Re: Peter thread - World music, movies, Television etc.

[fring151]

Wire really> Breaking Bad? Just started watching 1st season and the first couple of episodes did not exactly pin me to my seat. It gets (much) better later on I suppose, so can I just skip right ahead to the 3rd season then?    Also if the first 2 seasons are a drag, how do you call it better than BB in which all 5 seasons were so tautly written - last couple of seasons blow your mind huh?

[Wizzy]

Wire really> Breaking Bad? Just started watching 1st season and the first couple of episodes did not exactly pin me to my seat.

ada romba avasara padathingae..least wait till Omar to show up..things will surely hot up..S2 goes in a completly different direction..only aarohanam from s3 and in S4 there is a striking change in pace and setting.

Also if the first 2 seasons are a drag, how do you call it better than BB in which all 5 seasons were so tautly written - last couple of seasons blow your mind huh?

The Wire strictly follows the 5 part dramatic structure with S1/S2 being your exposition/rising action..S3/S4 will be crisis/falling action(the most fun part for many) and denouement will be S5.The more you sift through the seasons it gets less dramatic
with S5 being mostly informative in the narrative..imo it is S4>S3>S1>S2>S5

my picks from just S1 to show why TW>>>>BB ..watch it after you are done with S1.

D'Angelo teaching Wallace/Bodie how to play chess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1HUlTKvDUI


Jimmy/Bunk solving a crime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEzYD5pkvkg


Rules in America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y3rVGW24wc

Btw did u mean the killing? (Scandinavian version).

yep and they are whole lot more..they are like the BBC of yore but many are in the danger of being tainted with US network tv remakes


would start with the entire 'Varg Veum' series written by Gunnar Staalesen and lady detective series like Maria Lang mysteries/Maria Wern series
or much acclaimed 'Wallander series' by Henning Mankell

other reccos

Bron/Broen- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1733785/

The Eagle-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383164/

Graven-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441579/

Morden-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1501108/(sequel to 'Graven')


most of these come with hardcoded eng subs..all courtesy BBC4

[fring151]

Thanks Wizzy. I will wait for things to hot up then   

D'Angelo teaching Wallace/Bodie how to play chess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1HUlTKvDUI

Saw 3rd episode yesterday. That scene is freaking awesome and hilarious at the same time   

"What about 'em bald headed bitches". Epic!!

[Wizzy]

for all you WW buffs check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1883092/
its up on Netflix too. plot summary sounds cliched but many called it Kraut's 'Band of Brothers'.

[Kaaling]

Yo 'Wiz'enberg,

Completed Breaking Bad. This blue meth is seriously addictive stuff yo. Started watching after going through some terrific discussions (you, AF, KG et al) in 'there' . Looking forward to Better Call Saul.

True Detective also done. McCo is in prime form these days.

Game of Thrones going on now. Should finish in a couple of days. This is different animal and almost on par with BB. Love the way GRRM keeps raising the bp by bumping central characters off .

Any recommendation on what to start next? I keep hearing The Wire, The Sopranos and Dexter. And is Sherlock worth watching?

[Wizzy]

Looking forward to Better Call Saul.

Bob Odenkirk stars in 'Fargo' check it out..though the ending kind of spoils the show, at least for me.

Any recommendation on what to start next? I keep hearing The Wire, The Sopranos and Dexter. And is Sherlock worth watching?

if you are looking for something similar to BB checkout 'The Shield' else start with 'The Sopranos' and top it with Boardwalk Empire. Sopranos is part of the golden age in US telly..imo GoT seems extremely overrated, yes it has
godawesome production values but it just lacks the characters depth/ aesthetic symbolism of say The Wire or Sopranos..all I get from
GoT are twists&turns/betrayal/peeps stabbing each others back.. surely its entertaining but just doesn't have the finesse of any of the aforementioned shows. would even rate 'Rome' over it.

[Wizzy]

PoI S4 sneak, superhyped. Elias is back   




a decade from now this series will reach GOAT status and Jonathan will end up being the best of the Nolans  

[Michael AF]

---

True Detective: Very well done. (Lots of spoilers below)

While writing about TD, i cannot help but compare this with Memories of Murder. The Mood of the film is staggeringly similar to that film. And Rust Cohle's dialogs and his view of all things general is very surreal. What TD manages to achieve in a successful manner is the tone of the narrative, complexity of the characters and how drawn out and interconnected is a work of a detective  which was incidentally shown in MoM as well. Rust's character succeeds very well in showing the tedious and prolonged leg work(book work) and the extreme tenacity that is required of detectives in approaching a case leaving no loose ends. Of course everyone is not a sherlock and not everyone complicit is caught at the end!!!!

