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Business as usual for festival unfolding on famous Paris avenue hit by two terror attacks in recent weeks.

Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff’s thriller The Strange Ones has scooped the top prize at the sixth edition of France’s Us-focused Champs-Elysées Film Festival, which wan June 15-22.

The feature, starring Alex Pettyfer and James Freedson-Jackson as two brothers on a mysterious trip into the wilderness, premiered at SXSW earlier this year.

The American Independent Jury Prize comes with a €10,000 cash award for the French distributor of the film but, as it has yet to be acquired for France, the...

In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire disaster that devastated West London, the city is coming together in incredible ways to support each other. Following Adele's emotional appearance at a recent vigil for victims and survivors and Tom Hardy's campaign to raise funds for those affected, Prince William joined Queen Elizabeth II for a somber, touching visit to the Westway Sports Centre on Friday. The building is currently serving as a temporary shelter for everyone who lost their homes in the deadly blaze. Her Majesty and the Duke of Cambridge spoke to volunteers helping out at the shelter, as well as survivors, victims' families, and rescue workers. In a statement released on Thursday by the Queen and husband Prince Philip, they sent their "thoughts and prayers" to "families who have lost loved ones in the Grenfell Tower fire and the many people who are still critically ill in hospital.

It appeared that things were finally looking up for our heroes towards the end of an action-packed The 100 Season 4 Episode 6.

But, of course, I should've known better – in the hour's final moments, everything took a drastic downward turn.

View Slideshow: The 100 Photos from "We Will Rise"

"We Will Rise" followed three intersecting but distinct plots.

One arc followed Bellamy, Clarke, and Roan as they set off on a mission to deliver the last remaining hydrazine to Raven at Becca's lab, after the catastrophic destruction of Arkadia on The 100 Season 4 Episode 5.

Without the hydrazine, Raven wouldn't be able to blast off into space and so wouldn't be able to cook up Becca's nightblood recipe with Abby. (Yes, I'm calling it a recipe.)

This unlikely trio's adventure was easily the most exciting aspect.

The tension was high as the three shaky allies journeyed to Becca's lab to deliver the hydrazine to Raven.

Harvey Weinstein, Guillermo del Toro, Jennifer Lawrence, Ken Loach, Shonda Rhimes among those to react.

A number of leading figures in the film and TV industries have responded with shock and dismay to the surprise win for Republican candidate Donald Trump in the Us presidential election this week.

Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton drew tens of millions of dollars in contributions from the entertainment industry during the heated contest. Opponent Trump received a fraction of that support.

Industry heavyweights to back Clinton’s campaign included senior figures from all six of Hollywood’s major studios while Harvey Weinstein, Legendary’s Thomas Tull and a number of top talent agent executives were also donors. Creatives to host events for Clinton included Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes and actors Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney.

Meanwhile, actors Stephen Baldwin, Steven Seagal and Kirstie Alley were among those to voice enthusiasm for the result.

Screen rounds up some of the reactions:

Harvey Weinstein, producer...

With the Brexit hangover continuing to loom large over the UK film industry, attendees at a BFI London Film Festival industry panel on Friday were urged to remember that the UK's cultural and creative relationship with Europe, and the world, is "much bigger" than its membership with the European Union. At a panel dubbed Business As Usual: The UK After the EU Referendum, chaired by the BFI's head of international Isabel Davis, a number of top industry execs weighed in on…...

Alain Resnais' deceptively conventional drama is really about interpersonal dynamics: lives lived in the here and now are really anchored in events and concerns from the past, that bleed into the present. Delphine Seyrig's antique dealer invites an old beau to visit, but instead of clarity and direction finds just more personal confusion. Muriel, ou Le temps d'un retour Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 824 1963 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 116 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 19, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Kérien, Nita Klein, Jean-Baptiste Thiérrée, Claude Sainval, Laurence Badie, Jean Champion Cinematography Sacha Vierny Production Design Jacques Saulnier Film Editor Claudine Merlin, Kenout Peltier, Eric Pluet Original Music Paul Colline Written by Jean Cayrol Produced by Anatole Dauman Directed by Alain Resnais

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Back in film school we'd make pronouncements like, why do all movies have to have such structured plots, with organized conflicts and resolutions?...

Making a return to what you could call the forgotten franchise of his collection, Vin Diesel is once again putting on the massive fur coat of high octane super spy for xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, and to pimp the fact the first trailer comes our way in two day the man himself has shared with us a brief teaser of the third installment in a franchise that started in 2002. It all goes a bit too quickly to discern whats going on, but all we need to know is Vin Diesel is back kicking ass. Business as usual so. Released: January 20th 2017 Synopsis:The third explosive chapter of the blockbuster franchise that redefined the spy thriller finds extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) coming out of self-imposed exile and on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang and his team in a race to recover a...

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Game Of Thrones muses on honour, duty, love and home while spilling its cast's blood. Business as usual then...

This review contains spoilers.

