, dvd]
Euro 2004: England V Portugal [2-2, (7-6)] [sport, radio broadcast]
25/06
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
26/06
Party 2000 [film, dvd]
8 Women [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: Web of Fear [5.5.1] [tv, broadcast]
Time Shift: Fantasy Sixties [tv, broadcast]
27/06
Adam Adamant Lives!: The League Of Uncharitable Ladies [1.13/16] [tv, video]
Tori Amos Live 1997 [concert, video]
The Kneale Tapes [tv, video]
Here's A Piano I Prepared Earlier: Experimental Music In The 1960s [tv, video]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
28/06
Wimbledon 2004: Tim Henman v Philippoussis
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
29/06
Shanghai Knights [film, dvd]
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
30/06
Big Brother 5 [tv, broadcast]
[That's better. I still think Kevin Smith's Jersey Girl is underated, but that the dvd is worth buying for the audio commentaries alome says something I suppose. There was a week's holiday in there which is why some days are really busy -- you can always tell when I had time off during the diary because the amount of things watched grows. I can pretty much recommend anything else on the list filmwise, although Unfaithful ends ludicrously and 11/09/01 - September 11 suffers some rough patches. The summer of sport began and as you can see I watched some football -- well a match. I also suffered Tim Henman v Philippoussis at Wimbledon 2004. I hadn't really thought I'd seen so much of Big Brother 5. I think it was about now I stopped watching.]
Review 2004: What I Watched #2
March
01/03
The Oscars 2004 [tv, broadcast]
The Red Shoes [film, dvd]
What's Up Tiger Lily? [film, dvd]
Sunshine State [film, dvd]
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.7/10] [tv, video]
02/03
Chain Reaction [film, dvd]
Fallen Angels: Professional Man [film, dvd]
The Gingerbread Man [film, dvd]
03/03
Hustle [2/6] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The Natural History of Fear [54] [audio play, cd]
The French Lieutenant's Woman [film, dvd]
04/03
Looney Tunes: Back In Action [film, celluloid]
05/03
e.r.: Freefall [10.8/22] [tv, video]
Kitchen Stories [film, celluloid]
21 Grams [film, celluloid]
06/03
Friends: The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits [10.5/18] [tv, video]
The China Syndrome [film, dvd]
Roxanne [film, dvd]
Alice [film, dvd]
Mighty Aphrodite [film, dvd]
07/03
Bounce [film, dvd]
Pretty In Pink [film, dvd]
Breakfast at Tiffanys [film, dvd]
08/03
Hustle [3/6] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: Merry Mayhem [6.10/24] [tv, video]
09/03
The 400 Blows [film, dvd]
10/03
Les Enfants Du Paradis [film, dvd]
11/03
A Bout De Souffle [film, dvd]
12/03
Le Mepris [film, dvd]
Friends: The One Ross's Grant [10.6/18] [tv, video]
13/03
Three Colours White [film, dvd]
Dawson's Creek: Day Out of Days [6.11/24] [tv, video]
14/03
e.r.: Missing [10.9/22] [tv, video]
Zatoichi [film, celluloid]
Location, Location, Location [tv, broadcast]
K19: The Widowmaker [film, dvd]
15/03
Serendipity [film, video]
16/03
Three Colours Red [film, dvd]
Hustle [4/6] [tv, video]
17/03
Pleasure At Her Majesty's [theatre, dvd]
Mermaid Frolics [theatre, dvd]
Conspiracy Theory [film, dvd]
e.r.: Makemba [10.10/22] [tv, video]
18/03
Doctor Who: The Twilight Kingdom [55] [audio play, cd]
U-Turn [film, dvd]
19/03
Emma [film, dvd]
Three Colours Blue [film, dvd]
Friends: The One With The Home Study [10.7/18] [tv, video]
20/03
The Hunt For Red October [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child [1.1.1/4] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: All The Right Moves [6.12/24] [tv, video]
High Fidelity [film, dvd]
21/03
Doctor Who: The Cave of Skulls [1.1.2/4] [tv, video]
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy [film, dvd]
Radio Days [film, dvd]
22/03
Doctor Who: The Forest of Fear [1.1.3/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The Firemaker [1.1.4/4] [tv, video]
P.R.O.B.E.: The Devil Of Winterborne [tv, video]
Hustle [5/6] [tv, video]
23/03
Doctor Who: The Dead Planet [1.2.1/7] [tv, video]
Bande a Part [film, dvd]
Duets [film, dvd]
24/03
Doctor Who: The Survivors [1.2.2/7] [tv, video]
Wild Strawberries [film, dvd]
e.r.: Touch and Go [10.11/22] [tv, video]
25/03
Doctor Who: The Escape [1.2.3/7] [tv, video]
Great Expectations [film, dvd]
26/03
Doctor Who: The Ambush [1.2.4/7] [tv, video]
Barry Lyndon [film, dvd]
Friends: The One With The Late Thanksgiving [11.8/18] [tv, broadcast]
27/03
Doctor Who: The Expedition [1.2.5/7] [tv, video]
Sheryl Crow: The Very Best of Videos [film, dvd]
28/03
Doctor Who: The Ordeal [1.2.6/7] [tv, video]
29/03
Doctor Who: The Rescue [1.2.7/7] [tv, video]
Cabaret [film, dvd]
30/03
Along Came Polly [film, celluloid]
Mona Lisa Smile [film, celluloid]
The Passion of the Christ [film, celluloid]
31/03
Gallifrey: Weapon of Choice [1.1/4] [audio drama, cd]
The Very Best of Have I Got News For You [tv, dvd]
Hustle [6/6] [tv, video]
e.r.: NICU [10.12/22] [tv, video]
[Look at all the Doctor Who. If I wasn't listening to the increasingly experimental Big Finish audios I was watching early Hartnell. I think it was around this time that all systems were go on the new series and I got the urge. Just to clear up that I've included some audio material in this list because although granted I haven't 'watched' it in the traditional sense the imagination is a pretty good place to screen things. I didn't watch much television otherwise, just the usual dates, although the e.r. episode 'NICU' was a highlight as Abby and Neela served a three-week rotation in the baby care unit and whole episode told the story of that time cleverly demonstrating the build up in confidence in the nurses, a credit to Maura Tierney and Parminder Nagra.
