BYOB
Sorry… very distracted week.. more time for Twitter than for thinking longer than 140 characters…
Have fun… be nice to each other…
April 20, 2024
BYOB
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BYOB: 235 Years Of Relative independence
BYOB Weekend: Hop, An April Fool’s Gag?
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Be nice to one another? Okay.
Oh hey David.
Be excellent to each other.
And PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!
Oh hey Luke. How is Nikki? SHE’S TEARING DAVID APART! I hate this world. Tommy Wiseau is a jerk.
Uo9io
Sorry about that, the Chihuahua got a hold of the keyboard. So, comic con, ey?
Salt will open worst than Knight & Day. Stars are dead.
What’s up with Hannover House? A new distrib? I see they are unleashing Twelve on viewers soon, based on what is easily one of the worst “novels” I have ever had the misfortune of reading.
Is Sony pretty happy right now that Cruise bowed out of Salt? Or will they save their joy until estimates are released this weekend? Not sure how Salt is tracking.
So why is Jeff Wells so in the tank for Salt? It’s the kind of movie he usually hates, why does he keep talking about how good this one is going tobe? It’s not like it has a stellar lineup, it’s Jolie doing the action thing again directed by solid if tepid journeyman director Philip Noyce. It’s the kind of movie you catch on Sunday tv, not pay to see in theaters.
Also, just finished The Wire. The 4th season was amazing, but no show with a fifth season like it had can be called best show ever. Half of it was great, the other half was kind of dull and man, was that show getting preachy.
I never found season 5 of The Wire dull, but after season 4, it’s hard to imagine anything coming close to matching that level of greatness. They set the bar so damn high. Season 5 is flawed to be sure (the newsroom stuff is too heavy-handed) but still enjoyable on the whole. Season 4 though. Wow. Enough can’t be said.
Well, I think that’s part of the let down. The newsroom stuff was okay but sort of who cares, and way too many lessons to be handed out in the most obvious ways. And frankly I hated the amount of time they spent on the serial killer, that seemed like a third of the season, watching McNulty do this horseshit. As always the street stuff was great, but even that stuff they shortchanged to make it “real,” or whatever, even when applying to comic book characters like Omar who survives and is gone instantly after jumping six stories. Yeah right.
Perchance Simon let his grudge against the Baltimore paper (or was it a Washington one?) cloud his judgment regarding the newsroom storylines? I agree with your beefs and wish it could have gone out with a stronger season, but man, even a not-quite-great season of The Wire is superior to 99% of dramas on any channel, cable or otherwise. The Omar and serial killer things, while definitely imperfect, didn’t bother me as much as the newsroom aspect. Considering the complex treatment education, politics, drugs, and economics received, it is too bad that the same complexity wasn’t applied to the media in season 5.
Omar is based on a number of actual people, including a legendary stickup boy in Baltimore who indeed jumped off a balcony ledge and survived with relatively minor injuries. In fact, David Simon says that in the show they actually made the balcony closer to the ground than in real life because it seems so crazy. It seems insane, but sometimes that kind of stuff happens.
I’m a little baffled by Jolie’s choices. She doesn’t work a lot but she either does action badass or like dowdy homemaker roles (or both-the smiths). Ok I haven’t seen Changeling or Mighty heart, maybe she’s great in those. Seems like she should be doing top shelf material like Brad, Leo, and Will Smith. I feel like she’s capable of it but maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe Wanted and Changeling represent the two sides of Angelina Jolie, Modern Woman.
I’m not sure how you can’t classify Changeling or Mighty Heart as “top shelf” material. Having actually seen both of the films, I’d argue that she has an uncanny ability to simply turn off that hypersexual charisma she radiates while doing her uber-action badass babe stuff. I don’t mean simply hiding under a wig and stripping off the makeup either. It’s in the way she inhabits those characters. In Mighty Heart she moves like a shattered woman who had the horrible fate of being married to one of the most famous murder victims in the world. Not a bit of her usual lithe and graceful sexuality are in a single frame of that film.
