We’re now at the middle of The Affair, which has been an immensely satisfying take on infidelity and self-fulfillment in its first half so far. While the show has fallen into a very comfortable pattern at this point, we begin to see the signs of a seismic shift approaching. This episode, we start with Alison’s side of things for instance, which is something different and hopefully a hint of more to come stylistically and structurally from the series....

This is being disingenuous, of course, and the show is edited in a way that Mother Teresa would have struggled to come across in anything close to a positive light. But seriously, inside five minutes we had: Sigh. Can these people hear what they sound like? I was in two minds about whether to cover this series of the show already. Appreciating it perhaps stretches the sides of this site a little more than most of the things we cover, it’s nonetheless been a show I’ve been passionate, enthused and a little bit nerdy about for some time, having even imported DVD boxsets of the Donald Trump US version for my sins (and, as an aside, is it me or is the latest version of his egofest on the skids?...

Anyway, with nothing else really goin’ on in popular music this week, I’m left to one of my weaker writing devices – scouring YouTube for weird crap and commenting on it. So, without any further adieu, enjoy this collection of people in Star Wars costumes rocking the F out. Behold the Average Joe/Jane’s shamelessness coupled with heaping doses of unnecessary, unfiltered snark: Sleeveless Chewbacca Plays Guitar Hero – This guy is playing like the longest Rush song in the world....

Everyone knows that last bit is pure Hollywood fantasy, the same kind of malarkey from filmmakers who wanted you to believe love means never having to say you’re sorry and that Johnny 5 was alive. Generally speaking, nobody in America gave a shit about the Ramones in 1979 (the year this gem came out). Sometimes the actors in this movie look like they don’t give a shit about the Ramones....

When did you first realize what a tremendous impact your performance as Jessica was having? I definitely felt it once people started seeing the show, after some of the early reviews and reactions from our first New York Comic Con. And then [again], once the show was launched out into the world. It was so exciting and exceeded any expectations I could have had. I shot the show in such a bubble [with] crazy prep work and then just one day at a time....

If there’s one thing that annoys me, it’s shows showing us what happened last week. I know what happened last week, that’s why I’m watching this week. I’ve always found “Previously on….” recaps quite patronising, but what’s even worse is when a show starts by showing the last 30 seconds of the previous episode,which is what The Event has done for its third episode. Annoying. So, the Avias 514 plane passengers are dead (with signs of fleeing and defensive postures), the evil CIA director wants more ‘extreme measures’ taken with Sophia, and the president doesn’t know who to trust, but will offer clemency to any of the 97 prisoners that tells him who is responsible for the mass murders....

2.7 Gorilla Warfare Which, when looking at the big picture, was probably a good thing. Though we’re quickly informed that Barry’s injuries from his run-in with Zoom aren’t actually going to keep him out of commission for too long, he’s still confined to the lab for much of the episode, his ego significantly bruised from the public humiliation he suffered. A little lightness, then, was required, and by the end of the episode Barry was thankfully back to his optimistic norm....

3.2 Paradox While I didn’t necessarily have a problem with it, one main complaint from fans following the premiere was how short-lived Flashpoint turned out to be. All that hype for one week of story? Well here we get some permanent consequences, which act as much as an emotional catalyst as they do an excuse for the writers to speed up a few plotlines (cough Killer Frost cough) that have been teased earlier....

With only four weeks left until The Following’s finale, viewers have to have hoped for a little more this week, given the way the plot has accelerated recently. Also, the overt “small detail” ridiculousness of The Following returns. I try to ignore these little things that probably don’t bother the average viewer, but they throw off my experience of the show. “Freedom” begins with a blissfully happy Ryan and Carrie Cooke, tangled up in the sheets....

3.11 Demons Suffice to say, the increase in the presence of Joe Carroll has been a boon to the show, and the fact that Joe is dead only makes things that much more fun because as we see this his week, Joe is always there for Ryan, or at least there so he’s not drinking alone. Ryan may be ruining his life once again, but at least he has a permanent buddy to hang out with, even as he leaves every bridge a smoldering, vodka-soaked wreck....