You'll notice it's in this month that the films I'm watching become somewhat more ecclectic. That's because this was when I signed up to the video-hire-by-post service ScreenSelect and started to fill the list with things I'd always wanted to get around to seeing. Although I was pretty film literate before this year my recognition has increased -- not to the point that I can't get swept up in the spectacle, but it's more interesting that I can see the influences in certain things more quickly. Of the cinema releases, the film of the month is between Zatoichi and Kitchen Stories -- both succeed in telling a non-conventional story in their own terms in magical ways. I think finally I found 21 Grams and The Passion Of The Christ to be a tiring experiences.]
April
01/04
The Thin Red Line [film, dvd]
02/04
Friends: The One With The Birth Mother [10.9/18] [tv, broadcast]
03/04
New York Stories [film, dvd]
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Presentation [tv, vcd]
04/04
Dawson's Creek: Clean and Sober [6.14/24] [tv, video]
Holidays in the War Zone #1 [tv, video]
Grosse Pointe Blank [film, video]
05/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Lessons [7.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Beneath You [7.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Same Time, Same Place [7.3/22] [tv, dvd]
06/04
The Buena Vista Social Club [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Help [7.4/22] [tv, dvd]
07/04
Gallifrey: Weapon of Choice [1.1/4] [audio drama, cd]
The Moscow State Circus 2004 [circus, ring]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Selfless [7.5/22] [tv, dvd]
08/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Him [7.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Conversations With Dead People [7.7/22] [tv, dvd]
09/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Sleeper [7.8/22] [tv, dvd]
The Third Man [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Never Leave Me [7.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Bring on the Night [7.10/22] [tv, dvd]
Friends: The One Where Chandler Gets Caught [10.10/18] [tv, broadcast]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Showtime [7.11/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Potential [7.12/22] [tv, dvd]
10/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Killer in Me [7.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Arsenic and Old Lace [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: First Date [7.14/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Get it Done [7.15/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Storyteller [7.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Dirty Pretty Things [film, dvd]
11/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Lies My Parents Told Me [7.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Dirty Girls [7.18/22] [tv, dvd]
12/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Empty Places [7.19/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Touched [7.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: End of Days [7.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Chosen [7.22/22] [tv, dvd]
Dawson's Creek: Castaways [6.15/24] [tv, video]
e.r.: Get Carter [10.13/22] [tv, video]
Groundhog Day [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Wish [3.9/22] [tv, dvd]
13/04
Shaun of the Dead [film, celluloid]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Doppelgangland [3.16/22] [tv, dvd]
15/04
Serpico [film, dvd]
16/04
Welcome to Collinwood [film, dvd]
Friends: The One Where The Stripper Cries [10.11/18] [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [27.1/8] [tv, broadcast]
17/04
Eloge De L'Amour [film, dvd]
18/04
Dawson's Creek: That Was Then [6.16/24] [tv, video]
Star Trek: First Contact [film, dvd]
The Tall Guy [film, dvd]
19/04
Around The World In Eighty Days: Homeward Bound [tv, video]
20/04
Around The World In Eighty Days: Outward Bound [tv, video]
21/04
Jules et Jim [film, dvd]
A Hard Days Night [film, dvd]
22/04
e.r.: Blood Relations [10.15/22] [tv, video]
23/04
Mother Courage and Her Children [theatre, stage]
Have I Got News For You [27.2/8] [tv, video]
Firefly: Serenity Part One [1/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Serenity Part Two [2/15] [tv, dvd]
24/04
Firefly: The Train Job [3/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Bushwacked [4/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Shindig [5/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Safe [6/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Our Mrs. Reynolds [7/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Jaynestown [8/15] [tv, dvd]
25/04
Dawson's Creek: Sex and Violence [6.17/24] [tv, video]
Firefly: Out of Gas [9/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Ariel [10/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: War Stories [11/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Trash [12/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: The Message [13/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Heart of Gold [14/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Objects In Space [15/15] [tv, dvd]
26/04
Cambridge Spies [1/4] [tv, dvd]
Cambridge Spies [2/4] [tv, dvd]
Cambridge Spies [3/4] [tv, dvd]
Cambridge Spies [4/4] [tv, dvd]
27/04
Gallifrey: Square One [1.2/4] [audio drama, cd]
28/04
Friends: The One With Phoebe's Wedding [10.12/18] [tv, broadcast]
Alias: Truth be Told [1.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: So it Begins [1.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Parity [1.3/22] [tv, dvd]
29/04
e.r.: Forgive and Forget [13.16/22] [tv, video]
Office Space [film, video]
Happy Birthday BBC2 [tv, video]
30/04
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [film, celluloid]
Vol. 2 [film, celluloid]
Have I Got News For You [27.3/8] [tv, broadcast]
Alias: A Broken Heart [1.4/22] [tv, dvd]
[I suppose you could call this a Joss Whedon of a month. As well as rewatching the last season of Buffy I was turned into a jibbering wreck by the arrival of Firefly with all the incomprensible attempts to explain its appeal to others. That was a 'busy' weekend as you can tell. And I started on Alias for the first time and enjoyed that for different reasons -- an odd experience just after Cambridge Spies though. On reflection it's funny that so many of my best films of the year were released this early -- there's Shaun of the Dead and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind already. I'd forgotten I'd seen the latter in a double bill with the second helping of Kill Bill but kind of explains why I was so underwhelmed by that. I think I'll re-appraise when the two sections of the film are unified. Not having to sit through the disappointment of The Moscow State Circus 2004 could spoil a month like this.]