Anyway – yeah, I think she’s got the acting chops. And, yes, she is ramrod boner material, too.
Haven’t seen A Mighty Heart but I found her to be very compelling and strong in Changeling. I think she did a fine job with that role. I liked the movie a lot too.
Kelby, stars are not did but Jolie and Cruise for that matter, stopped being stars years ago, and they are now personalities. It’s not that they cannot act. It’s just the fact that the star aurora fades away once you spend that time in the realm of gossip. Oddly enough, Pitt somehow remains a movie star in all of this because he still has that aurora around him.
The Wire IS better than a lot of tv out there to be sure…but to listen to the internerd hype, The Wire is the best and most perfect show ever made and to even question that is crazy. And here I am watching the last season and I’m actually sort of bored with a lot of it. If I had to listen to one more five minute long speech by the mayor…
And Stephen, maybe crazy insane unbelievable things do happen in real life…but then you have to really think about putting them in a tv show that’s based on reality. Because then that real life unbelievable thing just turns into tv horseshit.
And I know it was meant to be, but the ending of Omar’s storyline was pretty damn lame. That’s where you can tell the writers are really in love with themselves.
The problem with the internet and the Wire: they ignore Homicide. The Wire really does not exist without Homicide and Homicide did it’s awesomeness on NBC, mostly on Friday nights, for like seven years. Why they constantly forget that awesome show is beyond me.
Perm, the thing with Omar is like revered by people who watch the Wire. It’s apparently the KEY MOMENT to a lot of them that makes that show awesome. Bill Simmons has waxed poetic on it a few times.
Homicide deserves its props to be sure. And nothing should be unquestionable. That’s silly. Hype usually worries me, but while season 5 is the weakest and has its share of flaws, for me overall The Wire met the hype and then some.
“In Mighty Heart she moves like a shattered woman who had the horrible fate of being married to one of the most famous murder victims in the world. Not a bit of her usual lithe and graceful sexuality are in a single frame of that film.”
I’m intrigued.
Of course Omar is revered by people who love The Wire…a lot of times shows like that are really embraced by people who are pretty smart. Like if you read Jeff Wells blog or even here a lot of times, you get these types of people who love things that stimulate their intellect. It’s that above all, it seems to be a lot of times. So anything that comes along hat is sort of just made to be fun is derided. Like, how every movie or show has to be “Art.” And Omar is the ultimate of that, a quick and shocking ending to a storyline but not giving any payoff the the main storyline, and if there’s one thing I feel internerds love, it’s the feeling of being ripped off but in a cool way. Does that make sense to anyone?
Homicide was really god but when The Wire was really working, it was better. Guess I should watch Deadwood now.
If they cut all of the speeches from season five, we would have had a nice tight 7 episode run.
Deadwood is awesome. A classic performance from Ian McShane. Plus great work from Timothy Olyphant, John Hawkes, Molly Parker, Brad Dourif, W. Earl Brown, Robin Weigert, Jim Beaver, William Sanderson. Man that show had some ensemble. Great stuff.
Ripped off in a cool way makes it more “arty” and “edgy” and “brilliant.” That type of thing?
even lackluster Wire is better than everything else on television.
was anyone else induced into seizure by the 20 second spot for Salt. I swear to God there’s like 45-60 cuts in the 30 second commercial.
This years San Diego Comic Con is sponsored by Old Spice. I do believe we have the most appropriate sponsorship since Trojan footed the bill for the 10th annual Adult Film Awards.
…Jeffrey Jones, Leon Rippy, Kim Dickens, Titus Welliver, Powers Boothe, and in a great two episode arc, Kristen Stewart. I love me some Deadwood.
I’m really hoping Boardwalk Empire picks up the mantle of great HBO dramatic series. The previews look really promising.
I know JPK one could go on and on about that Deadwood cast. Boardwalk Empire looks extremely promising at this point. Luck has pretty excellent pedigree behind it as well.
Boardwalk Empire does look awesome.