6.8 No One

The sixth season of Game Of Thrones has been a course correction for the fifth season (and before). There were complaints about violence against women; now women are firmly in charge and the ones doing the violence rather than being on the receiving end of Ramsay Bolton. There were complaints about Theon's torture; Arya's similar breaking and rebuild at the hands of the Faceless Men ends up being triumphant, rather than depressing (though to be fair, Arya didn't lose any important body parts). There have been lots of dropped characters, and it seems like they're all coming back this season for various reasons. Even the stalled Daenerys plot in Essos seems to finally be paying off, if only because she's got her long-promised Dothraki horde.

There are going to be three scenes in this episode that everyone will be talking about. One of them is the resolution of Arya Stark's adventure in Braavos. In a show where there are routinely massive action sequences (this episode features at least one battle involving dozens of ships), the way Game Of Thrones is able to boil things down to a personal level is remarkable. The episode's most exciting moment is the clash between Arya and the Waif, who has been tormenting her for months and has now been sent to kill her. It's a thrilling chase through the streets of Braavos triggered by the death of Arya's new friend the Lady Crane, and it terminates with a candle being snuffed out courtesy of a skilled slash from Needle. Unlike Reek, we've seen enough of Arya's training to know what she went through, but not so much that it became a snuff film. We've seen enough to know that when Arya rolls down a flight of stairs and gets up, leaving a deliberate blood (or blood orange) trail, that the Waif is walking into a trap. Needle plunging the fight into darkness is just icing on the cake. Mark Mylod has another great fight scene to his credit; the chase between Arya and Waif was Terminator 2 levels of awesomeness, and it made sure to check every chase cliché on the list while still being surprisingly brutal (just listen to the landings Arya has and try not to wince).

Arya has learned a valuable lesson. She knows how to be a Water Dancer, and she was good at chasing cats, and she's now able to combine that skill with the dirty fighting skills taught to her by the Waif and Jaquen during her time training as a Faceless Man. At her core, she's still Arya Stark of Winterfell, but now she knows just what to do when it's time to stop being chivalrous and start slitting throats in the dark. It's a lesson that she's learned well; it's also a lesson for Pod to learn from Bronn. While the two are on opposite sides of the Riverrun debate, Bronn is willing to teach Pod all the things he won't learn from someone like Brienne, who is one of the most honourable knights in the kingdom despite not being Ser Brienne.

That's chivalry, albeit in a different way from the type Brienne and Jaime have between one another. Yes, they have fought in the past, and they're possibly still going to fight since Brienne serves the Starks and Jaime is a Lannister, but throughout the episode, their scenes are wonderful in their interplay. Jaime is nothing if not honourable, and yet he's also the guy who shoved a child out a window and who has committed terrible atrocities in the name of the only love that means anything to him: his love for Cersei. Brienne might be on Jaime's good side, and it's clear that he cares about her on some level, but as Edmure says, Jaime is still an evil man.

Everyone in Westeros has the capacity for evil; even noble Brienne fought dirty to best The Hound. Similarly, everyone in Westeros has the capacity for good. The Hound, for example, has made a complete turn around thanks to the good work of Septon Swearengen. Whether you're good or bad seems to depend on who you're trying to kill. If you're The Hound, cutting off heads and genitals with an axe (this is another scene everyone's going to be talking about), then you're good because you're getting revenge on the thugs who killed your friend. If you're the Brotherhood Without Banners, you can be either good or bad depending on what you do: killing villagers is bad, hanging villager killers operating in your name is good. Cersei is even capable of occasionally doing good things; as Jaime says, her love for her children is her most redeeming feature, and it puts Cersei in the company of Cat Stark, who once freed none other than Jaime Lannister and who started Brienne's mission to serve the Stark family.

Everything seems to come around in the end. Everyone seems to realise this except for perhaps Cersei Lannister. Her whole defence against the High Sparrow has been predicated on her access to Qyburn's Monster, Aka FrankenMountain, and her plan to have a trial by combat. Unfortunately for her, as usual, she tips her hand and gives away her secret killing machine, and all it took was one ripped-off head in front of cousin Lancel to let the High Sparrow know that a trial by combat against an unstoppable killing machine is a bad idea, and since the Sparrow has King Tommen's ear, well... Cersei once again chose short-term satisfaction over long-term success. (“I choose violence.” is a delicious line from the pen of Benioff and Weiss, and it's knocked out of the park by Lena Headey).

Game Of Thrones has set up some interesting conflicts for the next episode; according to the preview images, it's going to be a doozy on par with the other famous ninth episodes. Daenerys and her dragon against a fleet of ships? Arriving Greyjoys versus the Masters? The Boltons face Jon Snow and his wildling army? The Hound killing some more people? Some combination of all of these things?

Whatever happens, I'm excited; for all the criticism Game Of Thrones took in the fifth season, it's clear that the folks behind the scenes have learned and adapted, and the sixth season is all the better for it.

Read Ron's review of the previous episode, The Broken Man, here. And read the nine questions we're pondering from No One, here.

Us Correspondent Ron Hogan still believes in the power of the Cleganebowl to bring the world together. What is hype may never die. Cleganebowl forever! Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.

