Well, as much as I’d like to say it is, that perception isn’t completely unjustified. By the early 1970s, most of the men responsible for making the Godzilla films of the ‘50s and ‘60s the classic, thoughtful, even at times majestic metaphors they were had left the series. Toho Studios started cutting the budgets. Monster suits that used to be made new for each picture were now being recycled from film to film and started to look pretty ratty....

4.12 Pieces Of A Broken Mirror Gotham has, in part, done this by breaking up this show’s foundational duos and letting those characters spend time with other parts of this broad cast of characters. I’m talking, of course, about Jim and Harvey and Bruce and Alfred. Prior to their latest breakups, both duos have been thick-as-thieves (or at least in the same storyline) since the very beginning. This is especially true for Bruce and Alfred, and the separation of their characters gives Alfred’s character, in particular, a lot of room to breath....

This review contains spoilers. Now there’s a third influence in the form of BBC’s three part series (airing on HBO in the states), Gunpowder, and in the first episode it reminds me of nothing so much as Hammer Horror – at least, the best parts do. There’s even a touch of Michael Reeves’ Witchfinder General about it, so we’re in really dark territory that takes its time establishing the horrendous acts committed in finding and stamping out Catholicism during the reign of James I....

It’s territory to which Natali has now returned with Haunter. The plot and the genre trappings are different, but that basic isolated concept is, once again, central. The last couple of years have seen him heading for adaptations of William Gibson’s Neuromancer (possibly now abandoned) and JG Ballard’s High Rise (now underway with Ben Wheatley directing), but his path seems inexorably to have lead him to another homestead removed mysteriously from reality....

“We found out this really simple rule… we can take… the beats of your outline, and if the words “and then’ belong between those beats, you’re f**ked, basically. You’ve got something pretty boring. What should happen between every beat you’ve written down is the word ‘therefore’ or ‘but.’ “ Now I don’t know if Hemlock Grove’s writers scoured the Internet for tips prior to writing the eighth episode of the show’s second season, but “Unicorn” is the first episode in living memory to use Parker and Stone’s guiding light to near perfection....

1.13 Project Reborn With Project Reborn marking not only the end of Heroes Reborn but, in all likelihood, the conclusion of Heroes as a television franchise, an unenviable responsibility rests upon Tim Kring and co. to sign off in style. Thankfully, it must be said that this is one hell of a way to go out. Arguably the strongest episode of this entire 13-part run, Project Reborn is a relentless yet cohesive barrage of lump-in-throat emotion, pulsating action and fist-pumping moments....

This review contains spoilers. The psychiatrist’s assessment of Sophie Hawkins’ synth obsession carried a rather large flavour of Sarah Connor’s consideration of a relentless killing machine’s capacity for caring parenthood. ‘They are perfect, kind, gentle versions of adults’ he offered reassuringly. ‘Boundaries have been blurred’. It’s an obvious point in retrospect, particularly at this midway stage in a season which has explored the capability of synths to engage in complicated, emotionally contingent tasks....

In a recent BBC radio interview with Graham Norton, McKellen was asked about the possibility of being replaced in his iconic role; an understandable query, seeing as the legendary knighted actor is 78 years old. However, the question, posed as speculation about “there being another Gandalf in town,” was answered in intriguing fashion. Answered McKellen: Indeed, McKellen was not being facetious with that comment. Gandalf may carry the corporeal façade of an elderly, grey-bearded beggar, but he – like the other wizards (or Istari) of Middle Earth – is a celestial spirit called a Maiar (akin to a mid-level angel), sent to Middle Earth from the Undying Lands in the beginning of the Third Age to aid its peoples against the surging threat of Sauron (also once a Maiar,) and the Ring of Power, always in the form of a sagely elder....

I’ll say this before we start: crime drama absolutely needs more of dandy Matt King in a cravat airily making deductions about decomposed corpses, and winding up pig farmers. That’s a must. Give Philip the pathologist with a brain the size of a planet his own comedic spin-off in which he can go cottaging and summarily solve murders over bacon butties to his heart’s content. Wisely, In The Dark writer Danny Brocklehurst didn’t put Phil’s scenes side-by-side with Helen’s emotional confession about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child....