01/03
The Oscars 2004 [tv, broadcast]
The Red Shoes [film, dvd]
What's Up Tiger Lily? [film, dvd]
Sunshine State [film, dvd]
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.7/10] [tv, video]
02/03
Chain Reaction [film, dvd]
Fallen Angels: Professional Man [film, dvd]
The Gingerbread Man [film, dvd]
03/03
Hustle [2/6] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The Natural History of Fear [54] [audio play, cd]
The French Lieutenant's Woman [film, dvd]
04/03
Looney Tunes: Back In Action [film, celluloid]
05/03
e.r.: Freefall [10.8/22] [tv, video]
Kitchen Stories [film, celluloid]
21 Grams [film, celluloid]
06/03
Friends: The One Where Rachel's Sister Babysits [10.5/18] [tv, video]
The China Syndrome [film, dvd]
Roxanne [film, dvd]
Alice [film, dvd]
Mighty Aphrodite [film, dvd]
07/03
Bounce [film, dvd]
Pretty In Pink [film, dvd]
Breakfast at Tiffanys [film, dvd]
08/03
Hustle [3/6] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: Merry Mayhem [6.10/24] [tv, video]
09/03
The 400 Blows [film, dvd]
10/03
Les Enfants Du Paradis [film, dvd]
11/03
A Bout De Souffle [film, dvd]
12/03
Le Mepris [film, dvd]
Friends: The One Ross's Grant [10.6/18] [tv, video]
13/03
Three Colours White [film, dvd]
Dawson's Creek: Day Out of Days [6.11/24] [tv, video]
14/03
e.r.: Missing [10.9/22] [tv, video]
Zatoichi [film, celluloid]
Location, Location, Location [tv, broadcast]
K19: The Widowmaker [film, dvd]
15/03
Serendipity [film, video]
16/03
Three Colours Red [film, dvd]
Hustle [4/6] [tv, video]
17/03
Pleasure At Her Majesty's [theatre, dvd]
Mermaid Frolics [theatre, dvd]
Conspiracy Theory [film, dvd]
e.r.: Makemba [10.10/22] [tv, video]
18/03
Doctor Who: The Twilight Kingdom [55] [audio play, cd]
U-Turn [film, dvd]
19/03
Emma [film, dvd]
Three Colours Blue [film, dvd]
Friends: The One With The Home Study [10.7/18] [tv, video]
20/03
The Hunt For Red October [film, dvd]
Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child [1.1.1/4] [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: All The Right Moves [6.12/24] [tv, video]
High Fidelity [film, dvd]
21/03
Doctor Who: The Cave of Skulls [1.1.2/4] [tv, video]
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy [film, dvd]
Radio Days [film, dvd]
22/03
Doctor Who: The Forest of Fear [1.1.3/4] [tv, video]
Doctor Who: The Firemaker [1.1.4/4] [tv, video]
P.R.O.B.E.: The Devil Of Winterborne [tv, video]
Hustle [5/6] [tv, video]
23/03
Doctor Who: The Dead Planet [1.2.1/7] [tv, video]
Bande a Part [film, dvd]
Duets [film, dvd]
24/03
Doctor Who: The Survivors [1.2.2/7] [tv, video]
Wild Strawberries [film, dvd]
e.r.: Touch and Go [10.11/22] [tv, video]
25/03
Doctor Who: The Escape [1.2.3/7] [tv, video]
Great Expectations [film, dvd]
26/03
Doctor Who: The Ambush [1.2.4/7] [tv, video]
Barry Lyndon [film, dvd]
Friends: The One With The Late Thanksgiving [11.8/18] [tv, broadcast]
27/03
Doctor Who: The Expedition [1.2.5/7] [tv, video]
Sheryl Crow: The Very Best of Videos [film, dvd]
28/03
Doctor Who: The Ordeal [1.2.6/7] [tv, video]
29/03
Doctor Who: The Rescue [1.2.7/7] [tv, video]
Cabaret [film, dvd]
30/03
Along Came Polly [film, celluloid]
Mona Lisa Smile [film, celluloid]
The Passion of the Christ [film, celluloid]
31/03
Gallifrey: Weapon of Choice [1.1/4] [audio drama, cd]
The Very Best of Have I Got News For You [tv, dvd]
Hustle [6/6] [tv, video]
e.r.: NICU [10.12/22] [tv, video]
[Look at all the Doctor Who. If I wasn't listening to the increasingly experimental Big Finish audios I was watching early Hartnell. I think it was around this time that all systems were go on the new series and I got the urge. Just to clear up that I've included some audio material in this list because although granted I haven't 'watched' it in the traditional sense the imagination is a pretty good place to screen things. I didn't watch much television otherwise, just the usual dates, although the e.r. episode 'NICU' was a highlight as Abby and Neela served a three-week rotation in the baby care unit and whole episode told the story of that time cleverly demonstrating the build up in confidence in the nurses, a credit to Maura Tierney and Parminder Nagra.