See related Game Of Thrones season 6: 8 questions about The Broken Man Game Of Thrones season 6: breaking down Blood Of My Blood's vision Game Of Thrones season 6: 9 questions about The Door Game Of Thrones season 6: going back to square one Game Of Thrones: the rules of magic in the Seven Kingdoms TV Review Ron Hogan Game Of Thrones 13 Jun 2016 - 16:00 Game Of Thrones season 6 Ron Hogan...

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Sheldon's storyline at least has some sweetness and humanity in this week's The Big Bang Theory, but that of everybody else? Sheesh...

This review contains spoilers.

9.19 The Solder Excursion Diversion

The Big Bang Theory's been away for a little while and we all knew that, when it returned, the episode would be in one of two modes. It would either be the sweet, slightly sentimental show that treated its characters like human beings, or it would be the cruel crowd-pleaser, treating its characters like sitcom archetypes that are allowed to be terrible people without consequence.

To my slight surprise, The Solder Excursion Diversion was both at once. Sheldon and Amy got the nice, human story while the rest of the gang were stuck in a cluster of unfunny running jokes that forced them all to become the worst versions of themselves. Business as usual.

So Sheldon's a hoarder,...

As the #Oscarssowhite movement and the ongoing discussion of diversity in Hollywood continues, we as a moviegoing community are forced to consider the ramifications of representation: which stories get told, and why. Indeed, more people are talking about the Oscar nods this year than ever before. What’s been recognized — and more importantly, those who the Academy has failed to recognize — have been subject to a great deal of scrutiny within the critical community in particular (much of it has also spilled out onto the Twitter-sphere, but that’s to be expected). Among these voices is Mark Kermode, the British film critic who takes a good, hard look at this year’s nominations in a new episode of “Kermode Uncut.” Read More: Spike Lee & Jada Pinkett Smith Refuse To Attend 2016 Oscars Over Lack Of Diversity Among Nominees “Business as usual” is how Kermode described this year’s nominations and in many respects,...

On October 24th, Quentin Tarantino, a citizen, exercised his right to speak freely and to assemble peacefully as part of a Manhattan Black Lives Matter Rally. Regardless of your take on the issue, it is his right, and he exercised the very freedom that we take for granted daily. But Quentin Tarantino is more than just a citizen; he is an auteur without peer in American popular cinema, and he is a business in and of himself.

Every few years Tarantino earns millions of dollars, countless awards and accolades, and priceless social cachet for his long time producers the Weinsteins. But should business concerns stifle his willingness to speak as a citizen? I know I regularly have to bite my tongue in order to preserve my financial well being; it is a unique weakness and awareness of adulthood, consequence. And if there are forces both financial and social that constrain our freedoms,...

Business as usual. Tom Cruise continued filming for his upcoming action flick, Jack Reacher, in New Orleans on Thursday, Oct. 29, just ahead of Leah Remini’s exclusive tell all 20/20 interview on Friday, Oct. 30. The 53-year-old actor looked focused on his role as a harried homicide investigator, wearing a grim expression for the part. Cruise has yet to speak out about Remini’s interview, which included several anecdotes about Cruise in relation to the King of Queens actress’ 30 years with the Church of Scientology. Remini, 45, didn’t hold [...]...

Hey y'all! I am Live at San Diego Comic-Con and sitting in Hall H for the "Doctor Who" panel beginning at 2:15pm Pdt. Follow along for all the breaking news from the cast and crew! [2:04Pm Pdt]: Still waiting to be allowed inside. Above us, a robotic drone is buzzing in direct defiance of the rule technology rules. It sounds like a thousand angry bees trapped in a mechanical shell. Slightly uncomfortable. [2:10Pm Pdt]: We remain outside. An employee/volunteer just came out to assure the antsy press that we are in the right place and will not miss the panel. Ahhh, the joys of trying to herd hundreds of people into a confined space in a timely manner! [2:16Pm Pdt]: We're inside! The panel is running a few minutes behind and the wifi is atroicious but No Matter! I will soldier on! [2:22Pm Pdt]: The lights go down and the trailer comes up.

Scott Heppell/AP

It’s never dull at St James’ Park, is it?

Just as the dust was settling after Ryan Taylor and Jonas Gutierrez’s release last week, a couple of staggering accusations have been levelled at the club. The decision to let the pair go left a really bad taste in the mouths of each and every Newcastle United fan and went some way to proving that nothing has changed despite what owner Mike Ashley said a couple of weeks back.

Not least because it was revealed how Lee Charnley and Newcastle’s football board decided to let the pair know of their respective futures. The powers that be at Newcastle got former (we hope) head coach John Carver to ring Ryan Taylor, and then got the former United utility man to pass the phone over the Jonas during the same call.

Letting two of your loyalist employees...

