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With Halloween only two weeks away now, that means we have another killer batch of home entertainment releases arriving this Tuesday, primed to get everyone in the mood for the macabre. Cult film lovers should get those wallets ready, as Kino Lorber is keeping busy with The Terror Within II, Revenge of the Dead, and a 4K special edition of RawHead Rex, too.

For those who still venture out into the real world to make their media purchases, Target has the exclusive on season one of Stranger Things that comes in nifty retro packaging, and Criterion has put together a stellar Blu for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Other notable releases for October 17th include American Gods: Season One, Wes Craven’s Summer of Fear, Red Christmas, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Honor Farm, and Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Collection.

American Gods: Season One (Lionsgate, Blu-ray & DVD)

When...

There has always been an understated rivalry between the mediums of movies and television. Many years ago it was even thought as being somewhat of a drastic career letdown if actors/actresses from film decided to depart for the landscape of television. The truth is that for some performers that had stalled or uneventful momentum in motion pictures that the concept of “slumming it” in television actually saved their show business profession. Hence, the boob tube made them relevant whereas the big screen had unceremoniously passed them by.

However, there is also a mutual respect that cinema and television share that go hand in hand when shaping our appreciation for entertainment on both the big and small screen. When movies depict the aspects of the TV world giving a sociological, psychological or emotional perspective then it is not so uncool to be a proud couch potato after all, right? Let...

Alex's series looking back at the film careers of actors who've played the Doctor finishes with Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi...

Feature

Read the previous part in this series: the film careers of Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant, here.

By 2009, the new version of Doctor Who had become not only an integral part of Saturday night television and a huge Christmas ratings winner but also an international success all over again. David Tennant, who had played the Time Lord since 2005 and was, arguably, more popular than any Doctor since the mighty Tom Baker hung up his scarf in 1981, had announced his resignation from the part he loved in October 2008. Many wondered how the incoming showrunner, Steven Moffat, would follow Tennant and what kind of show would emerge.

Tennant spent much of 2009 on stage in Hamlet and was only able to devote small amounts of time to Doctor Who. Occasional specials...

Sebastian Barry's novel The Secret Scripture has already had a spell of success and attention, winning awards and shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2008. Now it's set to return to the limelight with a film adaptation starring Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave. My Left Foot's Noel Pearson is producing, and after a few months of searching, the film now finally has a director in Thaddeus O'Sullivan.A cinematographer by original trade, O'Sullivan made his debut as a director with the 1991 drama December Bride. He's since made Nothing Personal, Ordinary Decent Criminal, The Heart Of Me and, most recently, 2011's Stella Days. He's also directed regularly for television, most notably with HBO's Emmy-winning 2009 TV-movie Into The Storm.The Secret Scripture sees Chastain playing the young Redgrave, since the novel concentrates on two separate points in the life of Roseanne McNulty. The set up is the occasion of Roseanne's (presumed) hundredth birthday,...

It's a relatively quiet week for new releases and rep screenings, but with the F1 crowd making traffic through Austin a slow-moving experience, maybe that's just as well. You can venture away from downtown to join the Austin Film Society at the Marchesa over the next week for some top-notch bookings that would have otherwise skipped over our fair city completely. On Saturday afternoon, they've got Andrew Dosunmu's Mother Of George, an acclaimed film that debuted at Sundance earlier this year about a Nigerian couple living in Brooklyn who cannot have a child of their own.

At Berkeley is another movie that nobody else would dare to bring to town. This 4-hour documentary from legendary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman details four months on campus at the University of Southern California at Berkeley. It has one screening only on Sunday at noon and it will feature a Skype Q&A with Wiseman after the film.

The Wasteland:

Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;

and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.

Lee Loevinger

When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...

Cameras are scheduled to roll on the set of Newgrange Pictures' new feature film 'Stella Days' on Sunday, November 7th. South Tipperary will play host to Golden Globe winner Martin Sheen (The West Wing, Apocalypse Now) and Oscar nominee Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, Ondine) who lead the film's impressive cast. Written by Antoine O'Flathartha the feature is being directed by Ifta winning Irish director Thaddeus O'Sullivan (Into the Storm, December Bride).

My Son, The History Lesson

On his debut album Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening recorded in July of 2009, comedian Aziz Ansari presents a veritable torrent of pop culture references throughout the hour-long routine. He jokes about harassing his cousin Harris on Facebook, pokes fun at Cold Stone Creamery, Cvs Pharmacy and Craigslist and then finishes with two big pre-encore bits involving Kanye West and R. Kelly, including an extended impression of R&B singer Kelly both in concert and then getting lapdances at the after-party. He even makes fun of himself for being tongue-tied around M.I.A.

It’s a great album from a very funny comic who, given his ongoing role in Parks & Recreation, his hosting this past summer of the MTV Movie Awards and parts in movies like Get Him to the Greek, Funny People and the upcoming 30 Minutes or Less (which will be his first...

Members of the Irish Film & Television Academy (Ifta) will be among the first in Ireland to see the Emmy-winning film 'Into the Storm' as an exclusive preview screening is scheduled for Dublin next week. The film's Irish director, Thaddeus O'Sullivan (December Bride), will attend as a special guest and participate in a post screening Q&A with the Academy. 'Into the Storm' tells the tale of Winston Churchill's life post World War II where, following the Allies' victory, Britain went to the polls in 1945 to decide their post-war prime minister and ruling party. For the month that it took to tally these votes Churchill went on holiday to France with his wife and daughter in anticipation of the election results. 'Into the Storm' uses this time as a framework for the story, beginning as Churchill awaits his fate, and looks back at the...

Thaddeus O'Sullivan (Ordinary Decent Criminal, December Bride) is being lined up to direct a new Irish feature 'Stella Days', a drama based on the events surrounding the establishment of a cinema in a small Irish town. Us Actor Martin Sheen (The West Wing) is attached to star. Sheen will play an the parish priest Daniel Barry, whose love for the cinema leads him to on a path to help set up local a cinema in the town but comes against the opposition of doubtful local parishioners questioning his faith and from the Bishop who is more interested in raising funds for a new church. Screen International reports Irish actor Stephen Rea (The Butcher Boy) and Brit actress Romola Garai (Atonement, Inside I'm Dancing) are also attached to the film.

Irish director Thaddeus O'Sullivan (Ordinary Decent Criminal, December Bride) is being lined up to direct the new psychological thriller, 'Obsession' adapted from Alec Coppel's novel 'A Man About A Dog' by screenwriter Rob Green (House). The film involves a Manhattan based doctor who plots revenge against his wife's lover. Coppel's novel has already been adapted from the screen by Edward Dmytryk in 1949's 'The Hidden Room'. The new version will be produced by Think Tank Films with shooting scheduled to commence later in the year in Detroit and New York.