No one even remembers the awesome Dream On or the phenomenal 1st and Ten. Tear.
i never cared for Dream On. the premise felt so tired. I think there was a certain level of novelty to it, but it wore thin so quickly.
Oh, and is anyone else happy about Mad Men coming back this weekend?
Surely some are still trying to get over the abrupt and disastrous decision to cancel Mind of the Married Man.
Yes on Mad Men Anghus. Can’t wait. I jumped on the bandwagon late but now I am fully on board.
Anghus, if you never really watched the show then you cannot really discuss the possible tiresome premise. Never has any show gone as far with the importance of an off-screen character. The cut-aways were also very awesome. BRIAN BENBEN… COMES IN PEACE AND ALL OVER PRIVATE PRACTICE!
Mad Men returning is always a good thing. Jon Hamm kills it each and every week but apparently he’s just not as good as Malcom’s Dad. Why they keep pulling that Tony Shalhoub crap every year with Cranston is beyond me.
i watched enough episodes of Dream On to know it was gimmicky.
Cutaway gags were never my thing.
Damn you Anghus. YOU ARE TEARING ME APART!
IOv2 – Cranston DOES kill it every week on his show. They’re both phenomenal actors and it’s a coin toss on the better work. But there were moments in Season 2 and 3 of Breaking Bad that Mad Men can’t hold a candle too.
I’ve always liked Mad Men, but its overpraised for sure. Season 2 is a real snooze.
I’m alone on this, but season 2 of The Wire is my favorite. I do have massive crush on Amy Ryan, but I thought that season’s arc worked well. And Season 2 has the scene where McNulty crashes the car and bangs the waitress and Omar testifies in court, my two favorite scenes of that show.
Hopscotch, Breaking Bad and the Wire are sort of the same in the whole “they let suburban white people think they understand how the drug trade works” sort of way. Chuck Klosterman came up with that for the Wire and I think it also works for Breaking Bad. Come to the TN and experience the sheer idiocy and non-cartel controlled meth trade. It’s more like it is on Justified and that’s another reason why that show rules.
You can go on about Mad Men being overpraised but that’s Breaking Bad. There are few shows that hold a candle to Mad Men in the history of TV. That’s why you should honour the guy who plays one of TV’s greatest characters and unlike Malcolm’s dad (who they gave and Emmy to for being Malcolm’s dad) does not have the gold to show for it.
Hopscotch, season 2 is my favorite as well.
Is The Wire totally off base in its portrayal of the urban drug trade? I’m sure Chuck Klosterman has spent a lot of time living in the hood.
Justified indeed had an excellent first season.
Chuck Klosterman doesn’t even know metal despite his claims. Such a tool.
SB, yeah, that seemed to be his reasoning to Simmons, that he actually knew what was going on, and the Wire did not represent it to what he and others knew.
Metal? Really?
I’d like to hear Klosterman explain exactly how The Wire gets the urban drug trade wrong. I can’t say for sure because I haven’t lived it but I am under the impression it’s pretty damn accurate, especially for a TV show. I think David Simon and any of The Wire’s writers know more about it than Chuck Klosterman ever will.
SB, go check the podcast archives for the BS report. His name should be listed in there and it should have happened around May during the end of LOST.
After seeing Brian Benben’s name mentioned I would like to admit that I was one of the four people that thoughly enjoyed Radioland Murders and that I am always on the lookout for the other three.
Eh thanks but I’ll pass. Not a Klosterman fan.
IO do you work? Do you have family relationships? Honestly, I mean no harm but apparently you have time for in-depth gaming, comic books, lengthy tv dramas, most major professional sports, most movies, and basically infinite internet time. How is that possible?
“Ripped off in a cool way makes it more “arty” and “edgy” and “brilliant.” That type of thing? ”
Yes. If Omar had gone in guns blazing and killed Chris and Snoop and maybe even took down Marlo, and then walked away, then to a lot of internerds that would have been so standard (which is true) and all of the stupid sheep who will see an Adam Sandler movie may have liked it, but not people as refined and smart as they are. Like, if you look at Jeff Well’s blog or a site like CHUD, the subtext to almost every post by the site itself and the readers is how smart they are and how stupid everyone else is. Actually, a lot of times that’s not the subtext, but the actual text. That’s why I like it here.
