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< Television ~ It's Not TV -- It's HBO! |
| billyweeds |
 Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:17 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I don't see anyone here picking up on The Night Of. Too bad. This is must-see television. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 11:05 am |
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Location: Black Hills
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FWIW, many recommends made here I will later purchase on DVD, since we don't have cable (and our creative lives seem to require that we maintain this ascetic regimen, heh heh).
For example, I recently watched season one of Better Call Saul, on DVD, after it being praised here and elsewhere. I like the difficult relation between Jimmy and his hypochondriac brother, the nail salon office thing, all the machinations to drum up business, and Mike Ermentraut's backstory. In some ways, more purely enjoyable than the descent into darkness that was BB.
Similarly, I would likely have not seen Season 1 and 2 of Homeland, if not moved by the raves here. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 1:42 am |
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Location: Upstate NY
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HBO's "The Night Of" turned out to be excellent television. It was very well dramatized, had multiple foci of interest and many twists and turns in the story. Very worthwhile.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 8:33 am |
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Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: .
HBO's "The Night Of" turned out to be excellent television. It was very well dramatized, had multiple foci of interest and many twists and turns in the story. Very worthwhile.
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Word. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 5:39 pm |
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| A must-see, now that I know it has Peyman Moaadi (star of A Separation, and About Elly) in a major role. I see DeNiro was replaced by Turturro due to schedule conflict...that seems fortunate, to me. Nothing against Tribeca Bob, but more a case of seeing too much of one actor and not enough of the other. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:59 am |
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Location: Upstate NY
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I really like Big Little Lies on HBO. Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman are excellent as mothers of third graders. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée whose direction was exquisite in 'Dallas Buyers Club'.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:21 pm |
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Ghulam wrote: .
I really like Big Little Lies on HBO. Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman are excellent as mothers of third graders. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée whose direction was exquisite in 'Dallas Buyers Club'.
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Totally agree about BLL. It also uses music better than any show since The Sopranos.. In the latest episode, Alexander Skarsgard dances with Nicole Kidman and proclaims Neil Young's surpassingly gorgeous "Harvest Moon" to be "the loveliest song in the world" or something that hyperbolic. In context, his characterization seems 100% accurate. Never has Neil Young sounded more seductive or more of a genius. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:20 pm |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 7:23 pm |
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billyweeds wrote: Ghulam wrote: .
I really like Big Little Lies on HBO. Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman are excellent as mothers of third graders. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée whose direction was exquisite in 'Dallas Buyers Club'.
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Totally agree about BLL. It also uses music better than any show since The Sopranos.. In the latest episode, Alexander Skarsgard dances with Nicole Kidman and proclaims Neil Young's surpassingly gorgeous "Harvest Moon" to be "the loveliest song in the world" or something that hyperbolic. In context, his characterization seems 100% accurate. Never has Neil Young sounded more seductive or more of a genius.
Context can do so much to elevate a song like that. I like that song - solid backing vocals from Linda Ronstadt, nice mix, everything. I remember a context moment in the late 70s. A summer lawn party, and a friend's cousin from Yorkshire was visiting and I was sitting there smitten by her - possibly the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, with this lovely accent, and the radio starts playing "Dreams." FMac had just topped the charts with it that summer, and I hadn't really heard it, just caught snatches and not paid attention. Oddly enough, the sky clouded over as it played, and those minutes seemed mystically soundtracked. Then my ride tugged on my sleeve, said we had to go, and that the fair maiden of Yorkshire was getting married in the fall. Kind of broke the spell. When the rain washed me clean, I knew.... |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 8:51 pm |
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Location: New York City
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Netflix is really stepping up to the plate, with new series that rise far above the pack. The second season of "Master of None" is, as stated by the eloquent Matt Zoller Seitz, even better than the first one. I've just seen the first two episodes, but they vibrate with a mix of laugh-out-loud comedy and rueful melancholy not unlike the superb "Louie" but warmed up and sent to television heaven by the presence of star Aziz Ansari, for whom a new synonym for "adorable" must be found.
"Master of None" is a series populated exclusively by lovable people. This pits it against the other series the first two episodes of which I've sampled. Here we encounter three quite unbearable human beings, who nonetheless command our riveted attention. "I Love Dick" tells the story of a couple stuck in a loveless marriage who find their sex lives suddenly and cataclysmically revivified by the woman's obsession with another man. The men are Griffin Dunne as the husband and Kevin Bacon as "Dick" and the wife is the absolutely astonishing Kathryn Hahn. Hahn has proven herself over the last few years to be an amazingly versatile actor in such wildly diverse projects as "We're the Millers," "The Visit," "Transparent," and "Bad Moms," but here she outdoes herself in a mind-blowing display.
Both of these series merit the adjective "great." Netflix is right up there with HBO and Showtime and PBS and...you name it. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:07 am |
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After seeing the first four episodes of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" I think this is probably its best season. The guest stars are especially noteworthy, including Salman Rushdie, Bryan Cranston and Jimmy Kimmel.
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:55 pm |
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Westworld is astonishing.
A study of what it means to be human, of existential questions of freedom and meaning, of the little loops and repetitive scripts we get locked into. To what degree is suffering essential to consciousness? Forget any genre categories you may have seen this slotted into, the first season is transcendent. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:59 am |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 9:55 am |
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Location: New York City
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Wonderful new movie on Netflix called “Come Sunday” tells the real-life story of preacher Carlton Pearson, who got in trouble with the church by opining that hell doesn’t exist. Fascinating story grounded and nailed to the wall by an award-worthy performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who here achieves a career peak. Ejiofor is always at least good, sometimes (check out his awesome villain portrayal in "Four Brothers") more, but here he's just plain transcendent.
And he is supported by several remarkable performances from Martin Sheen (as Oral Roberts), Danny Glover, Condola Rashad, and Lakeith Stanfield. Faith-based movies have justifiably gotten a bad rap, but this one is the exception that proves the rule. It's a must-see.
Will post this in Current as well, since Netflix seems to ride the line. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 12:15 am |
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billyweeds wrote: Ghulam wrote: .
HBO's "The Night Of" turned out to be excellent television. It was very well dramatized, had multiple foci of interest and many twists and turns in the story. Very worthwhile.
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Word.
We just watched the pilot. Outstanding. Sleep will not come easily tonight. At one point the young man tells the detective "I can't breathe." Spoke for this viewer as well. |
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