[As in years past, this week, I'm going to be glancing, night-by-night, at how the primetime schedules have changed after the network announcements at upfronts. I'll be looking at how the various changes will impact the ratings races on each night, as well as my own DVRing habits. Readers can chime in on how their own DVRs will be impacted. And yes, this brief series assumes that anybody still watches TV on their TVs. I'm old-fashioned. I'm also probably gonna ignore that I have a fancy new six-tuner DVR that means that I really don't have to make choices anymore. This will assume that I make choices for my own sanity.] Sunday Nights 7:00 p.m. ABC: "America's Funniest Home Videos" CBS: "60 Minutes" Fox: "The Ot," "Bob's Burgers" NBC: NFL Pre-Game 8:00 p.m.  ABC: "Once Upon a Time" CBS: "Madam Secretary" Fox: "The Simpsons," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" NBC: Sunday Night Football 9 p.m. ABC: "Blood and Oil" CBS: "The Good Wife" Fox: "Family Guy," "The Last Man on Earth" NBC: Sunday Night Football 10 p.m. ABC: "Of Kings and Prophets" CBS: "CSI: Cyber" NBC: Sunday Night Football What's Changed: There's a reasonable amount of sameness here. CBS is bringing "CSI: Cyber" into the 10 p.m. hour, but if you'll recall, that's actually what CBS initially announced for last season before some tweaking took place. Oh and if you live on the East Coast, you can count on everything starting at semi-random times depending on the week and the football matchup. Fox is sticking with its spring lineup with "The Last Man on Earth...

Fast National ratings for Friday, May 8, 2015. Although "The Amazing Race" lost handily to "Shark Tank" in Friday's first hour, the two-hour season finale for "Hawaii Five-0" led CBS to its normal overall victory, while ABC ruled the key demo. So... Business as usual. The freshly renewed "Beyond the Tank" held up decently in its second week, the freshly canceled "Messengers" stayed low and two hours of "Dateline" put NBC in second for the night among young viewers. Let's get to the numbers... Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 1.4 rating to win Friday night in the key demographic. NBC was second with a 1.1 key demo rating, followed closely by the 1.0 key demo rating for CBS. There was a drop to Fox's 0.4 key demo rating and to The CW's 0.3 key demo rating for Friday night. Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 7.32 million viewers and a 4.7 rating/9 share to comfortably win Friday primetime.

Alexandria could indeed be the safe haven that it appears to be; however, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) continues to refuse to entertain that idea.

"Forget" was played out by the Bee Gees' "Spicks and Specks," and the song summed up Rick's attitude about Alexandria: "Where is the sun / That shone on my head? / The sun in my life / It is dead ... Where is the girl I loved / All along? / The girl that I loved / She's gone."

At this point, nothing really matters for Rick other than maintaining the status quo – that is, simply surviving – because the sun doesn't really flicker...

Alexandria could indeed be the safe haven that it appears to be; however, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) continues to refuse to entertain that idea. "Forget" was played out by the Bee Gees' "Spicks and Specks," and the song summed up Rick's attitude about Alexandria: "Where is the sun / That shone on my head / The sun in my life / It is dead ... Where is the girl I loved / All along? / The girl that I loved / She's gone." At this point, nothing really matters for Rick other than maintaining the status quo - that is, simply surviving - because the sun doesn't...

This is my seventh year attending the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California. Not much has changed. Well, maybe one thing has changed. You now need a badge to enjoy the terrace that overlooks the ocean. This is where many go to rub elbows, get drunk and maybe strike a deal or two. The restricted access now means average joe filmmaker who didn't buy an Afm badge can't swing by and schmooze. Everything else about the American Film Market? Business as usual.

This is where films go to find a distributor or find financing or a sales rep to find distribution and financing. And per usual, there's plenty of fun - sometimes absurd, sometimes awesome - sales poster art on display.

The post The Wild & Weird American Film Market Poster Gallery appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Chasing Shadows: ITV, 9pm

Another day, another dark detective drama. The brooding sleuth here is Sean Stone (Reece Shearsmith) whose abrasive, uncanny genius puts him somewhere on the Sherlock spectrum.

In the first of a two-parter, Stone and his grounded analyst Ruth Hattersley (Alex Kingston) are tasked with investigating a recent spate of teen suicides - and begin to suspect there may be a killer on the loose.

Educating the East End: Channel 4, 9pm

Hoping to replicate the success of the award-winning Educating Yorkshire, Channel 4 have shifted their cameras to a comprehensive school in Walthamstow, London.

This first episode in the eight-part series follows the school's newest teacher Mr Bipsham, and his struggle to teach Shakespeare to Year 9s. Elsewhere, two students compete against each other for a place in the prestigious Brit School, and staff help counsel a young girl whose mother is hospitalised.

Dynamo: Magician Impossible: Watch,...

Last week’s “Cairo” really felt like a penultimate episode for The Leftovers, both due to the heavy amounts of symbolism and its game-changing final moments, and now we know why. “The Garveys At Their Best,” our second-t0-last venture into Mapleton (for 2014 at least – the show finally earned a sophomore season order from HBO), turns back time to October 13th, the day before the Sudden Departure, then reveals more of the event itself.

