Orphan Black

To discuss this show's plot in any real detail is to spoil the many twists, turns and brilliant tonal shifts this show has for you. In short though, a con artist called Sarah Manning is waiting on a platform for her connecting train, destitute and down on her luck. She spies a woman about to throw herself in front of a train. Preparing to intervene, the woman turns and reveals herself to be identical to Sarah herself in every way, and then jumps. Given her huckster nature, Sarah steals the dead woman's identity only to fall into an enormous conspiracy. I will say no more than that. I hope that is enough to entice you because Orphan Black is one of the real surprises this year.

It feels like a collaboration between Joss Whedon and the warped grunge aesthetics of David Fincher. The creators, Graeme Manson and John Fawcett, craft instantly memorable characters the way Whedon does best. Their creations are far more disturbed and unlikeable for the most part than the Whedonverse though. They also share the ability to have gay characters who are not defined by their sexuality in the way that many lesser shows do. The look and feel of the show though is pure Fincher. The unnamed city feels like the unnamed city of Se7en and the score is reminiscent of Trent Reznor's work for Fincher. Everything is slighly off-kilter in this world, even the music.

Its pilot may feel a little bit like in-flight entertainment at first but in its first ten episodes alone there are nods to police procedurals, suburban satire, conspiracy thrillers and black comedy without ever losing sight of its overarching narrative. It is virtually a different show from episode to episode. It scores extra points too for presenting mysteries to us and solving them quickly, rather than teasing answers out over years.

There are problems. Characters run out of steam but hang around aimlessly and others are so one-note that they grow irritating fast. Jordan Gavaris, in particular, plays what can only be described as the equivalent of gay blackface.

The real treasure is lead actress Tatiana Maslany. She gives one of the most versatile performances I have ever seen from a performer. She imbues her characters (the dead girl and Sarah) with tiny tics and quirks that make them wholly different personalities. You forget that a single actress is playing these roles and for that she deserves all the credit in the world. If Orphan Black's story is great, then Maslany is revelatory.

Currently airing on BBC Three, catch up now and be ahead of everyone else who'll be on the band wagon when season two airs next year.

Captain Phillips

Paul Greengrass has been absent from screens since his last directorial effort, Green Zone. Known for searing political thrillers Tom Hanks is not necessarily the actor you think of when paired with Greengrass. The heavy nature of the director's work tends to have an equally 'serious' actor at the forefront of it. Hanks has an innately likeable everyman quality to him but you wouldn't buy him as one of Greengrass' CIA spooks. His very casting transforms Captain Phillips into the director's best work.

Based on the true story of a commercial ship hijacked by Somali prates in 2010, the men at the center of this story are not soldiers. They are essentially mechanics. They can't fight and don't know how to. Early attempts to defend their vessel are clumsy and awkward when contrasted against the ruthless professionalism of the invading pirates. Notably when defending their ship they only have hoses and flares at their disposal. The sheer odds stacked against these sailors is unbelievable. Their opponents have nothing to lose. These action sequences are edited in harmony with the shredded nerves of the characters and audience.

Without giving anything away the drama becomes far more intimate later and here Greengrass' beloved handheld cameras heighten the claustrophobia and tension on screen. Unlike Bourne the technique does not dizzy or confuse us, we are right there with these people.  Characters are squeezed together and every passing moment feels more fraught and hopeless. Composer Henry Jackman's pounding score keeps your blood pressure up throughout even the quietest moments of this crisis. You are never given pause.

Hanks is the secret weapon though. He is playing another of his trademark every-men but one tested to the very limits of human endurance. The character's vulnerability and humanity always evident, his final scene is without exception his best work. The final twenty minutes really set Phillips out from the actor's other roles. The emotional toll this experience takes on Phillips is unbelievably portrayed to the point it will almost certainly leave you a little traumatised. Hanks provides a humanity many of Greengrass' other films have sorely lacked. It is his emotion that keeps us hooked and praying for a happy outcome, no matter how unlikely that may be or how well presented the story is.

So far in 2013 this is the clear standout and film of the year for me. Less showy than a lot Oscar fare coming up will be but you are unlikely to have a film hit you harder by the time the credits roll.

