Anyway, it’s as good a reason as any to put together this – my top eleven Amsoft games you completely forgot existed, unless you didn’t forget they existed, in which case this is my top eleven Amsoft games you totally can remember existed. Regardless, I’m pretty sure writing this means my Amstrad’s now tax-deductible, so that’s ace. 11. Sultan’s Maze This game is dreadful to play, and has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever but, back when it came out, the ability to enter a 3D-world, albeit one that consists solely of green walls to stare at, was completely mind-blowing....

Disappointing series endings. I’ve been privy to a few in my televisual viewing time. Curb Your Enthusiasm has a particular habit of failing to match what’s gone before with series closers, third series The Grand Opening apart, and I mention that here as Steve Coogan has shown his admiration for that series in the past. Indeed, I wonder if that had any bearing on his desire to go improv for The Trip....

2.6 Plan B Katherine promises to love Mason even after he gives her the moon stone, while Elena and Stefan promise to love and help each other regardless of Katherines threats. Jeremy goes to Damon to help with the moonstone/werewolf debacle. Alaric, Damon and Jeremy, then discuss the significance of the moon stone which is that it can possibly be used to null the werewolf curse. The ever helpful powers of Bonnie show that Katherine is in cahoots with Mason....

4.23 Graduation Connor, Vaughn and Rebekah’s ex (do any of us even remember his name?) also try their best to get the cure from our gang, placing poor Matt on a explosive pressure plate, threatening to blow up the Mystic Grill and forcing Damon to take them to Silas’ watery grave. Nothing works, least of all an attempt by vengeful witches on Caroline’s life, interrupted by Klaus, and everyone walks away relatively intact....

6.6 The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get And the show knows it too – Damon and Elena’s love story had hit a dead end and now the writers are desperately trying to dig a new road for them to go down. There are rumours everywhere that one of the central trio will be exiting at the end of this season, and this move either means that it’ll be one of them (the most likely) or that we’re supposed to be rooting for the union again in time for Stefan to make a swift exit....

Director and artist Hayao Miyazaki’s films have long shown us glimpses of the romance and freedom of flying, from the gliding heroine in Nausicaa to the gravity-defying ironclads of Laputa and beyond. It’s fitting, then, that what Miyazaki has firmly stated is his final movie, The Wind Rises, should place that subject at the forefront of its story. Based on the life of Japanese engineer Jiro Horikoshi and how he came to create the formidable Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane, The Wind Rises is an animated drama that is both intimate and grand....

The thing that annoyed me about the film even before I’d seen it was the dialogue. It was patently wrong, a repeat of the Reservoir Dogs debacle. Going to kill someone is nerve-wracking, if only because they might try to kill you themselves. It is not where you talk about what a Big Mac is called in France. You don’t stand outside a door with a gun in your hand and discuss foot rubs....

End Of The Road Picking up directly from the ending of the terrific Immortal Sins, End Of The Road is a bit more formulaic in its approach, albeit still retaining touches of old Torchwood to it. But heck, it does get through a lot of work. Angelo, for starters. We’ve only known him for just over an episode, and he’s already one of the pivotal forces in Miracle Day. He’s loved and watched Jack his whole life, we learn, in spite of going off and having a family....

What they find on their arrival is not the idyllic Deep South backwater they love, but a town ravaged by the hunt for Sam Merlotte. The streets are strewn with trash, residents are beating their heads against walls or throwing themselves in front of cars – it’s fun sharing a town with Maryann. Particularly when she’s going all out on the décor for Sam’s ritual sacrifice, including a no expense spared totem to the devil complete with fresh flowers, feathers and, of course, the flesh of dead animals....

Life as a host in Westworld is no longer one continuous loop. An AI-led coup brought an explosive end to the first season of HBO’s prestige drama, opening the world for its synthetic beings beyond their sprawling Western-themed box. At the forefront of the host uprising stood the women of Westworld. By the finale’s end, Dolores, Maeve, and Clementine were putting fear into the eyes of any human working in Robert Ford’s fantasy factory....

Ultimate Spider-Man represents the best of the bunch so far. Utilizing story arcs of the Ultimate comic storyline, this 2005 Activision game was a much-needed upgrade to movie licensed Spider-Man 2, which introduced a revolutionary free-roam, web-slinging system to Spidey gaming lore. Unfortunately for that game, most of the thrills were gone once missions started; the best part of the game was, simply, exploring a virtual New York City. Ultimate Spider-Man could get bumped off its perch when Insomniac Games releases Spider-Man for the PS4 next year; early gameplay videos look slick and exciting....