As such, the hour shows us the Garveys and other residents of Mapleton like we’ve never seen them before (read: happy). At least at first, “The Garveys At Their Best” paints a picture of a relatively average, and certainly bearable, existence for everyone in town. Kevin and Laurie are still married; Jill is a brace-faced, David Guetta-loving teenager whose biggest problem is working on her science fair project; Tommy is still in touch with...

The Dowager Countess would so not approve! Ahead of its fifth season, Downton Abbey has released new photos of its cast, dressed in their usual authentic period pieces. Business as usual. Except for the fact that one of the photos had one pretty big error: Someone left a plastic water bottle in the background! In a portrait of Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) and Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) released by PBS, you'll notice the seriously era-inappropriate prop on the mantle behind the dapper duo. Talk about a big blunder! But what if the bottle was not an error caused by a fear of dehydration of one of the actors or photogs working on the shoot? Could it secretly be a clue to what the fifth...

“We are all here tonight because this is an issue that involves all of us, and it involves America, and it involves democracy,” said Tina Bennett, the important literary agent whose employer, William Morris Endeavor, had rather hastily arranged last night’s sold-out (albeit free) panel at the New York Public Library, “Amazon: Business As Usual?” It was “a loya jirga for book people,” Bennett said. On the agenda was What Is to Be Done — if anything — in the matter of Amazon versus Hachette.The mix of seven panelists included some broad thinkers — not just Amazon bête noire James Patterson (a Hachette author) and outspoken Grove Atlantic publisher Morgan Entrekin, but anti-Amazon attorney Bob Kohn, “net neutrality” coiner and advocate Tim Wu, and political theorist Danielle Allen. All of them had something informed and levelheaded to say about the e-tailer’s increasingly aggressive drive to control publishing. And then there...

Fast National ratings for Friday, May 2, 2014. Posting a big 22 percent week-to-week gain among young viewers, "Shark Tank" led ABC to an easy Friday win among young viewers, while "Blue Bloods" was up over last week and led CBS to an overall rout. In short: Business as usual. There was some Friday variation, though. NBC's "Hannibal" was up for the third straight week, though once again basketball preemptions in the Portland market mean that these numbers are inflated. On the negative side, "Hart of Dixie" was low for The CW, as was "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Fox's "Kitchen Nightmares" was also on the low side. On to the numbers... Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 1.8 rating for Friday night, comfortably winning the key demographic. CBS and NBC tied for second with a 1.2 key demo rating, followed by Fox's 0.8 key demo rating and the 0.3 key demo rating for The CW. Overall,...

The Facebook page for True Blood has revealed a handful of new photos from show's seventh season. And in case you haven't heard, this season marks the end of the popular series on HBO. You can check out the photos via our gallery below. The series begins its ten-episode, seventh and final season on Sunday, June 22nd at 9:00 p.m. Mixing romance, suspense, mystery and humor, the series takes place in a world where vampires and humans co-exist, after vampires have come out of the coffin, thanks to the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood that means they no longer need humans as a nutritional source.

The post First Photos from True Blood Season 7 Are Business As Usual appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Heaven's Gate is one of the most notorious cinematic bombs of all time. A 1980 Western about an armed conflict in Wyoming between rich cattlemen and poor farmers, made for a then-astronomical $44 million, it not only destroyed the career of director Michael Cimino (a rising star on the strength of The Deer Hunter) — this marathon-length epic basically put studio United Artists out of business and ended the auteur-driven '70s golden age of Hollywood. Now director Steven Soderbergh has decided to fix it.

Mega-Flops and the Blockbuster Apocalypse

The film was...

It's Judgement Night on "American Idol" and, once again, my feelings are simple: If Jessica, Cj or Sam goes home? Business as usual.  If Caleb, Jena or Alex goes home? We burn this thing to the ground. And if Grumpy Cat returns for the second straight show? Well, that's just gravy! 9:00 p.m. Et. I'm watching the tag for the "Parks & Recreation" finale. Priorities, y'all! 9:01 p.m. Grumpy Cat Is Back! 9:01 p.m. Does that me that my prediction was wrong? Will Grumpy Cat be sent home? 9:02 p.m. Jennifer Lopez Fashion Show Time. She's shiny in gold. Very shiny. And, once again, she's incapable of kneeling to greet her supplicants. And Keith is actually wearing a tie tonight. "It's like a dare," he admits. "Someone told me it was the finale. I got confused," he says. 9:04 p.m. Carrie Underwood tweeted kindly about Caleb and Jena.

So it seemed that I was a bit less taken by Joffrey’s prolonged farewell tour on last week’s Game of Thrones than some other viewers. Maybe I was tired of seeing the little twit toss the same tired insults again and again for over three years. Maybe I was expecting something more audacious than death by poison for one of the decade’s most loathed television characters. Or maybe I just generally find weddings murder to sit through even when they feature an actual murder. But in any case, this week’s lively episode was much more my speed.

Let’s crack that pie open and dig in!

Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) is dead, and Cersei (Lena Headey) is not happy. Convinced that it was Tyrion who poisoned her son, she demands to know where Sansa is, and I get the feeling it’s not so they can set a tennis date.

