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We cover a lot of rock, metal, and synth when it comes to the music aspect of the horror lifestyle but I think it’s totally fair to show that our genre has a very firm spot in the heart of… Continue Reading →

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Robbert de Koeijer Sep 23, 2016

Wondering how all the DC universe TV spin-offs, crossovers and webseries fit together? We have the answer...

In October 2012, Us network The CW launched the first season of Arrow, after wrapping up no fewer than ten seasons of Superman origin show Smallville a year before. Arrow was a completely new take on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, in a new universe that had nothing to do with Smallville or its version of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. The series proved quite the hit for The CW, and a second season renewal inevitably followed. In season two, we were introduced to forensic scientist Barry Allen, better known to DC Comics readers as The Flash. Arrow got a third season, The Flash got his own TV show with great success, and the live action shared DC Comics universe on TV was born. And with it the question: how does it all fit together?...

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While the fourth season of Arrow proved to be highly divisive among fans, it’s probably safe to say that many will still want it to adorn their shelves. And for those who do, you’ll be glad to know that on August 30, you can bring home Oliver Queen’s latest adventures on either Blu-Ray or DVD.

Something that I found to be cool about this upcoming set is that it actually includes an episode of The Flash, so you can enjoy both parts of the mid-season crossover in case you elect to buy only one series. Furthermore, several bonus features focus on the likes of Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Vandal Savage, which seems appropriate given that said crossover served as a backdoor pilot for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

For more information on what to expect, you can check out the full press release below,...

Burbank, CA (May 31, 2016) – Just in time for Arrow’s fifth season on The CW, viewers can catch up with the thrilling series as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Arrow: The Complete Fourth Season on Blu-rayTM including Digital HD and DVD on August 30, 2016. Averaging 4 million viewers weekly for each original episode, Arrow is The CW’s #3 show among Total Viewers, behind The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and the #2 series on The CW amongst Adults 18-34.* The release contains all 23 exhilarating episodes from the fourth season, and The Flash crossover episode; plus over an hour and a half of extra content, including the 2015 Comic-Con Panel, never-before-seen featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Arrow: The Complete Fourth Season is priced to own at $49.99 Srp for the DVD and $54.97 Srp for the Blu-ray including Digital HD.

*Source: Nielsen National TV View L+7 Us AA%; excluding repeats, specials, and...

Lexi Alexander knows her superheroes. To some, she even is a superhero. After directing Punisher: War Zone in 2008 and this year’s “Beyond Redemption” episode of Arrow, she’s set her sights on Supergirl. Tonight will premiere Alexander’s first foray into directing a female superhero as Supergirl takes on a serial killer in “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” HitFix Harpy spoke with Alexander by phone last week about working with Melissa Benoist, what superhero project Lexi hopes to take on next, and what it’s like to be at the forefront of the push for diversity in Hollywood. Image Credit: CBS Hitfix Harpy: How did you get involved with Supergirl? Did you reach out to them or did they reach out to you? Lexi Alexander: It was kind of a mix. Andrew Kreisberg — he's the showrunner — he tracked me down in the first place. Even for Arrow.

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Between the Lazarus Pit, Nanda Parbat and the return of an old friend, the latest Arrow season 4 episode is swimming in deja-vu...

This review contains spoilers.

4.12 Unchained

If there's one salvageable thing to come out of last season's Ra's al Ghul storyline, it was Nyssa. Previously a love interest for Sara and a foil for Oliver, Nyssa has quietly become one of Arrow's most intriguing figures, a person outside of Team Arrow, outside of Malcolm's new League of Assassins, operating largely in the background.

This gives her a certain edge over the rest of our heroes as, while still being humanised at various points thanks to her aforementioned romance with Sara, she's often more level-headed than anyone else on the show. Her mission to take down Malcolm is one that makes complete sense after what we've witnessed, and her manoeuvrings to get there were revealed across...

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Between the Lazarus Pit, Nanda Parbat and the return of an old friend, the latest Arrow season 4 episode is swimming in deja-vu...

This review contains spoilers.

4.12 Unchained

If there's one salvageable thing to come out of last season's Ra's al Ghul storyline, it was Nyssa. Previously a love interest for Sara and a foil for Oliver, Nyssa has quietly become one of Arrow's most intriguing figures, a person outside of Team Arrow, outside of Malcolm's new League of Assassins, operating largely in the background.

This gives her a certain edge over the rest of our heroes as, while still being humanised at various points thanks to her aforementioned romance with Sara, she's often more level-headed than anyone else on the show. Her mission to take down Malcolm is one that makes complete sense after what we've witnessed, and her manoeuvrings to get there were revealed across...

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Arrow season 4's latest filler episode delivers two sidekick-centric storylines for Felicity and Diggle...

This review contains spoilers.