It began on the way to work, with my final Crappy Meal. My hour and 30 minute commute got the best of me, and before you knew it, I was pounding down fast food drive thru fare. My guilt was immediate, and the food wasn’t good, but it filled a void. I’m starting to think that food will be my biggest obstacle in all of this. Thankfully, even after my flawed morning, I was back on the wagon and ready to go....

But as the title of this column shows, it is an aim of mine to show that this term is somewhat outdated and outmoded, despite the ease of use it has. To that end, enjoy or decry the films I’ll discuss, but be pleased that we have the option to explore and discover them, or re-visit and cherish them, and not be forced to have Hollywood or nothing. Upcoming Releases Wild Grass The latest from veteran French new-wave filmmaker Alain Resnais (perhaps most famous for his seminal Hiroshima Mon Amour, an incredible work well worth checking out), this film tells the tale of a lost wallet, and the romantic entanglements that its return leads to....

Wynonna Earp Season 2, Episode 3 If Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a kid, it would be this show — or at least this episode, which takes Wynonna back to high school when a former star hockey player is killed during homecoming. The supernatural mystery-of-the-week is a bit more complicated than that — the 2007 hockey team made a deal with a Marzanoik demon who is back to collect his debt — but it is really all about nostalgia....

This list is by no means a ranking. These are just a few that I personally like and get me pumped. If you’ve got an inspiring theme song I missed, throw it in the comments for everyone. Degrassi: The Next Generation While this song about ten zillion iterations (no seriously, we did a whole article about it), I’m going with the early version simply for the gospel style singer doing backup vocals....

24 Season 8 – 3:00-4:00am After last week’s reveal of Tarin’s true nature, we all knew that President’s Hassan’s daughter was just so much terrorist ransom material, and thanks to a stubborn NYPD SWAT sergeant, Tarin is alerted to the presence of the approaching authorities, and proceeds to kidnap his ‘beloved’. The NYPD, wearing amazingly ineffective Kevlar vests, possibly from a discount superstore, are quickly dispatched with one or two pistol shots, and Tarin escapes with the President’s daughter in tow....

Day 8: 4:00-6:00pm Another year has dawned, and along with it comes a new day in the life of everyone’s favourite anti-terrorist operative, and possibly the hardest man in the universe, Jack Bauer. Few could argue Jack’s credentials for the post of Mr Badass 2010. I mean, come on! He’s not only killed more bad guys than I’ve had hot and/or cold dinners, but he’s been shot, stabbed, recovered from a heroin addiction, been tortured, and even been pronounced clinically dead....

There are, inevitably, spoilers here if you’ve not had the pleasure of Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull yet… 1. Shia And, if I was him, I’d have snapped up any role offered in a fifth Indiana Jones film without even reading the script. The problem is, that does seem to be what happened. It was the most disconcerting sight of the movie – worse even than the son of Superman subplot unsubtly bubbling up in Superman Returns – to see him pop the infamous hat on his head at the end of Crystal Skull, and the mere thought of him picking up some kind of Indy Jr franchise is not a happy one....

While it would be inaccurate to call this a thrilling film (save for the tense finale sequence, which manages to hinge on something normally banal), it’s an involving and fascinating look into counter-terrorism, very far removed from the glamorous trappings of a Bond film. It’s thoroughly grounded in a dingy, everyday reality, with Hamburg’s industrial heritage never far from the screen. Despite this, due to former photographer Corbijn (and cinematographer, Benoît Delhomme), there are some striking and beautifully arranged images, such as the opening shot of a blood red riverbank....

Which is not to say this week’s installment of SHIELD did not have its wrinkles, it was strangely paced, relied a bit too much on the viewer caring about some pretty flat, newly introduced characters, and kept covering the same ground, but man did the good outweigh the bad by a wide margin. Let’s start with the giant teleporting bulldog in the room. The hidden city. At the conclusion of “The Writing on the Wall,” Coulson discovered that the mysterious writing he has been compelled to create since meeting up with Garrett last season is not a map, or an alien text, but a blueprint of an unknown city....