Sons of Anarchy- Season 1, Pilot

Sons of Anarchy is an American crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter, about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in California's Central Valley. The show focuses on protagonist Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam), initially the vice president of the club, who begins questioning the club and himself, especially after reading a book his father wrote and left for him in a storage unit.  

Sons of Anarchy premiered on September 3, 2008, on cable network FX. The series' third season attracted an average of 4.9 million viewers per week, making it FX's highest rated series ever, surpassing FX's other hits The Shield, Nip/Tuck, and Rescue Me. The season 4 and 5 premieres were the two highest-rated telecasts in FX's history.  The series finale premiered on December 9, 2014.

During the first episode of the show, a rival gang steals the Sons' stockpile of assault rifles, while Jax's ex-wife's drug overdose leads to an emergency c-section and life-threatening surgery for their baby.  This is already an action packed show within the first 15 minutes.  Jax grows weary of the increasing lawlessness of the motorcycle club.  His life becomes more unstable when he discovers his late father's true vision for the Sons of Anarchy, and his crank-addicted ex-wife gives birth to his son.  He begins to realize that there might be more peaceful ways to handle the gang's affairs and to avoid conflict.  His stepfather disagrees and believes in the violence.  We find that our characters have a lack very soon in the show.  Jax needs to find a way to make the gang his father's vision and also find a way to help his poor son that was born in very serious conditions.  

In November 2013, Kurt Sutter indicated that he was in talks with FX to make a Sons of Anarchy prequel set in the 1960s.  I hope that this comes out soon, I miss watching this amazing show! I would encourage anyone that likes action, drama, and badass Californians to watch this show! Conveniently, it is available right on Netflix! 

This is England

This is a British film that focuses on the life of an average boy going up in England during the 1980s. The story revolves around the boy becoming part of a gang, the skinheads. According to Wikipedia "A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in London, England in the 1960s and then soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, and later to other countries around the world."

This is not a film that glorifies the country of England. In fact it makes the viewer aware of how even countries that seem to be wealthy have poverty and gangs. this film contradicts and makes fun of ideas commonly thought of when thinking about England. In the title sequence there is a compilation of images of common perceptions of England mixed with images of poverty, war, and riots. This not only aids with the setting of the film but also helps communicate the plot. 

The film is rather slow and focuses strongly on racism and oppression. There is a heavy focus on white supremacy in the film and it is not communicated subtly. It is very in your face and evokes the audience's emotions on the topic. 

 

Even though this is not an uplifting film and it seems to end abruptly I believe that it is very entertaining story that focuses on issues that are important in our culture. A powerful force behind getting this point across is the protagonist "Shane Meadows" who is the young boy played by Thomas Turgoose. It is very powerful seeing a young boy being adopted into the violence of white supremacy. 

Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire is an HBO show created by Terence Winter. It is an American period style show based around the prohibition era of the U.S.A. It follows a group of characters that are involved in the illegal sale of alcohol throughout the New York/New Jersey area.

The show aired from September 19, 2010 to  October 26, 2014 having five seasons. I have not completed the series as of now, but am in the middle of the second season. I personally love the show. It is unique and the writers have done a good job crafting creative characters for the audience to interact with. My favorite character is Jimmy, played by Michael Pitt. Jimmy is a Young man that does what needs to be done, and also has an interesting past that is unknown to him in the first season. 

The show also incorporates real characters from history such as Al Capone played by Stephan Graham. 

The show expands on american history to help tell a fictional story that keeps its audience on the edge of their seat and wanting more with each episode.


HBO invested a lot into this show. The pilot episode alone cost around 18 million dollars according to wikipedia, and in my opinion it payed off. The series ended up winning 2 Golden Globes and 4 Emmy's.