You'll notice it's in this month that the films I'm watching become somewhat more ecclectic. That's because this was when I signed up to the video-hire-by-post service ScreenSelect and started to fill the list with things I'd always wanted to get around to seeing. Although I was pretty film literate before this year my recognition has increased -- not to the point that I can't get swept up in the spectacle, but it's more interesting that I can see the influences in certain things more quickly. Of the cinema releases, the film of the month is between Zatoichi and Kitchen Stories -- both succeed in telling a non-conventional story in their own terms in magical ways. I think finally I found 21 Grams and The Passion Of The Christ to be a tiring experiences.]
April
01/04
The Thin Red Line [film, dvd]
02/04
Friends: The One With The Birth Mother [10.9/18] [tv, broadcast]
03/04
New York Stories [film, dvd]
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer Presentation [tv, vcd]
04/04
Dawson's Creek: Clean and Sober [6.14/24] [tv, video]
Holidays in the War Zone #1 [tv, video]
Grosse Pointe Blank [film, video]
05/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Lessons [7.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Beneath You [7.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Same Time, Same Place [7.3/22] [tv, dvd]
06/04
The Buena Vista Social Club [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Help [7.4/22] [tv, dvd]
07/04
Gallifrey: Weapon of Choice [1.1/4] [audio drama, cd]
The Moscow State Circus 2004 [circus, ring]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Selfless [7.5/22] [tv, dvd]
08/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Him [7.6/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Conversations With Dead People [7.7/22] [tv, dvd]
09/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Sleeper [7.8/22] [tv, dvd]
The Third Man [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Never Leave Me [7.9/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Bring on the Night [7.10/22] [tv, dvd]
Friends: The One Where Chandler Gets Caught [10.10/18] [tv, broadcast]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Showtime [7.11/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Potential [7.12/22] [tv, dvd]
10/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Killer in Me [7.13/22] [tv, dvd]
Arsenic and Old Lace [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: First Date [7.14/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Get it Done [7.15/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Storyteller [7.16/22] [tv, dvd]
Dirty Pretty Things [film, dvd]
11/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Lies My Parents Told Me [7.17/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Dirty Girls [7.18/22] [tv, dvd]
12/04
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Empty Places [7.19/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Touched [7.20/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: End of Days [7.21/22] [tv, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Chosen [7.22/22] [tv, dvd]
Dawson's Creek: Castaways [6.15/24] [tv, video]
e.r.: Get Carter [10.13/22] [tv, video]
Groundhog Day [film, dvd]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Wish [3.9/22] [tv, dvd]
13/04
Shaun of the Dead [film, celluloid]
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Doppelgangland [3.16/22] [tv, dvd]
15/04
Serpico [film, dvd]
16/04
Welcome to Collinwood [film, dvd]
Friends: The One Where The Stripper Cries [10.11/18] [tv, broadcast]
Have I Got News For You [27.1/8] [tv, broadcast]
17/04
Eloge De L'Amour [film, dvd]
18/04
Dawson's Creek: That Was Then [6.16/24] [tv, video]
Star Trek: First Contact [film, dvd]
The Tall Guy [film, dvd]
19/04
Around The World In Eighty Days: Homeward Bound [tv, video]
20/04
Around The World In Eighty Days: Outward Bound [tv, video]
21/04
Jules et Jim [film, dvd]
A Hard Days Night [film, dvd]
22/04
e.r.: Blood Relations [10.15/22] [tv, video]
23/04
Mother Courage and Her Children [theatre, stage]
Have I Got News For You [27.2/8] [tv, video]
Firefly: Serenity Part One [1/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Serenity Part Two [2/15] [tv, dvd]
24/04
Firefly: The Train Job [3/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Bushwacked [4/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Shindig [5/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Safe [6/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Our Mrs. Reynolds [7/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Jaynestown [8/15] [tv, dvd]
25/04
Dawson's Creek: Sex and Violence [6.17/24] [tv, video]
Firefly: Out of Gas [9/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Ariel [10/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: War Stories [11/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Trash [12/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: The Message [13/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Heart of Gold [14/15] [tv, dvd]
Firefly: Objects In Space [15/15] [tv, dvd]
26/04
Cambridge Spies [1/4] [tv, dvd]
Cambridge Spies [2/4] [tv, dvd]
Cambridge Spies [3/4] [tv, dvd]
Cambridge Spies [4/4] [tv, dvd]
27/04
Gallifrey: Square One [1.2/4] [audio drama, cd]
28/04
Friends: The One With Phoebe's Wedding [10.12/18] [tv, broadcast]
Alias: Truth be Told [1.1/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: So it Begins [1.2/22] [tv, dvd]
Alias: Parity [1.3/22] [tv, dvd]
29/04
e.r.: Forgive and Forget [13.16/22] [tv, video]
Office Space [film, video]
Happy Birthday BBC2 [tv, video]
30/04
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [film, celluloid]
Vol. 2 [film, celluloid]
Have I Got News For You [27.3/8] [tv, broadcast]
Alias: A Broken Heart [1.4/22] [tv, dvd]
[I suppose you could call this a Joss Whedon of a month. As well as rewatching the last season of Buffy I was turned into a jibbering wreck by the arrival of Firefly with all the incomprensible attempts to explain its appeal to others. That was a 'busy' weekend as you can tell. And I started on Alias for the first time and enjoyed that for different reasons -- an odd experience just after Cambridge Spies though. On reflection it's funny that so many of my best films of the year were released this early -- there's Shaun of the Dead and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind already. I'd forgotten I'd seen the latter in a double bill with the second helping of Kill Bill but kind of explains why I was so underwhelmed by that. I think I'll re-appraise when the two sections of the film are unified. Not having to sit through the disappointment of The Moscow State Circus 2004 could spoil a month like this.]