Pre-credit sequence. The division of tribes has been made by the quality the players most rely upon in life, whatever that means. The Brains Tribe has an average Iq of 130 which is, honestly, not all that impressive. I mean, they're smart, but they're not Geena Davis smart. Spencer tied for first in the World Open Chess Championship and says he's both diabolical and a genius. If you say so! David is the President of the Marlins, which means that if there's a challenge that requires salary dumping, he's going to be hard to top. Kass is a lawyer who boasts about being undefeated, which is the kind of thing John Grisham characters boast about, that and smart older secretaries who have forgotten more law than most of us will ever know. On to the Beauty Tribe, whose beauty can't be measured numerically. But Morgan was an NFL cheerleader and she's...

News Louisa Mellor 5 Feb 2014 - 17:25

The Walking Dead returns for the second half of season 4 in just a few days. Here's a look at some new episode images...

After is the first returning episode of The Walking Dead's fourth season, written by Robert Kirkman and directed by the masterful Greg Nicotero. Below are a selection of pictures from the midseason opener, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. 

You'll see a glimpse of Glenn in combat gear, and later, in what looks like real trouble. Daryl is armed, Michonne is once again in the company of her undead protectors, Carl is breaking and entering, and Rick is, well, looking just a bit unhinged. Business as usual.

The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday the 9th of February and to Fox in the UK on Monday the 10th. Read our spoiler-filled reviews of the fourth season so far, here.

Entertainment Weekly...

Last night's Scandal found our ragtag group embroiled in international espionage, covering up a murder, in bed with the enemy, and in secret basements at the Pentagon quoting Porgy and Bess. Business as usual. The show won't be back until February, alas, but until then we have some lingering questions, both specific and general. Hurry back soon, Scandal.Wouldn't a funeral director have to pick up Daniel Douglas Langston's body, and wouldn't that person — or whoever was embalming or cremating him, or whatever funereal practices the Langstons participate in — notice the stab wounds?Are we to assume that Cyrus, perhaps with the help of Charlie and Quinn, just paid these people off or something? Seems like there's a lot of potential for disaster here. Where are Quinn's allegiances? Consider me pro-Charliquinn, because any romance is good romance in the Scandal universe of bleak murder, constant deception, and widespread malice. But...

(Cbr) The holidays are finally upon us, and yet we still haven’t received the greatest gift of them all: confirmation on who’s starring in director Edgar Wright’s upcoming "Ant-Man". Recent reports placed Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paul Rudd as the frontrunners for the role of Henry Pym, the size-changing scientist at the heart of the Marvel film. Gordon-Levitt has been connected to a few Marvel projects, including "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the developing "Doctor Strange" adaptation. Business as usual there. Rudd, on the other hand, is a new name in the mix. He’s a popular actor on many levels, but hardly...

Pixar goes back to college, and Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn try out at Google, but neither campus scores very highly in the comedy stakes

The start of November may seem early to be talking about Christmas shopping – or three months late, according to some tinsel-happy supermarket managers – but it's evidently when DVD distributors start. So numerous are the blockbusters returning for your seasonal delectation in the next few weeks that we're jumping the gun a bit on Monsters University (Disney, U), which roars – well, grunts non-threateningly – on to shelves on 11 November.

The once indomitable animation studio Pixar is currently a victim of its own high standards: Cars 2 and Brave were technically immaculate but narratively wan, a trend that continues with this belated prequel to 2001's superior Monsters, Inc. Looking back on the college days of one-eyed pea Mike (Billy Crystal) and hulking bully-turned-pal Sully (John Goodman) as they...

Gregg Wallace may look like he needs an extra helping of custard with his puddings these days, but other than the greengrocer-turned-tv-shouter's new slimline physique, very little has changed in the world of Celebrity MasterChef.

Gregg and John still drop innuendoes like Carry On films never went out of fashion ("I love the flavour of your dumplings Heidi!" *raised eyebrow, Harry Hill sideways look to camera*) and there is serious tension over whether a chicken is moist enough or if a spider crab has been chopped up correctly. Business as usual then.

Whether it's Celebrity, Professional or the vintage standard, non-famous, non-pro MasterChef, it barely makes a difference. Not only do they blur into one in the schedules, not only do the celebs barely register on the average Joe's showbiz radar, they're also so ridiculously similar in format and style that you'd be forgiven for not knowing which version of...

If you're a fan of crazed genius John Skipp's works, you'll want to stop what you're doing and spend a few moments watching this sales trailer for The Long Last Call, an in-development horror feature based on the novel to be co-directed by Skipp and award-winning filmmaker Andrew Kasch.

Kasch (Never Sleep Again: The Elm St. Legacy) told us of the trailer, "Amazon's horror book label 47North just re-released John Skipp's acclaimed novel The Long Last Call (review here) in trade paperback [so] we thought we'd celebrate by unleashing the teaser trailer for the in-development feature film version of this epic titty-bar nightmare. Keep in mind, this is a "proof of concept" sales trailer and has no actual footage from the feature, cuz that doesn't exist yet. What we shot was 2 minutes of mayhem that capture the vibe of the book and show how crazy this shit will play onscreen.

