A number of blogs on my blogroll (including three by elected LibDems) are nominated in the Guardian’s Backbencher Political Weblog Awards. Vote away!

This was going to be a thoughtful consideration of the effect of the new series of Doctor Who (3 days to go!) on fans’ views of the 1996 TV movie but Blogger ate that when my internet connection disconnected itself. I’ll briefly summarise what I wrote.

The basic premise was that the new series has inherited the goodwill directed towards the McGann TV movie. (New series trailer on BBC Four as I type.) I re-watched the TV movie last night and all the benefit of the doubt I had given it in the past melted away. Direction aside (it’s one of the better directed Who stories), it was rubbish. The plot in particular, constructed from technobabble about beryllium atomic clocks, alarm clocks and midnight was rubbish; it begins with the wrong character (the Doctor instead of Grace, the audience’s viewpoint character). The opening narration and squeaky Daleks are naff. McCoy and McGann both overact in places. The gloss production tries and fails to hide a seriously ropy story.

Where the TV movie felt written by a committee, the new series has a clear guiding concept from Russell Davies. Fans might hate it. We may convince ourselves we like it to hide our disappointment. But the trailers, magazine previews, newspaper articles and TV features suggest otherwise. This time Doctor Who is back, and it really is about time.

Simon Pegg’s Stalker is hoping to have seen all of the IMDb‘s Top 100 films by the end of the year. With 25% to go, that’s a reasonable but achievable task. I’m shocked to discover that I’ve not seen 56 of these films.

Looking through the list, though, there are a number which I’ve taken a conscious decision in the past not to watch. The Shawshank Redemption has never appealed to me. Nor have Casablanca or The Matrix (does the latter make me a faux geek?). Still, there are a handful I’d like to watch so I’ll aim to have seen more than half of the list by the end of the year.

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
4. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
5. Shichinin no samurai (1954) (The Seven Samurai)
6. Casablanca (1942)
7. Schindler’s List (1993)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
9. Citizen Kane (1941)
10. Star Wars (1977)
11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
12. Pulp Fiction (1994)
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
14. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
15. Rear Window (1954)
16. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
17. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly)
18. The Usual Suspects (1995)
19. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
20. Cidade de Deus (2002)
21. 12 Angry Men (1957)
22. Memento (2000)
23. Psycho (1960)
24. C’era una volta il West (1968)
25. North by Northwest (1959)
26. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
27. Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le (2001)
28. Goodfellas (1990)
29. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
30. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
31. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
32. American Beauty (1999)
33. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
34. Apocalypse Now (1979)
35. The Matrix (1999)
36. Paths of Glory (1957)
37. Fight Club (1999)
38. Vertigo (1958)
39. The Third Man (1949)
40. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) (Spirited Away)
41. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
42. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
43. Double Indemnity (1944)
44. Boot, Das (1981)
45. Taxi Driver (1976)
46. M (1931)
47. The Pianist (2002)
48. Rashômon (1950)
49. Se7en (1995)
50. All About Eve (1950)
51. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
52. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
53. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
54. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
55. Chinatown (1974)
56. Some Like It Hot (1959)
57. L.A. Confidential (1997)
58. Léon (1994)
59. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
60. Alien (1979)
61. American History X (1998)
62. Modern Times (1936)
63. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
64. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
65. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
66. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
67. The Sting (1973)
68. On the Waterfront (1954)
69. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
70. Raging Bull (1980)
71. Ran (1985)
72. Amadeus (1984)
73. Vita è bella, La (1997)
74. Touch of Evil (1958)
75. The Great Escape (1963)
76. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
77. City Lights (1931)
78. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
79. The Apartment (1960)
80. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
81. Metropolis (1927)
82. The Shining (1980)
83. High Noon (1952)
84. Jaws (1975)
85. Aliens (1986)
86. Finding Nemo (2003)
87. Annie Hall (1977)
88. Braveheart (1995)
89. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
90. Wo hu cang long (2000) (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
91. Fargo (1996)
92. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
93. Oldboy (2003)
94. Yojimbo (1961)
95. The Incredibles (2004)
96. Blade Runner (1982)
97. Strangers on a Train (1951)
98. Donnie Darko (2001)
99. The Sixth Sense (1999)
100. The Princess Bride (1987)

I recently wrote to my MP, Eric Joyce, about the Elect the Lords campaign. I told him I was supporting the campaign, gave him my reasons, and asked him his views and to give his support if he agreed. I also asked him to forward my letter to the Lord Chancellor.

Last week I got a reply. Here is the substance of it.

I have written on your behalf to The RT Hon,[sic] Lord Falconer of Thornton[sic] QC, as you requested and I will contact you again on receipt of his response.

That’s it. No comment on the issue at all, not even an “I’m yet to decide” (i.e., “I’m yet to be told what to think”). But that shouldn’t be a surprise since Joyce is one of the Guardian‘s Top Toadies.