TV Review: Gang Related

Violent gang-bangers who get sent to the military by their crime bosses to then come back and wreak havoc on the streets of LA are the focus of the new series Gang Related.

The show tells the story of one such gangster who goes one step further and infiltrates the LA PD Gang Unit in a way highly reminiscent of The Departed.

Similarities aside, Gang Related is an enjoyable drama that has a fair bit of potential as an ongoing series. It will need to head into unfamiliar territory though if it is to distinguish itself in an already crowded genre.

However a few episodes in, the characters are showing some promise and time will tell if it is a stayer in the television landscape.

3/5 Blam Blam

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCz7j1ekE1U

Film Review: The Town

The popular Boston Crime sub-genre is expanded with the addition of The Town, a superbly directed film about bank robbers by Ben Affleck.

It tells the story of Doug MacRay who robs banks for a living and makes the mistake of falling for one of his victims. It presents a typical crime doesn't pay story in a unique way through its use of larger than life supporting characters and drab working-class locations.

The Town goes a very long way to establish Affleck as an assured and mature director and leading man. It is almost as good as The Departed in some respects and is well worth a watch for the crime movie enthusiast.

3.5/5  Go to town.

Film Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 independent film directed by Sean Durkin and starring Elizabeth Olsen. It tells the story of a young woman called Martha who escapes a cult and goes to stay with her sister and her brother in law.

Martha is terrified and extremely messed up from her experiences in the cult. The reasons for her terror are gradually revealed to the viewer through flashbacks that begin to get muddled up in the present time which causes increasing stresses for her family as her behaviour become increasingly bizarre.

Martha is unable to articulate the reasons for her unravelling mental state and as a result may be bringing the danger the cult poses closer to home.

This is an impressive film that asks many more questions than it answers and the impact of the story will be felt long after it finishes. Martha Marcy May Marlene is disturbing, clever and effectively made.

4/5 Drink The Kool Aid

Documentary Review: The King of Kong

The King of Kong details the previously unexplored territory of competitive retro gaming. It follows a contender for the official highest score at playing Donkey Kong which is considered one of the hardest video games to master.

The documentary tells the story of Steve Weibe, an unassuming family man who sits somewhere on the autism spectrum and his ongoing efforts to get the reigning champion of Kong, Billy Mitchell to face him in a live Donkey Kong standoff that is moderated by judges and officially recognised.

Billy Mitchell is extremely reluctant to face Weibe and kind of gets made out to be the villain of the piece due to his hesitance to compete and possibly get defeated by his earnest rival.

The King of Kong is a fascinating look at a unique sub-culture and is surprisingly gripping despite or because of it's obscure subject matter. It is a competent but at times biased documentary that continues to impress long after its debut.

4/5 Game On

Film Review: Limitless

Limitless is about a down and out writer called Ed Morro played by Bradley Cooper who is struggling to find inspiration to finish his first novel. In a chance encounter with his ex brother in law Morro is given a new smart drug that is able to help him use his brain to it's full capacity.

The drug allows Morro to become truly brilliant but he soon finds that all good things come with a price.

That is the premise of Limitless, the ultra stylish adaption of The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn as directed by Neil Burger. The film wisely capitalises on the charm of its leading man and uses visual effects effectively to show the impact of the drug on Morro's perception. The film also manages to lift the quality of the storyline of the novel in a rare win for the movie in the book versus movie debate .

Limitless is quite simply a bit of a surprise, a film that you go into with very little expectations that you will find yourself enjoying far more than you would expect.

3.5/5

TV Review: The Night Shift

I went into watching the night shift thinking it was a horror show but it is a medico comedy but not a funny medico comedy like Scrubs was most of the time.

Here's the setup. There is an ER ward in San Antonio near a military base and the show is about the impossibly perfect looking and evenly racially represented doctors who work there.They live, love and breathe high stakes medicine every night anchored by bad boy Topher. Seriously who would even call their kid that? 

Anyway they are all ex military and are constantly butting heads with a no-nonsense hospital administrator played by Freddie Rodriguez who is totally slumming it in this role.

All I can say is that it is as bad as it sounds and I don't really recommend it.

2/5 Call a medic 

TV Review: Arrow

The CW series Arrow tells the story of Oliver Queen, a bored, rich playboy who gets marooned on a mysterious island and is then presumed dead. Five years later he is rescued and returns to his hometown with a plan to become a street level vigilante ala Batman known as the Arrow, because you know, he shoots arrows.

Parallels to Batman aside, this adaption of DC Comic's Green Arrow is a bit of mindless fun and the show really does improve substantially as it goes along. The cast is engaging, however they are often hamstrung by romantic sub-plots and clunky dialogue but for the most part Arrow is the kind of show that you can watch to take your mind off the world for a bit. All shows can't be Breaking Bad you know.

3.5/5 Generally hits the mark.