Review 2004: What I watched #1
Introduction
I don't read enough books. I keep being mistaken for someone who is really well read when in fact I can only think about fifteen books I actually finished this year and most of those were about film. I read two fiction books this year and both were television spin-offs. I'm disappointed with myself because I want to be that person who is able to talk about their favourite authors and genres but anything I can contribute is secondhand knowledge based on reading reviews and interviews. I spend most of my time reading newspapers and magazines.
I know why the paperback shortfall exists. It's because I can be an extraordinarily slow reader. The time I devote to the pursuit on a daily basis is minimal, but also I tend to turn the pages at a snails pace not wanting to miss anything important. This stems to a degree from school when I used to read very quickly and ignored lots of important things I might have needed to know to pass exams. But the final tragic reason is that I have a horrifically low attention span. My mind is darting off in all kinds of directions all the time and I get distracted all too easily. It's for this reason I have a habit of starting personal projects and never finishing them -- there is always something more interesting happening.
It's with this in mind I've quietly realised why film is my art form of choice. I can go and sit in a darkened room with the screen flicker and provided people aren't talking whatever I can concentrate and get through to the end of the experience without interuptions -- I'm basically forced to pay attention, even if the film is bad. But there is also a narrative shorthand to film -- whereas a book will take days to read and so the story will effectively last that long, the incidents of a film are generally reach a satisfying conclusion in two hours. It's from these two realisations that this review of the year sprang. This is a project which I've felt I couldn't abandon. And it was a way for me to finally have a record of a year in my life.
Since the beginning of January I've been keeping a diary of every film, television programme, concert and theatre production I've made a point of seeing. Over the next six days I'll be posting the diary commenting on what I loved or hated and whether it's been time well spent. It's been an audacious task, especially since I've also included hyperlinks to explanatory websites, official and not.
Here is what I watched in 2004.
Before I began I set myself some ground rules which should make sense of what you're about to see. I would only make a note of anything I made a conscious decision to see. I watch the news headlines every day and might catch parts of programmes during meals but they're on a passive basis. Similarly I would only include things which I completed watching. If I didn't see the whole thing it wouldn't go in. Finally dvd extras (including audio commentaries) would generally be left off unless they were a coherent piece of art in their own right. This all undoubtedly stopped the diary from being a complete and true view of the year, but I wanted to reduce the noise and repetition. In the appendix at the end there'll be some notes outlining anything worth noting.
So we start with ...
January
03/01
Dawson's Creek: The Kids Are Alright [6.1/24] [tv, video]
Day and Night [tv, video]
04/01
The Shining [film, video]
05/01
Kes [film, video]
06/01
Lord of the Flies [film, video]
07/01
Drugstore Cowboy [film, video]
09/01
Touching The Void [film, celluloid]
10/01
Britain's Best Sitcoms [tv, broadcast]
11/01
Dawson's Creek: The Song Remains the Same [6.2/24] [tv, video]
12/01
Days That Shook The World: Chernobyl [tv, broadcast]
Cathy Come Home [tv, video]
13/01
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.2/10][tv, video]
14/01
1984 [tv, video]
15/01
Big Fish [film celluloid]
16/01
The Alan Clarke Diaries: March of the Grey Men [1/6] [tv, video]
17/01
Live Flesh [film, video]
Urban Soul [tv, video]
Later On ... Nu Soul [music, video]
India Arie Live [music, video]
18/01
Britain's Best Sitcoms: Black Adder [tv, video]
Aimee and Jaguar [film, video]
Marathon Man [film, video]
19/01
Quatermass 2 [film, video]
Rock Family Trees: Prog Rock [tv, broadcast]
20/01
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.3/10] [tv, video]
Dante Quartet : Mozart Quartet, K428 [music, live concert]
Dante Quartet : Szymanowski Quartet No. 2 [music, live concert]
Dante Quartet : Brahms Quartet Opus 51, No. 2 [music, live concert]
21/01
The Girl With The Pearl Earring [film, celluloid]
Lost In Translation [film, celluloid]
22/01
Time Shifts: Prog Rock [tv, video]
23/01
Doctor Who: The Creed of the Kromon [53] [audio play, cd]
Winged Migration [film, celluloid]
24/01
The Alan Clarke Diaries: The Lady [2/6] [tv, video]
75 Years Of The BBC [radio, cassette]
Good Food Bites [tv, broadcast]
Martha Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence [film, DVD]
25/01
Dawson's Creek: 'instant karma! [6.4/24] [tv, video]
Throne of Blood [film, video]
Britain's Best Sitcoms: Fawlty Towers [2/10] [tv, video]
Blackadder Goes Forth: Goodbyee [6/6] [tv, video]
American Splendor [film, celluloid]
26/01
Last Resort [film, video]
Holidays In The Danger Zone: The Stans [1/2] [tv, video]
27/01
Holidays In The Danger Zone: The Stans [2/2] [tv, video]
Holidays in the Axis of Evil [1/2] [tv, video]
Holidays in the Axis of Evil [2/2] [tv, video]
28/01
Cats [musical, video]
29/01
e.r.: Dear Abby [10.3/22] [tv, video]
The Young Visiters [tv, video]
30/01
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Foreign Parts [3/6] [tv, video]
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace [1/6] [tv, video]
31/01
Final Demand [1/2] [tv, video]
I'm Dreaming of a TV Christmas [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: The Imposters [6.5/24] [tv, video]
The Hour of the Wolf [film, video]
[Big Fish looks like a forgotten film -- which is a shame because time and again it offered magic. Cathy Come Home is still a devastating film all these years later, perhaps because although the social problems it examines have changed slightly, the human consequences have not. I'm still in two minds about Touching The Void -- it's undoubtedly a brilliantly made film, but I couldn't quite forget that this was life being needlessly put at risk -- they didn't need to be there. It's intriguing to consider that Scarlett Johannson is still one of the faces of the year even though the two films she's really known for appeared in January -- it doesn't take much to leave a long impression. On television, I'd forgotten about Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and seemed to at the time because unfortunately this was the only episode I saw. I was working my way through a backlog of Holidays In The Danger Zone at the time as well as new seasons of e.r. and Dawson's Creek. What were you watching?]