Anghus, when you say lackluster Wire is better than anything else…do you mean currently, or ever? Because that’s how some people seem to say it, and I’d say that if that’s what you mean I may agree…but I’d rather watch Tony Soprano in any random scene than a mayor speech any day. Or even Angel. Simpsons. Or Jackie Gleason. Or fuck, I’d rather watch Everybody Loves Raymond than watch them debate journalism ethics.
So Deadwood sounds great, and Boardwalk Empire looks like that’s going to be a winner, and I’m interested in that show Dustin Hoffman is doing with Michael Mann. There’s some great shit happening on tv.
Dream On was one of the lamest shows I’ve ever seen.
Hcat, word to you.
SB: he’s really good with Simmons. It’s shocking how well they work together and I wish Bill had him on more.
Torpid: I hardly sleep. I try to sleep around three to four hours a day. I do stuff during the day and then at night, I catch up. It’s also a lot easier to follow stuff these days.
You’ve got twitter, facebook, standard geek sites, countless sites about various sports (although I will admit that I can never ever find a really good open-wheel racing site but gpudate is trying), and just random stuff you come across in a magazine.
Back in the day, you’d have to go one day at a time, but now I can follow it all because it’s right there 24/7.
Perm, you are just too HARD to appreciate the subtle comedy of Dream On. Seriously, it got better each year, had hot chicks naked, and BenBen ruled. What more could you want? Oh forget it. There’s no hope with some of you. I am walking off all Sad Banner on this one.
IOv2, Jolie, Cage and Cruise are Stars, even if faded ones. Paris Hilton and Lohan are personalities. Stars still exist, but they can’t open films as they used to. A concept or strong IP like a book/comic adaptation have more power than a star to open big and be profitable.
I have a bottle of cheap scotch that I have not touched since the finale of Justified, but I will be cracking it open again for Mad Men. I might even wear a tie.
When watching Breaking Bad and The Wire I’m aware I’m watching a fictional TV show. NOT a documentary. And Klosterman can make some good points on different aspects of pop culture, but he’s dead wrong about that analogy.
Both Cranston and Hamm are working the same side of the street: playing really unlikable, detestable characters yet still making us the audience drawn to them. Great writing helps with that too.
Speaking of dramas. Anyone else see Kids are all Right and not be in love with it, like me? I liked it, but was not nearly as happy as the audience sitting around me.
BigPerm,
I meant in terms of seasons. The Wire is a show that is brilliant as a whole. Even a lackluster season of the Wire is still better than most dramas that have ever been or are currently on television.
Hard to argue with you about The Sopranos. I could watch Gandolfini and Edie Falco at any time and be mesmerized. But i feel that seasons of the Wire were more rewarding than any season of the Sopranos.
The world of the Wire always felt more genuine to me than the world of the Sopranos. It’s a personal preference. I couldn’t fault anyone who said Sopranos was their favorite show. Or Six Feet Under. Or any of the shows from HBO’s glory days.
Most of their new shows bore the shit out of me. I prefer Dexter, Weeds, and Californication to True Blood, Hung, and Entourage.
How is Entourage still on the air? It had a nice run, but jesus christ is there a show on TV that has the ‘repeat’ button firmly pushed in.
Hopscotch, you need a hug. The Kids Are Alright still not in Memphis. Curse you limited arthouse screens!
Kelby, okay, let me rephrase. We have celebrities now and not stars.
“I hardly sleep. I try to sleep around three to four hours a day.”
Dude, that’s unhealthy, but go with god.
Dream O. was subtle? That was the hammiest shit I’ve seen. But IO, you nailed exactly why it was popular…tits. If that show came out now, it would be gone quickly. But at the time seeing titties on an actual tv show was a novelty and that was it.