4.11 A.W.O.L.

Until now, Arrow has always, disappointingly, made the struggles of its supporting characters all about Oliver. When it was confirmed that the outcome of Darhk's attack would leave Felicity wheelchair-bound, it was a significant worry that her paralysis would simply be an excuse for the show to backtrack on Oliver's attitude adjustment. He doesn't handle tragedy well and, despite his relatively lighthearted demeanour this season, old habits die hard.

And to a certain extent this can be expected given the fact that Oliver is the show's solo protagonist. But at a certain point fans attach to the supporting cast and, on Arrow especially, the hero becomes one of the least interesting ingredients in the recipe.

What a relief, then, that the episode decided to focus...

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Arrow returns with an episode that hinges on whether you cared about that mid-season cliffhanger...

This review contains spoilers.

4.10 Blood Debts

So Felicity isn't in the grave, which was obvious to anyone paying attention to dates, and we're still no closer to finding out it's true occupant. Our enjoyment of Blood Debts relied on how much we cared about that cliffhanger, and with the combination of obvious writer trickery to throw us off the scent over the break and an episode that was busy with several non-Felicity plotlines to set up and pay off, it's hard to know how to feel about the outcome.

The attack in the mid-season finale has consequences, which is nice, but it's again very unlikely that Felicity will actually remain paralysed for the rest of her time on the show. Sadly, primetime Us dramas just aren't there yet (but they're free to...

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Arrow's fourth mid-season finale delivers a cruel cliffhanger for Oliver and the gang. Here's our review of Dark Waters...

This review contains spoilers.

4.9 Dark Waters

It's a rule on Arrow that no one can be happy for more than three weeks. Whether it's self-fulfilment, becoming a capable superhero or finding contentment with a loved one, it's all going to get taken away in the most horrendous, violent way possible, and it's all in aid of our sick, twisted viewing pleasure.

Because, though the end of this episode was extremely cruel, you can't deny that it was also the capper to an excellent episode full of personal stakes and a connection to the main themes running through season four in a way last year never grasped. You can track Oliver's evolution from the moment he rode off into the sunset to now, and also more or less...

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This year's Arrow/The Flash crossover was hugely entertaining, with the Star City gang injecting some lightness to proceedings...

This review contains spoilers.

4.8 Legends Of Yesterday

What does one do when you're Greg Berlanti (and team), building an empire of modern superhero shows that has become increasingly interwoven, to the point where the first two series are being used to launch a third? Unsurprisingly, the most sensible place to do this was in the now-annual crossover event, somewhat inconveniently placed the week before each individual series' mid-season finale.

The first half of this Legends two-parter consisted of a lot of set-up done incredibly well, cashing in on the expectations of Flash viewers for more humour and camaraderie. Legends Of Yesterday, then, gets to do some more drama, finishing off the Kendra origin story and moving a few more chess pieces into place.

But I'm a little bit...

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Arrow finally devotes an episode to exploring John Diggle's four-season-long storyline in this week's Brotherhood...

This review contains spoilers.

4.7 Brotherhood

John Diggle is more important to Arrow than fans tend to give him credit for. He's mainly kept in the back, wheeled out to keep Oliver in check whenever he's being particularly 'difficult' and, as the only minority character on Team Arrow, that's often been a problem. But this year he's got a costume and a secret identity and, with Brotherhood, an episode more or less dedicated to exploring his four-season-long storyline.

The fact that the through-line of Diggle's brother, Deadshot and Hive has been going since the pilot just shows how little effort Arrow puts into dealing with the character on a week-to-week basis but, probably by accident, it does mean that episodes like this have a ton of history to lean on.

The relationship between Oliver and Diggle,...

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Arrow's Olicity experiment is paying surprising dividends, as season four episode Lost Souls proved...

This review contains spoilers.

4.6 Lost Souls

We all know that one of the first rules of television writing is that getting your two main characters together, short of giving someone a baby, is the biggest show-killer there is. It ruins the suspense and forces the writers to give at least some focus to indulging fans of said couple, while all the while coming up with new and creative ways to add drama to the mix. Getting Oliver and Felicity together at the end of last season, then, was a worrisome move.

Not for those clamouring for them to live happily ever after, of course, but hardcore shippers tend to overlook the bigger picture when it comes to their chosen Otp being together or not. There's nothing particularly wrong with that approach, it's...

"Lost Souls" like "Haunted" and "Beyond Redemption" was another Arrow episode setting up Legends of Tomorrow. However, like both of those previously mentioned episodes, this was more than a spin-off set up. The events effected the main characters of Arrow in meaningful ways. "Lost Souls" brought Ray back from the (kinda) dead but the episode was really about Felicity. Specifically, Felicity trying to figure out how her relationship with Oliver has changed her and if that's a good or bad thing.

