Boxing Smart: Devils, lies and cheaters

17 April 2015 - 02:00 By Yolisa Mkele

Winter is coming. Soon the only people outdoors will be sociopaths and those experiencing load-shedding. If you need something to watch other than Game of Thrones, try these three new shows: DaredevilOne would think that our hunger for men in tight outfits had been sated. The endless Spiderman, Superman and Batman reboots should have been enough to ensure that we don't need another superhero extravaganza for at least another generation. Netflix thought otherwise and have loosed their latest original series, Daredevil, upon us.A blind man, Matthew Murdock (Charlie Cox), practises law during the day and beats all seven circles of hell out of the criminal populace at night.Despite initial reservations, sparked primarily by Murdoch's red tinted glasses and the uncanny ease with which he trapezes atop shipping containers, the show's brilliance lies in its spectacular fight scenes and the sticky malevolence of its characters. Even the "good guys" would shock a priest in the confessional.The differences between Murdock and his Nemesis Wilson Fisk make for a gripping dynamic. One is a lumpen slab of socially awkward evil that just wants to be loved. The other is Ryan Gosling imbued with echolocation and an unquenchable thirst for assaulting bad guys. They both want the same thing, but it is their methodology that puts them at odds. In essence they are two sides of the same coin. The show could become highly addictive.Season 1 of 'Daredevil' is available on NetflixHouse of Lies Season 4Arguably one of the funniest child-unfriendly shows on television, House of Lies is the story of Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle) and his dysfunctional pod of consultants. For three seasons we have watched as they successfully hammered personal and professional ethics into the shape of a dollar sign. At the beginning of the third season, they had thrown off their former employer's oppressive yolk and begun their own firm, Kaan and Associates. By the end of it, Kaan was on his way to jail, having been sold down the river by his business partner and lover. Add to that his difficulties in dealing with his teenage son's sexual ambiguity, CEOs that breastfeed in public and a truly insane ex-wife cum business rival and you have a show that manages to consistently twist the deepest dysfunction into couch potato gold.'House of Lies' Season 4 begins on April 21 at 9pm on DStv Channel 114CatfishThe internet can be a dodgy place, particularly if you are trying to find love. More often than not you are reeled in by a "catfish". The term describes someone who trawls social media and online dating services using false identities to lure people into spurious digital relationships.In the show presenter Nev Schulman and his film-making buddy Max Joseph dart across the US saving potential victims by tracking potential catfish down and staging a dramatic confronting á la the show Cheaters. The results are priceless if only for the initial look of shock on the victim's face when they realise that the sweet, sensitive Ryan Gosling lookalike they thought they were in love with turned out to be a crystal meth-addled re-imagining of Quasimodo.'Catfish' plays every Thursday at 9.15pm on DStv channel 130..

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