On Monday morning, actor Brad Pitt was on ABC’s Good Morning America to promote his upcoming film, World War Z. While talking to host George Stephanopoulos, the actor also reaffirmed that his partner, actress Angelina Jolie, was doing great after her double mastectomy. “Business as usual. She’s doing great and you know, when she wrote her piece, we had already come out the other end and feeling very good about it.”

Pitt’s next stop on his global tour will be in Russia.

The story revolves former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.

World War Z opens in theaters this Friday, June 21st.

Continuing his aggressive promotional tour, Brad Pitt showed up at ABC Studios in New York City earlier today (June 17).

The “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” hunk was in the house to plug “World War Z” on “Good Morning America,” and he took a few moments to show some love to his fans before sitting down for his interview.

Pitt also shared about his longtime partner Angelina Jolie, who underwent a preventative mastectomy earlier this year.

He explained, “Business as usual. She’s doing great. When she wrote her piece, we had already come out the other end and we’re feeling really good about it. We’re really surprised and moved by how many people are dealing with the same issue, or wondering about the same issue,”

“Her idea was that if someone could learn from her story, then she would love to share that. But it’s just been...

Brad Pitt says that fiancee Angelina Jolie is officially back in the swing of things following her news-making double mastectomy, which was completed back in April and revealed via New York Times Op-Ed piece last month. "Business as usual. She's doing great," Pitt, 49, told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America Monday, June 17. Promoting World War Z, the actor explained his longtime love's decision to go public with her bold decision to undergo the preventative procedure after genetic tests revealed she was at extremely high [...]...

Will David Walliams finally kiss Simon Cowell? How many times can Amanda Holden cry in one week? Why isn't there a dancing dog on the bill? There are lots of questions hanging over this week's Britain's Got Talent Live Semi-Finals and hopefully we'll get some answers over the next six days.

The first semi-final this evening features the usual smattering of singers, dancers, oddballs and Wtf-are-they-doing acts, and as always Ant & Dec are challenged with holding the whole thing together while a circus of tears and tantrums surrounds them.

> Got Talent semi-final 1: Watch the acts

22:01Well, that's all folks. One show down. Four more to go. Same time, same place tomorrow. We'll be here. Hopefully for laughs and a little bit more talent.

22:00Just time for Richard and Adam to come back on stage and thank their fans. They claim that they've been working hard on their act for years.

Review Frances Roberts 20 May 2013 - 19:00

Drugs, lies and tap-dancing feature in this week's surprising, ominous Mad Men, proving the show still has tricks up its sleeve...

This review contains spoilers.

6.8 The Crash

Writing for a character as inscrutable as Don Draper must be a mixed blessing. While Draper’s stylish, distant demeanour lends itself to delivering gnomic dialogue and posing for cool silhouettes against the Manhattan skyline, when it comes to showing the audience what’s going on inside TV’s most unreachable leading man, you find yourself painted into a corner.

Enter the pharmaceutical get-out clause, a temporary crisis that lets Draper escape his closed off personality and allows us to see something of what’s underneath. It’s the plot device that forces Draper to become uncharacteristically voluble and turn to face the camera for once. The Crash used a workplace amphetamine shot, but past glimpses into...

Excerpt from Origin's January issue, interview with Richard Branson

Interviewers: Editors: Maranda Pleasant, Gina G. Murdock

Maranda Pleasant: What is it that inspires you the most?

Richard Branson: People. Through the right people focusing on the right things, we can, in time, get on top of a lot if not most of the problems of this world. And that's what a number of us are trying to do.

MP: What is it that makes you come most alive?

Rb: Being fit and healthy. There's nothing like the endorphins from being fit, and the incredible endorphin rush that goes with that. It beats drugs, drink, and almost anything else I know. I live a very full-on life, but then when I come back to Necker, I try to recharge the batteries. All of us have just got to find that time to look after our bodies. That helps us make...

What do you call Skyfall's record-setting work at the weekend box office? Business as usual.  Through 50 years of 007 films, Ian Fleming's dapper, deadly spy has starred in zero box-office duds. Zero. "There's never been a full-on disaster," says BoxOffice.com editor Phil Contrino. This includes the Bond films that fall outside the formal Bond canon, such as the 1967 spoof Casino Royale, as well as the Bond films that aren't especially well-regarded.  "There's a myth that On Her Majesty's Secret Service was a box-office failure," James Chapman, a UK-based film professor and author of License to Thrill: A Cultural History of the...

The 17th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (Iffk) has announced its lineup. The festival will run from 7th to 14th December, 2012 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Some of the highlights of the lineup are festival favourites of the year Amour, Chitrangada, Samhita, The Sapphires, Drapchi, Miss Lovely, Me and You, Celluloid Man, and Baandhon.

Fourteen films will screen in the Competition section while seven contemporary films will be screened in “Indian Cinema Now” section.

Complete list of films:

Competition Films

Fourteen feature films from Asia, Africa and Latin America will compete for the coveted “Suvarna Chakoram” (Golden Crow Pheasant) and other awards.

