By various
GAMES
Madden 17
SBS2's Halfworlds.
PS4, XBox One
Yes, that was the sound of another year whooshing by. It's September already and we're into the gaming equivalent of Oscars season, which means the annual return of the big franchises: stand by for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare; NBA 2K17 and a rebooted FIFA 17. But first cab off the rank is the annual instalment of Madden, which has always been a fair way down our shopping list, being a game about gridiron, which we don't really understand. Yet, like the soccer and basketball blockbusters, it's fantastically detailed, looks great and if you can be bothered investing the time in learning how to play it, terrific value. Aficionados will notice minor tweaks in the gameplay on previous years, including a cut-down version for the time poor that gives you control of the important bits and simulates the rest; but for us the major improvement is how they've tweaked the "learn to play" tools, which hold your hand as you play actual matches rather than making you suffer through training tutorials. AH
The German thriller Victoria.
DVD
BAD NEIGHBOURS 2 (Universal Sony) MA
Smarter than your average everyman stoner, Seth Rogen has come a surprising distance since the blithe sexism of his breakout hit Knocked Up. Nicholas Stoller's superior sequel to his 2014 comedy Bad Neighbours – titled simply Neighbors in the US – plays like an apology for the past sins of Rogen and company, tackling various talking points about gendered double standards through the story of Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz), the leader of a gang of misfit sorority girls who rent a house in the suburbs and set about fighting for their right to party. Pitted against them are a trio of characters returning from the first film: Rogen as a put-upon dad, Rose Byrne as his likeably brusque Australian wife, and Zac Efron as a puppyish young hunk struggling to move on from his days of frat-boy glory. The bad-taste jokes are as dumb as ever, but often unexpected – and despite occasional lapses, there's an impressive degree of good faith in the effort to negotiate the rules of a world where straight white guys can no longer expect to have things all their own way. JW
FREE-TO-AIR
Zac Efron (centre) with Chloe Grace Moretz (right) and her sorority sisters in Bad Neighbours 2.Credit: Chuck Zlotnick
HALFWORLDS, SEPTEMBER 17, SBS2, 9.30pm
Produced by HBO's Asian arm, this sci-fi series is set in the gritty streets of Jakarta, where a parallel world of creepy bloodthirsty creatures from Indonesian mythology have lived among humans, peacefully, for centuries. Known as "Demit", they have been hidden by a powerful family of mortals – until now. A mysterious supernatural event, heralded by the arrival of "the Gift" has caused this hidden world to reveal itself and a young street artist, Sarah (Salvita Decorte) who, unbeknown to her, has a past with these Demit, finds herself caught between these two worlds. Like this year's Indigenous supernatural drama Cleverman, the bilingual Halfworlds brings ancient mythology into a modern urban setting. The backstory – presented in graphic novel-style animation at the start of each episode – is a little convoluted; it's unclear what will happen once the Demit will reveal themselves to the moral realm, but it promises to be a compelling – and quite gory – sci-fi story, the likes of which we've not seen much of before. KN
CLASSIC
ALL ABOUT EVE (Fox) PG
Game on: Madden 17.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1950 comedy-drama about rivalry on Broadway is almost too good to deserve its reputation as a camp classic, though it's certainly very funny, thanks to Davis' rueful delivery of Mankiewicz's arch lines. "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night," she famously rasps, pausing on the stairs with cigarette in hand and scanning the scene for anyone fool enough to disagree. As played by Davis, the ageing diva Margo Channing is a monster but also a rounded, vulnerable human being, which is more than can be said for Eve (Anne Baxter), the little hussy who schemes to replace her. Despite Mankiewicz's tendency to congratulate the viewer on a shared knowingness, this is one of his best films, the backstage setting a logical extension of his interest in group dynamics and the ways in which people "play themselves". The young Marilyn Monroe turns up in a cameo – her bimbo savant persona already fully formed – and George Sanders steals every possible scene as the waspish critic Addison de Witt, who views life in general as a spectacle designed for his amusement. JW
DVD
VICTORIA (MA15+)
MADMAN, 133MINS
Hats off for the success of a bold project of making a movie in a single shoot. Spanish actor Laia Costa is a revelation as a young woman (Victoria) who recently moved to Berlin, earning a quid running a corner cafe. She meets four young German roustabouts at a club and ends up partying through the night with them, with a spur of the moment visit to a rooftop to catch a view of the city a stirring highlight. The story unfolds slowly, unexpectedly, with Victoria warming particularly to Sonne (Frederick Lau), the apparent leader of the group. In ways they seem harmless, but director Sebastian Schipper maintains a element a creeping element of fear – as a watcher, you can't help but fear for Victoria's safety in the hands of these aggressive men. As Victoria and Sonne bond over a piano in Victoria's cafe in the early hours, the tempo suddenly kicks into overdrive as the gang is called to a criminal mission. Victoria goes along for the ride, and it turns violent and ugly. This film won six German Academy Awards. Obviously, they connect with this scenario. It's a thriller, but an uncomfortable flick to watch. JK