The Knick

The Knick is the latest TV series to continue the current trend of melding the worlds of cinema and television. Shows like Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards and True Detective have all featured Hollywood royalty making the transition from the big to the small screen in recent years. Television - in particular cable television in the United States - is increasingly seen as the place to be for creative types – be they actors, writers or directors. And now we have The Knick, which is created by relative unknowns Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, but has lured Steven Soderbergh – who had recently taken a sabbatical from film-making – back behind the camera to direct all ten episodes. It also features Clive Owen in the lead role. That’s a fine wealth of talent, and The Knick is a show that certainly benefits from it.

Oculus

Oculus is a horror movie about a haunted mirror. I know, I know. It sounds like a hackneyed plot - something out of a Stephen King spoof - but it's also one that, if you give the premise a chance, is rife with potential. And it's potential that newcomer Mike Flanagan taps into successfully, crafting a fiendish, creepy and effective horror film.

Oculus stars Karen Gillen and Brenton Thwaites as Kaylie and Tim Russell: siblings whose family has been plagued with tragedies ever since their parents acquired an old mirror known as the Lasser Glass when they were children. Tim and Kaylie become convinced that, somehow, it's the mirror's insidious effect that's responsible for the horrors that befall their family. As a result of these tragedies, Tim is institutionalised, but not before he and Kaylie promise to reunite upon his release and destroy the mirror once and for all...

Game of Thrones Season 3 Launch

“Winter is coming.”

So read the words of House Stark, and so reads the motto of Game Of Thrones at large. Over in the real-world, and winter won’t leave us alone. Is this an incredibly elaborate publicity stunt on the part of HBO; have they perhaps created a true Westerosi winter – one that lasts for years on end - to promote the new series? Well, perhaps not. But they – along with Sky Atlantic - definitely were responsible for hosting a very special preview party for the arrival of season three of what has fast become one of their flagship shows.

Stoker

Park Chan-wook's Stoker is a film with a curious DNA. Directed by the man who brought South Korean cinema to the masses with his highly regarded and highly influential 'Vengeance Trilogy', Stoker is his first English language film. The script and story, which owe a heavy debt to Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, were written by Wentworth Miller. Yes, the Prison Break guy. Starring an exciting young talent (Mia Wasikowska), and one whose star has somewhat faded (Nicole Kidman), and scored by a man who started life in an English alt-rock band; with such varied ingredients, the results were always going to be interesting. And, while it certainly is interesting, it's not entirely successful.

The Boy Who Kicked Pigs

A group of old codgers drinking in a pub. A questionable doctor and his coquettish nurse. A work-experience lad languishing in a stale newsroom. A young boy with a penchant for kicking pigs. These are the characters that populate the bizarre world of Kill The Beast’s new production of The Boy Who Kicked Pigs. Sounds bonkers? It is. When we tell you that the source material was a short novel by one-time Doctor Who star and Little Britain narrator Tom Baker, it should make a little more sense.