Invasions of Earth and Iraq

We’ve been dying to talk about: “Torchwood”

The third season -- really, a five-episode miniseries airing this week on BBC America -- spans the five-day invasion of an alien race known as the 456 and Torchwood’s efforts to save mankind. Yeah, yeah, what we’re really interested in is Captain Jack, who will -- spoiler alert! -- catch up with his estranged daughter and grandson this week. Tragic times ahead. (Monday)

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You should talk about: “In the Loop”

An adaptation of the BBC series “The Thick of It,” the Armando Iannucci-directed Sundance comedy is a fast-paced satire of modern Anglo-American politics, specifically recalling the buildup to the Iraq war among various U.S. and U.K. government officials, who bumble and bicker their way through bureaucracy while war hangs in the balance. Watch out for James Gandolfini as an American general who realizes that war would be a disaster. (Friday)

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Or you could talk about: “The Answer Man”

Another comedy out of Sundance, this one stars Jeff Daniels as a renowned spiritualist-turned-recluse and Lauren Graham as the woman who draws him back out into the world, as only Graham could. Frankly, you should still be watch anything the “Gilmore Girls” star does. Proof? Go re-watch “Bad Santa.”(Friday)

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Talk up: Wye Oak “The Knot”

The sophomore album from the Baltimore indie-folk duo is as wonderfully rootsy as ever. Soft psychedelic-pop just right for a long car ride or lazing about inside during the too-hot summer days. (Tuesday)

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Not sure you should talk about: “Labor Pains”

Could it have been Lindsay Lohan’s comeback? Would the film, about a publishing assistant who pretends she’s knocked up to avoid getting fired, have reminded us that Lohan once impressed in “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday”? Only one way to find out: Catch the movie’s world premiere on ABC Family. (Today)

-- Denise Martin