Dexter Season 1

"Oh! You have to watch Dexter. It's so good!"

That tends to be the general consensus from people when I ask if there's a show that is essential viewing. Everyone talks about how Season 4 is amazing and it is really dark and shocking with great twists. Starting from the beginning though the show has no signs of the shocks or intelligence its fans praise it for. Ironically, after just having started watching Dexter the series concluded and was widely derided as having one of the worst endings to a TV show in history. Based on the first season I saw I am inclined to agree (almost).

Drowning in meta-ironic-oh-so-clever voiceover from Dexter himself (Michael C. Hall) the show comments on every scene as it plays out. What this does may well present us with insight into Dexter Morgan's calculating killer mind but what it fails to do is present us with any real story or character development. All the other characters seem rather flat and one-note - his sister whines and curses, the captain is careerist and the best detective is aggressive. The voiceover just commented on everything as if that is an appropriate substitute for drama. I was honestly hating the entire experience. The ice truck killer mystery (the arc of this first season) was very dully presented and the voiceover, trying to entice us in, bored me with every comment made on proceedings.

And then something happened. In the eighth episode, the voiceover dissipates and Michael C. Hall is presented with an opportunity to act, and he does, brilliantly. Taking into account Dexter is a serial killer who to mask all his urges from everyone around him he is put in the house of his newly deceased 'birth' father (Morgan was adopted at three) and his curiosity at what might make him the way he is puts him into conflict with the family around him. Hall portrays that conflict brilliantly, all nervous ticks and enthusiasm. The show from then on starts to tell stories with the characters and becomes more engaging.

The final three episodes transform too, becoming fraught and intense. Given how much the show delivers its twists in such nonchalant fashion, season one's final episode has real surprise and impact to it. The dramatic changes in how it tells its story do not make up for the disappointment of earlier episodes but it does leave you with some satisfaction and curiosity for giving Season 2 a go. Whether it's worthy of being called a great drama though still requires a lot more work on the part of the show itself.

Gangster Squad

When this film was first announced way back when, there was a fair amount of buzz that this film would be true oscar contender. Yet following the Colorado tragedy in August 2012, Gangster Squad found itself pushed back to January (the graveyard slot in US cinema calendars) and suffered extensive reshoots. The reviews when it was finally released were less than so-so. Yet watching free of the storm, Gangster Squad is confident fun, if entirely unexceptional.

It is about as historically accurate as U-571 and not a single female character is provided anything resembling an identity, but fortunately neither are the men. Ryan Gosling has a high-pitched voice. Josh Brolin is dedicated to justice. The rest of the team are there to virtually tick every box required for an action film team (old timer, family man, hard case black guy, Michael Peña). All play their roles exactly as they should be, as caricatures. Its tone flails wildly between hardened crime odyssey and silly cartoon fun. But that is to miss the point.

This film exists to purely entertain and it does. It is a cops vs. robbers movie, and is boldly presented that way. Visually, it dazzles. Shot on digital, everyone and everything in it looks stunning. Costumes and sets are truly works of art at times. Suits are sharp, dresses seduce and sets sparkle. Unlike Public Enemies, the digital style never distracts or irritates. You get to really take in the recreated 1940s Los Angeles, before it is shot up. Emma Stone and Gosling flirting back and forth at a bar is arguably the most aesthetic sequence ever committed to film. They shine as do their surroundings. The action, as well, is competent and old fashioned. No shaky cameras here. Every shot is well orchestrated and composed.

There are some really nice touches. Minor characters are not dispatched in blink-and-its-over moments we are accustomed to, and it is truly refreshing. In movies of this type, smaller characters (despite veterans of law enforcement and organised crime) never seem to have any grit to them. Here, when cornered, they fight back, and properly. That alone raises it above most others. It isn't really enough to recommend the film but makes for an interesting footnote.

The true criticism of the film is not how by-the-numbers it all is (by minute three, you know the next two hours perfectly). It is the way the production chose to rewrite American social politics. It ignores the overwhelming racism and segregation raging at the time within the country which is just plain offensive. It merely choses to forget it, like we will with the film about an hour after watching.

One of those films you will say is good when you hear its name. But no-one will remember Gangster Squad in the first place.