Jackie Chan is Quan, a devoted single father and business owner in his early 60s, whose teenage daughter ends up a casualty of a bombing perpetrated by a new wing of the IRA. The soft spoken Quan soon reaches out to Liam Hennessy (Brosnan) a former member of the IRA turned government official who is in the public eye denouncing the bombing and leading the investigation. Quan’s request is simple: he wants information on the bombers so he can take matters into his own hands....

1.4 The Fortune Of War Taking its title from where the series left us and Inspector John Marlott last week, episode four of The Frankenstein Chronicles took us right back to the grubby Fortune of War pub. The 19th century’s answer to Harvester isn’t somewhere many people would voluntarily return to, but Marlott had work to do, hoping to bump into snatcher, killer, stitcher n’ seller suspect number one “Billy the Child Catcher”....

I’ve been a fan of Al’s work since the 70s, when I discovered what wonderful art he’d been creating on his Al Corrigan Agent X9 newspaper strip. Some folk may have seen his daily strip of Star Wars too. It seems that my son, Luke, who I’d taken there as an experiential treat for a nine-year-old, had made friends with everyone in the convention hall, including Al. Easy to do!...

Animated movies often like to show us what happens in familiar places when humans aren’t around. Dolls and action figures came to life in Pixar’s Toy Story. Videogame characters went on adventures in Wreck-It Ralph. In this year’s The Emoji Movie, those colorful symbols from your computers and smartphones make family-friendly quips and discover important life lessons. Foodfight’s production story is one of incredible optimism, surprisingly large chunks of cash, burglary, annoyed advertising watchdogs, bankruptcy, and late-hour second chances....

Ever since I was a little gremlin (before I fell into a puddle and turned into something horrible) movies have made me want to travel. I watched Raiders Of The Lost Ark and wanted to journey to exotic Egypt. I saw The Last Samurai and longed to leave for traditional rural Japan. I watched Return Of The Jedi and decided that I’d emigrate to the forest moon of Endor and open a 5-star noodle bar called Wok Ewok....

Of course, they’re not completely similar. Robin steals from the rich to give to the poor whereas the Doctor only gives them a free ride through trippy time and space in his Tardis, but that’s not the point. Crucially, both are beloved British legends that have appeared on screen with an array of different faces. How do you like your Doctor? You can have your Time Lord looking like a chemistry teacher, Worzel Gummidge, a member of The Strokes, a cricket umpire or a perm wearing a scarf....

The Magicians Season 1 Episode 4 Viewers who have read The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman will no doubt recognize that “The World in the Walls” was a complete departure from the books, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. However, this bottle episode overemphasizes much that’s already known about Quentin’s disillusionment with the world, and, like Quentin, the audience doesn’t buy for a second that his spell-induced dream is real....

Here’s what we learned from showrunner Sera Gamble… Benedict the cartographer returns! “I never want to assume that we’ll be lucky enough to have another season. I always focus on the season that we’re in, so when we introduced Benedict into the story, I was really just focused on making sure that story was amazing and that introduction of the character really worked. But yes, it was sort of in our back pocket that if we got to the boat, we’d need to put Benedict on the boat, and as we got to the quest story, we would want Benedict to be a part of that....

At first glance it may not look like The Mick reinvents the wheel. It’s a show where a renegade wild card gets thrown into a family and suddenly needs to be a role model. In fact, sitcoms often tank from that sort of by-the-numbers premise. The Mickembraces these hackneyed tropes and makes them feel exciting and new. It also manages to turn them into strengths. It mixes edgy with sweet in a way that’s easy to do, but hard to do right....

There’s a lot to like about the film, which sees Tom Cruise’s Nick Morton tangling with a disgruntled ancient undead villain, Sofia Boutella’s Ahmanet, and drawing the attention of Dr Jekyll (Russell Crowe) as he does so. Cruise is on good form, whether conniving, charming or fighting as hard as he possibly can. At times his performance evokes Bruce Campbell, which is something this writer definitely hadn’t anticipated going in....