February
01/02
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind [film, dvd]
On The Waterfront [film, video]
Hard Eight [film, video]
02/02
Stealing Beauty [tv, broadcast]
03/02
Stephen Hough: Liszt and Hummel [music, live concert]
04/02
Pet Shop Boys: It Couldn't Happen Here [tv, video]
A Mighty Wind [film, celluloid]
05/02
Ten Minutes Older: The Cello [film, celluloid]
e.r.: Shifts Happen [10.4/22] [tv, video]
06/02
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Defence of the Realm [4/6] [tv, video]
Sea of Souls [1.1/2] [tv, video]
Sea of Souls [1.2/2] [tv, video]
Friends: The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss [10.1/18] [tv, broadcast]
08/02
Angels in America [1/2] [tv, video]
09/02
Angels in America [2/2] [tv, video]
10/02
School of Rock [film, celluloid]
The Runaway Jury [film, celluloid]
Love Actually [film, celluloid]
Time Shift: Hard Drive Heaven [tv, video]
Trigger Happy: The Irresistible Rise Of The Video Game [tv, broadcast]
Tetris: From Russia With Love [tv, broadcast]
11/02
Sea of Souls [2.1/2] [tv, video]
e.r.: Out of Africa [10.5/22] [tv, video]
12/02
Sea of Souls [2.2/2] [tv, video]
The Dreamers [film, celluloid]
13/02
Bertolucci Makes The Dreamers [tv, video]
Run Lola Run [film, DVD]
Friends: The One Were Ross Is Fine [10.2/18] [tv, broadcast]
14/02
Dawson's Creek: Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell [6.7/24] [tv, video]
Apocalypse Now Redux [film, dvd]
15/02
Jonathan Creek: The Seer of the Sands [5.1/3] [tv, video]
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Into The Wilderness [5/6] [tv, video]
Être et Avoir [film, video]
The Orange Bafta Film Awards 2004 [tv, broadcast]
16/02
Time Team: The Big Dig
The Man Without A Past [film, video]
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.5/10][tv, broadcast]
17/02
Kandahar [film, video]
Belleville Rendez-Vous [film, video]
18/02
BBC Four World Cinema Awards 2004 [tv, video]
Le Regle Du Jeu [film, dvd]
19/02
e.r.: The Greater Good [10.6/22] [tv, video]
Scene by Scene: Le Regle Du Jeu [tv, dvd]
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Leaving Home [6/6] [tv, broadcast]
20/02
Friends: The One with Ross's Fake Tan [10.3/18] [tv, broadcast]
Sex and the City: The Cold War [6.17/20] [tv, broadcast]
21/02
Take Care of My Cat [film, video]
Sea of Souls [3.1/2] [tv, video]
Sea of Souls [3.2/2] [tv, video]
Jonathan Creek: The Chequered Box [5.2/3] [tv, broadcast]
22/02
Head Over Heals [film, video]
Amores Perros [film, video]
Fail Safe [tv, dvd]
Brief Encounter [film, dvd]
23/02
Battlestar Galactica [tv, video]
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.6/10][tv, video]
24/02
Hustle [1/6] [tv, video]
25/02
Three Sisters [theatre, video]
26/02
On An Average Day [theatre, video]
27/02
Friends: The One With The Cake [10.4/18] [tv, broadcast]
28/02
e.r.: Death and Taxes [10.7/22] [tv, video]
House of Sand and Fog [film, celluloid]
Bring It On [film, dvd]
29/02
Jonathan Creek: Gorgon's Wood [5.3/3] [tv, video]
Platoon [film, dvd]
We Were Soldiers [film, dvd]
Saving Private Ryan [film, dvd]
[Sea of Souls billed itself as a British X-Files and although it was intriguing in patches, overall it felt a little tired, presumably because Mulder and Scully had taken their flashlights there first. Much better was Hustle which managed to be entertaining in the right places without that feeling of a need to try and say anything important which ruins similar shows. The Alan Clarke Diaries completed its run without a misstep and I managed to sit through all six hours of Angels In America feeling as long as everyone of its 360 minutes. It was a busy time at the cinema with the excellent A Mighty Wind, School of Rock and The Runaway Jury (and Love Actually spoiling it for everybody). I just want to point out two entries, for Bertolluci's The Dreamers and Renoir's Le Regle Du Jeu. The former engaged an interest in French New Wave films which would continue for the rest of the year, and the latter was my first dvd rental by post the means by which I'd end up seeing all those Parisian films.]
