Bands to check out: Amanda X Echosmith I’ve created a Spotify playlist with my top picks, which you can subscribe to via http://open.spotify.com/user/jenster13/playlist/0gYXunFqF4QGZahdvTtjFU or by searching Jenster13. If you want to share your own top tracks, send me suggestions for a readers’ playlist.

Deadmau5 & Disney go ear-to-ear: Deadmau5 has told Disney to lawyer up after a dispute over his mouse-ears logo and the world-famous Mickey trademark. The Canadian electro music producer took to social media to voice his annoyance after Disney filed a legal document opposing his application to trademark his own logo in the United States. He Tweeted, “Landed home to some interesting news: looks like Disney officially just filed in opposition of my trademark... lawyer up mickey.” Disney, in a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, claim deadmau5’s logo “is nearly identical in appearance, connotation and overall commercial impression to their Mouse Ears Marks” and that the trademark designation was likely to cause confusion and dilution of its own marks. Deadmau5 - A.K.A. Joel Thomas Zimmerman - added, “Disney thinks you might confuse an established electronic musician/performer with a cartoon mouse. That’s how stupid they think you are.” The performer - who’s front-facing mau5head is already a registered trademark in 30 countries worldwide - has until 12 October to answer Disney’s objections.

Top read: The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid; When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a crumbling, gothic building in Edinburgh, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is faced with the unenviable task of identifying the bones. As Karen’s investigation gathers momentum, she is drawn deeper into a world of intrigue and betrayal, spanning the dark days of the Balkan Wars. Karen’s search for answers brings her to a small village in Croatia, a place scarred by fear, where people have endured unspeakable acts of violence. Meanwhile, someone is taking the law into their own hands in the name of justice and revenge - but when present resentment collides with secrets of the past, the truth is more shocking than what anyone could have imagined.

Films to watch out for: Wild; With the dissolution of her marriage and the death of her mother, Cheryl Strayed has lost all hope. After years of reckless, destructive behaviour, she makes a rash decision. With absolutely no experience, driven only by sheer determination, Cheryl hikes more than 1000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone. Based on a true story, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her. Starring Oscar-winner Reece Witherspoon, directed by Oscar-nominated Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) and written by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy), expect Wild to hit the right note come award season.

Nightcrawler; This pulse-pounding thriller is set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles and the high-speed world of crime journalism. Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work, finds himself amongst a group of freelance camera crew who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem. Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling - where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou thrives - but in the breakneck, ceaseless search for footage, he’s about to become the star of his own story. Featuring Jake Gyllenhaal (Zodiac, Prisoners), Nightcrawler could be deemed too 'dark’ to pick up any Oscar nods, but it has the potential to become a Box Office hit as audiences love a good spine-chiller.

See also; Maps to the Stars (a Hollywood satire starring Julianne Moore and John Cusack), The Judge (a legal dramedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall), Gone Girl (a mystery-thriller starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike), Into The Woods (a musical starring Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp), Foxcatcher (a biographical drama starring Channing Tatum and Steve Carell), Trash (a thriller starring Rooney Mara and Martin Sheen), Fury (a war film starring Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf), Interstellar (a sci-fi starring Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain) and Birdman (a dramedy starring Michael Keaton and Emma Stone).

Escape from New York: Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) and Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) are being considered for the role of Snake Plissken in Silver Pictures’ remake of John Carpenter’s 1981 classic. As a massive fan of the original film - and dystopian games and movies in general - whoever lands the part is going to have to up their game to beat Kurt Russell’s iconic performance.

The Hateful Eight: The Weinstein Company is to distribute Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. The post-Civil War western will begin filming in January 2015 and is scheduled to be released in the US by the autumn. The Weinsteins, first at Miramax and now at The Weinstein Company, have collaborated on all of Tarantino’s films - from Reservoir Dogs through to Django Unchained. At this year’s Comic-Con, Tarantino revealed that he would carry on with the production despite putting his plans on hold earlier this year after the script was leaked online. Set in snowy Wyoming a few years after the Civil War, The Hateful Eight revolves around a group of people who become trapped after a blizzard diverts a stagecoach from its route. Featuring Tarantino favourites Kurt Russell, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Madsen, Zoe bell, Tim Roth and Samuel L. Jackson, expect a snappy script and violent blood-shed.

Summer 2014 Box Office winners (May-Sept): 1. Guardians of the Galaxy, $280.5 million 2. Transformers Age Of Extinction, $244.4 million 3. Maleficent, $238.7 million 4. X-Men: Days of Future Past, $233.3 million 5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, $205.5 million 6. The Amazing Spider-Man 2, $202.9 million 7. Godzilla $200.7, million 8. 22 Jump Street, $190.3 million 9. How to Train Your Dragon 2, $173.5 million 10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, $166.4 million My So-Called Life: It’s been 20 years since I first fell in love and wanted to get “sedated” with Jordan Catalano. Now two decades on and My So-Called Life still remains one of the greatest cult TV shows. Making its debut in 1994 and launching the career of Claire Danes and Jared Leto, the one-season series changed teen television by continually highlighting important social issues at the time - including child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homelessness, adultery, school violence, censorship and drug use. When ABC cancelled the show due to low ratings, fans launched an online campaign - the first of its kind in the history of the World Wide Web - to save the series. Unfortunately what they didn’t know is that behind-the-scenes Danes was reluctant to return as lead character Angela Chase. The studio used that as a convenient excuse not to renew and brought 'death to Life’. I’m still in mourning.