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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:06 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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A big TV night. Amazon.com makes its debut in sitcom production with Transparent, starring Jeffrey Tambor as a father of three adult children who is becoming fransgendered. The double meaning of the title is cute, but there's nothing cute about the show, which is (though comic) gritty and dramatic, and Tambor hits a career peak in the lead. The pilot sets up the situation and is a grabber on its own. The whole ten-episode series debuts today. Some binge-watching may occur.
How to Get Away with Murder stars Viola Davis as a brilliant law professor with control issues and some other ones as well. She's riveting, and the plot is as twisty as an hour-long TV show gets. It's a little too twisty, perhaps, but that's not a real negative. I'll be watching.
I'd watch Scott Bakula and CCH Pounder in anything, and that even includes the likes of NCIS: New Orleans, but my love for the two stars only goes so far. With its mediocre plotting and predictable "surprises," this will not wind up on my regular DVR list. Sometimes once is enough. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:46 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I'm going to have to watch How to Get Away with Murder. Viola Davis is becoming one of my favorite actresses. Although I'll have to Hulu her when Elementary comes back.
EDIT: Now wait just a second...
Interesting series, but Viola really has to work on her character. It looks like we'll have to spend a lot of time with Wes Gibbons (Alfred Enoch, from the Harry Potter movies), which is fine by me. This looks like an ensemble cast show, and I'm not seeing much development except for Gibbons. Yet. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:17 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Syd--Respectfully beg to disagree. No matter how strong and/or ubiquitous the ensemble, this is still Davis's show and her character is by light years the most interesting and well-developed on site.
Plus, it's great to see Davis play an honest-to-goodness beeyotch for a change. She was in danger of turning into the female Sidney Poitier or the black Helen Hayes--the saintly African-American woman. It was close, but HTGAWM proves that Viola Davis has what it takes to become the Bette Davis of color. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:14 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12894
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I'm not really complaining. It will take a little while to flesh out the characters, and Davis's looks to be a complex one. This is a Shondra Rhimes production, which is why I'm expecting more of an ensemble feel than you are. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Terese |
| Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 8:10 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 127
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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billyweeds wrote: An absolutely brilliant miniseries called The Slap is being streamed on Netflix. Based on a best-selling novel of the same name, filmed in Australia, it deals with the ramifications from an incident at a man's 40th birthday party, where a child acts up obnoxiously and is slapped by one of the male adults. Each of the eight episodes centers on a different individual and traces the fallout. Hard to describe, but psychologically true and riveting, and marvelously well acted.
There is to be a US version of The Slap starring Peter Sarsgaard and Mary-Louise Parker. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/us-remake-of-the-slap-signs-peter-sarsgaard-and-marylouise-parker-20140729-zxx6o.html |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:47 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Terese wrote: billyweeds wrote: An absolutely brilliant miniseries called The Slap is being streamed on Netflix. Based on a best-selling novel of the same name, filmed in Australia, it deals with the ramifications from an incident at a man's 40th birthday party, where a child acts up obnoxiously and is slapped by one of the male adults. Each of the eight episodes centers on a different individual and traces the fallout. Hard to describe, but psychologically true and riveting, and marvelously well acted.
There is to be a US version of The Slap starring Peter Sarsgaard and Mary-Louise Parker. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/us-remake-of-the-slap-signs-peter-sarsgaard-and-marylouise-parker-20140729-zxx6o.html
I am usually skeptical of American remakes of European films/TV shows, since they're almost always mediocre at best and more often lousy, but this casting is spot-on, and the director and writer are solid pros, so I'm sort of hopeful that this will be the exception that proves the rule. |
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| Terese |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:06 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 127
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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| I can totally see Mary-Louise Parker in the role of Rosie, I think she would totally nail it. I'm actually excited about this remake. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 9:10 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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Am really enjoying the oz version. What is the thinking here - that the local slang requires translation for a N.Amer. audience, that the social niches are hard for us to grasp? It sometimes bothers me that our media assume we are too insular to watch anything where we have to figure out another cultural context.
Not that I don't agree the US casting sounds great. Of course, they could have Mr Lapaglia again - he seems to have no trouble playing American. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 10:35 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| For that matter, Melissa George could scarcely be bettered, even by the redoubtable Mary-Louise Parker, and George has been a regular on The Good Wife, proving that she can do Yank very well, thank you. LaPaglia would also be great, though I am a HUGE Skarsgaard fan. Sophie Okenedo won the Tony a year or so ago, so she can be American as well. But probably the director wants a new broom to sweep clean; therefore I don't expect any of the Oz cast to double. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 1:11 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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It's Sarsgaard, no k. Stellan and his son Alex have a k, but Peter doesn't. Of course, I forgot the uppercase P in LaPaglia, so my cred as a spelling expert is suspect.
The Greco-aussie guy who was Harry also blew me away - as if he'd spent a lifetime walking about proud and angry, just for this gig. Really, not a weak link in the whole cast. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: It's Sarsgaard, no k. Stellan and his son Alex have a k, but Peter doesn't.
Oops. Stellan and Alex also have one less "a."
Which reminds me: Peter Sarsgaard and his wife Maggie Gyllenhaal are known (in the style of Brangelina and Bennifer) as "Aaaa." |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:39 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Cute. But surely "Sarge" would be more reasonable. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 5:48 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Heh!
...or "Peggie" |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:49 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| I prefer "Aaaa." Because how often do you get that double-A thing going for you? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 3:39 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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True, You have to get Scandinavians to mate. Not always easy.
The Good Wife - saw last night, missed the opener (if last week was the opener), but got up to speed. Really wish they could break off the firm relationship with Bishop, the gangster. Love Eli's shenanigans, as usual.
Madame Secretary - it doesn't help that this new series is immediately followed by TGW, next to which MS does not exactly shine. I like the casting, Keith Carradine seems very POTUS like, and TIm Daly and Tea Leoni are a handsome couple with plenty of magnetism. This week's plot was basically, Another Benghazi, and I liked the bit about Leoni having to contradict her previous statement of loathing for private military contractors (Blackwell ish) and use one to rescue a diplomat in Yemen. But, somehow, it just didn't pull taut for me. |
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