Anghus, you’re right, The Wire is more genuine than a lot of shows…I wouldn’t call The Sopranos genuine at all, actually. It was pretty soapy and almost comic booky, could you imagine Sil in Goodfellas? But I guess I like that better, exciting storylines that come to a big head, as opposed to The Wire which ended as it began. But I couldn’t imagine watching a show like True Blood, that looks pretty horrible.
Oh yeah, one thing I DID love about season 5 was Detective Munch’s cameo in the bar. Has there ever been a character played by an actor who has been on so many different tv shows? And not just different shows, even different genres entirely, like sci-fi, sitcoms and realistic cop shows? Why does everyone like Munch so much…although the answer is in the question I gues…because Munch and Richard Belzer are awesome.
Klosterman never said he knew how the drug trade works. He spent years in the newspaper business, so after Season 5, he realized the writers had no clue how a newspaper really operated. Thus, in turn, he questioned whether the writers’ representation of the drug trade was as “real” as he always assumed, having no knowledge of that world.
There is a God! After all the BREATHLESS HYPE! not so long ago “Eclipse” is burning out and fast! 3 weeks in the Hamptons and GONE! in favor of “Salt.” Should lose a lot more screens next week as the late-summer product jam begins.
@IOv2: “The Kids Are All Right” (correct spelling) doesn’t come to Memphis until next week at the earliest.
Shut up retard, the adults are trying to have a conversation.
Manwithnoname, David Simon was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun for thirteen years according to the interwebs. So I assume he must know something about that world.
And after only $269 million (and counting) at the domestic box office and $557 million worldwide, can we finally call it a bomb?
You know what movie im really looking forward to?
Charlie McCloud
Perm, I get that, but it had been years since he was working for a paper. And, like you (or someone else upthread) said, there seems to have been a bit of preaching going on regarding the state of the media today, so it’s not a stretch to think some things were simplified or modified to fit that viewpoint.
Also, don’t know that I agree with Klosterman, just stating his views based on his experience working and watching the show.
Call me an internerd all you want — I still think it’s the best TV show I’ve seen, regardless of an uneven last season. As dumb as the serial killer thing was, it did give us Bunk as a moral compass and that awesome funeral scene for McNulty.
You may not be an internerd…it’s like this.
You can love The Wire and not be an internerd.
But you CAN’T be an internerd and not love The Wire.
You’re probably not an internerd because if you were, you would find zero (0) flaws in The Wire. Since you mentioned a few things, you’re probably all right.
I think Klosterman is wrong to suggest that David Simon and his writing staff have no idea how the newspaper business works. Simon was also part of that business. The show just got too one-sided and simplistic in season 5 when dealing with the newspaper.
Torpid, after awhile your body gets used to it. Trust me, it’s no big deal, and never forget some soldiers are trained to only get 30 minutes a day.
MWNN, thanks for correcting me earlier. I knew that I got that wrong and that’s why I recommended just listening to the BS report.
Again, love the Wire all day and all night, but there has seldom been TV as good as the TV that involved an Island, an Ad Agency, and there always being money in the banana stand.
One last thing: TRON LEGACY TRAILER! BOOYAH!
TV’s greatest auteur at the moment is Louis CK, who writes, directs, edits and stars in his FX show LOUIE. Great stuff.
DREAM ON kinda grew on me. Very uneven, but I recall some great moments with the great Paul Dooley in his Emmy-nominated turn as Benben’s gay dad. Some pretty good writers and directors came through there, too. And I believe this is where we got our first look at naked Salma Hayek. So there’s that.
I don’t think it takes anything away from the awesome Jon Hamm to say Bryan Cranston deserves every award under the sun for BREAKING BAD (though I haven’t caught up with Season 3 of the latter yet).
Regret to say I have yet to see a frame of THE WIRE. No DEADWOOD yet either, and I’m acquainted with a cast member. Shameful. But my library has it for check-out, so maybe soon.
TRUE BLOOD is ridiculous, but sort of addictive. I always hate myself in the morning. But James Frain is killin’ it this season. He’s awesome. Denis O’Hare is a welcome addition, too.
