“The Heiress” introduces several characters from other parts of the Star Wars saga to The Mandalorian, including two from The Clone Wars that will make fans jump in excitement. Din Djarin also meets another group of Mandalorians, one quite different to the tribe that raised him. There’s also a heist on an Imperial cruise that, as per usual, doesn’t go quite as planned. But at the other end of the mission is a clue as to where Mando and Baby Yoda have to go next on their quest to find those “ancient sorcerers” known as the Jedi....

According to the trailers released so far, the prime focus of the seven-episode series will be Boba and Fennec’s adventures on the dangerous desert planet and their quest to reunite Jabba’s captains under their banner. But could there be more to this bounty hunter’s book than meets the eye? Certainly, there are more than a few questions this series could answer about the whereabouts of the character since Return of the Jedi....

The collision of 2020’s events with five stories celebrating black British history feels fortuitous to the cast. “The timing of it is so trippy,” says actor Shaun Parkes, who plays Frank Crichlow in the first film in the series Mangrove, about London’s real-life Mangrove Nine protest and Old Bailey trial. Speaking at the BBC Small Axe press launch chaired by Akua Gyamfi, founder of The British Blacklist, Parkes continues, “We’re all learning what the timing of this is daily....

Supernatural Season 12 Episode 12 This episode was as artistic in style as it was dire in consequences. We also got to meet a new type of villain, the likes of which we’ll probably see again since there was a not-so-subtle hint about his siblings. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The title “Stuck in the Middle (with you)” refers to the Stealers Wheel folk-rock song that appears in the film Reservoir Dogs....

From the very start, the existence of Marvel’s Loki series has seemed more than a little suspect. Don’t get me wrong: If Tom Hiddleston wants to do a TV show, obviously you let him do a TV show, especially if it’s as one of the few genuinely complex and multi-faceted villains that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has managed to create over its decade-plus long march to power. But the decision to tell a story about this version of Loki – one that stole the Tesseract following the Battle of New York and disappeared from the primary MCU timeline before the bulk of his redemption arc could really kick into gear – has always felt kind of like a cheat....

Responsible for innumerable classic works, from Chinatown to Total Recall, and a pioneer in the integration of ethnic sounds and electronic samples with a full symphony orchestra, Goldsmith stakes a strong claim to being the greatest film composer who ever lived. Although he sadly passed away in 2004 his formidable legacy lives on, so here are his 30 greatest works that continue to inspire the soul and get the blood pumping....

THE FIRST RIDDLER STORY In the early pages of The Riddler: Year One, a pre-Riddler Edward Nashton is seen on the Gotham subway amusing himself with an app called Riddle King, which among other things, contains crossword puzzle exercises. The three visible clues are: “a water utensil,” “a public way,” and “a formal dinner.” Two of those clues are already filled in by Edward, with the solutions reading “basin” and “street” respectively....

Is it an important document? Yes. Does it give Beatlemaniacs everything they want? Of course not, nothing will. For one thing, he doesn’t give us a full version of Paul McCartney’s “Teddy Boy,” which came close to making the playlist. We also don’t get the satisfaction of hearing entire versions of “The Long and Winding Road,” “Let It Be,” or any of the other final album songs not performed on the roof....

The Godfather has been criticized for glorifying violence, and it certainly has its share. From the barrage of bullets at a toll booth to the brains all over Michael’s Ivy League suit, plus waking up with the severed head of a beloved horse, the range of brutality is vast. There are scenes of domestic abuse which lead to street beatings. Car bombings vie with bar stabbings. The reason the violence works so well, however, is because so much time is allowed to pass in between these scenes....

Along with Segel, director Nicholas Stoller cast Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Jason Bateman and more in the tale of a jilted boyfriend who is struggling to get over his famous ex, but Segel had written the special part of insufferable rock star Aldous Snow for his close friend Charlie Hunnam, who was coming off Fox’s short-lived sitcom Undeclared – another Apatow-shepherded project. But Hunnam would eventually leave Forgetting Sarah Marshall after the first table read, and in a new interview with Collider, the actor has opened up about why he quit the movie, and how his exit opened the door for Russell Brand to blast his legendary performance as Snow onto the reels of movie history....

