"The Wire" on HBO

Yeah I’ve been watching this all in 16:9 via Amazon Prime, I’m curious how different it’d feel in 4:3

nothing really turned me off so far, it’s just kind of disorienting!

some tv shows that are chopped/rescaled I just kind of watch and mentally push it aside, because it’s obvious 90% of the time. I think this actually looks good enough that it seems like it could have always been that way

it’s like driving by a house every day and one day noticing it’s blue, but you have the strong suspicion that it used to be red. it doesn’t look recently painted, so maybe you’re misremembering?

the hd remaster bothered me so much i bought the old dvd set. think i’m one of the few though

I feel like watching the HD version will just fill my mind with trainspottery non-sequiturs while I'm watching it: "Why is there so much wall in this shot?" "I wonder if David Simon meant for that sofa cushion to be there?" etc.

"Why can I see the braces holding Bubbles' teeth?"

just finished S2 (OBVIOUS SPOILERS)

I liked it! I'm real sad Frank got offed, I'm FURIOUS that Valchek "won", the union folding seemed inevitable (if it wasn't now, it woulda been soon) but the whole thing was unfortunate. Also: the case basically didn't get solved, and the whole montage at the end of everything operating exactly the same as if nothing changed was p effective in its bleakness, everything is futile, why bother etc.

those last couple eps of s2 are so good

that greek music at the end

also not thrilled w Brother Mouzone as a character, he seems really contrived and like deliberately engineered to be a fan favorite but in a heavy handed improbable way. He's, like, a favorite character for people who loved Boondock Saints.

also daaaaaamn @ Stringer playing EVERYONE, I can barely keep it straight

so Stringer goes behind Avon's back to collaborate w Prop Joe (who I LOVE)
Avon is unaware and hires Brother Mouzone to deal w/ the rival dealers
Stringer and Prop Joe find out but then just do nothing bcz it's easier?
Stringer tells Omar that Mouzone mutilated Brandon, and I can't tell if he expects Mouzone to kill Omar, Omar to kill Mouzone, or if he legit doesn't know which will happen but is happy with either outcome
Omar realizes Stringer set him up, and Mouzone also realizes Stringer set him up

yes?

oh man Brother Mouzone rings so false

https://kottke.org/09/01/brother-mouzone-implicated-in-notorious-bigs-killing

i'm watching all of this now. i can't remember how far i got when i had hbo years ago but its been so long that it's all new to me. i didn't get far though. finished the first season and kinda just wanted to watch it over again. so infinitely watchable.

we got playstation vue so now i am binging on hbo after not having it forever.

Brother Mouzone is a little too much of a deus ex machina/red herring they threw in to balance Omar and Stringer seeming over the top. Suddenly they're more believable because, hey, look at this guy!

Stringer tells Omar that Mouzone mutilated Brandon, and I can't tell if he expects Mouzone to kill Omar, Omar to kill Mouzone, or if he legit doesn't know which will happen but is happy with either outcome

yes, it's this I think

He's, like, a favorite character for people who loved Boondock Saints.

Prop Joe is probably the best character when all's said and done

Let's not forget about Cheese, great Method acting.

FP

i'll allow it

Let's not forget about Cheese, great Method acting.

https://i.imgur.com/j4CPSE8.gif

also not thrilled w Brother Mouzone as a character, he seems really contrived and like deliberately engineered to be a fan favorite but in a heavy handed improbable way. He's, like, a favorite character for people who loved Boondock Saints.

― the masseduction of lauryn hill (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, March 29, 2018 11:57 AM (yesterday)

otm!

i've made it to season five and last night i had the idea that it would be cool if ilx people made an online album that was versions of "way down in the hole" for non-existent seasons of The Wire. what would the season 11 version sound like in 2014? they wouldn't have to be good either in keeping with most of the actual versions. i got really good at fast-forwarding through that tom waits one. ugh.

okay, maybe its a dumb idea with limited appeal.

i have really enjoyed watching the show.

Isn't the Tom Waits the original? Not that that would make it better (though it is the best)

TW's is the original.

"way down in the hole" is good

I came to like every version, but I could also skip to the cold open on VLC with remarkable precision

Neville Bros are my favorite

I'll do a plaintive acoustic falsetto auto-tune version, for the season dealing with gentrification.

Lake Trout is converted to farm-to-table.

Put me down for the "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs" version of the theme, which will be season 13 iirc

Heading into The Wire: The Musical territory here.

I'll do a plaintive acoustic falsetto auto-tune version, for the season dealing with gentrification.

― Frederik B, Thursday, April 19, 2018 4:57 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

read this as auto fellatio

about as accurate a description of the bon iver aesthetic i'm going for

haha

bone i vore

Put me down for the "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs" version of the theme, which will be season 13 iirc

― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, April 19, 2018 9:43 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is amazing

I'm in for the NIN "Head Down In A Hole" version.

i had to document that moment at prop joe's house. close your eyes...

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/31120721_10156821358797137_7965470325907637694_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=06730c76aa201fd51a73bf913e7150ab&oe=5B6F1ED2

finished watching season 5. that part where the newspaper guy asks which story to run and they don't run a story on omar dying is so sad for some reason. and then michael and dukie turning into omar and bubbles...that last episode is a good example of how to do a last episode.

I just read that Wire oral history book. Apparently HBO didn't give Simon the full 13-episode run for Season 5, so he had to condense the storyline, which is probably why some people find it unsatisfying. Some minor characters (the female reporter, for instance, who happens to be married to Deangelo Barksdale in real life) were going to be fleshed out more, but no time. Also, the dude reporter who was angling for a Pulitzer was going to have a crisis of conscience, but that storyline had to be chopped.

The actor kid who iced Omar was pretty traumatized by that scene.

yeah the whole media world was so underdeveloped compared to every other setting of the show

the Sun stuff was worth it just for clark johnson because he is the best.

just the day-to-day work stuff with him. i could watch that forever.

agree 100%

god, rewatching season two and I’m exasperated at the idea that a motivated, smart person like Beadie ended up hooking up with shitbird McNulty

agree

honestly even watching S1 it’s like HOW is he getting any play at all

all vaginas should be permanently closed for any and all McNulty business imo

David Simon & his dumb wish-fulfillment

SLOPPY DRUNK FUCKUPS ARE A NO BONE-ZONE

nah bad boys are way fuckable

he is not a bad boy

he is a tool