Why does everyone complain about SEASON FIVE of The Wire (rightly so) but they let S2 and S3 entirely off the hook?
Other than awesome Chris Bauer, the dockworker stuff from Season Two was like a BLACK HOLE of entertainment; Yeah, it allowed for Simon to hammer home his politics and his SALT OF THE EARTH! reverence for the blue-collar guys, but between that DRINKING DUCK and Johnny Fifty and a million scenes of slobs in overalls getting wasted, it took 3/4 of the season for any of that to pay off, and even then Nick and Ziggy were just kind of no-charisma, hateable ciphers.
And THE GREEK is one of the goofiest “villains” ever for such a supposedly realistic show… Eh, I’m sure Simon did the research, but with Avon and String and Prop Joe holding court, then later MARLO, kind of hard to believe all these world-class badasses are so TERRIFIED of The Greek, to say nothing of SPIROS. And Paul Ben Victor is a fine actor in small doses, but he was pretty deadly, phony, and lame as Spiros, always sipping his Greek coffee in that DUMB HAT.
And Season 3 gets a pass? Bunny Colvin??? The most smugly beatific, idealized character in the whole run, with his FREE ZONE! Again, Simon got to hammer home a lot of BULLSHIT talking points that year, but any time they’d cut to his Utopian Block O’ Free Crack, I couldn’t help but thinking the GLOWING reviews for that stretch came from critics who went wholesale for the politics of the legalization argument. Because as drama it’s outlandish, overbearing, and faintly ridiculous, cops sitting by with BIG SMILES and Bunny beaming accordingly as little kids run around with free drugs like the fucking ice cream man just showed up.
By comparison, at least S5 had the scene where they read McNulty the psych profile on his made-up serial killer, ie himself.
yancy, it does insult Hamm and Hugh Laurie to not honor them when this one guy keeps getting treated as if he were starring on Monk! Enough with him already. Give it to Don or to Greg, anything else is just a joke at this point. If we lived in a fair world, Matthew Fox would win but we all know this crap is not fair.
One more thing, if you nominate Larry David. You should reward Larry David. He deserves an Emmy for that episode with the Joke and the texting with the little girl alone.
I can’t speak to Jon Hamm because I don’t watch MAD MEN, though he must be doing something right the way everyone acts like he’s the second coming. I still say he’s just a Jeff Probst lookalike with a TERRIBLE, OBVIOUS TOUPEE or hair transplant, not to mention Hamm is third ONLY to Steve Carell and Alec Baldwin as a Celebrity Who Looks Like He Has Foot Odor. (The key to that is any actor who always wears loafers, suits, and black socks.)
But I’ll believe the hype on his acting, dubious hair or no…
But, IO, I am GENUINELY surprised you go to bat so hard for Hugh Lurie. And, yes, I have seen HOUSE. It’s such a stock Fox procedural, not to mention a stock version of the David E Kelly/Lie to Me/James Woods in Shark/Caruso in CSI template where the whole show is “Look what a WACKY PERSONALITY this guy is, who’d get fired for harassment within an hour at any job in the world… but his heart is in the right place and HE’S ALWAYS RIGHT, HE MAY BE A SCOUNDREL BUT HE HAS A CODE.”
Same template as Denny Crane, Spader on the same show, Roth on LIE TO ME, etc etc etc. Just one-note, not to mention Lurie’s TERRRRRIBLE American accent and the super-PLEASED WITH HIMSELF smugness. You going to the wall for this guy in thread after thread over Cranston is like, indeed, someone championing Shalhoub over Gandolfini five years ago.
Agree with Lex on House, only watched it a few times to check out the hype and there really wasn’t anything there I couldn’t get from Quincy reruns.
And what is with all this Good Wife acclaim? With all the strong work of television today they keep throwing awards at this Judging Amy level crap?
