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< Television ~ It's Not TV -- It's HBO! |
| Marj |
 Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:46 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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inlareviewer wrote: Can only second everyone else's encomiums -- it went the distance and then some. When the worst thing to be said as a devotee of the source is that some trivialities of adaptation -- Veda's repertory items, the specificity with which Mildred addresses Veda's calculations at the end -- are more deliberate and deadpan sardonic in Cain, that's hardly a quibble, let alone criticism. Top-drawer mini-series, indelible work all around. Bravi a tutti.
I'm almost there, Inla. Almost ... |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 5:38 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Saw the best new series since Breaking Bad last night. It's HBO's Enlightened, in which Laura Dern gives what should be an award-winning performance as a borderline-insane corporate shill who is sent to rehab and comes back "enlightened." If this were the shallowly satiric exercise a plot summary makes it appear, I would have turned it off before the final fadeout. But no--it promises to be a deeply moving and very funny look at some damaged and highly identifiable people. Luke Wilson (as Dern's stoner ex-husband), Diane Ladd (as her probematical--that's a euphemism--mother) and series writer Mike (Chuck and Buck) White (as a probably very weird co-worker) are running characters. This is going to be a classic. Mixed reviews are already happening, since the show is just too original a vision for some. Raves are also happening, and more will follow. Just adding mine here.
The one caveat here is that I've only seen the first episode and like all series this one could conceivably go south. But the pilot is so terrific that I scarcely think the minds involved in creating it could suddenly decompensate, so I feel pretty safe in predicting continuing greatness. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:34 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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| You had me with that cast! I heard White talking about it on NPR a few days ago, and it sounded like a must-see (or must-rent-in-future) for me. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 6:09 pm |
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Location: Black Hills
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I promise not to come in here and rave about every episode while I play catch-up, but...
but "Breaking Bad" is utterly amazing. Up to episode 5 of the second season and you just never know what's going to happen next, but it always seems plausible and real and somehow illuminates the moral ambiguity and the stumbling deeper into the Abyss. And the photography, the exquisite visual storytelling, is original and somehow gets into your brain like the glass-grade meth that Walter is cooking. Shot in 35mm film, which gives it a quality I don't usually see in television. The opening shots, which sometimes show us a scene that is in the future (and we don't necessarily know how far in the future -- maybe the end of show, maybe later in the season, maybe....who knows...), are just wondrous and sometimes almost mystical in their teasing suggestions of how events in human lives may be connected. One opener, that shows a singed teddy bear missing an eye, floating in a pool...visual poetry, and again, 35mm seemed the way to go. |
_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:17 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Bart - Isn't Breaking Bad, AMC?
Anyhow I came on to quell over my new favorite show, Homeland on Showtime. Problem is to discuss the plot, other than to say it's a present day spy story concerning a recently returned POW and his government agent, would be saying too much. And even with a plot hole the size of California, I still love this show. Please give it a try. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:36 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| The good news about Enlightened is that it gets better and better as the characters become more shaded and layered. Laura Dern is amazing in the leading role of a very sweet but incredibly annoying woman who is trying to find her way in a world that seems insensitive. Hard to describe, but Dern makes it easy to understand. Mike White and Dern wrote the series and it's brilliant. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:11 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Luck started out fascinatingly elliptical, which I admit is not exactly a money quote, but it's true. Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Farina have amazing chemistry, and that should be reason enough to watch for anyone interested in great acting. But the show is slow and methodical and looks like it may turn into something must-see. In the meantime, there were great individual moments in the pilot and nothing unwatchable. It was not an hour I want back by any means. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 11:09 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Upstate NY
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| Game Change is very well written. Julianne Moore is excellent. Very good entertainment. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:36 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Game Change on HBO is every bit as good as the pundits have been saying. But they keep telling us that it's a sympathetic picture of Palin. Thank goodness they're wrong. Julianne Moore's brilliant portrayal is that of a pure monster. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 10:35 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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I agree wholeheartedly with you, Billy. Still I wonder how sympathetic any of us might feel had we seen her documentary: The Undefeated. After watching last night's, Game Change, when I saw it was listed tonight, I felt like I had to give it a chance. But after 15 minutes or so, I had to turn it off. There is just something about that woman, something I can't put into words, that makes me unable to watch her.
But that's not what the pundits were referencing. That's just my own weird reaction. She was thrown into the deep end long before she was ready, if ever, and according to this telling, she went along and played their game, begrudgingly, yes, but she did. I also think the references to her coming close to 'breaking down' ought to have given her some sympathy. I couldn't see it. One friend who read the book and saw the film, couldn't understand why she texting so much, or why she would ignore her advisers - literally gave them the silent treatment. I said I thought it was all part of her neurosis. But I'm really not sure.
One thing I can say unequivocally, is that Game Change may be this year's Mildred Pierce. I absolutely loved it. I've read about one third of the book, and I can't wait to get back to it. It's long and could use some tightening, but it's as juicy as this kind of book can get. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:27 pm |
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Location: New York City
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| I devoured the book greedily when it was published a couple of years ago, and loved it from cover to cover. Likewise the movie, which I think is one of the best made-for-television films ever. Much better, btw, than Recount, which was made by the same people and to me was a severe disappointment. Not so Game Change. It's juicy, riveting, and brilliantly acted by all. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:42 pm |
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I keep asking friends, why I hadn't heard of Game Change when it first came out. I must have been in some kind of alternate universe, since this is SO my kind of book.
I'm so loving the quotes about Mark Penn.
Re: the film: Word, Word, and Word again. |
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| Trish |
| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:20 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Massachusetts
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billyweeds wrote: I devoured the book greedily when it was published a couple of years ago, and loved it from cover to cover. Likewise the movie, which I think is one of the best made-for-television films ever. Much better, btw, than Recount, which was made by the same people and to me was a severe disappointment. Not so Game Change. It's juicy, riveting, and brilliantly acted by all.
Agree - Moore and Harrelson were wonderful - I actually felt sympathy for the "Palin" character can't believe I'm saying that.... ugh! (until the real ugliness emerged...) |
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| daffy |
| Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:03 pm |
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Location: Wall Street
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