Timothy Hutton. Brian Dennehy. Christopher Eccleston. Paul Bettany. Neal McDonough. Tom Hardy. David Thewlis. Tara Fitzgerald. Robert Knepper. Chazz Palminteri.
That’s a pretty impressive roster of actors taking to mobster stories this year, in only two productions. One a television series, the other a big screen release. What draws us to gangster stories anyway? Even before the film classics The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Hollywood was pumping out–and audiences were devouring–movies about gangsters back to black and white pictures starring screen legends like James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. More recent, modern classics like Goodfellas and Donnie Brasco have defined what we all look for in a mob story. Coming 2015 releases continue to look at this popular sub-genre.
First up is Public Morals, an in-your-face, no-holds-barred series showing all the ugliness of a 1960s New York City, and a police division with corrupt a corrupt force led by show creator and star Edward Burns. Public Morals is TNT’s latest effort to produce a show to compete with the sex and violence you’d find on HBO or Showtime.
You’ll find top-notch genre actors Hutton, Dennehy, McDonough, and Knepper on this series.
Next up is a British movie, Legend, which tells the true story of twin brother mobsters Reggie and Ronald Kray, played by The Dark Knight Rises and Mad Max: Fury Road’s Tom Hardy.
, on DVD. When everyone everywhere was speculating on the selection of what actor would be the Twelfth Doctor, which ultimately was given to Peter Capaldi, my instant pick for the perfect Doctor was Paul McGann, based on his role as Mr. Bush in the A&E 
mini-series opposite Ioan Gruffudd, as well as roles in 
and 
. I was quickly advised by my brother-in-law, however, that McGann already played The Doctor. Since I began my watching with Eccleston, I hadn’t known.