And while I cant wait until Sunday, I have to admit I thought the third season of Mad Men was disapointing compared to the first two. There were some great moments and the finale was top notch but all the grandfather drama and the affair with the teacher seemed to go nowhere. Plus there was no real payoff when Betty found Don’s true identity out. She treats it like just another lie. The Wonder Bread queen of 1963 finds out that her kids are half Jewish and doesn’t even mention it?
I have high hopes for the next season and hope they can right the ship. You have to give kudos to any show that can take Joel Murray, who has been playing the same guy since One Crazy Summer, and make him a fully realized compelling charecter.
IO, I’m feeling the new Tron trailer too. But I hate how movies are now digitally deaging actors. I always think it looks so fake. Even Brad Pitt in Ben Button looked fake. I am of the belief that the human eye can tell when something is CG. It just doesn’t look like the real world. At least the actors use to be real. Now we are digitally altering actors to look young. I hope this isn’t a trend but it looks like it is becoming one.
Love House. Yes, the standard operating procedure of House is to make some amazing character-changing moment and figure out how to almost immediately make it turn back into a business as usual as a hospital procedure (Omar Epps gets a brain test that messes with his mental process, and it’s essentially dropped in two episodes), and of course House would be fired in any real world environment.
But I dig it. Lex must’ve missed when House got a bi-sexual female co-worker and had a case where he had solve what was wrong with one of her flings. But I think the character’s awesome, the episodes are constantly rewatchable, and it generally has great season premieres and finale episodes, like when House is in detox set to Radiohead’s “No Surprises” or when he’s talking to hallucinations of dead people. Yeah, I wish the bulk of the series was that well done, but it’s one of the few over-the-air TV series I take the time to watch. Now if I can just catch up with the 20 other series I NEED TO WATCH RIGHT NOW. I’m gunshy about Netflix instant queue for TV because every series I want to watch, there’s always the “Sorry, this episode is only available on disc.” But I want an Oompah Loompah NOOOOOW, daddy!
Hcat: I’m one of the other three. RADIOLAND is a seriously underrated movie, just as Benben is a seriously underrated actor. (Ever see his short-lived, self-titled sitcom?) Never understood why he hasn’t become a huge star. I ran into him in an elevator once; we ended up chatting for 20 minutes and he’s a heckuva nice guy as well.
Missed his sitcom, not sure what I was doing the day it was on.
Radioland is on my list of movies that, while I liked them, had the potential to be so much more. Like Proof of Life, Ghost and the Darkness, and the Saddest Music in the World, its something I can watch multiple times and enjoy it but somewhere in the back of my mind there is a nagging feeling that it was missed chance at a classic.
Totally agree with you regarding House, Lex. Got through about half of season one before I quit torturing myself. Just did not like the show or Laurie at all.
“Look what a WACKY PERSONALITY this guy is, who’d get fired for harassment within an hour at any job in the world… but his heart is in the right place and HE’S ALWAYS RIGHT, HE MAY BE A SCOUNDREL BUT HE HAS A CODE.” Exactly how I felt about it while watching.
I like Mad Men a lot but I’ll take The Wire over it and definitely Lost any day of the week.
If you have stuck HOUSE like I have, you have seen a show evolve to great lengths. Not only has the show changed in colour palette and production design, it has also fleshed out these characters and made them rather fascinating to watch.
You can go on about House being fired in real life then you have to realize he has been fired or removed from his job at least three times.
Monco, according to Drew “MCWEENY STYLE” McWeeny, they are going to be tweaking on Bridges’ younger look for a lot more months, so it may look different in the final product. That aside, I am still of the belief that if you can suspend disbelief for horrible rear projection shots that plague movies of the past and soap operas til this day, then you can do the same with CGI. It’s all fake so to speak. It’s just what you like to be fake.
Hcat, I loved season three of Mad Men because of the way Don’s daughter responded to Grandpa Gene. That little girl can act and the way she dealt with him and the way Weiner and Co. made you nervous for them to be around each other early on, really made for effective drama.
