TV series

Bukfan

"The law is wrong; I am right"
I wonder why the movie and series are called "Gomorrah". Why the misspelling of "Camorra"?
 

Bukfan

"The law is wrong; I am right"
I think you're right! The Sodom and Gomorrah reference never dawned on me. Come to think of it, they could have called it, "Sodom And Camorra". :p
 

Ponder

"So fuck Doubleday Doran"
RIP
There's a new Italian mafia series, Gomorra (English title is Gomorrah), a follow-up to the 2008 movie.---->Mafia
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/italian-mafia-series-gomorrah-ratings-702606
Watched 3 episodes and it's ruthless. Never seen anything like this. The Sopranos is totally different.
Easier to digest.

Or how a reviewer describes it:

"The new Italian series Gomorrah is hard, raw and at times nauseating. None of the characters is engaging and with any you'd like to swap for a day. Nevertheless, you should keep looking."

"The series breaks with one of the most important rules of modern television that says you have to have characters with which the viewer can identify or at least can feel empathy for them."


I'm slow. I've finally watched 9 episodes of House of Cards. I'd say it's good but not on "Borgen" level yet, but that's an unfair comparison. Still recommended.

p.s.

I just want to say that Matt Dillon is one of the worst American actors. And his voice is awful.
I'm scared because "a quality series" is coming up: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/matt-dillon-fox-wayward-pines-521491

 
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mjp

Founding member
Everyone raves about House of Cards, so I took a look and -- politicians? No thanks.

I generally avoid shows about contemporary cops, doctors and politicians on principle. If you're so creatively bankrupt that that's all you've got, those tired old frameworks, fuck you and your show. At least pretend to make an effort and stick the cops, doctors and politicians in another era or another country or something. Anything. One new idea, that's all I'm asking for. Just one.

Imagine the boardrooms full of back alley ass-sniffers who decide these things. "A show about politicians in Washington D.C.? Great? That's been done so many times there's virtually no risk! We'll take it! Do you have anything else? Something with a cop or a doctor? Maybe a cop who's also a doctor? And maybe he works in a newsroom on the weekends?"

I get it, all of these things are about the stories and the people, not the setting. But it's just so god damned lazy.
 
I liked House Of Cards ok. Second season completely strains credulity, but Spacey is always oddly compelling. My guilty pleasure is Nashville, a fairly standard soap that for some reason has me hooked.
 
I've seen the first four episodes of the Fargo TV series and I'm loving it. Billy Bob Thornton's oddly endearing hitman makes me laugh. The film is still one of my favourites, but I'm looking at the TV show as a separate thing (even though you can easily spot the links between the film and the show).
 
Imagine the boardrooms full of back alley ass-sniffers who decide these things. "A show about politicians in Washington D.C.? Great? That's been done so many times there's virtually no risk! We'll take it! Do you have anything else? Something with a cop or a doctor? Maybe a cop who's also a doctor? And maybe he works in a newsroom on the weekends?"
I liked the original UK series of House of Cards. It captured the mood at the end of the Thatcher-era well. That was ages ago and the US version is (obviously) only loosely based on the original. I suspect if I watched it again it would be terribly dated too. Like you though, I just couldn't get into to the US version. It does seem like a very 'safe' attempt to produce the sort of drama that will have people fawning all over its writing, production and acting. Truth be told, I never really got into the West Wing as I thought that was pretty dull.
Anyway, I'm about to start on the last season of Boardwalk Empire.
 
I know he's considered to be very talented, but I can't stand Aaron Sorkin's writing. Sports Night was actually the one show of his I liked, and only because of William W. Macy. I just watched the pilot for The Americans (always years behind everything) and liked it. My wife is into this show Black Mirror, which is apparently an anthology ala Twilight Zone.
 
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mjp

Founding member
The Americans is good.

That Sorkinesque WRITING/ACTING where everyone responds to the previous line in a tenth of a second without thinking about what they're going to say is laughably unnatural.

Amy Schumer did a great send-up:


Then Seth Meyers did it (and referenced Schumer's bit...and threw in Aaron Sorkin himself)...