What a year for McConaughey!!. First DBC and now this.I will be surprised if he doesn't win the emmy's this august 25. Really very well acted and extremely believable in terms of makeup and looks. I can remember seeing such guys  at bars !! .  WELL DONE MATTHEW!!

Marty's character is the perfect Yin for Rust Cohle's Yang. I mean you could not have cast 2 better actors for this role. The chemistry is just fluid and easy on the eyes. Marty's general contempt for anything bad done to children is shown throughout the series and rust uses it effectively to bring in him again for the quest. His philandering ways is just Template HBO - the porn channel of America. I am not complaining   

The cinematography is spot on. Showing vast empty spaces of rural wasteland america (Louisiana) makes it a character in the series. At times I did feel like the series is dragged a lil bit not by much. Rust's prolonged absence is something that doesn't fit in the larger plan for a guy who doesn't like to leave things unfinished. 

Overall excellent work HBO and everyone.  

[sid_316]

PoI S4 sneak, superhyped. Elias is back   




a decade from now this series will reach GOAT status and Jonathan will end up being the best of the Nolans  

That good eh? But 22-23 (45 min) episodes per season is too much  .Starting off with generation kill now.

[Wizzy]

episodes per season is too much   

it's a PITA, US networks have lot to learn from their Brit brethren in this regard   


PoI started with an archetypal premise of archangel saving peeps from distress or stopping
those who cause it but with every season they have spun a yarn of complexity/intrigue with various threads
of back stories of andru/endru, but when Edward Snowden story broke out, they series took a completely different spin
of :shitjustgotreal: now imagine Matrix like universe juxtaposed in NYC with Neo/Agent Smith/Architect in the same team,
that would current working plane of PoI,  could actually jumpstart to S2 and you won't be missing much.

[Wizzy]

For Puliyan, Saul series from Feb

[Kaaling]

if you are looking for something similar to BB checkout 'The Shield' else start with 'The Sopranos' and top it with Boardwalk Empire. Sopranos is part of the golden age in US telly..

Finished Sherlock (coz it was relatively small and was always a fan of Holmes) and moved onto Lost (coz a friend gave me the entire series with heavy recommendasion).
Sopranos download in progress and should be the next one.

imo GoT seems extremely overrated, yes it has
godawesome production values but it just lacks the characters depth/ aesthetic symbolism of say The Wire or Sopranos..all I get from
GoT are twists&turns/betrayal/peeps stabbing each others back.. surely its entertaining but just doesn't have the finesse of any of the aforementioned shows. would even rate 'Rome' over it.

Heavy spoilers
I can understand where you are coming from but I would rate GoT almost on par with those shows. It is primarily anti-heroic, bleak and brings out the grey in the characters very well. Mostly the strongest/wiliest win and not the most virtuous (Cersei vs Ned, Battle of Blackwater, Starks in general). The archetypal single-noted heroic characters - Ned, Robb, Catelyn, Oberyn - dont last long (tallest blade of grass is cut first) in GoT's dirty world of politics and leaves the viewers exasperated with hardly anybody to root for. The good characters need to embrace bad just to survive (survive not win as it is out of the question) like Sansa's transformation, Daenerys' actions, etc. After a point, with the "survival of the fittest" mantra drummed in, I stopped looking for characters to root for and instead started enjoying the bad men against the worst (like Littlefinger -> Joffrey) just for the sheer joy of seeing bad cut to size (Joffrey, Tywin and that Cersei cnut deserves one ASAP). The advantage of sereies like BB is it tracks the transformation of WW and it's impacts on those around him so the focus is never really lost. But in case of GoT, there are a plethora of characters and parallel stories to deal with which may give the feel of lack of focus when compared to BB.
GRRM about GoT deaths -- http://1.media.dorkly.cvcdn.com/96/85/860e764f7b0a5ae3b71fb6da7bec144e.jpg

For Puliyan, Saul series from Feb

 

[Michael AF]

Game of Thrones - All 4 seasons in a matter of 5 days. Vintage stuff. Tyrion Lannister my man!. Have always liked the Mother of Dragons character even before I saw this stuff. Some really interesting/complex characters and superb action. Must watch.

[Wizzy]

Twin peaks is back after 25 yrs and Lynch is writing it  



season 1/2 still on netflix(US)

[sid_316]

Season 1/2 watchable now?

[Wizzy]

^If you looking for an ending with a closure this show isn't for you. S1 is godlevel telly and during S2 Lynch had major creative differences with n/w and
he does a jigarthanda of sorts by reducing it to soap opera level and then saves the ship
at the end of S2.