I don't read enough books. I keep being mistaken for someone who is really well read when in fact I can only think about fifteen books I actually finished this year and most of those were about film. I read two fiction books this year and both were television spin-offs. I'm disappointed with myself because I want to be that person who is able to talk about their favourite authors and genres but anything I can contribute is secondhand knowledge based on reading reviews and interviews. I spend most of my time reading newspapers and magazines.
I know why the paperback shortfall exists. It's because I can be an extraordinarily slow reader. The time I devote to the pursuit on a daily basis is minimal, but also I tend to turn the pages at a snails pace not wanting to miss anything important. This stems to a degree from school when I used to read very quickly and ignored lots of important things I might have needed to know to pass exams. But the final tragic reason is that I have a horrifically low attention span. My mind is darting off in all kinds of directions all the time and I get distracted all too easily. It's for this reason I have a habit of starting personal projects and never finishing them -- there is always something more interesting happening.
It's with this in mind I've quietly realised why film is my art form of choice. I can go and sit in a darkened room with the screen flicker and provided people aren't talking whatever I can concentrate and get through to the end of the experience without interuptions -- I'm basically forced to pay attention, even if the film is bad. But there is also a narrative shorthand to film -- whereas a book will take days to read and so the story will effectively last that long, the incidents of a film are generally reach a satisfying conclusion in two hours. It's from these two realisations that this review of the year sprang. This is a project which I've felt I couldn't abandon. And it was a way for me to finally have a record of a year in my life.
Since the beginning of January I've been keeping a diary of every film, television programme, concert and theatre production I've made a point of seeing. Over the next six days I'll be posting the diary commenting on what I loved or hated and whether it's been time well spent. It's been an audacious task, especially since I've also included hyperlinks to explanatory websites, official and not.
Here is what I watched in 2004.
Before I began I set myself some ground rules which should make sense of what you're about to see. I would only make a note of anything I made a conscious decision to see. I watch the news headlines every day and might catch parts of programmes during meals but they're on a passive basis. Similarly I would only include things which I completed watching. If I didn't see the whole thing it wouldn't go in. Finally dvd extras (including audio commentaries) would generally be left off unless they were a coherent piece of art in their own right. This all undoubtedly stopped the diary from being a complete and true view of the year, but I wanted to reduce the noise and repetition. In the appendix at the end there'll be some notes outlining anything worth noting.
So we start with ...
January
03/01
Dawson's Creek: The Kids Are Alright [6.1/24] [tv, video]
Day and Night [tv, video]
04/01
The Shining [film, video]
05/01
Kes [film, video]
06/01
Lord of the Flies [film, video]
07/01
Drugstore Cowboy [film, video]
09/01
Touching The Void [film, celluloid]
10/01
Britain's Best Sitcoms [tv, broadcast]
11/01
Dawson's Creek: The Song Remains the Same [6.2/24] [tv, video]
12/01
Days That Shook The World: Chernobyl [tv, broadcast]
Cathy Come Home [tv, video]
13/01
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.2/10][tv, video]
14/01
1984 [tv, video]
15/01
Big Fish [film celluloid]
16/01
The Alan Clarke Diaries: March of the Grey Men [1/6] [tv, video]
17/01
Live Flesh [film, video]
Urban Soul [tv, video]
Later On ... Nu Soul [music, video]
India Arie Live [music, video]
18/01
Britain's Best Sitcoms: Black Adder [tv, video]
Aimee and Jaguar [film, video]
Marathon Man [film, video]
19/01
Quatermass 2 [film, video]
Rock Family Trees: Prog Rock [tv, broadcast]
20/01
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.3/10] [tv, video]
Dante Quartet : Mozart Quartet, K428 [music, live concert]
Dante Quartet : Szymanowski Quartet No. 2 [music, live concert]
Dante Quartet : Brahms Quartet Opus 51, No. 2 [music, live concert]
21/01
The Girl With The Pearl Earring [film, celluloid]
Lost In Translation [film, celluloid]
22/01
Time Shifts: Prog Rock [tv, video]
23/01
Doctor Who: The Creed of the Kromon [53] [audio play, cd]
Winged Migration [film, celluloid]
24/01
The Alan Clarke Diaries: The Lady [2/6] [tv, video]
75 Years Of The BBC [radio, cassette]
Good Food Bites [tv, broadcast]
Martha Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence [film, DVD]
25/01
Dawson's Creek: 'instant karma! [6.4/24] [tv, video]
Throne of Blood [film, video]
Britain's Best Sitcoms: Fawlty Towers [2/10] [tv, video]
Blackadder Goes Forth: Goodbyee [6/6] [tv, video]
American Splendor [film, celluloid]
26/01
Last Resort [film, video]
Holidays In The Danger Zone: The Stans [1/2] [tv, video]
27/01
Holidays In The Danger Zone: The Stans [2/2] [tv, video]
Holidays in the Axis of Evil [1/2] [tv, video]
Holidays in the Axis of Evil [2/2] [tv, video]
28/01
Cats [musical, video]
29/01
e.r.: Dear Abby [10.3/22] [tv, video]
The Young Visiters [tv, video]
30/01
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Foreign Parts [3/6] [tv, video]
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace [1/6] [tv, video]
31/01
Final Demand [1/2] [tv, video]
I'm Dreaming of a TV Christmas [tv, video]
Dawson's Creek: The Imposters [6.5/24] [tv, video]
The Hour of the Wolf [film, video]
[Big Fish looks like a forgotten film -- which is a shame because time and again it offered magic. Cathy Come Home is still a devastating film all these years later, perhaps because although the social problems it examines have changed slightly, the human consequences have not. I'm still in two minds about Touching The Void -- it's undoubtedly a brilliantly made film, but I couldn't quite forget that this was life being needlessly put at risk -- they didn't need to be there. It's intriguing to consider that Scarlett Johannson is still one of the faces of the year even though the two films she's really known for appeared in January -- it doesn't take much to leave a long impression. On television, I'd forgotten about Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and seemed to at the time because unfortunately this was the only episode I saw. I was working my way through a backlog of Holidays In The Danger Zone at the time as well as new seasons of e.r. and Dawson's Creek. What were you watching?]
