Far from it. In fact, All Is Lost could be seen as a timely manifesto for the things cinema can do that television often can’t. On paper, it’s a survival story about a man on a badly damaged boat miles from shore. But in practice, it’s a philosophical meditation on ageing and what it is that drives us to survive, no matter how rough the going becomes. Worse still, water has gushed in and shorted out all the power on the vessel, rendering any contact with the rest of the world impossible....

A lot the problem isn’t with this film in particular, as the sheer number of dance movies released every year borders on the ludicrous when you realise how similar all of them are. That said, this is depressingly haphazard and seems like a wasted opportunity to address certain real-life issues. Amy (Fleur Houdijk) is Ethan’s besotted next door neighbour taking care of her near-comatose father (a mute John Barrowman), Brian (Gamal Toseafa) is the chubby kid who may or not be a brilliant dancer and Tim (Dominic Herman-Day) and Rebecca (Amelia Clarkson) are the painfully posh brother-sister duo who are more familiar with the ballroom than the street when it comes to dancing....

2.10 Life After Death I’ve commented before that there is no chemistry between Rachel and John, a position that was vindicated when their first attempt at sex falls flat. The upside of the uncomfortable sequence was the sensitivity that her father showed when he turned up at home unexpectedly, demonstrating that Rachel’s parent issues are all her own. If that material was playing to a specific demographic, the minor plot around which these other events cycled involved a baby with alpha powers....

Christmas episodes have not only always been a tradition on American Dad, but also an opportunity for the show to assemble some of its sharpest writing ever to skewer the typical tropes that we see around this time in the Christmas episodes of our favorite shows. American Dad has slowly and casually turned their Christmas episodes into “event television” for the season, going as far as throwing Armageddon at the Smiths, or pitting them against the mythical Christmas monster, Krampus....

American Dad! Season 15 Episode 10 “Railroaded” begins with the famous W. Willard Wartz quote, “In the zoo of life, there is no more popular exhibit than the cage that holds the political animal.” It’s almost like this is meant to be treated like some opulent political documentary that chronicles the history of some political maverick or hero. Instead it’s just the fumblings and misadventures of someone who’s in over their head, but American Dad!...

It asks what would happen if an identical copy of Earth, populated by our exact doubles, were to suddenly float into our solar system. It’s a great idea, but one only lightly explored in Another Earth’s 90-minute duration. Instead, Cahill’s film concerns itself with the life of a young girl, Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling, who also co-wrote) who, at the outset, is an intelligent yet reckless 17-year-old. Leaving a party drunk and possibly high one night, her car collides with that of composer John Burroughs (William Mapother), killing his pregnant wife and son instantly....

If they weren’t already chastened by last week’s brutal final moments, anyone still rubbing their thighs over episode one’s sex scenes will feel suitably uncomfortable now. Until its last-minute shift into thriller territory, episode two of Apple Tree Yard was a sombre hour focused on the aftermath of rape. That was made impossible by her attacker’s insidious, strategic moves, each one orchestrated to discredit Yvonne should she report his crime....

1.13 Betrayal It’s all on Diggle’s encouragement as, while I’m not sure he would condone Oliver killing his own mother, he’s certainly convinced of her guilt from the get-go. It’s really nice to see the two of them disagree, and to see Diggle take his own path in finding out the truth. The family trust him in a different way than they do Oliver, and posing as her driver was the best way for him to keep an eye on her....

1.5 Damaged As I’ve said before in these reviews, I’ve been impressed so far with the show’s willingness to paint Oliver as more loose cannon than outright hero, and that thread runs through this episode to even better effect. The beginning voiceover states his disbelief at being called a killer and a menace, before showing us how seemingly arrogant he is about getting caught. Of course, we later learn that the whole thing has been staged so as to pre-emptively prove his innocence, and it’s a rare example of a show answering one of its own bothersome fan queries....

Arrow Season 5 Episode 19 After a few weeks away, Arrow finally returned to pick the manhunt for Prometheus up right where it left off. At least, that’s what it seemed like before the huge shift in plot that finally saw one of the show’s original heroes go over to the dark side. First, let’s go ahead and rip the band-aid off early and reveal that the hunt for Adrien Chase, the team’s current arch nemesis, was the driving force behind this episode, but the villain was not present....

Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2 Episode 6 Remember this time last week when I said I thought “Confinement” needed Sam Raimi’s touch? I changed my mind. This is the episode that needs his touch the most. It’s a big event episode that you’d think the crew would want to bring him back to direct. In fact, this has enough material to stretch out into a two-parter – even if it is a bit thin as just one self-contained installment....

I saw August: Osage County in the cinema, upon its UK release date this weekend. Cinema releases are free of such digital graphics, but trust me – this is a film that has got “For Your Consideration” written all over it, and in no good way. His widow, Violet (Meryl Streep), is suffering from mouth cancer, and is popping an inordinate amount of pills for her condition. In a belligerent and candid mood, she kicks off a whole bunch of arguments with her three daughters; Barbara (Julia Roberts), Karen (Juliette Lewis), and Ivy (Juliette Nicholson) – and the pile-up of their extended family in one house only exacerbates the conflict....

Aiyegbusi entered the Greatest Royal Rumble at No. 37 and soon after came face-to-face with Strowman when he entered the match a few spots later. The two had a face-to-face for a moment as the ring cleared and Strowman ultimately eliminated Aiyegbusi from the match. Aiyegbusi is listed at 6-foot-10 and 355 pounds, and he looks to be all of that, if not more. Strowman is, by far, the largest member of the main WWE roster, but Aiyegbusi rivaled him on Friday....

Gordon extends an olive branch to Carrie that likely has nothing to do with the ill-gotten cash she leaves for Max. She only stays for dinner, but at least it’s a step towards rebuilding their fractured family. As for Hood and Siobhan, it’s interesting to see the slow unraveling of their tenuous romance (I hinted at their relationship’s expiration in my last review). Hood can never be completely honest with her, and on some level Siobhan knows this....

Naturally, the opening is a sex scene between Carrie and her husband Gordon, the District Attorney. Carrie is clearly having a hard time focusing between the sheets with her husband because clearly she is conflicted about Hood being back on the scene. Carrie’s love for her doting D.A. husband and the man she let take the fall for her is eating away at her. Cut to Hood in the middle of a hallway in a museum in Harrisburg, PA with a case around his torso carrying a stolen painting (like Nicolas Cage with the Declaration of Independence in National Treasure) and the alarms blaring....

2.3 Caleb First of all there’s Bradley, whose ‘suicide’ has been accepted as fact by the townsfolk, and their newspaper, even if their reaction to it suggests that they might not have taken it as seriously as any other town of a similar size. White Pine Bay isn’t that large, it’s certainly small enough for everyone to know one another’s business (Norma is already ‘town-famous’ simply for her theatrics at the public meeting) and yet the apparent suicide of a young girl merits little more than a mention in the paper....

4.10 Oh Don’t You Die For Me This week’s plot could be summed up in a few sentences: the pack kidnaps Josh to try to force him to scratch some humans. Suzanna gives Aidan an ultimatum that ends in her own death. Nora prepares to move out, but not before telling Aidan that Sally’s in love with him. Usually, when the plot is thin things can go one of two ways: either the episode is a bit of a write-off, or it instead fills its time exploring relationships between the characters and in so doing, becomes a heartstring-tugging piece of television....

Being Human certainly isn’t a show to shy away from nudity, as the continuing display of Russell Tovey’s bottom shows all too well. From the very beginning, Being Human has demonstrated a penchant for Tovey’s arse. I don’t know if he has it written into his contract – Clause 3.12. Russell insists that there are at least three shots of his bottom, some of which should be lingering, per episode – but he certainly doesn’t shy away from flashing his backside....

Let’s deal with how series two was wrapped up first, though, and it was a dark, brooding affair for all concerned. Hats off to the writers for taking the show in this direction, the religious element of the villainous Kemp coming to the fore in quite a disgusting manner while all the time ensuring that the show’s scariest character of them all, Mitchell, was at his menacing best. Literally in the case of Kemp’s minions who were being offed one by one by Mitchell, now having firmly embraced the bad-ass vampire within....