‘Menace II Society’

Allen and Albert Hughes, the 21-year-old twin brothers who directed this 1993 movie, along with 23-year-old screenwriter Tyger Williams, are young enough to get inside the loves of Watts gangbangers without making it seem as if we’re watching something taking place on another planet. Their instincts as filmmakers override their instincts as moralizers. At the center of the film is a young man (Tyrin Turner, background), raised from childhood by his Bible-toting grandparents, who’s on the verge of graduating from high school, proud of his gang affiliations but also proud he hasn’t killed anybody--yet. Jada Pinkett (pictured) plays his friend Ronnie (Showtime Sunday at 9:30 p.m.).