And yet his films would be boring if nobody ever took him on face-to-face, toe-to-toe. Don’t they know who he is? It’s a core principle of suspending your disbelief in a movie that you accept the way in which famous faces aren’t recognised within the world of the story, and that their tenacity for killing, punching and battering across a popular filmography isn’t immediately apparent to the poor sucker who tries to engage them....

I have to say, despite what has been occasionally weak writing, John Simm and James Frain have been extremely enjoyable to watch in this series. Frain manages to be both dark and funny. And Simm can emote like a motherfucker. This episode was all about the Jack/Rose/Richard dynamic, which runs deeper than we first suspected. It looks like Amy (who Rose has managed to suppress completely) had some sort of relationship with Richard....

Along comes another great British cast, this time with an aptly named Brit director, Jonathan English, and Purefoy again forming the figurehead of the picture, his bloodied sword clutched firmly in his hand, the words ‘Blood. Will. Run.’ stamped on the film’s’ poster, putting everything in place to create a film I’d love, and did I? Absolutely. Essentially, then, Ironclad is a siege movie, but one I was expecting to be modestly shot and almost intimate in its visualisation of war, concentrating on, perhaps, the odd moment of confrontation, while budget dictated that dialogue take up most of the screen time....

iZombie Season 4, Episode 2 iZombie has launched into a true dystopia in its fourth season and, for the most part, its made for a smooth transition. However, if the second episode of the season has proven anything it’s that, while iZombie has perfected its serialized elements to become one of the most topical shows on TV, the brain-of-the-week format continues to suffer from an inconsistency of rules when it comes to its brains....

In this case, the eponymous Jane (Natalie Portman) is quietly devastated when her husband Bill ‘Ham’ Hammond (Noah Emmerich) rides home after an altercation with the fearsome Bishop boys (led by Ewan McGregor), riddled with bullets and barely alive. Worse still, the gang are following Ham back to Jane, with whom they also have history, and the couple’s young daughter Kate (Maisie McMaster). I don’t want to read too deeply into the production shambles behind Jane Got A Gun, although the basics are already known....

And after debating the merits of FIFA 10 versus Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, we settled down for a chat… Yeah, it is hard. It’s been the same tour since last September. It’s hard saying the same things really. As much as you don’t want to break the magic of doing a tour, that’s basically what it is. 80% every night is the same as I said last night. And 20% is a bit of local and messing around with the audience....

Coming back to the characters and plots this week with Inner Child, it felt so long that I was forced to revisit an old episode just to re-establish in my mind where this series had gone. Inner Child is a fine enough story, acted well enough, which starts in typical Fringe fashion where some building workers find a child in a secret room under a building they’re demolishing. He’s been there for many years, and adapted to living in a low oxygen environment with no light or natural resources....

Thus, given that Paramount was steadfast that Cavill’s facial hair had to remain intact, Warner Bros had no choice but to get Cavill back in for reshoot work with moustache in tact, and do their damnedest in post-production. Paramount, though, declined the offer, and thus – backed into a corner – digital ‘tache removal was required. Justice League is in cinemas now. Mission: Impossible 6, with Cavill facial fur in tact, is with us next summer…

Movie-making is a multi-billion dollar business, even in the face of cable TV, videogames and smartphones. But does the world really need Hollywood anymore? Can cinema still feel like magic, or have we become too cynical, too self-aware for the medium to cast the same spell? La La Land is unabashedly sentimental, but in such a heartfelt way that it feels less like mindless nostalgia and more like a call to arms: if Hollywood can rediscover its passion, the movie seems to say, then maybe the magic will follow....

Legends of Tomorrow Episode 4 I still don’t know what to make of Legends of Tomorrow. I mean, I like it a lot. Hell, I love it. Who am I kidding, right? But it’s just so different from what I expected, and tonally, it really is a thorough departure from The Flash and Arrow. After four episodes, I think I’m getting a better idea of what this show is about. And what it’s about is telling me to leave my expectations at the door....

Keiynan Lonsdale’s character on The Flash, Wally West, a.k.a. Kid Flash, is about to go from forgotten sidekick to literal legend. That’s because the yellow-suited speedster will soon join the time-traveling superteam of Legends of Tomorrow. Check out the first official image of Lonsdale on the Legends set… While Legends of Tomorrow will make its midseason return in February with Season 3, Episode 10 (replacing Supergirl, which will go on hiatus), the Legends debut of Wally West/Kid Flash will occur on the following week in Episode 11, which airs on February 19....