You also have to realize that Betty needed a reason to leave and Don being someone else gave her that opportunity. It’s the sixties on that show and Betty is a representative of a woman from that time, who wanted to leave, but needed the man to leave to give her her bad reputation.
Agree on 4th season of WIRE
DEADWOOD is just about my favorite modern show ever, but also Miss terribly CARNIVALE with bad-ass eeeee-vel Clancy Brown.
MAD MEN…can’t wait.
Betty had many reasons to leave but not being independently wealthy, and having no parents to run to, she had to wait for a man who was willing to foot the bill. Betty got out of one prison and may be going into another. I love the ordinary human evil of Mad Men.
“…but all the grandfather drama and the affair with the teacher seemed to go nowhere.”
No I think it revealed alot about both Betty and Don’s middle class hang-ups and the prison they built.
“Plus there was no real payoff when Betty found Don’s true identity out. She treats it like just another lie. The Wonder Bread queen of 1963 finds out that her kids are half Jewish and doesn’t even mention it?”
I think she didn’t even think that far–she isn;t some great intellectual Protestant DAR and head of a country club committee, she just wants people to like her and to have some minor social relevance for obedience since her parents pretty much convinced her she wasn’t relevant and wasn’t too smart or capable (Gene and the daughter).
She may take PAY BACK later against Don…all the dirt is waiting undisturbed, but it is still there, piling up.
Lota, I would go with Betty at some point in season four, needing Don’s help to get away from that creepy old dude. Something will go wrong there and she will turn to Don for help. It’s a bit conventional but with Jon Hamm involved, it will be awesome.
Manifesto Alert
Two points.
1) Liam Nesson had a motorcycle accident and that explains his face.
2) It’s safe to assume now that Mel Gibson has always had a screw lose and it seems to be genetic. We also have the whole thing with him being a belligerent drunk and that’s what killed his face.
If the stars want to stay young: AVOID DRINKING COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF BOOZE! This is why Timberlake is going to age 30 years in the next 10 if that brother does not stop drinking.
“1) Liam Nesson had a motorcycle accident and that explains his face.
2) It’s safe to assume now that Mel Gibson has always had a screw lose and it seems to be genetic. We also have the whole thing with him being a belligerent drunk and that’s what killed his face.”-IOv2
1-I forgot about that. I just saw previews of The A-Team and figured he gave into the pressure. As I stated, I should not comment on others, because I don’t know all the facts or forget them.
2-Oh I think Gibson speeded up the process, no doubt. I won’t guess on the level of Wayne’s and Cooper’s alcohol intake, but they aged similarly IMHO. I don’t think staying away from booze is the answer. Many male and female stars don’t imbibe to excess or drink at all, but they still age noticably if they don’t have work done.
I like looking at real people, but I don’t have to make a living on the camera.
Friday morning wake-up: Pastor Fred Phelps from Topeka pickets ComicCon, so everybody at ComicCon returns the favor.
The Phelps family picketed ComicCon? So family vacation destination is San Diego this summer?
“If you have stuck HOUSE like I have, you have seen a show evolve to great lengths. Not only has the show changed in colour palette and production design, it has also fleshed out these characters and made them rather fascinating to watch.”
Up til the season before last I’m with you, but the one that just wrapped up was REALLY rudderless and showed several signs of overstaying. I like Taub and all, but c’mon man, it started turning into HIS show for weeks on end with all the who-gives-a-shit nonsense involving his marriage. There were still some great moments in this season, but for the most part the cases were phoned in by the writers, House took a backseat to his third tier supporting cast, there wasn’t a spine or an arc to the year, and let’s just face it: the show’s never going to top its Amber period. When Wilson is hitting those buttons on that machine and she’s telling him she’s tired…I’m crying right now just thinking about it.
fwiw re: boardwalk empire…..
i watched the first six episodes yesterday… i’d only intended to watch one or two but found myself unable to put it away and continued going into the night… don’t be deterred by slow first ep, it gets better and better… pitt and buscemi are strangely over-the-topish but interesting to watch…
Having just read the fascinating Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, I can’t wait to see something set during that time.