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Here's what we made of the now-defunct Constantine crossing over with on Arrow in season four episode, Haunted...

This review contains spoilers.

4.5 Haunted

I didn't watch Constantine. I feel like it's best I get that out in the open before attempting to write about Haunted because, as much as I enjoyed the episode and as excited I am about the precedent it sets for the shared universe in general, I have zero prior knowledge of the character aside from one pilot episode half-watched over a year ago. But, yeah, Constantine was in an episode of Arrow, guys. What a world we live in.

First and foremost, I was kind of impressed with how the episode wasn't entirely constructed as a way to bring in the character, but rather the character was slotted into this point in the season pretty seamlessly. Yes, he was given a fair bit...

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The Sara saga continues in this week's Arrow episode, an hour elevated by some strong performances...

This review contains spoilers.

4.4. Beyond Redemption

Quentin has posed a problem for Arrow writers since the start of the show. They want him to be an antagonist, but not a villain. They want him to be morally ambiguous, but not unlikable. They want many of our main characters to be at odds with him, but also for his emotional moments to land with the audience. These things are all at odds with each other and, as with this week, they're also more often than not happening at the same time.

But without the character, I suspect some of Arrow's strongest episodes just wouldn't be as strong. Beyond Redemption, for example, isn't particularly remarkable on paper, but is lifted by several performances that range from near-over the top to surprisingly nuanced.

The CW

This week’s episode of Arrow was called Beyond Redemption, yet it continued to prove that the show very much isn’t that.

Arrow Season 3 was a low-point for the show, but the start to the fourth year is already making up for it and then some; it may be the strongest, most consistent opening bunch of episodes they’ve delivered so far.

You could even use the death and revival of Sara Lance to draw a parallel to the show’s quality. It took a big dip following her death, as that hung over the show for an entire season, and it was impossible to shake the feeling of misery. Now she’s back, and while her own storyline is pretty dark, it’s coincided with the show getting back to its best as well.

Beyond Redemption, then, continued that run of form. We returned to Oliver’s Mayoral campaign,...

Sneak Peek more footage, plus images from the "Arrow" episode, "Beyond Redemption", written by Beth Schwartz, Ben Sokolowski and directed by Lexi Alexander ("Punisher: War Zone"), airing October 28, 2015 :

"...'Laurel' (Katie Cassidy) must deal with the repercussions of taking 'Sara' (Caity Lotz) to 'Nanda Parbat'.

"Meanwhile, 'Oliver' (Stephen Amell) asks 'Captain Lance' (Paul Blackthorne) for a favor and while he’s not surprised at the response, he is surprised at what he finds out next..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Arrow: Beyond Redemption"...

The theme of Arrow’s fourth season is family. Four episodes in, the show has already set in motion several family-themed arcs — Oliver taking Thea under his superhero wing, Diggle searching for his brother’s killer, Laurel bringing back her sister from the dead. But in this week’s excellent “Beyond Redemption,” the most compelling dynamic is not one based on blood or marriage or even friendship, for that matter. Rather, it’s the fractured quasi-father-son relationship between Oliver Queen and Quentin Lance that provides the most satisfying conflict in this week’s episode, expertly directed by Lexi Alexander.But before we get to that, Oliver’s got a Team Arrow announcement to make. He’s gathered everyone (in daylight!) at Sebastian Blood’s old campaign office from season two, now dusty and crawling with cockroaches. Much to Thea’s disappointment, Oliver is not announcing his engagement to Felicity, but...

Arrow Season 4, Episode 4 “Beyond Redemption”

Written by Beth Schwartz & Ben Sokolowski

Directed by Lexi Alexander

Airs Wednesdays at 8pm Et on The CW

While “Beyond Redemption” doesn’t escape the logistical issues season four of Arrow‘s been plagued with, it’s a major step forward for the show, both moving away from some of the troublesome characterizations from the season opener, and streamlining some of the many stories it’s trying to juggle at the moment. Anchored by the strongest Captain Lance arc in years, “Beyond Redemption” is the first light of hope Arrow‘s offered its audience this season.

There’s a no-bullshit approach to (most) of this episode that feels necessary: beginning with the people of Team Arrow and the police department realizing the city is fundamentally broken, to the point even the best people are willing to do desperate things. How this story comes to light,...

"Beyond Redemption" might as well be considered a Quentin Lance-centric episode. Now if you're like me, that concept fills you with more fear and trepidation than any Arrow villain could or would. Luckily, "Beyond Redemption" is actually pretty solid and fixes a lot of problems with Lance in Season 4. He still delivers almost all his lines in angry duck face expression, exposing his teeth like a wild dog but Arrow brought Lance back into the fold of Team Green Arrow. I'd rather Lance's anger be direct at other people not our main heroes. Also, the newly alive Sara was tied up to a wall with chains, so that's a thing that happened. ...