Always Brando by Ridha Behi (Tunisia)

Inheritors of the Earth by T V Chandran (India)

A Terminal Trust by by Masayuki Suo (Japan)

Shutter by Joy Mathew (India)

Today by Alain Gomis (Senegal-France)

The Repentant by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)

Sta. Niña by Manny Palo (Philippines)

Present Tense...

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 has released a new international poster featuring its trio of surly leads scowling for the camera. Business as usual, in other words. The new poster shows Jacob, Bella and Edward looking even more troubled than usual, probably on account of the almighty smackdown that’s brewing with vampire elders, the Volturi. They’re after the Cullen’s baby girl you see, who has been brought into their bad books thanks to a trumped-up accusation from the treacherous Irina. Never a dull moment in...

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The first Darksiders was a surprise hit for developer Vigil Games and publisher Thq. The concept--let's remake Zelda as a mature title--might not necessarily seem like the easiest pitch in a marketplace already crowded with remakes, demakes, reboots, and sequels, but Vigil's designers were very clever in the ways they stitched together so many points of reference beyond Zelda into an action adventure game that was thrilling in its own right.

Two and a half years later, Vigil is back with another Rider out to undo the apocalypse, Death, the very motivated brother of Darksiders protagonist War. And with a new protagonist, the sequel also gets some modifications to its gameplay with a greater emphasis on loot, a deep combo-based combat system, and some technical issues that mar what's otherwise one of this year's most exhilarating action games.

Taking place in the aftermath of the first game, Earth is still...

It’s time to meet the new faces in Charming, friends. The latest “Before the Anarchy” webisode introduces three new members of S.A.M.C.R.O., who we’ll get to know when Sons of Anarchy returns Sept. 11. There’s Frankie Diamonds (Chuck Zito), Gogo (Chris Browning), and Greg the Peg, a badass biker who just happens to be missing a leg (like actor Kurt Yaeger). “I don’t know if you should trust us or not,” Yaeger says. This show? We’ll guess not.

We also get a first look at two “wild cards” who’ll work...

Sigourney Weaver is known for playing strong female characters. She played a high-powered investment banker in “Working Girl,” the First Lady in “Dave” and now Secretary of State in the new television series, “Political Animals.” (The role is loosely inspired by Hillary Clinton.) However, Weaver has a lot to say about women off-screen as well as on.

She spoke to the New York Post’s Cindy Adams about her latest role and the importance of having more women in power in Washington, decrying the fact that only 15 percent of Congress is female. She also said that she believes now is the time for women to become more prominent political figures:

It’s a women-in-general era. Something’s afoot in this country. Besides Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, proven is we’re terrific and smart. ... You can admire Angela Merkel of Germany, but maybe our nation isn’t yet primed for...

Sigourney Weaver is known for playing strong female characters. She played a high-powered investment banker in “Working Girl,” the First Lady in “Dave” and now Secretary of State in the new television series, “Political Animals.” (The role is loosely inspired by Hillary Clinton.) However, Weaver has a lot to say about women off-screen as well as on.

She spoke to the New York Post's Cindy Adams about her latest role and the importance of having more women in power in Washington, decrying the fact that only 15 percent of Congress is female. She also said that she believes now is the time for women to become more prominent political figures:

It's a women-in-general era. Something's afoot in this country. Besides Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, proven is we're terrific and smart. ... You can admire Angela Merkel of Germany, but maybe our nation isn't yet primed for a woman president … only … why not?...

Get out your dry eraser board folks, as Disney and Fox announce some changes to their release schedules:

Disney is shifting some of its releases for 2013. The Lone Ranger starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp has secured a July 3, pushed from May 31. Thor 2 will bow now on November 8, two weeks earlier than originally announced. Finally, the Steven Spielberg directed Robopocalypse (a co-production between Disney-Fox-DreamWorks) has been moved off 2013 altogether and bounced to April 25, 2014.

20th Century Fox, meanwhile, announced Independence Day will be upgraded to 3D and re-released on July 3, 2013. Other 2013 dates include Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, which is moving from March 15 to August 16, 2013. The animated film Epic (previously known as Leafmen), which stars the voice talent of Beyoncé Knowles, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Knoxville, Aziz Ansari, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Blake Anderson and Judah Friedlander will bow May 24. Fox also announced that their remake of fantasy classic...

Ham is best known for playing the flute solo on 'Down Under.'

By Gil Kaufman

Greg Ham in 1985

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Men at Work member Greg Ham, best known for playing the iconic flute solo on the Australian group's 1982 hit "Down Under," was found dead in his Melbourne home on Thursday (April 19) at the age of 58.

According to the Associated Press, in keeping with local customs, Victoria state police would not confirm any details of the death or whether the musician died of suspicious circumstances. His body was discovered after two friends who had not heard from Ham for a while went to check on him.

"There are a number of unexplained aspects to it which has caused our attendance here today, and we're assisting the local detectives to determine what has occurred," Detective Senior Sergeant Shane O'Connell told reporters.

Though Men at Work enjoyed global success...