There are some who would have you believe Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie. To them, we say “bah, humbug,” or rather “yippee-ki-yay….” For one thing, it’s got John McClane cast firmly in the role of Santa Claus, roaming the corridors of Nakatomi Plaza trying to find out “who’s naughty or nice.” Then there is Han Gruber, a modern-day Grinch with a dash of Ebenezer Scrooge intent on ruining the festive fun....

Yet, I prefer to think of 2022 as the year in which we all hopefully realized that many of the best games of the last several years haven’t come from the biggest studios. Even the best major release of the year came from a studio that was once seen as something of an outsider. It’s not easy for people to find the time to play every great game released in a year, and we all know it’s not easy for most people to find the money to do the same....

And for spooky nerds — those who prefer to tune in to topics of the strange and unusual, and get weird with lore and scary stories — there is an abundance of paranormal-themed shows out there. The entire Aaron Mahnke universe, including the hit Lore, routinely delivers. Other well-known shows that consistently chart strong, such as Jim Harold’s The Paranormal Podcast, The Last Podcast on the Left, Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know, Radio Rental, and Monsters Among Us, are all worth listening to....

New year, new PC? With exciting new hardware available to buy, it may feel like it’s time to upgrade your rig. And if you’re undertaking serious PC surgery this year – or if you just want to make your PC run cooler and quieter – the case is a great place to start. We’ve got some fine PC case recommendations from the cool and quiet obsessives over at be quiet!...

Even more than bringing beloved characters such as Rocket Raccoon and Peacemaker to the big screen, James Gunn is famous for soundtracks. The Awesome Mixes were highlights of both Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and the arena rocker “Do You Want to Taste It” by Wigwam made Peacemaker a viral hit. So when Gunn announced that he was making a holiday special with the Guardians, expectations were high for the all-time greatest collection of Yuletide hits....

Every December, I like to put on a Christmas classic from director Bob Clark. It features a cantankerous father, a grouchy Santa Claus, antics on school grounds, and of course, a memorable voiceover. I refer, of course, to Black Christmas, the 1974 slasher starring Olivia Hussey (Romeo & Juliet), Margot Kidder (Superman), and Kier Dullea (2001). Considered by many to be the first American slasher movie, Black Christmas predates John Carpenter’s Halloween by three years....

How the script originated, how the production went, who decided to tack on the framing story at the last minute, what the framing story means, who decided to go with the Expressionist design, and what sort of critical and box office reception the film received in 1920, are still the subject of fierce debate today. In a way, and aptly so, Caligari’s history is as much an insane jangle of crooked angles and unbalanced teetering images as the film itself....

Directed generically by first-timer Julius Onah from a script by Oren Uziel, The Cloverfield Paradox follows the same basic plotline that was first floated for the mysterious project years ago: a space station orbiting above the Earth attempts to power up a particle accelerator in an effort to create a vast reserve of free energy for the depleted, desperate planet below (don’t bother trying to follow the science). Of course, something goes wrong with the experiment — which they’ve been trying to get right for two years — and the crew of six, led by Kiel (David Oyelowo) and Ava (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), find to their horror that the Earth has disappeared....

The Expanse Season 2 Episode 4 Holy shit, right? All sense of decorum in critical praise is now gone as The Expanse just continues to kill it; the vocabulary of superlatives to describe such a show is running low. In particular, this week’s episode has highlighted once again one of the key aspects of the show’s success: its respect for how big space really is. A story which is already awe-inspiring in its sheer audacity becomes jaw-droppingly breathtaking with the expert visual effects and unexpected scale of it all....

The Expanse Season 5 Episode 8 This week’s The Expanse injects a whole different type of tension into the stories of escape and helplessness. While Amos’ arc has shifted into a quest to escape a dying planet, Naomi’s has become a desperate tale of survival and a MacGyver-esque call for rescue. While the Drummer family’s struggle under the yoke of Marco’s command isn’t quite as compelling, it, too, denotes a longing to break free that has been the thematic hallmark of season 5....