Sara Lance has been revived by the Lazarus Pit, but something isn’t right. On tonight’s episode of “Arrow,” will Quentin Lance be able to pull the trigger — literally — and put an end to all this? Based on the fact Sara Lance is in “Legends of Tomorrow” the answer is probably no? The action-packed episode is directed by Lexi Alexander. Alexander has been a vocal advocate of showing the discrepancy between men and women behind the camera in Hollywood. If you want to keep your fingers on the pulse of feminism in Hollywood, give her Twitter a follow. Last week, I happened to be on the set of “Arrow” talking to stars Stephen Amell and Emily Bett about what fans can expect from this season when talked turned to the upcoming episode. How could I pass up an opportunity to ask what it was like to work with Alexander?...

See Full Gallery Here

The first images from the fourth episode of Arrow‘s fourth season have been released, and they offer a very intriguing look at what’s to come. The main focus here is on the return of Sara Lance, and as you can see, her sister Laurel is having to keep the former Canary chained up in order to keep her under control after she emerged from the Lazarus Pit without her soul.

Interestingly, we also get a glimpse of Oliver Queen kicking off his campaign to become Star City’s new mayor. That seems like a natural move for the character, especially now that he has a new and improved attitude as the Green Arrow.

Here’s the official description of “Beyond Redemption,” courtesy of The CW:

Laurel (Katie Cassidy) must deal with the repercussions of taking Sara (guest star Caity Lotz) to Nanda Parbat. Meanwhile,...

Official photos from the fourth episode of Arrow season 4, "Beyond Redemption," airing Wednesday, October 28 at 8pm on the CW.

Official Synopsis from the CW: "Laurel (Katie Cassidy) must deal with the repercussions of taking Sara (guest star Caity Lotz) to Nanda Parbat. Meanwhile, Oliver (Stephen Amell) asks Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) for a favor and while he?s not surprised at the response, he is surprised at what he finds out next."...

Sneak Peek footage, plus images from the next episode of "Arrow", titled "Beyond Redemption", written by Beth Schwartz, Ben Sokolowski and directed by Lexi Alexander ("Punisher: War Zone", airing October 28, 2015 :

"...'Laurel' (Katie Cassidy) must deal with the repercussions of taking 'Sara' (Caity Lotz) to 'Nanda Parbat'.

"Meanwhile, 'Oliver' (Stephen Amell) asks 'Captain Lance' (Paul Blackthorne) for a favor and while he’s not surprised at the response, he is surprised at what he finds out next..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Arrow: Beyond Redemption"...

Recently, CW delivered the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Arrow" episode 5 of season 4. The episode is entitled, "Beyond Redemption," and it turns out that we're going to see some pretty interesting and dramatic stuff go down as some new info shocks Oliver. Laurel has to deal with Nanda Parbat aftermath drama, and more. The episode is labeled, "Beyond Redemption." In the new, 5th episode press release: Laurel Deals With The Aftermath Of Nanda Parbat. Press release number 2: Laurel (Katie Cassidy) is going to have to deal with the repercussions of taking Sara (guest star Caity Lotz) to Nanda Parbat. In the meantime, Oliver (Stephen Amell) will ask Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) for a favor and while he's not surprised at the response, he will be surprised at what he finds out next. Lexi Alexander directed the episode, and it was written by Beth Schwartz & Ben Sokolowski. Episode...

Rodrigo Garcia most recently brought the world Albert Nobbs, which scored Oscar nominations for Glenn Close, Janet McTeer and the make-up team. There will be a lot less cross-dressing in his next film, but a double dose of the Rabe family as David wrote the script and daughter Lily will star in We’re Just Married.As for what the plot is about, that’s apparently being kept quiet. But Garcia did say this to Deadline: “I’m ecstatic to be in the Rabe business with David and Lily.“This script is a perfect portrait of a highly complicated, emotionally charged, and painfully funny romantic triangle. And, like all of David Rabe’s works, it is a gift to writers and directors.”Rabe the younger most recently appeared in All Good Things alongside Kirsten Dunst and Ryan Gosling. She’s shot drama Beyond Redemption and is set to begin filming...

At the request of our readers, we recently brought back the Music version of the Chopping List after an extended hiatus, and while the past few weeks have been light on the music front, this week changes that in a big way. Below the jump you'll find this week's list. With so many genres to cover, this is in no way comprehensive, but features 21 highlights we think you're gonna dig. We've hand-picked an assortment that runs the gamut from Soundtracks to metal, goth, alternative, punk, and more.

What will you be listening to this week?

The Book Of Eli - Soundtrack - Reprise Records

The Book of Eli Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features an original score by composer/musician/producer Atticus Ross, marking his third collaboration with the Hughes Brothers and his first feature film score. Ross' music is a unique hybrid score of electronic and organic elements; writing with...