TV blog: 16 reasons why Top Gear and Sons Of Anarchy are the same programme, only different

ENTERTAINMENT

One is a tale of rogues blasting rival gangs in violent street brawls and the other is Sons Of Anarchy. What are the other themes the two programmes got in common.

Book review: The Sting Man, by Robert W Greene

ENTERTAINMENT

The Sting Man
By Robert W Greene (Penguin)
★★★✩✩

American Hustle - David O Russell's Oscar tipped film with the big hair and the big cast - is not, in case you were wondering, a Transatlantic take on the antics of Mickey Bricks, Albert Stroller and Ash "Three Socks" Morgan.

Spiral Notebook: What's this? Cyclists are stopping at red traffic lights now

COMMENT

By Giles Broadbent

These are curious times.

If we were in a Shakespeare play, the Sudden Storm of Saturday and the current Opposition Of Jove would signal a cataclysmic disruption.

Spiral Notebook: Council newspaper reaching the end of its East End Life

COMMENT

By Giles Broadbent

East End Life, like the rest of the press, appears to be drinking in last chance saloon.

A Government bill to crack down on "town hall Pravdas" has cleared its final Parliamentary stage in the House of Lords.

Film review: Out Of The Furnace (15)

ENTERTAINMENT

Out Of The Furnace
(15) 117mins
★★★✩✩

If Out Of The Furnace were a song, it would be a Bruce Springsteen song. The cover would be a man in a jacket and hoodie, head lowered, walking down a blue collar street of dilapidated cars, peeling paint and rundown bookies.

Spiral Notebook: The mayor, the Murk and an embarrassment of riches

COMMENT

By Giles Broadbent

Sometimes the presentational contortions required to keep Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman on the road are so convoluted, you wonder why it's worth the effort.

You can imagine his back room team, the Thunk-Tank, writing Big Ideas on small Post-Its and then writhing around the shagpile in constipated knots agonising over the good, bad and ugly of their latest wheeze.

Film review: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (12A)

ENTERTAINMENT

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
(12A) 105mins
★★★✩✩

In the weeks of angst and meditation that is pre-Oscar season, it's easy to forget the frantic pleasure of fast-administered popcorn.

TV blog: 5 reasons to relish the new Mob City

ENTERTAINMENT

1. The style
We should be thinking Boardwalk Empire, but this LA-set series pushes us towards Mad Men. Men wreathed in smoke (cigarette or gun), collars and ties, titfers cocked, turn-ups sharp. The jazz makes the whisky smooth as a barman's nod.

Spiral Notebook: Why learning to code should be an essential part of a child's education

Canary Wharf Group sponsors a coding club network across Tower Hamlets.

This nationwide network of volunteer after-school clubs aims to let children rip the screen off their computers and tablets and let them rummage around with the gubbins inside.

TV blog: What do our new small screen heroes tell us about who we are

Deep breath. Morning after time. Sherlock wakes up a stone-cold killer but without the fiddly legal consequences. Walter White (Bryan Cranston) clutches a Golden Globe for his (considerable) pains.

For breakfast, alongside the flat champagne, a talking point. What does it all mean?