February
01/02
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind [film, dvd]
On The Waterfront [film, video]
Hard Eight [film, video]
02/02
Stealing Beauty [tv, broadcast]
03/02
Stephen Hough: Liszt and Hummel [music, live concert]
04/02
Pet Shop Boys: It Couldn't Happen Here [tv, video]
A Mighty Wind [film, celluloid]
05/02
Ten Minutes Older: The Cello [film, celluloid]
e.r.: Shifts Happen [10.4/22] [tv, video]
06/02
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Defence of the Realm [4/6] [tv, video]
Sea of Souls [1.1/2] [tv, video]
Sea of Souls [1.2/2] [tv, video]
Friends: The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss [10.1/18] [tv, broadcast]
08/02
Angels in America [1/2] [tv, video]
09/02
Angels in America [2/2] [tv, video]
10/02
School of Rock [film, celluloid]
The Runaway Jury [film, celluloid]
Love Actually [film, celluloid]
Time Shift: Hard Drive Heaven [tv, video]
Trigger Happy: The Irresistible Rise Of The Video Game [tv, broadcast]
Tetris: From Russia With Love [tv, broadcast]
11/02
Sea of Souls [2.1/2] [tv, video]
e.r.: Out of Africa [10.5/22] [tv, video]
12/02
Sea of Souls [2.2/2] [tv, video]
The Dreamers [film, celluloid]
13/02
Bertolucci Makes The Dreamers [tv, video]
Run Lola Run [film, DVD]
Friends: The One Were Ross Is Fine [10.2/18] [tv, broadcast]
14/02
Dawson's Creek: Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell [6.7/24] [tv, video]
Apocalypse Now Redux [film, dvd]
15/02
Jonathan Creek: The Seer of the Sands [5.1/3] [tv, video]
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Into The Wilderness [5/6] [tv, video]
Être et Avoir [film, video]
The Orange Bafta Film Awards 2004 [tv, broadcast]
16/02
Time Team: The Big Dig
The Man Without A Past [film, video]
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.5/10][tv, broadcast]
17/02
Kandahar [film, video]
Belleville Rendez-Vous [film, video]
18/02
BBC Four World Cinema Awards 2004 [tv, video]
Le Regle Du Jeu [film, dvd]
19/02
e.r.: The Greater Good [10.6/22] [tv, video]
Scene by Scene: Le Regle Du Jeu [tv, dvd]
The Alan Clarke Diaries: Leaving Home [6/6] [tv, broadcast]
20/02
Friends: The One with Ross's Fake Tan [10.3/18] [tv, broadcast]
Sex and the City: The Cold War [6.17/20] [tv, broadcast]
21/02
Take Care of My Cat [film, video]
Sea of Souls [3.1/2] [tv, video]
Sea of Souls [3.2/2] [tv, video]
Jonathan Creek: The Chequered Box [5.2/3] [tv, broadcast]
22/02
Head Over Heals [film, video]
Amores Perros [film, video]
Fail Safe [tv, dvd]
Brief Encounter [film, dvd]
23/02
Battlestar Galactica [tv, video]
Never Mind The Buzzcocks [14.6/10][tv, video]
24/02
Hustle [1/6] [tv, video]
25/02
Three Sisters [theatre, video]
26/02
On An Average Day [theatre, video]
27/02
Friends: The One With The Cake [10.4/18] [tv, broadcast]
28/02
e.r.: Death and Taxes [10.7/22] [tv, video]
House of Sand and Fog [film, celluloid]
Bring It On [film, dvd]
29/02
Jonathan Creek: Gorgon's Wood [5.3/3] [tv, video]
Platoon [film, dvd]
We Were Soldiers [film, dvd]
Saving Private Ryan [film, dvd]
[Sea of Souls billed itself as a British X-Files and although it was intriguing in patches, overall it felt a little tired, presumably because Mulder and Scully had taken their flashlights there first. Much better was Hustle which managed to be entertaining in the right places without that feeling of a need to try and say anything important which ruins similar shows. The Alan Clarke Diaries completed its run without a misstep and I managed to sit through all six hours of Angels In America feeling as long as everyone of its 360 minutes. It was a busy time at the cinema with the excellent A Mighty Wind, School of Rock and The Runaway Jury (and Love Actually spoiling it for everybody). I just want to point out two entries, for Bertolluci's The Dreamers and Renoir's Le Regle Du Jeu. The former engaged an interest in French New Wave films which would continue for the rest of the year, and the latter was my first dvd rental by post the means by which I'd end up seeing all those Parisian films.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)