 

number6horse

okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
This wasn't a series exactly but I just wanted to share a funny interview with two of my favorite comedians. From the mid-90's.....

 

Erik

If u don't know the poetry u don't know Bukowski
Founding member
This series has me hooked.
Based on the novels by Michael Connelly.
A blend of The Wire &True Detective.
Seems to me it has some authentic LA locations in it.
Doesn't give the standard slick LA-look.
Slow character driven authentic TV-drama.
Even has some scenes filmed at Mussos - I think.

By the way - The leading actor, Titus Welliver, looks a lot like Buk.
Maybe he could be the right man for an adaption of Women, Post Office or some such?

Anyway - what do you angelenos think about this?
Makes me wanna read Michael Connelly.

 

mjp

Founding member
MOZART IN THE JUNGLE
ir


It's an Amazon original series, but if you have Prime you should watch it, it's pretty good.

As is TRANSPARENT, which you should watch if you haven't already.
ir
 
Jeffrey Tambor is great in Transparent, but after about 6 episodes, I couldn't take his kids anymore. Especially the son who was banging his babysitter. But Tambor is so good, he almost makes up for it.
 
I don't have TV, I have a monitor, laptop, ps3, blah blah. I tend to buy box sets and binge on them. I got through season 4 of The Walking Dead in a couple of days. There are tons of shows that I plan on picking up at some point. I haven't seen any Breaking Bad, haven't seen Game of Thrones, haven't finished Dexter or the Wire. I have a shit load of catching up to do. But my current fav is The Walking Dead. Post apocalypse, undead, humans fucking each other up for resources, end of civilisation insanity, etc, is right up my street.
My guilty pleasure is Supernatural, it is what it is, what can I say.
Six Feet Under was great, very interesting and different show. The Shield was great too. The Sopranos. Yeah, TV has been kicking the living shit out of Cinema for years it seems.
 

Erik

If u don't know the poetry u don't know Bukowski
Founding member
Thanks for the tip about Transparent.
Having not heard of it before only proves I'm living on the edge of the civlized world.
So with 8 episodes left and 20 episodes of the TINAT-podcast I'm all set for the summer....
(Thats just about how long summer lasts over here.)
 
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justine

stop the penistry
just marathoned all 3 seasons of orphan black in the last couple weeks. holy shit. the best show i've seen in a while. tatiana maslany is incredible, but kudos to the choreographer she works with, as well as the makeup artist/s.

i like all the characters, but helena and felix are the best!
 
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That Sorkinesque WRITING/ACTING where everyone responds to the previous line in a tenth of a second without thinking about what they're going to say is laughably unnatural.

I would agree, and add that the unnaturalness of speech and behavior applies to nearly ALL television acting. I quit watching television about 10 years ago and now whenever I see TV acting it seems bizarre and unintentionally funny - especially in dramas.
 
Just gotten into watching Ray Donovan (I'm always a bit late to the party with these things). Thought the first episode was a bit cheesy but I guess it was just setting the scene. I've really gotten into it and ended up watching almost the whole series in about a week (just got the season one finale to go). Jon Voight is particularly good in it. Ray looks like a chipmunk though.
 

mjp

Founding member
speaking of deadwood [...] i enjoyed that but it also totally bummed me out, because it just reminded me all over again how shit it was that we only got a couple seasons.
HBO has greenlit a Deadwood movie.

While I'm here in this thread, We're currently watching The Fall on Netflix, very good. Also Rectify, Bloodline and Peaky Blinders (The Fall and Peaky Blinders are originally from the UK).

We blew through new seasons of Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent in a few days. I'm not sure I like the Netflix practice of releasing every episode of an entire (short) season on the same day. Obviously we can't be trusted with those.
 

Erik

If u don't know the poetry u don't know Bukowski
Founding member
Just discovered this hidden jewel from BBC4.
Written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, that quirky guy from The Office.
It has a calm, "low toned" sort of humor, which is surprisingly addictive.
On Netflix.


 
We've been watching Jessica Jones.Halfway through the first season. Not usually my kind of thing, but really compelling, even though It's a little ponderous at times.
 
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