If you have seen Lynch's other works you could trace his agmark vintage shooting in fujifilm stock and its cues/quirky characters
and their mysteries still they seem so close/familiar to viewers whilst some might find all these so frustrating to watch hence by extension
you could second guess which all the eps were written by him and its influence can be
seen from Lars von Trier's Riget to recent shows like Top of the lake/The Returned.

P.S. Watch this philm after you are done with the series sorta of a prequel to the series
which complements/completes it http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105665/ and the EU edit of the pilot episode for kicks

[Wizzy]

finally http://online.wsj.com/articles/hbo-to-launch-standalone-streaming-service-1413385733

Netflix gonna hurt real bad if TW price this between 20-30$ and open up their entire catalog of archived/new shows.

[Michael AF]

That was bound to happen. And anyways every major player these days are intent on making their own content. 

Anyway in new Fall shows "How to get away with murder" seems promising. Gotham has got the mood of the comic very well. Haven't checked out others yet.

[Wizzy]

HBO getting into full scale streaming is a victory of sorts for Netflix, with TW in the streaming fray ISPs wouldn't 
even think of throttling their speeds. Netflix will always have the price advantage, recently launched CBS all access costs
$5.99 a month, HBO will comfortably break into 20$ given their exclusivity/content.

[sid_316]

Recent movies watched :

Nightcrawler -Good

Gone Girl - Very good

Interstellar-Good

Jonathan nolan about interstellar :
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11/08/jonathan-nolan-interstellar-spoilers

[sid_316]

_Del_

[Wizzy]

Jonathan nolan adapting Asimov's "Foundation" for HBO

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/10/7190087/interstellar-scribe-jonathan-nolan-is-adapting-asimov-foundation-hbo

 super news, is he doing only the trilogies? wish he squeezes Robots and Earth Saga.
visually arresting but not much like the Dune series which was ripped to bits by Star Wars 

[Wizzy]

Interstellar

could well end up being Nolan's weakest movie. 
most of Nolan's characters by design were/are cold hence for him to spin a story
that love transcends space/time is a task doomed to fail. having said that McConaughey
is the best actor Nolan ever got to work with and he carries the movie with aplomb and
even manages to pull the heartstrings.

things that worked

- MMc @ PT meeting and his entire exchanges with kids/him watching son grow through video msgs were nicely done.
- docking sequence, it was just surreal.
- Science being mostly accurate and CGI of the space/the best portrayal of the Wormhole I have ever seen.
- TARS and DOS 6.1 interface, actually had more character than most of the humans in the movie.
- first 2 acts were mostly on the dot for what it set to accomplish


things which didn't

- what did IAF drone accomplish other than few whistles in the theaters.
- Caine was terrible, kept repeating same damn poem. Nolan's Somayajulu needs a break.
- women in the film, like in other Nolan films so helpless/void of any character.
- Damon/Mann subplot was entirely unnecessary and his fight with MMc and the intercuts to earth were
cringeworthy.
- Hathaway's love lines were cheesy
- Lazurus and the entire Jesus Coop, thematic symbolisms were too pungent.
- entire MMc exposition @ the end which tries to offer solutions to all the questions. 
movie should have ended the moment MMc sees the light/enters the 5D space.



peeps comparing Interstellar to Gravity in any which way jump off to river Cooum/Adyar whichever is nearer.

Timeline explained 



P.S Nolan should fire his sound editor, half the time I couldn't make what the characters were muttering
and his editor for those infamous intercuts which sucked even in Inception.


P.P.S. after watching this movie, yam glad that 2008 script Jonathan wrote for Spielberg got canned, looks 
horrendous in retrospection , for those interested http://www.scribd.com/doc/186682938/Interstellar-Script

[sid_316]

Agree with most of the points..But Nolan's weakest is surely dark knight rises? Prestige/insomnia kooda not upto the "level". Started watching treme ... Looks like its underrated. Thanks for the Reco.

[Wizzy]

thx for Insomnia headsup, completely forgot Nolan was behind it  that would make MMc the second best actor Nolan got to work with 

But Nolan's weakest is surely dark knight rises? Prestige/insomnia kooda not upto the "level".

atleast TDKR had some moneyshots which were worth remembering it for, in 'Interstellar' I have to dig very deep to remember
anything worthy. my rating of Nolan's from best to worstu 

Prestige
Memento 
BB

...yawning gap...

Inception 
Dark Knight
Insomnia 
TDKR
Interstellar

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