What if I just want to drink a few full-flavored beers and not commit to getting overly buzzed or burdened with thousands of empty calories?

It may be rare, but if you’ve ever stared down a beer aisle and contemplated this question, there’s good news: other people have too. In fact, there just so happens to be a killer beer style for this very conundrum, the Session IPA.

If there’s one thing we can take away from America’s craft beer revolution, it’s that commercial beers have generally became more intense, both flavor-wise and in terms of ABV. Many dejected lager drinkers welcomed this evolution, yet it’s undeniable that consuming much of today’s craft beer requires added restraint.

Don’t get me wrong, I love strong suds, but there’s something amazing about enjoying pint after pint of delicious brew and not getting sloppy — it’s like having superpowers.

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Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on social media with your friends.

WHAT: When a powerful mutant named En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) reawakens in 1983 after thousands of years in hibernation, he recruits Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and three other mutants to join his side as he attempts to destroy the world and remake it in his image. Standing in his way his Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his X-Men, including Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) and new students Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Cyclops (Tye Sheridan).

WHY: “The third one is always the worst.” That’s an actual line of dialogue from Bryan Singer’s “X-Men: Apocalypse,” and though it’s technically referring to “Return of the Jedi,” it could just as easily be applied to the latest installment in the long-running superhero franchise. Messy, overstuffed and generally dull, there’s so much wrong with “X-Men: Apocalypse,” beginning with its titular villain. Not only is the all-powerful mutant surprisingly unimposing, but the movie completely wastes Oscar Isaac by burying him under layers of makeup and giving him very little to do. The same goes for stars Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence, none of whom look particularly interested this go-around, as well as the young X-Men, who are well-cast but get lost in the shuffle of the crowded ensemble. What initially seemed like the franchise’s biggest asset (its deep roster) has quickly become its Achilles’ heel. There just isn’t enough time to service all of these characters, and yet that doesn’t stop Singer from cramming as many as possible into the story. Although “X-Men: Apocalypse” has a few good moments (including yet another fun Quicksilver set piece), it’s so far behind what Marvel is doing with their movies that Fox would be better off handing over creative control (see: Sony and Spider-Man) and reaping the benefits.

EXTRAS: In addition to an audio commentary by director Bryan Singer and writer/producer Simon Kinberg, there’s an hour-long making-of documentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel and more.

FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

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“Animators can only draw from their own experiences of pain and shock and emotions.” – Hayao Miyazaki

Firstly, no, this isn’t about hentai or those disturbing cartoons that have the Simpsons or the Griffins engaging in unspeakable acts. So for those that came upon this post either hoping for that or by simple (if deranged) Googling, my apologies. Adult animation isn’t meant to evoke pornographic images of cartoon boobs flopping about but instead is the idea of animated films made specifically for mature audiences, dealing with mature subjects. The fact is that there are some stories that can truly only be told through certain mediums, whether it’s the printed page or the silver screen. And within those mediums, there are subcategories of ways to tell stories – live action versus animation being one divide. While animation has been relegated to “kids’ stuff” for the majority of its existence, the time is perfect for more animated films to be created and released that specifically target an adult audience.

The latest example to hit theaters is “Sausage Party,” a foul-mouthed computer animated film that sounds like a Pixar feature run through the National Lampoon‘s offices. The movie imagines a world where food is sentient and talks to each other but is unaware of their role in the lives of humans as something to be consumed. And so this “Toy Story” meets “Superbad” journey of a hot dog and a bun begins, with many deviations along the path for jokes of varying degrees of offensiveness and taste.

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You may wonder how I go about picking out the drinks here at DOTW. A lot of the time, it has something to do with what I’ve got laying around the palatial North Hollywood premises of Drink of the Week Manor. Occasionally, I look at the calendar, and sometimes, I simply stumble over something at random.

At times, though, my own life enters the picture to some extent. For example, I am actually writing these words while shoehorned into a Hawaiian Airlines jet and, guess what, last week’s drink was as well.

By the time you read this, however, I will be firmly in place at my annual geekboy retreat to Comic-Con and, so, the name “Warday’s Cocktail” leaped out at me from the pages of, once again, “The Savoy Cocktail Book.” Now, it occurred to me later that Warday is probably just some guy’s name, but right then, “Warday” seemed redolent of Silver Age Jack Kirby and Jim Starlin creations for both DC and Marvel. Also, the ingredients are mighty provocative.

Then, the daily news stepped in with events to dark too discuss within the confines of a cocktail blog. Best to just go with the idea that Warday was probably just the name of some enterprising bartender of the prohibition age or prior.

Moving rapidly along, while you could definitely argue that the name of today’s drink is in questionable judgment, the taste of this week’s drink is, at the very least, respectable and worth investigating. It definitely makes for an interesting combo and, I’m here to tell you that it can be just the thing after the end of a truly disturbing day or week.

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Missing Reels examines overlooked, unappreciated or unfairly maligned movies. Sometimes these films haven’t been seen by anyone, and sometimes they’ve been seen by everyone… who loathed them. Sometimes they’ve simply been forgotten. But in any case, Missing Reels argues that they deserve to be seen and admired by more people.

“You don’t even have to be a fan of the music!” That’s a lie that people often spread about music-centered films. Whether it’s a biopic, a documentary or a concert film, fans of the movie will insist that, in order to like it, viewers don’t even have to like that particular artist’s music. It simply isn’t true. If you don’t like Ray Charles music, then those recording sessions in “Ray” will seem fruitless; if you’re not a fan of The Talking Heads, then “Stop Making Sense” is an interminable bore. No matter how well crafted the film is around those scenes, or how well shot the performances are, if you don’t dig the music on display, you won’t really like what’s happening on screen.

So I won’t repeat that lie here about the music of The Flaming Lips when watching the documentary “The Fearless Freaks.” I will, however, say that there’s a lot more going on here than just the music, which is true of the band itself. The Flaming Lips have always been about the experience, whether it’s their four-disc Zaireeka album played simultaneously, or their freak-out concerts, and the same goes for the documentary which covers their odyssey from crappy punk band to psychedelic musical masters. It helps if you’re already partial to some of their music to enjoy this film, but if not, then hopefully you can enjoy its simple story and arresting images.

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